Automania – developed by Chris Hinsley for Mikro-Gen in 1984 – is the first ever appearance of the character Wally Week.
Tag Archives: jolly
VVVVVV, PC
Terry Cavanagh‘s VVVVVV is an extremely smart-but-simple platform/indie game that feels a lot like a Commodore 64 game from the ’80s, although it was actually released in 2010.
Track & Field, Arcade
Konami‘s 1983 arcade hit Track & Field broke new ground with its button-bashing gameplay.
It also broke a fair few cabinets along the way, with arcade machine operators having to repair the buttons on machines quite often, to keep them operative (and therefore earning money). A broken Track & Field machine was no good to anyone, and people tend to get carried away and hit too hard when playing this game.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Game Boy Advance
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance is a brilliant mix of platforming and level-grinding.
The ‘twist’ in this game is that you control both Mario and Luigi simultaneously during the game, and can switch between each character – or use them in tandem – to solve certain puzzles.
Continue reading Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Game Boy Advance
Lock ‘n’ Chase, Arcade
Yes, Data East‘s classic 1981 arcade game does feature a policeman called “Stiffy”. The other three are called “Scaredy”, “Smarty” and “Silly”. And together the four of them chase you – a thief – whose mission it is to collect the coins in the maze, and any other treasure that appears, before escaping.
Monty On The Run, Commodore 64
Created by Pete Harrap and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1985, Monty On The Run is the sequel to Wanted: Monty Mole, and a real step up in quality from the first game, in terms of satisfying platform action.
Super Tennis, Super Nintendo
Still my favourite tennis game of all time. On any system.
Super Tennis on the SNES is so good; so much fun to bend shots around the net; such a good balance between cartoony-ness and realism, that it is always a joy to revisit.
Pssst, ZX Spectrum
Featuring a cute robot (called Robbie) whose job it is to keep the insects away from the plants.
Cookie, ZX Spectrum
Another of Ultimate‘s early ZX Spectrum classics, Cookie – from 1983 – is a simple arcade-style action game where you are a little chef sprite shooting bags of flour at ingredients to knock them into a mixing bowl.
Sensible Golf, PC
Relatively obscure follow-up to Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder.
Sensible Golf was first released in 1994 for the PC and Amiga, and didn’t really make much of an impact on the market, although it’s not a bad game at all.
The King of Grabs 