Tag Archives: vertical scrolling

Commando, Commodore 64

Programmed by Chris Butler, with graphics by Rory Green and Chris Harvey, and music by Rob Hubbard, the Commodore 64 conversion of Capcom‘s arcade game Commando is considered to be a classic 8-bit game, even though it was put together very quickly (ie. rushed-out) by publisher Elite Systems.

After acquiring the official license they wanted it out in time for Christmas 1985, which gave the coders around four months to make the game. As a result Commando on home computer systems was a cut-down version of the arcade game, with fewer levels than the original and somewhat bare-bones graphics.

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Cataclysm, Archimedes

Cataclysm is an obscure action puzzle game on the Archimedes that involves channelling water from plugged-up vats in the top of a vertically-scrolling level, into a drain at the very bottom. Which you do by controlling a jet-pack-wearing guy who can manipulate objects to make the water take a certain route through the scenery.

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River Raid II, Atari 2600

Based on Carol Shaw‘s classic vertically-scrolling shooter, but not created by her, River Raid II is a more challenging and slightly more complex take on the River Raid concept.

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Ikari Warriors, ZX Spectrum

The 1987 conversion of Ikari Warriors is bit of an “auteur piece” on the ZX Spectrum. What I mean by that is: one guy made it on his own. He programmed the game; created the graphics, and did the sound. That man was David Shea, and the truth be told: he did an excellent job of it – managing to squeeze in most of the arcade game‘s features. Which is pretty impressive on a Spectrum.

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Ikari Warriors, Commodore 64

This Commodore 64 conversion of SNK‘s classic arcade game, Ikari Warriors, is considered to be one of the best vertically-scrolling shooters on the system. It was programmed by John Twiddy and published by Elite Systems in 1986.

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APB, ZX Spectrum

Another fine conversion of Atari‘s classic arcade game, APB (All Points Bulletin), this time converted by Walking Circles for Tengen and first published by Domark in 1989.

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Raiden, Atari Lynx

The original Raiden, developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and published by Tecmo, came out in arcades in 1990. This handheld conversion wasn’t released until 1997 – well after Atari had discontinued the Lynx. And even then the game was only available by direct order, and through a few select retailers. It’s still available to buy now, at the time of writing.

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MUSHA, Megadrive/Genesis

MUSHA is a well-liked Megadrive shooter, made by famed Japanese developer Compile. It is part of the Aleste series, but features a ‘mecha’-suited protagonist fighting against a super computer that has taken over the Earth, rather than a spaceship.

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Fighting Hawk, Arcade

A relatively obscure Taito arcade game from 1989*, Fighting Hawk is a vertically-scrolling bullet hell shooter where you fly an A-10 ‘Tankbuster’ up the screen, fighting its way through waves of enemies and bosses.

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