This obscure 1987 arcade game from Data East was a big influence on many games that came after it, in particular Manfred Trenz‘s Turrican series. It is obviously itself influenced by Nintendo‘s 1986 game, Metroid.
It also displays some similarities to Karnov, another Data East arcade game released the same year.
And, while you may have never heard of this game, it’s safe to say that it’s a bit of a ‘hidden gem’ in terms of old arcade games still worth playing today.
Windjammers is a legendary two-player sports game from Data East, published on the Neo Geo in 1994. It can of course be played single-player, against the AI, too.
It is kind of a cross between tennis and Frisbee-throwing. Or maybe even table hockey and Frisbee-throwing… The intro screen describes itself as “the flying disc game“. It’s weird but fun, and instantly playable, whatever it is.
The Commodore 64 conversion of the classic arcade game, Kung-Fu Master, is not too bad. It is certainly better than the awful Spectrum version.
Data East‘s 1982 arcade release, Bump ‘n’ Jump (aka Burnin’ Rubber in its native Japan), is a jolly, vertically-scrolling driving game with a car that can jump up into the air for a few seconds to avoid gaps in the road.
The ZX Spectrum conversion of the Data East arcade game, Karnov, is a good example of a decent arcade conversion on the Spectrum.
Karnov is a side-scrolling, run-and-gun platform game, developed and manufactured by Data East in 1987.
Another excellent Data East arcade conversion, Bump ‘n’ Jump was released for the Intellivision in 1983 to some success.
Diner is an unofficial/official sequel to BurgerTime, created by Mattel Electronics exclusively for the Intellivision in 1987. ‘Unofficial’ because it’s not really counted as canon, and ‘official’ because Mattel at least got permission from Data East before releasing it.
An American conversion of a famous Data East coin op, Lock ‘n’ Chase is a stand-out title on the Intellivision, predominantly because of its solid gameplay and colourful visuals.
This 1985 Famicom Disk System conversion of BurgerTime is just as good as the arcade original – excepting for the slightly less colourful graphics.
