Tag Archives: Retro Gaming History

Herzog, MSX

This obscure Japanese action game is a prototype of one of the first ever real-time strategy games – Herzog Zwei on the Sega Megadrive – and it is also one of the best games you can play on an MSX.

Herzog was developed and published on disk for the MSX2 by Techno Soft (nee, Tecno Soft) in 1988.

Continue reading Herzog, MSX

Stonkers, ZX Spectrum

This 1983 release from Imagine Software is one of the earliest examples of a Real-Time Strategy game ever made.

It might not look like much, but Stonkers is an important game, and designer/programmer John Gibson probably never even realised it at the time.

Continue reading Stonkers, ZX Spectrum

Cosmic Avenger, Arcade

Cosmic Avenger is a groundbreaking arcade shooter first released in 1981 by Universal. It was one of the first ever side-scrolling shoot ’em ups, and was released the same year as Konami‘s Scramble.

Continue reading Cosmic Avenger, Arcade

Mario Kart 64, Nintendo 64

Mario Kart 64 is the successor to the brilliant Super Mario Kart on the SNES and the second game in the famous Mario Kart series. It was first published by Nintendo for the N64 console in 1996.

Continue reading Mario Kart 64, Nintendo 64

Delta, Commodore 64

Designed and programmed by Stavros Fasoulas in 1987, Delta is a classic side-scrolling shooter with spaceships, sprites, and fast, furious action.

And: like Fasoulas‘s previous game, Sanxion, it’s also immensely challenging.

Continue reading Delta, Commodore 64

Sanxion, Commodore 64

Designed and programmed by Stavros Fasoulas in 1986, Sanxion is a classic side-scrolling C64 shoot ’em that is remembered for being challenging, and for also being a slick piece of coding.

It was also the very first game released by Thalamus, who went on to publish some of the best games in C64 history.

Continue reading Sanxion, Commodore 64

Stargate, Arcade

Also known as Defender II, Stargate is the 1981 sequel to Williams ElectronicsDefender, which was released earlier the same year.

Stargate was designed and programmed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid Kidz, for Williams, and it features the same superfast blasting action as Defender, but with subtle differences.

Continue reading Stargate, Arcade

Flicky, Arcade

Originating in arcades in 1984, Flicky is a super cute bird-collecting platform game by Sega that relies heavily on gravity, inertia, and jumping to provide the challenge.

The aim of the game is simple: you play a blue bird who must collect up the small, yellow chicks (the “PioPio“), and avoid contact with the cats (the “Nyannyan“) on your way to taking the chicks home (the door you came in through). The quicker you do this, the more bonus points you get.

Simple. Or at least you might have thought so…

Continue reading Flicky, Arcade

Mario Bros., Arcade

Released into arcades by Nintendo in 1983, Mario Bros. is a one or two-player platform game featuring Mario and Luigi as the main characters. Incidentally, this was the first time Luigi ever appeared in a video game.

Mario Bros. was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi – two of the lead creators of Donkey Kong, of which this game is a follow-up.

Continue reading Mario Bros., Arcade