This enhanced edition of the classic sci-fi RPG, System Shock, was developed by Nightdive Studios and first released in 2023. What Nightdive has done is bring the original 1994 classic into the modern age, with high definition graphics and a boatload of quality-of-life features.
Tag Archives: Sci-Fi
System Shock, PC
This is the original VGA/SVGA* version of System Shock, first released in 1994. The game was developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems in North America and Electronic Arts in Europe.
*= System Shock was originally released in VGA (320×200 resolution), but was soon upgraded to SVGA (640×480 resolution) via patches and re-releases. I’m showing both the VGA and SVGA versions here.
3D Starstrike, Amstrad CPC
Written by Graeme Baird, Ian Oliver and Andrew Onions, 3D Starstrike was the hit-outta-nowhere* from Realtime Software, in 1984. Well, actually, that was the ZX Spectrum version, which came out the year before this – the Amstrad CPC port. Which was released in 1985.
*= Aided somewhat by the success of Atari‘s famous Star Wars arcade machine.
Quake II, Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64 version of id Software‘s Quake II was developed by Raster Productions and released in 1999, by Midway in North America and Activision in PAL regions.
Alien 3, Game Boy
Now this is an interesting departure from the majority of Alien 3 games of the time… It’s an overhead scrolling adventure, rather than a side-scrolling shooter.
Developed by British firm B.I.T.S. (aka Bits Studios) and published by LJN in North America and Acclaim in Japan in 1993, Alien 3 on the Game Boy sees you playing Ripley, on Fury 161, and the similarity to the film ends there… LOL.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, PlayStation 2
Developed by LucasArts and first published in 2002, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a third-person action game in which you play as Jango Fett, and it is also a prequel to the Star Wars film: Attack of the Clones.
Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis, PC
The MS-DOS version of Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis was the original, first released by Westwood Studios in 1992. The Amiga version followed shortly afterwards, in 1993.
Aka “Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty” in North America.
Terminator 3: The Redemption, GameCube
Developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Atari in 2004, Terminator 3: The Redemption is based on the Terminator 3, the film, while adding in some new scenes as backstory. Gameplay is mostly third-person shooting or driving, interspersed with pre-rendered cut scenes and on-rails shooting sections.
The Deadly Tower of Monsters, PC
The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a third-person action game, released in 2016, where you must climb a series of large towers, to complete various tasks, all presented like a parody of old fantasy and science fiction films. You can play as either a man (Dick Starspeed) or a woman (Scarlet Nova), and you can even play as the robot sidekick (just called “Robot“) at certain points too.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Nintendo Wii
The 2007 release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was something of a milestone for Nintendo, the game’s publisher, and Retro Studios, the game’s developer. For Nintendo this was a landmark release, showing off the Wii‘s impressive capabilities as a games console, and for Retro Studios it was the end of years of experimentation with the control system. In the end, it turned out to be a masterpiece…
The King of Grabs 