Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kiri Wagstaff & Westley Weimer GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Kiri Wagstaff & Westley Weimer One of the best Tetris clones I have ever come across, Alizarin Tetris (Atris for short) has everything you would want in a Tetris game: customizable colors and block sizes,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott DeMers GAME DEVELOPER:Cerebral GAME PUBLISHER:Cerebral Copyright 1995, Cerebral Battle Wrath is a lackluster one-on-one SVGA fighting game sold as shareware briefly in 1995 – the first fighting game to use SVGA. The thoroughly average plot goes as follows: after death, great warriors were granted new…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:B. Seiler & Matthew Russell GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, B. Seiler SpaceWar is the first PC port of the first computer game ever made – what more needs to be said? The game was first released for DEC’s PDP-1 computer at MIT in 1960.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Voxar GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1995, Voxar Tumblebugs is a fun head-to-head action game similar to Atari’s classic Combat. The premise is simple: your goal is to chase and attack the other spaceship around the map until one of you is destroyed. There is a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:J.K. Greye Software GAME PUBLISHER:J.K. Greye Software Copyright 1981, J.K. Greye Software To put across how much this game scares me, I really should gibber uncontrollably for most of this review. If this image entices you, read on. Arguably the best game on the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Item Multimedia GAME PUBLISHER:JoWood Productions Copyright 2001, Item Multimedia From Austria’s JoWood Productions comes an ingenious and tough little puzzle game. Keep the Balance is chock full of tough puzzles and addicting gameplay. An evil jester has been unleashed into our universe. His objective…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Onitama GAME DEVELOPER:Onion Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Onion Software Runner is a fun freeware arcade game from Japan. Your objective as a stick-man “Runner” is to destroy all enemies on the level to proceed to the next. The graphics are sparse, but the gameplay is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Claudio Chami GAME DEVELOPER:Atari Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Claudio Chami Lunar Lander is an amazingly faithful remake of Atari’s classic game of the same name, which was in turn based on Lander, an oldie freeware BASIC game designed by Leo Michels and popularized by David…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Willen & Jeff Krantz GAME DEVELOPER:Computer Applications Unlimited GAME PUBLISHER:Computer Applications Unlimited Copyright 1982, Computer Applications Unlimited Czorian Siege is a straightforward Space Invaders clone: shoot the enemy ships from the ground. The game is fairly easy since you only need to worry about a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Compute! Devastator is a neat little first person space shooting game included in the August 1984 issue of Compute! magazine. The premise: a menacing alien ship named Devastator has deployed several ships sent to place detonator charges on the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Durell Software GAME PUBLISHER:Durell Software Copyright 1987, Durell Software Saboteur 2 is a fun beat ’em up game from Durell, a sequel to the first Saboteur which was released only on non-PC 8-bit systems including the ZX Spectrum computer. You play a mercenary “Saboteur…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jeff Sember & Don Mattrick GAME DEVELOPER:Sydney Development GAME PUBLISHER:Sydney Development Copyright 1983, Sydney Development Evolution is a fun and quirky arcade game from Sydney Development. You start as an amoeba trying to advance up the evolutionary chain to become a human. To do this you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Russ Wetmore GAME DEVELOPER:Adventure International GAME PUBLISHER:Adventure International Copyright 1983, Adventure International Sea Dragon is a fun but very difficult underwater shooter from Adventure International. The basic premise is similiar to such arcade hits as Scramble: you are going through a maze of underwater tunnels, trying…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:William Electronics GAME PUBLISHER:Atari Games Copyright 1985, William Electronics Stargate, later marketed as Defender II, is a little-known sequel to Defender. The game added a few elements to the Defender gameplay including the inviso, some new enemies, and the stargate. The stargate gave you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Greg Kuperberg GAME DEVELOPER:Orion Software GAME PUBLISHER:Orion Software Copyright 1983, Orion Software Before Windmill Software and CHAMProgramming, Orion Software was one of the first game developers that specialized in creating PC “clones” of well-known arcade games, usually from the extensive catalogs of Atari, Taito, or William.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Greg Kuperberg GAME DEVELOPER:Orion Software GAME PUBLISHER:Orion Software Copyright 1982, Orion Software Before Windmill Software and CHAMProgramming, Orion Software was one of the first game developers that specialized in creating PC “clones” of well-known arcade games, usually from the extensive catalogs of Atari, Taito, or William.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Greg Kuperberg GAME DEVELOPER:Orion Software GAME PUBLISHER:Orion Software Copyright 1982, Orion Software Before Windmill Software and CHAMProgramming, Orion Software was one of the first game developers that specialized in creating PC “clones” of well-known arcade games, usually from the extensive catalogs of Atari, Taito, or William.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dave Sharpless & Randy Glover GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1991, Apogee Jumpman Lives! is an excellent and faithful rewrite of Epyx’s Jumpman and Jumpman Jr., the latter of which was never before made for PC. Written by Dave Sharpless and released as shareware by Apogee,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Takeru GAME PUBLISHER:Taito Copyright 1992, Takeru One of the most underrated platformers on the NES, Little Samson is an excellent platformer with top-notch gameplay and a lot of replay value. The plot: Emperor Hans has summoned the four owners of Majestic Bells of Power…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Prentice Associates GAME PUBLISHER:Harris Semiconductor Copyright 1991, Harris Semiconductor Engineering Jones and the Time Thieves of DSPea is an early promotional computer game of historical importance: it marked the first time a computer game was used to introduce a new product. In this case,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Celestial GAME PUBLISHER:Celestial Copyright 1997, Celestial Toxic Bunny is a fun platformer from Celestial, a small developer based in South Africa. The game plays like a psychedelic version of Epic Megagames’ Jazz Jackrabbit. You control a bunny named Toxic who has been transformed from…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1994, Technos Japan Kunio-tachi No Banka (something like “Requiem for Kunio’s Gang” in English) is yet another excellent beat ’em up starring Kunio and Riki, famous video game duo most popular in the west as protagonists in River…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sergei Vasilyev GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Sergei Vasilyev As the name implies, Tanks 3D is a 3D tank action game in the same vein as Atari’s classic Combat arcade hit. What makes the game special is that it supports multiplayer play via the Internet,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Nagahashi GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Nagahashi Yet another jaw-dropping, drop-dead gorgeous 3D shooter from Japan, GunViper takes the freeware ‘scene’ to the next level with true 3D weapons. You no longer fire flat, 2D laser beams, but full 3D bullets and rockets that spin…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1989, Accolade Mental Blocks is essentially Tetris in 3D, similar to a better-known and superior game called Blockout. This is one of the rarest Accolade games, because the company was sued and later forced to pull the game from the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:COSMI GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1999, COSMI 3D Pinball Express is a so-so pinball game from COSMI that is apparently one of the worst pinball games ever released, at least according to pinball expert Martin Mathis’ review: “Multi-table bargain bin package with four themes,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:CnC Darkside GAME DEVELOPER:Irem GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, CnC Darkside One of the best Japanese freeware shmups I’ve ever played, G-Type is a crazy and the same time admirable fusion between two classics of the genre: R-Type and Gradius. Your ship is the R9 of Irem’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kris Asick GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Kris Asick Space Fortress is a fun and unique action/simulation hybrid set in space. Your goal: “…defend your fortress as long as possible from enemies that endlessly increase in strength and numbers. This is much like an arcade…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Sachs GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Mark Sachs Star Castle is an excellent freeware remake of the arcade hit of the same name back in the early 1980s. The plot, from the official Vectrex manual, goes as follows: “You and other experienced intergalactic voyagers…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kris Asick GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Kris Asick PixelShips is a fun little side-scrolling shooter from Kris Asick. The objective of the game is simple: collect all 160 small spaceships dubbed “PixelShips” as you go through the levels. The game is harder than it…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Doug Beeferman GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Doug Beeferman Fiddle is an excellent variant of Tangram, coded by the same designer who designed Cyberbox, a very clever freeware brainteaser. In Fiddle, each level is a collection of pieces which you must slide and rotate to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:VanDerLee GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, VanDerLee Linkz is an excellent PC remake of Kplumber, a very addictive puzzler for Linux. The goal of Linkz is simple: connect all the ends of the pipes to each other to end up with fully closed figures. It…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Todd Lewis GAME DEVELOPER:SoftDisk Publishing GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1990, SoftDisk Publishing Fourside is a neat little ASCII-based Dominoes variant, released as one of the games on an issue of SoftDisks Big Blue Disk monthly disk magazine. The game plays like Dominoes, except that the Dominoes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Pavel Dovgaluk GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Pavel Dovgaluk Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons is a great fanmade remake of the Amiga/ZX Spectrum game of the same name, developed in 1989 by Psyclapse, Psygnosis’ sub-division. The review at Amiga Games Database says it all about…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Richardson & Pavel Dovgaluk GAME DEVELOPER:Durell Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Pavel Dovgaluk Harrier Attack is a great PC remake of an 8-bit oldie of the same name, most popular on the Amstrad CPC platform since it was part of the free software bundled with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Akira GAME DEVELOPER:Natomic Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Natomic Studios Bananarama is a fun puzzle/action underdog that combines the best elements of Lode Runner, Bomberman, and Jetpack into an innovative and fun package. The game features interesting gameplay, 16 levels spanning 4 different worlds, one bonus…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andi Smith GAME DEVELOPER:Natomic Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Andi Smith Rock It is a great coffee break gem based onthe mini game ‘Chaos Garden’ in Sonic Advance, a Gameboy Advance game. Using the arrow keys and spacebar, your goal is to get as high a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anonymous Rayging Blue is yet another excellent vertical shooter from Japan’s fast-growing freeware community. The game features excellent 2D anime-style graphics, plenty of big explosions and power-ups, well-designed enemy ships, and frantic action. You can accumulate power-ups to use,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kirk Christiansen GAME DEVELOPER:Atari Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Kirk Christiansen Tankgame is a fun freeware remake of Atari’s arcade hit Tank (later released for Atari 2600 console as Combat). Like other Atari classics, the game is very easy to learn, but amazingly addictive. The concept…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bas deReuver GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Bas deReuver UrthWurm is an excellent PC version of SFCave, the (in)famous PalmOS worm game coded by SunFlat, a Japanese programmer. This PC version coded by BdR in Turbo Pascal 7.0 is very faithful to the original, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Charles Timmerman GAME DEVELOPER:Symantec GAME PUBLISHER:Symantec Copyright 1991, Charles Timmerman Symantec Game Pack is an above-average collection of 6 mini-games written by Charles Timmerman and published by Symantec in 1991 for Windows 3.1. All six games are computerized versions of common parlor games, some not usually…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Riedel & Keith Weiner GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1990, Hi-Tech Expressions The Bugs Bunny Hare-brained Adventure is another good adaptation of a cartoon license released by Hi-Tech Expressions. Based on a TV episode of Bugs Bunny, you play the famous hare who…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:IshiDaco GAME DEVELOPER:Stone Octopus GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, IshiDaco Burokuzu is a great freeware Breakout clone from Japan. The usual bounce-the-ball-off-the-paddle action is livened up by a number of interesting innovations. My favorite one is that you can select which power-up you want to use next…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anonymous Ojamajo and AVS (formerly called Kakutuku) are two excellent 2D fighting games coded by ASCIIs Fighter Maker application. The games feature a good number of characters and moves, very fluid animations, and a well-balanced gameplay that is neither…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Anonymous Ojamajo and AVS (formerly called Kakutuku) are two excellent 2D fighting games coded by ASCIIs Fighter Maker application. The games feature a good number of characters and moves, very fluid animations, and a well-balanced gameplay that is neither…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Naoki Yokoyama GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Naoki Yokoyama Carol is a fun competitive puzzler set in Christmas theme that sports commercial-quality graphics, somewhat original gameplay, and very high production values including full Japanese voice acting. The gameplay is straightforward: put Tetris-shaped tiles on your…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Hisano & Tamura GAME DEVELOPER:Harvest Bell GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Hisano & Tamura Reaction is a fun action game with puzzle elements, similar to Dynablaster in style but with more focus on action than puzzle. Your goal is to kill all the enemies on the board,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Hisano & Tamura GAME DEVELOPER:Harvest Bell GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Hisano & Tamura Pamidama is a fun reflex-based puzzle game featuring characters from several anime series. The idea: catch all the balls that roll from the top of the screen in the right container whose color…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:NZP GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, NZP Tile Golf Puzzle is a clever variant on the typical arrange-the-tiles puzzle. From the official page: “Looking for ways to improve your golf game? Well, this puzzle won’t improve your physical game, but it will provide you with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:NZP GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, NZP The Bird Cage Puzzle is a good computer version of a well-known brainteaser that requires you to arrange numbered tiles in the correct order. The (quite unnecessary) plot: “Within the Emperor’s Palace there stand five birdcages in five…