David Lubar‘s relatively obscure 1984 classic, Pastfinder, is a weird vertically-scrolling shooter in which you control a spider-like craft that can crawl, shoot and jump, and you must explore a radioactive landscape picking up artefacts from a mysterious planet.
Tag Archives: weird
Iridis Alpha, Commodore 64
Jeff Minter‘s classic Iridis Alpha is a weird horizontal shoot ’em up first released in 1986 through Llamasoft and Hewson Consultants.
Intensity, Commodore 64
Intensity was Andrew Braybrook‘s final Commodore 64 game (before moving on to 16-bit machines), and it’s a pretty good rescue the colonists type game, where you control a skimmer that has to contend with all manner of obstacles, all of which either want to kill you, or eat the colonists you’re trying to rescue.
Alleykat, Commodore 64
Alleykat is a strange-but-enjoyable mix of vertical shooter and race game. Although – in this case – you ARE taking part in races, but not actually racing anyone.
Gribbly’s Day Out, Commodore 64
Andrew Braybrook’s 1985 cult hit Gribbley’s Day Out is a strange kind of platform game in which you control a bouncing (and floating) head-on-a-foot, called Gribbly Grobbly.
Wizball, Commodore 64
Sensible Software‘s bizarre but brilliant 1987 Commodore 64 shooter with a difference!
Ancipital, Commodore 64
Jeff Minter‘s seminal shooter Ancipital features psychedelic sprite-based visuals and fast blasting/running/jumping action.
Scarabaeus, Commodore 64
This obscure Commodore 64 classic is one of THE scariest – and most confusing – games of all time. Both in one!
In Scarabaeus you have to explore an ancient Egyptian tomb, chasing ghosts, avoiding zombies and spiders, and eventually making your way to the Pharaoh’s tomb in the centre of the third level.
PaRappa the Rapper 2, PlayStation 2
Ingenious rhythm game sequel starring everyone’s favourite rapping dog.
Wizkid, PC
Wizkid is also subtitled “The Story of Wizball II”, which is interesting, although it doesn’t really look or feel like a sequel to Wizball at all to me.
The King of Grabs 