This 1983 release from Software Farm broke new ground on the Sinclair ZX81. You see: graphics on the ZX81, before Forty Niner, consisted of chunky basic graphics and ASCII symbols, because the machine wasn’t really capable of anything else. Or so the world thought…
Tag Archives: Single-Player
Phantom Slayer, Dragon 32
Phantom Slayer is an early 3D maze game where the aim is to kill sinister, hooded figures that are chasing you through a randomly-generated, first-person maze. It was written by Ken Kalish and published by Med Systems in 1982 for the TRS-80 (and its UK counterpart, the Dragon 32).
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, XBox
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is an expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (which was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001). Substance was released for the XBox by Konami in 2002.
It’s the fourth Metal Gear game co-written and designed by Hideo Koijima and the seventh game in the series as a whole.
Vib-Ribbon, PlayStation
Vib-Ribbon is a unique game on the PlayStation. It is the only game I can think of that is mostly black and white and uses simple animated vector-style line art to present the visuals. That said: Vib-Ribbon is full of character and charm and goes to show what can be achieved when developers think out of the box.
Jumping Flash!, PlayStation
Jumping Flash! is a first-person platform shooter co-developed by Exact and Ultra and published by Sony in 1995.
You play as a jumping robot, called Robbit, who must collect a number of “Jet Pods” (which look more like big carrots) on each level, then stand on the exit pad. This must be done within a strict time limit.
Strider 2, PlayStation
A port of an arcade sequel by Capcom, released for the PlayStation in 2000. The original Strider is rightly revered by gamers and the sequel pays homage to it by retaining the original’s look and feel.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, PlayStation
Developed by Argonaut Software and published by Fox Interactive in 1997, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is a colourful 3D platformer featuring a cute crocodile.
Croc actually started out as a prototype 3D platform game featuring Yoshi from Nintendo‘s Super Mario series, but when it was pitched to Nintendo they rejected the idea, so Argonaut re-worked it into an original property.
Ridge Racer, PlayStation
A launch title on the PlayStation and the first game I ever played on the system, Ridge Racer is a conversion of the classic arcade racing game from Namco.
Metal Gear Solid, PlayStation
Metal Gear Solid is an award-winning tactical espionage action game focusing on stealth gameplay and it was first released by Konami in 1998. It was directed, produced and written by Hideo Koijima and follows on from the MSX games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
You play as codename “Solid Snake“, a legendary American soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility in order to neutralise a terrorist threat who are threatening a nuclear strike on The White House. Snake must sneak around, liberate hostages and stop the terrorists from launching the strike, all the while avoiding enemy contact as much as possible and gathering information about the situation.
Pepsiman, PlayStation
Now here’s a game that’ll make you laugh out loud… Pepsiman by Japanese developer Kindle Imagine Develop (aka KID). It was only ever released in Japan, although the game is entirely in English and features full motion video segments in English too.
Pepsiman was the Japanese Pepsi mascot who appeared in TV commercials for the famous soft drink manufacturer in the mid-to-late 1990s. He apparently became quite popular in Japan so naturally someone decided to make a video game based on him, and the resulting game is pretty funny. Pepsiman (the game) was apparently made on a low budget and sold for a low price when it came out, although I can’t find a reference to how much it sold for. If it was for the Japanese equivalent of less than ten pounds, then it was an okay purchase!
The King of Grabs 