Month: January 1970
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Can’t Stop
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sid Sackson & George Crawshay GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, George Crawshay Cant Stop is an excellent freeware PC version of the Parker Brothers board game of the same name designed by Sid Sackson, legendary board game designer (Acquire, Domination, and dozens others). The game…
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Monad
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sid Sackson & George Crawshay GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, George Crawshay Monad is an excellent freeware PC version of Sid Sacksons classic card/board game of the same name, released as Die 1 Million in Germany. The wonderful description at this Sid Sackson fan site…
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Cities
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Max Tillberg & Klaus-Juergen Wrede GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Max Tillberg Cities is a fun freeware brainteaser for Windows designed by Max Tillberg based on tiles from Carcassonne, an inventive board game from Hans im Gluck, a German publisher, published outside Germany by Rio…
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Choice
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sid Sackson & George Crawshay GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, George Crawshay Choice is a great freeware PC version of an excellent dice game designed by Sid Sackson, of Acquire fame, first included in his A Gamut of Games book and later released as a…
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Bermuda Square
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:XOR Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:XOR Corporation Copyright 1987, XOR Corporation Bermuda Square is a fun little game based on a neat little mathematical equation: 1^2 + 2^2 + 3^2 + … + 24^2 = 70^2. Your objective is to place as many squares as possible…
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Shogi Variants
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve Evans GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Steve Evans Shogi Variants is a great freeware game for Windows 3.x and up that boasts a wide range of variants of Shogi, a popular Japanese chess game. The official description says it all: Shogi Variants is a…
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Baron: The Real Estate Simulation
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Zuber GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Chip GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Chip Copyright 1986, Blue Chip Baron: The Real Estate Simulation is, as the name suggests, a simulation of the real estate industry. The game is undoubtedly the best simulation of this industry I have ever seen, and given its…
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Tycoon: The Commodity Market Simulation
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Zuber GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Chip GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Chip Copyright 1986, Blue Chip Tycoon: The Commodity Market Simulation is, as the name suggests, a simulation of the commodities market. The game puts you in the shoes of a commodities trader who buys and sells various futures (a…
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PRO Challenge
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:XOR Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:XOR Corporation Copyright 1987, XOR Corporation PRO Challenge is a fun, “light” version of XOR’s celebrated NFL Challenge, one of the best American football simulations ever made. Instead of coaching a team through the entire season, PRO Challenge lets one or…
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Millionaire Release 2
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Zuber GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Chip GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Chip Copyright 1987, Blue Chip Last game in Jim Zuber/Blue Chip’s superb line of business simulations, Millionaire Release 2 is the second and far superior release of Millionaire, a great stock market simulation. Although at first glance the game…
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Paranoid
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ben North & Tom North GAME DEVELOPER:The Bit Bucket Brothers GAME PUBLISHER:The Bit Bucket Brothers Copyright 1992, The Bit Bucket Brothers Although at first glance an ordinary Breakout clone, Paranoid stands out for its extremely well defined, solid gameplay, evident by the fact that once you…
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Obliterator (freeware)
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Justin Smith GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Justin Smith Obliterator is a fine, small and free 360 degree space shooter, with aim no more glorious than achieving a score as high as possible. Luckily, Obliterator plays well and fun indeed. By shooting multiple and distinctive…
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Monospace
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Milo Sedlacek GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Milo Sedlacek Monospace Shooter is one of the best freeware shoot ’em ups you’ll ever come across. It features very smooth-scrolling action and an excellent graphical detail even in a limited white-on-black palette (hence the name Monospace). There…
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Combatribes
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1992, Technos Japan Combatribes is one of the most underrated SNES games from Technos, most famous for their Kunio-kun series and Double Dragon games. Similar to other 2D side-scrolling beat em ups, the plot is quite negligible: you…
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Threat
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Webfoot Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, Webfoot Technologies Threat is one of the best shareware action games ever made, bar none. Dan Nguyen said it all in his review for Games Domain: ?There are only a handful of shareware games from the Internet…
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Molez
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:FRACTiLE Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, FRACTiLE Games Molez is an excellent deathmatch game for up to 4 players, in a style similar to Liero and Worms. You control the tiny moles, armed to their teeth with 5 weapons you can select from the…
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Super Dodgeball
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1989, Technos Japan Without a doubt my most favorite game in Technos Kunio-kun series, Super Dodgeball is an excellent rendition of dodgeball, a fictional sports game that is a very popular subject for Japanese games. If youve never…
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Solstice
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Creations GAME PUBLISHER:Sony Imagesoft Copyright 1990, Software Creations Solstice (released only for the NES) and its sequel Equinox (only on SNES) are two of the most underrated console titles ever made. Best described as puzzle RPGs, both games are isometric, third-person games that…
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Equinox
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Creations GAME PUBLISHER:Sony Imagesoft Copyright 1993, Software Creations Solstice (released only for the NES) and its sequel Equinox (only on SNES) are two of the most underrated console titles ever made. Best described as puzzle RPGs, both games are isometric, third-person games that…
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Wizard of Wor
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:SYS64738 GAME DEVELOPER:Midway GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, SYS64738 Wizard of Wor is an excellent remake of Midway?s hit arcade game of the same name. The idea: one or two players move around a variety of line-drawn mazes shooting the creatures that wander within. Eliminating all of…
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Legend of the Mystical Ninja
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1991, Konami Ahh… the memories. This was one of the few SNES games I played and really liked while growing up. As a die-hard PC gamer, I tended to scoff at what I call nauseatingly cute console games. Well, Legend…
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Gladiator
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tom Ricket & Sean Ford GAME DEVELOPER:Forgotten Sages GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Tom Ricket & Sean Ford Gladiator is a fun top view, real-time action/RPG game with a good dose of strategy thrown in. You control a team of mercenaries who fight for the glory and…
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Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mindscape GAME PUBLISHER:Atari Games Copyright 1989, Mindscape Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a disappointing PC port of the average arcade version of the second Indiana Jones movie. The description and review at MobyGames says it all about this poor use of…
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Skullduggery
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Jewett GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1986, David Jewett Skullduggery is a decent IF game that offers a novel combination of ASCII graphics and text, but unfortunately bogged down with a simplistic parser. Carls succinct review says it all about this so-so underdog that doesnt…
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Battle Hamster
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sofcom GAME PUBLISHER:Sofcom Copyright 1995, Sofcom Not much can be said about this game, really. It is a two-player battle to the finish with hamsters. There are no endings, no other backgrounds besides the one pictured, and only one character (the other shown is…
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Endless Horror
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Shramko GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, John Shramko Endless Horror‘s modest EGA graphics and small executable size ensure that the game can be run on virtually any IBM-PC machine, regardless of age. The characters are line-based, similar to the characters in the Stick Fighter…
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FX Fighter
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jaid Mindang & Gary O’Connell GAME DEVELOPER:Argonaut Software GAME PUBLISHER:GTE Entertainment Copyright 1995, GTE Entertainment FX Fighter is an exciting 3d fighting game, similar to Virtua Fighter. The story is this – aliens from around the universe have gathered to battle for the title of best…
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Metal & Lace: The Battle of the Robo Babes
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Forest GAME PUBLISHER:MegaTech Software Copyright 1993, Forest Metal & Lace: The Battle of the Robo Babes is basically a poorly done hentai fighting game. You purchase a battle mech suit, equip it with special items, and fight women. After beating a woman’s mech suit…
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V.G. Fighter
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Ton Tan Nerw GAME PUBLISHER:Ton Tan Nerw Copyright 1995, Ton Tan Nerw Based on a Japanese anime series called Variable Geo, this is a poorly made, hentai (i.e. adult/nudity) fighting game. It was released in 1995, though the graphics make it look much older.…
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Violent Fighter
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softstar GAME PUBLISHER:Softstar Copyright 1993, Softstar A very, very poorly done fighting game indeed. Besides having a cheap name, Violent Fighter has terribly small graphics, plain characters with simple attacks, and jumpy graphics. I was very upset to discover how poorly this game was…
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Battle Arena: Toshinden
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Takara GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1996, Takara A worthy Virtua Fighter clone, Battle Arena: Toshinden pits a group of brave warriors against the evil Gaia and his henchmen. Each character in this game is equipped with their own, unique weapon which aids them in…
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Battle Arena: Toshinden 2
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Takara GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1996, Takara Battle Arena: Toshinden 2 features graphics, sound, music, and action that makes its predecessor seem ancient! With updated moves and defense, the original cast launches back into battle! Newcomers join the fight as well. Gaia, the boss…
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1869
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Wilfried Reiter GAME DEVELOPER:Max Design GAME PUBLISHER:Max Design Copyright 1993, Max Design 1869 is a fun 17th century trading game that is similar to its contemporary High Seas Trader but with more emphasis on trading and planning routes than on naval navigation. The game also (perhaps…
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1830: Railroads & Robber Barons
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve Barcia GAME DEVELOPER:SimTex GAME PUBLISHER:Avalon Hill Copyright 1993, Avalon Hill Undeniably SimTex’ most underrated game, 1830 is a complex and faithful PC conversion of Avalon Hill’s popular boardgame. As with SimTex’ other games, strong computer AI keeps the gameplay fresh and interesting even in the…
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3D Construction Kit
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ian Andrew & Paul Gregory GAME DEVELOPER:Incentive GAME PUBLISHER:Domark Copyright 1991, Incentive One of Incentive’s final product before changing its business into producing virtual realities is easily one of the best– if not THE best– game-creation program ever made. It lets you create believable 3D games…
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3D Lemmings
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Clockwork Games GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1996, Psygnosis An innovative 3D version of the classic Lemmings, 3D Lemmings took the great gameplay of its forerunner to a whole new level. The official blurb: “The game features include twenty trainer levels, allowing Lemmings fans the chance…
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4 x 4 Offroad Racing
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Paul Jaquays & Ed Schoenberg GAME DEVELOPER:Epyx GAME PUBLISHER:Epyx Copyright 1988, Epyx 4 x 4 Offroad Racing is a fun offroad racing game in which you must avoid obstacles and repair your car in your race for the finish line. The ability to choose accessories for…
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4D Prince of Persia
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jordan Mechner GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1991, Anonymous 4D Prince of Persia is a solid unofficial version of Jordan Mechner’s classic action/adventure that starts off the same as the original version but will stump even action veterans with devious level design and tougher enemies in…
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4th and Inches
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bob Whitehead GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1987, Accolade One of the earliest American football games to boast player animations, 4th and Inches is one of the first football games to offer a good blend of action and in-game strategies. You can throw the bomb, run…
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5A Side Soccer
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mastertronic GAME PUBLISHER:Mastertronic Copyright 1984, Mastertronic An *extremely* primitive soccer game that’s really not worth bothering with, except for the nostalgic value and wonder at what 8-bit computers could do over a decade ago. The less said about this game, the better 😉 You…
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5th Fleet
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joe Balkowski & Mike Innella GAME DEVELOPER:Stanley Associates GAME PUBLISHER:Avalon Hill Copyright 1995, Stanley Associates One of the best board-style wargames ever made, 5th Fleet is a great naval simulation based on Avalon Hill board game of the same name. PC Gamer review has the lowdown…
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9:05
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Cadre GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Adam Cadre In the niche genre long dominated by extremely challenging epics such as Graham Nelson’s Curses and clever games such as Andrew Plotkin’s Spider and Web, 9:05 is a refreshing breather. Anything I can say about the…
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A Mind Forever Voyaging
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve Meretzky GAME DEVELOPER:Infocom GAME PUBLISHER:Infocom Copyright 1985, Infocom Often billed as Infocom’s first serious science fiction (a fact that probably explains its poor sales record), A Mind Forever Voyaging ranks with Trinity as my most favorite Infocom games, and one of the best games I…
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A.T.A.C.: A War on Drugs
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Beaton & Sam Littlewood GAME DEVELOPER:Argonaut Software GAME PUBLISHER:MicroProse Copyright 1992, Argonaut Software You wait intensely. Your ears are cocked to the radio. You double-checked every switch in your F-22 cockpit. Everything is green. You are flying in a lazy racetrack pattern well outside the…