Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Vectorman GAME DEVELOPER:Delphic Oracle GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, Delphic Oracle Dinosaur Balls and Super Bubble Mania are fun, cute arcade-style games that boast identical gameplay despite being made years apart by two different companies. In both games, you control either a boy or a girl…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Phenomedia GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, DAB bank Stock-Blaster is a fun coffee break game created by Phenomedia for DAB, a Germany bank, as a promotional game that also teaches the basics of the stock market. The *very* basic concepts, in other words: bull markets…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Anonymous Star Wars II is a decent fanmade vertical shooter set in the Star Wars universe, made by a fan in Korea. The premise is definitely not the focus here, as you will fly rebel fighters such as the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Pollard & Joe Hillman GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1994, John Pollard & Joe Hillman Sinaria: Lost in Space is a fun, bang-for-your-buck shareware platformer that boasts surprisingly varied and addictive gameplay despite amateurish graphics. Similar to most other games in the genre, the plot…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:New Deal Productions GAME PUBLISHER:New Deal Productions Copyright 1989, New Deal Productions Safari Guns is an above-average first-person shooting gallery game, except in this game you have to shoot both bullets and pictures. Your job is to photograph a certain number of safari animals…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kevin Bulmer GAME DEVELOPER:Synthetic Dimensions GAME PUBLISHER:IBM Copyright 1995, IBM Rapid Assault is a decent first-person futuristic driving game from Synthetic Dimensions, published by IBM. The plot is simple: as member of the futuristic police force, your job is to drive your trusty police vehicle to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Twinkle Soft GAME PUBLISHER:Twinkle Soft Copyright 2001, Twinkle Soft Rally Raid continues the tradition of excellent, commercial-quality shareware vertical shooters from Japan. Beautiful 3D graphics create a great illusion of depth in a 2D playing field, anime-style ship designs are excellent, and your ship’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Najib Chelly GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1990, Loriciel Probably Loriciel’ most obscure release, Quadrel is an interesting puzzle game with a different twist. Played either against the computer or another human player, the game looks quite simple: you have to paint on the screen spaces…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softstar GAME PUBLISHER:Softstar Copyright 1993, Softstar Prince of Evil is an excellent VGA beat ’em up from prolific Taiwanese developer Softstar based on Chinese myths. You control a legendary hero as he battles countless Chinese ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural creatures on his way…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Teeny Weeny Games GAME PUBLISHER:GT Interactive Copyright 1995, GT Interactive Made before Disney’s blockbuster animated movie of the same name and the subsequent game, GT Interactive’s Pocahontas is an average true-to-the-story side-scrolling platformer that brings you back to the time when the Native Americans,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Raoul Said GAME DEVELOPER:MindStorm Software GAME PUBLISHER:Pack Media Copyright 1994, MindStorm Software Pea Shootin’ Pete is a fun shareware arcade game that looks deceptively simple, but will grow on you after repeated play. The concept is straightforward: armed with a little blowgun, you need to shoot…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Todd Lewis GAME DEVELOPER:SoftDisk Publishing GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1993, SoftDisk Publishing Papu’s Odyssey is a fun puzzle game in the same style as Epyx’s popular Chip’s Challenge game, except that you are now a fish fighting to save the reef. Your job is to open…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Phenomedia GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Real Media A cute freeware game created to promote Real Media, Nanuk is a charming Frogger clone with a simple idea and gameplay: guide Nanuk the eskimo kid to the other side of the river, where he is reunited…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1989, Henson Associates Muppet Adventure is a lackluster collection of five boring action games based on Jim Henson’s beloved Muppets characters. The games are highly derivative of well-known arcade games, the animations are choppy, the graphics awful in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Audiogenic GAME PUBLISHER:Audiogenic Copyright 1990, Audiogenic Based on the hit series of roleplaying gamebooks, Lone Wolf is an excellent side-scrolling beat ’em up rom Audiogenic that puts you in the shoes of Lone Wolf – last of the Kai Masters, a fantasy hero who…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Distinctive Software GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1997, Psygnosis A decent FPS game from Psygnosis that was more successful on the Playstation than PC. The mundane storyline is as follows: the year is 2096 and Earth is polluted and war torn. The remaining colonists have only…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Warp GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Warp Joe is a fun brainteaser that requires precise timing as well as reflexes and strategic planning. You control Joe, a Pac-Man-lookalike who has to get to the exit on each level. Along the way, Joe must collect keys…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1990, Hanna Barbera Productions The Jetsons by Softie is a decent platformer starring Mr. Spacely, George, Elroy, Astro and Rosie, main characters from Hanna Barbara’s charming TV cartoon about an accident-prone space-age family. The plot: renegade robots have taken…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Dynamics GAME PUBLISHER:Software Dynamics Copyright 1995, Software Dynamics Jennifer Reitz’s review says it all about this excellent shareware underdog that is still going strong years after its initial release: “Inner Space is a remarkably clever little game, suitable for all ages and skill…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Anonymous One of the best freeware side-scrolling shooters in recent memory, Hornado is a well-designed, very pretty side-scrolling shooter that harks back to the good old days of Gradius and similar classics. Rocket Download says it all about this…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Dinamic Multimedia GAME PUBLISHER:Dinamic Multimedia Copyright 1991, Dinamic Multimedia Hammer Boy is an average arcade game that plays like a cross between Kaboom! and Whack-a-mole. Armed with a big hammer, your job is to prevent the American Indians from reaching the tower behind your…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Emerald Software GAME PUBLISHER:Emerald Software Copyright 1989, Emerald Software Fallen Angel is a decent beat-em up game from Emerald Software. As a beefy ex-commando, you will fight thugs and other lowlifes of London. The graphics, although 4-color CGA only, are sharp and detailed, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Julian Cochran GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, Julian Cochran Destruction Zone, or D-Zone for short, is a fun tank battle game that allows up to three players and up to six robots to fight through rounds and accumulate money and points. The players each shop…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:AMWA (HK) GAME PUBLISHER:AMWA (HK) Copyright 1992, AMWA (HK) Dinosaur Balls (better known as Pang outside Asia) and Super Bubble Mania are fun, cute arcade-style games that boast identical gameplay despite being made years apart by two different companies. In both games, you control…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Taito GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Anonymous Bust-A-Move is an excellent and very faithful fanmade reproduction of Puzzle Bobble, Taito’s classic competitive puzzle game based on Bubble Bobble characters that never made it to the PC. The game is essentially a good Tetris clone: instead…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Level 9 Computing GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1990, OCEAN The Legend of Billy The Kid is a great action/adventure hybrid in the style of Cinemaware’s It Came From The Desert game, except this time you can play as either the legendary outlaw, or Sheriff Pat…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Comspec GAME PUBLISHER:Comspec Copyright 1993, Comspec Battle Europe is a fun isometric shooting game set in World War II. Your objective: as either Allies or Axis, destroy all tanks of the opposing side on each level to advance to the next. In each level,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Nils Bote GAME DEVELOPER:FAKT Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, SWING! Entertainment Ballerman – Hey Baby is a fun freeware clone of Frogger created to promote SWING! Entertainment’s Ballerman commercial game, which is in turn based on Germany’s popular comics. The game also features Sound Convoy, an…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sanctuary Software Studio GAME PUBLISHER:Sanctuary Software Studio Copyright 1994, Sanctuary Software Studio Backlash: A Turret Gunner Simulation is a straightforward clone of Wing Commander without the intriguing plot dynamics and personalities that made it a classic space combat game. Your job: climb into the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eric Chahi GAME DEVELOPER:Delphine Software GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1994, Delphine Software Heart of the Alien is the highly underrated sequel to Out of This World, one of the best PC games ever made. Despite the success of Out of This World on PC system, developer…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Denio GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:ComputerEasy Copyright 1990, Michael Denio Captain Comic and its sequel are competent shareware platformers in an era where the shareware scene was dominated by Apogee and Epic Megagames (and still is, to a lesser extent). The best things about the game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Denio GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1988, Michael Denio Captain Comic and its sequel are competent shareware platformers in an era where the shareware scene was dominated by Apogee and Epic Megagames (and still is, to a lesser extent). The best things about the game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Rauser Advertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Kellogg Tony and Friends in Kellogg’s Land is a decent clone of Super Mario Brothers starring cartoon characters that populate the covers of Kellogg’s cereal boxes. You play Tony the tiger who must journey across Kellogg’s lands to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:S. Kuzmin GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1993, A. Safonov & S. Kuzmin Frantis and Frantis: Mission II are two decent freeware action games with banal save-the-world-from-alien plots, but passable gameplay and graphics. Nothing much to say here, except that the games are done in different…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:S. Kuzmin GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1991, A. Safonov & S. Kuzmin Frantis and Frantis: Mission II are two decent freeware action games with banal save-the-world-from-alien plots, but passable gameplay and graphics. Nothing much to say here, except that the games are done in different…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compile GAME PUBLISHER:Compile Copyright 1996, Compile Alexei Pajitnov’s blockbuster Tetris spawned many clones, but Puyo Puyo is one of the more worthy derivatives from the whole falling-blocks craze in the early 80s. First released on the Mega-Drive console by Compile, Puyo Puyo has all…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Wiering GAME DEVELOPER:Wiering Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Mike Wiering Charlie the Duck is a fun cartoon platformer reminiscent of Super Mario Brothers starring Charlie, a cute duck you must help to get through levels. Although its similarities to Nintendo’s classic make the game familiar…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Johan Peitz GAME DEVELOPER:Free Lunch Design GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Free Lunch Design Happyland Adventures is a classic freeware platformer that is quite typical in plot (or lack of one) and gameplay, but it has the same qualities that made Mario Brothers enduring: charming graphics and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Johan Peitz GAME DEVELOPER:Free Lunch Design GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Free Lunch Design Hellcarrier is an excellent top-down 2D shooter by Free Lunch Design, one of my favorite freeware developers. You play a succesful helicopter pilot flying for the UN on various missions to eradicate terrorists.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Gravity GAME PUBLISHER:Gravity Copyright 1995, Gravity Lars: The Wanderer is an excellent fantasy “action RPG” from Gravity, a Korean developer. The game is similar to Sierra/Game Arts’ Zeliard in gameplay and style, except there is more emphasis on the use of magic. The gameworld…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Namil Soft GAME PUBLISHER:Namil Soft Copyright 1995, Namil Soft Ant Man is a fun futuristic platformer from Namil Soft, a Korean games developer that was later acquired by fellow Koreans Wizard Soft in 1999. The game is similar to Thexder and Mega Man series:…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jason Chen GAME DEVELOPER:Kirin Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Moebius Designs Copyright 1998, Kirin Entertainment Esoteria is a fun 3D third-person shooter that unfortunately got far too little attention than Shinys innovative MDK, which the game closely resembles both in gameplay and presentation (although not in the creativity department).…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Nick Bruty & Bob Stevenson GAME DEVELOPER:Shiny Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1997, Shiny Entertainment One of the most innovative first-person shooter games ever made, Shiny Entertainments MDK (short for Maim, Destroy, Kill) sets new standards in the crowded genre popularized by the likes of Quake,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bluemoon Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Bluemoon Interactive Copyright 1996, Bluemoon Interactive Roketz is a great multiplayer space combat game from Bluemoon Interactive, makers of celebrated classic Skyroads. First released as shareware for the Amiga, the game is notable for the excellent balance between playability and realism…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zero Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Zero Entertainment Copyright 1998, Zero Entertainment Crop Circles: Escape From Planet 3 is a fun sci-fi shareware arcade game that makes up for repetitive and simplistic gameplay with a great sense of humor. As with other games from Zero Entertainment, Crop…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Family Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Family Productions Copyright 1995, Family Productions Pee & Gity Special is a fun and very cute 2D side-scrolling beat ?em up from Korea, starring two lovable cartoon characters: Gity the squirrel, and Pee the snake. The game is in Korean, but…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SKC Soft GAME PUBLISHER:SKC Soft Copyright 1995, SKC Soft Dragon Force, Icarus, and Assault Dragon are three competent 2D side-scrolling shooters from Korea, based on the same mundane sci-fi plot about defending the Earth from alien invaders. All three games offer no-nonsense shooter gameplay,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Soft Action GAME PUBLISHER:SKC Soft Copyright 1992, SKC Soft Fox Ranger is a fun side-scrolling shooter from Soft Action, later to become SKC Soft, one of the leading game developing houses in Korea. While the objective (blast everything in sight) is all too familiar…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SKC Soft GAME PUBLISHER:SKC Soft Copyright 1994, SKC Soft Dragon Force, Icarus, and Assault Dragon are three competent 2D side-scrolling shooters from Korea, based on the same mundane sci-fi plot about defending the Earth from alien invaders. All three games offer no-nonsense shooter gameplay,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mirinae Software GAME PUBLISHER:SKC Soft Copyright 1993, SKC Soft Dragon Force, Icarus, and Assault Dragon are three competent 2D side-scrolling shooters from Korea, based on the same mundane sci-fi plot about defending the Earth from alien invaders. All three games offer no-nonsense shooter gameplay,…