Soon, this land will be mine! In today's indie gaming world, there are so many things to discover. The issue being to find them. Or, from a developer perspective, to receive any attention. Having discovered this humble little game called There is Only Power through semi-random browsing on itch, and having enjoyed it, here is a recommendation for you.
Yup, it's Sonic! But, of course, it would be too easy to take the one everyone knows. Let's be honest, nothing to add to the public opinion about that one. Though the semi-recent release of a C64 port motivated me to take a look. Hoping to raise some awareness of this amazing work.
In Quack A Jack, the player encounters many weird opponents, which are loosely based on a rather strange story and somehow seem to have nothing to do with the actual game. The crowning glory of the bizarre humour, however, is a nose. Yes, a nose. But not just any nose, but Sue's nose, who is even mentioned in the credits and was supposedly also responsible for food and drink. So much for the female role in the 80s.
Diving into my own past of (virtual) warmongering again. Well, sort of. By the early 2000s, it was not even remotely my favourite genre anymore. But old love never dies. After enjoying Paradox Entertainment's Europa Universalis immensely, it was a given I would also buy their next title, Hearts of Iron.
Have you ever seen such colours on the C64? Mayhem in Monsterland was a brave attempt to bring a console style jump'n'run, modelled closely after Nintendo's and Sega's mascots, to the best-selling home computer of all time. While at the same time, paying homage to one of the iconic games of that system: Wizball.
The mid-80s were a good time for Activision in a creative sense. A good number of unusual titles which at the same time were highly professionally produced came out in '86 alone. One of them: Alter Ego.
When Sierra handed over the development of Space Quest V to Dynamix, they let appear the logo of their company's own brand in more or less hidden places in the game. On top of that, they integrated the logo of a real sponsor. The brand name of the American telecommunications company Sprint appears on the spaceship terminal after every intercom transmission. You can read here whether the outsourcing has affected the usual quality in any other way.
It's Fighting Fantasy time again! Well, Sci-Fi-Fantasy. The Rings of Kether are not magic artefacts to battle an evil sorcerer, but rather drug trafficking "rings". And that creature on the cover is a woman, by the way. She, at least, is defying all stereotypes. Bravo!
The large lettering of Chinese characters on the splash screen is pretty much the only thing that makes DIF-1 Laser Tank recognisable as a title from the Far East. With a good American publisher, the game would certainly have been much better known to Western audiences and might even have been a success there. In any case, the developer softstar – not to be confused with sunsoft – still exists on the market today.
What could lend itself better as source material for a jump'n'run game than the Looney Tunes? All the slapstick, coupled with cartoon graphics as it became possible on home systems in the early 1990s, what could go wrong? A lot, as Taz Mania illustrates.
Yeah, well, you kidnapped my family first, you bloated bastard! Creatures 2 – Torture Trouble not only demonstrated technical excellence as often found towards the end of a system's lifecycle, but also exhibited the fundamental difference between the then dying home computer ecosystems and the tightly corporately controlled game console world. We gave up a huge amount of freedom of expression when we made the latter win.
Have you heard of Cypherpunk? Yes, this is not a typo. Night/Shift is aimed at all those who don't feel comfortable around today's world, with surveillance tech everywhere. Appropriately, it is also nostalgic for past tech which was (so it claims) not used for evil yet. It even namedrops Speedball. This must be great, right?
We seem to be in a bit of a quality slump in the Fighting Fantasy line. Though it is not (just) the fault of the new writers. Freeway Fighter comes from series founder Ian Livingstone. His take on Mad Max has, unfortunately, not turned out as well as we could have hoped for.
Vertical shooters are considered to be a demanding genre and the modern type is overflowing with explosions and other graphical overkill. Unlike Genesis which offers a comparatively calm gameplay and allows the player advancing to later levels without breaking out into a feverish rush. The Game Boy's monochrome display is used to magically depict the gloomy surroundings.
The new decade, the 1990s, brought along a huge shift in computer gaming. Supremacy illustrates how everything suddenly tried to open up to the emerging mass market, to appeal to audiences which would not have touched a strategic wargame with a ten-foot pole in the previous decade.
Discovering foreign worlds or even distant planets has always been the kind of fascination that can be simulated especially by computer games in such an enjoyable way. On closer inspection, however, the programming of such worlds alone is worth exploring. The DOS game Joe Starman On Planet X is a short tour through some role-playing fantasy and – as it is open source – also allows a look at the QuickBasic code in the background.
It had to happen. Desperate for more material, Puffin Books started accepting outside book submissions into the Fighting Fantasy line, and here is their first definite misstep. Space Assassin used the very first book as a blueprint, not accounting for any developments since then. Worse, it is not even remotely a good imitation of the original. Don't worry, Andrew Chapman's books improved a lot later on.
Retro computers are particularly well suited to lightweight puzzle games such as Aztec Tomb on the C64, which do not drown the player at graphical fireworks and super-realistic ray tracing effects. Here you can still sit and relax with a cup of coffee in front of the computer and solve some puzzles, instead of being directly absorbed into it by the maelstrom of a psychologically sophisticated story and the accompanying moments of shock.
Here is a game none of you have ever heard of, let alone played. In spite of 1497: Five Years After not even being such a bad name. The theme is instantly set without being overly generic. It triggers the "I get this" reflex without being elitist, too clever for its own sake. Between 1996 and 1998, it went through various revisions, starting at version 0.09 and finally reaching the treasured 1.0. Let's have a look at that one.
Time flies. A Golden Wake is almost ten years old by now. For me, it is a recent acquisition. Being totally decoupled from any pressure to get something new "urgently" has its advantages. It takes a lot of pressure out of life. And it enables to simply buy on a whim when prices are down. Of course, this also leads to the infamous "piles of shame" these days. And a number of games in one's collection which honestly aren't very good.
Watch out, the ring wraiths are hot on your trail! Talisman of Death may not offer the most original sword & sorcery scenario ever, but then, this has never been the key selling point of the Fighting Fantasy line, has it? Nevertheless, there was always room for experimentation. Genre insiders will be delighted to see the origins of what later became its own line of gamebooks here.
Of Microprose's early output, there is the big question of what is their best non-airplane simulation. I'm in the Silent Service camp. The intensity of the sneaky operations simply grabs me every time. Dated graphics, almost no sound, who cares?
Since the now grown-up fans of the Amstrad CPC probably have more than a little pocket money at their disposal, the developers of Red Sunset are willing to take a rather handsome price for their work. Read here whether the money is well invested in this newly developed vertical shooter.
Welcome to the House of Hell! Towards the end of the 1980s, this one supplanted Caverns of the Snow Witch as my favourite gamebook. Why? I started to appreciate its real world setting over what I found to be rather tired sword & sorcery material found in most of the books. Indeed, it still has that going for it. But of course, upon recent replay, I did spot many other things which were not so clear to me back then…
Did Dynamix ever make a bad game? My feeling is their track record is pretty much spotless. Not only that, a large number of their works was great in their day and even holds up well today. Case in point, Project Firestart.
Back in 1986, computers still being futuristic wonder machines, it was much easier to get lost in them still. A good time to experiment with new forms of literature. Whereas numerous companies acquired big name licences to be adapted into games, and some even had the active support of the original book authors for such adaptations, there were also a few attempts to actually produce original works in computer-based formats which would fulfil literary standards. One of them was Portal.
This is the "abominable" yeti? It seems quite clear where the sympathies of the illustrator lie. Unfortunately, the text does not introduce any such doubts. There are no subtleties to be found in this adventure. Caverns of the Snow Witch starts out as a yeti hunt, then turns into a dungeon crawl and finally lets you pay a long march home. There is a good reason for its episodic nature. Of course, I only learned about that decades after first encountering it.
Did the guy on the left use this weirdly short rapier in a duel against the dead (?) guy in white and red? No visibile wound, though. St. Thomas was a short-lived Prussian colony, located in the Carribean, in the late 17th and early 18th century. Don't worry if you haven't heard of it before. After all, now that you know about this game, it is your opportunity to learn, isn't it?
Who could possibly resist this call? Released towards the tail end of the C64's lifetime, Creatures showed what could still be squeezed out of that legendary home computer. It might not have broken revolutionary new ground, but it was the result of a long optimization.
With a cover like this, you really have to ask yourself who the target audience of Scorpion Swamp was supposed to be. From the looks of this illustration, my guess is about eight-year-olds? A low difficulty level inside would confirm this theory. Is it fair, then, to judge it from an adult perspective these days? Don't worry, I'm trying my best to be fair.
Stuffy old men in suits taking decisions about our world's future from their ivory tower. Earth Command is painfully realistic, dealing with all those alarming issues of today's world. Just that it is from… 1993. Wait a minute, does this mean all this has been known for decades? Wouldn't this imply we could have done something to prevent where we are now? Unheard of! [sarcasm off]
Merchandising is not new to us, and the game Doraemon 2: Animal Planet Legend, based on the movie of (almost) the same name, appeared on what was probably the most popular handheld in the early 1990s. Although the Gameboy started its triumphal march in other parts of the globe – outside Japan – the game remained untranslated until today. Hence the attempt to close a potential knowledge gap.
I don't think much of an introduction is needed for this one. It's one of the most popular games of the homecomputer era, after all. Obviously, the difficulty with games like Turrican is always: is there anything which has not been said about it before?
Having just escaped from Deathtrap Dungeon, a well-deserved rest with our good friend Mungo seemed in order. Only that said Mungo immediately sends us on another seemingly hopeless adventure: defeating the Lizard King and freeing the enslaved humanoids from his grasp. At least he's coming along as well. Oops, maybe that wasn't the best of ideas…
One of the most beloved games on the C64, Wizball's specialty was cooperative multiplayer. Something not all that often found in games of the time. Or even today, for that matter. Which is too bad, isn't it? Why always this focus on competition?
In the mid-1990s, the website of Silicon Commander Games was one of the first I visited. I adored their three games, all shareware. Of those, Proliferation was my favourite then, and it remained at that spot. Even though the other two seemed to receive more attention from the main developer himself. The old website is gone. All the more reason to make sure those games are not forgotten.
One thing which can set good gamebooks apart is the imagination put into the situation it presents. Deathtrap Dungeon, out of the blue, presents its players with this beam of light in which disembodied laughing faces can be seen. They are given the option to step inside, upon which the faces all turn sad in dispair. Giving players a cryptic hint about something which may happen later. In gameplay terms, the same hint could have been presented as a book, as scroll or given by some old man… all those highly conventional choices would have made this a lesser, less memorable adventure.
It was time to face one of my childhood traumas. No, not my horrible school days, but rather a lie I've carried with me since then. Everyone said, at the time, that Teacher Busters was the greatest thing invented since ice cream. But I didn't even know the game! Though how could I admit that without being stamped a total loser by my nerd friends? Well, here I am, just 35 years later, making amends.
Dime City is one of the last games published by the second incarnation of Starbyte. It is incredible how in such a short lifetime, this company managed to push out so many titles which are still sort of fondly remembered! The "fondly" part may not always be justified, of course. In this case, there could even be serious doubts about the "remembering" part.
This picture left a strong impression on me as a child. It all seemed to be there. The impressive guard figure, looming above us due to the choice of perspective. And then, in the background, a sketchy, but alluring promise of what would await us if we managed to get past that guy. The cover of the edition I had back then even featured a die as part of the street's cobblestones. It all seemed perfect. But, of course, memories may be misleading. So let us enter the City of Thieves together.
The port of Cisco Heat to the Amstrad CPC does not have the best reputation and is sometimes even considered unplayable. This is particularly serious because its precedent on the arcade machines was a great success and Jaleco probably had to do everything right to convince home computer users of their game as well. You can find out here whether they really failed so miserably.
There is a certain perverse pleasure in looking back at those not so great games of times gone by. No, not in a "so bad it's good" way or to mock them, but rather as a reminder of the realities back then. Common retrospectives focus on the few classics, the big hits of their days. It's not like those were really played all the time. No, we also spent our time with stuff like Das Magazin. Which really raises another question. I'd be really curious to know the story of its development. Were there people behind who (at the time) thought this was good? Who really stood behind their work? Maybe, one day, we should try to research all this.
"Ouch! The evil aubergine wizard threw an aubergine at me!" That, or something like it, must have gone through the mind of the hero Pit in Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters when he turned into a defenceless waddling aubergine and set out to search the hospital room to regain his original heroic form. And this is just a small sample of the flourishing imagination that Nintendo put into this game.
For decades, where did all chess world champions come from? Correct the USSR. Yet, it seems this clean-shaven US boy wants to play the Russian chess computer for world dominance. Representing game's player. Geopolitique 1990 does not allow to take over the "other" side. Even though it should really have been possible. It is a minor oversight in a game which is full of very good ideas and paved the way for other, much more commercially successful re-interpretations.
Yes, it is the incredible John Hurt! In the 1990s, he actually appeared in several so-called FMV games. In spite of the horrible hairpiece the makers of Tender Loving Care made him wear, he graces the game with his presence. Giving it a degree of credibility it otherwise surely wouldn't have reached. You'll be remembered!
Already in the days of the home computers, smaller software houses were that extra something. The resourceful name Pandora obviously promises a big surprise when opening their products. This became a reality for me after playing Into the Eagle's Nest. Because a few years later, I had a déjà-vu as I regard the much more famous Wolfenstein 3D only its logical sequel.
It's a little bit ironic. Starship Traveller is a game with a technobabble science fiction theme. Yet, it is presented in fully analogue format itself. A Fighting Fantasy entry from Steve Jackson, be prepared for experimental gameplay…
You know what I dislike just as strongly as people dismissing anything "old" as automatically bad? Elitist retro-ists treating all kinds of later developments the same way. For instance, there are tons of people claiming "all FMV games are crap". Well, yes, ok, maybe not the greatest example. FMV games not exactly being all that recent anymore. Nevertheless, the point remains. The presentation of things does not make or break a game, unless it is an extreme case. In each format, gems can be found. "Gem" probably doesn't describe The Dame Was Loaded, but it is quite a decent game nevertheless.
Piloting a spaceship in the vastness of the universe has always stimulated the imagination of game designers. With Crazy Blaster, a Finnish programmer has also made a contribution in the spirit of this overflowing continuum of creative energy, not forgetting to aim a few completely earthly and not less satirical arrows at his (un?)beloved communist neighbouring state, which, as we know, shoots cosmonauts and not astronauts into the sky.
A roleplaying game on the Atari 2600? A real one? Featuring an overworld, including swamps, forests, wilderness and villages, as well as an underground dungeon? It may not be Ultima, but Dragonstomper comes dangerously close! If you squint your eyes, you may already be able to read its secret, of course.
Germans and their business sims… Das Haus (The House or The Building) is not even is not even about managing a department store, as the title screen may suggest, but it's literally about running a boarding house. Not the crazy type.
The name Soulless doesn’t speak for itself. The piece of software, which was published about 10 years ago and fits on an old fashioned 5¼ floppy disk, contains a lot of heart and soul. The developers of Soulless have laid the foundation for a small fantasy realm. Action-oriented game principles from well-known classics of the C64 era – the soul, so to speak – were adapted and implanted into this world. With Soulless II, the first offspring appeared 2 years ago. Expectations are high to see whether the series will continue.
Done! Quaid has saved Mars! Oh, wait… Martian Memorandum is a Tex Murphy game, definitely not starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though Access Software may not have objected too strongly against false associations at the time.
The original packaging of Dominator proudly presents the logo C+VG Hit. Insiders know the British magazine Computer + Video Games and may even have read the corresponding review in the May 1989 issue. Most other magazines from other countries have actually tended more towards the Golden Raspberry with their assessment. Since the developer and publisher was the British game company System 3 you may consider: evil to him who evil thinks!
Gremlin beat their rivals from Psygnosis on the release of their "next gen" racing game by a couple of months. Slipstream 5000 focussed on the PC platform, however, instead of the trendy consoles of the time. Plus, it didn't have Sony's marketing power behind it. Guess which game is better remembered these days…
Although the earthworm has very little natural means to express its emotions, it makes many anglers and garden owners very happy. Perhaps, the eyeless and brainless worms dream at night of escaping their monotonous existence in the grainy soil, and preferably not on the hook of a fishing rod. At this point, Earthworm Jim enters the spotlight of the games industry and advances to become the figurehead of his entire species.
This being an incredibly well known game even until today, you must have recognized it already, haven't you? Heroes of Might and Magic 3 remains the highpoint of the series in popular opinion. As usual, one aspect of this is of course having been there in the right place at the right time, when the computer games market exploded in size.
The year 2023 is just young and Halloween is still a long way off. Nevertheless, the winter nights are now long, cold and dark most of the time. Therefore, much too early for this year or too late for last year, we present a game that will confront you with your own fears and teach you how to become frightened. The gun ready to fire in one hand and the torch in the other, the monster hunt can begin. Or will you experience your nightmare and be hunted down by the evil invaders of Darkland?
In this case, I found it more appropriate to show the box art here instead of an in-game screenshot. After all, in those days before specialized magazines became commonplace, this first impression was the main incentive to buy a game. And who wouldn't want to play as a cool 1920 style gangster? See? Back home, of course, the actual game may have looked "a little" less detailed, but fueled by those beautiful drawings, our imagination ran wild anyway. Enjoy Bank Heist!
Awful three-dimensionally modelled dragon about to breathe fire. We must be in the mid-90s. The rest of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2, fortunately, instead exhibits some qualities which were already broadly considered lost in the typical game designs of the time.
Hunted by faceless corporations – nothing more than an imperfection in the matrix – stripped of corporeality by rays and nanobots, I step out of my hover car and leave the Neon Noir scenario to jump back in time to 1938. With my friend Lorry, I get off the Greyhound bus at an old abandoned gas station somewhere on the road to Seattle on 30 March. A werewolf howls in the distance and we enter Hurlements.
A stylish game from today's vibrant indie development scene, Neon Noir is an entertaining diversion from our all too complex times. Go play!
Cute games are more of a niche product these days, where every new FPS game has to be even bloodier and more brutal than the previous one. In fact, even a famous plumber with a moustache can hardly keep up. But in the early days of computer history. brutality wasn't so important and you could lure children and teenagers in front of the console with a cuddly clown. Comic Circus transported the players into the exciting world of circus clowns.
A background story in the form of a thick comic book as in the Sworquest series can also be found in this early title for the Amstrad. The vivid colours of the CPC made Antiriad not only graphically a forerunner, but also in terms of the game mechanics that foreshadowed the Metroidvania genre. This made Antiriad became almost famous among the users of this home computer.
Just one more Swordquest chapter to go, let's dive into Waterworld. If after the previous one, you don't feel like checking this one out at all, let me assure you this one isn't just the best of the three, but by any standards quite solid. Now, if only the final chapter, Airworld, would finally appear! Well, the game is out, but what about the comicbook? We demand to know what became of Torr, Tarra and Tyrannus!
Wait, She-Ra, He-Man's twin sister, appeared in an Atari game? Sure looks like it. Just that Swordquest: Fireworld pre-dated the Princess of Power by several years. If anything, were these games an inspiration for Mattel?
Such side-observations aside, Fireworld once again was the basis of a $25000 contest. This time, the winner received a gold chalice. An actual one. Just that the game actually proved completely useless to aspiring contest winners, due to being an unfinished mess. Hard to believe, considering what was at stake for Atari.
It is the year of Atari's 50 year anniversary. Well, today's Atari celebrates the founding of the original Atari, whatever the link may still be beyond the name. One way or another, as part of an anniversary documentary/game collection, they released Swordquest: Airworld. The long-awaited conclusion to the series abandoned back in 1983. What an opportunity to dive back at the beginnings of the series, taking a look at Earthworld, where it all began. Those who don't remember/never knew what the big deal about Swordquest was: prepare to be amazed!
Isn't that the guy from A Clockwork Orange? Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger raised the bar of recognisable faces being involved in computer game productions. Behind the scenes, it is pretty much the same game as its predecessor. Not that there was or is anything wrong with that.
Is Theme Park the best game of 1994? Back in 1994, this would have been a defensible position. The game was immensely popular at the time of its release. Not surprising after Bullfrog's previous hits and based on the incredible first impression this one left. With the benefit of hindsight, it is of course very far from being the best of anything. How much of its appeal the game loses when played longer could not be easily perceived at the time. Showing how important such retrospective looks really are.
Staying with robots, but a good ten years later, MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries should have been the ultimate game for all BattleTech fans. And indeed, it occupied me once again for much longer than I anticipated. In spite of all the frustration associated with it.
It is watching you… The Sentinel (released as The Sentry in the US) was the very game which showed me just how immersive first person perspective could be. For the first time, I had this nagging feeling of not having any clue what is going on on most of the playfield, i.e. behind my in-game avatar. Sweaty hands while moving around this three-dimensional chessboard were just the least of my worries. Technology aside, this game has stood the test of time.
Yes, Iridion is sort of Uridium, or rather it wants to be. But on the Amiga, where the original didn't exist (yet). With games like this one, I would be really curious about sales statistics and marketing strategy…
Uh, yes, you have probably never heard of C.P.U. Bach. Or if you have, you have likely forgotten all about it. Believe it or not, this is what legendary designer Sid Meier committed himself to after Civilization. Not entertaining on the long term in the classic sense, but a highly interesting piece of software!
You know those games which were incredibly fascinating in their time, but revisiting them, it is really hard to still see the appeal? Castle Master is one such game. I gave it a rather lukewarm review already in 2009. This time around, I want to be fair and explain its historical context at least. Distinguish a bit between what it meant then and how it plays now.
You try that, buddy! Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi has ace pilot Splunge face off with the cats again. But he also gains a feline friend. And keeps himself busy looking for a killer on his carrier. Also, he is seduced by his commanding officer. Those were innocent times when such plot motifs were still considered acceptable…
Jeep or chopper? This remains the key question in any game of Hunter. Of course, you will want to try both. And the tanks, the speedboats, the trucks, the… bicycles? Yes, believe it or not, the latter are quite useful in your military operation. Don't let the dated graphics and the daunting first impression fool you. The game isn't nearly as complex as it looks at first glance.
Yes, they do! And, by the way, believe it or not, this is the game's good guy. Inferno: The Odyssey Continues followed hot on the trails of Epic: The Adventure Begins. Those who did experience the first part may not actually be all that keen on going head to head with the Rexxons again, but let me assure you that Inferno did introduce some really noteworthy features in its scope, its mission design etc.
Wild Cup Soccer is the lesser known sequel to the surprise hit Brutal Sports Football. It is good that it is lesser known, because it is also clearly the lesser game.
Invasion of Taiwan? Oops, too real? Europa Universalis II took me some time to get on here. Not easy to collect my thoughts in spite of knowing it inside out. Have been playing it for a good 20 years by now, after all. Quite intensely, too. And I have no intent of stopping.
Yup, it was easy to get young guys to buy a game in the mid 1990s. Just put the face (and body) of a semi-known, attractive female actress on and in it. Luckily The Daedalus Encounter wasn't horrible.
Yup, some urgency, indeed. A huge army of undead warriors is being assembled nearby, by a powerful mage. His devious plan being… to rule one small city. Uh… a bit of an anticlimax, isn't it? Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon is the pinnacle of the trilogy. Nevertheless, not everything in it has aged all that gracefully.
There is a little bit of a hint in that intro picture already. Your typical suggested AD&D party, consisting of a burly human fighter, a stocky dwarf, a mage and a cleric. Not the worst of choices when tackling Eye of the Beholder. Don't be disappointed if the game is not exactly as you remember it to be…
Once again, Mario and Luigi go on a mushroom trip. They even find a nice hotel to sleep it off. If only their sleep went undisturbed, but no – those monsters keep opening those doors! Hotel Mario is a rather nice game which you may have heard about, but likely never played yourself. Give it a go and make up your own mind!
Another victory for the vikings! Earned with a lot of bloodshed, as normal in Brutal Sports Football. Don't worry, though. They are only androids. Aren't they? I'm sure they are. And this makes it all much more tolerable, doesn't it?
Woohoo, James Pond, the hero of Amiga's best jump'n'run is back! This is going to be great. It must be. It will be. Come on, don't disappoint me, pretty please?
The early/mid 1990s with their butt ugly render graphics… Fortunately, the in-game graphics of Walker are much more pleasant. It is a rather unique one for sure. After all, how many right-to-left shooters do you know?
Just having returned from our trip to Sherwood Forest, beranmuden and I share our account of the journey. The nice sights as well as the usual complaints about trains running late, ants invading the picnic site etc. The Adventures of Robin Hood are all about good companionship.
Sometimes, the simplest concepts can nevertheless lead to a lot of fun when executed right. Zenith has you controlling a bouncy ball on its path over various obstacles on a purely linear route. And yet, it's motivating in its own casual way.
Yup, this is the one you've actually been waiting for, isn't it? Brutal Deluxe is what Speedball and its creators will always be remembered for. Ice cream!
You know Speedball, don't you? Though then, maybe you're just thinking of the second part? Although clearly overshadowed by the successor's huge legacy, the first one is a nice game on its own right.
Back in my childhood, we owned an electric model train. I fondly remember those times me and my brothers spent in the attic, assembling it into new shapes and routes every time, and then playing out our stories in this tiny worlds we had created. Of course, this was decades ago. Back then, something on the scale of Simutrans was unheard of and even more so unthinkable. It would have required much, much more physical space than anyone could have realistically had for such purposes. Admittedly, the haptic sensation is missing when operating in such virtual worlds. Nevertheless, a dream come true!
Wooohooo, race won! Stunt Car Racer is still as much fun as it was 30+ years ago. Maybe even more so these days, thanks to various fan patches available. I just keep wondering how the one driver, the one with the eye patch, can actually compete…
I see you! Rather than the eyes, you should really pay attention to that nose. It is the truly deadly part of that face.
Steel Machine is an very cool Uridium clone with good visuals, great music and challenging difficulty. Too bad it stayed confined to hardware which completely failed on the market. Completely unknown even then, it is now completely obscure. Ready to discover something new? Just in case you haven't made up your mind yet, I've also recorded a video playthrough.
"Save me, my hero!"
"Don't despair princess, my paddles will heroically shoot this metal ball upwards to the bad guy's lair and set you free!"
Plunderball is injected with exactly the dose of weirdness I do enjoy.
A jeep and a helicopter assaulting a fortress with a giant, incredibly cool looking cannon. Boy, did that sort of thing appeal to me in 1991! Behind all this, SWIV is actually a really good game which has stood the test of time. If you like hard shooters, that is. Well, there are no easy shooters, are there?
"This is our last Amiga product and perhaps our best." stated Team 17 in the manual of Worms: The Director's Cut. They were right on both counts. Regular readers will know I'm hardly their greatest fan. Though putting all this effort into this final game, in spite of limited marketing potential on the already dead platform certainly was an act of love. Thank you for going out with style!
His name is Pond, Underwater Agent. Wreaking havoc among the human world for the good of fish-kind. This game was the start of a series which had what was considered for some time as a signature mascot-like jump'n'run hero for the Amiga. That is, until Zool pushed hard to claim this title. Neither of the two, of course, really made it into the long-term collective memory of the general public.
Princess Zelda is back, in another installment of one of the most beloved gaming franchises of all time. The Wand of Gamelon has her picking up her sword and shield, rescueing her father and her boyfriend, both of whom got themselves kidnapped. Seriously, those guys are lucky to have her! A large number of levels which can only be passed with a lot of fighting and solving some puzzles wait for the player. As usual in the series. Yet, everybody hates the game which, on the other hand, hardly anyone has played.
Would you date this guy? Maybe not anymore after you've heard him talk about his conspiracy theories concerning school cafeteria food. Luckily, another 29 cover boys stand ready as well, just waiting to be picked. Because, you know, they have no standards and will go out with anyone. Girl's Club may not win a price for emancipated gender roles or avoid any other clichés. Yet, it does show that even 30 years ago, there were experiments performed beyond the then already established forms of video game entertainment.
You may think enough has been said about Rise of the Robots. Though in all honesty, I was very dissatisfied with my previous treatment of it. It was just restating popular, unreflected opinion. Not very useful, is it? The point now is not to excuse, not to defend. After all, it is an awful game. Nevertheless, it is not an intentionally awful game. So it does deserve some respect.
Awful lettering aside, this title screen actually represents the game it belongs to pretty well. In Arabian Nights, you can expect not just a magic carpet, but you will venture deep into a mine, meet flying enemies, underwater dangers… Though is it any good?
Eh… yeah, sorry about that. Believe it or not, the in-game graphics look much better. BadLands is the second sequel of the venerated Super Sprint. Graphically significantly improved (yes, really!) and set in a cool post-apocalyptic world, it should be great, right?
Another Mech game, but with a decidedly different focus. MechForce may not look all that spectacular, but around the turn of the decade (1980s/1990s), it was a sensational way to experience the tabletop without the requirements of physical space and much less financial investment. In fact, even without the blessing of an official licence, it's still the closest computer adaptation available.
MechWarrior 2 was a game which in the mid/late 1990s, pretty much everybody played. By virtue of being bundled not just in numerous compilations, but also with various pieces of gaming hardware – from joysticks to early 3D accelerators – it found its way into most PC gamers' homes. For a long time, the prospect of trying such a large game again felt daunting. Turns out my memories were misleading. The original game is actually rather on the short side. So I went on to the expansion. And now I'm in the middle of playing the final expansion/sequel which came from Activision (and which I'm going to give its own coverage at a later date). The fact alone that I'm still playing should tell you something about its enduring qualities.
Here we go again. Revisiting a game which, I fear, will not generate a huge amount of interest. Looking beyond graphics and rather slow input/output mechanism, Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow is really more attuned to today's player expectations than it was in 1985.
More HERCs? Indeed, Battledrome was the ugly duckling of the Metaltech line. Just that it never turned out to be a beautiful swan after all. It wasn't just different, but actually ugly. Maybe rightfully forgotten these days? No, even missteps deserve a record of their existence.
May not look like much these days, but back in late 1994/early 1995, this was considered quite impressive! Metaltech: EarthSiege was Dynamix'/Sierra's attempt to jump on (or stay on) the giant robot simulation bandwagon. As customary at the time, there is a completely useless outside camera view. Luckily, that's not all the qualities it offers
Staying within the adventure genre, Spider-Man is widely regarded as the finest hour of Scott Adams' ill-fated Questprobe series. This collaboration with Marvel came to an all too early end, unfortunately. Just imagine what such a licence would be worth these days!
Suit up and bring out the champagne! Not only do we celebrate our 22nd website anniversary today, but we mark it by beranmuden and myself teaming up and taking a dive into a game we both have in our collection: Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals. Hard to believe that I've been doing this half of my life by now…
wemr97dl fills a glaring omission in our database. Ten years ago, when I wrote about Joust, I covered the awful Atari 2600 version in detail, leaving the arcade original as a stub. Here is the game as it was originally intended.
Our website's anniversary upcoming, we are going back to the roots. Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition was the very first game covered on the site. Along with three others, but my recollection is that it was actually the first review written. As this was 22 years ago, I do feel I have a bit more to say about it now. With age come new perspectives, new thoughts.
In 1997, Grand Theft Auto was released. Barely 25 years later, it has been ported to the Spectrum. Well, not quite. Rival Gangs probably comes as close as anyone will ever get, however. Enjoy!
It's been thirty years now since Cryo and Virgin released KGB. Has it really been this long? I remember reading the magazine reviews very well. I always found it a highly fascinating game. Highly fascinating until I give it a try again. Gameplay-wise, it's rather unwieldy, cumbersome. Yet, I return to it from time to time.
I don't think I need to say much more, do I? Diablo is a game everybody has played. For many, it was one of the first and most intense gaming experiences in their lives. But then, when this website was started, it was still quite new, and even back then we were celebrating the game's of yesteryear. What was current then can now be considered "good old".
That looks promising, to say the least, doesn't it? A pirate, treasure, a trap, an evil skeleton getting ready for a swordfight… what's not to like? The game, appropriately titled Traps 'n' Treasures, does deliver on what it promises. Apart from the in-game audiovisuals maybe. Also, it's actually rather brainy for a platformer.
A cesspool of iniquity full of hopeless characters, a metropolitan moloch covered with constant rain, a dystopian world choking on crime and corruption. Scenes like that are often quoted by the cyberpunk genre. But recently a series of extremely brutal and inexplicable murders went down. Can DreamWeb provide good food for the future-pessimistic player?
At the beginning of the year, I reflected about quiet introspection. Turns out that in spite of all, it turned into a busy year 46 new game entries, i.e. almost one per week. Plus numerous re-visits/rewrites of games previously covered, in order to improve our existing contents. Making overall 67 new reviews – well over one a week. We covered games from 1978 as well as 2021, for 10 different systems, across all genres. Sometimes, I think we should focus more. But then, there are so many fascinating games waiting everywhere!
Today, we close the year with a returning user. beranmuden, local specialist of everything Sierra, concludes the Police Quest trilogy with part 3: The Kindred. What could be more appropriate for new year's celebrations than some crime? Remember: Don't drink and drive! Sonny Bonds surely agrees.
Handhelds does not only let you live it up by playing fast-paced action games, but also give you the opportunity for some serious mental training in every kind of puzzle and board games. Away from the worldwide community of Chess, Go and Othello, there is a little brain teaser hidden in the depths of the Gameboy library: Curtain up for the Cool Spot in his first game: 7UP Proudly Presents Spot: The Video Game!
Perspective all wrong, absolutely no sense of distance and a mega distorted body. Yet, Lionheart somehow made the reputation of being a graphical masterpiece. What is, unfortunately, much less discussed is the wide variety of levels, also as far as gameplay is concerned, the game offers. Personally, I never really got into it. It's just too ugly. Graphics matter!
Believe me, Cold War nostalgia will come. Wasn't the world a lot simpler then? No matter on which side of the iron curtain you lived, at least you knew who your enemy was. Whom not to trust. Who would protect you. Even if this act of protection would actually mean blowing up the whole world.
East vs. West: Berlin 1948 takes us back to the beginnings of that era. Don't expect a James Bond style action spectacle, though. This one deals with actual spy themes and gets quite a bit out of it.
P.S. Enjoy the world-exclusive solution I wrote upon realizing there is none out there!
What does a hearing aid have to do with a seesaw? Well, the German company Interton was founded as a manufacturer for hearing aids and produced in the 70s a little-known gaming-console. One of the around 40 released modules is Circus, which involves two clowns bouncing on a seesaw.
Believe it or not, it's Civilization V! Its free reimplementation, known as Unciv to be exact. Complex strategy, freely available for various platforms – this gets our stamp of approval, even if nowhere really old.
Blasteroids! One of the first three Amiga games I owned. Expect a bit of nostalgia here.
Back in the mid-90s, you basically had the choice between butt ugly rendered cut scenes or full motion video cutscenes staged by awful actors. It was also a time of consolidation between game genres. On the computer side of things, so-called real-time strategy was the latest craze, with tons of ultra-formulaic titles being released. SSI's War Wind received favourable reviews for breaking away from some such conventions.
Cartoon characters are subject to artistic freedom and are naturally endowed with superpowers that only fictionally exist. One representative of this species is the sheep Sven Bømwøllen. His creator didn't equipped him with horns like a real ram, but he gave him super-virility. A game from Sven’s perspective therefore obviously revolves around only one specific theme. See for yourself!
Time to revisit an old acquaintance again. 1869 was first featured on this website 20 years ago. Since then, my view on it hasn't fundamentally changed. Although widely recalled as a beloved memory from years gone long by, it simply isn't a good game. Nevertheless, it was ripe for another look as my old write-up was a tad too polemic to get a pass.
LostInSpace covers another (fairly) modern-day C64 title called Woolly Jumper. In his review, he mentions "minimalist graphics". Certainly can't see this on the excellent title screen! Then again, there is a certain tradition to making a cover which has little to do with the in-game looks
If the night sky is clear and cloudless on Halloween, you might see her riding on the broom: Witchy, the witch. In this funny casual game for the C64, a whole pack of undead ghosts is hot on her heels and you can literally hear their battle cries: "Get Witchy"!
Like the rest of the geek world, we're following the hype and taking a look back at the first Dune computer game. Not having really played for almost 20 years (you can find my previous account of it here on the website, too), it was surprisingly painless and actually rather pleasant to revisit. Can't claim this for all those games from those times
There we are at the end of the trilogy, Jungle of Doom! The game features a jungle, but preciously little doom. It's in fact a rather relaxed title, especially compared to the predecessors. Upon replaying it, it was also by far the one I had least recollection of. Could this correlation be interpreted as causality?
Of course, when you've done one, you can't just stop, can you? Especially when these games are so mercifully short. Then again, Hugo II: Whodunit is by a large margin the longest of the trilogy. If you give it a try, you'll very quickly learn which approach the developer took to achieve this increase in size. Spoiler: not the ones you've been hoping for.
Back into the House of Horrors! Inspired by the DOS Game Club (an initiative to play old-ish games together), I started this one up again. First impression: surprised by how well I remembered pretty much everything. Second thing which came to mind: how on earth did I actually solve it back in the day? On that, my memory is unfortunately fuzzy.
The protagonists in a jump 'n' run are characters that should be remembered well. So what could be better than a real superhero? Especially since the player likes to identify with them to stroke his ego. As befits a real budget release, the licence was also spared a great deal. The result is Captain Dynamo, an inglorious hero off duty.
Once again, Soccer Kid triumphs over the evil alien Scab! OK, admittedly, I did not make this picture on the most recent run. Nowadays, I usually play the game on more casual terms, not attempting to actually beat it. Nevertheless, it remains one of my go-to-games in the jump'n'run genre.
This screen, you may be familiar with, but you won't see it all the time. Raptor saw the signs of time when it was released in the early 1990s. The computer games market skyrocketed, but not because everyone suddenly became a dedicated super player. The trend towards "casual" was already beginning. So the game went against the past genre trend to make things hard. A blessing if you would like to revisit it today.
Reading an old story in an old yellowed book makes the experience that much more unique. The oldest type of computer game is probably the text adventure. On an 8-bit system, it takes the player to the roots of the whole industry. The Revenge of Moriarty, with its well-known, highly cultivated protagonist, offers furthermore literary reminiscence.
And… action! Well, in fact, you only play a messenger boy running around a Hollywood studio in Action in Hollywood, but have no fear. Some stars may become unavailable and a stand-in may be required. How convenient for our career! Hm, maybe it is actually one of those stories where in the end, it turns out the protatonist himself is the mysterious saboteur whom everyone has been searching all along?
In slightly more recent times of higher resolutions and smoother animations, Microsoft entered the game publishing arena. They were not met with missile launchers, but a rather welcomed by the market. Particularly as they carefully chose their products. Mech Commander came with a strong licence and it was overall well produced without going overboard on the videos which make many of the games of the time so cringeworthy in retrospect.
An episode, a tale, a story taken out of the life of a pub waiter in a small harbour town can be replayed in this short text adventure. His adversary and pirate leader is the namesake of this freeware game: Captain Cutter's Treasure. Who will come on board?
Queueing up for death… again. Cannon Fodder 2 takes the premise of the first part, but yanks up severity by various orders of magnitude. In spite of the new graphical sets, this is the impression which prevails after playing. A sequel designed solely to please the fans, not even trying to break into new audiences.
B.C. Kid – a home computer conversion of a popular Japanese console game. Technically highly competent, but was it still an appropriate design in the early 1990s? How about now, another 30 years later? Is anyone actually still playing jump 'n' run games these days? Let us know!
Going back to the days of black and white movies. Although this game does have a couple of small coloured spots. In fact, the game even delivers on what the title screen promises: a train, attacked by fighter planes, a bridge in the background… if they had squeezed in a station shootout, things would have been pretty much complete. The game is The Train. So is the movie it was inspired by.
Mad TV changed the landscape of business simulations fundamentally. People saw this genre didn't need to be all dry and niche-y. Though then, most imitators only copied the outer appearance, not so much the inner values. Does Der Planer manage?
…and now for something completely different. The larch. Sorry, wrong track. While not going back to the actual roots of its genre, XTrek defined the way "adult" text adventures would be for years to come. Why did this one, of all, gain such traction? How does it hold up today? What's the appeal of typing for virtual sex at all? Find out!
Back into… the engine! The second Chaos Engine is not nearly as well known as the first, and as so often, there is a good reason for it. Released only on an already commercially dead platform, how could a broad audience have noticed? Let's take another plunge!
Although we review new text adventures with quite some regularity, there is also a wealth of new (free) point & click adventures released every year. The Telwynium may be a good one to introduce this world to our audience. Graphics and interface clearly recall Sierra's transitionary period, when they already used mouse interfaces, but before they moved on to fancy VGA visuals.
Dungeon crawls… what genre could be possibly more timeless than this one? Tales of Maj'Eyal, or TOME4 for short made a big buzz about ten years ago, starting the big commercial revival of roguelike games. That not only makes it a worthy entry into our database for reasons of historical legacy, but it's also already a "good old" game on its own right by now.
Here comes the "Krew". The Skeleton Krew. Yes, the 90s were really an embarassing decade, weren't they? Some parts, we may nowadays think back to fondly, but for sure, where things went too far in their attempt to be "cool" (or |<3\/\/1), there is no defense. Looking beyond the cover, there could still be a good game inside nevertheless, right?
Pirates! is among the games I essentially never have stopped playing since first seeing them on my screen. Of course, back then, it was an elderly TV it was beaming from. These days, it's more likely an emulator window. One way or another, though, it remains one of those timeless designs which just draw you in time and time again.
Recently challenged on our forums about my dislike for roleplaying games, I took the opportunity to try and set things right on this account once again. Actually, if you browse a bit, you'll find a number of quite positive RPG reviews written by me here on the site. Though admittedly, there are typical aspects of the genre which I do dislike. Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna does away with most of them, making it my favourite installment of this classic series. At least on paper, as it does have its own issues, unfortunately.
Super Mario invented the jump on the opponent's head named after him and became famous in every child's room. With the collection of a feather, he can even hurl fireballs. MetaMorphosis has lived up to his name and transformed Mario into a spider creature that shoots poison spit. The cute enemies are also all bizarre creatures that seem to have sprung from a horror trip. Don't be put off and take a look.
The first episode of Paganitzu was put on the market as shareware for the PC and was a typical beginner's game that ran flawlessly even on weak computers. Due to the low level of difficulty, even newcomers were not immediately deterred and encouraged to play. With Amiganitzu, the game was even converted to the PC's famous predecessor 21 years later. Such an honoured game is worth a closer look for me in the following.
Whoosh! Is that one window shooting at another one? Oh, no, another missile flying in! And what is that transport plane carrying? A large battle robot? Boom, there goes my headquarters. Metal Marines put fun on Windows (3.x) desktops. Still fun today. Even if not that many people may be using Windows anymore.
Last remaining combat unit to General: "Awaiting orders". Answer from general: "Hold your ground". With these or similar words, the player may wear down his troops during a tenacious defence without remorse. The soldiers will obey blindly because, after all, the army only exists virtually. You can find out how convincingly The Perfect General II conveys the battle action in this detailed review.
Back over to the other side of the big atlantic pond, right into the most dusty backrooms of provincial Germany. This is where we find the remnants of what used to be a mainstay of game culture around here. Never eclipsing the changing most popular genres of each age, but finally outlasting almost all of them. Business simulations were always there to stay. Sneered and laughed at, but always making a solid profit. Winzer, along with others, was a part of my own socialisation.
The world's most powerful graphics technology – Infocom boasted to provide nothing less in its heyday. It was of course meant in a figurative way. Five years later, under considerable market and management pressure, things turned actually tangible. The Infocomics not only predated their illustrated text adventures, but offered nothing less than a fresh approach to storytelling. Untrodden ground, uncharted waters. A big whirlwind or just a storm in a teacup? Think about it: have you heard of these Infocomics before?
Oh, a Time-Bird? That sounds cool, doesn't it? No clue what it is, but now I sure want to have one. Oh, really? What a pity! All this effort to get it? Is it really necessary? I'll pass then. Who wants to have a go instead?
Chuck Rock on wheels. You're probably growing a bit tired of all those racing games by now, aren't you? Same for me. So don't worry, BC Racers will be the last one for now. Not going out with a big bang, admittedly, though some nice ideas inside. Enjoy it for what it is.
A shopping mall, this is exactly what was missing there at the foot of the castle! Good thing there are such forward-looking rulers as the evil queen enabling change for the advantage of all. Yes, it may not be the most original joke ever, but at least Eric the Unready certainly gets more out of the old fairytale clichés than certain other adventure games. The question is: does all this still hold up today?
All looks a bit… weird, right? Would you believe this one comes from 1995? Surely, they made much better looking racing games long before? Yes, they did. XTreme Racing made the misjudgement believing that "true 3D" would be an advantage in some way. Though who cares about graphics when playability is top-notch?
Zeppelins over London? History Line 1914-1918 (published as, but nevertheless completely unknown as The Great War 1914-1918 overseas) jumps back to the first world war. Being the forgotten offshoot of the Battle Isle series, I actually prefer it over the original, even if the cold facts may speak another language. The tanks in this one simply have more recognizable character
Another Gunboat? Yes, this is actually the one I had in mind when I thought "let's review Gunboat". But then, last week's game looked tempting enough to try as comic relief appetizer. Now, on to the main course. This one sports the fancy subtitle River Combat Simulation. Simulation may be aiming a bit high. Though then, really feeling like being on a mosquito infested river somewhere in the jungle, smelling only sweat and an old Diesel engine, while being constantly shot at may not be all that desirable anyway.
Oh well, unfortunately, it is another case of more care and effort having gone into the title screen rather than the actual game. Behind the action-packed promise, Gunboat primarily leaves its player frustrated. The action is so hectic and overloaded that you'll likely follow this purple faced, bearded guy from the picture soon. Wait a minute, is this fish mocking me?
Much needed break thanks to the holidays. A good opportunity to re-visit one of the eternal classics. The Settlers fulfils this point easily. After starting out, it feels like only a moment, but actually hours have passed. Lost in thoughts, I'm watching the busy going-on of the screen. Then I perform some optimization of the transport paths in order to dissolve some traffic jam. Actually, I don't feel like urgently winning the game. My little realm is just working so well.
Officially endorsed by the mafia… yup, such a game exists. Although a little surprisingly, it is called Crime Does Not Pay. Is this really the position the mafia would take? Wait, is it possible that this sigil on the box is actually faked? Maybe the real mafia had nothing to do with this after all? In any case, which mafia would it be? So many questions…
Playing through older racing games may feel like driving through a desolate wasteland at times, indeed. Run-down ruins which maybe looked new and shiny in their day, but which are clearly past their prime. It's a genre which hasn't aged that well broadly speaking. There may be exceptions, and I will not give up my search for those gems, obviously. Today, it's Bump 'n' Burn's turn.
Bending to popular demand, a fresh look at Cannon Fodder. Honestly, I'm always really torn about these. On the one hand, it really bugs me that 90% of our audience's attention goes towards just a few games. I keep thinking that beyond reliving those nostalgic memories, there must also be some interest to discover lesser known games of days gone by, even if it's just to put rose-tinted nostalgia into perspective. Then again, maybe those popular picks are the games which have stood the test of time and which will therefore remain in everyone's mind. You decide for yourself.
How much better can it get than this? Time Commando's title screen offers a lot. If only the actual game could deliver! It's one of those games which has aged quite badly. The early 3D rendered graphics not being able anymore to mask the shallow gameplay, it's a curiosity of its time, but not much more nowadays.
On this day, 21 years ago, The Good Old Days opened its virtual doors. It was a reaction to my personal dissatisfaction of the state I perceived the games industry to be in. No variety, exclusive focus on genres I disliked. Though there were exceptions, after all. Almost on the same day, The Sims was released. A game which, although not completely without precedence, pushed the boundaries of what a game could do, what a game could be. Now regarded "good old" as well, time for us to cover it
Stronghold is one of those games which I have personally never stopped playing since 1993. Not every day, not every week, but with an almost alarming regularity, I keep coming back to it. Which made it all the more painful that this game was covered by what was probably the worst review of the complete website. Time to alleviate this lack.
On to equally gloomy themes, SuperKarts is all about polluting the environment irreparably until our earth turns into a literal hell hole, with the last survivors being forced by mutant gods to perform deadly races for their amusement… or is it?
Aren't we all in the mood for a bit of apocalyptic material right now? Yup, time to re-visit game ID 1 of our database. Actually, It Came From the Desert wasn't the very first game to be covered here, though a later database transformation moved it forward to the beginning of the list. Nevertheless, this was a trip back to the "early days" for sure. It was a relief to see this beloved game held up well.
Lazy policeman drinking coffee and eating donuts… well, at least the landscape is quite scenic, isn't it? And I can assure you the other side of the law, the illegal booze smuggler organization the player belongs to in Moonshine Racers, doesn't exactly come across as less of a cliché. It's a big part of the fun.
Even in 1993 this game's title came across like pure provocation. Aufschwung Ost? All the big promises of social and economical upturn after the so-called German reunification of 1990 had burst like the empty bubble it had been. Bleak reality had caught up with all those who had lived a lollipop coloured dream for a brief time. If the game is to be believed, it more than anything revealed how big a lie it had all been. How foreseeable the looming disaster should have been.
Surprise, surprise: here is the sequel to last week's game. Discovery – In the Steps of Columbus, released in 1992 appropriately, has actually been on our website for a long time, though coverage left a bit to be desired. So here we go again.
Going even more obscure, Merchant Colony is a game which for sure you have never heard of. If you have… congratulations, you are one out of thousands. Though for sure, you have played other games from Impressions, as they became quite famous by the mid-90s. If you would like to know where they started, this is your opportunity!
Trying to brighten the moods again a little, you know what always works to get people entertained? Templar conspiracies. Already before the more famous Broken Sword, there was Time Gate: Knight's Chase. Though you may not have noticed back then, as it flew way below the general public's radar.
These days, new year is not so much a time of big bang and loud fireworks. What we have behind us is very likely the weirdest year of many people's lifetime so far. We kept all this out of the website on purpose, but nevertheless, it is clearly the right moment for humility and introspection. Considering and maybe re-considering what we're doing, what we're doing well and what is maybe just eating our time with no or little payoff.
So this is what we did. Following some intense discussions (not all public), The Good Old Days is changing. Slowly, but surely. Exactly in the way I said: trying to focus on what we do best, saving time on what maybe others can do better. For instance, we've now finally written down some quality standards for reviews. We're also busy going through all existing contents, classifying and improving where we can.
One thing you may have noticed is that some old game reviews are being moved to "archived" status. We don't plan to remove any existing contents, don't worry. Though this indeed should signpost that as per today, we're not fully happy with those older contents anymore. This doesn't mean anyone did anything wrong at the time. We've been online for almost 21 years now. What constitutes a good game review has evolved over the years. For instance, when we started out, highly detailed description of game mechanics, really explaining how a game plays were still the norm. By now, other media (such as Let's Play videos) have emerged which put a big question mark to the usefulness of doing this in writing. Nowadays, we are trying to write much more about interpretation, the big picture and historical classification.
With the amount of stuff we have produced over those years, all this takes time. We're proceeding step by step while obviously also keeping the site running with new contents, but sometimes also re-visiting already covered games with new thoughts. In some cases, former authors are not available anymore to re-work old contents, so at some point, we will have to take decisions concerning those items. It will all happen in due time.
A time of change, of course, is also a good opportunity for new beginnings. Where do you think the site should go? What is it that you visitors are really looking for? Feel free to share your thoughts in the forum. Here is to a better new year!
This promotional claim, you will find paraphrased in the coverage of most websites reporting about this recently released game. Excitement seems generally high – another boxed release of a new game for most classic computer systems by the same people who already brought us Hibernated just 1.5 years before? Very cool for sure! Though as it is our habit, we don't content ourselves with just reproducing official announcements here, but we look beyond the cover.
Staying within the racing genre, even more specifically the street racing genre, Road Rash begs the question of when a game is still the same game. Originally released three years before this variant, the 3DO version is less a port than a remake or even a re-imagination of the original. True to the raging "multimedia" trend, it showed that this system could actually have had a chance on the market if it had had more spectacular releases such as this one.
In all honesty, 1000 Miglia is a game I held a grudge against for decades, although I had actually never played the game. Even further, I didn't have the slightest clue what kind of game it is. How did this come to be? Solely based on its name. You see, at the time of the early 2000s, there was a large number of lazy game database websites popping up. They simply copied game data from other sites, resulting in virtually identical information sets, without adding anything by their own. Screenshots or game descripions were obviously non-existent. So it was impossible to figure out the nature of a game. I considered these websites totally useless. And they all had one thing in common: this game topped their alphabetical list. My hatred of these websites projected onto the game… yes, undeservedly. So I decided to give it a go finally.
Cinemaware remains one of the most fascinating computer game companies of the 1980s. Infamous for audiovisual dazzling techniques, their style over substance works, I keep returning to their games nevertheless. Lords of the Rising Sun felt like it deserves another look. Indeed, I did not walk out disappointed.
Back to more recent times (well, still 25 years ago…) with a game which received quite some hype at the time, but apparently was unable to commercially cash in on its great magazine reviews. Likewise, it has yet to be resurrected in public mindset as a "forgotten gem". The Riddle of Master Lu did not inspire a large amount of fan websites yet. Why is that?
With just one more week left to go at the IF Comp it seems about time to reveal my favourite title from this year. It is a game about childhood and imagination with a very creative touch to it. And as with all great text adventures it features a really solidly implemented game world with a rather responsive parser. Mr Creosote already took a look at it at the beginning of the competition and seemed to be quite fond of it, too. The game I am talking of is The Impossible Bottle which I wholeheartedly want to recommend. Especially to any gamers who are still a child at heart.
From the admittedly somewhat archaic genre of text-based adventure games, we jump backwards in time even further. Remember phone phreaking? Yes, those of you under the age of 50 probably don't. Wouldn't you just love to learn more about it, maybe even relive those times in interactive fashion? Then NeuroDancer probably isn't for you. Although it does try to make this past culture appealing in the most simple of fashions. If you decide to give it a go, remember: keep your hands where everyone can see them (as illustrated).
Staying on the subject of interactive fiction, Bureaucracy is a game I recently revisited. This being a game with a troubled, well-documented production history, there is a lot to discuss extrinsically as well as trying to see what effects show intrinsically. It's a game I really like, though honestly, what sticks to my mind is the good scenes only.
While the IF Competition is still running, let's also take the opportunity to look back at how similar genres were handled in our core decade – the 1980s. Passengers on the Wind showcases many of the issues found in interactive narrative formats… to this very day. On top, it had an even harder nut to crack, that of turning a plot written in traditional format (in this case a comic book) into something interactive.
The IFComp is still under way and it is closing in on the half time. Seems like they expanded the schedule a bit this year: You can play and judge until the 29th of November this year. Maybe this is due to the fact that there are just so many titles. Which might make you wonder which ones to chose from? Parser or Choice-based? Horror or comedy? Short or long?
Well, so how about a recommendation? Today’s review is about a game that was kind of a pleasant surprise to me. It is from a genre that feels to me like it has been done to death by now: Zombies. And in a way it is extremely topical, something that I do not overly care about. Yet it manged to grab my attention right from the start and was a lot more fascinating then I would have expected. Some thoughts on the reason why can be found in our newest review for Alone.
By now I have tried around a dozen of the IFComp’s games and I am quite happy with most of the candidates. As usual quantity and quality varies from title to title, luckily none of them were utterly unplayable (so far).
On the contrary, you can find a couple of really interesting stuff in there. Like Tavern Crawler, a nice little role playing gem, which proves yet again that you do not need a multi-million dollar budget to get your players stuck to the screen. Coming up with an unusual idea and implementing it in a solid way might do the trick just fine.
Picking up the ball of the IF Comp, I couldn't leave Herr M. completely alone with those more than 100 games, of course. The Impossible Bottle, the first pick I made, turned out to be a lucky one. Humorous, nicely plotted, demanding… what more could you ask for?
The 26th Interactive Fiction Competition has started and as usual it is offering a plethora of text based games. With its wide variety of formats and genres it caters to a whole lot of tastes. Whether you prefer your interactions typing, clicking or tapping, or your texts thoughtful, fancy or plain: You will find some pearls in there. Though admittedly there will be a bit of trash too. Which ones which? Well, it is time to find out!
That is why I have already started this year’s article and look and behold: There is even a first review! So far the games look very promising and I have to admit that I am a bit hyped.
If you want to get involved yourselves (again): All it takes is picking up five of the games, playing them and voting for them on the competition’s website (just follow the link in the article above). And do not forget to drop us a line or two afterwards.
Happy adventuring!
Do you remember the beginning of Nightmare on Elm Street 5, where this guy is sort of merging with his motorbike into a bio-mechanical horror? Of course not, who remembers Nightmare on Elm Street 5? Though for reasons which should be apparent, playing No Second Prize reminded me strongly of this scene in the otherwise forgettable movie. Does this make the game forgettable as well? Oh well, never judge a book by its cover.
Beneath a Steel Sky actually received a late sequel not too long ago. Not the worst of reasons to re-visit the original. It's been many years and what I didn't remember at all anymore is that it's a rather short game by the standards of its time. A definite plus considering the changed player expectations of today which certainly I can't claim to have passed by me without effect.
Has it really already been 10 years since Dennis Hopper passed away? Then again, he did have a long, distinguished career. Well, part of it was distinguished. By the 1990s, he basically took any work which offered a solid paycheck and openly admitted it. This lead to a detour into the world of computer and video games. The downpoint of which must have been his appearance in Super Mario Bros.. He was also features in the "interactive movie" genre with almost alarming frequency, though in most cases, it was just a little cameo to later be able to print his name on the box. In case of Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller, it's mostly his distinctive voice; his facial features can really only be recognized by those with previous knowledge that he is in the game.
Photocopied manuals and manually reproduced floppy disks sent by post are not necessarily covered by the law of product piracy, but were a widespread form of software distribution from the 1980s to the early 1990s. Besides the colourful sales shelves in the shops the constantly growing supply of bedroom programmers found this unusual way to the customer. I will have a deeper look at what they sometimes found in their letterboxes by the example of a late work called Taam.
In my scouting for games deserving a fresh look, I stumbled upon Dark Seed once more. Since all those old screenshots were actually bad (downscaled so that all text was unreadable), I played through it again to replace those as well. The result of putting this fresh impression into words is now online.
Time for some meta news. We've been doing some internal restructuring deemed necessary due to the growth of the website. It is no longer this small thing it started out as. The amount of games we cover these days could be perceived as daunting by newcomers. So we have taken action and added some simple tools to help you manage.
First, you will undoubtedly have noticed the changes on our front page. Above all, this website is about human-created contents. So you may be interested to learn more about the heads behind it all. Those people who, apart from creating contents, also keep things running behind the scenes – our staff.
Though, of course, we also thrive from user-generated contents. Hence, right on the front page, users who have provided specifically noteworthy contributions to the community will also find their profiles regularly highlighted. This is not just our "thank you", but from your visitor perspective, this is also to enable you to find contents which you may be interested in. Have a favourite reviewer? There he or she is, through the profile, you can easily jump to a list of his or her reviews.
Talking about discoverability, browsing the complete list of games is probably not the default mode of choice anymore. Takes much too long. So we're testing an additional approach which we call staff picks. Those are random games taken from a pool which our staff considers particularly noteworthy. This is not a quality seal for the games presented there, but those are games where we feel our coverage is pretty good and you could go out with it a little richer.
Last, but not least, those of you who are logged in to their accounts now have the ability to bookmark specific game pages (icon right next to the game's title). You can use this in various ways: remember some items for later reading, mark all your favourites for repeated consultation etc. You can access your personal bookmark list through the user icon on the top right.
As always, although we see the raw access numbers, additional feedback what helps, what you're maybe still missing, is always welcome in our forums.
Is there something like an overdiscussed game? Personally, these days, I tend towards answering this with a yes. At some point, simply everything has been said about a work of art and subsequent treatments can only reproduce the already known and agreed. Thinking of Civilization, do you really want to read again how due to the limited battle system, a phalanx can defeat a tank with a bit of luck or how the city micromanagement brings everything to a grinding halt towards the end? No, I didn't think so. So instead, I wrote down my personal experience with the game and what it meant to the computer gaming hobby overall.
It doesn't always have to be salmon and champagne that feeds the dreams of the discerning gaming consumer. Spurned by many as average, inconspicuous bread-and-butter games unfortunately remain trapped in anonymity from the start and fall into oblivion. Nevertheless, these preparations out of the fashion sparkle with their very own charm. I have played the taster for you and will tell you if the Shoot'Em-Up called Hypsys still passes for edible.
Time flies! It certainly feels like yesterday that this game was released to great attention of interested media. Hibernated 1: This Place is Death (hinting at a sequel already in its title) is one of those recent games which got a boxed release and was hyped quite a bit. Some time later, the bare game file, minus box, was released online for free. Does the game hold its promise?
Carriage rides instead of races in high-speed bolides, smoking a pipe instead of steaming Schischa, a corpse with an unknown murderer instead of 100 corpses that you just mowed down yourself with a shotgun: Such a thing is supposed to be entertaining? I unpacked my magnifying glass and took a closer look at this case. And found some very remarkable traces in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments.
There is just no way around Wing Commander. It belongs to those with legendary status which changed the face of everyone's favourite hobby. First by showing that the days of the bedroom programmer were over, and the age of corporately produced games was upon us. Second, it established the IBM PC – previously regarded as a pure office computer – as the predominant games platform for the years to come. Therefore leaving a huge footprint and legacy on the whole industry.
P.S. For the true historians among you, we also have the versions for Amiga, CD32 and 3DO, called Super Wing Commander.
Those initiated in classic detective fiction will already know what this is about. It's The Hound of the Baskervilles, the most famous case of everyone's favourite detective, Sherlock Holmes. Want to re-experience it? Here is a way you've never probably never seen.
Don't we all feel like this sometimes? Tired, without drive and the only "activity" imaginable is sitting down in front of a screen? If only there was ever anything good on… Enter Mad TV – the classic business simulation enabling you to do better. Make TV relevant again in this age of streaming. Up to the challenge?
Rambo? Cool, let's get shooting! Yes, this game does have a lot of shooting. And stabbing. And throat slitting. And fistfighting. Nevertheless, it's not exactly what you think it is. The secret is right there on the title screen already. Yup, you read right. It's "interactive fiction", i.e. a text adventure. Seriously? Seriously. But don't despair, it does have a lot of shooting.
Empire Deluxe – reading my own old review, honestly speaking, made me cringe in embarassment. The good thing is that I'm still regularly playing it anyway, so making new screenshots and sitting down again to write down how I feel about it now was not even a huge effort. Not sure there is still a big interest in this one; in the early years of the website, it was a regular point of discussion… but that may have been thanks to the biggest Empire fan ever being a regular on our forums in those days
Taking a break from delving into the past, here is a game which is still in active development as of today. KeeperRL enhances the small dungeon building simulation genre which had a short heyday in the mid-1990s with more role-playing elements, tactical combat, an intuitive interface, random (highly configurable) maps and highly attractive graphics. Definitely worth checking out and following further enhancement!
3 Skulls of the Toltecs
is a game I've last played 15 years ago. I didn't enjoy it very much back then. How do I know? Having a website has its advantages in supporting one's memory Given that my previous record of what I thought about it left something to be desired, I gave the game another spin. Did this change my mind? Feel free to check it out and compare.Continuing with brand new (well, 27 year old) games, who is the Supreme Warrior? That guy there on the picture? The intention seems to be that it should be you, the player, who is supposed to rise to this "supreme" status by defeating the circus freaks like him. Don't even think for a second this will be an easy task, though. In spite of their appearance, these guys are quite tough. But at least somewhat merciful, as they will let the player escape repeatedly after defeats. What is merciless, on the other hand, is this game overall…
Behind the scenes, we have started a Herculean task some time ago: reviewing all the contents we have produced in the last 20+ years. Trying to see what we still consider good and what could be improved by today's standards. As it turns out, we produced some really nice write-ups over the years, but some others have become rather dated or they're in some other way not really in line with our own expectations anymore.
One such case was Battle Bugs. This game was one of the four initially covered at the day of the website's opening. Reading my old review, I found that it really deserved a fresh look. Don't worry, the "historical" one remains there for those who still want to read it, but the one posted today is now considered "default". Enjoy!
As if 3DO and CD-i weren't obscure enough, LostInSpace adds the Atari XEGS to our list of generally unknown and unsuccessful game console coverage. The obvious first choice to introduce a system being its bundled launch title: Bug Hunt. This one being special in another way as well, with regards to its controller. Good thing that our hero can discuss first-hand impressions.
As I'm writing these lines, my daughter is watching a cartoon where a kid Marco Polo travels into the far east in search of his father. It's actually not too bad. Although there is absolutely no relation to this Marco Polo game, I will probably not always associate the cartoon's title tune with the game. Anyway… indeed, trying to construct any parallel, one could argue that this game also falls within the area of family entertainment. For sure, it was intended as a communal experience sitting on the couch in front of a TV.
Do you remember Kai's Power Goo? Yup, that tool which made photos look exactly like this? Leading to thirty seconds of chuckle before realizing that it was utterly useless? No, this is not what you will find on our website now.
Instead, my latest 3DO pick is Psychic Detective, an interactive movie from the mid-1990s. Interactive movie? Yes, I know, but please believe me when I say that this one is different. Far from perfect for sure, but full of smart ideas. The manual hinted at sequels (labellling this one the protagonist's "first case") which never appeared. Too bad!
If you were leading a conscious life in the early 1980s, you will certainly remember Richard Chamberlain in the role of John Blackthorne. Learning basic Japanese and bowing a lot, but switching to annoying "olde English" with a lot of "thys" and "thees" when wooing his sweetheart Yoko Shimada, while Toshiro Mifune attempted to become Shōgun. In 1989, players already had their second chance to do better. No, that's not right. They had the chance to do exactly as well as Blackthorne, or worse and fail.
On an interesting sidenote, this was one of the last games made and released by Infocom, long past their market leadership in adventure games.
Whoops, what is this? An Ultima Underworld sequel made by SSI? Not a bad guess. With Slayer, released only on the 3DO console, SSI took the plunge into 360° free movement dungeon adventuring. Turned out this was among the last few releases they could squeeze out of their D&D licence.
LostInSpace dives into another area of obscurity. Not the least bit less obscure, but just different. Wizard of Wasd for sure is the newest game on our website. Brand new, just released this year! Nevertheless, it fits perfectly into our website theme, as it has not only been made for a 40-year-old system, but also under other severe resource restrictions. Unbelievable what some people can squeeze out of so little!
What better way to celebrate our relaunch than by diversifying our contents as well? Celebrating my penchant for "underdog" systems, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer seemed like the perfect choice.
The decentralized nature of 3DO development, with no single, strong corporate backer, lead to a not so nice situation for the system. At launch, there were few games available. Crash 'n Burn is said to be the only third party title available at the time, and some sources claim it was bundled with the first Panasonic hardware. As we all know, the 3DO flopped. How much of the blame has to go to this game?
Looks like our constant recording of what's going on in our neighbour's house is finally going to pay off! Let's hope we will not run out of battery prematurely. Now that would be inconvenient after all this waiting.
Waiting being the key word here. A couple of years passed between the first part and this sequel. Those years had made the death of the original game's home platform plainly obvious. So obvious that Voyeur II wasn't even released on the CD-i anymore, but rather only for the IBM platform. Friends of cheesy 1980s soap operas could therefore rejoice – finally some fresh material!
Uh, yes, those graphics aren't very good. This is what they thought could compete with the lush art of Magnetic Scrolls? Dream on!
Turns out they couldn't, as sales for Level 9 never picked up to former greatness again. Though looking beyond the cover, Knight Orc is worth a second look. Or a third one. Or even a larger discussion. Because it could have given a whole new direction to a by that time aging genre.
Whoops, I don't remember those guys in the back from TV. Did they really belong to the series' principle cast? Wait a minute? They wouldn't have edited themselves into the picture, would they? Those are the people responsible for making the game, I assume? Actually, not such a horrible idea.
Hill Street Blues, the game, you have obviously either never heard of or forgotten all about. But then, life is all about discovery, being open to new things, isn't it? Even if those things aren't strictly speaking all that new, it should apply in spirit
What better way to celebrate our relaunch than by getting back on track with fresh contents? VIR2L opens the way into our new age with a fresh review of The Legacy. While at it, he implicitly also confirmed that some of the neat new functions we now have are working correctly. Namely, the ability for every user to see his contributions not yet approved and edit them while still in the queue. Conveniently accessible through the user icon on the top right of the page. Oh, nothing shown for you? Then send something in…
There it is, finally! The big launch of our 2018 re-design! Uh… admittedly two years late. There's a lot to discover, so take your time to look around as much as you like.
P. S. If things look wrong try to clean up your browser cache!
Al Lowe and his illegitimate alter ego Larry Laffer are somewhat "love them or hate them", I guess. LostInSpace takes the sixth installment of the endless series head-on: Love for Sail! Did he use his free time well? Surprisingly enough, he gives quite a balanced account of this adventure.
Oh, wow, another pinball game from 21st Century Entertainment! After first hitting a gold mine with Pinball Dreams, this company milked their cash cow beyond imaginable limits. By 1996, there were so many on the market that Absolute Pinball can't have left a big impression anymore. At least it didn't bring back any recollection to me. The concept was always the same: four new tables, each with a specific theme, built from the standard physical elements. The surprising thing is that nevertheless, replaying them today, quality differs greatly. Table layout and features can place the overall game anywhere from total failure to great fun on the quality scale. lostaddict1 tells us all about this one.
We're all quite vain here, you know. If you show us that you've invested some real time into your submission, it's a sure way to have it posted soon. Like macburn did with Blockbuster. Yes, we're also quite easy to please
Lone producer of new contents LostInSpace goes back to the beginnings of everyone's favourite game publisher ever: Sierra On-Line. Oil's Well isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of their back catalogue, however. All the more reason to learn about the humble beginnings of it all.
Remember that Star Trek episode with those animals breeding so fast that the ship was full of them? This game bears no formal relation, but nevertheless, it has something in common. LostInSpace revisits a favourite of the MS-DOS shareware era in the early 90s. Crystal Caves is fondly remembered for its varied, puzzly level design. Where technology wasn't quite up to par compared to other systems, good ideas made up for it in those games which stood the test of time. This is one of them.
dosgameruy kicks off the new year (for real, sorry, Moebius) with an in-depth look at Rise of the Triad: Dark War. This game comes from the time when 3D shooters were taking over the complete market, leaving nothing else… but at least, this one has one major redeeming feature: it's excellent box art! Funny how such purely cosmetical differences can communicate an imaginary different theme and therefore trigger fundamentally different associations with a player even if the game itself is mostly "same old".
As a nice side effect, this also fills one of the long standing open points of our request list. Take a look – maybe there is something you could take care of? It would be appreciated for sure! Come on, it would be a checkmark on one of those new year's resolution
And 2020 is finally here! I like to think this year should be unique and fulfilling in some way at least because I have a thing for even dates like that. The year behind was a very difficult and edgy one in every sense. It took a lot of our energy and made us re-think a few of our policies several times over. Some scheduled tasks weren't accomplished as expected, sorry. Certain things are easy to implement in theory but actual practice can reveal plenty of pitfalls. Yes, 2019 leaves a lot to be desired, but our suffering wasn't in vain and it has taught us a number of important lessons. Thank you everyone who contributed vastly last year, we will also try to meet your expectations and make TGOD better than ever. Happy New Year everyone!
P. S. Apologies for a little belated announcement, very busy days *hiccup*
Somebody once told me that Christmas is all about the effort. The effort to once in a year give your best in order to do some good to other people – and yes, of course, also to yourself. Personally I love making presents the most: From finding the fitting one to wrapping it up in nice paper and giving it some kind of special touch to finally putting it under the Christmas tree and waiting impatiently in childlike anticipation until the unwrapping begins. Yes, sometimes the present is not as ingenious as I thought it would be, sometimes I am not quite sure whether the presentee really likes what they got. Yet more often than not I get the feeling that it was worth it, that I brought a little bit of joy into this persons life and with that to myself. And all it took was a little bit of effort, a bit of time dedicated to make somebody happy.
So, why not take a bit of time to make you, our dear readers, some presents? You read that right, that is a plural. This year you get a whole bag full of Christmas gifts! And in order to not spoil the fun, I am even going to wrap them, so you can have a bit of fun opening them.
Another belated candidate for Anniversary Fighting Games Special 2017 is Ninja. Yes, just Ninja. Or Ninja Mission on a few other platforms. Not exactly the best beat-em-up game, but essential to complete the row of clones, some of which I have reviewed earlier. As such, the closest relative to this game is Karateka, which could easily pass for a prequel. Now let's see how different these two games really are...
Time has come for me to step in and continue where I left off. The following game was supposed to enter the Anniversary Fighting Games Special 2017, however, at some point I got jaded and dropped out. I haven't written any reviews for almost 2 years ever since. Now I'm back in business and will try to do my best to contribute more or less regularly. I am now proud to present to you Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior for ZX Spectrum, a Sword'n'Sorcery-powered fighting bestseller, which most of you should be familiar with.
There is a certain visible pattern to the games LostInSpace covers. This particular one wasn't even out at the time this website has been launched. Unbelievable, has it really been that long? And nevertheless, the review talks about how old Space Taxi 2 is already. What does this tell about us, still here doing the same old thing?
Passing the ball back to magicman, we carry on with Dragon Wars. Sporting one of the most laughable title screens in gaming history. But no real complaint here, as it fills another gap in the severely under-represented RPG genre. Lately, it has been catching up quite well on this site, thanks to the various contributors. Yay for variety!
Fast forward to the 25th century, still riding along with magicman. Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed, in my view, is an amazing title for work of fiction! The game attempts quite a bit of fan service – an appearance of Killer Kane to name just one. Nevertheless, it doesn't have the best reputation. Probably because it was released near the end of the Gold Box series, when it was already seen as technologically outdated etc. These days, we don't really care about that anymore, do we?
Next in the line of newcomers is magicman. He takes us back to explore The Secret of Inner Sanctum, i.e. the first part of the Might & Magic series. Historical importance does not always equal good playability by today's standards. Nevertheless, it seems he enjoyed it.
Emperor of the universe, eh? Good for you! Don't think I'll treat you any differently for it, though. All weapons: fire!
Silpheed arrives in our collection from nobleEightfold again. It's the last of his contributions. Thank you, it's been a nice ride!
Sure, a Math Rabbit, why not? nobleEightfold seems to have quite a bit of nostalgia for this one. Which may be necessary, considering it's one of those CGA games which are at least strongly suspected to cause eye cancer Anyway, none of this should deter you from finding some good gameplay inside, of course!
Welcome to our newest contributor nobleEightfold who, as his very first task, took it upon himself to cover quite a complex roleplaying game. Curse of the Azure Bonds comes from a time when those were still really, really hard and required almost endless patience to play. That's not how you remember it? Well, when was the last time you actually played one of those SSI games? Now's your chance
Taking the publication of the freely available full version of Die Sage von Nietoom as a cue, I will add my view to Mr Creosote's. Since April 2019, the complete game can be downloaded with official approval of the developers from the website kultmags.com. Apart from the original CD, box shots and manual, the package also contains a walkthrough, sketches and drafts from the design phase of the game.
Here is one of those games which I've been playing on and off for… yes, actually decades now. For almost the same timespan, I have been planning to give it a review for this website. It is one of those games which always sat on the TODO list, but never jumped out as having super high priority. Now I finally did it, and it gives me the interesting opportunity to look back. If I had written about it back in the early days of the site, I certainly would have come to quite a different conclusion. After all, time hasn't stood still in the last 20 years. It may not have been only kind to Imperial Conquest 2.
This is Circus Games… oh, wait! That's actually not its name. Although it really should be. Instead, it calls itself Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun, which is really quite a mouthful. And it's not even true in-game, as the titular Big Top o' Fun is not owned by Fiendish Freddy. Ludwig von Tökkentäkker is not one to judge a book by its cover, though. So step inside!
Sure, you have all played those Apogee or Epic shareware games, but have you ever heard of Jack Flash: The Mutiny of Things? Probably not, at least I didn't. Nevertheless, it is a game in a style pioneered by those other mentioned companies. Does it live up to the high expectation of those much beloved best of kind? Or is it rather a forgettable entry, like many of those companies' games, too? LostInSpace brings us all up to speed.
Here we are, finally at the end of the road. Really this time. This is the last computer conversion of a Fighting Fantasy book we're going to cover. For now. Until anyone decides otherwise. Because, you know, there is a quite tempting one from the late 90s…
Anyway, with The Forest of Doom, we actually return to the early beginnings of the series. It was the third book, and also the third computer game. I.e. in the overall picture, it belongs to the second stylistic batch of games. After the first, arcadey entry, we got two almost literal adaptions, of which this is one. Finally, the games transitioned into more traditional parser-driven text adventures. The first one still retained the randomized combat which was subsequently dropped as well.
Each approach had its merits, but also its very own set of issues which I believe have been identified fairly well in our coverage. So now the ball is on your side again. Which of these games have you played? What's the "right" way to attempt such adaptions? For sure, we'd be interested in your feedback.
There we are at the zoo… not exactly a stereotypical setting for a cyberpunk game, is it? Yet if you decide to play Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy, it is where you will spend quite a bit of overall game time. LostInSpace complains quite bitterly about this. One such aspect doesn't necessarily break a whole game, though, does it? Read for yourself - and what do you think?
Yup: it's Wings of Glory! telecommand goes back to the times Origin tried to extend their market from space action towards other genres by applying the same soap opera formula to historical scenarios involving flight. Some years back, this game was a prime candidate on my own list to be reviewed, as it is set in 1916, and the challenge at the time was to find a review a game exactly with that parameter. Things went differently back then, and poor Wings of Glory went back to the drawer. Thanks for digging it out!
Good that there are other knowledgable people able and willing to fill such gaps. RetroBunny will be our guide to discover uncharted territory today. Or is it even re-discovery for some of you?
The expected follow-up to the last update is here: the computer adaption of Temple of Terror. It is actually the final computer game adaption of a Fighting Fantasy book made during the original run of the line of books. Sales were too low, so the remaining games already announced never saw the light of day. Looking at the game today and also back then, it is not hard to see why this one didn't sell.
Nevertheless, it is not the end of the line for our coverage of this series. It's just that we picked the books/games out of order. So there is actually one more to go…
Slightly slower days than usual around these shores. Nevertheless, we are getting where we planned to go. Slowly, but surely. Several years ago, but nevermind that
Temple of Terror comes from the pen of one of the founders of the most successful gamebook line of all time. So it must be a great one, right? LostInSpace and me can't quite agree. Which is funny, because although our observation about what is noteworthy about this book match almost exactly, they lead us to different conclusions.
All kidding aside, this is a beloved installment of probably the most iconic graphic adventure series ever. Sorely missing in our collection this far. Thank you, SB1988!
Wait, didn't we forget something there? Almost… indeed, the plan was to cover those gamebooks and their respective computer game conversions. Even if most of these haven't been all that amazing this far. So here we are, let's go swashbuckling in Seas of Blood once more!
Now is the moment of the real experts. Surely, those will notice: isn't this the same game all over again? Indeed, The Colonel's Bequest. Obviously a huge Sierra fan such as SB1988 has been just waiting for this game to be added to our small database. Lurking in the shadows to jump on the opportunity to add his own view on top of the first review. Thanks for your comprehensive write-up – and why not consider just adding those other "missing" games yourself?
For sure, it is a bit funny to have this game appear on the site now, so many years after its sequel. Though that's the nature of a platform which allows for personal preference to dictate programme. It even makes some amount of sense. The Colonel's Bequest is the much less accessible game compared to the second one featuring the same main character. For those who want to know where and how it all started, here we go – thanks to beranmuden.
Ouch, that didn't go as planned! Instead of boarding unsuspecting merchant ships and slaughtering their unarmed crews, we have been surprised by a sea monster which is now in the middle of eating some of my own men. Well, thinking about it, it doesn't need to be for the worse. After all, if we survive, there will be fewer mouths left to feed and even more importantly, fewer greedy hands to share the gold with.
Everybody loves pirates, obviously. The book Seas of Blood lead to some controversy between LostInSpace and me, however.
Happy birthday to us!
Celebrating our 19th anniversary, the site is now well into its adult phase. Some traditions never change, however. One of them, if you browse our news archive, is delays in redesigns.
So, yes, I've been working on and off on a visual and functional refreshment of the site over most of last year. Unlike the 2015 attempt which never went beyond concept stage, this one is actually going to happen. Although not finished, it's all well advanced. Far too advanced to abandon now. Basically, to summarize, it's already done from a pure browsing perspective, but all interactions, like entering new contents or editing existing ones, are still missing.
It's done when it's done is a sensibile concept in our case, I believe. So no big promises. We'll get back to this topic later this year – in the meantime, we'll continue providing some fresh contents, of course.
Oh no, the Joker is lose! Get the Shark-Repellent Bat-Spray!
Actually, Tim Burtons movie was as far from 1960s silliness as could possibly be imagined, and beyond. The mixture of film noir characters meeting a futuristic city design, a world fallen out of time (well, until those awful Prince songs start to play at least) was an artistic triumph. And it made a shitload of money, so the merchandising machine started running quickly as well. Ocean (who else?) snatched the computer game licence. How did their Batman: The Movie turn out? zodiac gives us his account.
Still in vertical mode, but this time for another reason. It just happens to be the regular format of printed books as well. As if nothing has happened, we just pick it up where we left off in 2015 with our coverage of gamebooks. Rebel Planet was the logical choice after recently reviewing the computer game conversion. This makes it our first non-fantasy gamebook. Let's see how far we get this time!
Back in the vertical dimension, but otherwise in familiar waters. Shattered Pixel Dungeon takes long established gameplay patterns and a likewise familiar graphical style, but translates it onto a modern-day platform to make it available on the move. Adaptions sure are necessary, especially in a genre which is basically known for being controlled through 100 and more different key combinations. How did this turn out?
Going boldly where no man has gone before… well, not quite. Many people have played Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday before me. Nevertheless, it was quite a step to put this on my list of games to be reviewed, as I have a longstanding love-hate relationship with it. The reason being that thematically, it has always strongly appealed to me, but genre-wise, I'm practically repulsed. I've thrown the game into a corner in anger, frustration and disgust quite frequently, but in the same way, I've reliable picked it up again every time. Maybe pouring some of my thoughts on it will finally break that circle.
A happy new year, everyone! I'm sure everybody's full of energy to fulfil all those new year's resolutions, I'm sure. Like giving something back to the community by putting a lot of time into this website
Ironically, we begin the new year with something hanging over from the last. LostInSpace submitted this review right on New Year's Eve. My own unavailability to do the finishing editing touches led to this delay of a week. Rebel Planet sort of picks up the grand plans some of us had a couple of years ago concerning the coverage of game books. Hm, maybe there is a new new year's resolution in there?
And another year has come to an end. It was kind of black and white. Stressful, hectic but also quite productive and perhaps even revolutionary to an extent. We have recruited new members in our staff. We have re-thought some of our policies and conceived a new site model, which is possible to see the light in the year to come. We have received tons of contributions, particularly disk image files of all kinds and have gone past 3000 mark. And finally, we have advanced towards stream and hybrid images, which will find their place in the upcoming new version of TGOD. I'd like to thank everyone who has been with us and contributed immensely this year. Namely: Pheonix for his knowledge, enthusiasm and assistance, fuxxxyfloppy for a handful of good ideas and active participation in forum discussions, flyers80, escarioth, mikic for their enormous file contributions, and, of course, Mr Creosote for all the technical labour. Happy New 2019, everyone!
TGOD crew wishes you all a...
What is this? Bit of a strange format for a screenshot, isn't it? Considering what we've been covering so far, sure. Though it is actually the format of what may be the majority of active gaming these days.
Today, we're taking a first plunge into the area of modern-day mobile platforms. Not a Game Boy derivate, but what each and every one of us takes into their hands more often than any other device every day. Possibly the most evil platform ever created by mankind: Google's Android.
Andor's Trail comes with little baggage, but as expected in the roleplaying genre, it can eat up a large amount of time easily with its involved gameplay, sprawling world and many more things you should better discover for yourself.
The results for the 24th Interactive Fiction Competition are finally in. Who has won? Well, head right over to the article and have a look!
And with that we conclude this year's coverage of the IFComp and return to our regular programme.
The judging period for the 24th Interactive Fiction Competition is almost over. It is only a couple of hours before the ballots close and then we will have to wait for the results. Who is going to win? Will it be because of the writing? Or rather because of some interesting gimmick? It is really hard to say because there were so many games this year, with so many exceptional titles amongst them, that the bets are off.
To round things out I gathered some overall thoughts in my article, including (among other things) my personal top ten list, my guess at who is going to win and even some awards to the one or the other game that stood out to me.
What is there left to say? Well, a big thanks for reading of course! Expect some final comments when the results are in.
Fresh from the press! An almost last minute review for the IFComp: Alias 'The Magpie' is yet another great game from this year's game pool which definitely deserves a recommendation.
The IFComp is drawing to a close: Only six more days to cast your votes! So far I have given almost all of the games at least a short trial run and seriously played roughly more than half of them. Overall I am quite impressed with the quality of the games. Compared to the first couple of IFComps I took a look at there were no unplayable entries. Instead almost each one of them has its own charm, and there are actually so many outstanding titles I regret not being able to cover them all. Yes I know with 77 games this would be unrealistic anyway.
Therefore I have to do some cherry picking and for today I chose one of the games which in my opinion deserves to get a bit more attention. It is a very ambitious spy game full of interesting ideas and a clever story full of twists and secrets within secrets. So put on your trench coats and put on your sunglasses to find out the Truth in Six Silver Bullets.
Believe it or not, today's publication is actually a "good old" review itself. It dates back to 2010. For reasons I cannot quite piece together anymore, it has never been published. In a shared effort, Herr M. and me now finished editing the review. So finally, we are able to fill a glaring gap in our collection. Fallout, the sequel of which has already been on the site for some time, is widely regarded as one of the greatest classics of the roleplaying genre.
One of the best things about the IFComp is that with so many games there is quite a bit of variety. From hardboiled detective to classic fantasy to space opera to conspiracy thriller. Think of any genre and chances are high you will find a gem to your liking. Still, it might be hard to decide which one to pick, so how about a suggestion?
Since autumn is setting in, with ever longer growing shadows while the sun getting paler and paler, a good old horror story might be just the right thing for one of those sombre evening. A thought like this brought me to today’s game and what can I say: While I had planned to give it a rest at least at midnight, it got to almost 2am until I had reached a very unsettling conclusion. It was exactly the right game for the right time, a gripping, dark bedtime story before going to sleep. And for the first time in decades I wondered whether there actually was a Bogeyman lurking in the darkness of my room…
There goes that "most covered" title again, as Stunts is now up to its fourth review. You may guess by whom. With this level reached, we may need to think about an "overkill level" at which no further reviews for the same game should be accepted anymore. What do you think?
Yup, another review of The Lost Vikings. RetroBunny providing the third one makes this one of the most covered games on our website (together with few others). There may be a reason for this, don't you think?
It is almost halftime at the IFComp and by now I have found some real pearls in the plethora of games. One of them is going to take centre stage today. It is a game of mathemagics or to be more precise: A puzzle game about creating and modifying numbers. And like the best of its kind it is easy to learn yet it offers quite a challenge thanks to its generous content and some nifty puzzles. It gets a definite recommendation on my part and details on the reasons why can be found in todays review of Junior Arithmancer.
PS: Do not forget to check out the ongoing IFComp article featuring mini reviews, now with a list of recommended games too! It gets updated on an almost daily basis.
Today we take a closer look at another candidate from the IFComp. It is an unusual mech simulator which does not feature combat encounters but shows a more civil use for a steely colossus. There are some additional twists and influences from totally different genres, but going too much into them would be getting into spoiler territory. Let us just say that Terminal Interface for Models RCM301-303 might have some surprises for you in store.
We've got a second review on the Game Boy Breakout-like game Alleyway by RetroBunny who has just joined us. Well done and welcome to TGOD!
Here we go, fresh from the press: The first full review for one of the IFComp's entries. Flowers of Mysteria is a very traditional example for a text adventure. Maybe a bit too traditional? Just take a look at the review to find out!
The 24th Interactive Fiction Competition has started! With more than 70 games to choose from, covering a wide variety of genres and scenarios there should be something for each and every one of our readers. No matter whether you prefer your games with more typing or more clicking involved, if you can stand to read at least a minimum of text, you should definitely give some of the games a try.
Just as a reminder: You can easily participate on the competition's webpages (links can be found in the article). All you have to do is rate at least 5 games. But if you are like me, you can go a step further and publish your thoughts on our site. Any kind of feedback and/or reviews are most certainly welcome!
Now you know everything about Innocent Until Caught's tonality you need to. Easy, wasn't it? If it doesn't put you off immediately, you can read all the rest, about gameplay in particular, but also graphics etc., in our full review. If, after all that, you still don't have enough, you could play the game yourself. Or check back here for news on the sequel. There is a sequel? Just wait for it…
Silmarils – many of their games are known for incredible premises, atmospheric visuals and sound, genre-bending gameplay… If this is what you're looking for, Starblade – reviewed by ThyPersonalSnoop – may be right up your alley. Or it may also severely disappoint and frustrate you, since this company is also very well known for some quite screwy design decisions, implementation weaknesses etc.
There we are. We made it! All the way from part 1 to 8. This one, called Insel der Wunder, concludes the Schwert & Magie series. It is almost a bit sad, as this game is indeed by far the best of the whole bunch. If things had continued in this way, I'm sure nobody would have minded. Then again, it is usually better to go with a bang rather than slowly fading away into mediocrity; which likely would have happened, as mediocrity is where the series came from, after all. So anyway, from this island of wonders, we'll be moving on to different shores in the coming weeks.
Hold on a sec, what's in that trash can? Oh wow, 3 game reviews! Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0 by someone mahan1241, Sensible Soccer by carlostex and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by some email adress serwar@gmail.com. This must be our lucky day! Now, jokes aside, guys. Never completing your submissions and ignoring PMs isn't very cool and next time if you don't react soon enough your reviews may be ditched, all the more likely if their quality is hardly a redeeming factor. That said, we would like to encourage everyone to at least provide better material if you expect us to assist you with things like screenshots.
You have enough of this historically irrelevant and German-only series? I can imagine! Though I'm not someone to leave a job half done. What I started, I will finish. Even if this particular instance doesn't make it easy to still see the good. Fear not, though: Unter Wasser!, part 7 and the subjective low point this far, already comes on the last compilation disk. Meaning after this one, there is just one more to go. And, to maybe tease next week's inevitable update a little, don't give up on this series yet
We have receved a 3rd review on the all-time epic Leisure Suit Larry (VGA remake) from our newcomer mammal93. He thinks the game is overall crude, vulgar, offensive, hilarious and.. short? Well, I would agree on all counts but the last one. I think the game length provided is more than enough for just one miserable night spent in Lost Wages. And, don't forget, this is only 1991...
Let's recap. Part 4 took place in a magician's castle. This one takes us to a magician's tower. Running a bit thin on ideas, aren't you? Where Schwert und Magie initially surprised with the wide thematic range found in its entries, things are becoming more and more generic gradually. Though still two more games to go after Der Turm des Todes. Expectations are slowly decreasing, to be honest…
Back to Monkey Island with you to have a taste of LeChuck's Revenge! Our relatively new member mattsbone has finally decided to share his experience of one of the greatest Lucas Arts classic adventures which surely needs little introduction today. But if you still don't know who Guybrush Threepwood is, then... we are coming for you! Har har har!
An appropriate picture setting the mood for classic horror. Could have been more effective if the house were more towering, especially compared to the rowboat the protagonist (presumably) arrives in. A large mansion/castle dwarfing the tiny, tiny player vessel, signifying the hopelessness of the mission. But anyway, it's effective enough. A conclusion probably also appropriate for the game, Schwert und Magie 5: Das Haus des Vampirs, itself, isn't it?
Yup, yup, believe it or not – the game we introduce today is actually available for sale in physical format. Players not familiar with the Spanish language had to wait a while, but three translations of Retro Wars Episode IV¼ have been finished by now. Even if one has to wonder about the quality of the German version, considering "Deutsch" is misspelt right there on the promotional artwork. Ahem. Anyway, this one comes from the same dedicated team which already brought us Else we get mad!, which, in spite of its limitations, was quite a fun game, so let's take a look – because after all, you have the choice of buying or just legally downloading it freely as well. Great move!
A second review on Starflight is done by carlostex. He calls it a masterpiece and rates it 6 despite some of the technical flaws. He also believes this game served as a model for later titles such as Star Control or even modern day Mass Effect.
Believe it or not, the title screen actually fits this time! Schwert und Magie 4: Die Burg des Magiers features a castle as its main setting, there is an evil magician as main antagonist, a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued and an armed hero. Strictly speaking, no snakes, though that's forgiveable. Nevertheless, the nagging suspicion remains that this equivalence could be by chance rather than by plan…
Probably not completely surprisingly, we continue with Schwert und Magie 3: Das Piratenhaus. So after a fairy tale and Lovecraftian horror, we switch to pirate treasure hunting. Quite a diverse series, isn't it? Also, this one even lets you choose its display font. Although most choices, honestly speaking, are close to unreadable. A feature which was omitted again from subsequent installments. One series tradition which is carried on, at least, is the total dissociation of the title screen motif from the actual game.
Yup, yup… they're still making them. A brand new Asteroids clone released only this year. Didn't expect that, did you? At least outside the typical large platforms of today and without a commercial background. Golden Wing looks like a promising effort in the area of amateur freeware games. Let's dive right in!
Wait, wait! Didn't we just have this one already? Indeed, it is the same title screen and the two games can be found on the same disk; two stories bundled and sold as an inseparable set. Nevertheless, it is worth looking at each part individually as Schwert und Magie 2: Der unheimliche Tempel does some things a little differently. Apart from having its original, fresh story, of course.
A knight fighting a dragon, lightning strikes… all that for little money? Looks extremely promising and exciting, doesn't it? What more could you possibly ask for? OK, for sure it would be nice to at least have an idea what that wizard head is doing in this floating bubble there. Or why the dragon attracts lightning – is it a robot? Intriguing! You'll find it all out in Schwert und Magie 1: Das geheimnisvolle Kraut. Spoiler: no armed knight in armor or dragons appear in the game.
If you have a winning formula, why not follow up in the same manner? After our brief visit to Joan of Arc, we go back further in time. All the way to ancient Egypt, where – so the game wants us to believe – the current year was actually prefixed with a "minus". Because they already knew what the later Christians would do to the calendar, of course. Anyway, that funny little observation aside, Day of the Pharaoh retains the by then established, pleasant mixture of strategy and small action sequences.
Another goodie from SB1988, which is another Sierra game. This is the second review on Torin's Passage, a game by Al Lowe, who is the author of Leisure Suit Larry series himself. Surprised? SB1988 says that the game is overall pretty good, but it skips on some juicy bits which made his experience incomplete. The rumor has it, it was planned as a series bridging all the gaps, but that, alas, was never meant to happen.
One of our very few but loyal contributors SB1988 is back with yet another great review, this time on King's Quest 5: Absence Makes the Heart go Yonder!. We learn that this was Sierra's first VGA game released in more than one language and also as a CD-ROM edition with digitized speech pack alongside floppy release. Makes me wonder who the hell had a CD drive back in 1990 and how many people were aware of its existence even...
Those following this website for some time may have noticed I usually consider a game showing strong character a positive trait. And why not? Who needs tons of faceless, bland, completely interchangeable material? Hellowoon has lots of character. So full steam ahead!
Even years after its release, Defender of the Crown remained one of the most imitated games on the market. Joan of Arc is probably the closest of these copycat games, as – even though the setting is changed to the nation-creating moment of the French people – even its medieval knight movie theme is virtually identical. There are even some indicators that it may have been "inspired" by an original design document of the earlier game rather than the finished game itself. So you may argue that this is what DotC was actually meant to be.
Whoa! Thought the record of more than 1 game review at a time is beaten? Not so fast. Our new undisputed champ everyfan has sent in the whole of 6 reviews, 3 of which are also new games on TGOD, hence 90 points instead of expected 60. Surprised? The new games thus are: 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons, The Elder Scrolls: Arena and The Terminator. Reviews for existing games are: Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and The Last Express. Perfectly done, enjoy our disk image archive and welcome to TGOD!
When I'm in the mood for a certain type of game, my thirst is often not quenched by one game alone. So after last week's dive into a text/character-based open-ended world exploration game, here is yet another one. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead clearly wins in direct comparison. So you're in for a treat – I would actually go as far as calling it one of the best new games of the last five years! At least if you like ultra-complex role-playing.
You all remember Robur the Conqueror, The Difference Engine and Steamboy, don't you? If they indeed do ring a bell, Steam Sky may be for you. Though it could be argued that this game may actually be the polar opposite of Steamboy's style over substance approach. In case you're not familiar with any of the mentioned works, but you're open to modern-day "retro" styled games, you should try it out anyway. It's a game of huge potential. Not everything may be worked out perfectly yet, but you would miss something if you remained ignorant.
A small treat from TheBattleCat, which is obviously a Super Mario-go-ducky kind of remake. Originally entitled in dutch as Charlie de Eend it later became known as Charlie the Duck, which is how the former translates, in fact. TheBattleCat does admit it is a children's game, but he also believes it is more challenging than it looks. Anyone cares to validate that?
Hm, Myth Drannor is already in the title of Eye of the Beholder III. I launched the game voluntarily. So do I want to enter or run away? Side information: to even get here, I already had to play for many hours, fighting my way through a long-ish maze among other challenges. So, again, are you really sure you want to ask me that, game? It says a lot about this product as a whole, however. A huge, scary prologue before what should be the game proper even begins.
Our adventure addict and dedicated Sierra fan beranmuden is back with a brand new review on Police Quest II: The Vengeance! As usual, a very detailed and comprehensive work. Perhaps, nailing the rest of Sierra games is, indeed, only a matter of time for this enthusiast. Oh, and NEC PC-9801 anime-like port? Wow, that's wicked!
My childhood wasn't just computer games. I also loved playing board games! Sitting around the living room table with the whole family, but of course only after long discussions what to play. Setting the board up was already part of the fun, admiring the tangible, small objects. Some games, I think, we never really played to the end. That wasn't even the goal. It depended on the game. Scotland Yard was indeed one which we did follow through to the end each time. Even if Mister X always won. Every single time. But wait… although the name and even the typeface matches, this isn't the same game, is it? Still, I know it, we had this one sitting in our cupboard, too!
Warm up the TV? When he is already wearing pyjamas and she'll slip into a red bit of nothing? Is this one of these "spot the error" sort of challenges? If so, it's neither a very hard, nor a particularly funny one. In any case, the guy on the right takes it literally and has to pay for his naivety: his Altered Destiny dictates he has to spend the evening stumbling through mazes and meeting weird aliens instead of cuddling with his girlfriend. Serves him right, he should have known TV is bad for his health!
Welcome to the forest. A fabled land where nobody ever laughs. Since, you know, animals are all quite serious in their nature and talk in very roundabout, stilted ways. Because, you know, that's how it is. The humans may have given the animals the ability to talk and walk upright, but they didn't give them a sense of humor. Which seems to be a big deal in Inherit the Earth.
It's LostInSpace's turn again. As you can easily recognize, he has been moving in the point and click adventure genre. Alien Incident is a genre entry which virtually nobody has ever heard of. One reason may be its origin, having been produced by a Finnish software company. I mean, who has ever heard of Finnish software being used anywhere? Oh, wait…
Put on your sunglasses and the white suit! Phew… wait, maybe dust it off first. Done? Then let's go – Miami Vice is back and we're right in the middle of it. It is what we always dreamed of, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Oh well, maybe 30 years ago, it would have been. Though whether you believe it or not, in spite of coming from Ocean, this game can actually be seen as the seminal precursor to what has become one of the most commercially successful video game franchises by now. Now I've got you hooked, eh?
Space, monsters, smoking guns. You just can't get enough, can you? Welcome back to sanguinary martian inferno and once again prepare to meet your... Doom! A thrice celebrated FPS classic covered by a young newcomer TheBattleCat. Welcome!
…and the million dollar question is: who recognizes this movie poster? Not just the two protagonists, that's easy. Right, it is the movie with the colourful beach buggy! Not that anyone can tell the titles of those films apart. Unfortunately, one of the two idols pictured has died in the meantime. Posthumously, he now receives additional recognition through this brand new fighting game called Else We Get Mad!
Moving on from my football update to somewhat more interesting kinds of sports, Grand Monster Slam also involves kicking a ball as its primary activity. Hm, no, correction. It is actually not a ball, but a rather round animal. So unfortunately, this is not a game which can claim for itself that no animals have been harmed during a play session… but just wait for the "Revenge of the Beloms" bonus level!
And next from Garnett Williams is anything but little known classic RPG by Broderbund The Dark Heart Of Uukrul. Detailed, comprehensive, enthusiastic. What else can I say? Oh, and congrats on your 50 points, you finally did it!
Newcomer Garnett Williams provides second and third opinions on a number of games at once: Paratrooper, Digger and Akalabeth: World of Doom. Quite a varied selection, wouldn't you think? Though the three have one thing in common: they all go back to the earliest age of commercial computer gaming. There is more to come.
Football, football, football! Like every European, I was a big fan of it as a kid. Only in my case, I lost interest when I grew up. Unlike many other people around me. Though this website is, to some degree, about things I knew growing up, of course. So football is at least an occasional topic around here. European Soccer Challenge is one of the many games which tried to cash in on the football hype. According to some other thematic websites, it is considered "rare". So let's unearth it.
If somebody comes along with the username contrafan, what is your guess which game he's going to cover? Why, Metal Gear, of course! Not kidding, that is indeed the first game he reviewed for our little website. Closely followed by Contra. Phew… Oh, and Super C (also known as Super Contra) as well. Three games in a day? And ultra-obscure versions of them as well? Seems like we have a real expert here – welcome!
…and he deserved it, the sucker! I'm giving this planet to my daughter as a present. And why not? Let's just hope she won't backstab me later, so I'll better be careful.
Starlord's strength lies in the permanent uncertainty. You may have just scored a major military victory, but it may turn into a Pyrrhic one. Not just due to the obvious reasons (e.g. having lost too many fighters), but also due to other, more subtle effects. Maybe you have angered a more powerful, highly influential friend, ally or direct superior of the lord you have just beaten on the battlefield. Meaning a vastly superior force may be on the way to your own home world as you are still bathing in the glory of destruction. These are considerations not governed by game rules, but enabled by them, as it happens in good game concepts. If only this one's implementation were more playable…
If I could only… jump, I would be able to finally get this stupid &"%! rune! It's a little sad when interface restrictions like that hold you up in games, isn't it? It is even more sad if this happens in 1996 should really have been up to a standard when it could enable players rather than obstruct them. Ring Cycle didn't actually anger and frustrate many people with issues like this one. For the simple reason that basically nobody has ever played it. Surely, beneath interface awkwardness, there is an amazing game to be found there, right?
You know what's really useful in real-time based games? A time compression function. To illustrate: swooosh, there go the ten years between 1985 and 1995, in just a couple of days! The Lords of Midnight are back, visiting a citadel this time. Or once again. We all know how it is when old acquaintances visit. It could go well and you immediately click again. Or it turns into an evening of awkward silence as there is really nothing linking you anymore. Or you spend your time looking at their botched facelift in total disbelief, failing to make your stare not too obvious.
Strange how things can happen. After long silence we get two reviews from two different people on the same day with only one hour break in-between. And here is a rather ancient RPG game Akalabeth from Darknat and a strategy Attila from gennarsteam, which is the English version of Caesar game originally in German. No, not '92 Caesar by Impressions, but by some other dude who thought it would be very clever and original to use a reserved title in 1996. Can you believe that? Thanks a lot you guys and welcome to TGOD!
Here we go again, back in the lands of Midnight… no, wait, Icemark! May look somewhat familiar anyway. Oh, and although the game is called Doomdark's Revenge, there is absolutely no trace of the titular baddie. This is all so confusing! Ah, wait, but there is some dungeon crawling now. Amazing! And what is that? I've won the game? A random NPC killed the main baddie while I was just doing first baby steps? Huh? This should better be investigated.
This time, we're really going back to a game which undeniably belongs to the seminal classics of history: The Lords of Midnight! I know, I know, this is usually where most readers turn away; after all, you are rightly asking for games to be fun, not just "super important for history". Bear with me on this one. You may find it will be worth it – because historically important artifacts may also still have kept their value nowadays…
Hm, fair point made by Mr. CEO Dracula there. We may have been a little naive there. Ruling cyberspace is something only great minds can achieve. Like Jobe, for instance. Or a true immortal like himself? This isn't going to end well…
Or rather, it didn't even begin well? Back when I bought Bloodnet, I was really impressed by the mixture of horror and cyberpunk elements. Never got far in the game, though. LostInSpace will tell you exactly why.
It's amazing. Back when this site started (today, 18 long years ago…), this hobby was regarded as extremely weird. After all, the general opinion was, why waste time with ugly, boring old games when you can just play the latest 3D shooter? Nowadays, the whole "retro" thing is in full swing. It has even turned into a viable market again, for better or worse. Almost on the side (by now), there is also a dedicated community of enthusiasts who create new games in old style and for old systems in their spare time. Is it a golden age for people like us? Considering the annoyance of our valued hobby being reduced to a Pacman logo on a shirt in many cases, maybe not. Though there can still be a lot of "pure" enjoyment – as in Mine Cave!
Yes, Bazooka Sue is this stupid. Just in case you've been wondering. Oh, you haven't? Bad luck, you cannot escape now! Ironically, although our site is called The Good Old Days, we've always been dedicated to also keep the bad memories alive. Fuzzy memories through tose-tinted glasses? Sure, there were some great games in the past, but to find these, you had to wade through waves of crud. Crud which was even positively reviewed in the magazines of the time. Good thing nobody sees the need to bribe us anymore these days, so we can identify the real gems and explicitly warn you of the crop.
Death takes a holiday. Which is actually a bit of a problem, really. Think about overpopulation. Then think about overpopulation in a world not as large as ours, but actually one which is located on the back of a giant turtle travelling through space. Giant, but not that giant. You see? If not, let Discworld II: Missing Presumed…!? (believe it or not: we've got the original version, not the one retitled for the US) illustrate.
And the next thing we knew our shuttle was infested with bloodthirsty xenomorph-like creatures. What are we doing here, commander drathan? Guess now we have no other choice but to put on these heavy armor suits and fight for our lives in Space Hulk!
Join the NASA space flight program with drathan and fly a real shuttle spacecraft with extremely realistic controls in Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator. Bon voyage now!
Oh boy, I haven't seen this one in a while! When I first saw this Pacman & Boulder Dash mutant I wasn't very much impressed and thought it's just one of those many obscure rejects. Now I realize, it's exactly games like this that make you shed a tear or two after a while. Behold, the legendary Supaplex and our new contributor drathan, who has also shared this disk image for the first time. Good job and welcome to TGOD!
Doc Brown gets Toonstruck! Like many B or C class actors, Christopher Lloyd was contracted to lend his name, voice and physical shape to a computer game production when the advent of the CD-ROM with its increased storage capacity allowed for digitized people to appear on screen. Which he did – surrounded by cartoon figures. Good thing he had already trained for this in an earlier movie…
Hello. This is Vagabond speaking... not. I must say, today I've been born a certain time again, but I thought this Vagabond guy is not exactly what I am and I should better reincarnate into something more fitting. The thought has lingered for a couple of years now and finally the time has come to unleash it. And thanks to Mr Creosote, without him my quality rebirth wouldn't be possible. So long, Vagabond. Greetings...
The mid-1990s were a great time for the Adventure genre. Quantity-wise. Though the more choice there is, the harder it is to choose, isn't it? So here is some support (~20 years late) with that. The Gene Machine – The Great British Adventure did not exactly make it to the top of everybody's lists of games which should be remembered, even though it is in fact a very typical game of its time. So even if it may not be the best, you could learn a lot about those years by having a look.
Hold on! Why is there an anti-air missile system parading in front of the Roman emperor? Welcome to a world where even slaves have their rights laid out in a union-negotiated contract, where our hero wears a toga, but also sneakers and where you can place prank phone calls to the Praetorian Guard. Welcome to the real (?) Imperium Romanum!
My apologies for a little delayed reaction. SB1988 comes back after a short break and shakes us with yet another flamboyant and extensive review on King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride. You definitely got the touch, dude! Incidentally, I happen to be one of those "haters" who don't really dig this new at the time cartoonish (or is it Dragon Lair-ish?) move with still dumber controls. I was never a big fan of icon system to begin with, but that sucker completely killed the experience for me. Now, it's for that very reason I never finished Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!, it just seemed too dull and overinteractive. Still though, it is nice to know there are people who love Sierra regardless and can appreciate it from many different angles.
Why wasn't I ever into RPGs? I don't know. Why almost everyone else loves them? Beats me. Perhaps, it requires an RPG mindset. Anyway, SB1988 presents us with a 3rd look on Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos in a very detailed, classy and literary fashion. Mind you, it's exactly reviews like this that people like to steal from other sources, like wiki, etc. Only this time "hoofs" gave you out, so checking wasn't necessary
Recently we took a look at the return of an adventure game legend, one of the few successful atempts at reliving that good old nostalgic moments. As you might remember overall we liked Thimbleweed Park, but there were a couple of things we could not quite stand about it, one of the main ones was the constant selfpraise. So, why not go back to the source of it and try to shed some light on the reasons why they padded themselves so much on their shoulders? Yes, today I am taking a look at The Secret Of Monkey Island
It surprises me that even on days like these when people are supposed to keep on partying and celebrating holidays we get more than one contributor within a short time period. This is slightly anomalous for our practice, which makes me think, there is probably more to this global warming sucker than I thought...
Anyway, whatever the season, we dearly welcome newcomers and their treats. guld here has brought us Crypto Cube, an obscure pre-AT educational game, which includes both review and a disk image. Thank you and welcome!
Sorry for a little belated announcement. Celebration and all, you know *hick*. We wish you all a Happy New Year and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed in 2017. Particularly: derceto, troublemind, flyers80, fuxxxyfloppy, bjt, Chiochio, perfectnarcosis and others. And last but not the least, Mr Creosote (our great leader) has written 101 reviews this year which breaks his personal annual record! Congratulations!
Thought this is all for 2017? Not so fast. There is still place for one more review from our very young newcomer jeffro11, and the game of his choice is Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon, which makes a second review. Well done, welcome to TGOD and happy holidays!
If you recognize this and this is your kind of humor, you're in for a treat. Welcome to the game of your dreams – or maybe something you never dared to dream of? References to all your favourite old games galore! Stabs at your least favourite games (i.e. those from Sierra)! All presented in true-colour, high-resolution glory which tries to imitate the pixelized look of old times. Can it get any better?
Well, would be nice if inside this nostalgic fluff, there were also a good game, you know. Herr M. and me tried to judge Thimbleweed Park, the "comeback" game from the makers of classics like Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, by the quality standards we consider appropriate today – including those positive qualities which we believe may have gone out of style along the way for some reason.
…and here is a related game, revisited with a fresh review just one year after the original one has been published in this place. Major updates since then warranted giving Dungeon Mercenary a fresh look – you should as well!
It is time for some monster hunting again! After so much action this year, here is something deeper for a change. 26 levels deep if you want to win, to be exact. Or more if you like. Brogue is one of those rare games which not only offer great gameplay, but it virtually invented its very own visual aestetics. Not bad, eh?
Here is a game which, if you have lived through the 80s, you probably know. Battle Squadron: The Destruction Of The Barrax Empire (bet you didn't remember the full title, did you?) is one of the classics of the shoot 'em up genre. Does it hold up to its reputation?
This world is full of coincidences. Or is it? Castlevania II: Simon's Quest has received a second review from user showhide. While just a couple of days ago, the very same game has been part of pepsiman's efforts to translate English-only reviews. All of this for a game which I have never played personally (no game of the whole series, in fact) – but it seems to be quite a controversial one from what more knowledgable players are saying.
As far as I'm concerned, this will be the last golf game for some time. A genre which in itself is not overly interesting to our core audience probably. Nevertheless, many of these games are of historical interest, as they already aimed at the "casual market" before this term was coined. Not all, mind you, but Sensible Golf definitely did not have the dedicated gamer who spends weeks and months to dig really deep into a game in mind.
Yes, this is Minigolf. In fact, it is Minigolf Plus! What is the "plus" part? Would you like to know? I bet, who wouldn't want to know such fascinating trivia about a Minigolf game? Thought so. In fact, if you happen to find out, let me know, because I sure as hell didn't.
Yes, I actually do like Miniature Golf. All the more in real life, but it can also be fun on the computer. On a rainy day and lacking friends to play with, it's a nice way to pass some time. If you've got the right game for it. Hole in One Miniature Golf is one which is usually recommended. Let's have a look!
The long awaited review of the original 1987 AGI release of Leisure Suit Larry: In the land of the Lounge Lizards has been finally nailed by our great adventurer and Sierra lover beranmuden. Oh, Larry, Larry... without you the good old days wouldn't be the same. And who says this game is for adults even? Quite frankly, the best way to enjoy it is to play it as a teenager on a dark night while your folks are asleep...
Pool on the computer? Not the most likely match. It's not exactly an action-packed sport. In fact, it is sort of… math-based. Which would make it impossible to attract large audience. So, sssssshhhhh, don't tell anyone! And guess what: this game is actually called Arcade Pool. Weird.
Time for a little sci-fi detective story and the very first review by perfectnarcosis, which, though, feels more like a technical guide (no offense, it's just that we are used to some more details as to the plot and gameplay). Mean Streets is a fairly known adventure title in the world of classic gaming. Only it has nothing to do with the 1973 gangster movie starring young Robert De Niro. And I wonder why the game creators ignored this potentially unwanted coincidence...
And troublemind's next move is Tintin on the Moon. Apparently, one of the many fleeting and less memorable games from the late 80's with a weak plot and rather poor gameplay. However, none of this is nearly as embarrassing as the fact that the PC port of this game supported only CGA cards in 1989, which I would definitely include in the review.
It looks like someone wants to contribute some too to the unannounced obscure 3D shooters streak started by Mr Creosote a while ago, but which, though, he seemed to have finished by now. Well, as they say, better late than never. I'm proud to present Curse of the Catacombs by our newcomer troublemind. Thank you, sir, and enjoy your stay on TGOD.
Just a reminder: the annual IF Competition is still running. I have finished 13 games of my playlist so far, which is roughly half of what I've planned. In two thirds of the allocated time, so I guess I won't make it this year. Nevertheless, that's 13 games which nobody can take away from me again and 13 games which have been (more or less) reviewed right here. Last call if you still would like to play a couple!
Is it three-dimensional Speedball? Or rather the Deadly Discs game from Tron? Some bits from here, some from there. Stormball was likely supposed to be a fast-paced sports game on varied pitches causing some geometrical challenges. It is largely forgotten nowadays. Deservedly so?
This one looks familiar, doesn't it? But wait, didn't we do Breakout 2.5 years ago? Indeed. So the cooldown period can be considered over now – time for some new stuff. Crillion is actually an interesting variant which works in unexpected ways. It may not be immediately visible, but if you look carefully… no paddle! You'll find out why.
Back in more familiar waters and on some of my favourite subjects, too: trains and murder. Actually, this is the classic of the train mystery genre. Murder on the Orient Express, the original novel, set standards about the use of a confined space which still apply. It was turned into a hugely successful film fourty years later, with which this game at hand has much more in common than the 2010 TV adaption with which it shares its star. And it seems yet another film is about to be released soon. Which, of course, the world doesn't need. Though all these poor people involved need to earn their living somehow, don't they?
Here it finally is. The last 3D shooter I'm going to force you to read about this year. Promise! Genetic Species also happens to be one of the newest ones covered over the last couple of months.
Longtime readers have have been wondering why I've been doing this at all. Seeing that I have spoken quite negatively about this genre as a whole many times. Did I change my mind? Well, no. I'm still not particularly fond of this kind of shooter. They are much too formulaic, much too reliant on the latest and greatest graphical effects usually. This makes them age badly and even at the time, I didn't care for them.
In my book, this did make me a good candidate to review such games. TGOD was never supposed to be a pure fanboy voice. Having no previous emotional attachment to any of these games may have helped – even if some of the comments weren't what everybody was expecting. And in any case, widening one's own horizon can't hurt, can it?
I've never heard about this game before (nor seen it here until now), but seeing we get a third review on it makes me think I missed out on something big. Z is the name of the game, and our newcomer is another old-school veteran still loyal to the good old days of his. Thank you, campbell and welcome to TGOD!
A bit behind schedule, so I still have two more shooters to go. Which may not be so bad, as they are kind of the antithesis of the brainy adventures announced a couple of days ago. Nemac IV appealed to me quite a bit more than I expected. The fact that instead of the usual artefact collecting, it draws its motivation from gameplay-related considerations probably helped.
It's that time of the year again! Plenty of new text adventures released for all our playing pleasure. So many, in fact, that it will not be possible to play them all during the judging period. So I took the time to make a preliminary selection. Let's see if I can make it through this reduced list at least. Stay tuned, the article will be updated as I go (without announcements). The first game, I have already finished
Now things are really getting confusing. Gloom 2 was released as Gloom 3. The next proper sequel should then be Gloom 4 or Gloom 5, shouldn't it? Wrong. It was first announced as Gloom 3 Director's Cut, although the final game actually contained all new levels. It even dropped the series name altogether. Zombie Massacre? Well, who cares after all these years?
Yes, I agree. This does not look particularly promising. Even though I have been covering a large amount of crap lately, this is indeed surprising, as this particular game bears the name of a series which actually got my approval early in the run. Gloom 3 (where did Gloom 2 go?) does not come from the same development team. Maybe that is its dirty secret.
How about a burger? Yes, sounds good right now, doesn't it? Unless, of course, you are the one being "processed" and eaten, I guess. Though in Hitchhiker's tradition, this is what is exactly what is going to happen. Unless our protagonist manages to trick the advanced, meat-hungry aliens. How does Orion Burger stack up against McDonald's, Burger King and all?
derceto keeps bombarding us with reviews as they come in pairs now. Another RPG gem he rated 6/6 which is Death Knights of Krynn and technologically boosted Civilization launched into outer space which is broadly known as Master of Orion, which he also rated 6/6. And a big halleluja to that!
P. S. Just a few tips if you are reading this. Please, do not indent your lines, it is done so automatically with each new paragraph, and refrain from extra spacing in-between the words. Thank you!
It wasn't long before derceto's 3rd review, and now on another classic RPG game Champions of Krynn. As usual, good work.
After a short break, back to more 3D shooters which you never knew existed. Testament is even still available for sale from its original publisher! A welcome exception on these days of always running after the next smash hit.
derceto makes his move again and covers Pool of Radiance, a classic RPG game, which like a multitude of other 80's RPG and AD&D games is not very attractive on the outside, but its internal characteristics may well be rewarding.
Whenever I plan a theme of updates, there is a pretty big decision to take. What to include? Just some thematic highlights or try and be as exhaustive as possible? In this case of Amiga 3D shooters, I went for the latter, given that there is a fairly limited selection to begin with. Of course, this approach is much better for documentation/archival purposes. Though it also forces me to wade through some games playing which is about as much fun as… well, imagine some attribute here. Here is my attempt to document Project Battlefield.
Believe it or not, but it seems like somebody actually read what I wrote here last time. Shortly after I had put my thing about Deluxe editions here (and I mean very shortly after), a new submission comes in discussing Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Which isn't just a "Deluxe" version, but has also been alluded to in the earlier RRDX review. This actually feels quite good. Thank you, Seppo007!
It's Railroad Tycoon Deluxe! You know what the good thing about these non-extended "Deluxe" versions which had a brief moment in the early 1990s is? They give us the chance to give those games a second look without feeling too bad about treading where somebody else (or even yourself) has already gone before. You get the feeling of actually covering a fresh, new game, even if it's not fully true. Very good for motivation!
In this particular case, things are even stranger. I originally reviewed Railroad Tycoon for the site myself. This was in the very early days of the site and when we actually set some standards later on, that review didn't meet them anymore. Wandrell stepped in and provided a new one. Time for me to strike back… using this Deluxe trick
And dogchainx is in the spotlight again, this time sharing his Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss story. As usual, solid, extensive and very enthusiastic.
And we receive a second review on the legendary survival horror bestseller Alone in the Dark from derceto. Though, not exactly a newcomer, he's been around since 2014, this is, in fact, his very first review and as such pretty well composed too. Compliments and congrats on your first contribution points, my friend.
Germany has basically always been the largest market for point & click adventures. Even at times when the genre was basically dead in the rest of the world. So it should come as no surprise that German developers also were quite active in the genre. Die Sage von Nietoom remained 4th Generation Studios' only game. Although it does show many signs of inspiration from its contemporaries – from plot to interface.
I'm slowly running out of things to say about the nth 3D shooter I'm reviewing within a short timeframe. And I'm just only halfway through this run. Citadel, also known as Citadela in its native Poland, is a genre entry which doesn't do many things wrong. Having maybe sold 25 copies worldwide, you probably haven't heard of it. So check it out, but after my poisoned compliment two sentences before, don't expect too much.
Uh-oh… a tank driving through a city is usually not a good sign. It usually means either military parade (urk!), war (argh!) or a silly James Bond stunt (noooooo!). Though in computer games, standards are a little different. War can be fun, and Conqueror falls into the niche genre of tank simulators, which makes it quite interesting, actually.
Ah, purple blood. So no problem getting this past the censors. Because, you know, if it looks unreal, mindless brutality is no big deal. Mutilating and killing non-human beings is justifyable. Everybody knows that aliens and mutants are all evil anyway. So they do not deserve to live!
…I guess I better stop here. Have fun with Fears. At least try to.
Of course, there is still a lot of ground to cover as far as 3D-shooters-which-you-have-never-heard-of-in-your-whole-life (and which frankly, you could have passed away happily without ever learning about) are concerned. Regardless of what you may think or want (as if we ever cared about that here…), we will now cram Behind the Iron Gate down your throat. Bon Appetit!
Ah, a Terminator game? A cool shooter? No, it's just a cutscene. In fact, this is a tactical wargame. Still, quite cool, huh? Terminators and Hunter-Killers versus human rebels. Or did someone just get "inspired" a "little bit" there? One way or the other, Space Marines: The Steel Emperor does feature quite a bit of blue-screen acted cutscenes which may very well appeal fans of cheese.
See? Death Mask isn't so bad! You don't just move in large steps Dungeon Master style, but have intermediate steps. Which really is a conceptual must-have in the 3D shooter genre. You don't see it yet? No fear, the review explains it. Oh, you haven't even heard of the game and the controversy around it yet? All the more reason to read up on it!
Do you even need anything more than this picture to motivate you to learn more about Death or Glory? Could it possibly have an even stronger appeal to "core gamers"? Hardly. Though the same target audience may have the nagging suspicion in the back of their minds that they have seen this image before somewhere else. Definitely not in a computer game. Where could it have been? Or maybe you do know, but you don't care? That would actually be sensible.
Well, well, now this finally does look pretty good, doesn't it? It may not be Quake, but given that it does run at acceptable speed on a fairly regular Amiga, Breathless could be considered quite a revelation.
Now, obviously, the big question is whether it also delivers in other respects than graphics…
Our foolhardy adventurer jrok invades us again with Zork III review thus finally completing the Zork trilogy on the site. I've always had a certain amount of respect and even envy for people playing text-based adventures, for the reason that I've always lacked passion for such, yet considered this to be my personal kind of deficiency. Well done, fellow scribbler!
It's Crime Time! And you're right in the middle of it, being the primary suspect in a murder investigation. Sucks, doesn't it? Then again, what should people think, finding you there with blood on your hands kneeling over the dead body? Maybe you did commit the crime, after all, and it's just a case of amnesia induced by last night's drinking?
What is this? Why, the severed body parts and guts of an exploding human being flying around, of course!
In a 3D shooter like Gloom, this is the reality you are routinely dealing with. Not much more which these games are actually about. If you would like to see this sort of thing in even more detail, there is even a Deluxe version which offers much sharper images. I can see you're getting pretty excited by now, eh?
Wait a second! This is not how Alien Breed 3D II looks on the screenshots of other websites. Yet, it is the same game. What you see right here is how it would have looked on your computer if you had tried running it on contemporary, real hardware. What other websites show you is how it looks on an emulator with unlimited speed options thanks to modern-day chips and JIT. I.e. it's a rather good-looking game on screenshots if they are made on non-existent computers. What a sad way to end a series!
Oh, yes! This is how I always envisioned Alien Breed to look like! An armed space marine, a door (easily the most defining feature of the whole series!) and, of course, a deadly alien fletching its teeth. In 1995, the series finally went off into the third dimension. What a huge step for even stronger immersion into this thrilling world! If only… well, step in and see for yourself.
SB1988 bids farewell to Kyrandia and starts investigating the case of a stolen egyptian dagger as Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra. That's the spirit!
Like anticipated, SB1988 completes the Kyrandia trilogy with the 3rd review on the last game in the series - Malcolm's Revenge. Well done, my friend!
SB1988 continues his adventure in Kyrandia and treats of the second game of the series Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate. Now, it seems that his next account on the part three of the series is only a matter of time. Then again, maybe not.
And here comes a new member with another (now 2nd) review on Legend of Kyrandia. Very good start, SB1988, thank you and welcome to TGOD!
Ewwww, that doesn't look so good. You just came here to investigate a failure in communication, but it seems this job will not be done fixing a satellite system. Someone (or something?) has been wreaking real havoc here. Could it be the monster lurking there in the corridor on the right? You bet – this one and its 1000 comrades!
Alien Breed: Tower Assault marks the end of the two-dimensional part of the series. Though do not worry, we will extend our coverage to the three-dimensional ones as well. Oh, you didn't know about those? Well, you may have something to look forward to, then.
Actually, if LostInSpace is to be believed, this law (valid in a place called Neutropolis) isn't that big a deal. There isn't much fun to be had in this city, rendered three-dimensionally in typically bad 1990s fashion, anyway. What's not possible doesn't even need to be forbidden, does it? It would be sort of redundant. Though certainly, this realization was not shared by the developers of Normality.
Phew… let's hope this fire door will hold. It's positively swarming with aliens on the other side. All of them jumping at me, I doubt my puny machine gun would suffice to stop them. Yes, the Alien Breed Special Edition is much harder than the original!
We continue with jrok right away. Not too surprisingly, as it has been referenced in yesterday's new game entry, we get The Superhero League of Hoboken today. Not only is it yet another game penned by Steve Meretzky, but it also fills one of the very few remaining gaps in our Legend Entertainment collection.
It is only appropriate that today's news come without catchy graphics; A Mind Forever Voyaging (reviewed by newcomer jrok) is, after all, a purely text-based game. At the time, it was political dynamite. But wait… PRISM? Isn't this the name of something entirely different these days? How times change…
Yet another contributor returning after a short break. LostInSpace gives a contrasting viewpoint on Kult, reviewed in another version by myself about 15 years ago. To be honest, I can't remember much of the game myself. The noticeable points raised in both reviews seem to be similar, but their evaluation is different. Fair enough. Though after this, I'm not sure I will want to play it again to confirm
Look out! Behind you! Whoops… looks like all your heavy weapons loaded with ammunition can't help you now. Alien Breed revitalized the Gauntlet genre in the early 1990s and it was also the game which brought its publisher, Team 17, into the spotlight. Suddenly, they were considered major stars. Deserved or not, you decide.
What? A NES cartridge in 2015?? You've got to be kidding me. I mean.. how.. why.. or perhaps it's best to ask BootSector himself who returns after a little coffee break with another enormous and vastly detailed account of a pretty recent Sokoban-styled game called The Incident. Welcome back, brother, and as usual, good work!
After so much violent conflict, let's have some love! Careful, though. You may die of pleasure if the Lubicrious Dragon gets his hands on you. Wait, didn't we see this in Barbarella? Well, yes, but unfortunately, this one isn't based on that movie (would be interesting to see). In fact there is no movie connection this time, unlike in the predecessor. Nevertheless, Geisha does satisfy my affection for obscure European Adventure-like games.
Now, this looks like a fair fight. A gay waiter against a… Mongolian fire god? Well, we know how mid-90s fighting games were all crazy about mad characters, so it's probably not completely unexpected. Fightin' Spirit even goes one step further and gives these characters special moves which make them look completely different. "Unleashing the inner beast" or something. Fun stuff!
On this high point, I would also like to announce this thematic run closed. Thank you for reading everyone! Soon to follow in this theatre: something completely different.
And concluding this Friday okgooddays flings two other reviews and breaks the 2014-2017 TGOD record (since my personal arrival) of multiple review submission per day in a hot pursuit of points-to-download! This guy has written and submitted 5 game reviews within just a few hours. Why, aren't we a zealous one! Let's hear it loud for our newborn Speedy Gonzales! And the latest game reviews we got are Syndicate and Sword of the Samurai. Congratulations, okgooddays, and keep up the good work for points sake or not!
And another one from okgooddays, this time on the legendary Leisure Suit Larry and particularly its VGA remake, one of my all time favorites, too. Keep on keeping on, dude!
Halt! Who goes there? okgooddays! Wait, it's actually a username? Like, wow dude.. how long did it take you to make that one up? Oops, just kidding. However, I should say, your work has definitely impressed me more than your nick! I have always admired intrepid and enthusiastic contributors who can toss in more than one review at a time and what particularly gladdens me is that it doesn't come from another place (we have had more than just a few cases of plagiarism around here, and those crafty sorts often happen to be quite so generous too). Anyway, I digress. I am now proud to present 7th Guest (a game I still haven't played myself but heard of most of my life) and Grim Fandango by okgooddays. Thank you, friend, and welcome aboard!
This game, you very likely haven't heard about. Capital Punishment was only released on the already dead Amiga platform in 1996 by an otherwise unknown publisher. As if that wasn't enough obscurity, it also had notoriously high hardware requirements, excluding even most of the remaining Amiga users from playing it. Maybe you're about to discover an insiders' tip…
Triumph against the gay policeman in the steel factory! Boy, will the steel workers be angry with me now. Better get out of here fast. Master Axe: The Genesis of MysterX not only sports a weird, incomprehensible title, but is also strange in other ways.
Another arcade hit ported to a home computer. Often, this did not go well, as many of the qualities which made the original great could not be properly translated to the common hardware found in people's homes. How did Primal Rage do?
A superhero fighting game? What could possibly be a better match? Dangerous Streets even received the honour of being bundled with its console for some time. What an amazing choice! So you may think, if you don't know the game. Nevertheless, a great idea – somebody should really do this in a decent way!
Foight! Warriors, also known as Savage Warriors, is the French entry to the genre. At a time when everybody else was going for weird, three-dimensional camera angles, this one goes for some actual gameplay innovations. Whether they were successful and positive, you'll see.
Here it is, the first arcade fighting game using digitized sprites! No, it's not the one you thought it is. Pit-Fighter didn't just take a revolutionary graphical approach, but also tried bringing some innovation to the gameplay side.
Illegal street fighting – oooooh, how notorious! Tube Warriors represents this seedy underbelly of the dark shadow society by setting itself in… drum roll… subway stations. What an ingenious motif! And they even made the appropriate game matching this stroke of genius.
Ouch! Punched right in the balls! Going by the accompanying sound effect, probably with a tazer, too. That's what you get for talking to prostitutes, or actually for even entering the red light district. Hope you learned your lesson, you Human Killing Machine!
What is it with fighting games and gay policemen? Why does each of these games believe it has to have one? Sure, the mid-90s were all about having colourful characters. So Shadow Fighter has a 14-year-old kid, a Terminator 2 knock-off, a giant brute, a kickboxer, a basketballer and… "Yurgen", the gay policeman. Though honestly, the training dummy is a more interesting opponent, because at least, it is original.
Now, this is finally what we've been looking for on the Amiga all those years, isn't it? Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released shortly after the previous series entry, looks absolutely amazing. A worthy finale, isn't it?
Goodbye, floppy disk! You had a good run, but by the mid-1990s, when Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers came out, your time was rapidly coming to an end. Although this game can actually still be booted and played from floppy. The sequel demanded hard disk installation.
Sergeant Slaughter vs. Hulk Hogan! If this match brings up fond memories, this particular WWF Wrestlemania game may be for you. Even though it comes from Ocean. Surprisingly, it is the only decent wrestling game on the Amiga.
It had to happen some day. I tried resisting, because I usually don't see a point to simply reiterate what everybody else has already said. Which is why games like Monkey Island took a couple of years to appear on the site. On the opposite side of the quality scale, we have Rise of the Robots. Today's public opinion is, to put it mildly, homogenous. Though now that we're doing this special, there is no way around it anymore.
Let's boogie! Oh, that move got me 100 points – and some glitter on my fat butt cheeks! Uh… well, anyway, Elfmania may definitely send mixed visual messages, but it is actually a full-fledged fighting game. It received mixed reviews at the time of its release and these days, it's mostly faded into obscurity. Time for a re-visit!
Instead of the usual gritty (i.e. bloody) theme following Mortal Kombat, let's go for something more light-weight today. Brutal: Paws of Fury is martial arts performed by cartoon animals. Sounds good, doesn't it?
A robot beating up a schoolgirl? Screw fair fighting! And, yes, if you beat her up badly enough, she will undress for you. Metal & Lace: The Battle of the Robo Babes is a Japanese game, after all. Wow, this one will receive tons of clicks!
Finally, we can have the long-awaited clash between the fat wrestler and the disembodied ghost! The whole world was waiting to see who will win this fight. Well, maybe not the whole world. Ultimate Body Blows covers a niche fairly popular in the comic book world: the crossover. Superman against Thor, Wolverine against Batman etc. Which works with characters who have a fan base.
Body Blows enters its second round, and it's a Galactic one. Will earth's representatives manage to win the title? Or will it go to the much cooler alien opponents?
Robots are cool, aren't they? That, and One Must Fall 2097 is actually one of the few PC games we've covering in this special so far. Not because anyone really dislikes the system, but it's really not a genre which it was known and popular for. So thanks to MasterLee for showing us this side of the genre as well.
Did you know that martial arts originated in ancient Egypt? According to Fighting Warrior it just might be true! However, other than that there is nothing original about it, and being technically a clone of Karateka, although featuring stick fighting and not karate, it offers pretty much the same boring plot and extremely dull gameplay which raises a natural question: why put shit in a different basket?
Fighting wasn't an exclusive phenomenon of the arcades or game consoles, even in the 1990s. Although more and more games appearing on the home computers were indeed ports, there were still original developments. Body Blows came from one of the typical Amiga companies. Can it compete with the popular games of the time or will it be beaten up?
Taking a chance between the updates in our latest special, I wanted to tell all of you that our side project, the Good Old Days floppies collection, has surpassed the 2000 image sets mark.
For all of you who don't know about it, we are trying to help saving as many floppies as possible by keeping digital images of their contents. We depend on contributor, as our main job is sorting and hashing them, and right now is the biggest project of its kind.
You can take a look at the full list. If you want to contribute feel free to ask in the forum, we depend on you to keep the work going.
Oooooh… another really infamous game! Unfortunately, its title screen is actually the best thing about Shaq Fu. The in-game graphics are fairly basic and playability… if this were still the late 90s, I would say "meh".
My next move is The Way of the Exploding Fist, a title which most Spectrum and Commodore veterans are without a doubt closely familiar with. I always thought this game, great and critically acclaimed as it may be, could be just a tiny bit better without introducing dramatic changes and boosting hardware requirements. Like, how about upping the difficulty from kiddie mode to adult?
Budokan, for some years, was the most popular fighting game on websites such as this one around the year 2000. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and it is not quite as popular anymore; yet still far from being forgotten.
Everybody has to start small some time. Full Contact was Team 17's first game. So don't expect too much. Also, because some developers actually (deservedly) stayed small/non-notable forever, maybe you shouldn't anyway.
I was a bit on the fence as to which MSX game I should review this time, whether Yie Ar Kung Fu or actually its less famed but quality improved sequel Yie Ar Kung-Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah. I decided to go for the latter since it existed in full glory only on MSX. Moreover, it was very convenient for me to look back at the currently missing original game (MSX & NES only) and give it a quick overview as well as give a small reference to its more celebrated alternative version mostly familiar to Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum veterans.
A German fighting game about Shaolin philosophy (and, of course, Kung Fu)? Not the most obvious combination. How does Chambers of Shaolin do?
Aaaand ladies and gentleman! We are proud to announce the grand opening of the fighting season which depending on our enthusiasm may extend up to a few months. During that time you may readily cut in line and cover some of your most favorite (or most hated) 1x1 fighting and beat 'em up games. We look forward to your fine contributions!
And the following game to do the opening is Karateka. Does it strike you as vaguely familiar? Do those sprites and animation remind you of Prince of Persia, even though they are not rotoscoped but simply pixel-drawn? That's because it was made by one and the same guy - Jordan Mechner, and Karateka is really his very first video game. Much as I respect his genius though, I have plenty of reasons to be displeased with this debut... let's find out why.
And one more MSX game of my childhood to cover which is called Eric and the Floaters or simply the very first and original Bomberman game from the early 80's.
This game, you know. Myst used to be ultra-popular, but have you seen this version? Very unlikely. Also, when did you last play it? Honestly now, how many years? Are you sure it is as good as you remember it to be? Hint: probably not.
For me, the experience went the other way around. After hating the game with a vengeance for more than 20 years, the experience of replaying was actually sort of enjoyable. At least more than I expected.
Here is a relatively recent game I ran across quite by accident. You know those sales at certain online games stores which offer basically insane discounts? Hard to resist if something sounds promising enough. I mean, what's the risk? Wasting two dollars? I can live with that.
Of course, if the game is then actually quite a bit of fun, as in the case of The Masterplan, there is nothing to complain about. What certainly also helps is that the game places itself in a genre which isn't nearly as overused as so many others.
The following MSX game is not the best I ever played, but it's one of the very first games in my life. I enjoyed it while it lasted (I did my best, I swear!) and I'm glad it wasn't just Tetris. Ninja Kage here is one to test your survival skills... and nerves.
Not much of a surprise here; obviously, after last week's update, the final part of the same series had to appear, too. That being Pacific General. Once again, not the most original game ever, its theme certainly being a downside. Nevertheless, not too bad, either, and for completists, it's a must anyway.
Some games I can't go concise about, especially if they are as peculiar and knotty as Avalon. This game is probably the progenitor of all 3rd person adventures released since 1984 for the majority of 8-bit family computers, in our case Spectrum. When you see a gloomy dungeon world with many rooms, doors, monsters, magic and above all sophisticated object and character interaction - know that it's all Avalon's legacy. Little known, but revolutionary nonetheless.
Comrade! It's time to defend the motherland against the fascist invasion.
Since we discussed how to treat series' recently, this is part of my attempt to fill some gaps in this regard. Of course, there are some entries into a series which are less noteworthy than others. I'm sure you'll all be able to name a number of examples. So anyway, here is Allied General.
Our new member Magmon steps in and treats us with two reviews at a time: Tempest 2000 and Doom! But what really kicks ass is that both games were experienced on Atari Jaguar system, a video game console we haven't received any contributions for until this very day! Very well done, Magmon and welcome to TGOD!
Yes, this one's already on the site… wait, something's different! A different guy on the cover and one soldier went missing. How does Lords of the Rising Sun do on the Philips CD-i? Cinemaware plus CD, it should be perfect!
Many game titles were hosted by MSX system, only the majority were either not very popular and have sunk into oblivion or were simply a myriad of cross-platform products glorified by other 8-bit family platforms. Penguin Adventure is one of those few rare gems which is known to have existed on MSX computer only and as such is one of the best and most memorable native titles.
P. S. My apologies for having been inactive for so long. I've been a little out of sorts and lost my creative power. I feel it's coming back now, so stay tuned for more.
This one comes from 1541 again. Taking one of the recent requests entered to the site, he reviews Dungeon Keeper. This is a good practice – if you want to see what could be good picks to cover yourself, why not head over to the requests page?
It makes sense that BootSector's reviews trickle in at a much lower rate than those of some others. Just look at this latest one! It not only covers the intrinsic gameplay of A-Train, but also shows a lot of research about the game's origin, development history and puts it into the context of its time. Really, if there is something you always wanted to know about this game, you will learn it here. Great job, BootSector!
These days, with a huge amount of so-called "casual" games out there, it is increasingly hard (if not impossible) to give "objective" ratings to games. What if the target audience doesn't actually want complex gameplay, extensive length etc.? Actually, though, this is not such a new phenomenon as you may think, as The Wacky World of Miniature Golf illustrates once again. Though even today, it is held by the standards of "hardcore" gamers. Not very fair, is it?
Is it the Third Man running through the sewers of Vienna? Wait, no, that's a woman. And it isn't Vienna. Nevertheless, it's quite a mystery. More than anything, Caren and the Tangled Tentacles provokes the question: why make a new Adventure game on the C64 these days?
You see, there was this C64 Adventure game competition in 2015. Finally, I got around to playing the entries. Awakening and this one were my favourites. They reached #1 and #3, so you see it's all quite subjective. So why not try out the rest of the games yourself, and maybe even submit reviews of those as well!
Two Elvis impersonators performing dangerous chemical experiments? Surely, they cannot be serious! This cannot end well…
Indeed, it doesn't. And now, of course, it is up to a woman to clean the mess up and save the world. Nevertheless, given the amount of cleavage Awakening shows, it is clearly aimed at the male half of the population. Who said there aren't good new releases for the C64 anymore?
What's going on there? A graphical glitch, shadowing the sprite? Damn, I hate those in shooters! Oh, wait. Code name: Hell Squad (no, this isn't a typing error) isn't actually shooter. It's an Adventure game. And what you see there is the solution of a puzzle; one which isn't even half bad. Oops, spoiler, I guess. Oh well, you're not going to play it anyway, are you? So no harm done. Still, I invite you to at least read about it or watch the video playthrough. Be prepared for one of the most amazing endings in the history of computer games!
Don't you just hate when this happens? All against one… well against yourself. It's not fair! Well, maybe you shouldn't have terrorized them all for generations, but anyway – it's not fair! Dominus was set to be added to the site almost exactly 16 years ago. Somehow I never got it finished. So here it is, with "slight" delay.
This year, we had 88 new game entries, roughly 30% up from the year before. Also, we had 97 newly written review, maintaining the ratio of having more new reviews than games. It means we keep getting more and more second or even third views of games in, which can be quite valuable. On the floppy image side of things, Wandrell, ibmpc5150 and Vagabond processed and classified a couple of hundred new entries.
So overall, I do believe we're on a good way sharing memories and views of people who have actually played the games, rather than just those who pick up zip files somewhere. Here's to a similarly successful 2017!
Just a heads-up that we moved servers. If you're reading this, you are accessing the new one (good). Should anything not work, please report it in the forums!
Assaulting a helpless, drunk beggar? Classy!
Actually, this is one of my occasional attempts to get over my deeply rooted dislike for roleplaying games. It helped that Darkmere isn't so much of what you'd expect, but rather goes into the clearly action-focused direction of how the genre as it was commonly interpreted on kid's game consoles. Though without the "cute" (i.e. annoying) imagery.
A scantily clad woman on the hood of a car. The classic sexist motif. Symbol of the male oppression. How could this still be used in the 1990s? How can we put it on our front page in 2016? Before you vow to never visit again in anger, think whether things may not be quite as they appear. Though you'll only know if you are Man Enough to dive deeply into the depth of "multimedia" shit of the early CD-ROM days.
You probably know this game, but you probably don't know this particular version. Apart from being an interesting one on its own right, this is also a chance for me to give the game a second look. You see, I don't really like replacing old reviews, though indeed some from the early ones are… not ideal. So reviewing another version is a good compromise. To either provide a more complete view by starting from scratch or by examining only a specific aspect in more detail.
Pinball games on the computer – an oddity of history. Slam Tilt marked the end of an era in this small genre. Released in 1996, it is the last one to use the classic engine first applied in Pinball Dreams and which brought the big commercial and popular breakthrough.
Of course, there is no way we're going to keep yesterday's game on top of the news for long. After all, it only exists because of another game, and I only reviewed it because of another game. Coincidentally (yeah, right), that other game is this one: Caesar. One of the first Impressions games which is actually good. It even spawned multiple sequels. The only thing the decent first suffers from is its lack of a unique selling point.
Eh? Didn't we have this game already? Actually, yes, we did. I reviewed it two weeks ago. It's just that a year after the original, Impressions decided to release the same game again, virtually unchanged, under the title Cohort II: Fighting for Rome. Why? Read to find out
I don't think I really need to introduce this game to anyone. So instead of seriously telling you about what you already know about Wolfenstein 3D, I would just like to announce that what formerly was called "comparisons" has now been turned into similar games. This change has already been used on this new game entry, too. Further changes coming soon!
In spite of obviously copying all the games I could get my hands on back in the day (well, as far as blank floppy prices allowed), I never felt entitled to actually get any good games that way. Whenever I did spend my money on original, boxed games, this was quite different, though. Money was short, so investments had to be well considered. By the mid-90s, game prices had risen to about 50€, which made the decisions all the harder.
Now imagine my disappointment when I brought home a stinker like Fields of Glory. I loved wargames, and this one just looked too good to leave it on the shelf. Man, did I regret this one!
The thing with Cohort is that I referenced it some years ago in another review. So now, of course, I had to give it a review as well. And now that I've done it, what did I do? I referenced another game which isn't on the site yet. Recursive work…
P.S. There is still very little feedback on the similar games linking proposal. As it looks right now, I would tend to actually go with it and change the policy. If you really wouldn't like that, now would be the time to speak up!
Carrying on with our regular programme. Though this one is actually a bit of a leftover of the IF Comp coverage, honestly speaking. You see, to get myself in the mood for the genre and also to set my expectations straight, I played some "classic" text adventures right before the competition. Intentionally, I didn't pick the cream of the crop, but some which I remembered as "good, but flawed". I thought I wouldn't be quite as grumpy if the deficiencies of the genre as it had always been were freshly in my mind. Whether I succeeded or not is for you readers to judge.
Anyway, one of the games I played in that vein was Das Stundenglas. I didn't quite manage to get the write-up done in time, though. So here it is after the competition. Well, now we've got a nice framing, which also isn't so bad…
That's it. Darkiss! Wrath of the Vampire - Chapter 2: Journey to Hell not only has the longest title of the games in the IF Competition, but it's also the last one I put on my play list. Along with this new review, I'm also publishing my personal ranking of the games I played this year. It was fun once again!
There is one thing, though. What I feared at the very beginning, unfortunately, became not only true, but it was even worse. Although I had fun, the internal stats show that few visitors were interested. Even compared to last year, which was really weak, reads halved again. Compared to 2013 and 2014, that's only a tenth remaining and compared to 2012, it's only 2%!
Unfortunately, these numbers are the only indication we have to measure interest. Neither visitors, nor authors have made themselves heard over the last years, so it's hard to say whether it's really a case of "can do without next year" or a small, but dedicated "hardcore" group which does remain interested. You could tell us, you know…
I'll let you in on a small secret. The reason I was so confident about finishing my share of games yesterday was that I had actually played three more on the weekend. Just writing down my impressions was lagging behind a little.
Again, two more games of the IF Comp. The deadline is approaching fast now, but I may actually manage to play everything I planned to.
Next up, we have Color the Truth from the IF Comp. So far, this is the best of the games I've played. Once again, I've applied the style proposed for similar games. How do you like this? Discuss!
Always stuck at this? Your people laugh you off the throne due to your lack of knowledge? The answers to this and much more, you will find in the newly scanned (and OCR'd!) manual of Civilization – thanks, brush!
LostInSpace revisits his previous extensive coverage of Wizardry 7 by providing visual cues to compare the Gold variant he reviewed before with the original one.
I'm now up to ten games in this year's IF Comp. Which means I will definitely not manage to play all games. Though then, I haven't been aiming at that for many years. The point here is to enjoy what you can, without unnecessary pressure.
And BootSector sends in a review on Solar Winds: The Escape. Not much comment from me this time. Once again, good job, BootSector.
Just a friendly reminder that IF Comp is still running. My own paced progress now covers two additional games. You still have a month to play and vote!
About time I tended to some unfinished business after a long silent break. In a way, I'm glad I took some time off from the Game Challenge, because I was somewhat confused as to which game made by someone I know personally I should review. The answer to that came shortly as one of the casual contributors had submitted the right game lacking only a review. Surely, I knew of Powball, only I completely forgot about it. And now that ss2man44 helped me out of it, I shall split the points and give him 10 for the game entry. Thanks, man!
There's only one question left that keeps bothering me: if I didn't know Anthony (which, frankly to say, is a miracle) then what would I do?
Have you ever realized how creepy little kids can be? Well, if you've seen a 1970s horror film, you probably have. Stadt der Löwen can't quite live up to the promise made by such imagery. Nevertheless, compared to its predecessor (not quite coincidently reviewed a week ago), it is a step in the right direction.
This concludes our short run of the PM Entertainment games. Their third and final game, released under a different company name, has been on the site already for quite some time. Jonathan, unfortunately, was an unplayable mess. Though its good side is that it makes you much more forgiving about Stadt der Löwen's lacking interactivity: when they tried to make things interactive, things really went downhill instead of better.
Once again, it's time for brand new text adventures! I was actually pondering whether to cover it this year, as last year's output was somewhat disappointing and at the same time, public interest in our coverage had reached an extremely low point (compared to the years before). But then I thought, let's just keep the tradition alive. So without further ado, here's the games I played (to be updated as I go along; the goal is not to play everything).
BootSector continues to contribute to his alphanumeric streak and presents us with another obscure gem - MegaZeux, which looks more like a pack of games. What strikes me dumb is that BootSector's games may come off simplistic (at least on the outside) yet his reviews keep growing bigger and bigger. Which is a lesson to learn here, kids: do not judge the book by its cover. Oh, you've heard that one too?
Still looking to fill some of the entries of the requests list. This one is a German classic with the highly embarassing title Holiday Maker. It received quite good reviews back in the day, but then again, magazines were usually (positively) biased towards German publishers. The game also holds the distinction of having been ported to the ill-fated CDTV a couple of years later. The CD image is only little more than 1MB large. Go figure what kind of port that is…
Once more, we get the chance to revisit the high fantasy world threatened by the evil goddess Medusa. We've saved it a couple of times already, always defeating her in an epic struggle of huge armies. This last time, there is actually a new, alternative way as well: just use your magic weapons right and you may be able to vanquish her and her troops all by yourself. Whether this is actually more fun remains to be seen. The original route is still available as default, of course, in any case.
Did you try Monday's game? Did you enjoy it? Then here's your chance to revisit that land. A couple of hundred years later, Medusa's back. What's more interesting, however, is that she's not even the one responsible for the almost total devastation of the land; mankind took care of that all by themselves. Maybe there is a lesson in there for all of us. And you may even learn something about game design as well…
And our next newcomer astocky presents us with yet another, in fact, third review on... Stunts! Man, do people love this game! No wonder, I've spent my own happy hours playing it as a teenager, even though its physics seemed a little suspicious. Very good start, astocky! Keep up the good work and welcome to TGOD!
Here is one of those games which I've been meaning to cover for a long, long time. Rings of Medusa, I played for weeks, months and years. On and off, but quite extensively for longer periods as well. It's one of those games which, once you manage to jump the initial hurdle, will trigger this typical effect of thinking "just five more minutes"… and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, three more hours are gone.
In spite of all this experience, there is still one thing which I could never figure out, however. What the fuck does the title screen have to do with the game?
It's interesting how newbies often tag-team, as it were, and suddenly shower us with loads of fresh material. Our next kid Dino Van Bedt makes his appearance by ushering us into RPG / Swords & Sorcery world of Death Knights of Krynn, another game and series for that matter which I would always neglect in the heydays. Thank you for that one, Dino van Bedt! Your effort is truly appreciated.
About time someone covered one of the 90's most influential real-time strategy best-sellers Command & Conquer. Great game, great review and awesome debut, ss2man44!
Coming back to another one of my guilty pleasures, promotional games. Those are often extremely cheesy and of questionable quality, but at least usually mercifully short (keeping time investment manageable). Die Enviro-Kids greifen ein confirms most of this prejudice, save for one item. It's actually rather good. If you can bring yourself to play as a precocious kid spending his summer vacation collecting garbage.
And BootSector returns to share with us another, even more ancient Star Fleet saga from 1983: Star Fleet I: The War Begins!. This time his review is suprisingly much bigger and thought-out with lots of curious notes and references which even involve certain tragic events. It's interesting that he rated this game only 3 as opposed to Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander which he gave 5 but said little about. Apparently it's the very foundation that he reveres, not the overall quality, implying one must go Ad fontes in order to estimate later developments...
Scared? Yes, didn't think so. The universe of Laser Lords is populated completely by clowns. This particular one happens to be the baddie who plans to drain emotion from all living beings and turn them into mindless robots. Or something along those lines. Still not scared? Yes, true, he can be defeated by a random bloke from earth who didn't even know what space travel was until five minutes ago, so the danger was probably never really high…
The promised second review from MeowMeow and the 3rd one on our site on the much celebrated UFO: Enemy Unknown is now online. Good work, MeowMeow, and keep it that way!
A new daredevil on the block giving us 2 concise but pretty much down to the point reviews at a time, one of which we are going to announce now, and it is Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers. Let's hear it for our brave little chap MeowMeow! His other review is to follow shortly...
Our quiet member BootSector since last year has finally made up his mind and delivers a fine review on the game which is probably known to some hardcore strategy addicts only or simply lucky few old-schoolers. Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander here is another obscure real-time strategy which largely uses alphanumeric pseudographics. Well, who says it's impediment as long as you have your vivid imagination at work?
Sometimes, it's fairly easy to guess which game we will publish next. Hint: if there is an unresolved comparison under a new game entry, that other game will probably appear soon. No guarantee, but often, it will. Like in the case of Inca, which was basically announced last week. This was not a CD-i exclusive game, so it is at least fairly well known. What do you think about it? Let us know!
Now that the CD-i has been introduced to the site, it's time to extend its collection a bit. Thing is, there are not that many games overall for that system, even. And of those, the largest chunk is really no good. Kether is a bit of an exception. It's a fairly good one; hardly excellent, flawed in many ways, but at least somewhat original and gameplay isn't too bad, either. And best of all: chances are you will never have heard of it – ever. So you're going to learn something totally new today. Nice feeling, isn't it?
The last open item of the game challenge gave me quite a headache. When you are a website's administrator, you basically never find anything on it completely by chance. Herr M. assured me that the modus operandi to identify the random pick would be open for personal interpretation. So here's my spin on it and on Archipelagos.
This, then, concludes my contribution to the challenge. Looking forward to see what you guys still have in store, and how you all interpret the categories!
Entering the final lap of our game challenge, here is a game made by someone I know in person: Die Akte Paul Bennet.
Dungeon Mercenary is a game released only this year. If you like it, the best thing about it, however, is that it remains a work in progress, so we will be able to follow its further development!
No wonder the 'Bot couldn't track. This video-rate convolver uses discrete multipliers…
Wow, sounds fascinating, doesn't it? Well, investigations like this are the daily job of many engineers – making this my next game challenge entry.
A lost Ultima episode? The obscure predecessor of Laser Squad? No, it is actually a card game! Solitaire's Journey puts shuffling the card in a context. Even if it's a flimsy one, I certainly appreciate the gesture and it maybe made me play three times as long as I would have otherwise!
Whatever this funny guy is trying to say I'm sure he means well. But I'd rather he spoke in a language I can understand! Hugo here is another participant for the Game Challenge whom most of you probably know, but something tells me it would grant him just a little bit more fame if only he spoke english on a computer system.
The game challenge asks us to review a game developed before we were born. Not an easy task in my case. Well, of course there are even way older games, but of course, it should also be something… you know… interesting. Basically, what's left to pick from the 70s is either Scott Adams' text adventures or simplistic arcade games. Or, making a cross between the two: Atari Adventure!
What could possibly make one game infamous? I think it's enough that it sucks as profoundly as CatFight which has received enough negative feedback for obvious reasons so there is little doubt as to its tarnished rep. Anything beyond that would have to include illegal porn content, radical right-wing propaganda and snuff. A rather sorry but legit contestant for the Game Challenge.
You! Yes, you there, in front of the screen! Play my game or I'll beat you up! You don't speak my language? Well, too bad – no excuses!
This is probably how you've seen this game on the video streaming website of your choice. Maybe you think, just based on that, that it deserves its bad reputation. Yes, you could simply take it for granted. Or you take a second look at Link: The Faces of Evil.
What may be going on behind that window? Curious? Camera ready? Why, the next entry to the game challenge, of course. You dirty Voyeur! Oh, wait, that would be me, having actually played it, right?
What do I have in common with Casanova? Why, irresistible passion for women of course! And particularities of my private life are none of your business anyway. Here is another obscure contestant for the Game Challenge, which for the sake of original idea and graphics alone could offer a little softer gameplay.
Well, time to defend my lead in the game challenge. This is the game I've been putting off reviewing for many, many years – although parts of it it have been used around here basically since day 1. It's Monty Python's The Meaning of Life – and it was not easy for me to give it a bad rating.
It's amazing what you can fit into less than 100kb and make the game seem longer, particularly if puzzles make no immediate sense and you've spent too much time playing PC adventures. Forget the PC, this is Spectrum, which means the road to victory is thornier than ever, albeit short. Zorro cuts his way into the Game Challenge leaving a big Z.
I'm glad some games were made before I was born, cause most of them were released when gaming business as such was still at its infancy and there were lots of weird experiments lacking either graphics or fine concept to tickle your fancy. Lazy Jones pretty much lacks both, but still qualifies for the Game Challenge.
LostInSpace joins the game challenge, providing an in-depth review of Neuromancer – the adaption of one of the most influential novels of the last decades. Welcome!
Here is my next entry to the game challenge: Taz-Mania would have filled more than one possible slot, but finally, I decided for the Australian one – because it's the hardest one to fill, I believe.
Imagine if Larry Laffer was really successful with chicks. What kind of game would that be? I think it would be something like Cobra Mission: Panic in Cobra City. This is my next move for Game Challenge, and this time I shall take you into the lustful world of lewd detectives and seductive women which are now sure victims of your sexual fancy.
I have to say, I owe thanks to this project and the entire TGOD, cause this is one more game I never finished in the past, and you guys help me correct this. If not for you I would've never seen the rest of it.
Luckily, the stairs are close. Phew… Just in time! Whether you like this sort of game or not, it can't be denied that Infra Arcana will keep you on your toes at all times. So it definitely achieves what it attempts to do. Also, there are no elves in it, which is definitely a plus
Bjt doesn't waste his time in vain and keeps up the good work. Only now he apparently switched from FPS to Adventure genre and presents us with a second look on The Dig, admittedly one of the celebrated LucasArts classics, but somehow unacknowledged by me personally. Let's take a closer look at it, shall we...
It's time I pay a tribute to one of my best-loved Sierra classics. Here is my take on the original initial release of Quest for Glory - Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero. And which version did you like more?
Klessi again, this time presenting a really obscure game which outside of its native Poland was very likely only released in compilations (if at all). Victory seems to be worth the effort of tracking a copy down, however!
With games such as this one, we lately have a good mix balancing more popular titles (like certain shooters still fairly high up in the news), which people may want to read about in a reminiscing way, and learning about previously unknown stuff.
FPS time now and dracolich is giving us a 3rd review on Duke Nukem 3D. It's funny how he thinks killing poor alien troopers in a variety of graphic and brutal ways is more appropriate for children than harmless dancing strippers and some "adult" ads on the walls which hardly give out any detail anyway. Oh well... Timmy, come home quick! Time to fry some alien ass! Oh, and don't let me catch you staring at girls again!
And beranmuden comes back with another review of another Sierra game (there goes a real Sierra fan) which is Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon. What shocked me this time is not even that he gave this game 6 out of 6, but that he also claims to have played it 42 times over. 42 times, Carl! Were those simply multiple attempts with little success or..? Remains unclear and somehow I'm afraid to know the truth.
Ever played Wing Commander Academy? No? Then don't, cause dogchainx is quite frustrated about it and strongly dissuades us from doing so. Let's see why.
Our quiet member since 2015 GranNaniwa has finally decided to make himself known by giving us a second look on Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. Ah, those old RPGs... I can only envy people who got something to say about those, since I almost never dedicated my time to them and would mostly just ignore. And now it feels like it's too late anyway. Good job, GranNaniwa.
After reaching the finish line in Grand Prix Formula One carlostex quickly gets into the cockpit of F-14 and takes off the ground. This journey may have been even more exciting and breathtaking as this time he returns with a somewhat bigger story to tell. Another simulation, but this time in the skies of Fleet Defender. Well done, pilot! P. S. Where were you when we had a flightsim season here?!
Our next newcomer carlostex treats us with a handful of disk images and a swell minute review of the game which he seems to hold in high regard. Incidentally, this is probably the 1st time someone reviews an old racing simulator with such enthusiasm ever since Adhoc, one of TGOD veterans left the building back in 2002, who according to MrCreosote was the truest sim addict on here. Here is another take on Formula One Grand Prix. Thank you and welcome aboard, carlostex!
No, what you see here is by no means a mistake, and there is a good reason I used this picture. Cause nothing else better characterizes this game than this very picture. I would even venture further and say that this is the very core, spirit and quintessence of this unusually ruthless and inexorable product, and unless you apply special measures (which is what I did) you have little chances of ever reaching the end of it. My next move for TGOD Challenge, and this time I'm proud to present to you one of the worst yet superficially appealing platformers of 20th century - Batman Forever.
Our following new member Emtucifor journeys back to ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire, shares his thoughts on it, decides the game has been gravely misjudged and gives it 6 out of 6 points! Thank you, Emtrucifor, and welcome to TGOD!
Next, we have danigancho, telling us his story of King's Quest 5: Absence Makes the Heart go Yonder!. Thanks!
Another shitload of stuff from SonataFanatica – mostly game soundtracks which have been appended to the respective database entries. Sorry, you will have to find them by yourself, but I can give you a hint: it's mostly adventure games
SonataFanatica's third strike: Das Telekommando kehrt zurück. Of course, this is not nearly enough yet!
As already announced by Vagabond yesterday, here is the first one of SonataFanatica's reviews: Legend of Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate. More to follow!
And here comes the challenger! Our new member SonataFanatica suddenly invades us and resolutely slams on the desk a mighty basket of goodies consisting of 9 manuals and 3 reviews at a time (which are still to be processed but already look quite promising). What a splendid start! Coming from the forum introduction, Stephan here is a big enthusiast and a dedicated oldschool gamer. Thanks a bunch, Stephan, and welcome aboard!
For those who felt pain reading my own take on it, here is beranmuden's decidedly more positive look at Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel.
Catching up with TGOD Game Challenge 2016, and this time I would like to present to you Judge Dredd, a game which I neither had nor seen played in the early days, but somehow knew existed. I never had it on CDs, noone ever talked about it and it's remained elusive and obscure up to the present day for reasons still unclear. What's your take on it?
beranmuden makes a comeback by taking a second look at a second Sierra game: Conquests of the Longbow. It's great to learn somebody's reasons to actually like those games!
Following his Unreal review, bjt decides to take a deeper look back and this time at the legendary Quake II. Need I say more? Briefly, this game was in the 90's top among other few undisputed victors, though I still agree with bjt, it would've been a lot more entertaining if only its environment was a bit more diversified. But did we really need more back then? A blaster alone and an alien guard in a dark corridor were enough to switch our poor brains off!
This one comes from Seppo007. The game is called Strike Base, and back when it was released in 1996, it was announced as a mix between 3D action, simulation and strategy by Austrian company Max Design. Didn't receive the best of reviews at the time, but maybe it's time for a second look?
Our yet another new member bjt decides to shed the light on the rather dark Unreal! This "quakish" alternative, although somewhat refaced, features familiar hybrid sci-fi/fantasy world infested with creepy bloodthirsty alien spawns which is, in fact, the hallmark of all 90's 3D shooters. According to bjt it even surpasses Quake II in little ways, but since I personally never played it I can only take it for granted.
Woah! What is this? An actual girl? Well, not quite, but sex sells, so here is a game called Girl Simulator which, if it had ever been for sale, would have had a place on the "Adult" shelf. Or below the shelf? In any case, it is my next take on the running game challenge. Enjoy, even if it may not last too long!
Tired of plain old chess? Feel like you wanna spice it up with some action? Try Battle Chess! A legendary avant-garde version of chess game worth playing, but only until you feel like taking things seriously. Until then... enjoy some eye-candy!
Rise Out from Dungeons. Sound familiar? No-no, forget about D&D, RPG, hobbits, goblins and trolls. You are sent back down into the mazey platform world where once again you must plunder treasures and seek ultimate freedom. What? Again?! Just how many Lode Runner derivatives are out there?! Actually, not that many. And this one is probably 80's best apart from the original, at least on its native platform (MSX).
Taking a break from the usual fare of adding more and more games, here is something to keep you occupied in your own breaks at work or between two game sessions. By now, our database has grown quite large and knowing all the games is hardly trivial. Why not test your own knowledge in our brand new screenshots quiz?
Here we are with the next debut already. Ramox reviews Star Wars Rebellion. Admittedly, a game I never even knew existed. That's the beauty of sharing – you get some knowledge back in return! So whether you were ignorant like me or a long time fan, check it out!
Our recently active contributor mariosevr strikes again! This time he looks back at D/Generation and believes he also got a thing or two to say about that game. I'm sure it's worth it, though I personally never played it. The looks of it reminds me of little known Get Dexter! game for CPC which came out much earlier in 1986. Derrida, Dexter... hmmm.
Well, well, well! What do we have here? Two deserters? Up with you! Get back in line!
Sorry, wrong story. Actually, we're here to celebrate the 16th Site Anniversary! Though what could I possibly say which hasn't been said a hundred times over in all these years?
So instead of falling into the usual sermon about the past, I'll just use this opportunity to talk about the future and remind everyone of the game challenge Herr M. announced earlier. I've been wrecking my brain about some of these categories; it's much tougher than it sounds – why not join in and give it a try?
Talking about tough, for my second entry (I already snuck in one earlier this month, did you notice?), I really dug deeply into an extremely hard one for the challenge to finally finish a game I had never before beaten: Ancient Domains of Mystery, which, incidentally, received a major upgrade end of last year.
The time has come for some of our empty shelves to fill with goodies. Hurray, the very first MSX game online! Did you know that MSX is technically a forefather of NES/Famicom? Many of the MSX games had migrated onto NES, and their authors had produced new games for gaming consoles. But enough about history. In this particular game you must rescue a train captured by villains, which is a very alluring scenario, don't you think? But don't expect no James Bond or Indiana Jones here, cause this is only 1983.
The sun is setting on our flight sim theme and we've got a game called Dawn Patrol. Appropriate, isn't it? Thank you for sticking with us through it and reading – although admittedly, at least I am looking forward to playing something else again for a change
Step right up, here you can fly a larger one! Instead of shooting, A320 Airbus has got large jetliners. Well, single aisle, but still… you may as well imagine it to be even larger ones, because quite frankly, it wouldn't have made a difference in this game anyway.
P.S. Did you notice how all flight simulations standardise on the 'ascending jet' image for their representative title screens?
After a little technical intermission we are back on the air continuing our "flying" streak, and this time featuring Spectrum's Tomahawk, a combat helicopter simulator which I personally deem one of the Spectrum's best owing to fine concept and optimal gameplay settings. No, don't get me wrong, it's actually bad. Just as bad as a myriad of other flightsims of 80s, 90s... 2000s... but guess what, at the end of the day even "bad" has a depth and quality, or to put it simply... everything is relative (c)
Expanding on our collection of flight simulations is really long overdue. The only former crew member who was really into these games was Adhoc… and he left back in 2002! Since then, simulations have not been treated that well, with just some occasional additions now and then. Time to catch up – with Flight Unlimited. Oh, and of course, we're just waiting for you to join in and fill those gaping gaps in our collection!
The flight simulation season is on! And opening it is little unknown, all-time played and still worth another go on your modern PC - Ocean's F29 Retaliator! A swell combination of action, moderate complexity, decent graphics and all flavored with... bad political stance. Still wonder who the aggressor was and... probably still is?
Happy new year everyone! There was one game I had to get off my chest. It had literally been sitting on my TODO list for many years. But now I'm finally ready to let you all in to my little pig farm: The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a nice New Year's Eve, made lots of resolutions and take a hopeful look at this bright new year. Probably you have been wondering what lies ahead for video games this year. Will virtual reality finally make the hyped breakthough? Will AAA games become more shallo… erm streamlined? What surprise titles you never heard of before might be lying ahead? How many kickstarters will get finished and how will those games look like? Will there be a game that will be as mesmerizing as those games from the past? Questions upon questions…
As far as our site is concerned, we still aim to offer you a constant stream of new content. And we kick this year right of with a little game of games I made up for you, our dear readers, a little challenge so to speak. Instead of the themes we had the last couple of years I decided to put together a list of somewhat flexible, yet creative, descriptions of games and it is up to you to decide which games fit the best. Anyone is free to join, the more the merrier. So become a real good old gamer and enter the TGOD Game Challenge 2016!
So, how where your Christmas holidays? Did you get any new games? Or dug out some of your gifts of old and relived some days of Christmas past? Since I can be a very nostalic person, and Christmas is a rather tradional time anyways, I did the latter one and it actually was a rather interesting experience. I wrapped the results in this belated present. Merry Christmas!
Ho Ho Ho! Guess what, you've got a present under that Christmas tree! Wow, a pair of skis?! That's right, chum! Ever felt like doing something really special on this glorious day of Our Lord? A good ski ride in the Alps would be a splendid choice! You know.. speed, thrill, adrenaline rush, trauma, death..! I mean.. victory of course! Anyway, as far as the tradition goes, a little gem from me to contribute to may-be-official winter/christmas streak of this yet another passing year. Merry Xmas, folks! Yours truly...
Do you know what time it is? Time for another review of course! This time about a game that took a lot of time to create and might take even more time, as well in the game’s timeline as in our real time, to finish. But that is only natural for a game about time travel, which comes from a time when one of the major players of that time’s software companies set out to create the game of all games. But before I spend too much time proving that time tends to repeat itself, lets dive right into the Timezone!
Sex sells! There is a major industry thriving on that fact, a whole branch which spawned lots of video games that feature scantily clad girls. So, how about making a meta-game, a manegerial simulation of a rising porn empire? An interesting scenario, because say what you like about this particular market, it affects everyone, leading to strong emotions ranging from lust to disgust. Now, since it is such a delicate matter, you basically have two options: Make a game that tries to shed some light on the darker corners of the human mind, an uncompromising presentation of sexual exploitation, which might make the players think about a thing or two… or you could go the way of the parody, making fun of the whole thing and get a good laugh or two out of it, because we are human after all and downplaying serious topics is our way of making them bearable.
Today's game picks the latter and easier way. Linki05 shared some thoughts on how this worked out, if it was a good or a bad idea, in our newest review for WET: The Sexy Empire.
The night sky is illuminated by the full moon. You hear just the soft sound of a light wind. Excited, you press on to the summit, enter the shack and there it is. Your prize – a new C64 game: The Cave! (Actually, it's already ten years old…)
Not that I'm in mad love with isometric games, but some of them sure deserve close attention. Phantom Club here is a really unique and obscure Spectrum game, where as a hotheaded (literally) rookie superhero Plutus the Zelator you roam in an utterly perplexing megacomplex and solve multiple missions of terminating the wicked masters of the Club. "I will ZZZAP you all!!" - says Plutus. Will he really succeed?
Ever thought you could play a detective in a gangster film? You've finally got a chance! Just keep in mind, in this MOVIE things may get a little tough, which means daddy may not be coming home tonight! Another classic isometric Spectrum game from me with certain "realism" as perceived by contemporaries, and a traditional portion of unthinkable riddles. Speaking of which, have YOU played any "So simple it's impossible" games lately?
Linki05 reviews Civilization V. Isn't this a bit new for this site? Not at all! First of all, there are already 50 games here which are newer. Second, it is part of one of the classic series'! Last, but not least, it was released five years ago. Back when we started in the late 90s, having games from the mid-90s was considered perfectly normal. Same age relation. So let's see where this series went…
The IF Comp 2015 is over! Which means we also conclude our coverage which we've been extending silently in the background over the past weeks. Hope you all enjoyed the games and if there are still some left to play, why not just do it now? I certainly plan to!
Ooooh, looks mysterious, doesn't it? There is a whole previously unknown Microcosm to explore! If only there was a decent game along with it… You know how it was in the early CD-based console days. Certainly, watching the cheesy TV spot is the most interesting part of digging into this piece of history
It's the perfect scoop – we have it before anyone else! Forget James Bond – this is the emperor! You like serving the dark side? Lead his armies to victory? Well, and why not (uuuuhhh…)? All the plot twists, all the plans revealed – in our review of Battle Isle 3: Shadow of the Emperor. What did you think?
Maverick1978 takes a second look at Blake Stone, giving a very personal account. Enjoy reading!
We just broke the 1500 floppy games mark!
For those who don't know, we have a side project for cataloguing floppy images, which you can always reach through the browse section, on the "Disk Images" option located on the right menu.
First of all, I want to thanks all those who have contributed. I just sort, check and validate all the entries. It is all the people who have helped creating images from their floppies, finding those images which other people has made, and checking the collection in search of errors to correct the ones which have really helped this project advance this far.
Because as far as I know this is currently the biggest project of its kind in existence.
But wait a moment. What is this project exactly about? Well, saving floppies.
Thanks to bit rot most of the floppies still around are close to dead. That if they still have even a bit of life in them. We want to avoid their content from dissappearing forever, and so are trying to gather together as many floppy images as possible.
Now, why is this so important? Floppies have been an important piece of the games history, but if you want something more than just love for an old medium you should know that these floppies have a tendency to contain little gems.
Lost or unknown versions of several games have appeared during while checking some of the images from the collection. And other people have found even more interesting things on similar images.
So you never know what may dissappear when your disks go kaput. And if you want to do something better be fast.
Just remember that in our forum we will be always be happy to help you to create such images, and even more happy to receive any donation to the project.
Vagabond has a date with the devil. Or rather, he had one and is now back to tell us all about it. Apparently, he tricked the evil lord. Maybe his disguise as the monk/wizard Damiano helped him?
Linki05 takes us back to the Cold War… Those of us who want to go back to that era at least. When the world was still much simpler, basically bipolar, with clear-cut, 'evil' enemies. Well, in this case, you wouldn't really be going back, of course, but rather just re-live those times as a game of global strategy. Have fun if you can!
Diestro presents a very special version of Pinball Illusions. As you will undoubtedly remember, each of these games consisted of exactly four tables. All but this one. The fourth one was only added in a port of a port. Fans ported it back at least one level. Enjoy!
Welcome back to The Citadel of Chaos! Didn't we just go there? Oh, sure, just last weekend to be exact. But now, instead of flipping through pages, we're stumbling through winding corridors of zeros and ones deep in the bowels of our C64. Where the main villain has turned in… that guy. Weird, I remembered him to be more menacing…
Ah, nostalgia, the bitter-sweetest of feelings! Time after time it is nice to take a look back at those times which fit the moniker of the site, and land in (presumably) simpler times, when everything was clear enough to be split in twos, like good and evil, girls and boys, childhood and adulthood, Fantasy and Science Fiction, TV Channel one and two… or Fighting Fantasy Book 1 and 2.
OK, I have to admit, I am not that old, that I would have witnessed only two of the latter, but there has been a time, when fans of the series had been eagerly anticipating a continuation of the rather successful Warlock. It is rather hard to guess how they felt like, when they finally held the book in hands, but judging by the number of books that came after them, it must have been rather on the enthusiastic side. Plus most readers of the series, whether they started it with that particular one or another, do have some very fond memories of it.
So, after besting Firetop Mountain, me and Mr Creosote thought we should stick to the series, since (spoilers!) things got better from a great start. We tried to figure out – although we did not fully agree – what made it such a great sequel and why you too should pay a visit to The Citadel of Chaos.
Ha, one day we might look back at this in nostalgia too…
Linki05, currently our most active contributor, tackles a classic diversion subject: card games on the computer desktop. Canasta may not be quite as popular as Poker, but I also have some fond memories of playing it when I was younger. Enjoy!
In our regular schedule, it's Linki05's turn again. This time, he presents the remake of a German 1980s classic. After the success of the new version of Hanse, also giving Vermeer a similar treatment was probably only a question of time. Like the other one, it was mainly a graphical update, however. Nevertheless, enjoy!
The IF Comp 2015 is on! Which means we will be covering it in the best way we can over the next few weeks. Go ahead, choose your games, I'm sure there will be something there for everyone!
Diestro's latest game review covers Death Rally.
Our regular Linki05 has his announced weekly review: Theme Hospital.
This is a familiar sight to you? I bet it is! Vagabond takes pity in all of those who like reading about games they remember rather than those who want to discover new ones – meaning this one should appeal to the vast majority of our visitors. Enjoy reminiscing about Prince of Persia!
Linki05 indulges us with another review, this time for one of the more unusual titles from Maxi's Sim catalogue. Which might be a bold claim, considering how many different kinds of simulations they tried back then, but the idea of playing a (seemingly) small and unimportant insect is rather unique and was not picked up all that often lateron. You might have guessed it by now: We are talking of SimAnt of course.
Congratulations, this is your prize! You can now drive this exclusive vehicle in competitive races. Sounds like a stupid idea, since it's not exactly a racing car? But then, Micro Machines was never about making much sense, was it? Rather about silly fun. Here is V3, which appropriately takes the series to the third dimension. Somewhat.
Of course, we would be betraying our own roots if we didn't use this opportunity to also show some attempts of how gamebooks were converted into digital games. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, having been a smash hit in its original book form, also came out on one of the popular home computers of the time, of course. Compare for yourself!
It is a lovely day in September and you are sitting in front of your computer. You decided to visit one of your favourite sites on the world wide internet and your browser just finished loading. Scrolling to the news section you are reading the most recent news post and find a strange text, which immediately claims to usher in a new era for the site. An era of gamebooks!
What do you want to do?
Where, indeed? Diestro providing this game actually made for the first change of out request list for a couple of years. In case you never noticed it, that is where we put particularly rare games which are so hard to come by that even we cannot locate them. Why not have a look and see if you've got one lying around?
This game comes way from the back of my shelf. I had to dust it off, literally. I had to re-study the manual, because I didn't remember a thing about it (not such a huge task). And, of course, I had to play through the game from start to finish (more laborious). The things I do to keep all of you informed!
Anyway, this is Dragonstone. Enjoy!
Linki05 reviews Building Panic. It's always a danger on websites like this one that the view on history will end up severely distorted. That is because people tend to present their favourite games and rather leave out the forgettable or really bad ones. Of course! It is good to see somebody biting the bullet for the general public's sake.
They still happen – site renovations. It's Einmal Kanzler sein's turn to receive a fresh review. Well, not that fresh, actually. It's a rather German game, so the review turned rather German as well – took some thinking how to appropriately present it in English. Not sure I succeeded.
This was actually Diestro's first contribution, but due to the MM2 already being scheduled, it overtook its predecessor. Which is funny, because it means a toy car overtook a cool, futuristic flying car! That's right, what we have here is the future of transportation – the Space Taxi. Get behind the wheel, earn money and most importantly, enjoy!
This is the debut of state_trooper. He reviews Archipelagos, a rather original early 3D effort which moves somewhere between action and puzzling while mixing it with a good dose of pseudo philosophical mythology.
Linki05 presents another German classic: Mad TV 2. Wait a minute, classic? Really? Have you ever heard about this one? So it's an overlooked, forgotten gem? Better don't get your hopes up too high…
I can hardly believe it, but this is already the second time that the same game has been reviewed pretty much at the same time by two people independently. Diestro sent in his take on Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament, which was just perfect, because I had just finished drafting my own review of the Micro Machines 2 Special Edition. So now we've got both variants covered! What you therefore get is two views on the same basic game plus some information about the differences between the two releases. That's some service, eh?
As announced, new games are being added pretty much back-to-back right now. This one comes from MasterLee and he already addressed in on the forums some time ago. Now, it finally found its way to the site so that everybody can learn about Wurmi aus Frankfurt.
We're picking up speed again, thanks to people like Linkie05 who keep producing more and more fresh contents. Today, we have Zeppelin – Giants of the Sky for you. More, also from other people, to come! Why not join the ranks of contributors as well?
We are indeed jumping around wildly throughout gaming history this year. This one comes from a time when 'international' releases already sported 'localised' titles, hence it's now listed twice. This is not just a nightmare for libraries, but it was actually a disadvantage: where the original version offered the choice of various languages, the differently titled one did not. Where is the advantage in that? Gameplay is mercifully classic, however. So have fun with Ignition (Bleifuss Fun)!
Our old friend GuardianBob receives his third gold star for his treatment of Shadow Warrior. A whole game about slicing people (literally) in half – that was the 1990s for you!
Vagabond's quest has come to an end: Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! receives maximum rating from him! Is this the one game, the holy grail which Sierra had been working up to in all their years of existence? That's as may be – it's still a frog!
In any case, if you like oddities in the history of gaming, this one is definitely for you!
And now for something completely different: While it is nice to be nostalgic and take a look back at more or less remarkable games, occasionally it can be fun to brew up something new instead. So, I have done a bit of tinkering and created a small surprise for you. I do not want to spoil it, but let's just say, that you will not have heard this before.
beranmuden continues the unofficial Sierra Quest theme with his take on Gold Rush.
Sometimes, we don't have to look all that far to find good games. Where newer freeware projects tend to not receive a lot of attention, being lost in the vastness of the Internet, some manage to surpass their commercial counterparts. Axis & Allies has been ported to the computer environment officially and unofficially with a commercial background a couple of times already. Though TripleA, available for free and even open source, easily beats them all!
Today things get a little bit creepy: danigancho uncovered a good old horror story game from the data crypts, namely Veil of Darkness.
Almost exactly one month ago, I wrote about the quest to find a good Sierra game. MasterLee accepted this challenge, explaining us all about what qualities he perceived in Jones in the Fast Lane. This could very well turn into another small running theme. What do you guys think?
themasterofall continues his coverage of well-known games with his treatment of the popular Dune II.
This time, it's Vagabond's turn to cover yet another entry to our Breakout theme. It's called PopCorn, and it's apparently quite on par with better known ones gameplay-wise. Only it's butt-ugly. And it suffers from what Vagabond calls 'French Syndrome', meaning the effect that it's rather hard to get to run correctly. Nevertheless, it may be worth the effort!
Continuing with the reviews from themasterofall, here is Biing! Fascinating that we've already found two people who actually like that one…
On rather short notice Mr Creosote asked me to step in and put today’s game online, a game I never had played before and only read about in his review. So how to do it justice in a news article? Well, since he made it sound rather interesting (if a tad bit lacking) I decided to take a closer look at it and lo and behold: Even though it is a rather inexpensive game the developers offers something that got a bit rare by now, namely a demo!
When was the last time you played a demo of a game? Most probably it has been a while (at least it was for me), which is funny because once they used to be quite common. Actually they were one of the best ways to either get you really interested in a game or spare you from suffering through a game that lost you right after the intro. But I guess once games became too big for their own good it just did not pay off anymore to cut them down to size.
Once in a while games still do offer demos, especially those from the indie corner. And as mentioned above today’s game is one of them. I actually would even recommend to take a look at it, because as far as demos goes this one does a lot of things right: It teases an interesting story, features well crafted characters, shows some grand sights and has just the right length without neither feeling too short nor too long. Best of all: It ends spot on with a mysterious revelation that keeps you wanting for more!
This leaves me with a lot of questions: What is the Legacy? What was up with Rosangela’s aunt? Does she need psychiatric or psychic help? How long did it take to pixel that cool skyline in the intro movie? Does the game live up to the promise of the good old Lucasarts/Sierra style adventure? Is it worth getting the full game?
Well, Mr Creosote’s opinion on The Blackwell Legacy might help getting some answers. The rest of them probably hinges on the answer to the last question…
themasterofall submitted a couple of second opinion reviews of games already in the database. Those are always welcome! To start things off, here is his take on Master of Magic.
It is time for our monthly Breakout clone! This time we go back to the advent of the good old Game Boy and take a peek at one of its earliest games. It is one of those titles that was overshadowed by giants (one of them probably being the single most recognisable game for this system) and has been slightly forgotten over the years. Undeservedly or not? We are going to find out in our newest review for Alleyway.
On our eternal quest to find a good – no, let's be realistic, we would be fine with playable – Sierra game, we came across this one. Hunter Hunted comes from a time when they were trying to become the 'multimedia' company. A time which is not remembered all that fondly usually, but for them, it also meant they were experimenting with different genres and styles. Experiments which mostly went horribly wrong, just like anything they touched. Though let's see about this one, without any prejudice.
I have got to make a confession: Although I love the Ultima series and played almost all of the games, it was not until very recently that I finished any of them. The first one I played was part six, and with a bit of cheating (OK, let‘s be more honest and make that a lot) I eventually saw the closing cinematic, without understanding anything about it. Years later I got very close with Ultima VII, but lost interest after making the big mistake of playing by walkthrough and gaining godly powers, while solving almost nothing on my own. A couple of years ago I wanted to make up for that mistakes and play the second trilogy, but gave up when I entered the first dungeon of Quest of the Avatar. This was far too primitive to my liking.
Recently I picked up the game I reviewed for today and thought to myself: This time I will make it! No walkthroughs, no cheating, no running away from crappy graphics or game controls. Lo and behold, I finally made it… and enjoyed the game quite a lot on top of it. It’s really a strange experience to accomplish something you planned to do for such a long time but never quite managed to pull off.
Well, to honour the occasion I thought it would only be fair to give said game a review, a second one at that since Wandrell, who seems quite ahead of me as far as finishing those classics is concerned, did share some thoughts about it a couple of years ago. Nevertheless here are those things that left the most lasting impression on me of Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams. Whew, quite a name.
PS: OK, come to think of it I actually finished Mount Drash, but I would not count that as a true Ultima game.
Renovations of the dusty, old corners of our site continue with a re-review of Transplant, albeit at a slow pace. Obviously, we're trying to find the right balance between brand new things and those older ones.
The great thing about sharing such a website with others is that you can get recommendations from others. When we internally discussed what to cover this year, Herr M. told me about a couple of more recent games. These days (and when I say 'these days', I indeed mean the last ten years or so), a thriving 'indie' market has developed. Even though I wrote about it earlier right here, most of it is way beyond my radar. So I was quite surprised when I learned that Machinarium already dates back more than five years without me ever having heard about it; I was even more (pleasantly) surprised it proved to be quite an entertaining game! And you won't even hear me repeating the apparent standard complaint from reviewers about it being too short. That size is quite alright with me nowadays.
Yes, I know. It is hard to believe sometimes how certain games ever found publishers. Then again, they may not have cared, believing there will be enough gullible customers just picking the game up because of the box art without informing themselves first. Yes, that's probably it. Although it is strange, because Ball Raider wasn't even thrown onto the market as a budget game. Questions, questions…
Yes, I know. Doesn't look so great, does it? But then again, we don't care much about this sort of thing here, do we? Do we? At a time when everybody else was going for flashier and flashier visuals and the buzzword 'multimedia' appeared at least a dozen times in each professional game review, Sim Copter went the opposite route.
OK, if we're honest, it very likely wasn't intentional to make the game so ugly. Though, and this is the main point here, Maxis didn't forget to make the actual game good. At least if you share the minority view. Oh, you don't even know the game? Never played it? Well, then this may be a good opportunity to catch up on what happened in the world in early 1997…
Revisiting one's own old sins can be painful. The beginnings of this website 15 years ago produced some contents which I'm not particularly proud of. This is often the case with old stuff; it's a little bit embarassing. Of course, the fact that that was the time that many of the games which are our most popular entries to this very day were added (i.e. reviewed) doesn't make it better, because it means that the contents of lesser quality continue to receive more exposure than the bulk of the more recent, clearly superior stuff.
Advanced Destroyer Simulator hardly belongs to the elite circle of the most popular games ever. However, its old review did not meet our minimum length criterion established later in the site history. So I went back and replaced it. As painful as that might have been.
Sometimes it is best to keep things a bit simple: Like a caveman, a growling stomach, his trusty club and lots of baddies to bash to death with. In fact, today’s game is so ‘primitive’ it even runs on a 286, that is one of the beige-age forefathers from the dawn of PC history, and it outright yells this – along with the fact that it is still running today – at you. Yet, as any retro gamer will tell you ‘primitive’ does not always necessarily have to mean boring or unchallenging.
So, what is it that makes today’s game special? Why should it have a cult following? And why do some people consider it legendary? Well, let's get Vagabond to the podium, who has donned a loincloth, mullet and bashtastic weaponry to go hunting and gathering in the world of Prehistorik 2, and now he has some stories to tell.
Rats live on no evil star! – This fine piece of information I learned from the drawkcab monks in Castleview. Said monks (and lots of other weirdness) can be found in Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen which up until now had only a stub entry on this site. Thanks to Enceladus we could fix that today!
You learn something new every day! Did you know that Titus the Fox was originally about a French comedian, and that they swapped characters because said artist was not that famous outside of France? What’s more the game was based on one of his songs about a North African girl and that’s the reason why it is set in the Sahara or more precisely Marrakesh (in both versions).
Learning all this stuff while reading comraresean's newest review (and doing a quick Wiki-search) helped me shed a whole new light on some of the weirdness found within that game…
Time for another Legendary game! Elapno has some things to say about one of his favourite games: Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.
Today’s game might not be the most original as far as gameplay is concerned, but it did try to push the graphics power of the PC to its edge. In a time when DOS games either looked like pixelated Pollock paintings or, even worse, like two coloured psychedelia, this one set on crispy clear images with a colour palette that included more than two shades of pink. That it turned out to be a Breakout clone seems to have been an afterthought, and somehow you can tell.
My first contact to it was a rather strange one: I found this hidden gem on one of the the disks of my ‘backup’ version of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Wary like I was, I thought that it was a virus, but lo and behold it was a game! I immediately fell in love with its silly name and wasted a couple of days trying to master it. I distinctly remember how I was awestruck that such a small game could be that ‘complex’ and good looking.
A good part of this former glory has worn off by now – we got used to far higher standards – but to some degree it is still a rather interesting title. Why? Well, let’s take a look at Bananoid!
Usually the First Person Shooters is somewhat formulaic: You, your guns and myriads of baddies to send to the great beyond. Yet there are some of them that try to do things a bit differently, and today's game is one of them that even spawned a short lived subgenre. Instead of shooting the next best terrorist/alien/monster you simply go hunting in them instead. A comperatively mundane task, but if done well it certainly is a welcome change. So, Anonymous went all the way back to Deer Hunter to take a look on how well it holds up today.
You know what the best thing about the site having been founded in the year 2000 is? Whenever its anniversary comes up - each time completely unexpectedly - it is at least easy to quickly calculate its age. Provided that I remember what year it is, which, painful to admit, gets harder with age as well.
So, by my unreliable count, this would be TGOD's 15th anniversary. On the one hand, what we've always been trying to provide here is an anchor of stability; for a long, long time, you can already come here and find us - doing what we do. The centrepiece of the site has remained the same throughout the years: We started showcasing games, we're still doing that and we will continue to do so.
However, we've also always had growth not just in height (adding more games), but also in breadth. As far as manpower allows, we're considering new features, new kinds of contents to complement the main things. In this vein, I'm happy to announce what I hope will be a valuable additional source of information: our brand new magazines section.
Old games magazines, usually scanned, but sometimes also HTML-ized, have become quite a staple of the Internet already. Some websites offer vast collections, and they're doing an amazing job at archiving them (and, credit where credit is due, the scans now found on this site can be downloaded in PDF format from the Internet Archive). What is often lacking is proper indexing and cross-references to additional information. Which is where we saw the gap we're trying to fill: Matching what is mentioned in the magazines with what we have and the other way around. All integrated into our regular interface.
For now, we have ACE and PC Player. Together, these cover the time from 1987 to 2001. You can simply browse them, like on other websites, or you can jump around from there to our game entries to see and learn even more (or try the respective game out). Or, if you visit one of our game entries, you will find the magazine references linked right there to see what people at the time thought about it.
How fast (or whether) this section will grow? That really depends on your feedback. How useful do you find this sort of thing? Is this addition indeed a valuable complement we should extend? Or is what other websites offer sufficient? In the end, it is like with all the things on this site: When there are people willing to take care of it, it will be done. Which is another tradition of the site: the active volunteers decide about the direction it takes.
The badge of being 'influential' is used in excess in the gaming media. If that were to be believed, every other game would have made groundbreaking innovation. At a time when there are basically no more than ten different games being remade all over and over again.
Not that it really used to be much different in the past. Every age had its typical genres, successful hits followed by a slew of clones. But then, there are the sleepers. Games which didn't sweep the world, which didn't provoke immediate imitation. However, now, almost thirty years later, Trinity is the game everybody tries to re-make.
One question about truly seminal games is always how they aged, or how they still hold up today. As unoriginal as the clones may be, they often surpass the original in every way. How is it in this case?
Life is a miracle. Just take a moment and consider how (almost?) infinitely vast the universe is… and yet we know of only one (comparatively) infinitely small place were all of the innumerable parameters are exactly right, so you can read these words. E.g. put the earth slightly closer to the sun and the oceans might start boiling, move it farther away and they start freezing. Change the axial tilt and the season will go crazy, increase the tectonic activity and nothing will ever stay the same.
One game that will give you some food for thought in this respect and show you at least a glimpse of all the incredibly complex processes that sustain our ostensibly simple everyday life is SimEarth. And MasterLee has been so kind to share some thoughts about it, so we could add this little masterpiece it to our site today.
We have got two file updates today: Thanks to kdenk you can now download the original and the remastered version of Digger, and thanks to jiwaats you do not have to be unprepared for your Return to Zork, because he donated not only the game's manual but also the Encyclopedia Frobozzica.
Escaping a prison/dungeon has to be one of the most common tasks in the history of computer gaming. Think of any game (that features at least a minimum of a coherent plot) and chances are extremely high that it features someone breaking free of some sort of shackles. What is it that makes this predicament so attractive to gaming? Is it the fact that it caters to some primal fears? Is it because it is a very handy universal motivation, that suits any player character possible? Or is it the nice effect that it mirrors the players entanglement with the game itself? Or, one step further, that anyone feels a prisoner at times?
Well, before things get too philosophical, let’s turn our attention to one of those games that fully embraces this cliche and goes for an all-out prison break scenario. It does not even bother setting things up, you just go to jail and want to get out again. Vagabond has been one of the most recent inmates and has the one or the other story to tell about life in Eden Blues.
In our Breakout theme, I'm jumping ahead by two whole decades. After covering the 'original' (well, sort of) last time, today's game pretty much represents the last breath of this seminal idea's commercial life. Released at a time when games were getting more and more complex, it was not particularly well received. Certainly, it was inappropriate to ask for full price instead of making it a budget release. Though that hardly seems to be relevant these days. So our review only looks at the gameplay aspects of Bunny Bricks.
Sometimes reviewing a particular title is not easy, especially for those games I share a kind of love/hate relationship with. Every time I started to write about todays addition, it either sounded like undeserved praise or unfair bashing. Even after finally bringing my thoughts to (virtual) paper, I am yet undecided on whether I should finally trash the game, or forget about all its shortcomings and immediatly start replaying it again. There is so much I want to like about it, but also so many things that get me quite furious. And the worst thing about it is, that it is all in the detail: Overall the game is somewhat mediocre, but when you take a closer look at single features, it either turns out to be a horrible design flaw or a spark of utter genius.
Giving it a rating on our scale must have been one of the toughest cases I ever came upon. Normally I have got a gut feeling what it might be, compare it with the games I have done so far, and then come up with a final verdict. Not so this time: I wanted to give it a 3/6 originally. But then I thought about all the fun I had with it, and almost wanted to honour it by giving in to a 5/6. In the end there was one thing about, that saved it from the lower score, and that was its rather unique setting. Although there are a couple more steampunk (computer) games by now (which you can still count on one hand), this one was probably one of the first. Well, at least it was my first contact to this strange genre-mix of fantasy and not-quite-yet-science-fiction.
But before I give too much away about it in this news post already: Head right over to my thoughts about Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura
At times it is very interesting not only to take a look back at old games, but also on old reviews. Try as you might, it is either impossible to write a piece of software or a comment about it that does not include some piece of zeitgeist. Just think of how strong the focus on the technology is in contemporary reviews (e.g. ‘best/worst graphics ever’), while most modern reviews about older games are mostly about nostalgia (e.g. ‘used to play this with my dog’), historical nitpicks (e.g. 'the first time the right mouse button was used’) or an interesting feature of the game that was either groundbreaking or is long lost and forgotten (for better or for worse). Of course not all of them are that stereotypical, but I guess it is save to say, that nine out of ten times you can tell how many years after the release of the game the review was written, only by keeping an eye out for signs like the ones mentioned above.
To give you an example: Today I am going to add an old review from the Home of the Underdogs to our database, in order to contrast one of my rather poetic reviews from last year. Try to see for yourself if you can tell some differences (or maybe even similarities) in the approach to the game. And who knows: Maybe you even want to share some thoughts of your own about Zork Nemesis?
Today we are about to revisit a classic, a strategy title that has been in our collection since its earliest days. Quite fittingly, since its original version was one of the first turn-based war games for home computers. As such it naturally was very influental to the games to come after it, and many of its (then) new features, like the seminal cities with their unit production or fog of war, are very familiar by now.
Back in the 80ies Empire: Wargame of the Century gained quite a following, so much so, that about 10 years later it got a rewrite in a 'deluxe' version which did not only update the graphics but added some nice updates to the game mechanics, while keeping the refreshingly simple gameplay intact.
But I have to admit that although I have been trying to beat it many times, I am not really an expert at this game, this honour belongs to other people: Give thanks to dogchainx for our newest review of Empire Deluxe!
You know what you see there on the left? Well, of course you do! You also like it? Then, you're in for a treat, because you'll be seeing a bit more of it right here on this site in the course of this year. Herr M. and me decided to give one of the seminal classic of gaming history some regular coverage and after some discussion, the decision was to take Breakout.
Starting out, we have a review of the Atari 2600 version. Why not the arcade original? Well, there is really no way to play it unless you buy an original arcade machine. The thing is, this game predates the regular use of general purpose microprocessors in such machines. So it was not actually written in software, which would make it possible to emulate it in something like MAME pretty easily, but the game's logic was actually built completely from hardware gates. So this first official home system conversion seemed like the next best thing to kick off.
Again, we have come to the end of another year. It feels like it only just began, doesn't it? Though looking back, a lot has happened. Just as a highlight, 71 game entries have been newly added to our main database and 93 reviews have been posted. That is more than one new game a week and almost two reviews per week! And of course, we mustn't forget all the other great contributions, whether is was the tireless work on cataloguing floppy disk images or just the upload of a box scan, a manual or even a screenshot. It all helped make the site a better resource for everyone.
So, without further ado, here is a list of the people who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty and performed this service to the community. Huge thanks go out to (in alphabetical order):
Aspirin18, batman, BillyH666, brain, bucazoid, comradesean, Anonymous, dogchainx, DOS OS, firage, GuardianBob, Herr M., ibmpc5150, jiwaats, lostaddict1, meyou, Miolon, pchangb, Pheonix, Szkrat, Vagabond, Wandrell, yisztnil and ZeldaDoritos
By now we got a nice mix of games for the Winter theme, ranging from the usual suspects to some rather unique ones. I do not think I will be able to top Mr Creosote’s rather extravagant title from last weekend, but at least I wanted to give it a try, and picked a game that is neither a sports game, nor does it have anything to do with Christmas. Still, you get to see lots of snow and ice, because it is set in the polar region of a very popular fantasy world, near the Spine of the World in the Forgotten Realms to be more precise.
So, we are going to talk about a role playing game, one that even used the license of one of the most influential pen&paper versions, namely Dungeons&Dragons. Somehow those got a bit rare in the last couple of years, but back at the turn of the century there were three titles that were released very close to one another and breathed some new life into the genre (by changing some fundamental things). And one of them was today’s game: Icewind Dale.
Yeah, I know, you all can't wait to finally unwrap your presents! I promise I won't keep you long. I got it from a reliable source that delivery of the real presents will be delayed. So maybe just something to pass the waiting time. Nothing big overall, but should you fail that mission, it will have a big impact on kids worldwide: it's Santa's Xmas Caper!
Right now, our Winter theme has been presents and sports. Today, we'll show you another side of winter. I can't really say a darker one, because this 'dark' future is actually very bright – all too bright, in spite of sunlight having become a myth. At least there is one piece of good news: in this icy world, you'll spend most of your time close to a boiler shoveling coal, so you'll be warm nevertheless. Enjoy Transarctica!
Comanche receives its third box scan as well as quick reference documentation from dogchainx.
Today I am going to add a real classic game set in Winter. Actually I was even suprised that it wasn't on the site already, but then I have to admit, that until now I only had played it ages ago two or three times while visiting a friend of mine. Since there are so many ports of it I couldn't make up my mind which one I should tackle, so I stuck with good old DOS, because I like those crazy CGA graphics. Well, probably this wasn't the wisest choice, but I since I asked a couple of friends of mine to join in, it still was some fun. So, here is my report of this year's Winter Games!
Vagabond returns from his short break with a game he describes as 'a phenomenon on the old school arena': The Way of the Tiger. As usual for him, you can expect an extensive treatment of all the relevant aspects – enjoy!
Today we have a fine update for a real classic: firage provides us both with the manual and the clue book for The Bard's Tale. Funnily it was actually the manual of this one that convinced me to finally play it. Back in the days I gave it several tries without knowing anything about the game and getting stuck ever so often. But it wasn't until I got my hands on the manual (years and years later) that I finally got the hang of it and figured out how you were supposed to play it. So if you haven't played the game so far, because it looked too complex, or you had no idea what you were supposed to do, here is your chance to finally catch up on a surprisingly deep game.
It's December and in the northern hemisphere of the world, this is Winter time! Ice and snow, you know the drift. It also happens to be the time of a pagan celebration which Christianity appropriated to turn into one of their highest holidays. Which, by now, has turned into a super commercialised event which is all about giving expensive gifts manufactured by international mega corporations so that their CEOs can buy yet another yacht.
To get even more into the seasonal spirit than that, we'll be presenting you games related to it in one way or another. Starting off, here is Icicle Works.
firage continues with his additions. This time, it's full-blown entry of Alley Cat – the butt ugly MS-DOS/CGA port which commands an enduring popularity. Thanks!
Winter is approaching (well, it is where I live) and our winter theme as well – though today, it is firage who is responsible for this transitional update providing us with the manuals of UFO: Enemy Unknown.
Today we are going to finish our coverage of the Interactive Fiction Competition with something special: A fully-fledged interview with one of the authors about his game. Namely I met with Mr Creosote and talked with him about his entry The Black Lily. The resulting conversation is your chance to take a look behind the curtains and get some information about the hows and whys, the motivations to write a piece of interactive fiction (or to some degree computer games in general) and the thoughts that go into its creation process.
And that’s it for this years competition. We hope you enjoyed our reports about it, this peek into a hobbyist game culture with its rather unique titles. And since this gives me the final word, I would just like to say: Thanks to everyone for participating! Whether it was as an author, a player or simply as a reader. It is really nice to be part of a group of people who cares so deeply about writing and gaming.
PS: Observant readers might notice something extra special about our latest entry…
Completing my top three picks from this year's Interactive Fiction Competition, Transparent is one of those games which really would have deserved to place better, reaching only a respectable, but not spectacular 11th place. I initially played the original version, and that is what my review is mostly based on. Now, launching the game again to take some screenshots, it seems it has been toned down quite a bit already, most likely due to general feedback. My usual advice applies – don't take that too far, people!
Sticking to your original vision is always a good idea in general. Listening to advice and keeping an open mind for improvement suggestions is a great quality, of course, too, but there should be a strict limit. There will always be whiners complaining about everything. Trying to please them all will never be possible. So how has the game developed in subsequent versions: for better or for worse? You decide!
The Interactive Fiction Competition has come to an end and the results have been posted. Congratulations to Hunger Daemon – a truly deserved winner! Which, as it happens, Herr M. has already given an in-depth review. So today, I'm covering another game which did quite well and which I also enjoyed (though Herr M. said he didn't get into it): Fifteen Minutes.
Today is the final day of the Interactive Fiction Competition 2014. So, this is your last chance to head over to the polls and vote on the games. If you have not had a look at the games so far and cannot make up your mind on which ones to play, you might want to read our article with some of my thoughts about this year's titles, which I wrapped up today with some finishing thoughts and last-minute mini-reviews. Overall I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with the offerings, but there were still some very memorable titles.
The closing of the polls and the counting of the votes does not mean that the competition is finished already though. Until the end of this month we will have some more coverage, especially Mr Creosote wants to tell you one thing or another about some of the games.
If there is one game in this year's Interactive Fiction Competition 2014 that was a surprise hit to me, than it has to be Hunger Daemon. At first glance I thought it would be yet another Cthulhu game, where the old tentacle head is used for some cheap thrills (or even worse: laughs), but thankfully the game turned out to more original than I would have thought. I do not want to spoil too much, but let us just say, that it is neither the same old story about becoming insane after meeting an elder one (or his minions), nor do you just punch them out one after the other.
In another mid-week update, ZeldaDoritos reviews not one, but two versions of Tempest 2000: the original one for the Atari Jaguar and a little known early PC port which, according to him, fixes at least one major issue of the former.
After a month about promotional games, we switch over to some promotional work for games. Namely the Interactive Fiction Competition 2014 which is still going on until the 15th this month. Which means you have only got 15 days left to vote for your favourite (or maybe not so favourite) titles.
Speaking of favourites: Besides my article about the competition, in which I try to cover as many of the games as possible, I decided to give the more outstanding ones their own reviews. The first one being The Entropy Cage, a game featuring a function that gets used a lot in everyday computer life, but almost no-one spends a thought on how it really works.
Meanwhile, Anonymous goes back to the beginnings of a series which received a shitload of mainstream media attention in the last few years: Grand Theft Auto.
After concluding on the previous one, Pheonix now sets his sight on completing our coverage of the next big RPG series - the first gap being Ultima 2: Revenge of the Enchantress.
We're coming to the end of yet another one of our themes: today marks the addition of the last Promotional Game!
Berlin Connection takes me back to how the genre really got kickstarted (we covered that earlier). It's one of those simple Adventure games which were produced in dozens at the time around 20 years ago.
The last promotional game? Well, of course not. It's the end of this concentrated thematic run, but just like in the time before, we will continue to feature such games from time to time. They're just too interesting to pass up.
Anyway, we'll go deeper into the still-running IF Comp (which Herr M. has already been writing about in the background in the past weeks) next.
Some Promotional Games are admittedly short. Some are mercifully short. In any case, it enables us to squeeze an extra update in. James Pond 2: Codename Robocod was one of those games which really deserved a fresh look. I had replayed it quite recently to make fresh screenshots. Now, with a little delay, here is its new review!
…oh, and in case you're wondering: this game advertises for 'one of the chocolatiest biscuits in the world'. Which is why these penguins keep popping up throughout the levels. Not that this will detract in any way from this excellent game. In fact, unless you are from the UK, you will probably not even recognise these figures or associate them with anything. That's how I like my advertising!
There are Promotional Games that scream ADVERTISING! or PROPAGANDA!… and then there are games in which the advertising is actually so subtle, that if you do not know the brand or the article put on display, you would not even notice that this is in fact a game sponsored by a company.
To me Pushover belongs to the latter, because it was not until I was searching for possible candidates for our theme, until I realised that it features a real-life snack. Come to think of it, those snack packs do look like a real thing, and yes it is kind of obvious since that part about the crisps is tacked on to the story (what little of it there is). At least the should have been a telltale sign.
Anyways, as luck would have it, I had just finished a run through the game and since it is one of my favourite games, I decided it was perfect timing to finally enter it into our database.
Completing the trilogy, Pheonix brings us Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate.
With so many German games being added lately, our international visitors may very well be desperate by now. It's not that we don't care about you, but the genre of Promotional Games was just been huge over here in the early 1990s, so there is a lot of ground to cover!
To give you all a bite, too, I picked one of the favourite US brands worldwide this time. McDonald Land has this mad clown and all the other drug-induced characters… and two fat kids. What more could you possibly ask for?
Fresh documents today, coming from batman: a manual of Day of the Tentacle and a reference card of Syndicate: American Revolt. Thanks!
Role-playing games… many people like them, but few want to review them. One major reason may be that they are often of sprawling proportions. Me, personally, I just don't like how they force me to make uninformed long-term decisions early on. Pheonix is much more brave in this regard. Here is his take on Bards Tale II: Destiny Knight.
Minding the news right below (it's a great competition – go play all the games!), I'll be carrying on with our theme of promotional games for now. Today's review is an old acquaintance: Falcon Beertender, sponsored by a Swedish brewery, is an MS-Windows remake of Tapper which Elwood had on his old website, The Keep, and which he moved here when that site closed its doors. Here is a second take on it – and if you feel that review may not have been written in a completely serious vein, remember that you may just be correct.
Believe it or not, it has been 20 years since the first Interactive Fiction Competition has been taking place. Yet it is only the second year I actually plan on having a closer look at it and judge the games.
I can't give you a satisfying answer to the question why it took me so long to pick up those texted treats, I can only give anyone, who shied away from them so far, the advice to go over to the homepage and take a look at them for yourself. Believe me, as clunky as those parsers might seem to be, most of the games offer a very unique and, above else, intense experience.
If you should be wondering why it isn't Mr Creosote, who is reminding you of the start of this year's competition: He entered a game himself, and is therefore – for reasons of fair play - not allowed to review and advertise any of the games. So I offered him to step in and try to cover as much as possible of this years offerings. We will cover some of the most memorable titles together as soon as the competition is over.
So stay tuned for further information and the first couple of short reviews and opinions!
Instead, Das Erbe positions itself in a flourishing genre of the time: adventure games. Quite an ambitious genre for a game which was supposed to be distributed free of charge. It may not have turned out to to be the longest or most complex one ever, but it spread around like wildfire anyway. Everybody played it at the time! It was the big talk of the schoolyards. If it hadn't existed, we wouldn't be running this theme on TGOD more than 20 years later. That is why it simply had to be part of the run – enjoy!
Credit for this update goes to batman again. He uploaded a manual scan of Day of the Tentacle.
Anyway, the thing is that that old review predated the explicit establishment of what we today consider the minimum standards of what constitutes a review. So this is the perfect opportunity to revisit it! And if you really feel like it, the old review will remain available in the archive.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step right up, step right up! Come closer and watch this wondrous newest item in our collection of incredible curiosities from the farthest corners of the earth! We have spared neither trouble nor expense to bring this monstrosity of a promotional game right here, right now to you, our dearest and most trusting customers!
Our brave game hunter M. went through space and time to a truly exotic place where cars can fly through the vacuum of the void between the planets, which are cluttered with megalopolises filled with the strangest of cybernetic and alien creatures. Listen to the stories this valiant man has to tell after his return from this mysterious dimension called Karstadt! A man who ever so humbly said: ‘I just did my Space Job.’
Going from war to a slightly less grave subject, as per our announcement, we will be mainly covering Promotional Games in the coming two months. You know, those games which you had to pay money for and which then attempted to make you buy even more useless crap! Well, at some point, companies at least had the decency to give them away for free.
comradesean kicks the theme off with a game about food: Avoid the Noid was sponsored by the largest pizza chain worldwide. I'm writing this as lunch time is approaching, and I can feel the effect already – I'm getting hungry. So the game is working! Damn this manipulative propaganda! Oh, well… I'll better be off… for… completely unrelated reasons, of course…
…and here's Anonymous' take on Tetris for the Game Boy.
Yet another game coming from Anonymous – Jazz Jackrabbit, proving how the former typewriter had by then turned into a viable platform for action games.
In early August of 1914, all all the major European powers had entered what would later be called the First World War. 100 years ago from today, it was already in full swing, and death and bloodshed would continue for more than four years.
Having presented a number of related games over the past two months, Herr M. and I wrap up our theme with a discussion which, retrospectively called Digital Trenches: War in computer games as illustrated on World War I, touches upon our general impressions how war was and is treated in computer games. What are your impressions? Should war be subject of such entertainment? If so, are there limits, borders which shouldn't be crossed? We would love to hear it!
Anonymous' streak continues solo again with a second look at Space Quest 1, i.e. the official VGA remake of the 1980s classic.
This has got to be the freakiest occurence in the long history of this website! As you certainly noticed, a lot of new contents are published at the moment. This causes a small delay for each item due to the queue being full. GuardianBob entered Duke Nukem 3D… and while it was waiting to finally appear on the site, Anonymous entered the same game again, not knowing of the previous effort! So here they are, both review, both sets of screenshots and all information joined in a single, big entry – thanks, of course you both receive full credit!
When we started thinking about possible candidate for our World War I theme, one of the first things I thought of was doing a game that does not belong to the usual suspects, i.e. a game that comes from a unique genre. It soon became apparent, that there are for one not that many games set in this time period in the first place and that for two the very rare ones that are not the typical war game were already on the site.
Yet I did have a bit of luck in my search, because since this year sees the centenary of the beginning of the war, there are a lot of commemorations. One of them comes in the form of a very special game, that tries to approach this conflict in a refreshingly new fashion. And I liked it a lot.
To be honest, I always find it rather hard writing about a game I really like, especially in this game‘s case, because it came at such a surprise. What made it even harder was my wish to avoid spoilers. When I started playing this game I had absolutely no clue at all of what to expect, and this certainly made the experience even greater… especially the ending.
Still, there are a couple of thoughts I would like to share with our readers, in order to give Valiant Hearts: The Great War the attention that it deserves.
Anonymous' streak continues with a second opinion about Rebel Assault.
Anonymous dives deeply into the murky waters of Japanese role-playing games which, of course, are played primarily for their rape scenes. Which can lead to issues of the expectations not quite matching up with what's actually there in case such players find a reasonably complex and long game as well. Have fun with Knights of Xentar!
We already had the First World War on land and in the air featured in the games presented in our running theme. So what is still missing? Right, the war took place on the sea as well. Probably less spectacular than those planes, in particular, but nevertheless an important part of the historical events!
Dreadnoughts attempts to simulate this part in a strategical manner. Developed by one of the most prolific (or notorious?) war game designers, it should take its material seriously. Well, just that the war on the sea was never really decisively won or lost by anyone – so can this game be a winner (or loser)?
Battlezone is the latest game to be reviewed by Anonymous. You know, it's really nice to see that the number of games for which the readers don't have to rely on just one single opinion is increasing steadily!
Today's game comes courtesy of GuardianBob, and it falls into the much hated niche of uninspired movie licences – and it should also get fined for its bad pun title: 3 Ninjas Kick Back.
It's funny. When we decided upon covering games about World War 1 within the crew in these two months, each of us picked some games and then went off to play and think about them. Then we usually get back together to present our review drafts to each other before publication. The last thematic game before this one was Red Baron which Herr M. gave a thorough review. I was drafting my review about Wings. Imagine our surprise when we presented our main points to each other, only to find that they were virtually identical!
Sure, now you may think, why not? They're both flight simulations set in the same war, after all. However, what makes a game? We usually try to see what it is that really makes each game special. Many observations we had went in parallel – just, to make things even more interesting, that our evaluation of these observations were in some cases contradicting each other directly.
What are those things which both games have in common apart from genre and theme? Well, this would be your chance to read this latest review and re-read the previous one to find out…
Things are still going strong. It's Anonymous turn again, with his second review already. This time, he made an especially valuable contribution by reviewing Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom. That was one of the old reviews which didn't fulfil the minimum requirements established later. So now we're able to move it to the archive!
By the way, also check out profile pages where people tells his personal story, how he got into computer games and how it all progressed. What are your own experiences? It would be great if more users would share their stories like that!
Here we are again with another edition of Weird Games… your host tonight is Vagabond once again. A lover of those queer old games released on the home systems of the 80s (well, who here isn't?), he takes a look at a particularly twisted one. Flunky has its player running cryptic errands for unlicenced caricatures of the English Royals. Yes, well, and why not?!
After the quite interesting updates during the week – thanks again to the eager contributors! – we return to our theme for the weekend!
Today we take a look at one of those games that somewhat belong to the hard core of old DOS games, one of those titles that can be found on almost any abandonware site. Actually it has been on this site for quite a long time too, but since the old review does not live up to our current standards I thought it deserved another go. Not only because it is a title I care a lot about, but also because it is one of the most famous World War I computer games too – at least to gamers of a certain age.
It belongs to the probably most popular genre for games set in this conflict: The good old flight simulator. And even though there had been a couple of similar games before (and after) it, this one actually was one of the first to have a major breakthrough.
So put on you flight goggles and get on your leather jackets: We are going to take on the Red Baron!
We're currently receiving a lot of major contributions – that's great, folks, keep them coming! Today, it's BillyH666's turn. He took care of Quest for Glory: Shadow of Darkness (also known as Quest for Glory 4).
Pheonix jumps in again, with a review of the unofficial MS-DOS port of Ultima: Escape from Mount Drash, thereby completing a former stub entry. Highly appreciated!
Not one of the best known games for the NES, it's still a curious piece, first of all because there are lots of airplane shooters, but few of them use pre-WWII machines.
Undoubtely this is due to the popularity they got on that war, when they were not only mass produced, but also saw cities being razed by the newer bomber planes, and the development of modern air combat techniques.
Not that some of this didn't exist before. Actually, this little game does include bombing, and a bit of air combat techniques. All of this shown in that little child-like style, which, I suppose, is what give the game it's title.
Pheonix joins our ranks with a review of the PC booter version of Archon – The Light and the Dark. He included screenshots of the CGA and the composite mode of the game – interesting comparison!
Unbelievable, but we already have two games in which you play a sheriff shooting criminals already on the site as per today: Gunfright takes a decidedly different approach than the psychological and talky Law of the West, though.
We're still looking into games concerned with the First World War, commemorating the outbreak of this unbelievable slaughter 100 years ago. Researching in advance, one thing struck us: There are basically just two genres covered. Almost all of the games are either strategic wargames or flight simulations.
Scenario: Theatre of War falls into the former category, being firmly based on the Risk concept. Interestingly enough, it really only makes the link to WW1 in its documentation – the whole game, from graphics to contents, is basically a huge anachronism.
Nevertheless, it's worth looking into. I had quite some fond memories of it. Where they justified? Is it – pure irony, considering its theme – an enjoyable game?
Here we are, still on Vagabond's streak, this time tackling a game which, at least visually, is very typical for the Spectrum: Fairlight: A Prelude. There were countless of these action adventures played from an isometric perspective on that system! Though, if the review is to be believed, only few were this complex. Enjoy!
Vagabond continues his look back on the Spectrum days with an in-depth review of Myth: History in the Making. I have only played the Amiga version of this one which came out a couple of years later, but I remember being quite impressed with the visuals. Though there is apparently little relation between the different ports apart from the basic game idea.
Incidently, this review has got database ID 1000! It's not actually the 1000th review on the site (because some old ones have been removed, like mentioned recently in the previous news item), but we're getting there – stay tuned!
Browsing the site, a major oversight occured to me: Earlier this year, I had replaced the old review of Alien Bash II as part of our site renovation theme. What I had forgotten was to move it to the review archive! Nothing has been lost, though, so it's been restored in its appropriate place.
This year marks an important centenary: On the 28th of July 1914, one month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This went down in history as the beginning of World War I, or the Great War as it was called before the second one. To join in on the commemorations we want to find out what kind of an impression this conflict has left on the world of video gaming. Which inspirations did the designers draw from this setting? How accurate is the depiction of the actual events? What genres are suited best for it? Stay tuned and we might give you some answers to this and a couple of other questions.
I am going to kick things off with Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky, a game which builds a nice bridge to the previous months, since besides being set in WWI it also came on a silvery disc and made heavy use of FMV cut-scenes. It might be best described as a spoof of the very popular dogfight flight sims, or in short as ‘B-Movie meets the Red Baron’. As far as the questions above are concerned: It is a bit on the not so serious, almost silly side, and does not teach you that much about the war. Still, it does have some charm.
Finally we would also like to remind you, that we really appreciate your contributions. Every bit or byte you are willing to share is welcome and time and again it is nice to hear your opinions or stories. You can always join in, simply by adding something for the general updates or especially for the themed ones. Thanks to all you (past and future) contributors!
Aspirin's next addition is the manual of what is probably his favourite game: Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion.
This is not the launch of our next big theme, but rather the continuation of Aspirin's update streak. The Lost Vikings 2 is the slightly enhanced, but lesser known sequel to the popular home computer classic.
Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins is for many of us one of the better known games from the Laser Age, mostly because that, and to a lesser extent his second part, were very popular games for budget CD-Rom releases.
Maybe that's a thing that made these things look like a gimmick, the new CD-Rom games were not only receiving all that "films from the future" treatment, but also became cannon fodder for cheap releases, which most of the time didn't amount to expectations.
There were exceptions, of course, but the marketing, the budget releases and those ugly graphics from early CD games really did a lot to damage their reputation.
Still, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so what better to do than take a look back at all the games we have been reviewing up to now? After all, I've just stated the common opinion, but in reality there were quite a few gems back then, some of which should not be forgotten.
As for us, now we have reached the end of this theme and soon, very soon, we will be back to give you a new fresh set of reviews.
Here we go again already with the next new game. Vagabond discusses a forgotten gem from the home computer era: Heavy on the Magick. Long-time visitors might remember an editorial I wrote early last year. In case you've been wondering what that rant was all about: this! Thanks, Vagabond!
It is Aspirin18's turn again. This time, it is about a lesser known version of a popular classic; a somehow unlikely version, given the controller situation on that system. But, unlikely as it may seem, it works! Of course, we're talking about Cannon Fodder for the Mega Drive. Curious? You should be!
When the Laser Age eventually had reached its peak, there was one kind of game that was immensely popular: The puzzle adventure. To many (PC) gamers this was the epitome of Multimedia games and at the same time almost synonymous to the infamous interactive movies. There is a wide range of theories why they were so incredibly popular, yet there was one thing about them to be sure: They sold like hot cakes.
There were countless attempts to get a piece of that cakes, and while most of us will think back at them with painful memories of wandering through plastic worlds full of wooden actors in search for the next ultraeasy Tangram to put together, a selected handful of them was not that bad after all. Opinions on which ones ranked among the latter may widely vary though. Especially if they are, like today’s game, part of a long running series, and were created by a comparatively new company, who tried to take things in a different direction.
You might have heard of the decline of Infocom and how they were bought by Activision. At least we had a short brush with the concluding attempt to revive the Zork games earlier this month. As a loyal reader you have certainly noticed the hints at a sequel in that review. So let us continue from there and take a look at the first title of the series which did not appear under the Infocom label. Here are excerpts from my travel log of Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands.
This review of Softdisk's Dave Goes Nutz! comes from Aspirin18. Thanks!
We're talking about Mission Critical, made by Legend Entertainment, one of my favourite developers of all time. Their adventure games were usually very intelligent and challenging without being unfair – even at a time when the genre moved to simpler and simpler designs.
Seems like they couldn't keep up market-wise, unfortunately. This was one of their experiments to catch up again. Though does it also dumb down the genre or is it simply an attempt to make things more accessible? Read on, play and then make up your own mind about their intentions and their success!
In the spirit of revisiting and improving older game entries, Aspirin18 uploads a new level for Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion. Thanks!
If you think about it, it's funny how the Infocom properties sort of skipped one gaming generation: Discounting a few half-hearted attempts towards the end of the company's semi-independent lifetime as a developer, the games went straight from text adventures into the Laser Age!
After the first attempt, which should rather remain buried and forgotten, Return to Zork certainly managed to catch the press's attention. The reviews were generally positive – at a time when CD drives were still uncommon, a game primarily designed for that medium (with a stripped down floppy version only appearing as an obvious afterthought) had a novelty factor which couldn't be ignored. The fact that Activision had also hired a couple of professional actors (no big stars, but at least they didn't use the janitor…) helped the impression of a big, spectacular production as well. Last, but not least, Zork was still a name with a certain amount of pull. How does it hold up today? Well, that's for you to read in our review.
Is that bad? I don't think so, CD-Rom games at the beginning were a fad, where few seemed to care about the final product, they just had to fill a CD, no matter what.
Of course some people who ignored all this, but that wouldn't be a laser game. It's clear this is something else, a third kind of approach: the enhanced game.
Because Castles II: Siege and Conquest already did exist, but the coming of a new medium meant they took the chance to improve it.
Oh, but no, I won't say anything else, that's what the review is for, and maybe, if you feel like it, also the game itself.
Aah, the good old Laser Age! While most of the games from this era of computer gaming leave a lot to be desired in hindsight, back in the days they certainly had their charms. Being able to watch movies on your computer was simply revolutionary idea and an exciting new experience. At least it was a huge improvement over either blocky polygons or boring still images. And the real actors, even though they were more often than not cast from lower B or C (like ‘cleaning personel’) to D (like ‘doesn’t care’) movies, also look a lot more alive than state of the art motion capture dummies.
Admittedly most of the titles from the early years are best forgotten. But there came a time – shortly before everything went 3D – when Multimedia outgrew being a simple gimmick and became sophisticated enough to be put to better use than spicing up a game of tic-tac-toe or covering up some railroad tracks. One of the developers that made good use of this potential was Westwood, whose Command & Conquer and Dune series for example wouldn’t have been even half as memorable without all those nice cut-scenes.
Today we are going to take a look at one of their games, which belongs to the rare examples for an interactive movie done right. If you are curious what it takes to earn such praise, just take a look at our latest review for Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny.
Long before the phenomenon entered people's homes, Dragon's Lair started a short-lived, but highly successful laser craze in the arcades. So while games like Rebel Assault or The 7th Guest kickstarted the genre on home computers, its real technical roots lie here – ten years earlier. Anonymous takes a second look at this seminal classic and comes to a somewhat different conclusion than I did last year.
lostaddict1 returns with his next game review. This time, it is about a pinball game which is based on an actual pinball table which is based on pool billiards. The title is, confusingly enough, 8 Ball Deluxe.
How could we tackle a theme like Laser Age without talking about those dreaded Interactive Movies which nobody ever admitted to like, but which nevertheless sold very well? There will be more of that, I'm sure. Though today, we're taking a look at a special one. It has no awful on-screen actors, just real voices. The graphics are all computer generated, and even in a special, stylish way. To make things even better in my book, it is the adaption of a novel which I happen to like quite a bit. The game is Private Eye - will it fall into the typical trap of adaptions never being up to par with the source material?
Finally, it seems we're on the way to become a truly international website! After that Russian game some time ago, we now have a Korean one. It is called Returned Raccoon and comes courtesy of pchangb.
Metal Mutant features quite a tough boss fight at the end. pchangb provides some hints about the icons which suddenly start appearing there. Thank you!
This week, Disney announced the planned release date for the next Star Wars movie. Of course, knowing those last ones from 10-15 years ago, all the fans are now conflicted in their deep love-hate relationship with this series: Should we look forward to these sequels? Or will they destroy those fond childhood memories even further? Don't kid yourself, though: Those movies will be huge hits again, because even if the 'blogs' will be full of hatred poured over the Disney executives afterwards, everybody will still go and see them!
Our theme this month is Laser Age. How does this connect? Well, Star Wars has always been on the vanguard of special effects. In the early 90s, when the CD age was just beginning LucasArts came out with a game which you might argue single-handedly started the Laser Age as far as home computers were concerned. So what better game to also kick off our theme with than Rebel Assault?
There is one very popular genre for Multiplayer Games we have not covered so far: The good old first person shooter. So, true to the nostalgic spirit of this site, let's go back to the beginnings, to one of the first titles to offer networked multiplayer gaming for this kind of game. If you are thinking of Doom right now, you are not quite right… but not that far off.
Actually we are going to take a look at one of its 'cousins', one of the many clones its massive success had spawned. But since todays game shares its publisher, that is id Software, and used almost the same engine (with some slight modifications) you might call it an official total conversion of the sci-fi shooter. It was developed by Raven Software, which had not quite made their breakthrough, though they had gained somewhat of a name for their games set in rather unsual fantasy worlds. Yet it was Heretic that finally put them on the gamer's radar.
Who said an old dog can't learn new tricks? In this case King's Bounty got a huge facelift. Actually, it became another game altogether, getting mixed with the famous Might and Magic series it spawned what would become the new beacon of New World Computing: Heroes of Might and Magic.
Is it actually worth it? Did it receive too much praise? That's up to you to decide, but just pay attention to one thing, what made that game so good was, in part, that it was a multiplayer game, making it also part of the current theme of the site.
So if you want to try it, for a better experience get somebody to play against.
This one is a curiosity in our running theme of multiplayer games. Well, actually, it weren't much of a curiosity if our target audience were a little broader. On a website focused on playing games using a computer, it is, though. The reason being that this is an application enabling you to play a game without a computer after the initial preparation! Wow, sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Curious how that might work? Then, there is only one way to find out: Head over to our brand new review, and if you like what you see, why not Make Your Own Murder Party?
P.S. Unfortunately, my scanner is currently out of commission. Scans of the box, the manual and miscellaneous material will follow once I get a replacement.
When it comes to classic Multiplayer games you certainly cannot go wrong with arcade games. As owner of one of them, what better way is there to make some extra money, than letting two (or even more) players join forces in front of one machine? On the other hand the fun for the gamers also grows exponentially and there is a chance you might even save some coins by a skilled co-player.
It might be a close call, but the most popular genre for the arcades must be beat 'em up games. And actually they lend themselves exceptionally well to multiplaying. Whether it is in head-on battles or in a more cooperative way, there is always room for one more human fighter. The best thing about them is, that they tend to be a lot less predictable than computer controlled characters, which certainly makes for a lot of surprises. So why not chose one of those games for our current theme?
The most successfull games were ported to the home systems, often while cutting some of the features (e.g. most promimently the graphics). Yet there are some versions that almost live up to the originals. Golden Axe was one of them. As conversions go its ports were actually quite decent. And true to the Multi- spirit of our running theme, today we have got reviews for two of them! A longer discussion for the Amiga and a shorter glance at the DOS version.
You know those games, you actually like a lot, but try as you might, you just can not beat them? Whether it is an unfair boss, that extra overlong level or simply the lack of a password or save system: You fail and fail again. Yet, when you finally make it, there is a moment when you come to realize that your victory does not quite live up to your expectations. You just do not know whether you should love or hate the game for it! And that's exactly how I feel about today's game right now.
For twenty years I kept playing it and always failed at a certain point, that one particular level that was simply unwinable (#15 if you are curious). Today, with a little help of an emulator (kudos again to FS-UAE) including a save function, plus some swearing on my part, at long last I saw the final victory screen… and well, it is a bit of a let down. To top it off, the demo, my very first contact to that game, which I played ages ago and which consisted of just one level had exactly the same ending. Well, so much for coming full circle.
Fortunately the game itself definitely makes up for it, true to the old saying: The race is the goal. Especially if said race is against a human opponent in one of the most creative Multiplayer modes seen in racing games. I do not want to give away too much of the review already, but the game has a very unique and effective way to let two players compete in front of only one screen. It works so well, that you really have to wonder why almost no other game picked this up. Me and Mr. Creosote took a shot at it and the results can be found in our newest review for Micro Machines.
This one is definitely not a multiplayer game. Rather, it was probably mostly played by little boys after dark, in secret, so that their parents didn't see. And the next day on the schoolyard, they would brag about it, usually making things up to make it appear much more notorious than it actually is. Of course, I'm talking about Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking For Love! (in several wrong places). jiwaats gives it a fair treatment from today's point of view.
Multiplayer online games are common place nowadays, so much that the pay-to-play are become more or less old-fashioned. Still, they have made a great impact in the evolution of videogames, and some of the most important online games are forgotten.
Most people would think Ultima Online and Everquest are the first MMORPGs, but before them the MUDs offered their services to players, and between both ages there was a single game which was the first actual multiplayer online, but maybe not so massive, RPG: Neverwinter Nights, the original AOL supported game.
It's ironic how things work. Yes, there is a newer game with the same name, but it's just an attempt to take on the fame of a forgotten game, sharing little with this old and, sadly, mostly dead game.
Today, we have the big one: the one game which fits into all of our themes this year so far! It's a re-review of a previously covered game (which also means its old review has been moved to the archive). It was the first game on this site for its system. It is also a great multiplayer game, so we decided to save it for this month: North & South!
Since we are talking about it with special attention on the multiplayer aspect, we also took the time to actually do some playing together, of course. For this, our thanks go out to Frode Solheim, author of the excellent Amiga emulator FS-UAE which enabled us to play over the Internet! Oh, and if you get the impression while reading our discussion that Herr M. is a little sour, it is because he lost every game – regardless of the scenario and which side he took. But don't tell him I told you
It’s my turn to kick off of two months of Multiplayer Games . Most of the time they are a rather intense experience, because as you know: As soon as a real human being joins you in a computer game emotions tend to run high. There always seems to be a bit more at stake than in a normal game against the often quite predictable computer, whether it’s because you can’t hide behind an unfair AI or bad level design in a head-to-head fight against human opponents, or because teaming up with a couple of friends simply is a lot more fun than trying to do everything on your own.
Today’s game rather falls into the latter category, the co-operative gaming. It’s a game me and a couple of friends spent a lot of time with over the last three years. In fact we played it so much that ‘Buddeln!’ (=‘Digging!’) – how we use to call it – has become a kind of war-cry to us. Yet, digging is only part of the game, there is also some running, fighting and even building to be done. It’s an open-world platformer, a Super Mario game on steroids. And since me and said friends had such a good time with it, I think it’s about time to tell you something about Terraria.
And just as a reminder: If you want to know what themes could be next, or yet even better wish to suggest a theme yourself, just head over to the forum. We really appreciate your feedback.
After the last update, which turned out larger than usual and also had to be committed mid-week for obvious reasons, it was hard to keep up with the weekend schedule as well. Thankfully, lostaddict1 jumped in – perfect timing – and provided an interesting review about a little known game in the tradition of Japanese console games, albeit running on a computer: God of Thunder.
It's a case of believe it or not… yet another year has passed, a lot has happened and this website is now 14 years old! Older than some of the games we're covering, probably even older than some of our own visitors. Which also makes a lot of our contents – read: game reviews – quite old.
Old game reviews aren't necessarily bad. Some could really be better, though. That is why we dedicated this complete month to replacing some which we really felt were not appropriate, i.e. the games really deserved better. You probably noticed. Well, we hope you noticed! Some other reviews had already been replaced in less structured fashion before this concerted effort.
To wrap this up, I revisited three games again today: Siege, Ambush at Sorinor and Walls of Rome. These three had previously shared one common review. This made some sense at the time (i.e. 14 years ago), because the games really are quite similar. Yet, it is not something we really want to do anymore. Each listed game does deserve its dedicated treatment and in this case, it was even quite interesting to work out the actual differences in some more detail than before. So check out those three fresh reviews and tell us what you think!
What happened to those reviews which got replaced, you ask? Are they too embarassing to still show around? By no means! They are part of the history of the site as well, so instead of deleting them and hoping nobody will remember, we have just moved them to our newly established review archive. Given the long history of the site, I do believe this could even be a sort of historical document of its own. What do you think?
It's almost like there is an indirect dialogue between Miolon and jiwaats going on here. At least it is now the former's turn again to review another adventure game of the independent variety: Teenagent.
Ready to go Back to the Beginnings again? Then follow me to a slightly controversial review from the early days of The Good Old Days. What made it so controversial? For one it is rather short (like last week ends review) and for two it takes a very aggressive stance against a popular racing game, namely Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. But instead of simply replacing the old review, we did something different this time: Part re-review, part delayed discussion, I took a closer look at said review and tried to find out how it holds up. Is the original review right, is this one of the most boring racing games? Or is there more to it?
Adventure games seem to be in high demand around here right now. After the Sierra influx, jiwaats presents an independent title from about the same era: Flight of the Amazon Queen.
Miolon continues his quest of covering the latter day Sierra Adventure games. Torin's Passage was released as a standalone game, at a time when their more famous series' were slowly drying up. Is it worth a look? Miolon definitely thinks so.
Today we are going to (re)discuss Tetris for Game Boy. This game has been on the site for such a long time, that Back in the Beginnings of TGOD its old review did not have to meet the 300 word criterion. In fact it is 11 words short and while this does not necessarily make it a bad review (what is there is quite interesting), its obvious brevity does leave room for improvement. Since it is a rather famous game, we thought it would deserve a bit better, so I volunteered to offer a new and more in-depth view.
To be honest I almost feel a little bit bad about this, because the review that is going to be replaced is from one of my favourite reviewers, NetDanzr. Long time Abandonware-fans might remember his site 21st Century Oldies, which he ran from around 2000-2004. Back in the days, it was one of my primary information sources for anything about old games (besides The Good Old Days of course ), because there was a lot of informative trivia to be found in his reviews. Somehow it is unbelievable that this lies almost 10 years in the past now… yet not all of it is gone, since when his site closed down NetDanzr was kind enough to leave his reviews to this site, so you can still look them up.
From time to time, people will come here and how much Sierra games meant to their childhood. Few take the time to actually share this sort of nostalgia in a meaningful way, though. Miolon did, starting with King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride. Thanks!
So we are going Back to the Beginnings of TGOD, and I took the chance to re-review an old classic, namely Railroad Tycoon.
Some of you may not recall the game. No matter it got some newer entries on the series, and even a boardgame adaptation by Hasbro, the popular ones where the first original ones.
And that's what got reviewed, the original version of the game. This is also, for those of you who don't know what this month's theme is all about, an improvement over the previous entry for the game. We are taking the chance to fix some games whose entries date back to the early days of the site and we feel deserve more than they got back then.
Ultima IV and Ultima V routinely appear on people's favourite lists. Some even consider these games the 'true' beginning of the long-running series. yisztnil wants to make sure everybody can enjoy the games in the best possible way – by telling us about graphical and musical upgrades freely available on the net.
In case you wondered what this Chaos Engine which we talked about four weeks ago looks like, here it is… Well, actually, it is one of the games inspired by said game. Alien Bash II was first added to our site 10 years ago. The review I wrote back then was, to say the least, sub-par. At that time, the rules we have today for what constitutes a complete game entry were not fully defined yet. So this month, we will be going Back to the Beginnings of TGOD, re-evaluating some of those games which really would have deserved a better treatment. There is still quite a number of those. Why don't you try yourself at one of those?
Here we are – surprise mid-week update! bucazoid reviews his first game here on this site. It goes by the same of Sabor, or Саборъ in its original spelling. Surely, all of you will know that this is the name of an old Russian hand-to-hand fighting style. Oh, you didn't? Well, then let this review teach you all about it!
First games… there are so many of them. The very first video game I ever tried has to be either one of the Game&Watch games or something on the C64 (Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters or Donald Duck's Playground). The first game I owned was King's Quest 6, the first game I bought Quest for Glory IV. The first game I played on my very own computer: Deus Ex. The first game I reviewed for this site was Screamer, though I did some translations prior to that and I think the first one of them was Space Quest.
So, you see: Everything begins somewhere, there is always a first time for anything. But if you were to ask me for the first computer game I seriously played, I would definitely name Beyond Columns. And in our newest review, you will find the reason why.
Now it's my turn to keep on with the theme of First Games, and even thought I had a few to choose I decided for the Opera Soft games, which were a big hit in Spain when I was too young to even play them, and managed to stay popular for years, becoming the first games I ever played.
Some of them are already reviewed here, these are Livingstone Supongo, Goody and La abadía del crimen. Their games are hard and complex, even if they are based on very simple ideas, and for some reason they wanted to add unsatisfying endings to the mix. Not that I managed to finish any ever, and I have played lots of times, but I do know how a few of them end.
Opera was one of the main companies back in the 80s, a decade nicknamed "the Golden Era of Spanish Software", a term created back then, I suppose as a reference to "The Spanish Golden Age". It was on those years that the country had an actual videogames industry which, sadly, died with the transition from 8 bits to 16 bits.
Now this historical company receives a fourth game, which I didn't play as much as the previous three, but is also to me one of their most representative games, probably just because I used to play it as a kid.
A game with the name Mot.
Szkrat uploaded, apart from a box scan of the same game, a Czech translation data file for Black Thorne – just replace the original one and all the in-game texts will be displayed in your favourite language. Great!
Our most recent review for The Chaos Engine got me interested and I decided to give it a try myself. Since this game has a hell of a difficulty level I failed miserably at finishing even the first couple of levels. Well, I am one of those impatient persons that tend to rather cheat their way through, than learn how to seriously play such devilish games. So I opened up my hex editor and took an in-depth look at the game.
It took quite some tinkering, but in the end I created a modified version of the (MS-DOS) game, in which you never run out of lives and everything is dead cheap. If you can live with the (compared to the Amiga version) slightly inferior graphics, this is your best chance to make those endless hordes of surprise spawning scoundrels pay. Just download the Trainer, but it in the game's directory and enjoy!
…and there we are already in 2014! Time flies by sometimes, and we are still in the process of discussing what we're going to do this year after wrapping last year's theme up. Yet, that does not stop us from already starting. You see, the basic decision is that instead of having several concurrent thematic streams, we will be running shorter ones, i.e. monthly or bi-monthly instead. As I said, further themes for the rest of the year are still being discussed and we would really welcome your input – and, of course, you are all invited to join in and show the world your contribution to one theme of the other as well!
The first theme is (drumroll) First Games. January will be all about the first games we ever played or bought, the first games made by company X or something along similar lines. The Chaos Engine is a special one: It was the first game (among three others) to appear on this site when it opened its gates 14 years ago. Of course, there is a little story behind it. The thing was that back then, we didn't have the nerve yet to go into the fickle subject of emulation (remember: this was when most people were running Windows 98, i.e. MS-DOS, as their primary operating system, so old IBM games would run 'natively'). Two out of the four launching games, we had not really played much in those IBM versions, though. We had played those games extensively on the Amiga. Still, due to the aforementioned reason, we put the IBM versions on the site.
So, to finally amend this, here is a review of the game version we were really talking about back then. The original one, which made us sit together in front of the TV for hours and hours, trying to beat that damn machine… and failing again and again on this mission. Time to get out the guns and try once again!
Warlords… our former partner-in-crime NetDanzr considered it his favourite game due to the balanced map and the nevertheless differentiated challenges it brought. SedrynTyros now provided scans of the manual, the reference card and the map of the IBM version – all very high quality – while Herr M. made new (full sized) screenshots of the Amiga version.
SedrynTyros provides high resolution scans of the manual and the world map of The Patrician. Thanks!
Our user camelord tells us about an Apple iOS port of Winzer. Whether you really want to play this game… well, there is a target audience for everything, isn't there?
gorzka reviews Die Kathedrale (The Cathedral) – the second of the text adventures from the southern German company Weltenschmiede. So, as usual, we're going through a series backwards
Casually browsing around the site myself, I noticed Transplant also suffered from screenshot suckiness. All images came from the first two levels and so they only showed one type of enemy. Not very exciting. So here we go – I actually got into it again so much that I played straight through the whole game
Parashooter has got screenshots. You know, back when I first added the game to the site, this was actually a problem. I just didn't manage to make any. Tough days.
Speedball is the next game whose turn it was on the schedule for old game entry renovations. Although the review would be a candidate for replacement, too, it did not get quite the luxury treatment Border Zone did. At least we did manage some new screenshots, though.
Desperabis is a game which is about as old as our own site, i.e. it was a fairly new one when it got first reviewed. Now, we could almost call it a classic on its own right. Time flies…
Today's update comes courtesy of GigaWatt again. It's yet another CD image, this time of the board game conversion Hero Quest.
One of the few remaining old game entries which were still plagued by crappy screenshot syndrome was The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes. Now check it out again – aren't these nicer?
GigaWatt prefers CD images to pre-installed versions of games. A sentiment which many share these days, so he's willing to share one: Might & Magic III.
This time, it's Gesetzgebung which receives fresh screenshots. It is one of those quaint games which I really like – somewhere between 'educational' (teaching about our political system, in particular how a bill becomes a law) and 'propaganda' (teaching how our political system is so absolutely great).
Gunship 2000, added to this site 13 years ago, gets some enhancements from Tatarus33. In particular, we've got scans of the box and the disks and the game's full documentation. Thanks!
Herr M. provides new screenshots for Shadowrun.
Tatarus33 extends our entry of LHX Attack Chopper by three new document scans and he also provides us with a glimpse of the Mega Drive version of the same game. Thanks!
On the screenshot side of things, The Guild of Thieves is another one of those very famous games from Magnetic Scrolls – the first of which (The Pawn) a certain other website called quite obscure just two weeks ago. Kids these days!
Shadow of the Comet is one of those rare games which got better with age. Or rather, my appreciation of it grew over the years. When I first played it about 20 years ago, I was only mildly impressed. It seemed like a nice enough game, but I didn't care much for it. Every time I replayed it, it grew on me more and more. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't need to concentrate so much on solving those puzzles anymore which, admittedly, aren't all great. Instead, I could simply appreciate the plot and the small details which make the world come alive in a much more believable way than most other games.
There are games which you should know regardless of what you think of them. Without a doubt, Archon is one of those classics whose cultural significance is so immeasurable that there is no way to deny its status as one of the seminal games in history. You owe yourself to have played it!
In the mid-80s, The Pawn finally made adventure games look good. Those beautifully drawn landscapes were really something! Lucky world, because now this is finally visible even on the screenshots on this website.
Keeping with the newer games which want to be old one, there is a name which no RPG fan can miss, and it's Legend of Grimrock, a modern attempt to create a new Dungeon Master clone. And also one which managed to make it's place in the modern games market, as a second part is in preparation, I wonder how will it compare to the first.
3D Cyberpuck, a very nice remake of the Lucasfilm classic Ballblazer, received new screenshots – including pictures of the later levels.
Federal elections are coming up here in Germany again this year. Time to remember the embarassing attempts of the political parties to attract voters in the past. Abenteuer Europa would almost be worth a pity vote. Almost.
By the end of the 90ies adventure games were nearing the end of a steady decline. Innovation was a rare thing and often treated with scepticism by the hard core of the fans. Games were simply copying each other and there was a flood of (to put it politely) mediocre titles, which just followed a standard formula. So, things started to get boring and new gamers were a lot more interested in exciting new FPS and RTS with their eye candy and 'revolutionary' gameplay. Adventure games were, as they say nowadays, dying.
There is one game in particular that has the dubious honour to be seen as the last big adventure game, somewhat of a tombstone to the genre. It was LucasArts last attempt to brake new grounds, to come up with some fresh ideas in order to revive the whole genre. The critics loved it… the buyers didn't: Despite wining a lot of praise it was a commercial failure. In the end it became the penultimate game of their adventure game division. As you might have guessed by now I am talking about Grim Fandango.
Somehow I managed to avoid this game for 15 years, so I thought it was about time to do some catching up. To offer a bit of contrast I was joined by Mr Creosote, who is one of the loyal fans that actually played the game on its release. Interestingly enough, our opinions didn't differ that much, probably because some things are simply timeless…
Hollywood Pictures used to suffer from screenshot downsizing – until this day, when it was cured.
Ugh! is a homebrew version of Infection, a board game whose most popular version was probably the one included in The 7th Guest. Until now, we didn't have any screenshots of it.
Jagged Alliance… I could swear I uploaded the missing title screenshot a couple of years ago, but quite obviously, I was mistaken. This time, it's for real – and in case you really don't know the game yet, it comes highly recommended!
Dunkle Schatten, which just received new screenshots, may be one of those cheesy promotional adventure games which is in many ways typical for that wave which appeared in the early/mid 1990s, but at least it tries to teach people some positive values. Instead of trying to sell a product, its goal is to teach people about the silliness of xenophobia. OK, still not the greatest game, but at least a worthwhile cause.
Up for some cheese? The End of He-Man just got new screenshots!
Although its intensity has decreased, we've not forgotten about the necessary renovations of the old contents. Like most SNES games on this site, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse had distorted screenshots before. The new ones should look more beautiful.
We actually play newer games, as Creosote has mentioned already we like those things they nowadays call indie games, which from time to time try to revive old genres like, in this case, graphical adventures.
A New Beginning is a really interesting modern game of that genre, which really managed to grab my interest, something not so easy nowadays, so I recommend you to take a look at it and, maybe, even try the game.
Paul Thunderstorm uploaded scans of the infamous copy protection card deck used in Alone in the Dark 2. Why infamous? Well, because even if you knew how to use them and owned the original version, the error rate was still significant! 'Good' old days, indeed…
Korondor is back with another review in the genre he likes to call 'dwarf simulation': Wiggles is all about digging tunnels, cooking mushrooms and all the other things dwarves like to do when they're not being watched.
Since it was somewhat unlikely to have you guys joining in and providing games for our theme so quickly after its launch, I took the liberty of preparing another one myself: Carribean Disaster. This one came out in neither of the theme's years, so it also serves as a reminder that out-of-theme additions are still very welcome as well!
Otaku entered a video longplay of the enhanced version of Maniac Mansion – thanks!
Back in Time…
It's the site's 13th anniversary today and I have got a confession to make… it does not come easy to say it, but I think Retro is Stupid! No, this is not a joke, but the result of serious contemplations. Whether you're enraged or maybe even agree with some of the thoughts, feel free to leave a comment in the appropriate thread in the forum.
This also concludes our mini-theme run in January and February. I guess the link between those updates should have become clear by now. The next big announcement will appear in this very place soon!
As promised, I'm following up last weeks editorial with another article. While the former offered an interpretation of the death of independent game development in the 1990s, this new one tackles the effects of the Re-Emergence of Indie Games. It's great! Or isn't it?
Biker Mice from Mars, the Snickers game, just got a screenshot boost thanks to Herr M.
Otaku nicely provided a manual scan for Maniac Mansion.
CommanderRex offers a second opinion about Black Gold. He seems to view the game in a much more positive light than I did – make up your own mind, we can always use more of these different views!
Surprisingly enough, we continue with new screenshots for a game which has been on the site for half of a lifetime already: the first part of Captain Gysi.
Pudgy is one of the amateur games which were offered to us for publication by their authors in the early days of the site. Definitely still worth a look!
Herr M. continues the screenshots overhaul with Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.
Welcome to this year's site anniversary celebrations! In fact, we're already right in the middle of them. Instead of doing a standalone, big update just on the anniversary day itself, we've decided to do a small series of thematically linked updated over January and February this year. What the common theme is, you should be able to surmise at least after the updates following this one. Check some of the previous weekend updates and you might see it already.
Today marks publication the first of three linked articles which tackel this subject which has been central for this website since its inception. It is about the changes in the computer gaming industry caused by the concentration of the market on few systems. Any thoughts on this opinion piece are welcome in the comments thread on the forum.
More screenshot renovations over at Super Offroad. Check back tomorrow for some major news!
To get some variety into these updates, Otaku has entered a third gameplay video of Desert Strike – enjoy watching!
With new screenshots added for Secret of Mana, it would seem we have now reworked half of the problematic old game entries, because sorting the games by entry date, we've concluded page 13 whereas the last obviously faulty game can be found on page 26. Though keep in mind that the density of bad screenshots decreased over time – so we're actually way over the 50% mark already!
The next game to get the screenshot overhaul is Frontier: Elite 2; surprisingly, it does not seem to be nearly as controversial anymore as at the time of its release.
Super Metroid received the formerly missing title screen, but the rest of its images isn't all that great, either. Maybe someone else could step in there?
Proliferation is one of the games I revisit time and time again. It not only takes me back to similar board games I used to play, but it simply impresses with its balanced rules and varied game progression. Thanks to Herr M. for replacing those tiny old screenshots!
Herr M. presents another modern-day 'retro' game which goes by the name of Abobo's Big Adventure.
Title screen update of Formula One Grand Prix.
Hirschacker was so nice to upload a couple of screenshots for another language version of Might & Magic 5.
Nascar Racing – now with full-sized screenshots.
The whole '3D shooter' genre of the 1990s pretty much passed me by without leaving a major impression. The exception was Descent – the effect of 'actually' flying through those narrow tunnels while taking advantage of all three dimensions coupled with a fun cooperative multiplayer mode got me as well.
Destruction Derby was one of the games which marked the transition of Psygnosis to then modern console systems in the mid-1990s. The studio has recently been shut down by its current owners as discussed on the forum.
One of the cases of 'all screenshots bad' used to be Airline as it uses a higher resolution than one of our previous designs dictated.
Basically as a reaction to deepfree's recent review of Barbarian, which he treated quite harshly, I'm reviewing Gladiators. Why? Because as unspectacular Barbarian might be, our readers just have to know that there are still much worse games in the genre!
Syndicate remains to be one of Bullfrog's most popular games. Now, you may be able to see why.
Der Planer… a game which can really only come from one single country. Love it or hate it.
Next in line for renovations is Populous 2.
Death Gate – probably the finest hour of Legend Entertainment's graphic adventures period – received an image overhaul by Herr M.
Z got all of its old screenshots replaced. Back when it was first added to the site (tm), in the dark days before Dosbox, the problem was that it did not play nicely with either of the MS-DOS screenshot applications all of which ran as resident drivers under the non-multitasking operating system.
Taking new screenshots of Speed Haste was not quite trivial. It does not play nicely with Dosbox, so I reactivated my old MS-DOS computer which unfortunately is plagued by a slightly defective video card. Still – success!
As a kind-of followup to my own last review (three weeks ago…), here is another game about cars running over pedestrians on the pavement: Payback.
Diplomacy (PC) was an entirely different case alltogether. Its screenshots had been watermarked by a shareware imaging tool. Very ugly!
Ivanhoe suffered from the lack of a title screen present here on the site so far. The reason being that the disk I had from back in the day simply did not include one! Having located another version, this has been corrected and, for the sake of completeness, that version has been added as a download as well. Mind that this version which includes the full intro has not been trained, though, so it's hard to play – the game is notorious!
Renovation work continues with Comanche.
Until today, we only had two screenshots of Wild Streets. The reason was that back when it was entered into the database, we were using animated GIF files to display them and since many people were still using slow modems, we tried to keep the files as small as possible. Yet another case of layout issues dictating contents – a word of advice, never do that; you will regret it sooner or later!
A little entertainment at work? This was what the Microsoft Entertainment Pack was made for.
Matthew Stibbe's Imperium holds the distinction to be one of the most complex strategy games in the history of gaming. You haven't seen anything until you've played it – but beware if you're used to the shallow games of today!
There are several Science-Fiction games I wanted to try, and I just got one at random. It was IronSeed, and even if I must say it could have been much better, still managed to surprise me.
Ports of Call is one of the few games from back in the 80s which is still continually updated by its original developer. Reason enough for us to honour it by keeping its entry our database similarly up-to-date!
Our screenshot bonanza continues with Legend of Kyrandia and its sequel Hand of Fate.
Great Naval Battles 4 had quite a severe issue: Its screenshots had been crunched down unnecessarily. In the case of Task Force 1942, on the other hand, it was just the usual speckling of the images.
Same idea as yesterday, just with different games: Red Baron and Stunt Island.
Until today, Super Street Fighter 2 lacked a title screen image while Return of Double Dragon's images were all distorted.
Renovation of the site's dirty secrets (i.e. game entries which wouldn't even be approved anymore if they were submitted these days) continues with Face Off and Falcon Beertender.
This time, it's screenshot replacements for Dune and Eternam. In case you're wondering, both of these games' screenshots suffered from the same problem: They had their colour space reduced from RGB to a palette using an algorithm which dithered the colours. Not immediately noticeable, but nevertheless not original anymore. Herr M. took the opportunity to even take pictures of all language versions of the first game.
Today brings you yet more improvements to existing game entries, namely comparisons for Space Quest and King's Quest 2. You know, when you find gaps like this, what's stopping you from filling them?
A second opinion about one of the existing game entries is something which has been possible here on the site for… well, pretty much its beginnings back in the last millennium. It seems to have caught on only recently with a couple of people writing and submitting additional reviews. deepfree is one of these people, providing an alternative view on Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior. Hardly a rose-tinted look back, I might add.
Little Big Adventure, Panzer General and Populous continue yesterday's tradition.
Screenshot renovations continue with Eishockey Manager, Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom and Legend.
In the last year, there have been a number of 'retro' themed game releases. One which has been getting quite a bit of attention is appropriately called Retro City Rampage. Seems like an obvious candidate to appeal to readers of this site, doesn't it? But does it actually deliver or is it just an attempt to cash in on some lifestyle trend? What I can tell you here without spoiling anything is that it is at least much more versatile in its allusions to the past than most games in its mould, i.e. it does not only try to appeal to fans of one particular old game, console or whatever. So far, so good – read the rest in our review!
Continuing from yesterday, numerous new files have been added for Flight Simulator, Acquire and Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator.
Replacing old screenshots will still be a big topic this year. Starting it off again, we've got Goof Troop, The Lost Vikings, Rock 'n' Roll Racing and WWF Wrestlemania.
Today's update comes from OldGamer and Igsh Firn, and it includes videos for Don't Go Alone and Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge as well as a manual scan for the latter game. Thanks!
What other way to start the new year than with a new review? This one comes from dogchainx and it is all about Master of Orion, a game which has been added to the site back in April 2000 and which was the first one to receive the absolute top rating (on a finer-grained scale back then). Enjoy!
It has become a small tradition in the last couple of years to end the year with some statistics. One major milestone achieved this year was breaching the magical number of 1000 IBM disk images having been archived. This certainly deserves the top spot since it is mentioned much too rarely in this place – the work takes place mostly silently 'behind the scenes', mostly by Wandrell and ibmpc5150.
As for the contents announced more visibly, 2012 saw 80 new game entries to the site. That's roughly 1.5 new games per week – an excellent average! What actually surprised me when compiling these statistics was that in spite of this past year having been one of the first in which entering stub games (i.e. ones without review) have been allowed, the number of new game reviews actually exceeds this by a small margin: 87 new reviews! If that doesn't show that all worrying about opening the site up to smaller entries while trying to keep the focus on reviews was in vain – if anything, this seems to have stimulated the overall activity!
43 of these games were entered in relation to our 1992 retrospective, looking back specifically at games reviewed in magazines exactly 20 years ago. When we started it, we were thinking about doing one game a month. It was a lot of fun and there were just so many interesting games in those old magazines, so it turned into a weekly thing. For Wandrell and me at least, who have been working on this site for… well, many years, it was an breeze of fresh air. It gave some structure to our activities, which was good, because, believe it or not, sometimes too much choice (i.e. all games ever released) can actually hurt the selection process. Picking about four games from the tight selection of one particular month in history worked quite a bit better.
It has to be noted that 13 of these 1992 related games have even been reviewed collaboratively, i.e. with more effort involved than your regular review. I still believe that this format should become even more important in the future. It's more interesting to write and (hopefully) also more informative and generally dynamic to read.
All that's left for me to do is to once again extend our thanks to everyone who contributed to TGOD this year; no matter what it was in each case, it all helped to make the site a better resource for everyone. A big round of applause to (in alphabetical order) .-083, culichi, dogchainx, dosjunkie, DoutorHouse, envisaged0ne, faceman-bjk, Gismo, GrendelTheSnowman, Herr M., ibmpc5150, Josh, Korondor, moo2, Otaku, Predator, proc, Rabanik, ror.schach, Seth, Staticblast, Teset and of course Wandrell! More than anything, this long list of names should tell you that the site is becoming more multi-faceted which everybody involved can only welcome.
Hope to see you all (actively or passively participating) again next year… so maybe tomorrow?
Trying to improve stuff we did wrong in years past still, new screenshots have been added of Cool Spot, Deluxe Ski Jumping and Warlords 2. Thanks go out to Otaku and Herr M. for these!
With our discussion of Air Support, Wandrell and I conclude our 1992 retrospective which has kept us well occupied for most of this year. It was quite a bit of fun, even though the usual problem of lacking feedback made it quite hard to gauge its success with you, the visitors.
I'm taking this opportunity to also close the poll about what you would like to see next year. With not even 0.01% of the visitors voting, the results are hardly conclusive, unfortunately, but we are nevertheless in the process of planning something nice… first a small interlude in the first months of the new year and then something which will make what we did this year appear small (hopefully…). Stay tuned!
There is a problem with the name resolution of the file server right now. Rest assured, we're working on it!
Edit: A fix has been committed. As usual with DNS changes, it can take some hours to propagate, so if there are still no screenshots showing up for you, please simply be patient; it will fix itself.
In the same vein as yesterday, we're continuing with freshening up various SNES games, namely WWF Raw, NBA Jam and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
Back in our regular programme, we've got new screenshots for NHL Hockey and True Lies.
Here we go again: It's that least religious religious holiday of the year! So whether you celebrate Christmas or, like me, not, Herr M. gets us in the winter spirit with the addition of Xmas Lemmings (for reasons of political correctness also known as Holiday Lemmings). A game to enjoy regardless of your conviction.
dogchainx is also still very much active, reviewing the first part of Ultima VII. Also a game from 1992, by the way.
The year 1992 is nearing its end… Fascination is a game which pushed many nostalgic buttons for me, but maybe not exactly the ones which I really wanted to remember. Hard to believe, but maybe not everything was better back in the 'good old days'…
Even more screenshots for Desert Strike, Covert Action, Pirates!, Alone in the Dark and Stronghold. These come from the caring souls of Otaku and Herr M.
Taking another cue from another recent newspost, Herr M. edited the old Home of the Underdogs review of Ambush at Sorinor to import it into our database. Thanks!
Ski or Die is now on the site in two different version and with two different reviews. This latest one comes from Herr M.
Winzer turns up again in the news… this time, in a list of games which have been equipped with manuals; its comrades: Comanche and Conquests of the Longbow. Thanks to Rabanik and Herr M. for this update!
Screenshots… this time around, we're replacing old ones of Winzer, Bureaucracy, Border Zone, Master of Magic, Black Thorne, Bio Menace and Fury of the Furries.
Siege, Ambush at Sorinor and Walls of Rome receive new screenshots. In case you have noticed that these three games also share the same review: Yes, that is also a problem which will have to be resolved sooner or later.
Kingdoms of England II, Vikings: Fields of Conquest is a long title, no doubt. But also takes part in a long tradition of strategy games, and, of course, it's also part of out "Twenty Years Ago" thematic reviews.
Rabanik still has got a couple of documents up his sleeve. Today, it's roleplaying time with Anvil of Dawn and Champions of Krynn.
It's time for another new game. This time around, credits go out to Korondor again who reviews Christoph Kolumbus.
StarControl II is widely regarded as one of the best games ever made. dogchainx, publishing his second review, seems to agree.
Today, I replaced a shitload of old, blurry title screens. These new images all came from Otaku and Herr M., so thanks to you both! It lies in the nature of things that many of the more popular game entries are plagued with problems like this, because they've been added in the early stages of the site. Ironically, many relatively obscure titles have, on the other hand, received what is comparatively a deluxe treatment – just by the virtue of having been entered into the database later.
Castelian shows that the word-wide releases we are accustomed nowadays are a relatively new thing. The game was released on 1991, but in some places it didn't arrive until 1992, making it an entry in our "Twenty Years Ago" thematic reviews.
On the subject of replacing old, technically inferior screenshots, the second batch contains Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition, Empire Deluxe, Global Conquest and Hidden Agenda.
Continuing in a spirit similar to the one found in yesterday's update, Herr M. extends the exhibition section with his appreciation of the Turbo Pascal programming language – using some very personal examples. Long-time readers of this site may remember we used to have three similar articles on the site ten years ago. They somehow got lost in one restructuring or another. Maybe it would be a good idea to reintroduce them? We'll see…
As recently discussed in the forum, many games added in the first few years of the site's existence have a clear lack of decent screenshots. Without trying to delve too far into the reasons for this, let's just say that this could definitely be improved. Herr M. sent in a first batch of replacement images for Adventure, Flug 714 nach Sydney, Geh aufs Ganze, Ein ganz normaler Schultag and Spielautomat. Certainly not the best games in existence (we all know whom to blaim for that…), but now you can at least recognise what's going on in the games from the screenshots!
Back with Rabanik's manuals, we've got Alien Legacy and Alien Carnage.
One of the first games reviewed in our 1992 retrospective was Soul Crystal. Now that the year is nearing its end, we've got another game is very much the same vein: Hexuma. That's already been on the site for some time? Sure, true, but now it's finally been completed with a review, new screenshots and comparisons, automatically making all the downloads and documents publicly available, too!
Completion update from Herr M. adding screenshots and a comparison to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – I sure wish more people would fill those gaps in the old game entries!
New manuals: Ambush at Sorinor and Dark Legions.
King's Quest 2: Romancing the Throne comes with a review written by envisagedOne dating back to June of this year. However, screenshots were missing, so the entry couldn't go online. Only a couple of days ago, Herr M. jumped in and provided the missing files. So thanks to both of you!
Atomix and Another World receive manuals.
Korondor's turn again, this time with a truly rare game called Colony Wars 2492. Enjoy!
Remember how I said many older games could really need new/more screenshots? Herr M. has picked this suggestion up and uploaded some pictures of Sokoban, showing the game in Tandy mode.
SpellCraft: Aspects of Valor is one of those games that tried to innovate. Now, after twenty years, can we say it managed to get himself a seat among those games which pushed forward this hobby? Take a look and see what I think.
That was a long day… only just got home. Manuals for Battle Bugs and Battle Isle 2, both coming from Rabanik.
Back in manual land, here are some for Black Thorne, Blake Stone and Bermuda Syndrome. Also, Gismo entered a video of the intro of Laura Bow 2.
Keeping with yesterday's (semi) topic, we've got a new game coming from Herr M.: Screamer.
Going back to our regular programme, we've got a couple of more manuals from Rabanik. Namely: Realms of Arkania, Destruction Derby, Carmageddon and Caesar II.
The 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition is over. As promised, I added some general observations about specifities, game quality etc. to the article. As everybody should know, I'm not someone to hold back when I see something which I consider a problem, so apart from the positive appreciation, expect discussion about possible general issues as well.
Keeping with the thematic updates, now we have Dr Franken, one of the GB games which tried to take on the popularity of Metroid II.
Done! Escape from Summerland and In a Manor of Speaking were the last two games of the IF Comp. I actually managed to play all I planned to, even if not each of them received the full attention they probably would have deserved. As I will be out of the country for a couple of days, I will add my general conclusion and observations to the related article on Sunday. Until then – it's been a fun run again!
A review of Irvine Quik & the Search for the Fish of Traglea, plus a short comment about A Killer Headache. Two more games to go…
Since the last IF Comp update, I have added a review of Castle Adventure as well as short comments about The Sealed Room, Changes and A Killer Headache.
This time we took a game from the 1992 European Computer Trade Show: The 7th Guest (PC). The game would be released next year, still it was a showcase, twenty years ago, of the future of videogames. Just for that it's worth taking a look.
Alright, I'll just make a list of the various things which happened since the last update. Gismo entered two new gameplay videos (KGB and Veil of Darkness) – thanks for that! I amended some other older game entries, namely adding a new box scan for B.C. Kid and replacing the screenshots of James Pond 2 and Soccer Kid. All this is important, because older game entries tend to be much more sparse than more recent ones in general. In the specific case of old screenshots, they are often incorrectly cropped or suffer to colour bleeding. Today's tools to make them are much more advanced, making the process very easy, but still, someone needs to do it, i.e. someone has to sit down and play the games again. Feel free to provide additional or better alternatives if you find such problematic entries, too!
Last, but certainly not least, I tightened the integration betwee forum and site even more. The forum pages will now also show the main site controls, making the switch between the two much more direct. Remember that the forum is where you can register an account which you can also use on the whole site and that to post a comment about some game, you don't even need to register at all. I'm sure I'm speaking for each and every person who has ever written a game review on this site that we love to read your thoughts, replies or additions. Go ahead, it's not like it will cost you a significant amount of your lifetime.
…and more manuals: Desert Strike, Dragonsphere and Dungeon Master.
Korondor (perhaps unkowingly) joins Wandrell and me in our retrospective today. He reviewed Campaign, a tank simulation and strategy game which was first released… in November 1992 – perfect timing!
Next in the update queue is Rabanik's manuals again: Flashback, Fantasy General and Hammer of the Gods.
The IF Comp deadline is approaching fast, so I have to shift into another gear. Here are my thoughts on Spiral and Lunar Base 1.
Sorry, in a bit of a hurry. Wandrell and I have just been preparing our next review and (due to me arriving late in the first place), it went longer than planned. So, quickly, here are two new documents coming from Rabanik: Heimdall 2 and History Line.
Today we have, or better said, twenty years ago we had Super Castlevania IV (SNES). This game was advertised as one of the big hits of the console, did it live to it? Just check it out.
From Rabanik, we have manuals for I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream and Centurion: Defender of Rome.
In addition to today's new game, I want to say we have hit the one thousand entry on the floppies collection.
For those who still don't know about it, we are handling and sorting all the images of diskette games we can get our hands into. Just go into "Browse Archives", then "Disk Images" and you will find it.
Not all the games are free to download, just as it happens in general with old games. But the main point here is not as much spreading as preserving. If you have old games you make images of your diskettes before they rot away and send them our way, that way you will help to increase what is already the biggest floppy preservation project at the moment.
How to make images from diskettes? Well, just use guide for image making, and if you have any question you can always ask them in the forum.
Korondor's second game addition is Magic of Endoria. Very appropriate, I'm sure you all see the link to another relatively recent addition. Don't you?
No, I haven't forgotten about the IF Comp yet. As announced, it's just second priority. Now that I did have at least some breathing space, here is my review of Andromeda Apocalypse; a game which really should not have been entered into this competition, because it is way too large for what the rules allow.
Getting back to Rabanik's documents, there are new ones for Fantasy Empires, Jagged Alliance, UFO: Enemy Unknown and Z.
Many of you older people visiting this site might think that 1992 was not all that long ago. That you remember all the games released back then. You might be in for a treat today, because how many of you remember RoboSport?
Korondor reviews Conquest of the New World, a game in the same vein as the probably better known Colonization. Thanks!
The next manual: Little Big Adventure.
Continuing exactly where we left off yesterday, here are manuals for Master of Magic, Master of Orion and its sequel Master of Orion II.
In an attempt to catch up with Rabanik's activities, there's three new documents at once: Moonstone, Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II.
It's Rabanik's turn again. He gives us a manual and a map for Pirates! Gold.
Next in our 1992 retrospective, we have Ashes of Empire, a game I've been meaning to review for ages. Although I do own a boxed original, I did not manage to scan the 200 page manual in time for this update and I don't own a VHS player to digitize the instructional tape which came with the game anymore. Searching the Internet, it seems that nobody else did it, either. That's a shame, because without these instructions, it will be hard to get into this game. Which is probably the cause for all the numerous reviews in the Internet which boil down to 'I did not understand the game'. Anyone equipped and willing to provide these to the community?
Talking about manuals, Josh uploaded some for last Saturday's addition: Hook.
Today's additions include my review of Body Bargain and Rabanik's manual of Panzer General.
Continuing with Rabanik's contributions, we've got maps for System Shock, a manual of Raptor and CD version download of Pizza Tycoon.
After my nasty treatment of J'Dal yesterday, proc comes to the rescue and offers a counterpoint with another review of the same game. Although he, too, does not recommend the game on the whole, he does point out a couple of positives aspects found in its design.
From Rabanik, we've got a manual for StarControl and a starmap for StarControl II.
I've had a short description of J'Dal from the IF Comp online in the overview article for two days now and I didn't plan to review it. However, I reconsidered, because it really left the impression of a very honest attempt with me. Hopefully, my review did not turn into too much of a bashing, but rather into constructive criticism.
In other news, the next document from Rabanik's collection is an English manual of Syndicate Wars.
There is quite a bit going on right now. Rabanik has uploaded a lot of manuals which will be added over the coming days. To start things off, here is the manual of The Lost Vikings. Other things are in the queue as well, so stay tuned.
proc adds his observations about the recently added Fish Bowl and Sunday Afternoon – thanks!
Switching back from current games to classic ones once again, Wandrell and I discussed Hook. Is it the typical movie licence disaster? Read on.
The bane or boon of a random playing order in the IF Competition: Fish Bowl turned out to be quite similar to the game I had played right before. Whether this worked in its favour or against it, I don't know.
The Island is a one of the games currently running in the IF Comp. Also, in the games list of that competition, you can find my short comments on Murphy's Law and Kicker. These not receiving full reviews is due to the priority discussion as found in earlier newsposts.
As promised, our streak of games not recently released continues as well. The first one from October 1992 is B.A.T. II which, due to its depth and length, makes an interesting contrast to the modern-day IF Competition fare.
Here is the second game I played in the IF Competition: The Test is Now READY.
So, since feedback was, as expected, minimal (thanks to Alastair who was the only person to voice any sort of opinion), here is my attempt at a decision: Twenty Years Ago… will continue at its usual pace, but I will try to sneak in a couple of IF Comp games here and there, though with a lower priority.
To start the latter off, I made an overview page of my playlist like last year and had a look into the first game: Sunday Afternoon.
Here is a last minute September update in order to finally squeeze in a game of that month of the year 1992 in again which is actually good (although not everyone will like it): Conquestador.
The Annual Interactive Fiction Competition is beginning again tomorrow, by the way. I covered last year's incarnation quite extensively and I would be motivated to do so again. This is where I'm running into a dilemma, though, because we also have the twenty years ago coverage running. Unfortunately, nobody has joined Wandrell and me to keep this going (yes, well, sue me for dreaming of a less apathetic humankind). So I have to cut down on one, but to make this decision, there is no guidance due to feedback, either. So I can only stumble around between the two blindly. Please don't complain if I'm picking 'wrong' – if anyone talked to us so that we knew what people thought, this sort of thing could be easily avoided.
Sigh... yet another game which is not really all that good, selected due to having been released in September 1992 originally: Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X! Is this a problem? Or maybe you actually like reading about games which are not so common? Again, there is no way for us to know, because you're not telling us.
In the case of Crime City, I'm not reviewing the original version, but the IBM port released in September 1992. Not much of a difference between the versions anyway, unless… but read for yourself!
There is a general remark I'd like to get off my chest, though. Wandrell and I, as well as various other contributors, are working on this site with quite a dedication. However, we seem to be playing to a completely silent audience. It's not that nobody's watching – although it's not drawing quite the masses it used to, the site is still visited by a nice four-figure number of people every day. Yet, apart from webserver logs, we seem to have little or no evidence of that.
Why is that a problem? No activity not only discourages everyone and kills motivation, but it also gives us no way of gauging people's interest. For example, what about the 1992 retrospective we've been running for a few months now? Is that a good, structured and interesting way to select games? Or does it narrow us down too much? What is going on in people's minds? No webserver log can tell us that. Pity, for all involved.
P.S. In case you didn't notice, you don't even need to register in order to provide game comments, for example.
Again we come with a co-review of a game published twenty years ago. Which game have we brought from the past? Well, none other than SimAnt, the game where you are an ant in all it's glory. May sound a bit weird, but that's because the Sim games used to be quite original on the old days.
.-083 uploaded box scans and a couple of documents for Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe - thanks!
As per usual, games where published late on Spain. This time it was Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES). Actually this appears to be based on the film, not on the comic, but I won't spoil anything about the game, instead take a look at it.
This time it's Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra the game which was published twenty years ago. Even if it's a Sierra game, this is one to check.
Caesar II is the next game reviewed by Staticblast - including the full CD game again.
Back in our regular programme, Crisis in the Kremlin is another of those games released in August 1992. 20 years ago, this was probably the most topical game ever made! Nowadays, it still has its merits as an interesting peek into recent history.
Staticblast provides another CD-based game: Star Trek: Judgment Rites. This is the non-improved sequel of 25th Anniversary. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Staticblast reviews Mortal Kombat II. A controversial game if there ever was one. In Germany, this game had even been banned (not just for anyone underage, but for everyone) until 2005.
The Carls Lewis Challenge comes a bit late, considering that the London Olympic Games ended a week ago? True, but I've got an excuse: The game was also late when it appeared 20 years ago… after the Barcelona games of that year.
Still working on the work backlog piled up during the tricky server move… now, I can finally present the German language version of the discussion Wandrell and I had about Loom. Since you're reading these news in English, you probably don't care, but nevertheless, I don't feel bad about plugging that review again, because I am quite proud of the way we covered so many aspects of this remarkable game.
In other news, over the last days, I've also added videos of playthroughs of The Case of the Cautious Condor and Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows. This is a premiere, because these are the first videos posted recorded by myself. Oh, and for the latter game, the rare CDTV version is now also available right here on this site.
…and here is another manual: Blasteroids. Thanks, Josh!
Two more manuals from Josh, once again for an overrated, but this time also actually horrible game: Curse of Enchantia.
Things are picking up again slowly after the downtime. Josh's latest contribution is three manuals for the overrated Cannon Fooder.
culichi reviews Leisure Suit Larry 1: in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, i.e. the 1991 VGA remake of the 1987 remake of Softporn Adventure. A remake of a remake… phew, that's a good way to make money!
The next game we have from August 1992 is Lure of the Temptress.
There is still a small backlog of tasks in the queue right now. Unfortunately, this server move took up much more time than planned and things are still not quite done in the backend. Rest assured, we're working on it.
Today we have Prophecy of the Shadow, also published 20 years ago. Not much to say about this game.
So instead I'll tell you all that we have moved to another server, so if you notice any issues please tell us. Not that it should go wrong, but still, you know how these changes can be.
Keeping with the "20 years ago games", this time we have reviewed the CD version of Loom. It's quite a thing, as unlike with other talkie versions, they improved graphics and added voices. But these voices did take too much space. Is this noticeable on the final version? Can this version it actually improve a game such as Loom? Take a look and see yourself.
By the way, we would offer the German translation, but Mr Creosote is not among us. No. I mean, he is still alive, but right now is relaxing and as soon as possible he will get to it. We will tell you when it's on the site.
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? was originally published in 1990, but you know how is the thing with translated versions, and the Spanish one was made the next year, but apparently published in 1992 according to magazines.
At least it was translated, unlike what happened in other languages. As far as I know it was only published in English and Spanish. Also, I've been a good guy and added the original English version instead of the translated one.
Again, I got this from the MicroManía magazine, which criticized it's randomness. Sometimes things are going too smooth, other times the criminal slips away because you missed one clue about him, they say.
Indy Heat is, according to MicroMania, nothing special, but good for a short fun. Take a look at our review, and see what you think of it.
Nearly twenty years ago were the Barcelona Olympic Games, which gave me an obvious selection of games which add this week: Olympic Games, if possible Spanish games made for it.
But soon I found a big flaw on my plan: they all look the same to me. Ok, there weren't many games created for this event, three or so. But they get incredibly boring once you have played one of them, no matter how different may be the sports each one offers.
So in the end, I did choose the best of them: Olympic Games 92'. A year later published in English with the title International Athletics as part of sport games cheap bundles.
For some reason most of the English version copies were not published using the VGA palette the original had. Luckily I found an English version that does use it, and now you can download it.
Another manual from Josh – The Clue, this time a scanned one for those of you who don't like plain text.
For those who never could believe there is a point to Blade Warrior (apart from slaughtering enemies) – check out the manual (courtesy of Josh) which explains it all in detail.
Josh provides a manual for Aaargh!. Not exactly the kind of game you need a manual for, but well… it also won't hurt.
Sensible Soccer was not just the most notable game in the magazines 20 years ago (July 1992) – it's also appropriate, because also 20 years ago, Denmark won the European football cup. To commemorate this, the final against Germany will be recreated with most of the old teams today: Peter Schmeichel, Flemming Povlsen and all your other favourite players will be there!
Wandrell and I decided to squeeze one more game of June 1992 in: Vengeance of Excalibur. Power Play magazine hated it, saying there are much better games.
Josh uploads a manual for the latest addition, Project X.
Project X is exactly the opposite case of Storm Master concerning its evaluation: Generally well-received by the contemporary press, but I hate it. One major reason being that I stink at shooters. One more game of June 1992 to go.
This one has been sitting in the queue for a long time already… Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, reviewed by moo2. To give you a little overview what's usually involved in such an update not made by Wandrell and me so that you guys understand why I get crancy about it at times:
- User submits game info, review and screenshots
- I make a translation of the review to the site's second language
- I add magazine reviews
- Wandrell might come in later to add some additional documents and other files
The problem is that it hardly ever goes this smoothly. Something is basically always missing in the first step. So I write to the user in question and usually receive no reply at all. If I do, it's usually a promise to amend the problem and deliver the missing part later. Which, of course, then never happens. Further attempts at making contact again are ignored.
Mind you I'm only talking about people here who took the first step themselves, i.e. showed themselves willing to contribute something to the site voluntarily. If I went around bugging people to do something out of the blue, I wouldn't be surprised being ignored.
I'm not even bitching and moaning that hardly anyone ever enters game comparisons, links or external reviews. I'm not bitching and moaning that not everybody speaks all languages and therefore only submits their review in one. All that is fine – Wandrell and me are covering all that silently, without mentioning it usually. When it comes to the bare essentials, however, I draw the line. I think it's great when people donate some of their free time to make this site better for everyone. My only request is that they then at least are willing to complete these essentials by themselves.
Why am I rambling about this? In this case, it was Wandrell who finally broke down and provided the last missing screenshot to reach the minimum stuff for a game entry to be approved. One screenshot. That was all that had been missing. So, folks, thank Wandrell for this one – and please think about it when you register with some spam e-mail account which you never check or ignore mails concerning your own submission for whatever other reason.
Eco Quest: The Search for Cetus – one of the rare Sierra games which is actually good or not? Wandrell and I couldn't really agree.
You may or may not have noticed, but my 1992 game picks are following Power Play magazine for a reason: I think their reviews are usually very accurate and to the point when it comes to evaluating the quality of a game. Today is a case I disagree with them, though. Storm Master received only a tiny review with a rating in the 50s (out of 100). To a degree, I can see where they're coming from, but the lukewarm conclusion is still strange.
envisaged0ne shares his personal experience with King's Quest and he also enriches this game entry with comparisons and video links.
In our coverage of games released twenty years ago, we have now reached June 1992. The cover story in that month's Power Play magazine was Epic, a long-awaited action shooter in space. It should have become the new Wing Commander. Did it?
Loom is the next game taken care of by Seth. This review is of another version than the one previously covered – the IBM floppy disk version.
Seth provides another review. This time, it is, as he himself puts it, about "the music of The Secret of Monkey Island". This is not a game review, you say? Well, why not? It discusses an integral aspect of the overall game experience. No review can ever exhaustively cover everything. And it is often those less standard reviews which are more interesting reads anyway. So, thanks again to Seth!
Seth is also responsible for this update – he reviews the little known game/historical simulation Versailles.
In a welcome change of our usual schedule, newcomer Seth wrote a very interesting review of The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes – check it out!
Twenty years ago Lord of the Rings Vol. I was reviewed on the Spanish magazine MicroManía, in the number 48. And we didn't say "first published twenty years ago", just "published twenty years ago", just like this one was in Spain.
Global Effect fits into our 20-year-retrospective perfectly: The majority of magazines back in the day reviewed it in their respective issues for May 1992. Usually, games were spread among very different months, due to 'exclusives' (the euphemism for 'review based only on screenshots or an incomplete demo version'), different publication schedules of the magazines and last, but not least, differences in international release schedules of the games themselves. All this seems to have been mostly coordinated for this particular game.
We're deep in May 1992 now. Another game released that month is Space Crusade. As usual, the overenthusiastic British press loved it (What game didn't they love?) while it received mixed and somewhat lukewarm reviews in Germany. As usual, you will have to make up your own mind.
Soul Crystal is a German graphic/text hybrid adventure originally reviewed in Powerplay magazine, issue 05/92. They recommended it with caution. How does it hold up today?
Black Crypt, discussed between Wandrell and me, concludes the run of games from April 1992. Stay tuned for… surprise, surprise: May 1992!
Another game originally reviewed 20 years ago is Floor 13. Interestingly two popular German magazines both gave this one low ratings; Power Play mainly had moral objections – not that far fetched considering you have to torture and assassinate people in this game – while Amiga Joker pointed out the limitations in the gameplay. Various English-speaking magazines liked it very much, on the other hand.
We (meaning Wandrell and me) decided to try something different again. We call it 20 Years Ago… Meaning it is a retrospect to games released exactly 20 years ago. Or, to be more exact: Reviewed in a contemporary magazine 20 years ago. Most computer games magazines appeared monthly back then, so this is the term we are using to match games and reviews to our own activities, too.
So how do these games hold up compared to the way they were reviewed when they were new? The first candidate for this comparison is Star Trek: 25th Anniversary which was the title story of the April '92 issue of the magazin Power Play. Expect further games soon.
Everyone is invited to join in on our coverage of 1992 – however, this does not mean that the rest of the site has to grind to a halt. If you've got something else, outside of the scope of 20 Years Ago, that's still fine, too, of course.
faceman-bjk reviews Pizza Connection, eliminating the game from the list of stub entries. Thanks!
Now it's the time of another game. And again it's a NES one: Flipull (NES).
And now, not surprise on this, docs for Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds.
New docs, which you can see at Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.
Well, who says we can't be surprised? In a jump of about 15 years (but not so much across genres), Teset now presents us Little Big Adventure 2.
Teset, who last year already brought us Microsoft Adventure, added Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz this time. The pattern should be pretty clear. Thanks!
Updated Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar with new manuals. Enjoy them.
Savage Empire received docs, including the cluebook. Should be all in existence for the game.
ror.schach wrote a second review of Veil of Darkness. In fact, he did so last year. Since then, I've been trying to get in touch with the guy. Oh, there was nothing wrong with the review itself, but have a look yourself – there is a certain (obvious) discrepancy with the rating he submitted along with the review. No reaction. So I can only approve the review (including its rating) as it is.
While this is a nice review, it is, unfortunately, a reminder how hard it is for me to handle the submissions to the site. In 90% of the cases, I have to write back to the user who submitted something, because some small thing is still missing, something is not quite clear or whatever else. 60% of these users I write to never react. 90% of those who do react promise to complete their submission in some way, but then never do (and don't react to further mails anymore). Please – make this easier for all of us – if you decide to contribute something to the site, great, this is more than welcome! But please be responsive, because chances are someone will get back to you.
New documents for Quest for Glory: So you Want to be a Hero. Also added a pair of stubs for the other two versions of this game.
A curious game is Ice Climber (NES). You just have to climb a mountain, but is not as easy as it sounds. A classic game from the NES.
Sadly, I lack quality docs for Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. But what I had now is on the page.
Keeping with the M&M docs, now Might and Magic: The Secret of Inner Sanctum got manual, map and cluebook.
I decided to review Blood & Magic not because it was good, but because it's little known. A RTS based on D&D which could have been better.
Now Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen got downloads. If somebody has the game in any other language, please share it. I'm sure there a Spanish and a German version of the game somewhere. And also, probably a German version for the previous one also exists.
Time for the obligatory end-of-the-year update. In previous years, I usually posted a summary of games added to t he site in the course of the year. This, however, ignored all other contributions. Whether it is reviews or files, it is all valuable. So instead, here is the table or users sorted by the contribution points they earned in 2011. Check out the full list of contributors and everyone's profiles for a detailed breakdown of who did what. And since there have been a number of questions concerning these in the past months, let me state again that the points of course are not supposed to measure the time and effort someone puts into the site with complete accuracy. Such a thing would not be possible. It is only an approximation. So, without further ado, here is the list – thanks to all of you for making this site better for everyone! Maybe we'll see your names again in next year's news.
User | Points |
---|---|
Mr Creosote | 1128 |
Wandrell | 387 |
Josh | 101 |
ibmpc5150 | 63 |
Kiomlrak | 60 |
Elwood | 30 |
Underdogs | 30 |
Teset | 20 |
mgtroyas | 20 |
Feik001 | 20 |
Wayfarer | 13 |
te_lanus | 11 |
bacheshatonee | 10 |
tautology | 10 |
allanwer | 9 |
anabate | 6 |
cloudrunner | 5 |
KevinLancaster | 3 |
ueda_mizukage | 3 |
meyou | 2 |
luisbotelho | 2 |
AnnaWu | 1 |
gernot66 | 1 |
Nebros | 1 |
hydr0x | 1 |
Osgos | 1 |
Lexcort | 1 |
comradesean | 1 |
Another article, about yet another game competition. This one is significantly smaller than the last one: Herbstlaub 2011.
Still filling the RPGs with all the content I have, this time Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen has received several docs and downloads.
One of the best games I know is System Shock. And I found it just by chance many years ago. Sadly, it's also another game which tried to create a new genre, but was forgotten, even if some new games like BioShock supposedly evolve from it (or from System Shock 2 at least), they just end going to the linear shooter kind of game.
Josh provides a second manual for Sim City. Sorry, that has been sitting in the queue for quite some time. Entirely my fault.
Menzoberranzan has received docs and a few downloads.
New docs, this time for Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra.
luisbotelho took care of integrating Home of the Underdogs' review of The Manager into our site. That removes another game from the list of incomplete stubs.
It's again Kiomlrak who is responsible for this update. This time, he took on one of these cheesy promotial games we all love so much: Claas APS-Spiel. I didn't even know this one before - good job!
Kiomlrak adds Bundesliga Manager Hattrick. That was quite a controversial game at the time it was released: Some reviewers considered it too detailed.
Inspektor Zebok is a game which most certainly everybody involved would rather forget about. We can't do them this favour, though, because preservation is important both for the good and the bad sides of history.
The results of the The 17th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition are out - congratulations to the winners and thanks to all participants! As promised I wrote a general article with comments about specific games as well as general observations. Enjoy!
PataNoir concludes the run of this year's IF Comp reviews. The list is complete, slightly more than half of the games got a full review and those remaining ones I was able to run at least received a short comment. After the results have been announced (should happen in a day or two), I will update the article to have something less placeholder-y, so check back soon!
So here is Kiomlrak game: Biing!. Thanks a lot!
Luster... I'm getting close to the end of the list of IF Comp games.
Repeating yesterday's call: Kiomlrak, please get in touch with me concerning your submission!
Last Day of Summer is a game I cannot recommend. Read why.
On an unrelated note, will the user Kiomlrak please check his e-mail in relation to his submission?
Only very little time left in the IF Comp, but I'm doing my best to get through as many of the last ones as possible. Blind made it!
ueda_mizukage uploaded a great map of the first level of Flashback - very useful!
Elwood adds Mortal Pong, providing something he calls a "drunken re-review". Curious what this is? Read for yourself.
Josh provides manual scans of The Settlers.
Cursed is a game which really should not have been entered into the IF Competition. It would have been a good candidate for Spring Thing, instead. And I mean this in a positive way.
Oh no... yet another religiously themed game? Well, I did fight my way through this one: Beet the Devil.
Josh provides a manual scan for Die Siedler.
Martian Dreams now has several new docs, only missing for now the cluebook.
Edit: The cluebook is now also among the new docs.
The next one is Taco Fiction - another great game!
The Elfen Maiden is, thankfully, not another one of these clichéd Fantasy games. In fact, it's my favourite in this competition so far! Further comments apart from the review can also be found in the overview.
Moving on to Playing Games. On a sidenote, more skipped games have been added to the overview page in the meantime.
Escape From Santaland is the most thorougly implemented game I've encountered in this year's IF Comp so far.
And another new game entry: Death of Schlig.
Now Veil of Darkness receives new downloads.
The next game is Ship of Whimsy.
The Hours is a time travel game - as regular reader will know, this is one of my favourite topics in games.
To also list the games of the IF Comp which I'm not giving a full review at least in some way, I've also made this quick overview of all games I played so far with short comments for the unreviewed ones. I will be updating this overview article as I go along, so check back regularly.
Ted Paladin and the Case of the Abandoned House not only sounds like an amazing game, it actually is quite good!
Tenth Plague comes from Lynnea Dally, who was already responsible for the severely underrated Divis Mortis - probably the best game of last year's competition. My expectations were appropriately high for this one. Read on.
Vestiges is the first game of the IF Comp which I'm reviewing here which I cannot recommend. So I'm taking the time to reiterate:
Lexcort, ror.schach, anabate, omahans, RodneyMcKay, Heavenly6, rwss and Freak11, please get in touch with me concerning your content submissions!
Keeping with the manuals, now it was time for Pool of Radiance.
Mr Creosote adds: I'd like to take this opportunity for a public service announcement. Right now, there are a lot of contents in the submission queue, sent in by various people. It is great, folks, that you are taking such an interest in this site that you want to take part! What is not so great, however, is that most submissions are incomplete in some way and therefore cannot be published without further action. I'm always writing these contributors a mail, but in most cases, I never hear back. I seriously don't know why that is. So please, if you are on the following list of people, please get in touch either via mail, contact form or forum messenger!
Lexcort, ror.schach, anabate, omahans, RodneyMcKay, Heavenly6, rwss, Freak11
Cold Iron was not exactly my cup of tea, but it is exactly what I've been talking about a few days ago: a good example of modern-day 'interactive fiction'.
Professor Frank was a strange one; no plot, no goal, just goofy fun.
Andromeda Awakening is the third IF Comp game I played. It could probably be best described as a confusingly overwritten old-school cave crawl. What happened to the second game? That one simply left me confused. I doubt I will be reviewing it as it is right now, as I fear not all of the problems I had with it are intentional - I'll wait for a fixed version.
...and here, as promised, is the first game from the IF Comp already: Keepsake. Short, but well-done!
The Wicker Woman is the first game on the site which has been released this year. It won't remain the only one for long, though, because this year's IF Competition begins today! I'm planning to review a few of the games again. The Wicker Woman has got the old-school touch. If you want to see some games in a more modern style (with all the advantages and disadvantages this implies), stay tuned!
Josh again, this time adding a whole new game to the site: Buggy Boy. Wait a minute... hasn't that one been on the site for a couple of years already? Yes, but this is the Amiga version and it comes with a very detailed review.
Josh provides nice new documents for Loom.
This time it was Dungeon Hack the game to receive the downloads treatment. Docs and all the versions of the game which I know of.
Snowquest is a review I've had lying around for quite some time now. Various reasons back then. Picked it up again, did some minor fixes and here it is - enjoy!
...and finally Pinball Mania.
The logical followup being Pinball Fantasies.
Pinball Dreams has been equipped two manual scans.
Not a new game, instead Lands of Lore has got all the versions I know of, all the documents, and floppy images for the USA version. By the way, the USA version will only work on DosBox 0.72.
Being Andrew Plotkin is a well-received game from the last year of the last century. Not quite as good as it's usually said to be.
...and here is the manual of Déjà Vu 2.
OK, let's have a slightly more elaborate update than usual. Starting today, you can read Josh's first game review. Of course, it is about the very game which he entered himself some time ago: Ports of Call. That makes this one of the few games on the site which has been reviewed more than once. In the interest of viewpoint neutrality, this would be a great thing to be applied to more games!
Sorry for the downtime most of today. Manuals coming in for Déjà Vu.
Josh uploaded different manual versions of Chaos Engine.
One game off the requests list done: Steigenberger Hotelmanager.
Another manual came from Josh; it is the French version of The Patrician.
Thanks for the manual scan of Mag!!! go out to Josh.
Today comes Field Combat, a small action game for the NES which at first looks like some kind of strategy game.
Premiere is an above-average Jump'n'Run game which gains points primarily though its excellent graphics.
Feik001 was so nice to submit Sim Tower: The Vertical Empire - one of the best "Sim" games out there.
In addition to the text manual we already had, there is now also a scanned version available for Beneath a Steel Sky.
Warpath is a very original space shooter - unfortunately, only released for the MS-Windows platform.
A shitload of new documents in various languages for Battle Isle, submitted by Josh.
Documents for Civilization arrived from Kevin Lancaster - thanks a lot!
New documents and videos have been added to Ultima VIII, courtesy of allanwer.
There are a few more things in the queue, but they are all incomplete. Unfortunately, the users who submitted these things are not responsive. Please keep in mind: If you send something in, monitor your inbox - it's not unlikely you'll receive some remark or question from me. If you then simply don't reply, I have no other choice but to delete the whole thing, which would be a pity.
John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles is the next step in my attempt to get all Adventures by Legend Entertainment - one of the best companies ever - here on the site.
Josh's turn again, providing paper for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
allanwer provides two documents and a video link for Darklands.
tautology entered our very first game for the Acorn Archimedes: Paradroid 2000. Obviously, now that this system is present here on the site, it could do with some more contents - where are the fans?
Manuals for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade have arrived today. Well, actually they "arrived" some days ago - there is currently a small queue for additons. So if your submission hasn't been processed yet, don't worry, it will be soon enough!
Zoda's Revenge: Startropics II was the next on my list. I must say that it's better than the first, but too similar to play one after the other.
Populous 2 again - another manual.
Der Stein der Weisen is one for the fans of classic text adventures - and I mean classic, even within the genre.
Covert Action gets manual and hints - thanks to allanwer.
IK+ might seem like one of the games you don't really need a manual for - which is a very positive quality - but it cannot hurt to have one nevertheless.
Champion of the Raj is an attractive-looking and accessible wargame in the style of Cinemaware.
Two manual scans for Populous 2 have been added today.
bacheshatonee wrote a review of Might & Magic 4, thus eliminating one game from the list of incomplete stubs. Meanwhile, cloudrunner provided a translation of NetDanzr's old review of Skyroads.
Teset took care of a real oldie today - the very first Adventure. Since it basically predates the rise of the commercial software industry, there are many versions of this game. The one he selected comes from a well-known company and is appropriately called Microsoft Adventure.
A whole bunch of document scans by Josh - all for Monkey Island 2.
It's time for new reading matter. This time, it's all about time travel. All questions about their logic, possible paradoxes, philosophical implication etc. will be answered. Oh, and the article closes with the detailed construction blueprint of a working time machine. Enjoy!
Some new documents again: Monkey Island receives manuals, its codewheel and the technical reference card.
One new game entry, two new reviews. One of the latter is a discussion between Wandrell and me. The game? Hammer of the Gods!
Sorry, it's quite late already, so just a quick one: Sim City gets a manual and a box scan.
The next manual belongs to Banshee. Unfortunately, this scan is less than ideal - if you've got a better one, send it in! This one is readable enough to still be useful, though.
Josh provides the next update again: a multi-language manual of B.C. Kid.
Power Struggle is a game somewhere between Risk, Empire and Balance of Power - an underdog if there ever was one!
Josh's turn again - he submitted another manual of North & South. As he specifically points out, scanned by him personally. All the more thanks are in order!
Command HQ gets a box and the scan of the technical supplement.
Josh added Ports of Call - the original Amiga version, including new screenshots and manuals.
Weekend - this means I'm squeezing in a more elaborate update, i.e. a completely new game entry: Risk.
This day's credits go out to te_lanus who entered World Circuit. This is the US version of Formula One Grand Prix.
North & South is the next game to get the manual treatment.
Thanks for the manual of 1869 go to... surprise, surprise: Josh.
Today it is Josh's turn again to supply new manuals: English and French manuals of Advanced Destroyer Simulator.
Believe it or not: New news! This time, you can enjoy box and manual scans of Cyber Empires.
The logical followup to yesterday's update: Der Produzent. In this game, you are the head of a film studio - the execution is nice (a little more complex than Software Manager), but not excellent.
Software Manager never got a wide commercial release, because its company went under virtually at the same time. Pity, because it is about quite an original subject.
More new scans - this time from my own collection: a box and the manual of Zeewolf.
Two more document scans from Josh; both relating to Brutal Sports Football.
Josh has provided a solution of Hexuma. But wait - isn't there anything missing for this game entry? I have entered it, because somebody asked for the manual. I have scanned that and it's now available on the site. However, the game is still missing a review. Surely there is somebody who has an opinion about this game?
It's been a month since the relaunch and things have been going very well. For this 'anniversary', I've got a new article which is a little longer than usual, but the subject of artificial intelligence was worth digging into a little deeper!
Winpolis is a nice Monopoly version - that's really all you need to know.
As I wanted to keep going with the NES reviews here goes one for Startropics (NES). A bit of a cult game, and one of the earliest attempts to copy the Zelda games.
The next new game addition: Dogs of War (with two reviews) - a completely different game than Dogs of War, though.
One of the dirty little secrets of this site is that there are a couple of reviews which appear for more than one game. These date back to the very early days of the site when things were still handled a little differently. After so many years, it might be time to finally replace them - starting with Cyber Empires and Fantasy Empires.
Weekend update - the opportunity to publish something more interesting than the usual game review. This time, it is an article about / review of a mini-sized computer / gaming handheld you probably haven't heard of yet: the OpenPandora.
By the way: From my side, this 'search for the ultimate handheld' is not intended to become a series, because I'm not knowledgable enough on the subject. If you can contribute another perspective, review another device, feel free to submit your article!
My next attempt is Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games. By the way, in case you didn't notice yet, you can see the latest addition in all sections on top of the home page - even without reading these boring news posts.
Another thing I've added is a small image gallery covering the different versions of Paradroid. Maybe somebody has got a simple idea for something like this, too? Looking at the server logs, these image galleries are quite popular!
As small site bugs are slowly uncovered and fixed (please keep reporting them!), Gateway 2: Homeworld is a first test of the game-entering-capabilities. They seem to work; try it out yourself if you want to!
Time for the first update. This is to let you all know I've gone through all game entries to fix things which have gone wrong in the switch and, of course, to add new stuff. To give you an impression: I entered 288 gameplay videos and 3397 magazine reviews into the database. So now you can see what many games look like in action and compare what people thought about a game when it was new versus what the respective reviewer here thinks today. Phew... This means that now would be a good time to report any errors or just plainly strange things you notice. Chances are these are still problems I simply didn't catch.
Regular updating will resume shortly. Of course, this is also something you could improve/speed up. For example, when was the last time you had a look at the list of requests? Maybe you can fill one of these in.
So here it is finally: The new TGOD!
Since there seems to have been some false impressions with some people, let me first clear up that this change does not go along with an anniversary - we figured that after more than 11 years, a few more months wouldn't really matter in order to get this right.
So what's new? Why this change? You can read all about this in the last part of the updated history article. To make it short: We're shifting our focus a little. For a start, there is a new article about the phenomenon of death in Adventure games.
On the technical side, some things have changed as well. Not all of the backend data conversions could be done automatically. So expect some minor breakage in the next few days while we work feverishly to unleash to full potential of the new system.
We hope you like what you see - enjoy! Oh, and registered users might want to check out their own profile page (click on your username after logging in) - there are some new features for you.
Wandrell and I took the liberty of discussing Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter - the remake of the game already covered on the site. Chances are this will be the final update before the launch of the new site...
mgtroyas took pity on poor Wandrell working pretty much on his own to keep the site updated while I'm (very slowly) reworking it in the background. So now you can see one of his personal favourites: Carmageddon.
Today a classic: The Legend of Zelda (NES). Everybody knows it, but being the starter of a great, but barely used, subgenre it's now here to be remembered.
While the new webpage project is advancing, we have here a new game, this time it's Return to Ringworld (PC). Sorry for not having updates past month, but as you know we are always glad to have your help and contributions in these cases, so if you have a game you love, don't think twice and send us that review.
A site anniversary... with nothing new to show. Instead, I'd like to announce that the plans to revamp the site have entered a slightly more advanced stage than pure 'wishful thinking' by now. Instead of rushing along and just delivering the same old site in a new look to be done by today, I thought it a better idea to take my time to get in some groundbreaking changes instead. And I don't use that word lightly - I mean it, it's going to be something which, once again, no other site does! After so many years, I believe this kind of progress is more important than a mere arbitrary date which happened to be the day when I first uploaded the site to a public webserver more than ten years ago. It's going to take some more time, but the waiting will be worth it!
I've always heard that Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch was worse than the second part. Actually, after playing them I must say the first is, by far, better. No surprise they didn't make a third part.
Space-Pilot - for one of us, a very nostalgic piece. Read for yourself.
So, I hope everybody's come through the usual new year's stress ok. Time to pick up things here again: ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire.
Ascii Sector is another one of these games which I started writing a review about quite some time ago, but never got around to finishing it - until now.
Since this is most likely the last game addition of the year, I'll also use this opportunity to do the regular end-of-the-year-wrap-up. As usual, this is just concerning the game additions, disregarding any other work on the site. On the whole, there were 52 games added to TGOD this year, averaging one per week. This is a very good number! The people who made this possible are:
Johann67 submitted his review of Electronic Arts' World Tour Golf quite some time ago already, but I failed to process it in time. My apologies - clearing the queue out right now.
The Feeble Files is another Adventure game Anchantia and I discussed recently.
meyou reviews another game today: Zone 66. This get him above the 50 points threshold - congratulations and thanks!
meyou, who has already been contributing a number of disk images for some time now, today provides his second game review to the site: Mechwarrior. Thanks!
Die Höhlenwelt-Saga: Der leuchtende Kristall is the next collaborative review between Anchantia and me. This time, there was actually some controversy about the quality of the game.
After thinking that those Dungeon Master clones based on Dungeons & Dragons where not the best format for D&D I recalled the Gold Box, and here is the review for Pool of Radiance (PC).
Freedom is a tiny game, a trifle which can be played within half an hour. Which makes it easy to review, but your risk of trying it should also be pretty low.
At first I was going to review the first Ravenloft game, but I got a game stopping bug. Then tried Menzoberranzan (PC), and here you have the result.
I honestly don't see why Wandrell sees the need to assure anyone of 'us' being alive. As far as I see it, we're on a pretty normal update frequency right now. Which brings me to today's game addition: Anchantia (who runs a site on promotial games - as you know one of my favourite topics) and I discussed Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity. Enjoy!
We are not dead, and to show it another NES classic: Battle City (NES). Destructible terrain already existed on 1985.
I hoped it would be better, but Lost Eden (PC) is just another of those mediocre games Cryo ended creating. Still, it's a not too known curiosity.
Sunny Shine - On the Funny Side of Life (Atari ST) is the next game which I discussed with Elwood. In this case, it is important to note the particular version we reviewed, because there are significant differences between the game on the different systems. Details in the review.
Elwood just added another game, but it took him longer than he anticipated. He had to run off and asked me to annouce the addition (Taipan for Windows) and to extend his regards to all you visitors. Another interesting method of reviewing this one - check it out.
Welllll... I just remembered that a while ago I packed things up but never wrote the review for this game. It's not "good" as such, more a curiosity. So, here's Monopolize.
Aye everyone, here's Elwood again. Something for the puzzle-section: Blockout - something like a halfclassic.
Enjoy!
After having played one of Microprose graphic adventures I decided to try Dragonsphere (PC). A great game, even if it's a bit unoriginal and short it still is a fun one.
9:05 is only just ten years old. Still worth it.
Midwinter II: Flames of Freedom is my next solo review.
Captain Gysi - Galaxis Futura is a cooperative addition by Elwood and me. Not the very best game on the site, but read (or, if you prefer, look) for yourself.
Next one on my list: Alone in the Dark 2.
Now that summer begins for me, I've readied a new review. For Return of the Phantom (PC). One of Microprose graphic adventures.
As you can see, no daily updates. I waited one day on purpose so that nobody would get any wrong ideas. As much as I appreciate Elwood's tireless work over the last weeks, I don't see this type of review as the future as far as I'm personally concerned with the site anymore. I've written far too many already. Hence my new push to get more discussion reviews going.
That said, what I will do is 'clean out' my 'todos'. I have a small number of 'classic' reviews in various stages of completion lying around which I will try to finish one by one. Today, I'm starting with Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Alright, here's my last update for a while: Loopz
I have to sort out some private things and so I won't have the time to do anything here for the next few weeks. But maybe I infected someone with the daily-update-virus... who knows?
Wow... I didn't think this day would come. I promised this game to Mr Creosote a dozen times I guess. And always I started playing it and didn't get to actually review it. Well... now I did. Here's Champions of Krynn - the first game I reviewed and rated with a perfect 6/6!
By the way: This game is the 700th game on this site. And that's another reason why I finally did it!
Johann67 and me did another game discussion and what's a better subject for discussion than a very controversial game? Harvester comes on three CDs - a hefty download. Hopefully, our discussion will help you decide whether the game is for you beforehand.
Once again, I'd like to stress that everybody is welcome to participate in discussion reviews in this format. If you're missing a second person, contacting one of the active people here on the site should be a safe bet. This is not 'reserved' for 'experienced contributors'.
Hey - did anyone miss me? Someone else posted something yesterday so I thought hey... a day off for me! Great!
I brought you another classic from the 80s today: Arkanoid. Enjoy it!
Elwood added one of my favourite platformers Gods.
So... today I brought you Tetris (PC). With this I will also start the Highscorehunt as proposed by Maniac.
If you have a new highscore post it in the forumthread. Please attach a screenshot there.
Right right right...
So I made it! I took over this site! Ha! 5 newspostings in a row from me! I'm the boss now! Muahahahahahaaaaaa!
Today a doublefeature btw.: Gods and Magic Pockets - two absolute classics in the Jump 'n Run category.
Hello there my fluffy little visitors. I know you're out there!
So - I went out or better I went in... inside my harddisk - and dug out another treasure for you. Today it's The Bugs Bunny Hare-Brained Adventure - a nice little game with the greatest CGA-graphics of all time (even though it's weird to see them used in 1990).
Now I know it won't help anything anyway, but if you're reading this: Go to the forum and say hello. No more than that one word is needed to let me know there's people out there... living people... wow!
Me again bringing you some nonsense: Esheep
Enjoy!
Aye... here's Elwood again. New game as well: Chicken Invaders
And it didn't take a year this time!
Hey hey...
I was tempted to begin with something like mentioning that noone will remember me or anything like that. But well... Now I mentioned it and that must be enough for that subject.
There are a couple of games on this site I reviewed, but my average must be something like one per year or so. At least it's been like that for a while now. Soooo... here's my game for this year: Hamsters
Now be happy and celebrate!
...and wait for the next one - which should be here in less than a year. I promise!
Again we have a new RPG. I decided to fill a gap and now, thanks to adding Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC) we have all the old Might and Magic games. Well, except for Swords of Xeen.
T-Pow and me did a review of Chewy: ESC von F5 in discussion style. I tried that approach with other people five years ago and I always quite liked the idea. Unfortunately, people being their usual passive selves, it's always hard to find collaborators. If anyone's interested, drop me a line.
A new game, again reviewed by Johann67, has been added: Pitfall. It's not the Pitfall you think it is, though, so check it out!
...and suddenly there's a new game submission by Wayfarer (I hope it wasn't just because of my rant): Set the Hostages Free. Chances are you haven't heard of it, so make sure you check it out!
Well, it's been some time since the last update. To be honest, it wasn't just lack of time (although that did play a major part). It's really hard to stay motivated with the massive passiveness of pretty much everybody around here. Even after all these years, still nothing happens here at all without me (as this break showed). When I ask for some simple feedback, I get absolutely none. When I can't update for a few weeks, nothing happens. It's not like nobody could jump in and fill the gap. There are two possible conlusions to all of this. In both cases, I have to rethink my priorities here.
It's ironic that a total newcomer understood perfectly the possibilities of contributions to the site: Luke Nukem did some translation work, waking the site from its slumber. Johann67's next game is Packman.
The next of Johann67's games is De Gouden Kelk. Meanwhile, The Lost Vikings gets a second review.
Castle Adventure comes with two reviews. The first one ends in a plea for a second opinion - and here it already is. Convenient, eh?
The next of Johann67's reviews covers Striker. You will notice that that review isn't exactly new, either, but still completely unpublished so far. Herr M. took care of an alternate review of Another World.
Two 'new' reviews on the site: Bermuda Syndrome and Lands of Lore. If you want to know why/how they're not really new, the explanation can be found in the forum. If you think this is a good idea and you want to join in to get some of that stuff on this site, feel free to!
Here it is. At last. Our Tenth Anniversary! Not just ten years since the first launch, but ten years of uninterrupted activity. How many websites are there which can claim this for themselves?
To celebrate this, we've prepared two things. First and foremost, we've compiled some stories from the site's contributors. Some funny, some serious, but all very personal - check it out. I'm particularly happy to see the very first person who ever contributed something to the site without having a personal link to it on the list: J. Durr! On the other end of the spectrum, we have Wayfarer whose presence indirectly shows one of the future projects the site will have to incorporate: covering the disk images in the user profiles. Sorry, I can't name all of you - a big "thank you" to everyone who worked on the site over the years!
Second, those of you who have read the site history article might remember the list (details about that in the history article). Believe it or not: After only ten years, all the 26 games from the list are now finally covered on the site! Wow, aren't we fast! So welcome the following new game entries: Paperboy 2, Skate or Die, Ski or Die and No Greater Glory. Those reviews are new, not ten years old. Whether they say what I would have written about those games had I followed the original plan? Who knows? A little bit of mystery never hurts.
I love promotial games dealing with unlikely themes. Kampf um Trubelland is exactly that - a true gem!
ReggidMusic, apparantely a fan of racing games, expands that genre with his interesting treatment of Car and Driver.
New user ReggidMusic found the time to cover quite a unique street racing game: Vette! Thanks!
The Barber of Sadville is a bad, but nevertheless very special game which you should definitely check out.
After a slight delay due to the new year and personal illness, comradesean's treatment of Hugo's House of Horrors is now online for your enjoyment.
It's the last day of the year, time to wrap up the Site Goal 2009 business. The goal was to reach 700 game entries within this year. To make it short: It has not worked out. The site currently has 672 game entries, meaning it's short by 28.
Let's have a look at who did what this year (only talking about game additions, not about all the hours spent on other areas of the site):
Alien Carnage is one of the popular games published by Apogee in the early 90s. Thanks to meyou for the review!
Ceremony of Innocence is a unique game; hard to fit into a category scheme. In case you're wondering, 'Anonymous' is actually a contributor who wants to remain anonymous and for whom I've set up this dummy account. Should it be required by someone else, I'll just re-use this account again. It's actually good that someone else is sending in some new contents, because nothing will come from me at least for the rest of this year. Waiting for your submission next...
The Duel in the Snow belongs to a type of game I usually can't really get to like: Adventures without puzzles.
On diskimage news, we've now included hash checksums for all the files so that you all can easily check whether your own images are the same or different. In the latter case, why not upload them? Incidently, many thanks to Wayfarer who did exactly that - your images will be processed as soon as possible!
Byzantine Perspective is another game from this year's IF competition. It was particularly popular with the other authors.
We've finally decided on an automated model to make the Disk Images available for download. You can find the details in the FAQ, but briefly: disk image downloads are available to everybody who contributed something which the public benefitted from, e.g. by writing reviews and so on. Some games which are on the list still aren't available, because the files haven't been processed yet. T-Pow is currently working on that, though, so please have a little more patience until everything is up in all its glory.
Grounded in Space is another entry of this year's IF Competition - and it's another nostalgic one.
This year's Interactive Fiction Competition ended yesterday and I plan to review a couple of the games which ran. As usual for me, those won't necessarily be the best ones or even the ones I liked best, but rather those which I found interesting and which I feel I have something to say about. So, without further ado, here's one which surprised me very much (in a positive way) and which I would have wished a better ranking: Interface.
Die Fugger 2 gets a boxshot. If you think updates have been slowing down lately, you're right.
Again, unsurprisingly, another sequel: Imperialism 2: The Age of Exploration.
To give the fans of current games something, too: Imperialism.
Another sequel, but this one is very conventional: Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon.
Closing the series of Gargoyle's Quest: Demon's Crest (SNES), which isn't exactly a Gargoyle's Quest.
To show everyone that this game was indeed sold commercially inside a regular box: Ilyad.
Ironically, I actually do own a few roleplaying games and it's not like all of them were purchased second-hand. Eye of the Beholder, for example, I regularly bought when it was new and I never regretted it.
Box time again: Die total verrückte Rallye.
Two additions for Prince: A boxscan and a manual scan (complementing the text manual which had already been available).
Well, the last game didn't even receive half of the attention Midwinter got. On the other hand, there has been one single comment at least. Still clueless. Since you guys seem to prefer staying completely passive, I'm just going to continue as I want to: Pinball Mania.
meyou provides an alternate boxscan of Syndicate (American Revolt data disk). Thanks!
From time to time, I'm going into these rants about how I don't understand things anymore. This is another one of these, but a short one. Midwinter received an insane amount of pageviews in the last two days - more than any other game on its first days since we started counting. Why? Is it because of my raving in the newspost? Is it because the game is so insanely popular? Or is it just pure chance? The problem: There is zero feedback from your side. If it is so popular, why doesn't anyone have anything to say about it? Maybe I'm totally 'wrong' with my appreciation of the game - but nobody tells me that, either. Or is it just that nobody knows any game anymore?
Now let's see how it goes with this game: The Fourth Protocol.
Midwinter is one of the greatest games of all times. Greatest games of which genre? That's the great thing about it: It doesn't follow the strict definitions of the classic genres and just gives you a whole world to explore the way you want it. Unless, of course, you decide to cheat yourself and take the shortcut to winning - which is your own loss, then.
When I said the basic size of the Interpreter category had now been reached, this meant I'd treat it like the rest of the site now. So, without further ado: Shade.
Not very surprising, Gargoyle's Quest 2 (NES). It's quite similar to the first one, but as I wanted to add the SNES game that, more or less, is the third part of the series I didn't want to leave this one.
Taking a breath between the big updates, here's a boxscan of the Syndicate data disk.
After a couple of title changes for the last update (these things are really not as simple as you might think), here's an easier one which - at least as far as I know - kept the same title all over the world: Fantasy General (PC).
I was going to continue with NES games, but the next one was the second part of Gargoyle's Quest, so here you have the first: Gargoyle's Quest (Game Boy).
Good news: Longtime member Vemperor has just breached the magic number of 100 contribution points. It's always interesting to see how he got there - and this is just one way, there are many more. What does this mean? Vemperor now belongs to the privileged group who is allowed to access any downloads directly from this server - no matter how large the file is. No more waiting for scarce public download slots and putting up with slow connections. You deserve it - enjoy!
Now that the Interpreter section has grown to the basic number of ten games, we can head towards some more diversity again: Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (PC).
Once again, as so often lately, time for a boxscan: UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC).
Bliss (Interpreter) has got an intriguing idea behind it - through you'll only know and appreciate it after going through relatively uninteresting motions to get through most of the game.
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
To my surprise, ardell (who reviewed the game) doesn't seem to be the only person in the world who likes Tomb Raider (PC). Today, T-Pow provides a box scan.
Little Blue Men (Interpreter) - a game which you should play to the very end.
Plan 9 from Outer Space (Amiga) got a boxscan and three document scans - enjoy!
In the spirit of the second game: Bugged (Interpreter). This gets us up to 650 games. 50 more to go for the site goal!
OmegaMan and Kim sent in a great new high quality scan of issue 8 of the Interpart series. Yes, the comics are still part of the site and they will continue to be. It's just silent, because nobody has been actively adding to it lately.
The problem has been discussed in the news and in the forum many times. Even more than the other parts of the site, the comics depend on individuals who are willing to contribute and put time into it. If you want to be part of that group, great - drop me a line. If not, don't complain.
Time for another box scan: Ultima VIII (PC).
Undo (Interpreter) is an interesting one - kind of a meta game. Curious what that means? Check if out yourself!
Still trying to alternate between adding new game entries and improving old ones, Theme Park (PC) has received a box scan today.
Next in the line of interpreted games is Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die (Interpreter).
Spellcasting 301: Spring Break (PC) - now with a boxscan.
Obviously, having just opened a new section on the site, it needs some more contents: Spider and Web (Interpreter).
T-Pow's day again - he just made the entry of The Dig (PC) a little better.
Picking up the point Wandrell made last time (everybody being able to help), one of the things we hear most often from people giving reasons why they won't contribute is roughly this: "But the site doesn't focus on what I'm interested in". Big deal. The site is focused on anything the people who work on it make it focus on. Just to show you how it works, I'm starting a new section about interpreted games today. Those haven't been on the site before, now they are. The same way, you could just add whatever you feel has been neglected here so far. The first game: Anchorhead (Interpreter).
Due to time constraints (I love how pro that sounds) we can't add many games lately. I suppose you noticed that these covers, like the one (just added) for Rampart (PC) are being added instead of games.
Well, you can help us. Writing a review. It just takes a few minutes and little work, try it.
Continuing with the boxshots, Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds (PC) is the next on the list.
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC) has just received the boxshot treatement.
This time we have another boxshot, for Ultima VII: The Black Gate (PC) exactly.
At first looked like a game on the style of Metroid, but Chōwakuseisenki Metafight (NES) is not like it looks.
Maybe you know this one: Snake Rattle 'n Roll (NES). A curious and good game for NES.
And if you don't. Why don't you try it?
The sequel to the former game: Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror (PC).
T-Pow provides a boxscan of Ökolopoly (PC).
In the series of alright-but-usually-overrated-games: Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (PC).
Back on the subject of boxscans: Mad News (Amiga).
Puzzle games, they never change. You push boxes around the screen and suddenly the puzzle is solved. Like in Solomon no Kagi 2: Coolminto Kyushutsu Sakusen.
A guideline for this year's German election: Hurra Deutschland (PC).
Now you have Solstice (NES). One of the most interesting NES games. I may add a few other curious games to the NES section, so pay attention.
The Train Game (ZX Spectrum) comes with a typed (not scanned) manual. Is this enough?
Uploaded a boxscan of Der Clou! (Amiga). This game already has a manual download - a shortened one in plain text format. Is scanning the original manual in addition worth it?
Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe (Amiga) is the long, long, long, long awaited sequel to its predecessor. Surprised? According to the feedback so far, you guys don't need a manual for that one, do you?
You can never have enough dungeon crawlers, and this one isn't of your usual kind, The Legacy (PC) is a horror themed one, with Lovecraftian tones.
Black Gold (Amiga) is one of those games which are hard to understand without documentation. Would you liked to have a manual scan with this game entry? Then say so!
Today, I added a boxscan and a manual scan of Murder (Amiga). Incidently (as if...), this goes along with the age old question of how important manual scans are to you. Looking at our download statistics, it doesn't look as if many people care about those at all. Should we even bother spending all this time in front of the scanner in the future? Discuss!
1997! It's too new. But those graphics... it's outdated!
I hope you are thinking that, because I must say, those 3D games with lots of textures that make you feel disoriented aren't good 3D games (well, a few have really good graphics, but most are just a lot of textures).
Yet this one is 3D, so you get freedom to move around, and uses 2D sprites, so they can have detailed enemies that don't look the same with a different texture.
And people say 2D is obsolete, it's just badly used.
Der Patrizier (Amiga) is one of the few German games which actually got some international recognition - though you'll probably know it under the title The Patrician.
T-Pow is jumping in again, providing today's update: a boxscan of Martian Dreams (PC).
Time for the next game: Shadow Caster (PC).
New boxscan: Little Big Adventure (PC).
Level 9 never was quite as popular as Infocom or as well-known as Magnetic Scrolls, but they nevertheless made very good games. Here's an introductory level one: Lancelot (Amiga).
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (PC) is the sequel to one of my favourite games ever. One of those games which I couldn't wait to get my hands on.
Nine years after it has been added to the site, Alone in the Dark (PC) gets a boxscan.
Sim City 2000 (Amiga) - reviewed by me, but you have to blame T-Pow, because he (unknowingly) requested it.
Two new boxscans: Incubation (PC).
Magic Carpet (PC), a good, but vastly overrated game from the mid-90s. So I guess most people will enjoy it.
Monday, but this Monday not only comes with an alternate boxscan of History Line 1914-1918 (PC), but also disk images of that game for download.
The Quest for the Holy Grail (ZX Spectrum) lets you meet the three-headed knight, the knights who say... something and a few more of your favourite movie characters - and they'll bore you to death.
From my collection: a boxscan of Frontier: Elite 2 (PC).
Borrowed Time (Amiga) is a classic in the mystery adventure genre I like so much.
Scans from my collection: box, map and three other documents of Croisière pour un cadavre (Amiga) (also known as Cruise for a Corpse).
A new game entry: Heavy Metal Paradroid (C64). On a very much related note, we're currently discussing how to handle alternate versions of the same game in the future. Feel free to join in and let the world know what you think - the more people take part in such discussions, the better the results.
An image of T-Pow's box of Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge (PC) has been posted.
Today, we have an alternate box scan of Comanche (PC).
International Championship Athletics (Amiga) is my attempt to kick-start the site goal initiative.
Annoucing the Site Goal 2009:
700 games until the end of the year
Time to pick up speed. Let's all help the site reach 700 game entries until the end of this year ('year' according to the Gregorian calendar)!
Please note that this is not a 'Mr Creosote and Wandrell' goal. It's the site goal. We two will do our best help make it happen, but it won't be enough with more people lending a hand. Every visitor (i.e. you) is part of the site just like Wandrell or me - so it's our shared reponsibility to make this happen!
So ask yourself: How many games have you submitted lately?
The most popular game on the whole site, Colonization (PC), gets a box scan.
Castle Master (Amiga) is another one of those classics which aren't really as great as you probably remember it.
Civilization (PC) is now equipped with a box scan, too.
Apparantely, poor little Barbie isn't all that popular with our visitors: only very few people checked that game out. Maybe this'll be different for the incredibly manly Dark Legions (PC).
...and another one of those box scans: Battle Isle 2 (PC).
Today: A boxscan and disk images of Chaos Engine (PC).
Boxscan: Aces Of The Pacific (PC)
Barbie (C64) is the long awaited counterpart to Hot Wheels.
Another box from T-Pow's vault: Aces over Europe (PC).
Next is a boxscan of Bundesliga Manager Professional (PC) as well as a disk image download of the same game from our collection.
T-Pow was so nice to send in a boxscan of Aces Of The Deep (PC).
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (PC) is one of the later games from one of my favourite Adventure makers: Legend Entertainment.
Still trying to improve on the existing game entries, here's a box scan and a manual scan of Mean Streets (Amiga) from my collection.
After announcing it a few weeks ago, Wandrell and I (and T-Pow, too) have worked hard on tagging the game entries with theme information. We have now done more than half of the games and that is why I've now activated all the theme-related functions for the public. I.e. you can now search and list games by theme.
Mind you that about 250 games still aren't classified, so you won't ever find them if you use themes to generate a listing. Most of these games have been added by former crewmembers which aren't with us anymore, so we can't count on them to suddenly reappear and tag 'their' games. Which is where you guys come in: Please help us give the rest of the games themes, too! Wandrell and I don't even know many of those games, so we will never be able to give them themes. You can read more in the forum and a list of games without themes can be found here.
This review from T-Pow has been in the making for several months... so you should rightfully expect a true masterpiece. Why he chose such an incredibly ugly game as Syndicate Wars (PC) for this epic review will probably remain his secret, though.
Here's another of those fine updates you keep coming here for. Today, I bring you no less than seven document scans for Lords of the Realm (AGA) (Amiga). Along comes the much requested German version of the game which is played on a map of Germany instead of England. Enjoy!
As you won't have noticed so far, I'm currently adding the games which came up in this forum topic. Today's entry is Grave Yardage (C64).
New downloads: Two disk versions and one CD version of Dune (PC).
Modem Wars (PC) - great game, wrong system.
Added two new downloads of Death Gate (PC) - both full CDs.
You can tell it was made by Coktel at a glance, The Prophecy (PC) has its distinctive look and weirdness.
Going back to an older game entry, I scanned the box, the manual, the reference card and the map of Lords of the Rising Sun (Amiga).
Vier Gewinnt (PC) has actually been up for 15 hours approximately, but didn't announce it, because due to a technical error, the rating somehow got lost. Had to wait for Elwood to come online again to re-add it.
Weekend - new game day. You know how much I like detective mystery games, and this one didn't disappoint: The Hollywood Murders (PC).
Alright, now that we're through (for now) with Western games, I can finally add all the stuff which has piled up over the last month, but which has been put on the shelf so that it won't interfere with the 'themed' updates. Thanks for your patience, everyone!
Starting out, T-Pow has scanned the manual, the reference card and the box of Syndicate (PC). The manual is quite a large download - but it's worth it. Thanks a lot, keep the stuff coming!
Saving the best for last, here's my personal favourite game of this run: Law of the West (C64). Which means that as for me, this concludes this month's Wild West theme. Thanks for following, I hope you found something which sparked your interest.
Our old comrade Elwood joined in with our little Western scheme and sent in Western Games (C64) - if that isn't the epitome of that theme...
Staying with Atari for a moment, my next game is Lucky Luke (Atari ST).
I was planning on making a review of Outlaws, a Sierra shooter. But it was too boring, and too obsolete. It looked like a bad attempt to copy Duke Nukem 3D. So I decided to remove a letter from the title and bring you Outlaw (Atari 2600).
Colorado (PC) is a curious game from Silmarils. Not bad, not too good, but interesting at least.
Silverload (PC) has cowboys and Werewolves. You can't go wrong with that? Think again.
Short interruption of the usual updates with a 'structural' announcement of importance: As discussed in the forum, we decided to implement game themes as yet another way to list and search for games. Now we're faced with the problem of applying that information to the vast back catalogue of games. For this, we need your help. Needless to say any help provided will not go unrewarded. Come on, help make this site even better!
The Oregon Trail (PC) has quite a fame of being about traveling through the west and dysentery. I can assure that at least you will get more than you can chew from the first.
The Town With No Name (Amiga) is one of those early CD games, i.e. very interesting piece of history, but hardly one of the greatest games ever made. I enjoyed it, though.
Here we are again searching for treasure: Der Schatz im Silbersee (PC).
Who knows Alone in the Dark 3 (PC)? I didn't play it before, always thought it was going to be quite bad. But then I tried it and liked what I saw. But then I kept playing and found after all it was a bad game.
Now, more gold search: Lost Dutchman Mine (PC). And still western things will keep coming.
Here's the next one: Gold Rush (Amiga).
Oh, you thought that last update was it? Sorry to disappoint you, but we'll torture you with 'Wild West' related games for the rest of this month! You won't believe how many there are. So be prepared to total greatness! Today, the 601st game on the site: Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (Amiga).
This time it's my turn to say this, we have an anniversary. No, we didn't get married. I mean the webpage's anniversary.
It lasts. I can barely recall when I first saw this page (years before I would have anything to do with it) and it was immorally ugly. But things have improved, and will keep improving (it's always your chance to say what to improve, we listen to feedback).
This time the biggest improve will be the addition western games. We were thinking on keeping it just on disturbingly manly cowboys but I'm sorry to say we will have to do with indians (without workers nor policemen), deserts and everything western.
But don't despair, the first one which comes here is all about cowboys: Los Justicieros (PC). It adapts an arcade named Zorton Brothers, which I never played. But the game itself was quite popular in Spain, and people still remembers it fondly.
As many of you will have noticed, Home of the Underdogs, one of the best sites of its kind, went down a few weeks ago. Although the owner is allegedly working on getting it back online in some form, it all sounds like it'll take a while.
The site is / was one of the very few informed sources of game criticism (i.e. not run by a 12-year-old for whom everything released three years ago is "old"), so it would be a disaster to lose it. Yes, yes, it has been critisized all the time for various reasons (by me, too), but let's be honest: To get an overview, it's the best reference point there is / was.
So, to help out for now, I've put up what I have of the site here: http://www.goodolddays.net/hotud/. Note that this is not the site 'Home of the Underdogs' itself! It's just what I had of its contents. I'm neither trying to build a 'new' Home of the Underdogs, nor do I see this as an actual long-term solution. I'm still hoping for the real site to come back in some form. Once that happens, this temporary reference point will disappear again.
To make the difference between this and the real site clear from a technical point of view: What I did was write a simple Perl script which opens the HTML review pages one by one, parses them to extract all the relevant game information and write all that back into a database. The contents of that database are displayed with this simple frontend to allow listing and search methods as they were on the real Home of the Underdogs. I haven't double-checked each game entry, so if you notice any errors, please let me know.
Today's game comes from T-Pow, and it's called Creepers (PC). See, it's not that hard, is it?
After 8.9 years of preparation to get this particular game on the site, here's Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (PC).
The Child Murderer (Amiga) is a game which certainly isn't mediocre. Anything but mediocre, I can assure you. Promise. Really!
I swear I thought this one was going to be quite good. I love megaman games, and this looked like a nice clone. Anyway, other people may like it more than me.
Oh, I didn't say what I'm talking about? Well, today's update: Little Samson (NES).
Judging from last week's update, it seems Wandrell had the same idea as me: Lately, we've mostly been covering games which were just 'somehow ok'. Time for some good games again. Today: Discworld (PC). This is the third computer game based on the novels. The first one might find its way to the site one day, too, the second is very unlikely to. Oh, and downloads will be posted tomorrow (Update: They're online now).
In the last minutes of the week: this week's update. Here you have Guerrilla War (NES). A game where el Che and Castro, I mean, two nameless guys who look suspiciously familiar win a war on an island.
Disk images - remember? Here are a few new ones:
I've been thinking about adding this game more than once, as I used to play it as a kid. But playing again it doesn't seem so good. What game I'm talking about? Well, take a look at Rescue: The Embassy Mission (NES).
Blake Stone (PC) is one of those games which first are fun for a time. Using the Wolfenstein 3D engine it achieves little more than that game.
Another disk image upload from Evergreen: Indianapolis 500 (PC).
Here we are with the next game (including a floppy disk image, of course): Crown (PC).
More disk images, again by Evergreen:
This update is brought to you thanks to Evergreen who (amongst other files) uploaded a disk image of StarControl (PC). Thanks a lot! Of course, the whole point of preserving games in their original state means that this comes with the copy protection intact. If you don't have the codewheel and want to use it, you might want to have a look at [application]Neverlock[/application].
Here are some more disk images:
Trying to keep a little diversity: Space Hulk (Amiga).
Two users have already been so kind as to upload disk images from their own collections - thanks to T-Pow and Gert! This also brings us to something which I assumed would be obvious, but before anyone is disappointed: We're happy about any disk images you send in, but only those of games which are already listed on the site will be made available immediately to everybody.
Anyway, here are the four we could match to our collection:
There are some conventions which are just fairly random. One of them is that games for IBM PCs are spread as installed versions while all others can usually be found as disk images. There isn't really a reason for making this difference (at least as far as computers which have a harddrive are concerned).
We've already been adding installed versions of Amiga games for quite a few years now, and we've also added full CD versions of any games where such versions exist. The last logical step missing in this is, of course, adding floppy disk images of PC games as well.
This will always be an additional option and not replace installed versions. If you're one of the people who just want to try a game as quickly as possible, don't bother downloading disk images. If you're a collector, however, you'll find this is the best option: the original format the games came in.
To give you a basic idea of how to handle such files, there is a new Disk Images FAQ dealing with the creation and usage of floppy and CD images. The former leads us right to the point which is probably most important about this: We need your help!
I personally used other computers than IBMs for gaming until the mid-90s, so my own collection of floppy games is limited. Many disks have also already gone bad, and quite a few of the other games I own we can't offer for legal reasons.
So, come on, people - creating an image of a floppy disk takes only a minute and the process is described step-by-step in the FAQ linked above. To start out, here are a few from my collection (and more are to come), but it's really up to you to expand on this.
It's a bit late and I want to get on bed, so you will get downloads tomorrow (which probably really means today). For now, I hope you find pleasure reading the review for Lands of Lore (PC).
And while we are on it: remember people, making reviews is great and we are awaiting yours.
The top ten run has now hopefully sunk into your conciousness enough, so what's following now is a phase of the usual 'whatever comes to your mind'. I don't know what your plans for the site are, so I don't know what you guys will add next. I can only try to keep the passive part of the crowd entertained with a few favourites of mine. So here's Jeopardy! (PC).
So here we are - the end of the line, the cream of the crop. The game most people have been looking for. Obviously, it's a very popular game, and admittedly, it is a game which would have fit in my 'filling gaps' run some time ago, because the first part of the series has already been on the site for a long time. Ah, first clue - it's a sequel. It also belongs to one of the genres less represented on the site (second clue). However, now I see that this writing of clues is kind of pointless as your eye will wander to the bold, underlined part of the text which spells out the game's name anyway, so without further ado, let's get to #1: Lemmings 2: The Tribes (Amiga).
Obviously, #1 concludes the run of your most requested games. Thanks for everyone who followed the list and we hope you appreciate those new game entries. You really should, because after all, it is the games you wanted to see...
I don't think it's just because I'm an snob, but the popular games don't tend to be of my liking. In this case it is the next on the list of popular searches: #2 Anvil of Dawn (PC). I always knew it had quite a few fans, but really I can't see why.
Although all the latest games have been amongst the most popular ones (obviously, that's the whole point of this run), the top three are always yet another step above the rest. So, the hot phase is beginning today with #3: Star General (PC). Another one of these games which really aren't very good, but which are still interesting in their own way. And to prevent the e-mail: I'm aware that there is an English CD rip floating around the Internet. That 'thing' is horrible - I'm not going to put it up for download. On the other hand, if anyone is willing to provide a full English version, we're interested, of course.
Graphical adventures used to be THE game genre. You know, wanted to make a game? You thought of them. Today's new game following the most wanted list is one of them: #4 Simon the Sorcerer (PC).
You see, we don't have many of those airplane shooters around, and now the list grows with: #5 Raptor (PC). I fear it is not as good as popular, personally I preffer R-Type and similars.
Well - that didn't work so great. As already hinted at two weeks ago the site's growth in popularity put quite a strain on the old server - until it became too much. Setting up this new dedicated server took longer than anticipated... well, you know the rest. Anyway, we're back now and the upside is that with more hardware resources, the site should now be a lot more responsive - till the next visitor boom at least.
Of course, this got our update schedule concerning the top requested games a bit. To get back on track as soon as possible, I'm picking up where Wandrell left it last time immediately. You know, some (most in fact) of those search queries are quite ambigous. In most cases, you visitors only enter a single word, which could be interpreted as many different games. This was such a case: There is a fairly popular game which has the search term in its title, but the title isn't the search term. On the other hand, there is a game whose title matches the search term exactly, but which is not quite as popular. In the end, we decided to go for the latter, and so #6 is Prince (Amiga).
And for #7 Flashback (PC). I'm too tired to comment anything, so please take a look to the game, it's worth it.
What is the eight game? #8 Worms (PC). The surprise is that I thought it was more popular, but I'm pretty sure not many of its fans know the first one was for MS-Dos and similars.
For next game in our top ten (see last news post), Elwood volunteered to take care of it: #9: Hattrick! (PC).
After a little more than one month with this new site, we're confident most things are working now, so it's time for some additional focus on the contents again. Wandrell and I decided to do something different:
Over the next weeks, we'll be filling game requests. More specifically, we'll add the top ten games entered into the 'Game Name' search box.
Actually, it won't be the real top ten, because those consist of games which are already on the site. The top search term - believe it or not - is Winzer, followed by the usual suspects (Ufo, Colonization, Monkey Island and such). Also, we're only counting search terms which are applicable, i.e. games which have just been released last month aren't counted (seriously folks - why search for those on a site called 'The Good Old Days') and application titles don't really belong in a field labelled 'Game Name', either.
As usual for such lists, we'll list the 'remaining' top ten in reverse order. So today, I can offer #10: Dogs of War (Amiga).
You'll see that the selection you dictated will be quite varied. Today's game is on the simple side of things, and age-wise older than most of what will come. In any case, I'm confident there'll be something for everyone.
Oh, and don't get any ideas: Entering whatever you want a hundred times into the search box now won't change things. We're adding the top ten searched games of the first month, so the games are already fixed now...
To conclude what I've started earlier: Spellcasting 301: Spring Break (PC).
Back on the breach and bringing Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion (PC). It is, well, a mediocre game. But to be completely honest, the game could have been a fun game if they had worked more on it.
I'm still spending most of my time fixing all those small bugs here on the site, however, new contents shouldn't fall behind because of that, which is why I'm presenting you Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance (PC) today.
Three pieces of good news: Wandrell is back, he's added a game and in spite of the rather shaky technical basis, it seems to have worked fine. A few will have noticed Bumpy's Arcade Fantasy (PC) being online for most of the day already, but I took my time to verify things before actually announcing it.
Finally... six months late, but it still got finished: the new incarnation of The Good Old Days. This version mainly tries to accomplish two things: integration and crosslinking.
Integration meaning all contributions and administrative tasks can now be committed directly through the site itself. Just have a look at the menu on the left - every registered member can use those functions to make the site better. 'Registered' leading to another integration aspect: We're now using the forum's member database on the site, too. So you can log in and use all those great features with your forum username and password. Just try it out.
Crosslinking meaning that on every page, we try to point you to other pages useful in relation to the current one. You'll find those links in the second horizontal strip on top. On game pages, this will obviously be links to screenshots and downloads, in on the 'about' page, you'll find a link to the new site history article and so on.
Now, as usual, there has to be a warning: All of this is still beta. Not beta in the buzzword sense as it is used by virtually every huge company these days to look cool. They actually have tested their 'beta' versions extensively. We're just a few hobbyists here, so that's a completely different story. Things are bound to break in the first weeks. If they don't, you're not trying hard enough. Please let us know if you encounter any errors or just any irritations!
The Dig (PC) concludes the series of Lucas Arts games for now. Although there are a few more, I don't really consider those 'classic' anymore (and they're also not very good).
Darishnoo decided to give Full Throttle (PC) a second treatment, arriving at a slightly different conclusion than me. That's great, as we now have both the generally common views right there on the page.
Oh well... I'm running a little thin here by now. Hopefully, Wandrell will be able to make a return soon (then again, we all know ISPs and the 'quality' of service...). Today's game is Full Throttle (PC), a somewhat entertaining romp by a Lucas Arts past their prime.
Here is a game which I just can't seem to be able to write a positive review about. Back in 1994, when I first wrote something about it, it was predominantly about things I didn't like about this game, and people were wondering why I still gave it such a good rating. Reading my own all-new writeup, I'm fairly sure it'll be the same effect this time for Sam & Max Hit the Road (PC).
Since you're supposed to win something from others contributing to the site, I'm adding the next game on my own regular schedule in spite of Vemperor's game a few days ago: Day of the Tentacle (PC) (I'm fully expecting angry mobs to come and lynch me - bring it on).
It took five days to be all wrapped up, but finally, here's Vemperor's first review since January 2001: The Addams Family (Game Boy). Actually, I have to say that's fairly normal. I usually take longer from the first draft of a review until it's published - just that you usually don't get to see this process.
One day earlier than scheduled, here comes the next game: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Amiga).
In addition, I'd like to mention that thanks to Vemperor, six more game reviews have been translated into German during the last week. If he had some help, we'd have full bilinguality in no time...
Filling blanks, remember? Lucasfilm still has quite a few of those here, so here we go. I always thought it isn't really necessary to cover their games, because they're all very well-known anyway. Seeing the countless sites claiming Maniac Mansion is their first Adventure, though, this no longer seems to be the case - Labyrinth (C64) has fallen from the radar.
Elwood's source of reviews has dried up for now, and Wandrell is without Internet access at the moment, so you're stuck with me. Once it became clear this would happen, I decided to fill in some obvious blanks, i.e. add games which have already been missing for very long. For example, we have had the first two Kyrandia games online for years already, so Legend of Kyrandia 3 - Malcolm's Revenge (PC) has been more than overdue.
Mah Jongg for Windows (PC) - another game entry quite typical for Elwood.
To get back on the weekend schedule: billiards (PC).
As you can see, we're down to weekly updates again. Simple reason: We're busy trying to get the next incarnation of the site running. Me developing it and all of us alpha testing it. Anyway, for now, here's Gemline (PC).
Another drug-related (and probably drug-induced) game on the site: Vaxine (PC).
First of all, sorry about the extended downtime yesterday and today. Although we're trying to avoid things like that, it's not always possible. Anyway, here's another game for your enjoyment Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge (PC) (better known as Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny abroad).
After this slightly longer break between the updates (caused by some server problems I had to take care of first), here's another one of Elwood's reviews: Deluxe Trivial Pursuit (PC).
Right - I knew it! There I was going to surprise Mr Creosote and while I sneak in that game he does an update as well without showing up on ICQ. Here's what you get for it: Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom (PC)
It's going very, very well at the moment. The more people participating in expanding the site, the more diversified it gets - which is good. Today, Jumpman Junior adds World Karate Championship (C64).
The results of the last poll (about your favourite game) are online, along with an explanation for those who didn't get the point.
With the addition of Ultima VIII (PC), we now have most of the series online.
Incredible - an update from Elwood, even though he's on vacation: Double Dragon 3 - The Rosetta Stone (PC)!
And once again, we have the results of a poll to show. It was about your year of birth / your age. In the new poll, we want to know about your favourite game.
Edit: Since this has been asked a few times already - yes, everything's alright with this poll. The options you see are exactly the ones which should be there.
Aye... me again. This one's Tetris: Bricks 2000 (PC)
Darts isn't exactly a game which translates well onto the computer. However, at least according to Elwood, World Darts (PC) doesn't seem to be such a bad choice if you're looking for such a game after all.
How to classify Blödtris (PC)? I'd say it's probably a game in the same vein as Advanced Lawnmower Simulation (ZX Spectrum)...
Heyah! Basically this is my first newspost here, but I doubt anyone will remember me anyway. So well... I used to run a big abandonware site aaaages ago. Now I review a game for Mr Creosote every once in a while.
Today I reviewed Puzznic (PC) - a game from the golden era of puzzle-games. Hope you enjoy it!
Kick Off 2 (PC) - do we see a problem with that combination? Yes, we do.
Manchester United - The Double (PC) is another sports game. Ironic, isn't it?
Poll time again. 'Why do you come here?' has been answered, now we want to know about your age.
Another review from Elwood: TV Sports Basketball (PC). If you read carefully, you'll know that there's more where this came from.
A real classic reviewed by Elwood again. I played this one a lot on my A500, too, even though I usually don't even like these sports management games much: Bundesliga Manager Professional (PC).
Today's game has been provided by veteran Elwood: Actua Soccer (PC). A comical name, and quite a bad game.
Once again, it's time for a new poll and the results of the previous one have been posted. Now, we want to know about the reasons you have for coming here.
Our newest contributor, sandy21, who has been translating quite a few reviews into German already, makes his debut as a reviewer today: Red Storm Rising (PC).
I think you can imagine of which game this one is the second part: The Island of Dr Brain (PC).
Not as good as the first one, but nice enough to play through it.
The next poll has expired, and its results are online. Again, thanks to everyone who voted and please take a minute for the next one.
Castle of Dr Brain (PC) is a game filled with puzzles. Maybe somewhat short, but fun.
Maybe I'm in a bad mood lately and can't appreciate things or maybe it's just luck, but here comes another mediocre yet popular game which I thought we had reviewed already.
I used to like Heimdall 2 (PC), well I still find it good if you look for a short game. But also I think that probably there was a good reason for it being a popular choice on the cheap games collections.
Results of the first poll about the games' year of release have been posted. Unfortunately, only very few people voted. I hope this will become better with the next poll (see right side) - it's only in your best interest to voice your opinion, after all.
I had played more than once Hexx (PC) but never much until now. Looked good but not too fun, so I wasn't surprised to discover that it really is good but not too fun.
I nearly forgot I had this review prepared: Don't Go Alone (PC), a curious dungeon crawler, nothing special if it weren't for a few details.
It's been a while (year, in fact) since we last had a poll here on the site. Now it's time again: Decide about the future focus of the site!
And what do we have today? It's the site's eigth birthday! Of course, you already knew since we've been celebrating all month. We promised to add a new game each day until the birthday itself. Successfully done. We hope you enjoyed the run.
This special day itself is dedicated to the other main part of the site, though. It's the complete renovation of the comics section. So far, it has almost always been a side-product of the rest of the site code-wise, added as an afterthought.
This changes today. To make the change completely apparant and also to force myself not to fall into this old habit again, the comics section is now written in Perl (while PHP is used for the rest of the site). In fact, what I've used there is a generic website framework I've written many years ago (with some modernizations and minor changes). It can host any kind of contents. To achieve this, it uses a page-centric approach, turning the content-centric idea which had been used before upside-down.
Anyway, I doubt many people are interested in the technical background (which is quite fascinating in fact), so I'll just say: Enjoy it! Error reports are welcome, and they should be easy, since the system basically tracks itself and should show errors and warnings to you directly, without the whole displaying of the respective page failing.
So, let's all raise our glass to the next year!
Yet another game. Will it ever stop? Of course, so better enjoy it while it lasts. Today's game was one of the most requested ones a few years ago. These days, it's not in such high demand anymore, so I guess we can risk putting it up without facing certain bancruptcy due to exploding bandwidth costs. So here it is: Die total verrückte Rallye (PC).
Today's update once again comes from Wandrell: Goody (PC) might not look overly attractive, but he praises the gameplay very highly.
Italy 1990 (Amiga): Man, did I play this game in the early 90s... sitting in front of the TV for hours and hours, ruining my eyesight. Even though I already knew the game was bad back then. Those were different times...
Here's the game which turned into one of the most elaborate hoaxes ever to be started by a computer game magazine: Advanced Lawnmower Simulation (ZX Spectrum).
I neglected to let you know what day the site anniversary is exactly so far (this piece of information can easily be found in the news archive, of course). So maybe the promise to add a game every day didn't sound that impressive at first. I hope this has changed by now as we're still going, and there are also still a few more days to go. Anyway, today, we have Zeewolf 2: Wild Justice (Amiga). Stay tuned for more.
Wandrell's next review is La abadía del crimen (PC). Obviously, a Spanish game, but sounds interesting from his description.
From Wandrell's exciting and popular games back to the boring ones I'm usually covering: Tony & Friends In Kellogg's Land (Amiga).
Wandrell reviewed Jungle Strike (PC) for today's update. Fits extremely well with the helicopter games and helicopter-like games which have already been part of this update series.
Dropping from very new to very old and from very good to not-so-great: Fishing Derby (Atari 2600).
This update is to cater to the average visitor of the site. The average visitor who wants his games as young as possible and as good as possible. So, here's a high quality game from the mid-90s: Zeewolf (Amiga).
Karamalz Cup (Amiga) is an addition to the evergrowing number of promotial games covered here on this site.
Today, we have a nice low-budget game: Pub Trivia Simulator (Amiga). Very educational.
Next on the list is Virus (Atari ST) (no, we don't have an Acorn section yet - anyone?). Widely regarded as a classic, and rightly so, yet not a game I personally could give a positive rating.
For all those who haven't visited this month yet: We're in the middle of the site anniversary celebrations, with one new game being added every day. Today, that game is Fire Fighter (Atari 2600).
Paradroid II (Amiga) concludes the flood of Paradroid-related games for now. I'm perfectly aware of the two additional C64 versions Graftgold made back in the day, but as you might be able to imagine, it's a little hard to come up with yet another way to describe the same gameplay idea... The anniversary updates will continue in spite of that, of course.
Tenth day of the anniversary celebrations, but you haven't even seen half of it yet. Dingsda (Amiga) once again proves the most common prejudice against games made from TV shows.
Although I tend to review bad games more often these days, this doesn't mean there aren't any good games left to cover: Road Rash (Amiga).
The eigth day of the celebrations of the eigth birthday of the site. Today, I'd like to presend Paradroid 90 (Amiga) to you. Another Graftgold classic, yet not quite as good as the original.
Magnetron (ZX Spectrum) is a lot better than the previous game, but at the same time, nowhere near as good as its prequel (which is already available on this site).
Old games is not always good games. In fact, many were quite terrible. Sites like this one tend to concentrate on the good aspects of the past for obvious reasons, but to set this record straight at least to some degree, here's Deathbringer: The Sword of Abaddon (Amiga).
Since the best of the anniversary games hasn't been viewed enough yet, here's a scheme to drive more traffic towards it: Quazatron (ZX Spectrum) is its sequel.
Crackpots (Atari 2600) is one of those ultra-simple games which you can learn to play within seconds. Completely intuitive, but also quite shallow, of course.
Game #3 is another classic by the fabulous company Graftgold: Paradroid (C64).
The second game is a very good computerized version of a very good board game: Cluedo: Master Detective (Amiga).
As you all know (ha, ha), the site's anniversary is approaching fast. In fact, it's at the end of this month. Each year, there's the question of what to do... and this year, we're doing something we've never done before: We're starting the celebrations early. In other words: today.
As a special gift, there'll be a new game on the site every day until the actual anniversary. Starting today. So keep visiting for juicy new additions! Starting today... with Battlezone (Atari 2600).
Boxing (Atari 2600) has always been one of my favourite Activision games.
Abuse (PC) fills your screen with enemies and explosions. Action packed and hard, it's a quite good game with some novelties, mainly that even though it's 2D, you shoot with the mouse.
Nr. 10 concludes the Interpart series. Phew.
As you've probably already noticed, I removed the offer to scan more series' as soon as they're completed some time ago already. This isn't a mistake - the offer is over. Although looking back, some people have thankfully jumped in and provided other comic scans, but it didn't have the overall effect I had hoped for. I wanted to expand the comics section collaboratively, sharing the work with others more or less equally. This never happened. Not even close! I received a few scans, sure, but I was still the one processing all the images and writing each and every word of the plot synopsis, the quick comment after it and the running commentary of the 'read online' versions.
I don't think anyone even considered helping with any of this. Shows how people are only interested in 'sharing' (i.e. downloading) the comics. Since I have absolutely no advantage of that (it costs me money, and it burns my free time), I'm at a low point of motivation (which stems from sharing a common passion, i.e. not just things flowing into only one direction) once again.
So don't expect much in the future. I still have a few scans lying here which people have sent in, and I will put those up sooner or later. Same if you send in more. But it might take its time.
Nr. 9 - one more down, one more to go.
In a desperate attempt to fulfill my promise, here's Nr. 8.
I can't really seem to get a grip on the comics anymore. Always trying to take it more seriously, but still, it's just not happening. But this time I promise: no other updates from me until the Interpart series is completed! Starting with Nr. 7 today.
Just squeezed in the final part of the series: Uridium 2 (Amiga).
Due to the unforseen previous update, this looks like jumping back and forth a bit: Uridium Plus (C64).
Thanks to Cypherswipe and fretz, we're able to open the new Atari 2600 section today. Three games so far:
There are reviews which virtually write themselves, because the games they're about are so well-known you only have to state the obvious. Uridium (C64) is one such 'run-for-cover' updates.
Colonial Conquest (Atari ST) is one of the few early accessable wargames. Originally made for the Apple II, the ST version is the most advanced and best looking one.
Updated Mo'Slo to the latest free version. Great to see that program still being maintained! And thanks to Dr. Dave for the heads-up.
Still adapting some things to the new forum script I installed, but that doesn't mean there won't be any updates: Sim City (CDTV) (Amiga).
Commander Keen (PC). Who have never played it? Really a great game.
And by the way, we are always glad of getting any review of old games, so if you like one and there is no review of it here, make one yourself and speak with us.
There is a good reason for the commentary, I fear we may get in a slow season. I personally have plenty of things to be done, and lately when I play is with a fast paced an light game.
A bit late as I was occupied this weekend, here comes the update.
Quest for Glory (PC) shows that not all Sierra games cause mental alterations such as paranoia, urges to beat something or deep stress.
An unusual event: I found the time (and motivation) for a mid-week update. So here's Interpart Nr. 5.
Some games need little story that usually is pretty bad. Adding a lot of text is becoming a fashion in new games for supposedly improving it, but luckily other know how to handle it.
In this case, they knew. They knew that saving your lands of the invading evil is a silly plot and so they created a silly story for a fun game that doesn't need more.
That game is The Horde (PC), which by the way it comes with a familiar face.
As a try to keep all parts of the site somewhat active, I've added Klass of '99 (PC) today.
The next Interpart issue: Nr. 4.
Continuing the comics with Interpart issue no. 3.
I made the review a time ago being tired and left it, needing a rewrite, until now. I hope it is not as bad as when I opened today.
The first shooter I found fun was Blood, just because it was ridiculously bloody and had silly black humor. The first I liked was Half-Life, and there are a few really good ones that become more than a shooter, like both System Shock and both Deus Ex. But this one was a first step trying improving a genre that today still is stuck in barely improved Doom clones.
This game is Strife (PC), quite fun it is.
With the magic number of 500 games reached, I'll take the time to concentrate on comics a little again. Someone (in fact, two people on the same day) sent in the one missing Interpart issue, so I'll continue putting these up. Today: issue #2.
Everything should be online again. However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that it's better for all of us if you report such problems. In this case, the situation lastet several days before anyone said anything. We're counting downloads, and there were several hundred broken files transfered over that period. Yet, only one person was 'brave' enough to say anyhthing? That's bad.
Please note that game downloads from A to F are currently non-functional. We're doing our best to get them back.
Five hundred games, that is the number now in the page.
You may feel nothing knowing this, after all quality goes over quantity and having much of something may not be a reason of celebration.
But it means the page has survived a long time, trying to avoid people from forgetting old games, true old games, not like when in TV game show they talk about five year old games as if they were museum pieces.
And I hope thing will continue, there will be more reviews, after all five hundred is nothing compared to all the old games released, and lets expect also nothing compared to the number of good games still not in the page, and maybe nearly forgotten.
But you came here for the games, and the one added today is Albion (PC), a game that tried to improve the MSDos 2D flavor when it was dissapearing, and managed to become quite a good game.
Not much of a surprise, but I still have to annouce it: Super Sprint (Atari ST).
Going towards slightly better games again: Super Cars (Amiga).
Some game entries are not meant to recommend, but to warn: Psycho Killer (Amiga).
Continuing with my 'own' updates, here's Marble Madness (Amiga).
Here it is finally, much requested, believed to be lost by some: The Case of the Cautious Condor (PC) (provided by Egon68 and reviewed by Zork).
Next game: Trail Blazer (Atari ST) (not to be confused with Trailblazer (PC)).
Located and uploaded full versions of Ancients I: Death Watch (PC) and Ancients II: Approaching Evil (PC).
Another game which in spite of its completely different theme and setting is very similar: Hydra (Atari ST).
Added S.T.U.N. Runner (Atari ST). This is the first time I've used the 7ZIP archiver on this site. I'm contemplating using it exclusively instead of RAR in the future, as it compresses better and it's also open source (as opposed to shareware). System support has become quite good over the last few years as well. Any opinions / objections?
I'm aware too many subsequent updates without game additions are unpopular, so here's Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (C64).
Alright, I gave in to the e-mail flood and updated the editorial about browser compatibility on this site reflecting the new version of a (undeservedly) popular browser. Further mails concerning this will be answered with a link to that page, if you really feel there's anything to discuss, feel free to use the link on the bottom of the editorial page.
Since the 'pre-1986' part of the games section was getting a little crowded lately, so you can now additionally select the years 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985 individually from the top menu. Now let's see how long till it happens to the new 'pre-1982' selection, too
Another seminal work in the history of video games: Yie Ar KUNG-FU (C64).
As a break from the historically important heavy-weights of the last few updates, here's a nice arcade conversion: Green Beret (C64).
Rebelstar Raiders (ZX Spectrum) - a true 'must play' if there has ever been any.
In reference to the last post, here's Back to Skool (ZX Spectrum) to show that while originality is great, there's nothing wrong with building on an original idea and perfecting it - even if the resulting game then isn't really original anymore.
For all of you who didn't believe in the superiority of classic games compared to new ones so far, here's Skool Daze (ZX Spectrum).
Thanks to two extremely helpful people, we can now offer a full scan of the manual as well as the copy protection codes of Hero Quest (Amiga).
Quad (C64) is a special game in the history of the site. It's the first one starting with a 'Q'. 'Q' was the last game initial missing, so now you'll find games for every letter of the alphabet here.
Hmm... my last numbers concerning this date back many years, but taking the usual visitor demographic of similar sites, I think it's fair to assume that today's game is older than most of you who are reading this: P.C. Fuzz (C64).
Quick update adding Metal Mutant (Amiga). If you experience any technical problems with the site, please mind this announcement.
I've added a zoom function to the screenshot pages. Compared to today's common resolutions, the original size which the screenshots are put up with is tiny, sometimes even to the extent of not really being recognizable.
That is why clicking on one will now zoom it by factor four (twice the width and twice the height, so total size is 22). Obviously, it'll only do something if the zoomed image will still fit in the visitor's browser window, so don't expect anything to happen if you try it with screenshots which are already large by default.
Here's a game you probably haven't heard of before: Ilyad (Amiga).
Next game: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Amiga). Readers who paid special attention to detail in the last new game entry already guessed it - well done.
As ultimate proof of what I said previously about the alphabet: Final Fight (Amiga). However, this is actually the first Amiga game on the site beginning with 'F'.
I swear it's only a coincidence! It has nothing to do with any alphabetical plan that today's game is B.C. Kid (Amiga).
I decided to approach the addition of games systematically now, i.e. add every game there is in alphabetical order. So today, I'm starting with Aaargh! (Amiga)
Ok, just kidding (not about having added the game). There is still something new to see there: In addition to the usual ADF and IPF disk images, I'll now try to add pre-installed versions of the games for those who have a hard drive ready as well. Others have already done a fine job in this area, but one more source certainly can't hurt.
I'm proud to present the 100th comic (not counting the various alternate language versions) on this site today: Caverns of Fear.
The unavoidable continuation: The Sunbird Legacy. Actually, quite a lot better than the rest of its series.
Picking up on the Golden Books again: The Trap.
I'm surprised of not having seen any review of Alien Legacy (PC), it's a very good game, even thought it's hard. I had to restart at least four times before being capable of keeping the colonies in good condition, and they require a lot of attention.
Wonder Project J (SNES), a curious game for SNES where you have to teach a robot, and one of those game that stayed in Japan until fans translated it.
Continuing with another new series (Golden Books): Mask of Evil and Meteor Monsters.
It's been months since I posted the last comic. Of course, everybody thinks I'm slacking. Probably even true, but the real reason why I haven't done anything is the conditions I wrote up on the comics front page a long time ago: No series can be completed, so I'm not even starting.
It's not that nobody has tried, though. A few kind souls have sent a few comics in. Not enough to complete any series, unfortunately. However, it's not the fault of those who did contribute something. So, to show the work hasn't been wasted, I'm now subsequently putting up everything which I've received. I will not add any scans myself, because the same conditions still hold. Also, I will not provide any 'read online' versions for now, because writing those comments takes way too long considering nobody seems to care for them anyway. As usual, you can see my own motivation is dependant on how much others are doing.
So, without further ado, here's today's additions: Eine Falle für He-Man and He-Man und das Ungeheuer (contributed by AB).
As an experiment, I've programmed a new module for the site today. It enables the visitors to export the meat of the site (the game entries) as printable PDF files. These PDFs contain the game review and the screenshots. It's experimental both from a technical point of view (just threw it together today, so please tell me about problems) as well concerning the point (let me know if it's useful or not).
By far the newest game on the site, Trailblazer (PC) has just been released as freeware, and it's also a classic concept it tackles - proving that not everybody is developing first person shooters these days.
Machiavelli the Prince (PC) is a trade game, with politics and a bit of war. Might be too simple for playing a lot, at least against the computer, but it's a nice game.
News from the Review Roundup. Round two is about games related to the undead. Our contributions are: Veil of Darkness (PC) and Dracula (C64).
StarControl II (PC) is the second part of StarControl. Ok, it's too obvious but what is unexpected is to see that the continuation of a simple strategy game is a great space adventure.
StarControl (PC) today, it is a popular series, and with reason. A good mix of strategy and space shooter, at least this first one.
I've always liked survival games, and this one which I knew by chance through a second hand store is one of the best, Survival Kids (Game Boy).
Today, following the review event, here are a pair of reviews, Mr Creosote's, The Legend of Ragnarok (Amiga) and mine, Burntime (PC).
Both are part of the first round: games relating to the world's end.
How time flies... it's already the next site anniversary again. TGOD has just turned seven years old, and unlike certain other sites who claim to have been online for x years, but nobody has seen them then, the (almost) complete history of this site can be found in the newsarchive. Not just an actual seven years, but also active seven years: No temporary closures, no long periods without updates. Now that is something to be proud of at last!
What's new today? Here's a list:
Starting with another series today: Interpart issue #1. That series is my personal favourite.
Added The Power of the Evil Horde!.
Another horror game for a Nintendo console that didn't go outside their country, Clock Tower (SNES). Here you will have to flee from a deformed murderer and his giantic scissors.
An entry to the (on this site) underused simulation genre: The Shadow of the Third Moon (Amiga).
As promised, a game. Quite a recent one, actually, but certainly one you won't find anywhere else: Dracula Unleashed (PC).
The Revenge of Skeletor! concludes the series. My next update will be a game again.
Since the current line I'm adding consists of rather short pieces, I can do an intermediate update in the middle of the week: Battle for the Crystal.
Resuming normal updating again, but please mind yesterday's longer post. Anyway, picking up what began with this year's first update, I added Skeletor's Journey.
Three days after changing the DNS of goodolddays.net as the final step of the move, I've now activated it as the main URL again. As far as I'm concerned, this move is complete now. Please report if you find any missing files, images or other errors.
Of course, a server move isn't done without a deeper cause. In this case, it's just a lot more capacity on this new server. I'm not talking about storage space, but about bandwidth. There are two immediate improvements for you, the visitors, which I've activated already:
1. Every comic can always be downloaded.
As some of you might have read in the forum, we're currently switching servers. If you're reading this, it means you're already looking at the new server. The URL is a temporary one until the main domain is moved.
As a few concerned visitors correctly assumed, I just forgot the words 'this year' in the last post. A new year has begun, so we're starting out with The New Adventure.
This will most likely be the final site update: Die Fugger 2 (PC).
Rampart (PC) is a fun game, nothing great but a game worth playing a bunch of times at least, as usual in one that comes from an arcade.
Last minute update: Operation: Inner Space (PC).
Today comes Sweet Home (NES), an horror themed NES RPG, and far better than the generic ones that and next consoles had.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (not the most imaginative title) concludes the Ladybird books. All of them will be up for download starting tomorrow.
I'd like to use this opportunity to remind you once again that the comic updates are heavily depending on you. If the reaction status stays at zero, I won't be able to carry on much further. Your loss. So please see the comics front page for details.
No, I haven't forgotten about the comics yet: The Secret of the Sword.
Both this update and the game aren't overly surprising: Crusader: No Regret (PC).
Crusader: No Remorse (PC) is a very good modern action game. As you can see, I'm pretty much adding 'easy' games at the moment, i.e. games which are easily written about, because they follow well-known patterns. This is a concession to other things demanding my priority right now, but in any case, it can't hurt to have those games on here, too.
The next game is Cannon Fodder (Amiga). Not much to say about it since chances are you already know it.
New game entry by me: Privateer (PC).
RPG and strategy in the court of King Arthur, and one of the most original designs for a game I have seen can be found in Spirit of Excalibur (PC).
As promised, I'm continuing with He-Man and the Lost Dragon.
Castle Grayskull Under Attack added today. If you think that's the whole series now, you're mistaken - more to come.
Oh man... how little I manage to do at the moment. My plan had been to put the rest of the series up this week, but now, I've only managed a single one: Skeletor's Ice Attack.
Weekend, which means chance to update: He-Man meets the Beast.
Although there has been zero reaction (apart from lots of people silently downloading) to my announcement from September 30th, I still haven't forgotten it. If nobody else joins in, I'll go as far as I can defined by what I wrote then, so there's still a few issues to go. Today: The Iron Master.
More dust in the wind: Jumping the CD hurdle.
Inspired by current events, I've written a new editorial: Where do all the reviews go?.
As per the last newspost, I've added Wings of Doom today. Reminder: That series is available for download this week.
Surprise! Going back to a section I haven't touched for many years (literally), I added a comic scan today: A Trap for He-Man.
In case you're wondering whether this is a one-time-exception, please read what I put onto the comics front page - it's important!
Along with this, I've made a few technical changes. First of all, these new scans should be of better quality than the old ones. Yes, I've learned a little about image processing over the years.
Also, you'll have two alternatives to get the comic: For download (in PDF format, subject to the well-known download rotation, so that'll be available next Monday) and as simple jpeg images as before. Just that the latter can be viewed online as well (and always, no matter what the download rotation says), along with running short commentary of each page. These comments will always be in the language of the comic, because to 'use' them seriously, you have to be able to understand the comic itself anyway. So in this case, it's English only.
Enjoy this scan and please check out the lists I've put on the comics section's index page!
I have been occupied, but here comes a new one, Troddlers (PC). It looks too much like lemmings, but it isn't a clone, it's a fun and original (as much as it can) game.
Solar Jetman (NES) added today. It's like lunar lander, but withouth landing. Instead you must carry things around and get rid of enemies.
Updated emulators:
After I had lost the screenshots for it, many I had done as I player because I liked it, I forgot about the review I had done, but now I found it, and after making some new screenshots here come Ultima VII, part 2: Serpent Isle (PC).
Smitle's turn again: Baldies (PC).
Today not a NES game. The Lost Tribe (PC) shows that not all educative games are boring and bad.
The second game I talked about on July 9th didn't make it. I simply got bored of playing it too quickly. Which is a pity, I haven't seen it available on the Internet for many years. Can't help it, though. Instead, I reviewed Fury (Plus/4).
The strangest things happen sometimes. Last night, I found an old review by NetDanzr which he had written when we opened the (now defunct) subsection called 'Hall of Fame'. It never made it to the site for reasons I can't recall. Anyway, here it is: Donkey Kong (NES).
Smitle already reviews his second game: Arnie 2 (PC).
The system-specific subsections should now be fully functional again. Thanks for all the reports!
I'm currently committing some internal script changes concerning system IDs. If you experience any unexpected, strange behaviour, please let me know.
A bit late, here comes Moai Kun (NES). A puzzle game, with platforms.
Right. It's been quite a while since we last had a new category on the site. In fact, I think it was in the days of the 'Hall of Fame' which was incorporated into the regular category structure 2.5 years ago. Wandrell ends this period with the first game for an extremely popular home console: Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (NES). Of course, we also added a fitting emulator, which is FCE Ultra.
I'll use this update as a reminder: If the NES is your favourite system, do contribute to present it as well as possible. Also, we're just waiting for more systems to cover, so go ahead and help if you feel something needs to be here!
That was quicker than I expected, but no thanks to me. It was Smitle who reviewed Alien Rampage (PC) today. Never played it myself, but sounds interesting enough.
As promised, an update: Mad News (Amiga), the sequel of the better known Mad TV.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (PC) is the last of the games imported from 21st Century Oldies.
So the long series of daily updates ends here. Of course I can only speak for myself, but as it is, I sometimes even had trouble taking the time for these updates over the last few weeks. I've been playing two games which will eventually end up on the site, but even that was so sporadic that it takes a lot more time than usual. One of them will most likely be finished next week, the other one I don't know.
I don't know what Wandrell is up to these days. Maybe he'll pop in with another bunch of updates, maybe not. Maybe he'll tell you himself. In any case, we're back to the normal schedule of "it's done when it's done".
Ironic sidenote: During the time of the daily updates, the overall number of daily visitors has decreased, however, a bigger percentage is coming through the front page. The way the Internet works these days is alien to me.
Little surprisingly: Warlords II (PC).
With Warlords (PC), this series of updates is slowly coming to an end. There are two more games left.
Not so long ago, we had just one of the series on the site. Now, it's already most of them, and today, the first one gets its second version: Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (PC).
One of the very few games I never played before: The Pyramids of Egypt (PC).
You probably won't recognize it from the title immediately, but I assure you it's the original one: Tales of the Unknown: The Bard's Tale (PC).
Came home very late today.... added Sword of Aragon (PC).
Starflight (PC), on the other hand, is one of the best known games of its time.
Starting the month with a not-so-well-known game: Space Rogue (PC).
The sequel to yesterday's game: Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge (PC).
The mainstream's mainstream today: Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter (PC).
Technology isn't everything, but sometimes, it could improve things. Sopwith (PC) is the proof of this.
One of the first versions for IBM compatibles of Sokoban (PC).
After the commercial bestsellers of the last updates, here's a well-known freeware gem: Skyroads (PC).
Second review of Colonization (PC).
Another quickie: Civilization (PC). I contemplated adding this to the existing entry of Civilization for Windows, but in the end, there are more than enough differences to justify seperate entries.
Still a few hours left of the day: new review of Premier Manager 3 (PC).
Continuing with NetDanzr's stuff, there's a new review of Premier Manager 2 (PC).
And another manual: Kult (Amiga). When I first thought of putting up documents like manuals, I was thinking of small text files. Actual scans like this one can get quite big in file size, and so the it ranges somewhere between a few bytes and many megabytes. That is why I've added size information to all the document links now.
Another manual: The Hound of Shadow (Amiga). There are two manuals of that game online now. The new one is the PDF which I've scanned from the original. The other one is in HTML format and it does include everything, but not in the same layout. However, the latter is a lot smaller, so I left it for people with slower Internet connections.
No new game today. Instead, I scanned my manual of James Pond 2 (Amiga). While I was at it, I also put the box of Dreamweb on the device.
Added Pizza Connection (PC) today. This German game was released in the USA by Microprose as Pizza Tycoon. Although NetDanzr played the latter version, our policy is to call games by their original names first (hence some French titles in spite of none of us speaking that language).
Outrun (PC) is the late and not very good port of one of the most popular arcade games.
The revenge of the puzzle genre: Nebulus (PC).
We've already had the sequels on the site for some time, but here's the first part: Premier Manager (PC).
A review by myself again: Great Courts (Amiga). If you think it's ironic to add a tennis game while the football world cup is in full swing, I might agree.
I'm sitting here at university and the connection is going up and down all the time, so I'll just add this now as long as it's possible: Mortal Kombat (PC)
There. RPG is now officially not the smallest genre on the site anymore. With Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (PC), it has overtaken 'Puzzle'. So that's the new 'site underdog' now, I guess.
Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds (PC) is very similar to the first one, but improves the things in a way that makes it the best of the two. Also, this one haves an impact, important but very easy to not to notice when playing, in the next one, the second part of Ultima VII.
Without having actually counted, my guess is that slightly more than half of the games have been added by now. Today, we've got Might and Magic: The Secret of Inner Sanctum (PC).
Another game published by the empire of evil: Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 (PC).
The Microsoft Entertainment Pack (PC) used to be the most requested and discussed piece of software in the forum after 21CT stopped offering downloads. The strangest things happen sometimes...
Right on time again: Manhunter: New York (PC).
Last minute update: Links: The Challenge of Golf (PC).
Don't worry, the source of NetDanzr's reviews hasn't run dry yet, but whenever there is something else to add, it comes first. Like yesterday and also today. I wrote a review about Ökolopoly (PC) - a completely forgotten game. Now, there's at least one single site which has it...
Today the next in the series, Ultima VII: The Black Gate (PC). When I first played this game being a kid the freedom it gave me left me confused, I was not used to a game that didn't mark clearly your path and couldn't see where all that freedom ended, and compared to those game that supposedly give so much freedom nowadays, such as Morrowind, it stays as one of the best.
Yesterday's game deservedly failed to get much attention so far. This one will hopefully do better: LHX Attack Chopper (PC).
Going back and forth between good and horrible with King's Quest: Quest For The Crown (PC) today. This is not the same as the official 1990 remake we already had on the site before, although differences are hardly noticable.
An excellent game today. The predecessor of a very successful series: King's Bounty (PC).
With today's addition of Ishar 3 (PC), we've practically doubled the amount of RPGs on the site by now. One correction to the review, though: The Realms of Arkania series wasn't developed by Sir Tech, but by Attic. Sir Tech was just the publisher in the USA, and they didn't do anything but equip the games with a new title screen. Why am I setting this right here as opposed to the review itself? Because I'm not fooling around in other people's texts.
Hero Quest (PC) taken from the pool today. If you think this game has already been on the site for 5 years, you're right, but this is the port for another system. Without the data disk, though, as I don't have that one.
No long rant from me this time, because today's addition is an RPG which I can't say much about anyway: Dungeon Master (PC).
Everything's alright again, so I'm doing this a little earlier than usual to balance yesterday's failure out. I added NetDanzr's review of Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC). I can't resist to comment on this a little. First of all, the title sucks. In Europe, it was released as 'Battle for Arrakis', which at least doesn't make me cringe in pain. What's even worse is all these Europeans who act as if they're 'experts' on the game, yet they refer to it as 'Building of a Dynasty' - what more proof that they only just downloaded the game from an American site do we need? Secondly, it's a horrible game. I really liked it when it was new, but when I actually tried playing it again a few times in this millenium, I found myself bored by the repetetiveness, the lack of challenge and frustrated by the huge amount of luck needed in the last levels (when I opened an old saved game). NetDanzr apparantely doesn't agree with this (fine), but he does mention the third important point concerning this game: its responsibility for driving the computer game industry into the ground. The world would be a better place if it had never been released...
Sorry, no update today. When I turned on the computer to do the usual daily work, it turned out there was something wrong with it. To be exact, the root file system seems to be corrupt in some way. First time I've ever seen this happen to an ext3 system!
As you can see from this post, it's not that I don't have other computers with which I can access the Internet, but the problem is that all the files for the update are on the mentioned filesystem, so I don't have anything to add right now. Sorry for that, I'll get back to the schedule as soon as possible.
Today's addition is Dream Zone (PC).
DragonStrike (PC) hasn't even been on the site that long, and now it's already equipped with two reviews.
Just added Defender of the Crown (PC). Very, very ugly game as far as I can tell from the screenshots.
As promised: Crystals of Arborea (PC) which is the precursor to the well-known Ishar series.
Same deal as yesterday: an additional review and more screenshots for Command HQ (PC). Tomorrow, there'll be a new game entry again.
In some cases, the selection of games of TGOD and 21CT did overlap, so today, I can't present a new game entry, but rather a merger: NetDanzr's review of Championship Manager '93 (PC) has been added along with a few 'new' screenshots. Can't hurt to have a second opinion.
The graverobbing continues: Centurion: Defender of Rome (PC).
I'm updating a little earlier than usual today. Weekend is approaching, so things are a little different. Anyway, another port today: Castlevania (PC).
We're done with 'A', so today, we've got BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (PC).
As promised, another RPG today: Autoduel (PC). Please keep in mind that with these daily updates, newsposts keep disappearing from the frontpage at a constant rate. To be exact, they disappear after seven days, so if you haven't been here for more than a week, make sure you also check the newsarchive to stay up-to-date with what's been happening.
Short break from the RPG flood (don't worry, it's not over yet): Atomix (PC). This is a German game, but I don't have a German version, so if anyone could help out, I'd be glad to put it up.
Picking up from Saturday, here's Ancients II: Approaching Evil (PC).
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC) is one of the first good fully 3D RPGs. Now you are trapped in a dungeon among the left-overs of an underground community.
Following the order, the next Ultima are from the saga of the Guardian, formed by the best, and the worse, games of the series.
It's really great how 21CT's collection of games complements what we have here. Lots of RPGs, like Ancients I: Death Watch (PC).
And another one: Ancient Domains of Mystery (PC). Apparantely, an excellent example of current freeware RPGs.
Here's an entry to the much underrepresented RPG genre: Akalabeth (PC).
Afterburner (PC) today. You see the pattern: I'm just going through the list alphabetically and will continue to do so unless there are very good reasons to postpone individual entries.
Concerning what I wrote yesterday, I proudly present Acquire (PC) today.
For the sake of the newer visitors who aren't that familiar with the history of this site, I'm going to make this a little longer. For many years, we used to have kind of a 'sister site': 21st Century Oldies. The affiliation started with a simple link exchange and it went on with me hosting the site and both of us sharing the same forum. Sadly, at some point, NetDanzr (the webmaster) didn't have the time to maintain it anymore, so it disappeared. That was a pity, because especially the last incarnation featured excellent game reviews which were now lost.
Fast forward to the present. When I recently dug through my old CDs, I found an old server backup dating back to 2003. Guess what I found - the complete database of 21st Century Oldies. What a waste, I thought, and shot off an e-mail to NetDanzr. His answer: He gave his permission for these old contents to be included into this site now.
So starting today, I'll add the game entries of the old site to our database, starting with Abrams Battle Tank (PC). As you'll see soon, I'll add them one by one. This is for two reasons: First, adding more than one game per update seems to reduce the attention each addition gets and second, I have to do some minor work to convert the old screenshots, review format and everything into ours. So, a little patience, please. Everything will arrive here sooner or later.
Quite a rarity added today, courtesy of Pietoro: El-Fish (PC). It baffled people when it came out, and I guess it still does, seeing that almost nobody is willing to touch it. As if popularity had ever been a good indicator of quality!
Here's the next game again already: Timequest (PC). One of my favourite games in my favourite genre.
It's my turn again today, and I dug pretty deep through my old magazines. On one of those with a cover disk, I found Energie-Manager (Amiga). The hundredth (spelling?) entry in the strategy genre by the way.
The second spin-off of the Ultima saga was Martian Dreams (PC). An expedition to mars in the Victorian age.
Hello, hello. Jumping in to support main webmaster Wandrell a little with a small addition: Universe (Amiga). Not a very good game, but an Adventure, so it's at least worth knowing about.
Savage Empire (PC) was an attempt to save money by reusing an already created game engine, which apparently did not work. It's the first non-linear Ultima, along with Martian Dreams, the two Ultima Underworld and the Ultima Runes, for Nintendo consoles.
I did not to put the "Worlds of Ultima" sub-series label, as the next, Martian Dreams, has "Ultima, Worlds of Adventure". Better to avoid confusion.
With Ultima VI: The False Prophet (PC) ends the second trilogy of this series. Now a horde of demon-like beings invade Britannia, but at a difference to many games, a genocide is not the correct solution.
Today here comes Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (PC), which haves more story than the previous one and keeps being good.
I'm currently testing a new method to prevent other sites linking directly to our downloads. Would be unnecessary if there weren't idiots who think it's funny to use our resources and burn my money while taking the credit themselves out there. Anyway, there are many of those, so it has become a necessity to counter the latest tricks these people are using to continue their evil deeds. Of course, locking down security like that might affect regular visitors as well. So if you keep getting redirected to the page showing a photo of Leech or if images don't show as they should, please let me know.
Der Clou! (Amiga) is a game I really enjoyed when it first came out, and it hasn't lost its touch since then. When I was adding this game, I noticed the entry of They Stole a Million only had the English version for download. No idea why that was, so I added the German version to that as well.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (PC) is where the Ultima series started to be what they are known for, a good game based on a philosophical system. It is also the only one made freeware, to give publicity to Ultima IX, whose only relation with the games is the title.
We're all getting older, and so is this site - it turns six today! And, following one of the few traditions we have here, the design has been changed for this occasion. Like it was two years earlier and two years before that. I hope you all like it.
As opposed to 2004, this has really just been a change of looks. The system working in the background has proven itself very well, so I kept it completely and just slapped a new frontend onto it. In case you're wondering where the extensive game search capabilities went, move your mouse cursor over the headings above...
To explain the approach I took with this design which is a little different than the one before, I wrote a new editorial explaining many technical issues. It's called The Browser Wars - Part 42. Should be an interesting read for those who have no display problems, too, of course. For those who absolutely can't stand the new design or can't get it to work at all (not possible, actually), there's still the old 'plain version' (a link to which you can find at the bottom of this page).
Preparing these visible changes sucked up all the free time I would have spent with the site this year. You might have noticed all game additions since January have come from Wandrell so far. Huge thanks to him for that once again! He also did some work today and added D/Generation (PC).
As a final note, the only tiny change to the way the site's working is that I've split the applications into subcategories again. They had become quite numerous again. Only two of these subcategories so far, but at least it splits the truely classic programs from those which are 'helper' applications (emulators). So, in case anyone ever wants to pick up adding to that section again, the groundwork has been done.
That's it. On to another year!
Livingstone supongo (PC) is a game that makes me wonder how I could reach so far when I played it as a child. It is also a game that was very popular in Spain up to the early nineties.
DragonStrike (PC) is the first game of aerial combat in which you mount a dragon, and the best as far as I have seen.
This time the game is Another World (PC). One of the best action games for PC.
One of the best graphical adventures I have seen is Conquests of the Longbow (PC), with multiple solutions, minigames and a good story, even thought the main character is Robin Hood.
The Immortal (PC) is now in the list. A nice old adventure game, but which also may be a short one.
Dreamweb (PC) has been added today. An adventure in which the world salvation is reached through the dreams of a murderer.
Today here comes UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC). The game will be added later by Mr Creosote, along with and old review of and incomplete submission from 2002.
All downloads are functional again. Actually, the second server has been online for two days already, but I simply forgot to activate the links on the download pages. And there I was wondering why nobody connected...
Yes! We've done it - weekly updates till the very end. Thanks to everybody who actively contributed something this year. Sixth anniversary is already approaching fast... oh well. Anyway, don't forget to check out Ballyhoo (PC) in spite of all the hectic these days.
As promised, another update: The Lurking Horror (PC). Another thing in addition - the bigger files are going down tomorrow for the rest of the year. Sure, they'll come back, but only about two weeks later. So please, spare me the 'why are the links broken' mails until then.
A new game added, Mystic Towers (PC). An old shareware from Apogee that as usual is simple and fun. Should be noted that it is still shareware, so it couldn't be added as download, but in the apogee page you may get the free, and incomplete, version.
My update streak will slowly be coming to an end now. It's always the same with these ups (playing lots of games and really being motivated to write about them) and downs (not playing that much, and then only games which are already on the site or not feeling like reviewing them). After more than one month of two updates per week, I'm coming to a slower period again. No idea if anyone will fill the 'gap'. Just wait and see. I can still promise a few things will show up this year in any case. Today, it's Moonmist (PC). Maybe I'll manage to keep it up with weekly updates for those few remaining days. On the whole, not a bad way to end a year, isn't it? Still one of the less active years here in spite of that. Next anniversary is approaching fast, so let's see what we can come up with until then...
Here we go again. And again, it's the game everybody expected. I mean, come on, you've had the previous two names in front of you for some time now, so it's really simple. For those who still haven't guessed: it's Suspect (PC).
Yet another followup of the last update. Not quite the same quality as the last game, but still a very interesting one for fans of mystery Adventures: Witness (PC).
In general 'news', yes, I've noticed the decline of the activity level on the site as well as the forum, but with the hits staying on the usual high level, I can't really explain this phenomenon. Being a passive consumer is such an easy life...
Added Deadline (PC) today. If you haven't tried it already, grab it immediately, because otherwise, you might not have the chance to finish it before you die of old age!
I guess some of you already saw the pattern of where this was going. Yes, it is Incubation (PC) next.
Yet another review of a fairly common game, but undoubtly one I spent lots and lots of time with: Battle Isle 2 (PC). The last PC game I bought which came on DD disks, actually. Four HD disks and one DD, to be exact. Just a piece of random trivia - the kind of which my head is full of for some reason.
1869 (Amiga) is a game which can be found pretty much anywhere, and it has been discussed in detail. Still, I wrote yet another review about it - because most of the existing reviews make me vomit.
Another month, another update. Ouch, this sounds bad! Initially, there was a reason for the rather low activity here recently, but I'd rather not go into it, because it's a matter of pure frustration. Let's all rather enjoy the latest game addition: Rock'n Roll (Amiga).
Seems like some things went wrong with the last update. First of all, I put the download of Might & Magic 5 into the wrong directory, so it didn't work. This has been fixed after many other people must have noticed the problem, but didn't report it. Smart move. Second, Might & Magic 4 was plagued by a copy protection question. The manual has been uploaded to get around this. Last, but not least, there's a new entry to the library: Redhook's Revenge (PC).
A new game added, Might and Magic: World of Xeen (PC), which is Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen and Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen joined in one.
Here's another game: Shannara (PC). It got the same rating as the previous addition, even though I strongly dislike it and rather like the other one. I guess we all have to drop pure sympathy as a basis of judgement sometimes...
Here's the next game already. It's the one with most historical importance on the whole site - by far. Unfortunately, not the original, of course, but close enough: Spacewar (PC).
Almost exactly one month since my last review. No need for excuses, though - the site's still running smoothly even without lots of new contents from me personally. Here's Chase H.Q. (Amiga).
Yet another addition by Wandrell. I hope I'll be able to squeeze something in myself in the next days, too, but for now, here's Dungeon Hack (PC).
Wandrell saves the weekend once again by providing a fine review of Moonstone (PC).
Nice new review by newcomer Wandrell: Darklands (PC). Good to see the under-represented RPG genre to be cared about.
Yet another requested game: Herby (C64). Not exactly the best or most interesting game, but I promised, so here it is. Game #350 by the way.
Another cooperation by Mr Creosote and me: Discussion review and walkthrough of Geheimprojekt DMSO (PC)
Today, a card game: TriPeaks (PC)
A rather mediocre addition today: Space Commanders 2 (PC)
Rampage (Atari ST) added to the ST section. I wish I had written this game.
Yet another game review, written by Tapuak and me this time: Anno 1602 (PC). We couldn't agree on a verdict, but that just makes it more interesting, doesn't it?
A new entry for the ST section: Snowstrike (Atari ST). Not exactly a simulator, but not a simple arcade shooter either. Great time-killer and nerve-soother.
Here's a review of a game that's received generous bashings elsewhere: Bermuda Syndrome (PC). It's somewhere between action, platform, and adventure, which is a mix not to everyone's taste. But check it out, you'll either love it ot hate it. Download may become available soon.
Second game spawned from 'The Request Thread' in the forum: Raid on Bungeling Bay (C64).
New editorial by ardell (who seems to be covering pretty much the whole activity at the moment): Benefits of Gaming.
ardell sent in an excellent new introduction to the Atari ST which replaces the rather short and uninteresting old text by me. Thanks a lot!
First update after quite some time. The reasons have been stated here and discussed in the forum numerous times, so there's no need repeating them, as apparantely only very few people care. Anyway, enjoy Street Rod (Amiga).
Added Heart of Africa (C64). This is a rather unusual review as it has three authors: dregenrocks, Johann67 and me. We all played the game as preparation, and then met on IRC to talk about it - and this became the review you can read now. Of course, it isn't a raw log, but it has been edited for better readability and clearer points.
If you have any feedback about this reviewing style, we'd welcome it. There is already a forum thread about it titled 'Different review format?'. A good idea, or do you prefer the 'classic' write-up? With your opinion, you can influence whether this remains a one-time experiment or if it has future. Or just remain passive as you usually do. Whatever.
Another addition by Elwood. It's an RPG, which makes it even more valuable, considering how slim the site is on that genre so far. Anyway, enjoy Telengard (PC).
Not a new game this time, but an addition to an extremely popular existing entry. Dug out a Spanish version of Noctropolis (PC).
Yet another game review, this time written and donated by Elwood: WinRisk (PC).
Today, a game that's not quite a kids game, even though it may look it: Plok! (SNES)
After a week, the old front page has been removed again. In case you can't live without it anymore, you can still find it here: http://www.goodolddays.net/5th-anniversary/. Another old front page (one I'm really fond of) can be found here: http://www.goodolddays.net/5th-anniversary/2/.
Yet another addition by me today: EVO - The search for Eden (SNES). Fun for those who believe in evolution and also for those who don't.
Today, an small update by me: Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim (PC). While it doesn't really fit any genre, it's definitely worth the time spent playing it.
Woohoo! Fifth birthday of The Good Old Days. An eternity on the Internet these days. In case you're wondering about the front page, that's how the site first went online on February 26th, 2000. If you're shocked - that's how the Internet looked in those days. No, it won't stay
So what great things do we have to show today? The biggest game addition in the history of the site. Seven new game entries, getting us up to 333 games on the whole. What a coincidence! All seven ones are Adventures. Six reviewed by me, and one by Elwood who kindly stepped in in the very last minute when I was close to total burnout from writing review after review. And because I know most people like newer commercial mainstream games better, six fit that description. My little birthday gift to you visitors.
Now, before you all go rushing off to the download links, here are some thoughts which came to me when I was working on getting games for this update together. I've written more than 200 game reviews for this site. That already way more than I ever dreamed of when I started it. Don't worry, I do know a few thousand more games which I could review in theory. However, I don't feel strongly about many of those. Five of the six games I've added in this update belong to this group.
It isn't about quality at all, there are still many excellent games left to review. It's about whether I think I have something to say about them. And that's the hard part these days: finding such a game. It's also the reason why it took years before any Lucas Arts Adventures appeared here: I absolutely love them, but there's nothing which hasn't already been said. Everybody knows them and everybody agrees they're excellent, so there's no need to tell anyone about them.
To a lesser extent, this goes for most games in existence. They might be good, they might be bad, but they're not overly interesting to write about. That results in reviews like these. Just like the games, not necessarily bad ones, but certainly more difficult to produce.
Now I don't know how to end this little rant. I guess I just wanted to let everybody have a little insight into the inner workings of such an old site and what problems arise. So, without further ado, here are the game additions in alphabetical order (if you're up to a challenge, try to guess which the one game I didn't have the problems described above with is and post your answer in the forum):
Phew... another weekend almost passed without any update. In the end, it turned out larger than I thought, actually. First, there's Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (C64) as a new game entry (not that surprising after the last update, wasn't it?), and I also dug up an English version of Hannibal which you can now download from here.
Everything should be sorted out now. For a longer explanation of what happened, check out this forum thread. Also, here's the direct link to the latest game addition again: Maniac Mansion (C64).
Sorry for the extended downtime, there has been some trouble with our host. I am perfectly aware that the latest game addition currently isn't in the database, I'll correct this later once I'm finished with fixing a few other issues.
You know, I actually do read all game comments submitted to this site. Yesterday, there was one which was so true that I immediately had to react: it was about the different conversions of the boardgame Diplomacy. This game entry dates back several years, when there were only PC games on the site. The C64 has a way better version, though, so this is what I added today: Diplomacy (*) (C64) (the asterisc marking that it's not the same game .
Here's the usual weekend update. This time, it's a very popular game which has been added: Murder on the Mississippi (C64).
Today, a game you've never heard of before: Blade Warrior (Amiga). If that isn't true, my congratulations.
Yes, I know I shouldn't review RPG, because I just can't appreciate the whole genre. Yes, I know I can't do these games justice. However, in the almost five years this site has been online, nobody has ever really taken care of this genre, and so it's still by far the tiniest section. So, until someone else jumps in, you'll have to live with my half-assed attempts as this genre: Hero Quest 2: Legacy of Sorasil (Amiga).
Addition: Boxscan of Powermonger WW1 Edition.
zork kindly provided us with a patch for the sound bug found in The Case of the Cautious Condor (Amiga). If you got the game here previously, go and grab it.
Mainly out of technical curiosity, I made a search plugin for this site integrating into Mozilla (and of course Firefox). It's working nicely, both with direct searching and with sidebar usage. You can download it from this newspost as well as the menu on the left. Just extract it to your searchplugins directory. Enjoy!
Added the long-requested English version of Metal Marines (PC).
And here we have the promised game: Battle for Wesnoth (PC).
I did some work on the server containing the bigger downloads today to make room on the overloaded partitions, resulting in a downtime of about an hour. Everything should be working again now, but it is possible that I forgot to relocate one of the many files. If you get a 'file not found' error, please report it in the forum.
Oh, and the next game review is coming soon...
After the last routine update, I went for something less common again: Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows (PC). This game has previously been on my 'want list', so it's all the better that it turned up. Enjoy!
Final update on the question of pageviews (see earlier news): the game in question went up to #222, so it's nowhere near the top. In fact, half of the later additions have already overtaken it which is, once again, very sad. Bad luck - for you.
Quick game addition: Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls (PC).
That's quite an update today - a visitor who goes by the name of zork provided us with a solution of The Case of the Cautious Condor (Amiga). As far as I can tell, this is the only walkthrough for this game on the whole net. Thanks a lot!
I thought it might be time for some change, so I added an Adventure game today: Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender-Bender (PC).
Added a CAPS image of Victor Loomes (Amiga). Also, I started working on a 'want list' to avoid the daily number of mails offering to send in games - 99.9999999999% of which I already have. You can find it by clicking 'Help Us' on the left.
P.S. 273
A highly anticipated game - at least to me: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 2 (PC). In spite of all the excitement over this one, let's not forget the previous game. It made it to #296 by now. Still far from enough.
Small update on the pageviews-thingy. Good news: Yes Prime Minister (C64) has been the most viewed game over the last 24 hours. Bad news: On the list of games with most overall pageviews, it's still only #304. There are two options to succeed: keep it up at the numbers of this day for another 17500 days in a row, or increase your performance significantly. Both roads lead to success...
Here's Yet Another New Game: Yes Prime Minister (C64). What few people know is that we count the pageviews of each game entry here, and these stats are often very depressing. Depressing how unequal the interest is distributed. So here's an offer: If the aforementioned game climbs up to the top of the most viewed games (just the review page, not the download), I'll make every single game entry downloadable. There - that's a challenge which is worth it, isn't it?
Scanned the manual and box of Blasteroids (Amiga).
Ok, so it didn't take that long after all. Here are the next two game entries: Spidertronic (Amiga) and Operation Stealth (Amiga). As usual, there are several different versions of each available.
Bad news first: It'll most likely take just as long again until the next update, because I'm extremely busy with university, and it seems the others don't have too much time for the site, either. At least I could write one quick and easy review today: Blasteroids (Amiga). Along with this addition, I decided to include Amiga games in IPF format as an alternative to the classic ADF if available. In case you don't know what that means, I suggest you check out CAPS. In a nutshell, IPF files are exact images of original games, not modified cracks. Especially useful in combination with WHDLoad.
After one day of downtime, here are a few additions. First of all, there's std who gives you all Deluxe Paint II. For those of you who think games are everything, there's good news, too. A visitor provided me with the English version of Noctropolis (PC) which is now available for download. Another biggie preserved.
I also made screenshots of several apps and updated some of the data there.
SNES9x 1.42 (emulator) for Linux.
Added two walkthroughs for Flug 714 nach Sydney (PC) and Adventure (PC).
This time, it's me again, adding Frederik Pohl's Gateway (PC).
std is responsible for the latest addition, so don't blame me if you don't like the game: Battles of Napoleon (PC).
It's strange how I always get more productive concerning this website when I actually shouldn't have the time for it... anyway, Heart of China (Amiga) has been added.
I went through the apps section to see which programs had upgrades. Quite a few have been replaced with newer versions, namely: CCS64 3.0 Beta 1.4 Windows, Minus/4 Windows 2.5, ScummVM 0.6.0, Snes9X 1.42, Steem / XSteem 3.1, WHDLoad 16.3, WinUAE 0.9.91 and YAPE 0.57. I hope this gets everything up-to-date again. I couldn't find any website of some of the emulators anymore, so if any of you know about more recent sources, let me know.
Next addition: Warlords (Amiga).
Slowly picking up again after the vacation: Banshee (Amiga).
All the files are back online now. I also added a boxscan of the latest game addition.
Our download server is taking a vacation, so some files won't be available for a few weeks.
Here's another of those adventure games: I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream (PC).
Everything should be online again now. If you still find errors, please report them.
We're back after almost a whole week of being down! The reasons why it took so long are multiple, a little more information about it can be found in the forum. I won't repeat it all now, so all that's remaining for this post is a pledge to bear with us as I'm uploading the whole site to the new server. That's thousands of files we're talking about here, so please don't panic if you find broken images like missing screenshots and broken download links. Everything will be fully online again in a few hours.
Inspired by Tapuak's extra additions, I wrote a walkthrough for my own latest addition.
Finally another game reviewed by me: Jagged Alliance (PC).
Here's one of the games which is going to be downloaded quite a lot again: Noctropolis (PC).
Yes, yes - I know it's been quite some time since I added games. But once again: it's not possible to write reviews non-stop. This latest one (about Locomotion (Amiga) by the way) took me hours to write, and it's still quite a weak and short one. So please either give me the time I need or take care of more frequent updates yourself. There is no god-given law that everything has to be done by me, you know...
Added manuals for the following games: Beach Volley, Chaos Engine, Indy 4, King of Chicago, Lemmings, Mega Lo Mania, Monkey Island 2, New Zealand Story, Pinball Dreams, Powermonger, Shufflepuck Café, Soccer Kid, Stunt Car Racer, Virocop. All of these are from the classic 'LSD Disks'.
To correct the misimpression that I'm the only one working on this site, std jumps in with two fine additions: Blood 2 (C64) and Kawasaki Synthesizer (C64).
This addition marks game number 300 on this site: Mad Doctor (C64). Yes, it had to be a special one, of course.
To clear up some inconsistencies: This game is indeed number 300, and it still has the database ID 301. Also, if you look at the 'all games' list, it says '297 Games found'. That is because of one of the old 'specials' (regular visitors might remember those) being impossible to split up, and so one 'entry' consists of four games. So - everything is alright over here. Enjoy!
Here's what you've been expecting for this update: The Detective Game (C64).
Another nice new game. It is actually pretty new indeed. First played it a few years ago when I got it on one of those 'compilation CDs'. As I said, a really nice one: Wodan - The Trial (PC).
As you can see there have been quite a few updates lately, so the news are getting 'old' pretty quickly. That shouldn't stop you from checking out the previous additions as well, of course.
Tried to remove some of the clutter on the main page. It's kind of hard to squeeze all this different information on here in a usable way.
Here's the next game: PCKaiser++ (PC).
That was close... almost another weekend without an update. In the very last minute, I finished the entry of Rick Dangerous (Amiga). Oh, and Hannibal now also has a boxscan.
Finished my hints document for Hannibal (see last update) today.
Next library entry: Hannibal (Amiga).
First the Adventure flood, then all the ranting - enough of that for now. Back to classic arcade style: Alien Bash II (Amiga).
Folks, I'm fed up with this crap. I can't keep it uncommented any longer. All those years that I've been running this site, I've read thousands of error reports about it. "Link x is broken", "why can't I d/l game y" and "that site has spyware/trojans/virii". The problem with that? 99% of all these reports weren't told to me, but made in some other forums I've never visited!
It usually goes like this:
As you've probably already noticed, the chance of me updating during the week is rather slim at the moment. I'm trying my best to balance this out on the weekends, though. Of course, I can't promise anything for Saturday and Sunday in general...
Anyway, tonight, I did prepare some more stuff for you to enjoy. Primarily, it's Backstage (Amiga). This entry includes a self-written walkthrough. While I was at it, I also wrote one for last night's addition. Next, I replaced ScummVM with the most current version. Last, but not least, I fixed a bug in the code which sometimes prevented people from downloading.
Well, that wasn't so bad for two days on the whole after all.
Now, this addition is a real classic. At least to me, I should add. It's Bi-Fi Roll: Snackzone (Amiga). Enjoy!
Here's the next one. It's so far the largest game ever to be offered on this website, and it's very likely that it'll keep this title for... at least a very long, unspecified time. Probably forever. Looking at our download statistics, that makes it a likely download candidate for most visitors (the bigger a file, the better the game?). That is also why I can't promise it'll stay forever. But don't worry - at least review, screenshots and boxscan of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 3 (PC) will stay.
In case you expected something more... spectacular after yesterday's newspost, you'll probably be disappointed, but fans of obscurer titles might be pleased with this addition: Auf dem Weg nach Europa (Amiga).
Right. While I'm still pondering over which game to review next, std provides us with an addition: Gladiators (C64). Oh, and a note for those who still haven't noticed: There are two dropdown boxed on the lower left side of every page. These can be used.
Quite a few days have passed since the site's fourth anniversary and thus the last public update. Of course, the reason was given there - and after lots and lots of work, here it finally is: The New Good Old Days!
The ideas and reasons for the recoding have already been explained in detail in the forum a long time ago, so if you care, chances are you already know. No point repeating everything over and over again.
This change of system also comes along with a server move. As I'm writing this, the old site is actually still 'visible' for the public. When you're reading this, it means the DNS records have finally updated.
Last, but not least, recoding the site hasn't been everything we've been up to lately. A content freeze for the old site doesn't mean there aren't any new contents 'produced' at all. So these are the newcomers to the site: Pirates! (Amiga), Elefanten! (Amiga) and 221B Baker Street (C64). This increases the gamecount to 288.
Now stop reading this nonsense and start browsing the site. There's a lot to discover!
Four years ago, on this very day, The Good Old Days first went public. This is usually a time to look back at what has been achieved. This year, I'll break with this tradition. Our newsarchive is stacked with enough historical information.
Instead, I'd like to offer you a look into the future. As those of you who followed the development of the site closely and read the discussion about 'combined view' in the forum know, the site is undergoing major changes. I dare to claim these are the most groundbreaking changes it ever had!
You can read more about it and have a look at a few screenshots in the forum.
Added boxscan of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (Amiga).
Updated UAE for Linux and MacOS X to the latest versions, and added UAE for BeOS and Amiga.
Two more games reviewed by std today: Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing and BMX Simulator.
There isn't happening much here at the moment, but everything has its good reasons... anyway, we have a new application reviewed by Alex today: Writer.
A new year has begun for some of us, and all downloads on this site have been enabled again.
As per previous notes, some downloads are unavailable for the rest of the year. Also fixed the error message appearing on the front page.
All downloads are working again since last night. The same ones which were down recently will be taking another vacation starting on the 24th, so if you urgently need some of the big files, I suggest you get them now.
Important: Due to hardware problems, some downloads aren't available at the moment. Mailing us about it won't help. We're working on a solution.
Updated the Amiga emulators to the most current versions and added the versions for Linux and MacOSX of the new 'experimental' UAE branch.
An addition, worse than even Last Action Hero and King's Quest combined: Helicopter Mission.
An extraordinarily big update today, with Karate Champ, The Way of the Exploding Fist, Fist 2: The Legend Continues and Fist + being added. That was possible, because all these games are basically the same. That influenced the review length as well, of course, but what would be the point of copying and pasting the general description into each review?
Seems like I lied in my last update. Not on purpose, of course. Things just turned out different than I expected. You're still stuck with me and my tight schedule. Gobliins 2.
Just finished the last exam of the last semester yesterday, and now the new lectures are already starting on Monday. That's life, eh? Anyway, I've resumed my usual updating again. It didn't go as well as planned, but I've decided to put up Gobliiins anyway. It's game No. 275 on our site by the way!
And one of Mega Lo Mania. In case you missed the earlier news about the reason why there aren't that many big updates at the moment: I still have another week of exams at university before me, and my little free time goes into the 'similar games' system (which turned out to be more time consuming than I hoped) at the moment.
Box of Dark Seed.
While the comparisons are slowly creeping in (will continue adding more after writing this newspost), I found the time to scan the box of James Pond 2.
After two months of 'having it planned', we've now started to actually implement a system of 'comparisons with similar games' (if you're not sure what that means, check here). The first examples can be found here and it'll be extended to the whole site over time of course. I'll be pretty much busy with that in the near future, so please don't expect many new game entries.
And as a final consequence Warlock: The Avenger. If you don't understand why this is a consequence, better learn reading, because then you'll be able to follow my explanations about this.
You all knew what'd come next: Druid 2: Enlightenment.
The specials have been neglected for a looooong time now. That's not my fault, though - if I don't receive anything from you, I can't put it there. So anyway, a really great addition there today: A psychological study about fish.
New game: Druid.
Scanned boxes of Prisoner of Ice and The Last Express.
Online again.
Scheduled downtime of the bigger downloads until Wednesday night.
Followup to one of the last updates: International Karate +.
...and an older, but way more popular game: Impossible Mission.
A current game again: The Last Express.
A very well-known game today: International Karate.
The next game: Mafia.
A current open-source operating system is something we only rarely offer. No rule without exception of course: Contiki.
New box and a second version of the comic for Beneath A Steel Sky.
Big downloads are up again. During the next few days, there will still be a lot of reboots of the server, so you are now even more adviced to use a download manager!
Status update: The basic work has been done, you can expect the server for the bigger downloads to be up again on Tuesday. No, that is not a promise, but an estimation.
Big downloads are down for an unspecified time, because I have to work on my hardware setup.
Once again something for the fans of current games: Prisoner of Ice.
My own addition: Mean Streets.
A new game, not from my, not from Tapuak, but from INCISE-66. He promised to come up with more reviews in the future, so the dry period for PC freaks might be over. For today, enjoy Transport Tycoon.
Several downloads which had been taken down because of file size have been enabled again. Not in the usual way though - less reliable. I guess it's still better than nothing, though. Details can be found on the respective download gateways (try Case of the Cautious Condor for example). Note that this is an experiment. It can be gone again just as fast as it appeared. Also keep in mind that this doesn't affect any games copyrighted by IDSA members.
New box: WWF Raw
Who drives a black car and wears a coat with bat ears? Right, an idiot who beats up clowns (some call him BATMAN).
I've dug through some lesser known games again: Case of the Cautious Condor.
Since I've received many complaints from Amiga users who thought they have to convert the .rar-files we offer to another format on a PC first, I've added UnRAR 3.10 to the applications page. As you can see, all you have to do is download the games directly to your Amiga and then open the archives there
A game from my personal pet-category of promotial games: Abenteuer Europa.
And the sequel you've all been waiting for: Pinball Fantasies.
I'm currently enjoying a free week and it shows: Pinball Dreams.
And the next one: Guild of Thieves. As you will have noticed, the latest reviews lacked a bit of quality. That always happens periodically if I'm writing too many of them in too little time. I'll take a little break to get some creativity back. That doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any updates of course...
Flashback to the 80s: The Pawn.
Due to requests, you can now also download Antheads - It Came from the Desert 2 from here. Enjoy!
Another update: Two versions of the essential program ScummVM.
Next: In the Dead of Night.
The original one again: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 1.
As promised, a game from the CD-ROM generation. You probably won't find it on any other website: Sixth Sense Investigations. Sorry for the low amount of screenshots, but as mentioned in the review, it is quite hard to make any. I'll add more later.
Today, I proudly present you the 250th game on The Good Old Days! This is the amount we wanted to reach for our anniversary last February in fact, but we simply didn't manage. Now we're there at last - with the addition of Murder. By the way: I still remember my promise to add some CD-ROM games - the next ones (from me - can't speak for the rest of the crew) definitely will be
A really big update today. In alphabetic order: 1st Devision Manager, Dictator, geOS 2.0 and Stunt Car Racer. Have to try that Dictator game out myself
A bit unusual coming from me, but I promised I would: The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes.
Added a download for Monkey Island.
And another one: Deja Vu 2. Reviewing those four last games in a row was of course easy, because they're all based on the same engine
Next one: Shadowgate.
More of the same: Uninvited.
I'm in Adventure-mood again these days. First result: Deja Vu. This genre had another (and last) high time in the mid-90s, so there probably will be a few games from the CD-Rom generation appearing here shortly. Don't expect such huge downloads of course.
Added a comic which I had lying around (someone had sent it to me some time ago). Because this is apparantely incomprehensible (or because people simply don't read), I've now automated the download rotation of the comics. It'll change every week and it'll also tell you when the ones which aren't downloadable will be up again. I hope this saves me answering the same question all over again.
Due to a shitty Internet connection, we've gone back to me presenting the updates: Hacker 2.
Here is something for Mr Bush to play with: Battle Isle. Maybe then he'll understand what the difference between a computer game and reality is!
OK, here's my first 'true' message added new game in C64 section - Archon.
And an update for which I'm only the 'messenger': Breakthru in 3D. A bit of a strange name for a game...
In case you're wondering why the output of games has decreased so much lately, I can assure you it won't change in the near future. Still one more month of exams to go. I'm trying my best though: Wetten Dass..?
Today, I made several internal changes to the database to make it easier for you visitors. The visible effect are that some elements are now placed on 'better' spots. Boxscans have been moved into the 'area' of all the other available files and the 'alternate downloads' of some Amiga games (which according to our download stats were impossible to find for most visitors - they were only directly under the review in bold letters and underlined) are now right below the 'main downloads'. Hope this helps to avoid more confusion.
Comics download rotation switched to minicomics.
Major upgrade of our forum: We now reached board version 2.0. This update makes posting easier to newbies with clickable smilies, easy board code and more comfort functions.
C64 - the home of Ping Pong. More than 10% of the games released for that system deal with this sport!
Today's the third anniversary of the site. There won't be anything special for personal reasons though.
New boxes: Battle Bugs & Die Siedler.
Buggy Boy. I just hope this continues without my own help that well, because my free time will be severely cut down to almost nothing in the next two months - exams, exams...
Did some work this weekend myself, too. A game you all know: Die Siedler. Yes, I'm really sure you do know it!
New in C64: Garrison.
All downloads have been moved to the same server as the site again. That should ensure better download speeds. If you find any broken links, please report them.
Here is my own addition, of course from one of the usual genres: The Perfect General.
8 Bit time again: Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness. Yes, to my own surprise, this is the real name of the game! I'm more than happy to be able to present another RPG on the site now, this genre has been close to non-existent here until now. We need more of those games! In case there are more fans who want to help to fill this gap, just contact me.
New boxes: Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.
As promised: Loom.
And another of this kind: Der Rasende Reporter. Those of you who like to read about games they already know will be served on the next update.
As so often after a common game, here is a lesser known one: Victor Loomes.
New boxscan: Mag.
Back to the best of all genres: Beneath A Steel Sky.
New game: Lemmings.
Added boxes of Populous 2, Kult and It Came From The Desert as well as a rare map for the latter.
The missing part of yesterday's comic has been added and in addition, I have a 'new' comic for you which I had promised to scan quite some time ago: The Power of Point Dread / Danger at Castle Grayskull.
This is a comic which none of you English-speaking people will know: Die Jagd nach dem Zauberschwert.
No, we're not dead yet. As you might imagine, everyone needs breaks from writing reviews though, thus the slightly longer pause than usual. Today's addition is worth a small celebration, because it is the 50th Amiga game on the site (not counting games which should be in the Amiga section, but have been foolishly added for another system): King of Chicago.
New boxes: Hound of Shadow, Powermonger and Populous.
For some reason, I had a lot of free time today (university is closed - no idea why), so I reviewed Curse of Enchantia.
Must.... review.... more..... games! Today, I took the easy way and wrote about a well-known game called Powermonger. But did you know you can play this game in a World War 1 setting? Either way, check it out!
Added one of the most thrilling games ever: The Hound of Shadow. One of the few games which actually caused sleepless nights for me - because I just couldn't stop thinking about possible solutions of the points where I was stuck
Wrote a new editorial. Those who know me a bit should know what that means: bashing of some defenseless group. Enjoy!
Added another lesser known Adventure: East vs West: Berlin 1948. Definitely worth checking out!
Added box shots for Lords of the Realm and Phobia as well as a manual for the latter.
And there is the second one: Adventure of the Blue Diamond.
Added a user-contributed comic: Der Weg nach Mizar. Activated the downloads for this series of course, too. Please keep in mind that the more 'complete' what you send in is (e.g. containing the scan with 'correct' file names in good quality along with a review), the faster I can put it up!
As announced earlier, the comics series which are for download are subject to constant rotation. I now disabled all downloads for minicomics (don't worry - they will be back again later) and enable the Star Comics.
Added AddressMate for Windows to PC Apps section.
In my last updates, pretty new games were clearly dominant. That is why I dug a bit deeper this time and found Kult.
Seems like at least one of my 'job adverts' worked quite quickly: the apps count has almost doubled with today's addition of three new-old programs contributed by Guzzardo.
Two more games which are in fact really new ones. One of the two was one of the last games I bought for full price when it first came out! Guess which: Cross Check or Lords of the Realm?
Just for the record, in case anyone is wondering: Of course I didn't review all these four games only yesterday and today, but I started with these four on last Thursday! Adding even only one game a day with such a long review and so many screenshots is impossible without a big crew or a lot of free time, two things we/I don't have. So please don't expect this growth rate to be maintained.
The latest additions were all 'successful', each in their own way. Lords of the Rising Sun easily surpassed the download count of several 'older' games in no time. Police Quest stirred up a bit of a controversy in the forum (deservedly - I wrote the review to provoke after all ). While discussion is always good, the site should mainly be about good games, so I tried to continue the first line today: Mega Lo Mania.
And now for something completely different. It is no secret our crew situation has been better. We're down to two crewmembers again, Tapuak will be out for at least another few weeks and my own free time doesn't really increase, either. That is why we need your help! So once again: if you're interested in helping out (either on a regular basis as a crewmember or only as occasional contributor), just give it a try! All you need is some solid knowledge about classic gaming (no matter on what system) and a not-so-bad writing style. No technical requirements apart from an Internet connection (how would you be reading this otherwise?). There is nothing to be afraid of, I won't bite! At least not immediately....
Yet another update. Not bad. The same can't be said about the new game though: Police Quest.
It's war once again: Lords of the Rising Sun.
Today, I added one of the first games I ever had as an original version. It is also one of the best ever: Phobia.
As announced earlier, I checked the bandwidth usage since the downloads have been re-enabled and evaluated it. It turned out significantly less transfer has been used than I anticipated. That is why I increased the file size limits today: 3 MB for PC, 6 MB for the rest. Looking at the download statistics, this is still not fair towards the emulation fans who are causing only a tiny piece of the overall bandwidth, but I don't want to 'discriminate' PC users too much. I'll continue monitoring the bandwidth and maybe adjust the numbers again later.
Just a note you can disregard the previous news now. Thanks to all the people who offered to send me the scans, the response was overwhelming! Special thanks to the first two guys who made the collection complete again: swgreed and Lord Deimos. I'll put them up for download again tonight.
This is a bit of an unusual update: a request. I was notified there are some comic downloads missing on the server. So I browsed my hard drive, but couldn't find them there, either! Must have uploaded them from somewhere else and then forgotten about it Now I could of course scan them again, but probably, there is a way around it: If any of you has downloaded one of the following files before, please contact me:
Today I present you a real 'classic' with 'great' graphics, 'easy accessability' and so on and so on: King's Quest: Quest for the Crown. Hint: Don't read the review.
Make sure you didn't miss the news post before this one!
The Spam Club members have decided to start a Micro Machines II championship! If you want to join, you can sign up here. Don't be afraid and join the races!
Updated all SNES emulators to the latest versions: ZSNES 1.36 for Windows, DOS, Linux and SNES9x 1.39 for Windows. Also, I added a new Mac version of SNES9x.
We now have our new file server up! That means there are game downloads again. Before you all run leeching now, please read these explanations:
Redid the Amiga FAQ. Instead of just the few hints for emulator settings, there is not a short historical synopsis, some technical help for users of real Amigas and a lot of specific links.
After "Gesetzgebung" the second publically supported game on this site: Dunkle Schatten.
What a surprise! Not. After yesterday's update, Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge was the only logical follow-up.
The flood of the common games amongst the common games continues with The Secret of Monkey Island.
Not quite as good, but interesting nonetheless. The next Adventure: Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Added one of the best games ever. A well-known classic, generally accepted as a masterpiece: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. It comes with the usual 166 screenshots
Added 40 more screenshots for Darkseed. And once again the warning: the screenshots in the archive can give away a lot of these games! For Adventures, they're usually in chronological order, so you might at least consider skipping the last page if you haven't completed the game yourself yet. It is up to you, but don't complain to me afterwards
We have a new regular section webmaster for the C64 section: Dr Ramesch. His first contribution is something you might know already: The Great Giana Sisters.
Added Pirates! Gold for the CD32.
Today's new game is Brutal Sports Football. Brutal Sports Football? Didn't we already have that one? Well, yes. Didn't we already have that twice? Indeed. So now it is featured on the site three times? Exactly!
Here we are again! The situation with the old host became intolerable, so I cancelled that contract. For now, we're not on a dedicated server anymore and until I get all the money the old host unjustifiedly billed me with, I won't be able to finance a new one. That means no downloads for now! Yes, all you stupid leechers can go away now, there is nothing to get here. Just pure information and some misc stuff (docs and so on).
If you want to support us, please take a look at the whiney button above. I know it's not the greatest style, but well - there isn't much of a choice for me anymore. Everything is going directly into the financing of this site of course.
Short version of the mysterious three lost newsposts: Added Chaos Engine 2 and Darkseed, wrote a new editorial, hate PC.
Another of these really old-old systems: Vectrex. Enjoy!
Here we are with the next system in the Hall of Fame: the Spectrum! All the work was done by non-crewmembers, that's how it should be
Added Wild Cup Soccer. Changed the news system so that news are displayed for one week on the main page, but at least always the two latest posts.
I know this is 'against the rules', but I just had to add P.O.D. - Proof of Destruction to the Plus/4 section! This was planned to be added there from the start, but I just didn't know what to write about it. This afternoon, an idea struck me - and now you can read an (not quite, but almost) true story there
After a long time, a PC game again: Parashooter, a great remake of the classic Paratrooper. Second addition: a boxshot of Terraquake.
Tapuak and I decided to add additional Amiga versions of two games we've added to the PC section back when it was the only existing one: Brutal Sports Football and Chaos Engine. Both games originated from this system and they are also way better on the Amiga than the crappy PC versions, so it only makes sense to offer them. I also added boxshots of Soccer Kid and Discovery.
Finally! Tapuak and I finished the Hall of Fame entry for the Commodore 264. In case you aren't familiar with that name (nobody will blame you for that...), maybe Commodore Plus/4 rings a bell? Yes? No? In any case, head over there and enjoy the games!
Next game: Discovery. A vastly overlooked and underrated strategy game! I will add a boxshot later (don't have the box here).
Added a classic point & click Adventure today: Cruise for a Corpse. The true premiere is something else though: when playing the game, I just made more and more screenshots. With a PC game, that wouldn't have been a problem, but in all the non-PC sections, the number of screenshots is limited by standable file size which can be loaded with one page. So I added the 'screenshot archive'. So whenever we can offer more screenshots than the normal amount, we'll show them from now on! Check out the 'More Screenshots' link on the game page
I put up the most current versions of UAE and Fellow for MS-DOS, Linux and Windows. They're available in the Amiga section.
Tapuak found one more box: WWF Wrestlemania.
Ok, this is the last one of these updates: Dune, KGB, Master of Orion, Pirates! Gold and Shadow of the Comet. Now you can (some will say 'at last') look out for some 'new' games again.
The next wave: Comanche, History Line, Indycar Racing and Panzer General. No surprising discoveries this time.
As promised, here is the first 'wave' of boxshots: Beach Volley, Chaos Engine and Z. All from my own collection, just had to blow the dust off In the box of Chaos Engine, I also found these great cards with character profiles, so I scanned and added those, too.
In case you're wondering about the progress of the Hall Of Fame (and seeing the results of the above poll, most of our visitors care - and we don't care for the rest ), I can assure you it's still all going. In fact, Tapuak and I have already finished yet another system, but we can't publish it yet because of my stupidity. I.... forgot to take the texts I wrote up with me when I went to visit my family So look out for the C264 (in case you don't know what that it, better look it up section in two weeks!
<img src="ikonboard/emoticons/party.gif" alt="Party!"> Tada! This is what we've been working on for quite some time now. Tapuak made the great design, all the regulars discussed it in the Spam Club (there you see what the use of being a forum regular is: you always know of any plans first and can influence the decisions). Some of those even went as far as writing up articles, doing research along with Tapuak and me for this (huge thanks to you guys)! And now you can finally see the first results: I hereby declare the Hall Of Fame open!
Hall Of Fame? Isn't the whole site a kind of Hall Of Fame? Well, yes. But this particular Hall Of Fame deals with all the classic computers and consoles we can't cover as extensively as the ones which have their own sections. Still, they deserve their spot on this site - and this spot is the Hall Of Fame!
Each system there will be presented with a general introduction and between three and five typical games. Games which are linked to their system in some way. Games which stand for many others. In addition, there are a few emulators of course to give you the chance of a 'sneak preview' into the specific system.
At the moment, only Game Boy and Atari ST are covered. But those are in fact just the only ones whose sections are finished - more contents is already partly done, even way more is planned!
It is not possible for us to cover everything on our own though. Thus, the usual question: Who can help with this? You don't have to join our crew permanently or hang around in our forum all the time. All you have to do is share your knowledge! Every review, every article about a system, every hint at possible game candidates, every hint at possible emulators is welcome! Now enjoy our new contents
Added a manual and a world map for Fantasy Empires.
Today I discovered (literally!) a fully reviewed game in the user upload directory. It might have been there for several weels (or maybe months...). Why I didn't put it up? Because I didn't know about it! The guy who contributed it uploaded the stuff, but didn't send me an e-mail. So please, every contribution is more than welcome, but it can't work if you don't tell us about it!
Anyway, the game is Paratrooper, sent in by johann67. Enjoy!
Added about 100 (?) "related links"...
This is how teachers in the mid-90s could have filled their lessons without preparing anything in advance: Gesetzgebung.
Wanted to show the stockholders of the German Telekom where all their money goes: Telekommando 2.
Found a txt manual for Mad TV on an old disc, so I added it. Furthermore, I've decided to give the 'related links' more importance. I'll add more of those myself and in addition, you, the visitors can now post them! Just like with the comments. Thanks to the Spam Club guys for suggestion it
What a coincidence! Added Spiderman only two days after watching the movie in the cinema
Another Adventure: KGB. It is not so well known, but generally liked a lot. Undeserved as my analysis proves.
Now that the structural renovation is finished (wiped out more errors over the last few days, I'm fairly sure it's all working now), I'm 'free' to concentrate on the contents again now First result is the addition of Shadow of the Comet - an Adventure I had on my 'to-do' list from the very beginning of the site, but somehow there were always 'more important' things...
Switched to a new 'Game of the Day' script. The old one was a completely static one, displaying the images according to the date - always in the same order and it always had to be 31. The new one randomly chooses a game from the 'Games of the day' which has been displayed least. I also replaced the upload script. The old one was giving more trouble than anything else...
I already found & fixed several bugs, most of which were caused by file names not matching the new name conventions. This resulted in broken images for some screenshots mainly.
But to the additions. The old poll script which had already been giving me trouble for several weeks (didn't let me log in to the admin panel without direct file manipulation), but now it refused to work alltogether. "File found. Moved here" - very intelligent error message
In conclusion, I've replaced it with another one and it's working great
I also programmed something new myself: you, the visitors, can now share your views on the featured games by adding comments which will be displayed right under the 'official' reviews! Use it as much as you like, but please keep it clean - abuse it, and you lose it!
Grand Reopening! I've redone the whole site in PHP with a database system. Everything should look as before. Almost at least: a few details have been changed. More listings in the PC section, more than one genre per game, a more accurate search. But that's about it. Please report any errors!