Released on 26th September 1986 in Japan, Akumajō Dracula (translating as: “Demon Castle Dracula“) was the very first release in the Castlevania series, predating the MSX version of the game by about a month. Konami released it on the Famicom Disk System where it quickly became a hit with Japanese gamers.
It began a long-running series of platform/horror-themed video games and set the template for the Castlevania series as a whole.
Sega‘s 1991 arcade release, Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams, is a strange-but-cute side-scrolling shoot ’em up featuring a young witch on a broomstick, called Cotton.
Master of Magic is an archaic Role-Playing Game that is a throwback to the earliest days of home computing – except that it was released in 1985.
The game was programmed by Richard Darling (of Codemasters fame) with graphics by James Wilson. It was published at a budget price (£2.99) by Mastertronic on their M.A.D. label.
Deathsmiles is an infamous (and much-loved) 2007 shooter from Cave – a Japanese company known for its relatively innovative and leftfield output. Cave shooters are ‘Bullet Hell’ in overdrive…
The Curse of Sherwood is a 1987 action/adventure game from the prolific programmer/designer Derek Brewster.
Dragon’s Lair is one of those old arcade games that has developed a legendary status, even though there isn’t actually much of a game there. And what there is is incredibly difficult.
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard is a third-person action/adventure set in the world of Bethesda‘s famous The Elder Scrolls series. It was initially released in 1998 for the PC, running under MS-DOS.
Here’s a second, completely different set of grabs of Andrew Spencer‘s classic Ecstatica. The game is so good that it deserves more attention…
Andrew Spencer Studios‘ 1994 release, Ecstatica, is a masterpiece of survival horror.
Ecstatica is as unforgiving as it is surprising. Turning the wrong corner will often result in death – at least until you can gain a foothold in the game.
The 1987 sequel to The Trap Door doesn’t have its own Wikipedia page and isn’t mentioned on the Wikipedia page of its predecessor.
