Tag Archives: CD-ROM

Amiga CD32, Cinemaware, Commodore

Defender of the Crown II, Amiga CD32

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Wow… Now this is something special… An enhanced version of Cinemaware‘s classic Defender of the Crown, with cool new sequences and graphics not seen in the original!

Defender of the Crown II was created by James D. Sachs in 1993 and is seemingly a bit of an ‘auteur piece’, since Sachs programmed it, made the graphics, and did the music himself. And – it has to be said – he did a brilliant job. Defender of the Crown II is arguably the best iteration of the original game and was clearly a labour of love for him.

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Amiga CD32, Mindscape, Twilight

Alfred Chicken, Amiga CD32

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Cute, colourful, and a lot of fun, Alfred Chicken is a scrolling platform game developed by Twilight and published by Mindscape in 1993.

The game starts out easy, but by the third level you’ll be tested by more challenging puzzles and trickery. Alfred Chicken is not quite a kid’s game, even if it looks like one.

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Amiga CD32, Celebration, Commodore

Amiga CD32 Special

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The CD32 is a CD-ROM-based console that is basically a high-end Amiga contained within a small, grey box. It can do pretty much everything an Amiga can do, but with a few built-in extras, such as Red Book Audio (CD quality sound, streamed from the disc), CDTV compatibility, and backwards compatibility with older, 9-pin D-Sub (Atari-style) controllers of the ’80s and ’90s (including Sega Megadrive pads and existing Amiga mice and paddles).

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NEC, PC Engine, Telenet Japan, TurboGrafx-CD

Valis III, PC Engine

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Initially released in 1990 by Telenet Japan, Valis III is a CD-ROM-only platform game for the PC Engine. It was released for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America in 1992.

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gog.com, Gremlin Graphics, MS-DOS, PC, Steam

Realms of the Haunting, PC

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I have to admit that, in spite of the slightly wonky graphics/cut scenes, I have a real soft spot for Gremlin Interactive‘s 1997 PC MS-DOS release, Realms of the Haunting. Mostly because I was lucky and got to visit Gremlin‘s offices in Sheffield to see the game in production, and to talk to the people who were making it. I drove all the way from Bournemouth – where I worked as a video games magazine editor – and spent an entire day there to preview the game for PC Power magazine.

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PC Engine, Right Stuff Corporation

Syd Mead’s Terraforming, PC Engine

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Released on CD-ROM only for the PC Engine Duo (in Japan), and the TurboDuo (in North America), Syd Mead’s Terraforming is a side-scrolling, bullet hell shooter with graphics designed by the great futurist/industrial artist, Syd Mead.

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Brøderbund, Hudson Soft, PC Engine, Riverhillsoft, TurboGrafx-16

Prince of Persia, TurboGrafx-16

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Another fantastic conversion of Prince of Persia – this one for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. It was a CD-ROM only release, so took advantage of Red Book audio streamed directly from the disc, and as a result: the music in the game is quite amazing and really adds to the atmosphere of the game.

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gog.com, LucasArts, MS-DOS, PC, Steam

The Dig, PC

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When film-maker Steven Spielberg wanted to make a video game he went to George Lucas and his company LucasArts for help making it, and the end result was The Dig.

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Hudson Soft, PC Engine

Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys, PC Engine

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This Japanese RPG was released on CD-ROM only on the PC Engine, so required a disc player to work. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys was first released in 1993 and was developed by Hudson Soft as a single-player, cinematic, cartoon-style RPG, with real time combat and exploration.

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NEC Avenue, PC Engine, Taito

Rainbow Islands, PC Engine

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The PC Engine version of Taito‘s classic arcade game Rainbow Islands was only made available on CD-ROM, so you had to have a CD compatible PC Engine to play it.

[That was: until emulation was invented…] 🙂

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