Gun Smoke (aka “Gun.Smoke“) is an arcade shooter by Capcom, first released in 1985. It is basically a ‘wild west’ version of their previous hit Commando, only this time you’re playing as a cowboy, shooting at outlaws.
Tag Archives: difficult
Dynamite Dan, MSX
The MSX version of Rod Bowkett‘s classic Spectrum platformer, Dynamite Dan, was programmed by Mr. Micro and published by Mirrorsoft in 1986. It is an excellent port and looks and plays very similarly to the original.
Montezuma’s Revenge, Apple II
Parker Brothers published an Apple II version of Robert Jaeger‘s classic platform game, Montezuma’s Revenge, in 1984.
Amidar, Atari 2600
A conversion of the 1981 arcade game (of the same name) from Konami, and published by Stern in North America in 1982.
Prince of Persia, Atari 8-bit
After apparently years of toil, and unforseen circumstances, a homebrew conversion of Jordan Mechner‘s classic Prince of Persia finally arrived on Atari 8-bit systems, in 2021. It requires a 128KB XL/XE; it’s free to download and play, and comes it in a variety of different formats (including cartridge). And – I have to say, right out the gate – that it is a brilliant port.
Wings of Fury, Apple II
Designed and programmed by Steve Waldo, and first published by Brøderbund in 1987, Wings of Fury is a pioneering and influential side-scrolling shooter in which you pilot an American F6F Hellcat during World War II.
Dragon’s Lair, Game Boy Color
Believe it or not, but the Game Boy Color has a version of the laserdisc classic, Dragon’s Lair. Yep, that’s right – the one with Dirk the Darking in it. It was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Capcom USA, in 2001.
Super Hero, Amstrad CPC
Codemasters‘ 1988 release for the Amstrad, Super Hero, sounds innocuous, but it marked the return of pixel artist Bernie Drummond, after Head Over Heels and Batman, but before Monster Max. Which was always a cause for celebration, in my humble opinion. RIP Bernie.
Super Hero is similar to Ultimate Play the Game‘s Nightshade, or Gunfright, in that the isometric backgrounds scroll around on occasion. Not all the time. Some rooms are static, Knight Lore-style.
Arcane Dimensions, PC
This groundbreaking Quake mod was first released in 2015 and it has gradually increased in stature since. It’s an amazing achievement, and still incredible to play now. If you like First-Person Shooters and have never tried Arcane Dimensions before then I urge you to give it a try.
Dark Souls, PlayStation 3
Considered by many to be a masterpiece of video game design, Dark Souls is an action-based fantasy role-playing game, and was developed by From Software and first published by Namco Bandai Games in 2011.
Dark Souls was so successful, in fact, that it created a succession of similar games, called ‘Souls-likes‘. Not many games can claim to have created a whole sub-genre on its own, but this game did.
The King of Grabs 