The Dark is a rare first-person shooter on the humble ZX Spectrum, written by Russian coder Oleg Origin. It was originally released under the title of Quake in 1997, and was then re-worked and re-released by the original author as The Dark in 2016.
Tag Archives: shoot em up
RoboCop, Arcade
Released into arcades by Data East in 1988, RoboCop is unusual because the game was licensed from Ocean Software, who had acquired the video game rights at script stage, when the case was usually arcade companies licensing to home companies. The arcade and home versions were developed simultaneously and are a mixture of run-and-gun and beat ’em up-style gameplay.
Exolon, ZX Spectrum
Designed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson Consultants in 1987, Exolon is a simple-but-effective run-and-gun shooter with flick-screen levels and snazzy Spectrum-esque colourful graphics, with minimal colour clash.
RayForce, Arcade
Also known as Gunlock and Galactic Attack in some territories, and Layer Section in Japan, RayForce is a vertical screen bullet hell shooter released into arcades by Taito in 1994. And it is quite impressive, as arcade shooters go.
Stainless Steel, ZX Spectrum
In Stainless Steel you are Ricky Steel – a teenage superhero with a flying car called ‘Nightwind‘ – on a mission to defeat the android troops built and controlled by the evil Dr. Vardos. What that basically means is that you have to drive/fly and shoot your way through a variety of overhead scrolling levels, collecting fuel to constantly top-up your ever-diminishing life bar and avoiding bullets like the plague.
The Empire Strikes Back, Commodore 64
This brilliant Commodore 64 homebrew remake of Parker Brothers‘ classic Atari 2600 game first came out in 2022 and it features superb music, great graphics and fun gameplay that mirrors the original 1982 game, but with a few extras to make it a bit more palatable to a modern audience.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Atari 2600
Published by Parker Brothers in 1982 The Empire Strikes Back on the Atari 2600 was the first officially-licensed Star Wars game ever released, and it depicts the AT-AT ‘walker’ attack on the rebel base on Hoth, with you playing as Luke Skywalker in a snowspeeder.
Continue reading Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Atari 2600
Half-Life 2: Episode Two, PC
The second episodic chapter in the Half-Life 2 series is arguably the best of the adventures of Gordon Freeman, and maybe even one of the best games of all-time. Half-Life 2: Episode Two was first released by Valve in 2007.
Half-Life 2: Episode One, PC
The first sequel to the classic Half-Life 2 takes the form of an episodic chapter in the adventures of Gordon Freeman. It carries on directly from the end of Half-Life 2, with Gordon and Alyx actually going back into the crumbling Citadel to try to stop the reactor from exploding. Half-Life 2: Episode One was first released in 2006.
Half-Life, PlayStation 2
This conversion of the classic PC game, Half-Life, to the PlayStation 2 was handled by Gearbox Software and it features the main single-player game, Half-Life: Decay (a cooperative multiplayer version of the main game), and a head-to-head deathmatch component that uses split screen. It was first published by Sierra On-line in 2001.
The King of Grabs 