Zorro (Spanish for ‘fox’) is an 8-bit platform game developed by Datasoft and published by US Gold in 1985. It was written by James Garon, with graphics by Kelly Day, and is based on a fictional character created by American writer Johnston McCulley.
Tag Archives: underground
Blaster Master, NES/Famicom
Released in Japan and North America in 1988, and Europe in 1991, Sunsoft‘s Blaster Master is a mixture of platforming and shooting that was a minor hit on the Nintendo Famicom/NES.
Turrican, Amstrad CPC
Rainbow Arts‘ classic C64 shoot ’em up, Turrican, was converted to the Amstrad by Probe Software, and it demonstrates how to do this kind of side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter on the CPC. Compared to something like Gryzor, Turrican is streets ahead in terms of presentation and playability.
King’s Field, PlayStation
With Elden Ring currently wowing gamers I thought I’d take a look at the series that began FromSoftware‘s journey into the action RPG genre, and that would be King’s Field – released in Japan only in 1994 for the Sony PlayStation – and, to be honest, it couldn’t be any further removed from Elden Ring in terms of presentation…
I’ve played a lot of RPGs in my time, and I would go so far as to say that it’s my favourite genre of video game, but King’s Field came as a bit of a shock to me. Yes, King’s Field was an early 3D RPG on the PlayStation, releasing the same year as the PS1 was launched, but it post-dates Ultima Underworld by two years and is archaic in comparison.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Game Gear
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the 1992 sequel to the first Sonic on the Game Gear and it is considered by some to be better than the previous game. I’m not sure I agree, though…
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, GameCube
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness is the successor to Pokémon Colosseum and is another third-generation spin-off from the main Pokémon series. It was developed by Genius Sonority and published by The Pokémon Company exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005.
Pokémon Colosseum, GameCube
Pokémon Colosseum was developed by Genius Sonority and published by The Pokémon Company in 2003 in Japan and 2004 everywhere else. It is not considered part of the main Pokémon series, but is a third-generation spin-off made exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube.
Wario World, GameCube
Wario World for the GameCube was developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo in 2003. It was the first 3D Wario game and, unusually, was released in Europe and North America before it eventually came out in Japan (almost a year after its initial release in the West).
Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, ZX Spectrum
The seventh Dizzy adventure, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy was the final release in the core series – until Wonderful Dizzy in 2020. This one was developed by Visual Impact, with some input from Philip Oliver, and was published by Codemasters in 1992.
Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk, ZX Spectrum
Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk is the sixth Dizzy platform adventure game. It was designed and coded by Big Red Software and published by Codemasters in December 1991.