Month: January 1970
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Armada 2525: Deluxe Edition
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:R. T. Smith GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1992, R. T. Smith In this updated version of his solid space strategy game, released after Interstel’s demise, R.T. Smith adds a lot of gameplay options (including multiplayer mode) and vastly improved graphics that makes a good game…
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Armor Alley
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Arthur Britto GAME DEVELOPER:Information Access Software Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Three-Sixty Pacific Copyright 1990, Three-Sixty Pacific Armor Alley is without a doubt one of the most fun and complex multiplayer action games ever made. The premise is simple: eliminate the opposing team from the playing field. The execution,…
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Arnhem
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:R. T. Smith GAME DEVELOPER:Cases Computer Simulations GAME PUBLISHER:Cases Computer Simulations Copyright 1987, Cases Computer Simulations R.T. Smith, the creator and programmer for the fabulous game Encyclopedia of War: Ancient Battles, created a trio of World War Two games a few year earlier for the Spectrum…
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Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bob Bates GAME DEVELOPER:Infocom GAME PUBLISHER:Infocom Copyright 1990, Infocom Bob Bates’ last game for Infocom before he founded Legend Entertainment is interactive fiction at its best. As Infocom’s last IF, the game also featured their best parser ever (too bad it was never to see the…
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Artura
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mastertronic GAME PUBLISHER:Mastertronic Copyright 1989, Mastertronic The place is ancient Britain. You are Artura, son of the Pendragon. Your quest: To rescue Nimue, beautiful apprentice to Merdyn the Mage, and keeper of the secret of the ancient treasures lost long ago. She has been…
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Asghan: The Dragon Slayer
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Silmarils GAME PUBLISHER:Silmarils Copyright 1998, Silmarils After the Time Warriors flop, Silmarils wisely revamped their promising 3D engine and came up with this enjoyable action/adventure game which puts you in the shoes of Asghan, intrepid warrior prince who vows to kill the dragons to…
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Ashes of Empire
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Singleton GAME DEVELOPER:GameTek GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1993, GameTek Ashes of Empire is an intriguing espionage action/strategy fusion inspired by the tumultous events in Eastern Europe in the early ’90s. As Mike Singleton’s last and biggest game, Ashes of Empire features a much-improved engine first seen…
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Assault Trooper
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Juha Kauppinen GAME DEVELOPER:Webfoot Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, Juha Kauppinen Assault Trooper is a fun isometric real-time game that’s like Cannon Fodder meets X-COM : command your troops through top secret missions all over the globe. The game is fun and the action furious,…
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Asterix and Obelix
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1996, Infogrames This outstanding platform game from premiere French developer Infogrames feature, appropriately enough, France’s best-known cartoon character Asterix the Gaulish soldier. The usual platform obstacles abound, but they are modified to fit the games’ context (e.g. fight the Romans…
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Astrofire
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Owen Thomas GAME DEVELOPER:ORT GAME PUBLISHER:ORT Copyright 1994, ORT A great update of classic Asteroids game, this incarnation sports colorful VGA graphics, smooth mouse-based controls, and lots of weird-looking asteroids and other enemies to shoot at. For those who don’t know Asteroids, it’s a mindless shoot-em-up…
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Atomix
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Henrik Nordhaus GAME DEVELOPER:Thalion GAME PUBLISHER:Thalion Copyright 1990, Thalion Atomix is a fun puzzle game with inventive education twist: your task is to combine atoms to form the required chemical molecule, e.g. 2 Hydrogen atoms and Oxygen for water. Each level also has a time limit…
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A-Train
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tatsuo Nagahama GAME DEVELOPER:ArtDink GAME PUBLISHER:Maxis Copyright 1992, ArtDink One of the very few Maxis games that didn’t become a smash hit, A-Train a great conversion of Railroad Empire, Japan’s classic game of railroad empire building. Although similar in concept to Railroad Tycoon, the difference here…
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Fanta Vision
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1988, Anonymous Fanta Vision is an excellent graphics application that allows you to design your own movies by drawing pictures, animating them, and adding sound. The program was very sophisticated for its time (1988), considering the range of options it…
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Avish: Searching for The Exit
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dvir Besserglick & Gonen Dukas GAME DEVELOPER:BUG Multisystem GAME PUBLISHER:BUG Multisystem Copyright 1993, BUG Multisystem In this fun puzzle game, you take the role of Avish, an absent-minded professor who gets lost in the university’s library. On each room you need to find a key to…
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B-17 Flying Fortress
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Brunton GAME DEVELOPER:MicroProse GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, MicroProse This hugely underrated flight-sim adds a novel element to the genre: the pilots’ personalities. True to the real-life characteristic of the B-17, a veritable “flying fortress” of WW2 bomber that houses a team of 10 pilots and…
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B-24 Combat Simulator
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Grey GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1987, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) A simulation of the World War II Ploesti oil raids, the player had to join his B-24 to the formation, fly to the target and inflict maximum damage.…
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Babel
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ian Finley GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Ian Finley This superb science-fiction game casts you as a research scientist who woke up with amnesia. This overused premise quickly develops into a deep and engaging plot that involves mad scientists, science gone wrong, and even psychic…
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Bad Dudes
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Quicksilver GAME PUBLISHER:Data East Copyright 1988, Data East Another excellent conversion of a coin-op classic by Quicksilver, Bad Dudes is a Double Dragon style platform classic which more than makes up for its lack of variety with a lot of enemies, long levels, and…
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Balance of Power (1985 edition)
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Crawford GAME DEVELOPER:Mindscape GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, Chris Crawford Balance of Power is among the first political simulation that emphasizes diplomacy and politics over outright aggression. When he first released this seminal game in 1984, Crawford single-handedly established the political simulation genre and left a…
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Balance of Power (1990 edition)
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Crawford GAME DEVELOPER:Chris Crawford GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1989, Chris Crawford This update of Chris Crawford’s seminal Balance of Power for Windows 1.0 features up-to-date information, 18 new countries (bringing the total to 80), and “multipolar level” in which countries can go to war of their…
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Balance of The Planet
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Crawford GAME DEVELOPER:Chris Crawford GAME PUBLISHER:Chris Crawford Copyright 1990, Chris Crawford As policymaker, you must achieve a precarious balance in this game between the needs of growing industries and natural ecology through adjusting various environment-related policies. Until Maxis’ SimEarth, this was the ONLY game of…
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Ball Game, The
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Zoo GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Zoo Copyright 1991, Electronic Zoo The Ball Game is a fun isometric puzzle game that is best played against your friends (or foes). Gameplay is a unique blend of checkers, scrabble, and the Japanese game of Go, with many creative…
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Bandit Kings of Ancient China
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kou Shibusawa GAME DEVELOPER:KOEI GAME PUBLISHER:KOEI Copyright 1989, KOEI Close to 600 years after the events chronicled in KOEI’s better-known Romance of The Three Kingdoms,the weak royal court inspired the rise of legendary bandits who proclaimed themselves kings. This game is best described as a more…
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Bar Games
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1989, Accolade This is a fun collection of five bar games: Liar’s Dice, Wet ‘n Wild, Last Call, Air Hockey, and Pick-up Artist. Includes both single and tournament play. While some games rely more on reflexes than strategy, others do…
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Barbarian
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Palace Software GAME PUBLISHER:Palace Software Copyright 1988, Palace Software This is actually a game I played the original of on the Amiga when Palace Software were churning out similar titles and, not meaning to offend any PC fans, the Amiga version is a lot…
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Barbarian 2
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Palace Software GAME PUBLISHER:Palace Software Copyright 1989, Palace Software A marked improvement over the original, Barbarian 2 features vibrant EGA graphics (although the drawn characters still move like broken marionettes), and the ability to play as either the Barbarian or the Princess (no doubt…
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Batman Forever
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Acclaim Entertainment Copyright 1996, DC Comics This is a platform game based on the hit movie of the same name. Batman Forever uses Acclaim’s Mortal Kombat engine, which started to show its age in 1996 but is still capable of delivering…
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Batman: The Caped Crusader
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ritman & Jonathan Smith GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:Data East Copyright 1988, Data East Batman: The Caped Crusader is the second of 3 games from OCEAN featuring the hooded hero (after 3D and before The Movie), with 2 separate scenarios and the action laid out in…
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Batman: The Movie
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon O’ Brien & Mike Lamb GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:Data East Copyright 1990, OCEAN Everyone’s favorite hooded vigilante is back, but he’s not better than ever. Or, more precisely, his previous outing with OCEAN. You’re out on a five-level mission to –what else– rid Gotham City…
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Battle Bugs
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dennis Caswell GAME DEVELOPER:Dynamix GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1993, Dynamix Dynamix entered the wargaming arena with this surprising gem, sporting off-the-wall humor and original premise: as commander of an army of ants and other insects, lead your troops to victory over the enemy (another insect tribe).…
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Battle Chess 2: Chinese Chess
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Interplay GAME PUBLISHER:Interplay Copyright 1989, Interplay Too bad many people are discouraged to play this game because they think Chinese Chess is either not interesting or too difficult to learn. Nothing can be further from the truth! Chinese Chess is easy to learn, especially…
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Battle Command
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:D.C. Ward GAME DEVELOPER:Realtime Games GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1990, Realtime Games Battle Command was the followup to the classic 3D war simulation Carrier Command that put you in charge of an advanced aircraft carrier. In Battle Command you command a tank. Unlike its excellent predecessor, Battle…
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Battle of Antietam
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Landrey & Chuck Kroegel GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1987, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Battle of Antietam is the third Civil War game after Shiloh and Rebel Charge at Chickamauga by Chuck Kroegel & David Landrey, who also designed…
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Battlehawks 1942
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Lawrence Holland & Noah Falstein GAME DEVELOPER:LucasFilm Games GAME PUBLISHER:LucasFilm Games Copyright 1988, LucasFilm Games Ohh boy this was my first flight sim. Back then, I didnt even have a joystick, but this one really made me buy one. The whole premise for this game is…
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Battles in Time
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bruce Williams Zaccagnino GAME DEVELOPER:Quantum Quality Productions (QQP) GAME PUBLISHER:Quantum Quality Productions (QQP) Copyright 1995, Quantum Quality Productions (QQP) This abstract wargame, like The Pure Wargame after it, was obviously “rushed out the door” long before it was ready: the game was full of bugs, uninspiring…
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Battles of Destiny
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ken Lightner GAME DEVELOPER:Holistic Design GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Holistic Design Like its former publisher QQP, Holistic Design is an underdog in the PC gaming industry. Battles of Destiny was their first game that definitely paves the its excellent descendant Emperor of the Fading Suns. In…
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Battles of Napoleon
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Landrey & Chuck Kroegel GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1989, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Released in 1991, this is a very realistic war game on the most famous battles of Napoleon’s career — the game comes with Borodino, Waterloo,…
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Beauty and The Beast
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Disney Copyright 1994, Disney This is a good collection of educational games for kids based on the Disney movie of the same name. The games are typical, e.g. memory and matching games, but the colorful motif and great animations add a nice…
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Beer! War
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Marc Seekamp GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1997, Marc Seekamp Company’s blurb gets right to the point: “Beer! War is an economic simulation about breweries. You take control of a company and try to get the monopoly of beer production. But beware: there are nine opponents…