Tag Archives: magic

Alchemist, ZX Spectrum

This very early, side-scrolling fantasy action game was created by Ian Weatherburn for Imagine Software in 1983.

In the game you control the titular Alchemist – a guy who can shape-shift into a golden eagle and fly to places he can’t normally walk to.

Continue reading Alchemist, ZX Spectrum

Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse, PC

I remember playing and reviewing this PC MS-DOS game when it first came out in 1994.

Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse is a more ‘action-oriented’ TSR role-playing game, compared to many of the other ‘Gold Box’ TSR RPGs of the time (and there were lots – courtesy of SSI and US Gold). ‘RPG Lite’ you could call it.

Continue reading Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse, PC

Darkwatch, XBox

Developed by High Moon Studios, Darkwatch is a First-Person Shooter/survival horror game that crosses the American “Wild West” with ghosts, zombies and werewolves and that kind of material.

When it was first released, back in 2005, is was quite impressive for the time. In this day and age Darkwatch looks and plays very simply, but is not entirely without its redeeming features.

Continue reading Darkwatch, XBox

Shining In The Darkness, Megadrive/Genesis

When I first played Shining In The Darkness – a 1991 party-based Role-Playing Game for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis, developed by Climax Entertainment and published by Sega – I was ready to dismiss it, because of the unattractive, ‘cartoony’ graphics, the clunky interface, and the generic script. But after some determined play – admittedly: in an emulator, and using quicksaves – it became apparent that this was no ‘throwaway’ level-grinder. It was in fact something quite special…

Continue reading Shining In The Darkness, Megadrive/Genesis

King Arthur’s World, Super Nintendo

Argonaut Software‘s 1992 release (through Jaleco) – King Arthur’s World – is an interesting and challenging real time action game with strategic overtones.

Continue reading King Arthur’s World, Super Nintendo

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, PC

First released in 2015, CD Projekt Red‘s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a third-person, open world Role-Playing Game that is based on a series of novels by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

Obviously it is the third instalment in the series (and last, according to the developers), and in it you play a monster-hunting detective badass called Geralt – a Witcher; a carrier of two swords (one steel, for killing humans, and one silver, for killing monsters); and a superhuman solver of problems with acute senses and no emotions.

Continue reading The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, PC

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Game Boy Color

The Game Boy Color has a brilliant remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It was first released in 1998 and features an added colour-themed dungeon not seen in the original monochrome release.

Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Game Boy Color

Cave Noire, Game Boy

Konami‘s Cave Noire is a smart little handheld ‘Roguelike’ dungeon crawler for the Nintendo Game Boy that was first released in Japan in 1991. Cave Noire did not receive a release outside of its native country, which is a pity because it’s an excellent game.

Continue reading Cave Noire, Game Boy

Final Fantasy Legend II, Game Boy

This 1991 sequel to the classic Squaresoft RPG Final Fantasy Legend is considered by many to be even better than the first game. And I would have to concur with that view.

Continue reading Final Fantasy Legend II, Game Boy

Final Fantasy Legend, Game Boy

Final Fantasy Legend on the Nintendo Game Boy is a game that particularly resonates with me because I remember buying it back in 1989 and playing it to death over the space of six months. Everywhere I went at the time I had my Game Boy, battery pack, and Final Fantasy Legend cartridge, and I would play it whenever I had the time. And when I hear the iconic music playing it takes me back like a time machine…

Continue reading Final Fantasy Legend, Game Boy