Steve Turner‘s classic Ranarama originated on the ZX Spectrum in 1987. The game is an overhead Gauntlet derivative where you play as a frog (actually a wizard’s apprentice, called Mervyn, whose botched spell has turned him into a frog), who must fight his way through various levels of a maze, defeating warlocks and taking their runes.
Tag Archives: Cult Game
The Second Samurai, Megadrive/Genesis
The Second Samurai is the sequel to First Samurai and was developed by Vivid Image and published by Psygnosis for the Megadrive and Amiga in 1994. It is a scrolling platform action game with a samurai sword-wielding hero on a mission to defeat The Demon King. In this sequel Mr. Samurai has a female partner who can fight alongside him.
The game was programmed by Raffaele Cecco (famous for Cybernoid, Exolon and Stormlord, among other things), with graphics by Teoman Irmak and music by Brian Marshall.
Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon, Super Nintendo
Torneko no Daiboken: Fushigi no Dungeon (translating as “Torneko’s Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon“) is the first game in the Mystery Dungeon series from Chunsoft, the developer known for creating the Dragon Quest series. It is a ‘Roguelike‘ dungeon-crawler, with randomised maze-like dungeons and was first released in 1993.
Continue reading Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon, Super Nintendo
Stormlord, ZX Spectrum
Stormlord is a scrolling run-and-gun platform action game designed and written by Raffaele Cecco and Nick Jones, with graphics by Hugh Binns, and was published for the ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1989. In it you play the titular Stormlord, a Norse-style warrior who is fighting to rescue fairies from the evil Black Queen.
Exolon, ZX Spectrum
Designed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson Consultants in 1987, Exolon is a simple-but-effective run-and-gun shooter with flick-screen levels and snazzy Spectrum-esque colourful graphics, with minimal colour clash.
Equinox, ZX Spectrum
Equinox is a flick-screen action game designed and programmed by Chris Hinsley and Raffaele Cecco. It was first published on the ZX Spectrum by Mikro-Gen in 1986.
Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord, Sega Master System
Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord on the Sega Master System is a very simple turn-based RPG that looks terrible but is surprisingly absorbing when you get into it. It was developed by Kogado, initially for the PC-88, then later it was ported to the MSX, Famicom and Master System. The SMS version was first released in 1987 by Sega.
Continue reading Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord, Sega Master System
RayForce, Arcade
Also known as Gunlock and Galactic Attack in some territories, and Layer Section in Japan, RayForce is a vertical screen bullet hell shooter released into arcades by Taito in 1994. And it is quite impressive, as arcade shooters go.
Stainless Steel, ZX Spectrum
In Stainless Steel you are Ricky Steel – a teenage superhero with a flying car called ‘Nightwind‘ – on a mission to defeat the android troops built and controlled by the evil Dr. Vardos. What that basically means is that you have to drive/fly and shoot your way through a variety of overhead scrolling levels, collecting fuel to constantly top-up your ever-diminishing life bar and avoiding bullets like the plague.
Rogue Trooper Redux, PC
Rebellion‘s Rogue Trooper was originally released in 2006 for Windows, PlayStation 2 and XBox, and it was remastered in HD by Tick Tock Games and re-released in 2017. It is the remastered “Redux” version that we’re looking at here.
For those who don’t know: Rogue Trooper is based on the character made famous in the British comic, 2000AD. Famous enough for him to have appeared in a ZX Spectrum game in 1986, and an Amiga/Atari ST game in 1991. And also slated to appear in a forthcoming film by Duncan Jones, who directed Moon (2009), and Warcraft: The Beginning (2016), among others. So Rogue Trooper does have some pedigree.
The King of Grabs 