Tag Archives: scrolling

Toki: Going Ape Spit, Megadrive/Genesis

This 1991 Sega Megadrive conversion of Toki is only loosely-based on the original 1989 arcade game, which is good because the original was much too hard to be fun, and this is more playable.

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Shin Megami Tensei If…, Super Nintendo

Shin Megami Tensei If… is a spin-off from the main Shin Megami Tensei series that is smaller and more confined than previous games. It was developed and published by Atlus in 1994.

This time the story is set in a school where a bullied pupil tries to summon demons in the gym, to deal with his harassers, only to wind-up being possessed by them and threatening to destroy the world. You play a group of schoolkids who team-up to try to stop him.

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Shin Megami Tensei II, Super Nintendo

Shin Megami Tensei II is the direct sequel to Shin Megami Tensei and was first published in Japan in 1994 by Atlus.

While the basic gameplay is essentially the same as before, with tile-based movement and first-person combat sections, overhead city map sections, and magic, occult and religious themes, the developers deliberately chose not to connect this sequel directly to its predecessor, so story-wise it is somewhat different, being set in the far-flung future.

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Shin Megami Tensei, Super Nintendo

This cult Japanese Role Playing Game was originally released for the Super Nintendo in 1992 in Japan. It was developed by Atlus and is the third game in the Megami Tensei series, and the first in the central Shin Megami Tensei series.

The game mixes elements of philosophy, occultism, science fiction, religion, and role-playing in a somewhat unique way. It remained untranslated into English for a decade, because of its controversial content and Nintendo‘s strict policy guidelines. It wasn’t until 2002, and an unofficial fan translation patch by team Aeon Genesis, that the original SNES release received an English translation. An official English translation was eventually released on iOS in 2014 by Atlus.

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Raiden, Atari Lynx

The original Raiden, developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo, came out in arcades in 1990. This handheld conversion wasn’t released until 1997 – well after Atari had discontinued the Lynx. And even then the game was only available by direct order, and through a few select retailers. It’s still available to buy now, at the time of writing.

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Desert Strike, Atari Lynx

This conversion of the classic Sega Megadrive/Genesis game, Desert Strike, is about as good as you could expect on the Atari Lynx. Meaning: that it is very, very good indeed.

In fact: it is surprisingly close to the original, but obviously with smaller, more condensed graphics.

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Pac-Land, Atari Lynx

Pac-Land on the Atari Lynx is a rather excellent conversion of Namco‘s classic 1984 arcade game of the same name. It features pretty much all the good things about the influential coin-op, including the cute, colourful graphics, smooth scrolling, and challenging gameplay.

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Hockey, Atari Lynx

Alpine Studios‘ plainly-titled, but fun-to-play, Hockey was first published by Atari Corporation in 1992.

It’s an ice hockey game with a difference, in that: it contains actual fighting sections for when the players lose their cool with each other! And these beat ’em up sections are quite funny.

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Rampage, Atari Lynx

A Lynx conversion of the classic Bally Midway arcade game, Rampage, first released in 1990.

It’s a satirical monster-bashing game, where the aim is to destroy various skyscrapers and the military forces protecting them.

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Gauntlet: The Third Encounter, Atari Lynx

While Gauntlet: The Third Encounter is an admirable effort on the Atari Lynx, it has to be said that it really isn’t Gauntlet. Not the Gauntlet that we know and love anyway…

Which isn’t a surprise when you take into account the fact that this game didn’t start out as Gauntlet – it was called “Time Quests and Treasure Chests” and was developed by Epyx, and was later turned into a Gauntlet game by Atari for “brand recognition purposes”.

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