As good as International Soccer is (well, isn’t), International Basketball is on a whole ‘nother level when it comes to playability…
Again written by Andrew Spencer for Commodore, International Basketball looks very similar to its predecessor but is leagues better, in terms of gameplay.
Andrew Spencer‘s International Soccer is a very early football game for the Commodore 64. And by “very early” I mean: 1983.
It stood out from other football games on the market at the time because it had a modicum of playability. You could at least take possession of the ball and have shots on target. You could at least kick the ball in the right direction…
Mmmm. Paradroid ’90 is one of those “classic” games that should have been great, but unfortunately was a big, fat missed opportunity.
Its parent – the Commodore 64 classic Paradroid, by Andrew Braybrook – is a perfect example of simple-but-amazingly-compelling gameplay.
This remake pretty much loses everything that made the original great, in spite of original author Braybrook‘s involvement.
The Amiga version of Head Over Heels – like the Atari ST version – is pretty much a perfect conversion of this classic isometric platform game.
Bullfrog‘s classic ‘God game’, Populous, was first released on the Amiga in 1989. It broke new ground with its ingenious mix of real-time strategy and sandbox-style landscape-building.
Banshee, a vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up released by Core Design in 1994, is a great example of beautiful 2D graphics on the early 16-bit machines.
Black Crypt is the first game developed by Raven Software. It’s an Amiga exclusive, initially published by Electronic Arts in 1992. It could be argued that it’s also an unashamed clone of FTL’s Dungeon Master, but it is at least an exceptional one.
Dan Gorlin‘s Typhoon Thompson in Search For the Sea Child is a smart little title to play in an emulator now, although you do have to get the controls right to enjoy it properly. It’s a mouse and keyboard game but can be gotten to work with a joypad, if you’re persistent.
The King of Grabs 