Developed by Compile and originally released for the MSX in 1987 Golvellius was converted to the Master System by Sega in 1988. It is an action RPG with overhead, flick-screen exploration, Zelda-like sword-based combat and scrolling sections through caves.
Continue reading Golvellius: Valley of Doom, Sega Master System
Ghosts ‘N Goblins Arcade is another 2015 release from Nostalgia that re-makes the original (flawed) Elite port of Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and it features completely new graphics, sound, and gameplay features that bring it more into line with the original Ghosts ‘N Goblins arcade game.
This 1986 Commodore 64 conversion of Capcom‘s classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins was programmed by Chris Butler. Chris also created the graphics, which are pretty good overall, if a little spartan in places. Mark Cooksey created the music.
Created by Nostalgia in 2015, Commando Arcade is a reworking of the original C64 Commando port by Elite, but with completely new graphics, sound, and levels. So, rather than it being written from scratch, the game was built around the framework of an existing game.
Programmed by Chris Butler, with graphics by Rory Green and Chris Harvey, and music by Rob Hubbard, the Commodore 64 conversion of Capcom‘s arcade game Commando is considered to be a classic 8-bit game, even though it was put together very quickly (ie. rushed-out) by publisher Elite Systems.
After acquiring the official license they wanted it out in time for Christmas 1985, which gave the coders around four months to make the game. As a result Commando on home computer systems was a cut-down version of the arcade game, with fewer levels than the original and somewhat bare-bones graphics.
Gradius – also known as Nemesis in some regions – was one of the first progressive weapons shooters to come out in arcades, and it was a big hit in 1985 when it was first released.
This led to the game being converted to many home computer systems, including the MSX, which was programmed by Konami themselves. So the game is unsurprisingly very good; very authentic, and with graphics and gameplay that push the MSX quite hard (I wouldn’t say “to its limits”, because I’m not a marketing a-hole, but it does push first-generation MSXes a fair degree).
Luckily for Archimedes owners they have an almost perfect conversion of Namco‘s classic Pac-Mania – aka the Pac-Man who can jump – and it’s an excellent game. It was developed by Krisalis Software and published by Domark in 1991.
John Phillips‘ brilliant platform puzzler, Nebulus, made a welcome appearance on the Acorn Archimedes courtesy of Krisalis Software in 1987.
The Archimedes has a flawless version of Populous – Bullfrog‘s seminal God sim – that was programmed by Richard Walker and published by Krisalis Software in 1992.
If you can stop laughing at the amateurish loading screen for a few minutes you might find a reasonable conversion of Konami‘s infamous Green Beret arcade game here. Emphasis on the word “might“…
The King of Grabs 