Scuba Dive on the Commodore 64 must rate as one of the worst conversions of all time.
Tag Archives: Non-violent
Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!, Game Boy Color
Hamtaro is a series of video games based on a successful anime series for kids.
Ham-Hams Unite! is the first game in the series to receive an official English translation.
International Basketball, Commodore 64
As good as International Soccer is (well, isn’t), International Basketball is on a whole ‘nother level when it comes to playability…
Again written by Andrew Spencer for Commodore, International Basketball looks very similar to its predecessor but is leagues better, in terms of gameplay.
International Soccer, Commodore 64
Andrew Spencer‘s International Soccer is a very early football game for the Commodore 64. And by “very early” I mean: 1983.
It stood out from other football games on the market at the time because it had a modicum of playability. You could at least take possession of the ball and have shots on target. You could at least kick the ball in the right direction…
Everyone’s A Wally, ZX Spectrum
Chris Hinsley‘s 1985 follow-up to Pyjamarama sees the return – once again – of Wally Week. The mechanic turned mundane video game hero.
The unique thing about Everyone’s A Wally is that you can switch between five different characters and go about your adventuring business – two years before Maniac Mansion.
Trashman, ZX Spectrum
Trashman – by Malcolm Evans – is an interesting and unique game in which you play the role of a refuse collector (bin man, or – if you’re American – a trash collector), collecting bins (or trash cans), and dumping them into a blue lorry that is creeping up the street as you work.
Championship Pool, Super Nintendo
Bitmasters‘ 1993 title Championship Pool for the SNES is – I think – arguably the best pool game of all time. On any system.
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.
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.
Luigi’s Mansion, GameCube
Luigi’s Mansion was first released in 2001 on the Nintendo GameCube, and was a launch title if I remember correctly (meaning: it was available when the GameCube was first released).