Solaris is a space combat game designed and developed by Doug Neubauer and published by Atari Corporation in 1986. It is supposedly a sequel to Star Raiders, and does contain similar elements, but features a third-person viewpoint this time, rather than first-person. Solaris is one of the most technically-impressive games on the Atari 2600 and is a far cry from the early games released for the system.
Tag Archives: Cult Game
Master of Darkness, Sega Master System
Also known as “Vampire: Master of Darkness” in some regions, this overt Castlevania clone was developed by SIMS and published by Sega for the Master System and Game Gear in 1992. Some consider it to be the best of its kind on the Master System.
Shadow of the Beast III, Amiga
Shadow of the Beast III is the third game in the colourful and technically-impressive action/platform series. It was once again developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis. This time in 1992.
Shadow of the Beast II, Amiga
In Shadow of the Beast II you again play as ‘Aarbron‘, the bipedal being who was turned into a half-beast by the evil wizard Maletoth (who you defeated in the first Shadow of the Beast), and who is now in half-beast, mostly human, form and who is searching for his kidnapped sister.
Shadow of the Beast, Amiga
Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling action game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis in 1989. When the game first came out it was praised for its graphics, but not for its gameplay, which is frankly paper thin.
Cameltry, Arcade
Also known as “On The Ball” in some English-speaking regions, Cameltry is a game where you have to drop a ball through a rotating maze to reach a goal area within a time limit. It was first distributed into arcades by Taito in 1989.
Akumajō Dracula, X68000
The 1993 Sharp X68000 version of “Akumajō Dracula” is arguably the best version of the first Castlevania game available, with improved graphics and sound, and redesigned gameplay to accomodate new and more dramatic situations.
Also known as “Vampire Killer” in Europe; also known as “Castlevania” in North America; but known in its native Japan as “Akumajō Dracula“, this is an updated remake of the first game in the Castlevania series. And it is known for being two things: 1. REALLY GOOD, and 2. REALLY HARD!
Vampire Killer, MSX
Konami‘s “Akumajō Dracula” was first released in 1986 for the MSX2. It helped set the template for a series that is still going (relatively) strong to this day – the Castlevania series.
This MSX game was also the first game in the Castlevania series to be given an English language release, and it was released in 1987 in Europe under the title of “Vampire Killer“, which then changed to “Castlevania” when the North American NES version of this game was released on cartridge.
Shadowcaster, PC
Shadowcaster is a first-person fantasy-based action game developed by Raven Software and published by Origin Systems in 1993 for MS-DOS (Electronic Arts published it in Europe). The game uses a modified version of the 3D engine used in Wolfenstein 3D, with icons and point-and-click adventure and RPG elements.
Star Wars: Jedi Arena, Atari 2600
Star Wars: Jedi Arena is a 1983 video game from Parker Brothers, based on Jedi lightsabre duels from the Star Wars film series. Jedi Arena was designed and programmed by Rex Bradford and can be played by one or two players.