Released in 1991 in Japan and Europe, and in 1993 in North America, Bomberman II is the sequel to 1985’s Bomberman on the NES/Famicom, and it features improved graphics and a multiplayer mode for competitive games against other players (a first for the series). Bomberman II is more in line with the excellent PC Engine version of Bomberman, than anything radically different, and it does improve parts of the game considerably.
Tag Archives: Iconic
Bomberman, PC Engine
The PC Engine version of Bomberman was where this famous video game series really began to take off. It features enhanced graphics, sound and gameplay, further refining Bomberman into the more familiar ‘modern’ incarnation that most games-players know and love. Bomberman was released in Japan in 1990; in North America, for the TurboGrafx-16, by NEC Technologies in 1991, and in Europe by Ubisoft in 1992.
Bomberman, NES/Famicom
The first NES/Famicom version of Hudson Soft‘s Bomberman was a significant enhancement of the Bomberman concept, and was the first game in the series to feature the famous Bomberman player character, with the white helmet (actually an enemy graphic taken and adapted from Hudson‘s 1984 Famicom port of Brøderbund‘s Lode Runner). Bomberman was released in 1985 in Japan, but wasn’t released in North America until 1989.
The Empire Strikes Back, ZX Spectrum
A port of the arcade sequel to Star Wars, released into arcades in 1985; converted to the Spectrum by Vektor Grafix and published by Domark in 1988.
Star Wars, ZX Spectrum
This port of the classic Atari arcade game, Star Wars, on the ZX Spectrum, was developed by Vektor Grafix and published by Domark in 1987.
Lemmings, Atari Lynx
The Atari Lynx version of Lemmings was developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in 1993, and it is an enjoyable port of this great puzzle/rescue game.
Stunt Car Racer, Atari 8-bit
Geoff Crammond‘s classic Stunt Car Racer was converted to Atari 8-bit systems by homebrew coders Fandal and Irgendwer in 2018. And it is an excellent port that plays identically to the C64 version it is based upon.
Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis
The “Extra Version” of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands is a modified version of the original arcade game, where the levels have been rearranged and the enemies changed to make the game more challenging. There are some new power-ups to discover, and the bosses have also been changed too. Rainbow Islands Extra was released into arcades in limited quantities in 1988, and was also released on the Sega Megadrive in 1990 and the FM Towns in 1992.
Continue reading Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis
Donkey Kong, Super Game Boy
The Game Boy port of Donkey Kong was first released by Nintendo in 1994 and it really is something special. I’m showing the Super Game Boy version of Donkey Kong here, with its special arcade bezel border and enhanced colour palette. It was, in fact, the first Game Boy cartridge released with Super Game Boy enhancements. If you want to see the original B&W version, click here.
Donkey Kong, Game Boy
The 1994 Game Boy remake of Nintendo‘s iconic arcade game is something very special. It is an enhanced re-imagining of Donkey Kong that begins with the original game and then transforms into something amazing – a brand new game with nine themed stages and 95 individual levels.