Although you may laugh at the title of this Christmas-themed game, it’s not called that because the publisher (Alternative Software) went to Lapland to buy an official license from Santa… It’s called that because it is an official tie-in with the famous children’s charity, Save The Children. The game was sold (for a reasonable £2.99, for the Spectrum, Amstrad and C64) in 1989 and all profits went to Save The Children.
Continue reading The Official Father Christmas Game, ZX Spectrum
Created in association with Save The Children, The Official Father Christmas Game was developed by Enigma Variations and published by Alternative Software for the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad in 1989. Profits from the game went to the aforementioned children’s charity.
Continue reading The Official Father Christmas Game, Commodore 64
Steve Crow‘s classic Spectrum game, Starquake, was converted to the BBC Micro by Kenton Price and published by Bubble Bus in 1987.
Graphically, the game is rather chunky because it uses a low-resolution screen mode (presumably so that more colours can be used on-screen at the same time), but the gameplay is mostly the same as the original.
Developed by Compile and originally released for the MSX in 1987 Golvellius was converted to the Master System by Sega in 1988. It is an action RPG with overhead, flick-screen exploration, Zelda-like sword-based combat and scrolling sections through caves.
Continue reading Golvellius: Valley of Doom, Sega Master System
Ghosts ‘N Goblins Arcade is another 2015 release from Nostalgia that re-makes the original (flawed) Elite port of Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and it features completely new graphics, sound, and gameplay features that bring it more into line with the original Ghosts ‘N Goblins arcade game.
This 1986 Commodore 64 conversion of Capcom‘s classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins was programmed by Chris Butler. Chris also created the graphics, which are pretty good overall, if a little spartan in places. Mark Cooksey created the music.
Wario: Master of Disguise was developed by Suzak and published for the Nintendo DS by Nintendo in 2007. It utilises dual screens (of course), and also requires use of the DS touchscreen when playing.
Wario World for the GameCube was developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo in 2003. It was the first 3D Wario game and, unusually, was released in Europe and North America before it eventually came out in Japan (almost a year after its initial release in the West).
The fourth game in the Wario Land series (after Wario Land, Wario Land II, and Wario Land 3) is arguably the best one at this point, having been released for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2001.
All three of the previous games were fun, varied, and beautifully-designed, but the enhanced graphics and power of the Game Boy Advance definitely gives this the edge over its predecessors.
Wario Land 3 is the sequel to Wario Land II and was developed and published for the Game Boy Color by Nintendo in 2000. It once again features Mario‘s rival, Wario, doing what he does best: shoulder-barging things and cheekily going about his destructive platform business.
The King of Grabs 