The Commodore 64 port of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands was developed by Graftgold and first released by Ocean Software in 1990, and – gosh-darn it – it is a fantastic port of the arcade game!
Tag Archives: scrolling
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Amiga
It has to be said that the Amiga port of Capcom‘s classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins is a damn sight better than the Atari ST version, or any of the other conversions from the 16-bit era. It was developed and published by Elite Systems in 1990 and is as close to the arcade parent as is possible on the Amiga.
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Atari ST
The Atari ST version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was programmed by Michael Delves, with graphics by Zippo Games, and was published by Elite Systems in 1990. It is a somewhat ‘funky’ port, with cartoony graphics and gameplay that is easier than the arcade parent.
The Horde, 3DO
Developed by Toys For Bob, Inc. and published by Crystal Dynamics (in North America and Japan) and BMG Interactive (in Europe) in 1994, The Horde is an isometric fantasy action game where you have to defend a village from attacking ‘Hordlings‘ – red gremlin-like creatures that attack in waves and try to eat and destroy everything in the province.
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was developed by Digital Eclipse Software and is very similar to – if not a direct port of – the NES/Famicom version. It was first released in 1999 by Capcom, and it looks like it might only have been released in North America.
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Capcom‘s arcade classic, Ghosts ‘N Goblins, was first released by Elite Systems in 1986.
There is some confusion about who programmed the game. The title screen says that it was coded by Keith Burkhill, yet some sources say that Nigel Alderton programmed it. It could be that both worked on the game, but it’s not entirely clear…
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, NES/Famicom
The NES/Famicom port of Capcom‘s classic arcade game, Ghosts ‘N Goblins, was developed by Micronics and first published in 1986. And – just like its parent – it is a very difficult game to make progress in.
Vradark’s Revenge, ZX Spectrum Next
The sequel to Vradark’s Sphere on the ZX Spectrum, Vradark’s Revenge is another fantasy-based Roguelike from the same development team, SaNchez, only this time it has been created specifically for the ZX Spectrum Next, which is an enhanced, modern ZX Spectrum remake/variant that first came out in 2017.
Vradark’s Revenge was initially released in 2022 and an emulated version, that runs in Windows, was later released on Steam in 2023 through publisher “Drunk Fly Oy” (which is a bizarre company name if ever there was one).
Vradark’s Sphere, ZX Spectrum
Vradark’s Sphere is a Roguelike fantasy role-playing game that was created by Aleksander Udotov, for 128K Spectrums, and first released in 2018. To me it is the epitome of what I would call “Modern Retro” (ie. a modern game, made to look old or be played on old hardware), and it looks and plays fantastically well.
Uncle Poo, Arcade
Now here’s a bizarre one from the dim and distant past… Uncle Poo, created by Diatec in 1983, is a weird old vertical screen game in which you play an old man who collects gems and money from a maze that is patrolled by monsters, and is slowly being flooded by water.
The King of Grabs 