Archer MacLean‘s Dropzone was initially released on the Atari 8-bit machines in 1984, before it later appeared on the Commodore 64 and became a smash hit.
Tag Archives: space
Mercenary, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 8-Bit version of the classic Mercenary is the original, published by Novagen in 1985.
From the opening sequence onwards you know that you are in for a special ride with Mercenary, and exploring the wireframe world of Targ (the name of the planet you’re trapped on) is a video-gaming joy – especially with the easy-to-use controls.
Rescue On Fractalus, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 800 version of Rescue On Fractalus was released in 1984 and was the first version available. It was a critical success and drew quite a lot of attention to Atari 8-bit home computers (jealous Commodore 64 owners had to wait almost a year before they got a conversion).
Star Trek, ZX Spectrum
Star Trek, released by Mikro-Gen in 1983, is designer and programmer Derek Brewster‘s first commercial game.
Codename MAT II, ZX Spectrum
Codename MAT II is the sequel to Derek Bewster‘s acclaimed space combat game. It was published by Domark in the UK in 1985.
Codename MAT, ZX Spectrum
Derek Brewster‘s Codename MAT (Mission: Alien Termination) is what I would call a ‘Star Trek’ game, with a liberal ‘borrowing’ of elements from Star Raiders. It was published in 1984 by Micromega.
Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, PC
Mysteries of the Sith is the 1998 sequel to Dark Forces II. It uses the same 3D engine (with some enhancements) and follows the same style of gameplay as its predecessor, but contains considerably more features and detail.
Battlecruiser 3000AD, PC
A controversial release from Gametek in 1996, this complex space sim is notorious for having a long and troubled development history.
Gunhed, PC Engine
Gunhed is a classic vertically-scrolling. progressive-weapons shooter released for the PC Engine in 1989. It is based on the Toho film of the same name. In North America the game goes by the name of Blazing Lasers.
Star Raiders, Atari 8-bit
Doug Neubauer‘s 1979 release, Star Raiders, is a very important game indeed. Predominantly because it was so hugely influential on many other games that followed it. Some people even point to it being the spark that started the first-person shooter market, but that is probably going a little too far…
