Tag Archives: maze

Commodore 64, Epyx, Palace Software

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, Commodore 64

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The sequel to 1987’s cult hit Barbarian, Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a similar fighting game, but with more variety than the first game, and the possibility of exploring the actual world by moving from screen to screen (“wow! What a technological advancement!“). Barbarian II was first released in 1988 by Palace Software. The game was later licensed by Epyx for distribution in North America under the title of “Axe of Rage“.

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Amstrad CPC, Ariolasoft

Bride of Frankenstein, Amstrad CPC

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The Amstrad CPC version of Ariolasoft‘s Bride of Frankenstein could be the best version of this game available for 8-bit home computers (although that’s really not saying much). It looks slightly better than the C64 and Spectrum versions, and it’s also got fairly responsive controls, so is somewhat playable.

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Ariolasoft, ZX Spectrum

Bride of Frankenstein, ZX Spectrum

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I’m not sure if the Commodore 64 version of this obscure 8-bit game was the target platform, or if it was the Spectrum version, but all versions of Bride of Frankenstein that I’ve played so far have been pretty awful.

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Ariolasoft, Bad Video Games, Commodore 64

Bride of Frankenstein, Commodore 64

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Bride of Frankenstein is a cartoon action adventure game, based on Mary’s Shelley‘s classic Frankenstein story, written by Paul Smith and Steve Howard of Timedata Ltd. and published by Ariolasoft in 1987. And it is absolute rubbish. Yes: Bride of Frankenstein is a malformed, badly-designed abomination that is barely worth a mention here.

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Acornsoft, Archimedes, Superior Software

Repton 3, Archimedes

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The Acorn Archimedes version of Repton 3 is an excellent port of the 8-bit BBC Micro original, with enhanced graphics, responsive controls and a raft of extra levels not seen in the original. From what I can tell it was the only part of the Repton series that was ported to the Archimedes, which is fine because it’s probably the best game in the series.

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Atari Corporation, Atari Jaguar, id Software

Wolfenstein 3D, Atari Jaguar

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id Software‘s classic first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, was ported to the Atari Jaguar by John Carmack and his by-then-famous band of merry programmers and artists, and – unsurprisingly – it’s an excellent conversion. The game was published by Atari Corporation in 1994.

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Amstrad CPC, Ocean Software

Batman, Amstrad CPC

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The Amstrad CPC version of Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond‘s classic isometric platform game is arguably even better than the ZX Spectrum original it is based upon. Mainly because of the extra colours, which make a big difference.

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Homebrew, MSX, Retroworks, Ultimate Play The Game

Knight Lore MSX2 Remake, MSX

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This 2009 MSX2 remake of the classic Knight Lore was created by Manuel Pazos and Daniel Celemin of Retroworks, and it is a fun addition to the ever-growing number of Ultimate remakes on the internet. The same guys who made this also made the MSX2 remake of Alien 8, which I quite liked.

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NES/Famicom, Nintendo, Tose Co. Ltd.

Kid Icarus, NES/Famicom

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Developed by Nintendo R&D1 (with assistance from Tose Co. Ltd.), and first released for the Famicom Disk System by Nintendo in 1986, Kid Icarus is a cult classic scrolling platform game that is known for its high level of difficulty. The original Japanese title for the game is “Hikari Shinwa: Palthena no Kagami“. An NES cartridge version, with a different ending, an English language title screen and staff credits, was released in 1987.

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Commodore 64, Mastertronic, Mr. Chip Software

Rollaround, Commodore 64

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Rollaround is an isometric action/puzzle game written by Tony Kelly of Mr. Chip Software and was published by Mastertronic in 1987. The gameplay is a combination of Marble Madness, Bobby Bearing, Spindizzy and Q*Bert, where the aim is to control a rolling ball that moves around a map of screens, rolling over tiles, activating switches, and collecting cross tiles for points.

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