Tag Archives: Sprites

Aisystem Tokyo, Megadrive/Genesis, Taito, Ving

Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis

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The “Extra Version” of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands is a modified version of the original arcade game, where the levels have been rearranged and the enemies changed to make the game more challenging. There are some new power-ups to discover, and the bosses have also been changed too. Rainbow Islands Extra was released into arcades in limited quantities in 1988, and was also released on the Sega Megadrive in 1990 and the FM Towns in 1992.

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Arcade, Namco

Ordyne, Arcade

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Released in Japan only, Ordyne is a cute and colourful (and very Japanese) one or simultaneous two-player ‘bullet hell’ shooter that was developed and distributed by Namco in 1988.

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Commodore 64, Firebird

Gogo the Ghost, Commodore 64

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Written by Marcus Charleville and Richard Dagsköld and published by Firebird in 1984, Gogo the Ghost is a simple maze game in which you must guide a friendly spectre through many screens of enemies and traps in order to rescue his “dream princess”.

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Gremlin Graphics, NEC, PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16

Impossamole, PC Engine

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The 1991 PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 version of Gremlin Graphics‘ classic Monty Mole game is a rare treat: it’s a British-developed PC Engine game, and an alright one at that. And, believe it or not, but the PC Engine version of the game is the one that’s currently available on Steam and GOG.com.

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Amiga, Starbyte

Clown-O-Mania, Amiga

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This obscure isometric action/maze game was published by German company Starbyte in 1989 and is basically a clone of the 1983 Atari 8-bit game Flip and Flop. And it’s not a bad game, even though the title of it doesn’t make sense (it really should be “Clown-O-Rama” or “Clown-Mania” – the use of the “O” in this context doesn’t work in English).

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Bad Video Games, Capcom, MS-DOS, Pacific Dataworks International, PC

Ghosts ‘N Goblins, PC

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The 1987 PC MS-DOS version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins, I’m sorry to say, is a bit of a travesty. It looks terrible, and also plays like a lame duck. In fact, unless you can get the game set up properly in DOSBox (which took me some time to do), then it’s pretty much unplayable*.

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Amstrad CPC, Capcom, Elite Systems

Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Amstrad CPC

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The Amstrad CPC version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was developed and published by Elite Systems in 1986, and it looks pretty rough, and seems to be missing a good chunk of the original game.

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Amiga, Capcom, Elite Systems

Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Amiga

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It has to be said that the Amiga port of Capcom‘s classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins is a damn sight better than the Atari ST version, or any of the other conversions from the 16-bit era. It was developed and published by Elite Systems in 1990 and is as close to the arcade parent as is possible on the Amiga.

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Atari ST, Capcom, Elite Systems, Zippo Games

Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Atari ST

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The Atari ST version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was programmed by Michael Delves, with graphics by Zippo Games, and was published by Elite Systems in 1990. It is a somewhat ‘funky’ port, with cartoony graphics and gameplay that is easier than the arcade parent.

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