A controversial release from Gametek in 1996, this complex space sim is notorious for having a long and troubled development history.
Tag Archives: American
Ballblazer, Atari 7800
Lucasfilm Games’ brilliant futuristic sports sim, Ballblazer, was converted to the Atari 7800 in late 1984.
As a ‘no-nonsense’, one-on-one ball game there is little better, in terms of video games, and this Atari 7800 version is one of the fastest and smoothest around.
Blood, PC
Monolith‘s 1997 shooter – Blood – is a first-person satire of every horror movie you ever saw, and also a few that you probably didn’t.
Anachronox, PC [Part 2]
Part 2 of our Anachronox special. A selection of grabs from later in the game. Showing just a fraction of the wide variety in this groundbreaking American Role-Playing Game.
Anachronox, PC [Part 1]
Anachronox is a weird-but-great mixture of RPG and action game, developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive in 2001.
What is strange about it is the storyline, and the setting. It’s part ‘film noir-ish’ detective story; part comedy – part sci-fi fantasy; set across six different planets in a far-flung future, packed full of bizarre characters, environments and quests.
Star Raiders, Atari 8-bit
Doug Neubauer‘s 1979 release, Star Raiders, is a very important game indeed. Predominantly because it was so hugely influential on many other games that followed it. Some people even point to it being the spark that started the first-person shooter market, but that is probably going a little too far…
Combat, Atari 2600
Combat was designed by Atari, Inc. and first released for the Atari 2600 in 1977 and was the pack-in game for the system until 1982 (meaning: you got a Combat cartridge with the console, upon purchase).
It was one of the first home video games I ever played (probably the same for millions of others) and it enthralled me. Yes, Combat is very simple by today’s standards, but in 1977 it was a revelation and was much cloned by other developers.
Pitfall!, Atari 2600
David Crane‘s Pitfall! is a pioneering old game, from way back in 1982.
You control Pitfall Harry and must find 32 treasures in 20 minutes. You run and jump from screen to screen, swinging on ropes, jumping on crocodile heads, and avoiding quicksand. Not to mention: creatures that will kill you if you touch them.
X-Wing, PC
Still considered to be one of the best Star Wars games of all time, X-Wing is a serious, high-tech, fantasy combat sim – in space obviously – with all the different ships from the famous films in there somewhere, modelled in low-res 3D.
720 Degrees, Arcade
A colourful, isometric arcade game from 1986 – 720 Degrees (aka 720°) is a skateboarding action game where you control a kid on a board, trying to complete tricks and courses in his local neighbourhood, before moving on to compete in a proper skate park.