Tag Archives: lasers

Konami, MSX

Gradius, MSX

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Gradius – also known as Nemesis in some regions – was one of the first progressive weapons shooters to come out in arcades, and it was a big hit in 1985 when it was first released.

This led to the game being converted to many home computer systems, including the MSX, which was programmed by Konami themselves. So the game is unsurprisingly very good; very authentic, and with graphics and gameplay that push the MSX quite hard (I wouldn’t say “to its limits”, because I’m not a marketing a-hole, but it does push first-generation MSXes a fair degree).

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Mastertronic, ZX Spectrum

Nonterraqueous, ZX Spectrum

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A game with a strange name – actually the name of the planet you’re on: Nonterraqueous.

You control a robot ‘seeker drone’ on a mission to destroy the master computer that is threatening destruction of the entire planet.

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Archimedes, Minerva Software

Bug Hunter in Space, Archimedes

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Bug Hunter in Space is the sequel to Bug Hunter, both written by Ian Richardson. This follow-up was published by Minerva Software in 1990 and is a platform puzzle game where you play a six-inch bipedal invertebrate called “Hysteron Proteron” on a mission to squash bugs, and stop aliens from destroying all life on earth.

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Ashby Computers and Graphics, BBC Micro, Ultimate Play The Game

Jet Pac, BBC Micro

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The BBC Micro conversion of Ultimate‘s classic Jet Pac looks pretty chunky, graphics-wise, but plays well enough.

The ZX Spectrum version was smash hit when it was first released in 1983, and all the other conversions seem to lack the charm of the original. This one is no exception.

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Crystal Computing, Design Design, ZX Spectrum

Invasion of the Body Snatchas!, ZX Spectrum

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Created by Design Design and first published by Crystal Computing in 1983, Invasion of the Body Snatchas! is a super-hard Defender clone for the ZX Spectrum.

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gog.com, Konami, XBox

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, XBox

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Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is an expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (which was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001). Substance was released for the XBox by Konami in 2002.

It’s the fourth Metal Gear game co-written and designed by Hideo Koijima and the seventh game in the series as a whole.

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Media.Vision, PlayStation, Sony

Rapid Reload, PlayStation

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Called Gunner’s Heaven in its native Japan, Rapid Reload is a run-and-gun scrolling shooter with amazing 2D graphics, massive amounts of destruction, and lots of tough boss battles. It was developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony.

Rapid Reload was first released for the PlayStation in 1995 and made an immediate impression with gamers, predominantly because of the action-packed gameplay and the sheer amount of on-screen carnage. Outside of arcades, little had been seen on this scale before – at least in terms of the amount of stuff going on on-screen. You only have to play the first level to know what you’ve got in store when you play Rapid Reload.

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Ultimate Play The Game, ZX Spectrum

Cyberun, ZX Spectrum

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Released in 1986, Cyberun was arguably Ultimate Play the Game‘s most successful Spectrum game after the label’s sale to US Gold. The game received a Crash Smash in issue 28 of Crash magazine. Although it really shouldn’t have…

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Konami, MSX

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, MSX

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Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear and was first released for the MSX2 by Konami in 1990. It was again written and designed by Hideo Koijima and is much better than the half-baked pseudo sequel, Snake’s Revenge, by Ultra Games on the NES.

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