Tag Archives: exploration

Nosferatu the Vampyre, ZX Spectrum

By 1986 the ZX Spectrum was awash with isometric action/adventures games. After the success of Ultimate Play The Game‘s Knight Lore, everyone was trying to make and release them.

Looking back now I would have to say that many of the so-called “clones” were actually very good, although few were outstanding.

Piranha‘s Nosferatu the Vampyre was one of the few outstanding ones, it having been created by Spectrum veteran game design team Design Design, and it also being an interesting take on the classic tale of vampirism written by Bram Stoker (actually this game being based on the 1979 film starring Klaus Kinski).

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Dark Side, ZX Spectrum

Dark Side is the 1988 sequel to Driller is a very early example of a first-person, full 3D, explorable world, that can be viewed from almost any angle.

The game engine – Freescape – has gone on to become famous as one of the earliest examples of its type, and one that was hugely influential on every 3D exploration game that followed.

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Wizard’s Lair, ZX Spectrum

Steve Crow‘s colourful and fun Wizard’s Lair is clearly a tribute to the brilliant Ultimate Play The Game title Atic Atac. It has the same overhead viewpoint, similar gameplay and graphics and sound effects.

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Crystalis, NES

Crystalis was SNK‘s response to Nintendo‘s Zelda games back in 1990, it being an action adventure with real-time combat, just like Zelda. But Crystalis is definitely something more than simply a Zelda clone – it is one of the best games on the system and a great game in its own right.

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Civilization, PC

Sid Meier‘s Civilization is a classic turn-based strategy game first released by MicroProse in 1991.

Since then it has been re-made and re-released many times, such is the allure of its classic gameplay.

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Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, XBox

Considered by many to be one of the scariest games ever made, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly first came out on the PlayStation 2 in 2003, with the XBox version following in 2004.

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Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium, Megadrive/Genesis

For my money: THE best game on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis.

Sega‘s very own level-grinding RPG franchise comes to full fruition in this fourth instalment of the Phantasy Star series, first released in 1993.

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Shadowrun, Megadrive/Genesis

I can’t write about the other Shadowrun games without mentioning the Sega Megadrive/Genesis game, first released by Sega in 1994.

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Shadowrun, Super Nintendo

This classic Super Nintendo action adventure was developed in Australia in 1993 by Beam Software. It was published by Laser Beam in the UK, and Data East everywhere else.

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Shadowrun: Dragonfall, PC

Shadowrun: Dragonfall is a 2014 indie release from Harebrained Schemes, set in the Shadowrun universe.

The developers tried to continue the success of the Shadowrun console games of the early ’90s, and in many respects succeeded.

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