The Atari ST version of the infamous The Great Giana Sisters is as good-looking as the original Mario game it is ‘satirising’. It is chunky and colourful and characterful, although gameplay wise it is not a patch on the Mario Bros. games.
Tag Archives: female lead
Chew Man Fu, PC Engine
Known as “Be Ball” in its native Japan, Chew Man Fu is an excellent arcade-style puzzle game where the gameplay involves pushing and pulling coloured balls around a maze.
Umihara Kawase, Super Nintendo
Umihara Kawase is a weird-but-great Japanese platform game first released for the Super Nintendo in 1994.
The game has an excellent rope-based mechanic that makes it different and interesting to play.
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).
Twinkle Star Sprites, Neo Geo
SNK‘s Twinkle Star Sprites was released for the Neo Geo in 1996 and is an interesting mix of vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up and head-to-head puzzle game. Yes, I know that sounds weird, and this game IS weird, but weird in all the right ways…
Metroid Prime, GameCube
The fifth game in Nintendo‘s famous “Metroid” series, and the first to use 3D graphics, Metroid Prime follows the well-worn gameplay path of the earlier Metroid games (that is: have all your equipment; lose all your equipment; have to find all your equipment again) and again sees you playing as Samus Aran, a female ex-soldier with a powered exoskeleton.
Lady Stalker: Challenge From The Past, Super Nintendo
This 1995 Japan-only Taito release is a follow-up (spin-off, rather than a sequel) to Landstalker on the Sega Megadrive.
Continue reading Lady Stalker: Challenge From The Past, Super Nintendo
Metroid Fusion, Game Boy Advance
Also known as “Metroid 4“, Metroid Fusion on the Game Boy Advance is the fourth episode in the famous run-and-gun series from Nintendo and was first released in 2002.
Super Metroid, Super Nintendo
The third game in the Metroid series is a top class Super Nintendo classic.
Super Metroid (1994) is more detailed than both previous Metroid games put together, although the basic structure is the same – explore various levels to find your latent abilities, all of which have been lost (“Why does this keep happening in Metroid games?” you may ask. “It’s in the script,” is my answer).
Metroid II: Return of Samus, Game Boy
The second ever Metroid game first appeared on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1991.
Metroid II: Return of Samus is a brilliant continuation of the first Metroid game. The animation of lead character Samus is much more gritty and realistic in this game, compared to the NES original. And the monochromatic graphics actually seem to add to the eerie atmosphere, rather than hamper the game at all.
The King of Grabs 