Sensible Software‘s brilliant Cannon Fodder is possibly their finest hour.
From the hilarious intro song, to the compelling action of the main game – Cannon Fodder is about as much fun as computerised war, with little titchy men and a mouse could possibly be.
Mmmm. Paradroid ’90 is one of those “classic” games that should have been great, but unfortunately was a big, fat missed opportunity.
Its parent – the Commodore 64 classic Paradroid, by Andrew Braybrook – is a perfect example of simple-but-amazingly-compelling gameplay.
This remake pretty much loses everything that made the original great, in spite of original author Braybrook‘s involvement.
Ultimate Play The Game‘s amazing Jet Pac is an early ZX Spectrum classic, first released onto an unsuspecting world in 1983.
Over-the-top, first-person, survival horror blasting action, for one or two players!
House of the Dead III first came out in arcades in 2002, followed by XBox and other home versions, in 2003.
Realtime Games‘ 1988 hit, Carrier Command, is a compelling mixture of 3D simulation and real-time strategy.
In it you take control of a futuristic, robotic aircraft carrier and must work your way through an island archipelago, taking control of each island and competing against a rival carrier.
Time Bandit was first released in 1983 for the TRS-80, but is far better known for its 16-bit versions on the Atari ST and Amiga. These were released later, in 1985, and featured vastly improved graphics.
Nazca Corporation‘s infamous run-and-gun blaster – Metal Slug – was first released in arcades in 1996, before following as a cartridge on SNK‘s cutting edge home console the Neo Geo AES.
An early ZX Spectrum classic, Deathchase was first released by Micromega in 1983.
Although it doesn’t look like much (especially in stills), Deathchase was (and still is) an exhilarating game, and is something of a tribute to the speeder bike scenes in Return of the Jedi (which was released the same year as this, in 1983).
What is interesting about Demon’s Crest – a 1994 Super Nintendo release from Capcom – is that it is a spin-off from the Ghosts ‘N Goblins series.
Eagle-eyed gamers will recognise the red-skinned, demonic lead character – called Firebrand – as an enemy from the original Ghosts ‘N Goblins arcade game. In fact: Demon’s Crest is actually the third game featuring Firebrand, after Gargoyle’s Quest (Game Boy), and Gargoyle’s Quest II (NES).
Sega‘s Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom was first released into arcades in 1982, and – to play it now – you’d wonder what all the fuss was about, but this game made waves when it was first released.
The King of Grabs 