Tag Archives: climbing

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, PC

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. It was released in High Definition for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 later that same year, then for Windows PCs in 2014.

Mirror of Fate is a sequel/prequel to 2010’s Lords of Shadow, and its story begins prior to the events of its predecessor.

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Willow, Arcade

Based on the 1988 film of the same name, Willow is a platform action game developed by Capcom and distributed into arcades in 1989. The intro says: “A magnificent fantasy filled with love, friendship and adventure!“, but in reality the game is a violent hack-and-slash ’em up, and is some distance from “love, friendship and adventure”…

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Spider-Man, Atari 2600

The 1982 release of Parker BrothersAtari 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?

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The Addams Family, Atari ST

Based in the 1991 film from Paramount Pictures, The Addams Family is a cute and colourful platform game, developed and published by Ocean Software. The Atari ST version, featured here, was first released in 1992.

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Kid Dracula, Game Boy

Konami‘s 1993 Game Boy game, Kid Dracula, is a cutesy spin-off from the Castlevania series. It’s actually a remake of the 1990 Famicom game, “Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun“.

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Kid Dracula, NES/Famicom

Known in Japan as “Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun“, this cute and humorous Castlevania spin-off was initially released by Konami, in Japan only, in 1990, for the Nintendo Famicom. Numerous fan translations exist for the game, but it was also officially released in English for the first time – as “Kid Dracula” – in 2019, in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. That’s the version I’m showing here.

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The Adventure of Little Ralph, PlayStation

The Adventure of Little Ralph (aka “Chippoke Ralph no Daibōken“) is an obscure 2D action game, made exclusively for the PlayStation, developed by New Corporation and released in Japan only in 1999. The game has a serious reputation among PS1 fans ‘in the know’ as being one of the best import games available for the system. And I wouldn’t disagree with that.

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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.

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Faxanadu, NES/Famicom

Faxanadu is an action/platform game, developed by Hudson Soft and first published for the Nintendo Famicom in 1987. It is a spin-off from the Falcom Dragon Slayer series and its name is a combination of the words “Famicom” and “Xanadu“, so could even be considered a remake of the second Dragon Slayer game.

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Flashback, 3DO

The 3DO version of Delphine Software‘s futuristic platform adventure, Flashback, was ported by Tiertex Design Studios and published by US Gold in North America and Europe in 1993. Flashback on the 3DO was also released by Electronic Arts Victor in Japan in 1995.

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