The Atari 8-bit home computer version of Dan Gorlin‘s Choplifter was published by Brøderbund in 1982. It came out not long after the Apple II original.
Tag Archives: American
Castlevania ReVamped, PC
Castlevania ReVamped is a homebrew remake of the original Castlevania, for Windows and Linux, by Lv.4 Games. It was initially released in March of 2024 and was inspired by the developer’s love of the Castlevania series (“it’s something I have wanted to do for many years,” he says, and “it took about four/five months to create“).
The game was made in Game Maker Studio 2 and is based on the first NES Castlevania, and Akumajō Dracula on the X68000 (and the remake in Castlevania Chronicles), and in it you play as the iconic Simon Belmont, with his trusty “Vampire Killer” whip.
Spider-Man, Atari 2600
The 1982 release of Parker Brothers‘ Atari 2600 game, Spider-Man, was the first ever video game featuring a character licensed from Marvel Comics. And, of course, by extension, it was also the first officially-licensed Spider-Man game. But is it any good?
Moon Patrol, Atari 5200
Developed and published by Atari, Inc. in 1983, the Atari 5200 conversion of Moon Patrol is an adequate, but hardly ‘dazzling’, port of the classic Irem arcade game.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, PC
Developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a rich and complex RPG with isometric 2D graphics, set in a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution. The game mixes magic and technology in a Victorian-styled “Steampunk” setting; is completely open-ended, and features lots of different races (humans, orcs, gnomes, elves, dwarves), with complicated – even racist – societal themes developing as you discover the world and interact with its many characters.
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Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child, Atari ST
Developed by Dan Gorlin Productions and originally released for the Atari ST by Brøderbund in 1988, Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child is a simple but brilliant shooter/collect ’em up with analogue controls.
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Conan, Commodore 64
Datasoft‘s 1984 release, Conan, is a curious game. It doesn’t seem to be directly related to either of the two Conan films released in the early ’80s (although it does use artwork from the sequel, Conan the Destroyer), so my guess is that it was a quick cash-in on the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger by the developers.
The game was originally written for the Apple II by Eric Robinson and Eric Parker, and the Commodore 64 version was created by Ron J. Fortier and John Butrovich.
Sorcerian: Dragon Slayer V, PC
Sorcerian is the fifth instalment in the Dragon Slayer series. It was originally released in 1987 – in Japan – for the PC-88, and the MS-DOS version was converted, localised into English and published by Sierra On-Line in 1990.
Space Invaders, Atari 5200
Playing the Atari 5200 version of Taito‘s classic Space Invaders you can’t help but wonder what the programmer was thinking when he made it. Had he ever played the original Space Invaders, or was he instructed to “make something better” than the original? Because this seems to ignore a few important details from the arcade game…
Robotron: 2084, Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 version of Williams Electronics‘ classic arcade shooter, Robotron: 2084, was published by Atari, Inc. in 1983.
The King of Grabs 