Sega‘s classic Ecco the Dolphin was first released in 1992 for the Megadrive/Genesis.
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Parallax, Commodore 64
First released by Ocean Software in 1986, Parallax is a wild overhead shooter from legendary UK gamedev company Sensible Software.
Shining In The Darkness, Megadrive/Genesis
When I first played Shining In The Darkness – a 1991 party-based Role-Playing Game for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis, developed by Climax Entertainment and published by Sega – I was ready to dismiss it, because of the unattractive, ‘cartoony’ graphics, the clunky interface, and the generic script. But after some determined play – admittedly: in an emulator, and using quicksaves – it became apparent that this was no ‘throwaway’ level-grinder. It was in fact something quite special…
Starquake, ZX Spectrum
Arguably game designer Steve Crow‘s finest hour, Starquake is a brilliant platform action game first released through Bubble Bus Software in 1985.
Sir Fred, ZX Spectrum
Sir Fred is a wonderful little platform game originating from Spain and first released on the ZX Spectrum way back in 1986.
Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back, Commodore 64
The sequel to Cauldron, Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back was a brilliant ‘curveball’ from Palace Software, back in 1986, and is still a great game to play now.
Continue reading Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back, Commodore 64
Castelian, Game Boy
Triffix‘s Castelian is a conversion of the classic Nebulus by John M. Phillips. And it is a top little conversion!
VVVVVV, PC
Terry Cavanagh‘s VVVVVV is an extremely smart-but-simple platform/indie game that feels a lot like a Commodore 64 game from the ’80s, although it was actually released in 2010.
Mr. Gimmick, NES/Famicom
Known as Gimmick! in Japan and Mr. Gimmick everywhere else, this 1992 release was an attempt by Sunsoft to push the graphical powers of the Nintendo Entertainment System further than they’d ever been pushed before (in order to compete with the Super Nintendo, which was relatively new on the market).
In order to do this, Sunsoft used all kinds of clever programming techniques using graphical tilesets and colours, and the end result is very striking. But it wasn’t enough to compete with the newer consoles of the time and Mr. Gimmick sank without a trace, into relative obscurity.
Track & Field, Arcade
Konami‘s 1983 arcade hit Track & Field broke new ground with its button-bashing gameplay.
It also broke a fair few cabinets along the way, with arcade machine operators having to repair the buttons on machines quite often, to keep them operative (and therefore earning money). A broken Track & Field machine was no good to anyone, and people tend to get carried away and hit too hard when playing this game.
