Author: admin
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Beyond Castle Wolfenstein
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Silas S. Warner GAME DEVELOPER:Muse Software GAME PUBLISHER:Muse Software Copyright 1983, Muse Software The sequel to Muse’s revolutionary Castle Wolfenstein follows the same basic formula as the predecessor, while adding a host of new features that make gameplay more complex. The plot follows where the first…
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Rockstar
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Wizard Games GAME PUBLISHER:Wizard Games Copyright 1994, Wizard Games Billed as “a comedy adventure game that is never the same twice,” Rockstar is in fact a fun, and very unique, all-text strategy game from Wizard Games. You play an aspiring rock star who just…
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Hoplites
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gottardo Zancani GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Gottardo Zancani Hoplites, named after the heavily-armored troops of ancient Greece, is an excellent, although unofficial, computer version of SPQR, a cardgame-style tabletop wargame from GMT Games, which is considered among grognards one of the best renditions of…
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Yiff!
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Brent GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Mike Brent Yiff! is a very addictive, original puzzle game for one or two players. The game is a variant of little-known board game called Chain Reaction, which plays like a curious cross between traditional Othello, Life game,…
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Sexy Droids
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Winfred Stappert GAME DEVELOPER:Magic Bytes GAME PUBLISHER:Magic Bytes Copyright 1992, Magic Bytes Decent conversion of Magic Bytes’ Amiga game of the same name, Sexy Droids is a very simple jigsaw variant that’s downright boring. Two players, one of which could be the computer, take turns opening…
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Sub Battle Simulator
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gordon Walton GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Illusions Inc. GAME PUBLISHER:Epyx Copyright 1987, Digital Illusions Inc. Epyx’ Sub Battle Simulator is an early submarine sim that was quite sophisticated for its time. Included were the usual world war II theatres, and plenty of features which have been borrowed numerous…
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Speed Haste
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Friendware GAME PUBLISHER:Friendware Copyright 1995, Friendware Speed Haste is a very simple, flawed shareware arcade racing game that allows you to race the F1 or Stock Cars around a variety of circuits. The usual arcade options are here: select your car from different car…
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Treehouse, The
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Leslie Grimm GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1991, Leslie Grimm One of the best edutainment titles ever made for pre-shoolers (aged 5-8), The Treehouse was designed to prepare First and Second graders to develop a positive experience toward learning, as well as impart knowledge on basic…
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Pac-In-Time
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Cyrille Fontaine GAME DEVELOPER:Kalisto GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1994, Kalisto Probably the most unique official Pac-Man game in existence, Pac-In-Time casts Pac-Man as an Indiana Jones wannabe, sporting not only legs but leather gloves, whip, and that self-confident sneer that Indy fans know all too well. There’s…
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Battle for Midway
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Avalon Hill GAME PUBLISHER:Avalon Hill Copyright 1981, Avalon Hill One of the oldest naval wargames ever made, Avalon Hill’s Battle for Midway (a.k.a. Midway Campaign) is a very primitive ASCII wargame written entirely in BASIC that simulates the battle of Midway Island in World…
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Iron Blood
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Family Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Family Productions Copyright 1995, Family Productions One of the most underrated and obscure 2D platform games ever made, Iron Blood (released as Interrupt in Korea) offers fast and furious arcade-style fighting in well-animated backdrops, against a surprising variety of “bosses.” Gameplay…
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Hunt for The Red October
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steven Green GAME DEVELOPER:Oxford Digital Enterprises GAME PUBLISHER:Software Toolworks, The Copyright 1988, Oxford Digital Enterprises Not to be confused with action-oriented game of the same name by Grandslam, Mindscape’s Hunt for The Red October is a submarine simulation set in the same period, also based on…
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Eye of The Storm
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jason Kingsley GAME DEVELOPER:Rebellion GAME PUBLISHER:Rebellion Copyright 1994, Rebellion Eye of The Storm is a solid space simulation that offers fast action and several HUD innovations. Similar to countless games of this ilk, Eye of The Storm casts you as captain of a spaceship, where you…
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I, Damiano
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve DeFrisco GAME DEVELOPER:Bantam Imagic GAME PUBLISHER:Firebird Copyright 1985, Bantam Imagic A unique and vastly unknown interactive fiction game based on underrated Damiano fantasy novels R.A. MacAvoy. Curiously enough, the European publisher Firebird didn’t mention developer’s name Bantam Imagic anywhere on the European release box. Despite…
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A.J.’s World of Discovery
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Coktel Vision GAME PUBLISHER:Coktel Vision Copyright 1992, Coktel Vision A fun collection of activities for toddlers (0-4 years. Old), Coktel’s A.J.’s World of Discovery marks the debut of A.J., a lovable alien who foreshadows Adi, a more famous character in Coktel’s line of edutainment…
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Space under The Window, The
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Plotkin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Andrew Plotkin One of the most original IF (and, for that matter, any game genre) you’ll ever come across, The Space Under The Window is a masterpiece of storytelling that must be played to be believed. Robb Sherwin’s…
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Puzzle Pits
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Plasma Works GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Plasma Works Puzzle Pits is an excellent, albeit relatively unknown, puzzle game that was criticized so heavily by most “professional” game critics that its shelf life was miserably short. Reading some of the reviews, however, I can’t help…
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Metamorphoses
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Emily Short GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Emily Short Runner-up in the 2000 Interactive Fiction Competition, and deservedly so. Emily Short’s Metamorphoses is a wonderfully written, beautifully programmed piece of IF that is equally strong in both the puzzle and writing departments– a rare quality.…
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Hunter, in Darkness
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Plotkin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Andrew Plotkin Another seminal work by Andrew “Zarf” Plotkin, one of the modern-day interactive fiction masters. Hunter, in Darkness is similar to his earlier entry to the IF Competition, A Change in The Weather, in that it takes…
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A Change in The Weather
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Plotkin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Andrew Plotkin A well-deserved winner of the first IF Competition, Inform devision, in 1995. A Change in The Weather is a clever, very atmospheric game that begins with a deceptively simple premise: You get stuck out in the…
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Bad Machine
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dan Shiovitz GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Dan Shiovitz One of the most unique pieces of IF ever written, Dan “Inky” Shiovitz’ Bad Machine is one of those games that are almost impossible to describe. Think Infocom’s classic A Mind Forever Voyaging and Suspended played…
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Lists and Lists
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Plotkin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Andrew Plotkin One of the most unique “interactive fiction” titles you’ll ever play, Andrew “Zarf” Plotkin’s Lists and Lists is a great example of what modern text adventure interpreters can do. Instead of coding another IF masterpiece that…
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Rameses
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Stephen Bond GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Stephen Bond A brilliant, well-written IF that should be considered “interactive novel” more than a “game,” due to a total lack of puzzles. Not that this should bother anyone– Rameses is undoubtedly the best game about teenage angst…
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Ad Verbum
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Nick Montfort GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Nick Montfort One of the cleverest IF you’ll ever play, Nick Montfort’s Ad Verbum is a masterpice of wordplay puzzles that has more puns than you can shake a stick at. The game’s puzzles are so clever, so…
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My Angel
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Jon Ingold An instant classic, My Angel is a love story that is well told and beautifully described. I’d like to quote Craxton’s review of the game in full here, because she gives the game a long, comprehensive…
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Kaged
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ian Finley GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Ian Finley Kaged is a stylish, superbly written game of alternate history that is a worthy winner of the 2000 Interactive Fiction Competition. After impressing the judges with science fiction thriller Babel, Ian Finley returns with an excellent…
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A Crimson Spring
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robb Sherwin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Robb Sherwin A Crimson Spring, Robb Sherwin’s entry in the 2000 IF Competition is, by far, my pick for #1 underdog of that competition. It’s not a writing masterpice that Kaged is; it’s got no clever puzzle that…
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Punk Points
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Munroe GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Jim Munroe Punk Points is one of my favorite games of the 2000 IF Competition, although it’s certainly not a crowd pleaser like Kaged that will rack up the votes. The plot is straightforward: it’s your first day…
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Granny’s Place
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Temple Software GAME PUBLISHER:Temple Software Copyright 1983, Temple Software Another lackluster text adventure from Temple Software, Granny’s Place, despite the innocuous name, is a *cough* adult game with an almost nonexistent plot, ridiculous puzzles, and more stereotypical comments and “cheap” jokes than you can…
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Battle Isle II
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Byte GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Byte Copyright 1994, Blue Byte Battle Isle II follows upon the formula Blue Byte previously used in Battle Isle and History Line, but with some heavy changes. The result is a game that LOOKS familiar to Battle Isle veterans, but…
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Battle Isle
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Lothar Schmitt GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Byte GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Byte Copyright 1991, Blue Byte Battle Isle is a futuristic tactical wargame, the start of the series and a predecessor to History Line (a.k.a. The Great War). In fact, players of History Lines will be able to pick this…
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Car Builder
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Optimum Resources GAME PUBLISHER:Optimum Resources Copyright 1982, Optimum Resources Car Builder is, as you may have guessed, a car design game. Created by “Optimum Resource, Inc.,” a company with a rather reputable-sounding name, this game excels in giving the user control over the vehicle…
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Magic Carpet Plus
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Peter Molyneux GAME DEVELOPER:Bullfrog GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1995, Bullfrog One of the most original games ever made, Bullfrog’s Magic Carpet is a classic action/strategy hybrid that remains eminently playable years after its release. Magic Carpet Plus is a re-release of the game that contains both…
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Empire II: The Art of War
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Lewis Baldwin & Bob Rakosky GAME DEVELOPER:White Wolf Productions GAME PUBLISHER:New World Computing Copyright 1996, White Wolf Productions A disappointing end to the illustrious Empire series that began in 1978, Empire II: The Art of War feels like it was rushed out the door long…
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Romance of The Three Kingdoms 4: Walls of Fire
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kou Shibusawa GAME DEVELOPER:KOEI GAME PUBLISHER:KOEI Copyright 1995, KOEI The last game in KOEI’s acclaimed Romance of The Three Kingdoms series to be released in English, Romance of The Three Kingdoms IV: Walls of Fire ends in a disappointing note for long-time fans of the series,…
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Theme Hospital
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bullfrog GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1997, Bullfrog Theme Hospital is a highly original game that unfortunately sports too many monotonous levels and too easy gameplay to sustain long-term play value. As the name suggests, game puts you in charge of a hospital, and your…
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Asterix: Operation Getafix
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Coktel Vision GAME PUBLISHER:Coktel Vision Copyright 1989, Coktel Vision One of the most obscure Coktel Vision games ever, Asterix: Operation Getafix is a decent action/adventure similar to Infogrames’ Tintin games, starring one of France’s best-known comic book character. The plot is as wacky as…
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Theme Park
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dennis Hassabis & Peter Molyneux GAME DEVELOPER:Bullfrog GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1994, Bullfrog One of the most original strategy games ever made, Bullfrog’s Theme Park is a fun “light” business simulation that fulfills a childhood dream of many people: manage a theme park. While the game…
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Oh! Hajiki
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Takeshi Maruyama GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Takeshi Maruyama Oh! Hajiki is a fun little roll-the-ball game that is reminiscent of Marble Madness and Macintosh classic Crystal Quest. The objective is simple: knock out all the balls on the board except your own to clear…
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Cake Fight
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Frieve GAME PUBLISHER:Frieve Copyright 1996, Frieve A cute little vertical shooter that is undoubtedly more than inspired by classic Twinbee series, so I’ve decided to include it as part of our “3U Games” collection. Some background for non-Japanese speakers: Twinbee is a highly successful…
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Cannon Smash
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kanna Yoshihiro GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Kanna Yoshihiro Of all sports, table tennis has rarely been the subject of computer version. Sure, there’s Pong and Arkanoid, which feature simplistic hit-ball-with-paddle action, and then there’s also Shufflepuck Cafe and similar air hockey games. But a…
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Helter Skelter
From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Dale GAME DEVELOPER:Audiogenic GAME PUBLISHER:Audiogenic Copyright 1989, Audiogenic A fun little action game that plays like Marble Madness meets pinball, Helter Skelter is a ball-rolling game with a simple goal: move the ball to hit moving targets within time limit to win a level. Higher…