Tag Archives: weird

Marble Madness, Game Boy

The original black and white Game Boy version of the classic Marble Madness was published by Mindscape in 1991. I’m not a hundred percent sure who developed it, but it could be Tengen as they are mentioned in the copyright small print on the back of the box and on the title screen.

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Marble Madness, Atari ST

The Atari ST version of Marble Madness was converted by Will Harvey (who also programmed the C64 and Apple II versions – among others), and Jim Nitchals, and was published by Electronic Arts in 1987. It is very similar to the 8-bit ports Harvey produced, rather than the more authentic Amiga version (that he didn’t).

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Kiki Kaikai, Arcade

Kiki Kaikai (the literal translation being “Strange and Mysterious World“) is a shoot ’em up developed and distributed into Japanese arcades by Taito in 1986. Set in Feudal Japan, the player assumes the role of a Shinto shrine maiden, called Sayo-chan, who must use her ‘O-Fuda’ scrolls and ‘Gohei’ wand to defeat renegade spirits and monsters from Japanese mythology. Sayo’s ultimate aim is to free The Gods of Fortune who have been imprisoned by evil spirits.

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Syvalion, Arcade

Released into arcades by Taito in 1988, Syvalion is a strange-but-interesting scrolling shooter in which you control a golden metal dragon (called “Mechadragon“) that must fight its way to the end of a series of mazes within a time limit. The dragon can breathe fire to destroy enemies and must pick up power-ups, or move quickly without firing, to keep its flame breath bar filled. At the end of each stage is a boss battle which you need to win to progress.

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Marble Madness, Amiga

The Amiga version of Atari Gamesclassic arcade game, Marble Madness, was converted by Larry Reed and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. It is one of those relatively early 16-bit ports that is a little rough around the edges, presentation-wise, but plays perfectly well.

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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Sega Saturn

Konami‘s brilliant PlayStation game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, was released for the Sega Saturn in 1998, but it was only ever released in Japan (under the title “Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku“). Thankfully, an English translation patch is available to make the game playable to those who can’t read Japanese. The patch – created by ‘Knight of Dragon’ – also features numerous bug fixes and improvements.

For those who’ve never played Symphony of the Night before: it is a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood and is rightly regarded as one of the best Castlevania games in the long-running series (if not THE best).

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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.

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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.

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Flashback, PC

Also known as “The Quest for Identity“, Flashback is a classic platform action game from Delphine Software International, set some time in the future, where you’re trying to piece together your memory after a recent trauma. The MS-DOS version was first published by US Gold in 1993.

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