Tag Archives: difficult

Extended Play Productions, Megadrive/Genesis, Sega

Chakan: The Forever Man, Megadrive/ Genesis

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Developed by Extended Play Productions and published by Sega in 1992, Chakan: The Forever Man is based on the comic of the same name by Robert A. Kraus and features a protagonist, called Chakan, who is so confident of his swordsmanship that he declares that even ‘Death’ cannot beat him. Death appears and challenges Chakan – if Chaken can defeat him, he will be granted eternal life. However, if Death wins then Chakan will become Death’s eternal servant.

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NES/Famicom, Nintendo, Tose Co. Ltd.

Kid Icarus, NES/Famicom

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Developed by Nintendo R&D1 (with assistance from Tose Co. Ltd.), and first released for the Famicom Disk System by Nintendo in 1986, Kid Icarus is a cult classic scrolling platform game that is known for its high level of difficulty. The original Japanese title for the game is “Hikari Shinwa: Palthena no Kagami“. An NES cartridge version, with a different ending, an English language title screen and staff credits, was released in 1987.

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Atari ST, Ocean Software

Toki, Atari ST

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The Atari ST version of the 1989 arcade platform game, Toki, was developed and published by Ocean Software in 1991. And it is a decent adaptation of the arcade game, but with a reduced colour palette and screen size.

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Arcade, Konami

Haunted Castle, Arcade

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Haunted Castle is an obscure Castlevania arcade game, developed by Konami and first released in 1988. Until recently, I’d never seen it before, and playing it now I have to say that it is pretty unsophisticated for a late Eighties arcade game, and it pales into insignificance compared to other Castlevania games, like Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It’s also insanely difficult. Maybe unfairly so.

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Commodore 64, Mastertronic, Mr. Chip Software

Rollaround, Commodore 64

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Rollaround is an isometric action/puzzle game written by Tony Kelly of Mr. Chip Software and was published by Mastertronic in 1987. The gameplay is a combination of Marble Madness, Bobby Bearing, Spindizzy and Q*Bert, where the aim is to control a rolling ball that moves around a map of screens, rolling over tiles, activating switches, and collecting cross tiles for points.

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Arcade, Exidy

Venture, Arcade

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Venture is an early fantasy maze shooter developed and distributed into arcades by Exidy in 1981. In some respects it is similar to Stern Electronics‘ Berzerk (and its sequel, Frenzy), with simple bitmap graphics, an overhead viewpoint, and extremely challenging gameplay.

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Arcade, Namco

Marvel Land, Arcade

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Marvel Land is a cute, colourful, scrolling platform arcade game, first released by Namco in 1990. The European version was called “Talmit’s Adventure“.

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Amiga, Image Works, The Bitmap Brothers

Speedball, Amiga

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Developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works in 1988, Speedball is a violent futuristic sport game where two teams try to score goals by throwing a metal ball into openings at the top and bottom of an enclosed court.

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Arcade, Stern Electronics

Frenzy, Arcade

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Frenzy is an arcade maze/shooter from 1982 that was developed and published by Stern Electronics. It is the sequel to the 1980 arcade game, Berzerk, and features similar presentation and gameplay.

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Megadrive/Genesis, Sega, Sunsoft

Super Fantasy Zone, Megadrive/Genesis

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Super Fantasy Zone is a conversion of the 1986 Sega arcade game, Fantasy Zone, re-programmed by Sunsoft and published by Sega in 1992. The game was initially only released in Japan and Europe, but North America did finally receive an official release of the game via Virtual Console in 2008. The game is also included on the Sega Genesis Mini.

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