Zoids was a range of popular children’s toys during the 1980s. They were dinosaur robot-type things that fought each other and looked really cool (if you were six years old). The toys spawned TV shows and computer games, and this one – designed by The Electronic Pencil Company – is notable as one of the best.
Tag Archives: strategy
Conqueror, Atari ST
Converted to the Atari ST by the author of the original Archimedes version, Jonathan Griffiths, Conqueror is a 3D tank combat game that uses a similar view to David Braben‘s Zarch. In fact, it uses the same graphics routines as Zarch, because Braben gave them to Griffiths.
Conqueror was published by Superior Software Ltd. (in the UK) and Rainbow Arts Software GmbH (in Europe), in 1989.
Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis, PC
The MS-DOS version of Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis was the original, first released by Westwood Studios in 1992. The Amiga version followed shortly afterwards, in 1993.
Aka “Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty” in North America.
Theatre Europe, Commodore 64
Theatre Europe on the Commodore 64 is a relatively simple war game, set during the Cold War 1980s. It was coded by Alan Steel, with graphics by Ian Bird, and music by David Dunn. The game was first published by PSS in 1985.
Doshin the Giant, GameCube
Doshin the Giant is one of those games where you ask yourself: “What am I playing? Am I a God? Or am I a turd? And is there any reason why I can’t be both of those things at the same time?! And is that my belly button or my cock? I hope it’s the former…”
It’s also a game where you can lose yourself in the tropical paradise that is the island you live on, because the sound effects, lighting and music are soothing and dreamlike…
Syndicate, FM Towns
Although the FM Towns port of Bullfrog‘s classic Syndicate is in Japanese, it’s still a great game to play if you know what you’re doing. Of course this is not the right version of Syndicate to play if it’s your first time (unless you can read Japanese), but it is a sharp port with crisp high resolution graphics and responsive controls.
The Sentinel, Amstrad CPC
Geoff Crammond‘s classic The Sentinel was first released for the Amstrad CPC by Firebird in 1987, and it is one of the best 8-bit versions of this weird and wonderful game.
The Sentinel, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Geoff Crammond‘s classic puzzle game, The Sentinel, was ported by Software Creations (with assistance from Mr. Crammond himself) and published by Firebird Software in 1987.
Autoduel, PC
Based on a Steve Jackson board game called Car Wars, Autoduel is an early attempt by Origin Systems to create a Mad Max-type post apocalyptic, car-based RPG that borrows elements from Origin‘s own Ultima series, as well as from other games such as FTL‘s SunDog. It was first released in 1985.
The Sentinel, PC
Geoff Crammond‘s classic weird puzzle game, The Sentinel (also known as The Sentry in North America), was released by Firebird Software for PC MS-DOS in 1989.