Released on 26th September 1986 in Japan, Akumajō Dracula (translating as: “Demon Castle Dracula“) was the very first release in the Castlevania series, predating the MSX version of the game by about a month. Konami released it on the Famicom Disk System where it quickly became a hit with Japanese gamers.
It began a long-running series of platform/horror-themed video games and set the template for the Castlevania series as a whole.
The Famicom Disk System (FDS) was a peripheral for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that allowed games to be loaded from disk rather than cartridge. Not only that but it also had extra RAM on board and an extra sound chip.
Kirby’s Adventure is the second game in the Kirby series (after Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy), and – boy – doesn’t it look good in colour?
This console conversion of Raffaele Cecco‘s Cybernoid was released by Acclaim Entertainment in 1989.
It is just as difficult and frustrating as the original, if not more so.
This excellent Nintendo Entertainment System version of Codemasters‘ Super Robin Hood was developed in the late Eighties, before the 16-bit versions (which are somewhat different to the classic 8-bit originals).
Although this second Zelda game sold well (more than 4 million copies worldwide at the time), it is not particularly well-liked.
Continue reading Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, NES/Famicom
Based on the infamous Clint Eastwood film of the same name, Dirty Harry – the video game – is a fairly basic platform shooter released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.
Solstice is a neat isometric platform/puzzle game from British developer Software Creations. It was published by Sony for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and is the (spiritual?) predecessor to the Super Nintendo game Equinox.
The 1984 NES version is the only one of the early releases of Lode Runner to feature scrolling levels.
1986 saw the release of the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES, although it wasn’t on cartridge – it was on floppy disk. Specifically: for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System (FDS).
A cartridge version, with battery backup-up saves, was released in North America in 1987.
