Tag Archives: weapons

Gauntlet 4, Megadrive/Genesis

Gauntlet 4 (aka Gauntlet IV) was developed by M2 and published by Tengen in 1993, exclusively for the Megadrive/Genesis. In some respects the development of this game is just as interesting as the game itself.

Gauntlet 4 began life as a homebrew remake of Gauntlet, among a small group of friends in Japan, for the Sharp X68000 home computer. Atari Games, the developer of the original Gauntlet, eventually caught wind of the project and commissioned the group (now named M2) to produce a sequel instead.

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Gauntlet III: The Final Quest, Amiga

Developed by Software Creations and published by US Gold in 1991, Gauntlet III: The Final Quest is a home computer-only sequel to the classic arcade games, Gauntlet and Gauntlet II.

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Gods, Amiga

Developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade Software for the Amiga in 1991, Gods is a stylised platform game in which you play as Hercules, on a quest to make his way through five large stages, themed with Greek mythological motifs.

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Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard, PC

Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard (aka Wizard) was released by Psygnosis in 1994 and is a first-person, free-roaming dungeon-crawler. Unfortunately, though, it’s not a very good one.

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Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, PC

Developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a rich and complex RPG with isometric 2D graphics, set in a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution. The game mixes magic and technology in a Victorian-styled “Steampunk” setting; is completely open-ended, and features lots of different races (humans, orcs, gnomes, elves, dwarves), with complicated – even racist – societal themes developing as you discover the world and interact with its many characters.

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The Sword of Hope, Game Boy

This first-person adventure/RPG was developed by KEMCO (a subsidiary of Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co.), and published by Seika Corporation in Japan, North America and Europe in 1989. In it, you play as Prince Theo, who is on a quest to challenge his insane, power-mad father for rule of the kingdom.

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Seal of the Pharaoh, 3DO

Seal of the Pharaoh is a first-person dungeon-crawler with a tomb-raiding ancient Egyptian theme. It was developed by System Sacom and published in 1994, exclusively for the 3DO, by ASK Kodansha in Japan and Panasonic in North America.

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RoboCop, Amiga

Ocean Software‘s Amiga port of RoboCop was fairly impressive when it first came out in 1989, but – playing it now – it hasn’t stood the test of time particularly well. It’s a scrolling run-and-gun shooter that is loosely-based on the Data East arcade game of the same name (although the arcade game and the home computer versions were developed in parallel).

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Xanadu Next, PC

Xanadu Next was developed by Falcom and published for Windows PCs in Japan in 2005. It is a continuation of the Dragon Slayer series and a spin-off from Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II. The game remained untranslated into English until a worldwide release by XSEED Games in 2016. And I have to say: it’s a wonderful game, and is arguably the pinnacle of the long-running franchise.

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Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, PC Engine

The Legend of Heroes is the sixth game in the Dragon Slayer series, and the first in The Legend of Heroes franchise. It was developed by Falcom and released initially for the PC-88 – in Japan – in 1989. The PC Engine CD version was localised into English by Hudson Soft and released for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America by Turbo Technologies in 1991. That’s the version I’m showing here.

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