Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Unknown Ocean Mix comes with probably the longest loading time I’ve ever seen for such a small game. While this isn’t a good start, the rest makes up for this. The game is a “score-attack” shooter: you haven’t lives…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Namco GAME PUBLISHER:Midas Interactive Copyright 1999, Namco Oh, those crazy Japanese console programmers. What will they think of next? Right, according to the intro, the town is being overrun by coloured blocks and only Mr. Driller can stop them. There are also some little…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gerry Quinn GAME DEVELOPER:Bindweed GAME PUBLISHER:Bindweed Copyright 1998, Gerry Quinn Tilers Torment is an original and fun variation of your typical jigsaw puzzle game. The object of the game is to arrange polygonal tiles into a pattern so that the colors at every edge match. As…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Naruto GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Naruto The objective in Starship Fight is simple: in every zone, destroy all the ground structures (represented by blue squares) to advance to the next; fail by missing too many targets, and you will repeat the level. Every enemy…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Siter Skain GAME PUBLISHER:Himeya Soft Copyright 1999, Siter Skain A great game from Siter Skain, a Japanese company specialized in 2D shooters, Kamui boasts an overall quality that puts it in par with PC SHMUPS classics like Raiden 2, Rally Raid, and Tyrian 2000.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bloodlust Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Bloodlust Software After a long period of silence (they discontinued their emulators in the second half of 1998), Bloodlust made a comeback in late 1999, with the intention of making games again. The first announced was a new…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anonymous Last Dimension is a 3D shooter in the same style of Taito’s Zeitgeist, but with even better graphics. If it wasn’t that you can move your ship around the screen while shooting at the hordes of enemies coming,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chad Frick GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Chad Frick Do you remember that scenes in some oriental action movies, with guys exercising on top of high pillars? Good, put cartoony graphics on them, add a lot of humour, and you have Kung Fu Kim. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Meinolf Schneider GAME DEVELOPER:Dongleware GAME PUBLISHER:Dongleware Copyright 1995, Dongleware Bolo is an excellent redesign of the classic Atari game by the same name. Billed as “a high resolution fantasy action adventure,” Bolo is actually a fun action-oriented platformer similar to Bubble Ghost with some puzzle elements.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Meinolf Schneider GAME DEVELOPER:Dongleware GAME PUBLISHER:Dongleware Copyright 1994, Dongleware The Oxyd series is a fun shareware puzzle/action hybrid that plays like a cross between Marble Madness, Macintosh classic Crystal Quest, and Chip’s Challenge. The game even boasts a plot: overnight, the (digital) life-supporting Oxyds have closed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Meinolf Schneider GAME DEVELOPER:Dongleware GAME PUBLISHER:Dongleware Copyright 1993, Dongleware The Oxyd series is a fun shareware puzzle/action hybrid that plays like a cross between Marble Madness, Macintosh classic Crystal Quest, and Chip’s Challenge. The game even boasts a plot: overnight, the (digital) life-supporting Oxyds have closed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Meinolf Schneider GAME DEVELOPER:Dongleware GAME PUBLISHER:Dongleware Copyright 1992, Dongleware The Oxyd series is a fun shareware puzzle/action hybrid that plays like a cross between Marble Madness, Macintosh classic Crystal Quest, and Chip’s Challenge. The game even boasts a plot: overnight, the (digital) life-supporting Oxyds have closed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Virtual Adventures GAME PUBLISHER:Virtual Adventures Copyright 1996, Virtual Adventures Star Quest 1 is a fun shareware space flight simulator that is much better than your average shareware game, although its still nothing compared to Nomad or Elite, two heavyweights in the genre. In addition…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1999, Psygnosis Much in the style of Activision’s Battlezone, Lander is effectively a 3d remake and ‘expansion’ of ancient vector-based arcade game of the same name (familiar, no?). You take the role of a daredevil pilot out to make a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:YMORI GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, YMORI BBQ is a unique and amazingly addictive freeware Flash game from Japan. The premise is one of the most original I have seen in any game: you are eating Japanese BBQ (“Yakiniku”) in the restaurant, and all you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Chenault GAME DEVELOPER:Baen Software GAME PUBLISHER:Simon & Schuster Copyright 1984, John Chenault Snake! is a great clone of Nibbles with some very innovative concepts, even if the game is ASCII-only with no graphics. There are three modes of play in the game: single player, two-player,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Datasoft GAME PUBLISHER:IntelliCreations Copyright 1986, TSR/Intellicreations CrossCheck is an excellent and very rare PC version of TSR’s board game of the same name, designed for 1-4 players. The game is a unique cross between a typical crossword puzzle and Scrabble. Four players (3 of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Opera Soft GAME PUBLISHER:Opera Soft Copyright 1989, Opera Soft Livingstone I Presume II is an excellent sequel to Livingstone I Presume, Opera Soft’s classic side-scrolling 2D platformer. Adventure game fans will be glad to know that Opera Soft drops the action focus of the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:J. Rowan GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, J. Rowan PC*Bert is an excellent fanmade remake of Atari/Parker Brothers’ Q*Bert, one of the most classic arcade games of all time. The gameplay is the same, and the controls are just as simple as in the original.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Safari Software GAME PUBLISHER:Epic Megagames Copyright 1993, Safari Software The only platformer developed by Safari Software, Jason Storm in Space Chase is a decent 2D side-scrolling platformer similar to Duke Nukem and Bio Menace. The game follows the exploits of Jason Storm, intrepid galactic…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Opera Soft GAME PUBLISHER:Opera Soft Copyright 1988, Opera Soft Livingstone Supongo (Livingstone I Presume in English) is arguably the best game released by prolific Spanish developer Opera Soft. The game is another release in the very popular video adventure genre (i.e. 2D action/adventure platform-style…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sheng-Chung Liu GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1983, Sheng-Chung Liu Pango is an excellent freeware PC conversion of Pengo, SEGAs coin-op classic first released in 1982. Pango is the name of your alter ego in the game: a red penguin who must rid the screen of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:SimWolf GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, SimWolf Dance With Intensity is an excellent fanmade clone of Bemani/Konamis Dance Dance Revolution, the unique dancing game that captured the arcade and Playstation world by storm, and has attracted a huge following as well as numerous add-ons and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anonymous Huu Baku is a fun arcade game from Japan that plays like a cross between Lander and Sopwith, with a little bit of strategic element a la Armor Alley thrown in for good measure. The idea is that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Takeuchi Kouta GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Takeuchi Kouta Creature Jungle 16 is an excellent freeware top-down shoot em up (affectionately known as SHMUPS by fans) game from Japanese designer Takeuchi Kouta. The games objective is the same as all the other shooters: shoot everything…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Simo Siiri GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1997, Simo Siiri V-Wing is one of the best cavefliers games ever made. Cavefliers is an action sub-genre that was very popular in that country in the early 1990s, inspiring many authors to release shareware and freeware cavefliers of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sebastian Aaltonen GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Sebastian Aaltonen Tappo II is another fun ?caveflier? game from Finland, an action sub-genre that became very popular in that country in the early 1990s. The idea behind the game is the same as in every other caveflier:…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sean Puckett GAME DEVELOPER:Albino Frog GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Sean Puckett Helious is a fun and unique arcade-style puzzler that is very hard to describe. Essentially you must maneuver a balloon through 18 different worlds (9 in Helious 1, the shareware version, and the other 9…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John White GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, John White Velcro Mind is a fun and unique little freeware game that plays like a classic game of Simon crossed with the Mac classic Crystal Quest. Your goal is to move the multicolored Velcro circle around the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Drew Major & Dale Neibaur GAME DEVELOPER:Superset Software GAME PUBLISHER:Superset Software Copyright 1982, Superset Software Back to the old days. Where (a small) size was more important than the graphics. The glory days of ASCII games. Addictiveness was the trump card. How do you achieve addictiveness…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1990, Loriciel Guardians is an interesting puzzle game from Loriciel which, true to their reputation, is quite unique in its concept. The game looks like a cross between Tetris and Origamo, except it’s a little more cumbersome and confusing. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Microsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1990, Microsoft Gorilla is a cute little BASIC game included free with the first version of Microsoft’s QBASIC program (the other being a QBASIC version of Nibblers). Casting you as a huge gorilla, the game is extremely simple: when it’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1997, SEGA Virtua Cop 2 (a.k.a. Virtua Squad 2) is a faithful PC port of SEGA?s arcade hit of the same name, a ?rail shooter? played from a first-person perspective, except this time you no longer can shoot with the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1997, SEGA Virtual On Cybertroopers (which I will now refer to as VOOM, as it’s sometimes called Virtual On: Operation Moongate) was developed by SEGA’s Am3 team (now known as Hitmaker …an appropriate name, if you ask me), and first…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Wiebo de Wit GAME DEVELOPER:Firebird GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Wiebo de Wit Thrust Deluxe is an excellent freeware remake of the classic C64 game Thrust, which is in turn based on Gravitar, ATARIs arcade classic. Your goal is to maneuver your spaceship through treacherous caves, fighting…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming CHAMP Galagon is a good clone of ATARIs classic Galaga, similar in style and gameplay to CHAMProgrammings earlier CHAMP Galaxia which was based on Galaxian. The gameplay is simple as ever: destroy the waves of Galagon ships…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs classic arcade shooter Space Invaders: “Get ready to stop the invasion with CHAMP Invaders. This game offers three modes of play:…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs classic arcade shooter Asteroids: “Based on CHAMP Asteroids, this version offers superb graphics, Soundblaster support and enhanced gameplay that truly makes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs classic arcade shooter Galaxian: “A great version of the famous arcade classic game – CHAMP Galaxia. Based on CHAMP Galaxian, this…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs gobble-the-dots classic Pac-Man: “…Based on CHAMP Pacman, this version offers superb graphics, Soundblaster support and enhanced gameplay that truly makes you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs classic Ms. Pac-Man: “Based on CHAMP MS. Pacman, this version offers superb graphics, Soundblaster support and enhanced gameplay that truly makes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1993, CHAMProgramming The description at CHAMP Games Fan Page says it all about this excellent remake of ATARIs classic Centipede: [CHAMP Centiped-em is] the great version of the classic arcade bug game.. Based on CHAMP Centipede, this version offers…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Champeau GAME DEVELOPER:CHAMProgramming GAME PUBLISHER:CHAMProgramming Copyright 1997, CHAMProgramming CHAMP Kong is a great remake of Nintendos classic Kong game that stars Mario, the plump plumber who will become much more famous in his own platform series. The goal is simple: your girlfriend has been kidnapped…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, Anonymous Spread is a fun freeware two-player board game from Korea with a simple premise: change the color of all your opponent’s pieces into yours. The rules are straightforward: you can move your piece on square at a time,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gilberto Lima Correia GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Gilberto Lima Correia MarioUp is a nice fanmade Mario Brothers game, coded in QBasic. Your job once again is to guide our plump plumber across the 2D side-scrolling levels, collecting stars while he can and jumping on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compile GAME PUBLISHER:Compile Copyright 1997, Compile Puyo Puyo 2 is a great sequel to Puyo Puyo, one of the best Tetris-style game that inspired numerous clones on its own. The gameplay remains the same as the first game: colored cartoon jelly blobs fall from…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Oren Bartal GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Oren Bartal Ultimate Super Stack is an excellent sequel to Super Stack, itself one of the best freeware QBasic games ever made. The game is essentially a freeware remake of Kirby’s Star Stacker, a Gameboy Color game by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Key Game GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1996, Key Game/Games Workshop Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels is an excellent sequel to the vastly underrated Space Hulk game, first published by EA in 1993. Like its predecessor, SH:VBA is based on Games Workshop?s acclaimed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Edward Hill GAME DEVELOPER:Discovery Software GAME PUBLISHER:Discovery Software Copyright 1988, Discovery Software Zoom! is an interesting Pac-Man clone that ultimately suffers from repetitive gameplay and too difficult levels. Played from an isometric perspective, your goal is to guide a Pac-Man-lookalike as he gobbles up not dots,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Anthony Lopes GAME DEVELOPER:Darksun Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anthony Lopes One of the best freeware games ever made with Klik & Play game creating program, Triumph! War 2099 is a cute, innovative, and fun mix of no-holds-barred action and real-time strategy genres. At first glance,…