Written by Carol Shaw for Activision and published initially for the Atari 2600 in 1982, River Raid is an early vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up with simple graphics, challenging gameplay, and its own unique set of rules.
Tag Archives: flying
Pilotwings, Super Nintendo
Nintendo‘s famous flying game, Pilotwings, first came out in Japan in 1990, then the following year was a launch title for the North American and European releases of the Super Nintendo.
Pilotwings uses scaling and rotation effects (known as ‘Mode 7’ in some circles) to give a visual representation of the ground, with regular 2D sprites making up everything else, and it works extremely well.
Star Fighter 3000, Archimedes
Also known as “Star Fighter” in some quarters, Star Fighter 3000 is a game from Fednet Software, published by Krisalis in 1994.
It’s a third-person shooter with relatively primitive 3D graphics, in a similar kind of style to Nintendo‘s Star Fox.
Thanatos, ZX Spectrum
Thanatos is an unusual side-scrolling action game designed by Mike Richardson and programmed by Rod Barrington for Durell Software in 1986.
The game is unusual because you play as a dragon… Yes, that’s right: a dragon! And not any old dragon, but as “Thanatos the Destroyer” – a fire-breathing behemoth with a heart.
Potty Pigeon, Commodore 64
Percy the Potty Pigeon (to give the game its full title) was coded by Tony Crowther and published by Gremlin Graphics for the C64 in 1984. It was a minor hit at the time.
Mercenary, Commodore 16/Plus4
Requiring 64K of RAM to run, and coded by Paul Woakes himself, Mercenary on the Plus4 is an almost perfect conversion of his classic 3D, C64 exploration game.
Rescue From Zylon, Commodore 16/Plus4
Written by Mark J. Moore and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1985, Rescue From Zylon I would say is one of the best games ever released for the Commodore 16.
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Sega Saturn
Some consider this 1996 ‘freebie’ from Sega to be the best Christmas-themed game of all time. And maybe it is, because – let’s face it – there isn’t much competition.
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams is an adaptation of the classic Sega Saturn game NiGHTS into Dreams (also released in 1996), which was developed by the famous Sonic Team.
Kokotoni Wilf, Commodore 64
Of the three versions of Kokotoni Wilf released by Elite Systems, the Commodore 64 version is arguably the worst.
Kokotoni Wilf, Amstrad CPC
Compared to the Spectrum original, Amstrad Kokotoni Wilf is pretty ugly. The developers have chosen a dark blue background with green caves, and the odd splash of colour in the (very flickery) sprites and landscape decorations. The graphics are very poor in my opinion.
The King of Grabs 