Driller was the very first Freescape game. A very important game for its time. It first came out in 1987.
It was one of the first ever games that allowed you to explore a full 3D environment, and Freescape was the engine that made it possible.
Tag Archives: early
Fred, ZX Spectrum
Fred was one of two Spanish video games licensed by Quicksilva for release on the ZX Spectrum in the UK in 1983.
Both were made by Indescomp, and the other game was the legendary Bugaboo.
Stop The Express, ZX Spectrum
Stop The Express is an early ZX Spectrum game – created by Japanese developer Hudson Soft and first released in 1983 – and is a simple action game where the aim is to traverse the train carriages, from right to left, in order to reach the engine and to stop the out-of-control train.
Android 1: The Reactor Run, ZX Spectrum
Costa Panayi‘s 1983 release, Android 1: The Reactor Run, definitely showed the potential of the young games designer, even if the game overall is a little too short.
Asteroids, Arcade
Released in November 1979, Atari‘s Asteroids was an instant hit with gamers.
It featured a vector graphic-based, black and white display, with a player-controlled triangular ship, moving in space and firing at moving rocks.
Star Fire, Arcade
Exidy‘s Star Fire is one of the earliest colour video games ever made. It was first released into arcades in 1979, when most arcade games of the time used black and white displays.
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.
Nemesis/Gradius, Arcade
Known as Gradius in Japan – but Nemesis everywhere else – Konami‘s classic 1985 shoot ’em up is one of the earliest progressive weapons blasters, with distinct levels and boss battles.
The game is somewhat reminiscent of the classic side-scrolling Scramble (also by Konami), but in Nemesis you fly a ship called the “Vic Viper”, and which has a variety of different weapons which can be powered-up by collecting capsules left by destroyed enemies.
Lock ‘n’ Chase, Arcade
Yes, Data East‘s classic 1981 arcade game does feature a policeman called “Stiffy”. The other three are called “Scaredy”, “Smarty” and “Silly”. And together the four of them chase you – a thief – whose mission it is to collect the coins in the maze, and any other treasure that appears, before escaping.
Scramble, Arcade
Scramble was the first ever side-scrolling shoot ’em up, coming out in arcades in 1981.
It was certainly one of the earliest colour video games, and was a big hit for developer Konami and distributor Stern Electronics.
The King of Grabs 