Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Axel Meierhoefer GAME DEVELOPER:XLM Software GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, XLM Software Color Attack is a Space Invaders clone with an interesting puzzle twist. Before each new level, the game tells you how many alien ships (“Objects”) of each color must be destroyed, as well as…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller (not Apogee) GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Scott Miller (not Apogee) One of the strangest games youll ever play, freeware or otherwise, Nelda Nockbladder’s Anatomy Lesson is a fun action game with a unique blend of puzzle elements: you first have to figure…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Matija Tomaskovic & Bruno Babic GAME DEVELOPER:Webfoot Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, Matija Tomaskovic & Bruno Babic Bluppo is a great clone of Boulderdash that offers a lot more features than the First Star classic, including new ideas, excellent graphics and sounds, 160 large and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Optik GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1996, Optik Chain Reaction is a fun Tetris clone from Webfoot Technologies, one of the best shareware developers most famous for fun clones of well-known games such as Breakout!. Interestingly enough, the game is actually a more updated version…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Morten Eriksen GAME DEVELOPER:Twilight Zone GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1996, Twilight Zone Interpose is a beautiful and very smooth VGA shooter that boasts very high production value for a shareware game (similar to all other Webfoot games). The plot, while not really necessary, is interesting because…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Greenstone GAME DEVELOPER:Pangea Software GAME PUBLISHER:Micro Revelations Copyright 1990, Micro Revelations Xenocide is a fun sci-fi action game that offers different types of gameplay, from first-person shooter to platformer to overhead action. This PC version is much more obscure than the Apple IIGS version for…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sami Lehtinen GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Sami Lehtinen One of the best Snakes/Nibbles clones ever made, Pizza Worm is a great freeware gem that has become a cult favorite since its release in 1995. If you havent been gaming long enough to have played…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Alternative GAME PUBLISHER:Alternative Copyright 1992, BBC Enterprises Postman Pat 3 is a lackluster conversion of a lackluster Amstrad CPC/Atari ST game of the same name, which concludes the Postman Pat series that started out quite promisingly in 1988. The series is based on the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Simpson GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1993, Psygnosis One of the worst games from Psygnosis, Bram Stokers Dracula is a lackluster first-person shooter with minimal adventure elements. The plot: legions of the undead are rising from their graves, and it’s your job to put a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Allu GAME DEVELOPER:Error Free Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Error Free Productions You grip the pistol between your sweaty fingers and wait anxiously for the person to turn the corner. There he is! Soon the whole area is full of light, blood and the smell of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jorrit Rouw? GAME DEVELOPER:3.14 Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, 3.14 Software Ka-BOOM! Flames burst forth from the newly-placed atomic bomb and the train is now nothing but melted steel and ash. “Mission successful!” dominates the screen, as your tank happily drives off the screen. This is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:CapDisc GAME PUBLISHER:American Laser Games Copyright 1993, American Laser Games Mad Dog McCree is a fun Western romp that introduces the popular “rail shooter” genre in arcades to PC gamers. The premise: become the lawman and clear the town of Mad Dog McCree and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Peter Sills GAME DEVELOPER:Cyberfront Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Kinesoft Development Copyright 1997, Seibu Kaihatsu Raiden II is an excellent sequel to Raiden, one of the best shoot em-ups ever made. The game is not very well known due to its limited distribution (sold in Japan only, ported by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:LogicWare GAME PUBLISHER:Studio 3DO Copyright 1997, LogicWare Killing Time is a fun FPS that deserves much more attention than it received in the market. This interesting DOOM clone puts you on a journey in search for answers as to what happened one summer evening…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Russell Kay GAME DEVELOPER:DMA Design GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1995, Psygnosis Similar to CivNET, Lemmings for Windows 95 is an excellent re-release of a blockbuster game (or in this case, 2 games) with some significant facelift that unfortunately wasn’t as successful as the original. This is probably…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Abbot & Matthew Alexander GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1984, Michael Abbot & Matthew Alexander Hard Hat Mack is a classic platform game in the style of Donkey Kong or Miner 2049er that deserves much more attention than sales figures suggest. Your objective…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robin Burrows GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Robin Burrows Baroll is a fun little freeware underdog that plays like Pipes and similar games such as Connect 4. Baroll has one major difference from these games: the tiles are hexagonal. This makes for a much more…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jason Heim GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Jason Heim Spryjinx is a small freeware gem that combines elements from two Atari 2600 classics, Quick step and Q-Bert, into a charming and fun reflex-oriented puzzler. The object of the game is to either score more points…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Carol Shaw GAME DEVELOPER:Activision GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Unknown This is an obscure but excellent PC remake of Atari 2600 classic River Raid, a game that proves once and for all that female designers can design great action games as well as men. If you haven’t…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jennifer Reitz & Stephen Lepisto GAME DEVELOPER:Accursed Toys GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1994, Accursed Toys One of Apogee’s most underrated games, Boppin is a fun puzzler that grows on you as you play, even though the learning curve is somewhat steep. Games Domain’s

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1989, Apogee Another excellent ASCII game by Scott Miller of Apogee game, Meteors was included on Softdisk’s “Big Blue Disk” number 30. Here’s a summary of plot and gameplay from the game’s instructions: “A terrible catastrophe occurred only…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1988, Apogee Another excellent ASCII game by Scott Miller of Apogee game, Maze Runner was included on Softdisk’s “Big Blue Disk” number 26. Here’s a summary of plot and gameplay from the game’s instructions: “A fabulous treasure, the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1989, Apogee In 1989, Apogee released two “Fun-Paks,” Adventure Fun-Pak and Puzzle Fun-Pak, priced at $10 each. Each “pack” contains 4 games that were submitted to Apogee by outside authors, although most of the games were designed by Apogee’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1988, Apogee Another excellent ASCII game by Scott Miller of Apogee game, Astronomy Quiz was included on Softdisk’s “Big Blue Disk” number 26. Basically this is a trivia game that tests your knowledge about astronomy. If you like…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1988, Apogee Another excellent ASCII game by Scott Miller of Apogee game, Computer Quiz was included on Softdisk’s “Big Blue Disk” number 21. Here’s a summary of plot and gameplay from the game’s instructions: “Okay, you’ve bought a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1989, Apogee Another excellent ASCII game by Scott Miller of Apogee game, IBM Basic Quiz was included on Softdisk’s “Big Blue Disk” number 28. Here’s a summary of plot and gameplay from the game’s instructions, which includes a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:George Broussard GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1991, Apogee Arctic Adventure is an early Apogee game designed by George Broussard. The game is similar to Monument of Mars and Pharaoh’s Tomb: an exploratory game that combines elements from different genres. In the game, you have to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:George Broussard GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1991, Apogee Monument of Mars is a decent little CGA platformer by Apogee released at the same time as Arctic Adventures and Pharaoh’s Tomb, all three of which are based on the same engine. The game is a typical…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Blackwell GAME DEVELOPER:Virtually Real GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Virtually Real Fireworks 2 is an excellent sequel to Fireworks, a fun freeware arcade gem from Virtually Real. As in the first game, you control a barrel on wheels which can shoot fireworks, detonate them, and jump.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Caf? GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Digital Caf? This is an unfinished beta version of Chex Quest 3, the last in a series of DOOM-style promotional games included inside selected Chex serial boxes. Read my review of the earlier Chex Quest games if you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Epyx GAME PUBLISHER:Epyx Copyright 1992, Epyx Notable for being the last game from Epyx before the company folded, Getaway Entertainment 6 Pack for Windows is a fun collection of parlor/card games that much better than 1987s very ugly black-and-white-only precursor, Getaway Entertainment Pack. It…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Imagination GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Imagination BMF is a fun freeware combat game from Imagination, a now-defunct Finnish developer. Formerly released as shareware, the game is made freeware in 2000 along with other Imagination games. The game is similar to Assault Trooper and Cannon…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Stuart Collier & Andy Hewitt GAME DEVELOPER:Ultimate Play the Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Stuart Collier & Andy Hewitt The Burps is an excellent, very faithful fanmade remake of Atic Atac, one of the best games ever made for the Spectrum computer by Ultimate Play The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Nigel Alderton & John Blythe GAME DEVELOPER:A&F Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, John Blythe First released in 1985 by A&F Software, Chuckie Egg is one of the most revered Spectrum games ever made, although it was unfortunately never made for the PC. The goal, which is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ron Fortier & Mark Rosten GAME DEVELOPER:Datasoft GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Mark Rosten This is an amazing remake of the Commodore 64 version of Datasoft’s famous Bruce Lee game, which was released for PC in 1984. Say goodbye to ugly 4-color CGA palette of the PC…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Hawkins GAME DEVELOPER:Tremor Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, SEGA It’s pretty rare that something truly interesting or innovative is done by a major game company, and it’s almost unheard of when that new development is made totally free to gamers, but that’s exactly what Sega’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Zhu Zhi GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Zhu Zhi Xiao Xiao series are short, immensely entertaining Flash snippets featuring stick figures who punch, shoot, and maim each other to the death in the true “organized chaos” style of Oriental films. Each subsequent Xiao Xiao releases…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1999, SEGA The House of the Dead 2 is a near-flawless PC conversion of the hit arcade game of the same name. The game is a ?rail shooter? like the first game, i.e. you are ?led? by the game down…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1996, SEGA The House of the Dead is a “rail shooter” – a kind of game I have not seen before on a PC platform although it is well known for arcade fans. For those of you who aren’t familiar…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Alex Austin GAME DEVELOPER:Chronic Logic GAME PUBLISHER:Chronic Logic Copyright 2001, Chronic Logic In 2000, Alex Austin released a small 15-level demo of Bridge Builder, a game he developed in his spare time. The small but amazingly addictive game that lets you design bridges proved to be…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mika Halttunen & Teemu Ruokolainen GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Mika Halttunen Ultimate Steroids is another excellent Asteroids freeware clone, with more graphics pizzazz than Disasteroids 3D. Basically, you pilot the spaceship from a first-person perspective, shooting asteroids that get in the way. You can…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Benjamin Cooley GAME DEVELOPER:Domark GAME PUBLISHER:Domark Copyright 1996, Domark Total Mayhem is an ambitious isometric shooter that tries to improve the formulae of Origin’s Crusader: No Remorse with new gameplay elements that don’t quite gel together. The plot: it was the year 2140, and the human…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Graffiti GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1995, Graffiti Iron Assault is a 3D giants robot action game in the mold of Mechwarrior and later Earthsiege. In the year 2094, the world is now in the hands of powerful corporations. As the years have gone by,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Spidersoft GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1995, 21st Century Entertainment Pinball World is one of the last releases from 21st Century Entertainment, arguably the best developer of PC pinball games alongside LittleWing. Since Pinball Dreams, the company had consistently delivered exciting, high-quality, and well-designed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Philips Media Copyright 1995, Codemasters Psycho Pinball is a vastly underrated pinball game that will please both beginners and experts alike. Developed by Codemasters and published by Phillips Media, the game offers 4 fun tables, good music, and a clear digital voice…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Acclaim Entertainment Copyright 1995, Probe Entertainment One of the worst games from Probe/Acclaim, Revolution X is a downright horrendous game that is even worse than the original coin-op version. Only fans Aerosmith may enjoy this one and they will probably delete…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John McCarthy GAME DEVELOPER:GraphicWares GAME PUBLISHER:GraphicWares Copyright 1995, GraphicWares Outer Ridge is a sadly overlooked Asteroids clone that was released as shareware in 1995. Games Domain has the rundown on this underdog: “While it’s not Terminal Velocity, or Lemmings 3-D, it’s certainly one of the best…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Remdy GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Remdy Mr. Boom is an excellent, near flawless clone of Bomberman, a famous action puzzler that most console fans are familiar with. Although the PC version of Bomberman already exists in Dynablaster, what is special about Mr. Boom is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Peter Liepa GAME DEVELOPER:First Star GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1986, First Star Boulderdash Construction Kit is an excellent release from First Star that ranks as one of the best design titles ever made for the computer, not to mention the fact that it allows Boulderdash fans…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Domark GAME PUBLISHER:Domark Copyright 1992, Domark Deluxe Trivial Pursuit is a solid follow-up to Virgins earlier Trivial Pursuit, released a year earlier in 1991. The game improves upon the original in every way imaginable: better graphics, more categories, more questions, and just about everything…