The NES/Famicom version of Maniac Mansion was developed and published by Jaleco in 1990 and is still worth playing today. It’s a fine port of a great game and translates well enough to Nintendo‘s machine that it arguably plays even better than the C64 original (although many will cry “Sacrilege!” to that).
Tag Archives: Satirical
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, NES/Famicom
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was developed by Nintendo R&D3 and was first published by Nintendo in 1987. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxing video games ever made, with well-animated cartoon-style characters and an intuitive and responsive control system.
Cobra, Commodore 64
The 1986 Commodore 64 version of Cobra – based on the Sylvester Stallone film of the same name – is infamous for its sheer awfulness. It is based on the more successful ZX Spectrum game, designed and programmed by the late Jonathan Smith, but has lost a great deal in translation to the C64.
Worms, Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar version of Team 17‘s Worms was developed by Ocean Software and first published by Telegames in 1998. It was the final Atari-licensed title to be released for the Jaguar. This port is based on the PlayStation version of Worms, which is a good thing because the PS1 version is arguably the best version of the game ever made.
Cannon Fodder, Atari Jaguar
Sensible Software‘s classic ‘titchy man’ overhead scrolling shooter, Cannon Fodder, is well-represented on the Jaguar, having been ported by a company called The Dome Software Developments, who did a worthy job with the conversion.
It Came From The Desert II, Amiga
It Came From The Desert II is an add-on/expansion pack for the classic ‘giant ant’ Cinemaware game, It Came From The Desert, and was first released in 1990. The story in this is set five years after the events of the first game. You don’t need the first game to play It Came From The Desert II, although you can load a save from part one, to continue from where you left off.
Duke Nukem Forever, PC
Duke Nukem Forever is the long-awaited sequel to Duke Nukem 3D that was in “development hell” for over a decade and was finally released in 2011. It was developed by 3D Realms and Gearbox Software (with contributions from Triptych Games and Piranha Games) and published by Take-Two Interactive. The game is a first-person shooter that satirises all-American action heroes, with over-the-top weapons, giant explosions, and puerile humour. Jon St. John once again returns to voice Duke himself.
Postal 2, PC
This utterly reprehensible (but fun) first-person shooter was developed by Running With Scissors and first published by Whiptail Interactive in 2003. It is the sequel to 1997’s highly controversial Postal and takes the concept of “going postal” to another level of stupidity and mayhem. Postal 2 is the kind of game that was made to please “edgelords” (some would call them “w*nkers“) and piss off politically correct liberals, and it satirises people in a way that few other games have ever dared to.
Postal, PC
Postal is an infamous, tongue-in-cheek, highly controversial shooter that satirises the process of “going postal” – a phenomenon whereby an individual ‘breaks’ and goes on a killing spree (called thus because “going postal” was once, in America, often associated with postal workers). It was developed by Running With Scissors and first published by Ripcord Games in 1997. The game – like every entry in the Postal series – is mindless, in poor taste, and designed to cause outrage, because outrageous things draw attention to themselves. In Postal‘s case it drew the attention of politicians who tried to ban it.
Alternative World Games, Commodore 64
Alternative World Games is a parody of the famous Commodore 64 Epyx ‘Games‘ series, developed by Hungarian company Novotrade and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987. It is apparently known as “Sports-A-Roni” in North America, although I’ve no effing idea what that’s supposed to mean…