Initially released for PC MS-DOS in 1991, Sim Ant (aka SimAnt) is a video game that simulates the life of an ant colony. It’s a game that has fascinated me since I first played it, in the same way that watching a real ant nest – or documentaries about ants – fascinates me.
Tag Archives: overhead
Ikari Warriors, MSX
The 1987 MSX2 version of the classic coin-op, Ikari Warriors, is arguably the best 8-bit conversion of this scrolling shooter around. It was converted by SNK themselves, so is about as authentic as an MSX fan could hope for. In fact: the producer of this port was Koji Obada, who designed the original arcade game.
Thunder Force II, Megadrive/Genesis
Techno Soft‘s Thunder Force II originally came out for the Sharp X68000 home computer in 1988 and this Megadrive port followed later, in 1989. It’s official title is “Thunder Force II MD” – the ‘MD‘ of course meaning ‘Megadrive‘.
Aliens: Thanatos Encounter, Game Boy Color
Developed by an Australian company called Wicked Witch Software for Crawfish Interactive, and published by Fox Interactive in 2001, Aliens: Thanatos Encounter is an overhead shooter in the style of Team 17‘s Alien Breed. It was released exclusively for the Game Boy Color.
Hover Bovver, Atari 8-bit
Jeff Minter‘s early grass-cutting maze game, Hover Bovver, was first released by Llamasoft in 1983 for both Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit systems. Both versions are fairly pointless points-scoring exercises with gameplay and maze layouts that don’t really make much sense.
Hover Bovver, Commodore 64
The original Commodore 64 version of Jeff Minter‘s Hover Bovver is just as niggly and annoying as the Atari 8-bit version, which was released as the game’s “evil twin” in 1983.
Saturn Bomberman, Sega Saturn
The Saturn‘s version of Bomberman is one of the best Bomberman games available, with perfect-bomb-dropping gameplay and beautiful, colourful 2D graphics that retain the look and feel of the Super Nintendo and PC Engine classics, but with a slightly modern twist. Well, modern for 1997, when Saturn Bomberman was first released.
The Legend of Oasis, Sega Saturn
The Legend of Oasis is the Saturn-exclusive sequel (and prequel) to Beyond Oasis on the Megadrive/Genesis. It’s also known as “The Story of Thor 2” in some territories. The game was developed by Ancient and published by Sega in 1996.
Snare, Commodore 64
Snare is a game show of the future where the contestant puts their life at risk trying to crack the secrets of a deadly maze inside the temporal cavity of a dead billionaire’s garden. The game was written by Rob Stevens and was first published by Thalamus in 1989.
Bionic Commando: Elite Forces, Game Boy Color
Developed by an American company, called Nintendo Software Technology, Bionic Commando: Elite Forces is the only game in the Bionic Commando series to be developed and published by Nintendo (and not the franchise owner, Capcom). It first came out – exclusively for the Game Boy Color – in the year 2000, and is a sequel to Bionic Commando on the Game Boy.
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