Tag Archives: featured

Celebration, Lists

Games Beginning With ‘B’ Week

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It’s time for another random celebration of video gaming goodness! This time: of games beginning with the letter ‘B’… 🙂

Enjoy,
The King of Grabs

Here’s a full run-down of what was published:

Ballblazer, Atari 7800
Booty, ZX Spectrum
Bomb Jack, Arcade
Bonanza Bros., Megadrive
Booga-Boo, MSX
Brainstorm, Commodore 64
Bomberman ’94, PC Engine
Bubsy, Atari Jaguar
Bobby Bearing, ZX Spectrum
Battle Valley, Commodore 64
Breath of Fire, Super Nintendo
Breath of Fire II, Super Nintendo
BMX Kidz, Commodore 64
Battlecruiser 3000AD, PC
Bubble Ghost, Atari ST
Bubble Ghost, Amstrad CPC
Bubble Ghost, Game Boy
Braxx Bluff, ZX Spectrum
Bounder, Commodore 64

Celebration, Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64 Week

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Nintendo‘s 64-bit console was first released in 1996 in Japan (and in limited numbers in the USA), and 1997 everywhere else.

The N64 was the third Nintendo video game console (after the NES and the SNES) and was a leap forward in technology that had a profound effect on the games market as a whole. It is a console suited to 3D graphics and gameplay, but also extremely capable with 2D graphics (although you’d be hard pushed to find a game on the N64 that was entirely made of 2D graphics).

Continue reading Nintendo 64 Week →

Atari ST, Celebration

Atari ST Special

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The Atari ST was a 16-bit home computer that was a great breeding ground for video games in the ’80s and ’90s. Many original classics were born on the ST (Dungeon Master, Simulcra, and Frontier to name but a few), and many older classics were ported to the ST to give them a new lease of life.

Continue reading Atari ST Special →

Arcade, Celebration

Old Arcade Shooters Special

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I have a fondness for old arcade shoot ’em ups. Particularly the first colour arcade shooters of the early Eighties. Just hearing the sound effects takes me back to my childhood… Playing Space Invaders at the local leisure centre. Galaxian at the video lending library. Phoenix at the seaside…

I’ve covered a few old arcade shooters already on here, but this ‘special’ is meant to fill in a few gaps. Particularly with regards to pioneering video games of the early ‘colour era’ of arcade machines.

Continue reading Old Arcade Shooters Special →

Bad Video Games, Celebration

Bad Games Week

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This week – something a little different… I’m only going to be featuring truly terrible video games for publication on the blog.

Yes, this is “Bad Games Week” at The King of Grabs!

If it’s rubbish, but has something interesting about it, then I’ll consider including it. Every system has its collection of howlers – I’m just picking a few of my favourites.

Seven days of the worst video games in history!

Starting today… ending Sunday. Enjoy!

Here’s a summary of links to what was published:
Grange Hill ZX Spectrum
Grange Hill, Commodore 64
Grange Hill, Amstrad CPC
Ultra Vortek, Atari Jaguar
Rise of the Robots, PC
Black Crystal, ZX Spectrum
Black Crystal, Commodore 64
Scuba Dive, Commodore 64
Kung Food, Atari Lynx
Toilet Kids, PC Engine
Quarantine, PC

Enjoy!
The King of Grabs

Grange Hill ZX Spectrum 05

Celebration, Nintendo, Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Week

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The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES for short) was first released in Japan as the Super Famicom in 1990.

After the success of the NES, any follow-up console from Nintendo would really have to be “super” to keep the ball rolling, and the SNES certainly was just that.

Countless great video games were released for the Super Nintendo and the system stands out in retro gaming history as something unique and powerful – compared to what had gone before it.

We’re spoiled now. Modern consoles can render a hundred thousand polygons in an instant. But back in 1990 you were lucky if you got hardware sprites and smooth-scrolling backgrounds. Thankfully the Super Nintendo had all of that. And it had “Mode 7” too – a now legendary graphics technique that allowed flat textures to move around in 3D space. Later on it had a special chip, called the Super FX Chip, that gave it more power and better 3D graphics capabilities.

The Super Nintendo played host to thousands of games overall, and a percentage have gone down in video gaming history as some of the best ever. The allure of the Super Nintendo is still strong. Be that in real hardware, which is still quite easy to get hold of, or via the magic of emulation.

This week I’m going to be celebrating the brilliance of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by adding a collection of grabs from great SNES games. Well, ones that we haven’t featured already, anyway. 🙂

Here’s a list of links to what was published that week:

Addams Family Values,
Super Mario Kart,
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe,
Sim Ant,
F-Zero,
Dungeon Master,
E.V.O.: Search For Eden,
The Lost Vikings,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time,
Super Bomberman,
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals,
Krusty’s Super Fun House,
Pocky & Rocky,
Smash TV

Click here to list all the Super Nintendo games we’ve featured so far.

Enjoy!
The King of Grabs

Super Nintendo Week 01

Celebration, Lists

Games Beginning With ‘A’ Week

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I was looking through my grabs recently and realised that there were more games beginning with the letter ‘S’ than any other letter of the alphabet, and wondered why…

Maybe it’s because there’s a penchant for calling Super Nintendo games “Super Somethingorother“?

Which set my mind in motion…

[“It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.”]

I thought: “I should have a random celebration of games that start with a particular letter of the alphabet every now and then.”

So we’ll start off this week at the very beginning… With the letter ‘A’.

So… a week of games beginning with the letter ‘A’! 🙂

Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse, PC
Adventures of Lolo 3, NES
ActRaiser, Super Nintendo
ARAC, Commodore 64
Another World, Megadrive/Genesis
Alone In The Dark 2, PC
Alchemist, ZX Spectrum
A-10 Tank Killer, PC
Action Biker, Commodore 64
Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior, Neo Geo
Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Game Boy Advance
Alter Ego, Commodore 64
Aliens vs. Predator, Arcade
Abe’s Oddysee, PlayStation

Enjoy,
The King of Grabs

Celebration, ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum Week

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The humble ZX Spectrum was first released onto an unsuspecting public in 1982 and was an instant hit with gamers.

It initially came in two varieties – 16K and 48K RAM versions – and had a curious rubber keyboard and a built-in sound speaker.

In spite of that it managed to dominate the UK (and arguably European) gaming scene throughout the 1980s and also inspire a generation of computer users and game designers (some of whom still make games for it to this day).

Later versions of the ZX Spectrum had better keyboards and more memory, but the games were still unique and distinguishable.

This week I’ll be dedicating this blog to classic ZX Spectrum games and will be featuring some of my favourites in this ever-expanding gallery of grabs. Hope you enjoy!

Here are links to what was published:
Roller Coaster,
Skool Daze,
Wheelie,
Stop The Express,
Zynaps,
Trashman,
Auf Wiedersehen Monty,
Wizard’s Lair,
Dark Side,
Starstrike 3D,
Starstrike II,
Nosteratu the Vampyre,
Sir Fred,
Lords of Midnight,
Doomdark’s Revenge,
Starquake

More: ZX Spectrum on Wikipedia

See also: 100 Best ZX Spectrum Loading Screens:
Part #1, Part #2, Part #3, Part #4, Part #5

48K ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum Internals
Celebration, Square, Super Nintendo

Seiken Densetsu 3 Week

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I recently spent some time playing and grabbing the legendary Super Nintendo game Seiken Densetsu 3 and couldn’t finish until I had completed it.

To say that the experience was “good” would be an understatement…

Seiken Densetsu 3 is a truly brilliant game with a lot to offer games-players who love a challenge. And a good old level-grinder. And a visual treat. In fact, I had so much fun grabbing this game that I have decided to make a series out of the resulting screenshots.

This week I’m going to be publishing grabs of my adventure over the space of five days, showing the game from start to finish. I’ll also be writing about individual aspects of the game in each episode.

Don’t worry about spoilers. My grabs show only a fraction of the available game, played through with just one party. One of the great things about Seiken Densetsu 3 is that you can play with different party configurations and the storyline will change as you go. I’ll explain more about that over the coming week.

Few games deserve five whole days dedicated to them, but Seiken Densetsu 3 is a masterpiece of 2D graphical art, I think, from start to finish. Incredible boss battles; memorable music; brilliant interface; multi-language versions – I’ll look in more detail at these as the week progresses.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Squaresoft‘s Seiken Densetsu 3, by The King of Grabs.

Seiken Densetsu 3 Week
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 1]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 2]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 3]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 4]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 5]

More: Seiken Densetsu 3 on Wikipedia

 

Seiken Densetsu 3 Bosses 01 - Full Metal Hagger

Seiken Densetsu 3 Bosses 06 - Bill and Ben

Celebration, Ocean Software

Head Over Heels Week

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Happy April Fools Day!

A celebration of jokes and humour, and – in our world – video games.

Written by Jon Ritman, with graphics by Bernie Drummond, Head Over Heels was first released in 1987 and is still a fantastic game to play now – across a number of different formats.

So every day this week we’re going to be celebrating Head Over Heels – a classic 3D platform game like no other – starting with the ZX Spectrum original, and covering all the different versions of the game as the week progresses.

Anyway: welcome to April. You lovely gaming fools.

The King of Grabs

Head Over Heels on The King of Grabs:
ZX Spectrum version, Commodore 64 version, Amstrad CPC version, MSX version, Atari 800 version, Atari ST version, Amiga version, PC version, Head Over Heels Week