Tag Archives: exploration

Electronic Arts Victor, FM Towns, gog.com

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, FM Towns

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Origin/Blue Sky Productions‘ classic MS-DOS RPG, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, was released for the FM Towns in 1993 by Electronic Arts Victor, Inc.*

*= Electronic Arts Victor was a joint venture between Electronic Arts and the Victor Musical Industries subsidiary of JVC, established in September 1992 in Tokyo. Electronic Arts Victor‘s mission was to translate Electronic Arts‘ library of games to Japanese language and to distribute them in Japan, as well as to create original titles for the Japanese market.

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Atari ST, Homebrew

Bugziacs, Atari ST

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Bugziacs is a homebrew Atari ST port of Don Priestley‘s classic ZX Spectrum game, Maziacs, created by Bello Games and available to download free from the internet. It was first released in 2019.

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Commodore 64, DK'Tronics

Maziacs, Commodore 64

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This conversion of Don Priestley‘s brilliant Spectrum game first appeared on the Commodore 64, courtesy of Andy French and DK’Tronics, in 1984. C64 fans tend to frown on conversions of Spectrum games to their system, but in this case they should be thanking their lucky stars, because Maziacs is a great little game.

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Asmik Ace Entertainment, Game Boy, Maxis

Mysterium, Game Boy

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Developed by Maxis Software and published by Asmik Ace Entertainment for the original Game Boy in 1991, Mysterium is an obscure first-person dungeon-crawler in which you play an alchemist’s apprentice exploring a maze – called the Mysterium – in order to complete a test.

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Field Co. Ltd., Human Entertainment, Super Nintendo, Vic Tokai

SOS, Super Nintendo

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SOS is an intriguing survival adventure game set on a sinking ship in The North Sea, in 1921. The game features four playable characters, each with a different story, although the ultimate aim is the same for all of them: to escape from the stricken Lady Crithania, which has been hit by a gigantic wave and has capsized off the coast of England. SOS was developed by Human Entertainment and published exclusively for the Super Famicom by Field Co. Ltd. in 1993 (1994 in North America; published by Vic Tokai). In Japan the game is known as “Septentrion“.

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Commodore 64, Firebird

Chimera, Commodore 64

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Set on an uninhabited spaceship, Chimera is an isometric adventure/puzzle game where you control a robot* that must destroy the ship before it crashes into Earth. The game was written by Shahid Ahmad and published by Firebird in 1985. The music is by Rob Hubbard.

*= The player character looks like a robot, but does in fact require food and water to survive, so there’s a bit of a contradiction going on in the story, as far as who or what the player actually is.

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Game Arts, Game Boy Advance, Japan Art Media, Media Rings Corporation, Ubisoft

Lunar Legend, Game Boy Advance

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Developed by Japan Art Media and published internationally by Ubisoft in 2002, Lunar Legend is a handheld remake/re-telling of Game Arts‘ classic RPG, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, with new graphics, content and story changes.

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Electronic Arts, MS-DOS, Origin Systems, PC, Raven Software

Shadowcaster, PC

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Shadowcaster is a first-person fantasy-based action game developed by Raven Software and published by Origin Systems in 1993 for MS-DOS (Electronic Arts published it in Europe). The game uses a modified version of the 3D engine used in Wolfenstein 3D, with icons and point-and-click adventure and RPG elements.

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Commodore 64, Epyx, Palace Software

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, Commodore 64

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The sequel to 1987’s cult hit Barbarian, Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a similar fighting game, but with more variety than the first game, and the possibility of exploring the actual world by moving from screen to screen (“wow! What a technological advancement!“). Barbarian II was first released in 1988 by Palace Software. The game was later licensed by Epyx for distribution in North America under the title of “Axe of Rage“.

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Hudson Soft, Make Software, Super Nintendo

Super Adventure Island II, Super Nintendo

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Super Adventure Island II is the sequel to Super Adventure Island and was developed by Make Software, Inc. and first published by Hudson Soft in 1994. It is somewhat different to the first game, though, and has RPG elements, as well as also being more open-ended in how you play it.

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