The second Magnetic Scrolls game – first released in 1987 – is called The Guild of Thieves, and is another text-based fantasy adventure, set in the same place as The Pawn (Kerovnia).
Tag Archives: pioneering
The Pawn, Atari ST
The Pawn was the first Magnetic Scrolls game, and the one that set the company up, in terms of its extremely high standards.
Parasol Stars, PC Engine
Taito released Parasol Stars for the PC Engine in 1991. It is the third game in the Bubble Bobble series and features Bubby and Bobby – the two human characters from Rainbow Islands – both armed with a multi-purpose parasol and the ability to chuck water around with them.
Uridium, Atari ST
Andrew Braybrook‘s classic C64 shooter, Uridium, was given a 16-bit release courtesy of Joe Hellesen and Mindscape in 1986.
Wanted: Monty Mole, ZX Spectrum
Back in 1984 in the UK there was an infamous, historic miner’s strike that lasted for over a year and caused hardship for many communities. Rather than sit and spectate, young Peter Harrap wrote a satirical platform game about a mining mole and published it, with all the profits going to help the struggling, striking miners. That game was Wanted: Monty Mole, and it launched Pete Harrap on his career making video games, and also the Monty Mole ‘franchise’. Although I can’t really call it a franchise because it wasn’t. It was simply a series of games.
Rampage, Arcade
Rampage is a very fondly-remembered arcade game that features gigantic monsters fighting it out over a series of destroyable skyscrapers.
Mercenary: The Second City, Commodore 64
Not a sequel, but a ‘data disk’ add-on that you load through the original Mercenary. The Second City starts off pretty much the same as Mercenary – crashing on a planet (this time the other side of the one you explored in Mercenary, and also a different colour) and having to explore to get on and eventually escape.
Mercenary: The Second City, Atari ST
A 16-bit conversion of Paul Woakes‘ classic 8-bit exploration sequel to Mercenary. Well, not really a sequel – more a continuation… The real sequel came later.
The Atari ST‘s power (relative to the Commodore 64) means smoother, faster 3D graphics; more colours (useful, when colours are used to identify rooms and places underground); and more sensitive controls.
Mercenary, Atari ST
A fine 16-bit conversion of the classic Mercenary by Paul Woakes, written by Woakes himself it seems. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s a great game and deserves doing right, so who better to code it than the original creator?
Sensible World of Soccer, Amiga
Arguably the best version of Sensible Soccer, on any system. It has international and domestic teams, leagues, cups, friendlies, career mode, specials, and more. The level of detail is quite remarkable.
The King of Grabs 