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From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1983, Unknown Pitfall is a loveable old ASCII game. It’s a horizontal faller (aka “Wrist Killer”) in which you use your arrow keys to maneuver your ever-falling ship through a corridor of walls and enemies (Burning Faces). While you cannot…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Bates GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1988, Jim Bates Prisoner is a fun and (at first) rather difficult puzzle game. It was written by Jim Bates in 1988, and was done as an experiment with EGA graphics, then released as a Christmas present for The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tom Kristensen GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Tom Kristensen A decent Nibbles/Snake clone done in CGA, the game has few actual features but is nevertheless a nice clone. With customizable game speeds, three static walls to turn on or off and squares (food) of various…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eric Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Norland Software GAME PUBLISHER:Norland Software Copyright 1983, Norland Software Norland’s Hangman series is a fun PC adaptation of the classic Hangman game in which you attempt to guess a word by picking individual letters, with a predetermined amount of incorrect guesses allowed. Although…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mikko Oksalahti GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Mikko Oksalahti Kumoon is a well-deserved winner of the Assembly ’05 party. A unique “shooting gallery,” your goal is to finish all the rooms by having “…0 or positive points when you have tilted over all the red/green…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jetro Lauha GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Jetro Lauha Light Warrior is a fun “shooting gallery” game developed by Jetro Lauha, of “Dismount” series fame. The game is simply: shoot all the light fixtures you see on the screen by moving and pressing mouse button.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Deepend GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, UN World Food Programme One of the best freeware edutainment titles I have seen in a long time, Food Force is a great game for kids developed by Italy-based Deepend and UK-based PlayerTree for the United Nations’ World Food…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Edwards GAME DEVELOPER:Pistachio Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Pistachio Productions A great game that has been selected as one of ten student showcase winners at the Independent Games Festival, Mutton Mayhem, in the author’s words, is “…a multiplayer economics simulation disguised as a fast-paced action…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Zachary Norman & Sean Vesce GAME DEVELOPER:Activision GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1998, Activision One of the best and most atmospheric action-driving games ever made, Interstate ’76 is a great game that evokes the 70’s atmosphere like no game before or since. There are many great reviews of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Gaping Wolf Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Gaping Wolf Software Adagio is a great horizontal shooter from Gaping Wolf Software, maker of the excellent HalfLight game. The plot: “you are Karth Solemu, test pilot. Your world is in danger, and the only functional warship…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Unknown WAtomic is a nice Windows remake of Katomic, which itself is a clone of Atomix by Thalion (except boasting many more difficult levels than the Thalion original). My own review of Atomic, another Atomix clone on this site,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Daniel Remar GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Daniel Remar Castle of Elite is a great 2D puzzle game similar to Chip’s Challenge. The plot: “You are stuck within the midst of an ancient castle, and you must get out. However, it’s not going to be…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gustav & ZeroTau GAME DEVELOPER:Fallen Angel Industries GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Fallen Angel Industries Dr. Doc is a cool top-down action/brainteaser from Fallen Angel Industries. Although the game was coded in a hurry for a Klik competition, and as a result is missing music and proper…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Unknown Stackopolis is one of the most creative Tetris variants I have seen. Your goal is to match the falling blocks with a blueprint to create a building on each level before time runs out. Basically you just have…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Johan Peitz GAME DEVELOPER:Free Lunch Design GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Free Lunch Design Zombiepox is a fun coffee-break action game coded in 48 hours by Johan Peitz of Icy Tower fame. The review at Acid-Play says it well about this small-but-fun underdog: “Your hometown has been…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Fuseball GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Fuseball Zoomines is an excellent knockoff of PSP classic Lumines and Zookeeper puzzle games, designed by a freeware coder who calls himself Fuseball. You use the cursor keys to move and A and S to rotate the block. Like…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Derby GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Derby Yum Yum is a fun and original shooter that fans of abstract shooters should take a look, even when it is too short and too easy. The review at Game Maker Games has the lowdown: “Ambiance. Has a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kochon GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Kochon Crazy Bumpa is a great modern PC update of Loriciel’s decent puzzle game Bumpy’s Arcade Fantasy. The plot: “You are in the world of Bumpa, where the only reason to leave is bumping and bumping again. This require…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ryan Clark GAME DEVELOPER:Grubby Games GAME PUBLISHER:Grubby Games Copyright 2005, Grubby Games One of the best and most original brainteasers I have ever come across, Professor Fizzwizzle is an ingenious game from Grubby Games that plays like the “best-of” combination between zany contraptions from Incredible Machines…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Naramura GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Naramura La-Mulana is an excellent 2D side-scrolling platformer/RPG that is reminiscent of 8-bit classics like Zelda, but with a much stronger focus on inventory items in adventure-genre style. The game casts you as Indiana Jones-type adventurer who explores vast…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Naramura GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Naramura GR3 is a superb 2D horizontal shooter from Japan, coded with Java in the same 8-bit style as MSX games of yore. Like R-Type and other SHMUP classics, GR3 is insanely difficult but weirdly addictive. As a clone…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Firebird GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Ovine by Design Cholo is an excellent remake of Commodore 64 game of the same name, originally released by Firebird. The plot: “[you] are Jared, a maintenance engineer who helps to look after the bunker where everyone has lived…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Captain Pork GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Captain Pork Overgod is a fun freeform shooter from Captain Pork, maker of Lacewing and Captain Pork’s Revenge, two solid action games reviewed earlier on this site. The (somewhat superfluous) plot: “For too long has humanity been ruled…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Unknown Einstein Puzzle is a great, free cross-platform, open-sourced remake of DOS classic shareware gem Sherlock, which was in turn inspired by a puzzle devised by Albert Einstein, who supposedly claim that only 2% of people in the world…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Miguel Perez GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Miguel Perez Double Dragon Fists of Rage is a superb fangame starring the duo from CAPCOM’s famous Double Dragon series. The creator, Miguel “Mig2” Perez, created all the graphics himself that look very much like the original games,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Diefox GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Diefox Duel Toys is a fun fanmade fighting game from Brazil that features dozens of characters from CAPCOM, SNK, Rare, and Midway classic fighters, redrawn in attractive cartoony style. Although the game’s AI is suspect and many game types…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Och GAME DEVELOPER:Natomic Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Natomic Studios Super Stun-N-Run is yet another superb “retro” 2D single-screen platformer from Natomic Studios, one of the world’s best game-coding groups. The plot: “The animals have gone wild!! You are Parker, a safari explorer armed with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sprite GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Chinchilla Softhouse ZugyA DX is a superb fanmade remake of ZugyA, a great freeware shooter from Sprite reviewed earlier on this site. From my earlier review of ZugyA: “Your goal in the game is to destroy space stations in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Graham Goring GAME DEVELOPER:Hewson GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Graham Goring Exolon DX is a great remake of an old Hewson game with updated graphics and much smoother animations. Your quest is simple: as a blaster-wielding spaceman, kill as many aliens as possible with blaster or rocket-propelled…