Tag Archives: side scrolling

Beach Head, Apple II

The Apple II conversion of Bruce Carver‘s classic Beach Head was coded by Bryan Brandenburg of Sculptured Software Inc. and first published by Access in 1985, two years after the originals were released.

Continue reading Beach Head, Apple II

Beach Head, Atari 8-bit

The Atari 8-bit version of Bruce Carver‘s classic Beach Head came out simultaneously with the Commodore 64 version, so both are considered “the originals”, although this version was co-coded by Kevin Homer so technically could be considered a conversion.

Continue reading Beach Head, Atari 8-bit

The Kung Fu, PC Engine

This impressive-looking fighting game – also known as China Warrior in North America and (informally) “Drunken Master” by some – was the first game ever released for the PC Engine. It was developed by Hudson Soft and first published in 1987 by NEC.

Continue reading The Kung Fu, PC Engine

The Second Samurai, Megadrive/Genesis

The Second Samurai is the sequel to First Samurai and was developed by Vivid Image and published by Psygnosis for the Megadrive and Amiga in 1994. It is a scrolling platform action game with a samurai sword-wielding hero on a mission to defeat The Demon King. In this sequel Mr. Samurai has a female partner who can fight alongside him.

The game was programmed by Raffaele Cecco (famous for Cybernoid, Exolon and Stormlord, among other things), with graphics by Teoman Irmak and music by Brian Marshall.

Continue reading The Second Samurai, Megadrive/Genesis

Stormlord, ZX Spectrum

Stormlord is a scrolling run-and-gun platform action game designed and written by Raffaele Cecco and Nick Jones, with graphics by Hugh Binns, and was published for the ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1989. In it you play the titular Stormlord, a Norse-style warrior who is fighting to rescue fairies from the evil Black Queen.

Continue reading Stormlord, ZX Spectrum

The Empire Strikes Back, Commodore 64

This brilliant Commodore 64 homebrew remake of Parker Brothersclassic 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.

Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back, Commodore 64

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

Rogue Trooper, Atari ST

The Atari ST version of Krisalis Software‘s 1990 adaptation of 2000AD comic anti-hero, Rogue Trooper, is the same as the Amiga version, except with a more standardised display area and without the smooth scrolling.

The scrolling is pretty jerky to be honest although it doesn’t ruin the game. Control responsiveness isn’t as good as the Amiga version either, but it’s good enough.

Continue reading Rogue Trooper, Atari ST

Rogue Trooper, Amiga

This adaptation of 2000AD‘s famous comic character, Rogue Trooper, was developed and published by Krisalis Software for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990, and it’s a reasonable attempt at bringing the blue-skinned super soldier’s stories to life in a video game.

Continue reading Rogue Trooper, Amiga

Judge Dredd, Commodore 64

The second Judge Dredd game on the Commodore 64 was developed by Random Access and published by Virgin Games in 1991, and while it’s better than the crappy 1986 Judge Dredd game from Melbourne House, it’s still not very good.

Continue reading Judge Dredd, Commodore 64