Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonathan Perry & Derek Yu GAME DEVELOPER:Blackeye Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Blackeye Software One of the best freeware puzzle games I’ve ever played, Diabolika is a fun, very original board game from Blackeye Software. I was going to sit down and review this little gem,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Craig Jardine GAME DEVELOPER:Virtually Real GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Virtually Real Germ Nation is a fun, addictive freeware puzzler that could have been inspired by SNES classic Dr. Mario and Bust a Move, but with many twists of its own. Similar to Tetris and its numerous…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Carmack GAME DEVELOPER:SoftDisk Publishing GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1991, SoftDisk Publishing A boy genius, a world of evil vegetables & blazing action–it’s one of the greatest games of all time! You’ll help young Commander Keen defeat the killer vegetables which have conspired to clean his…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Carmack GAME DEVELOPER:SoftDisk Publishing GAME PUBLISHER:SoftDisk Publishing Copyright 1993, SoftDisk Publishing The Catacomb is the rare, forgotten first Catacomb game that predates the well-known Catacomb 3D trilogy by months. For those not in the know, here is why Catacomb 3D is a milestone in action…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Toys for Bob GAME PUBLISHER:Crystal Dynamics Copyright 1996, Toys for Bob One of the best PC conversions of PlayStation games, Pandemonium! is a great platformer that tells a story about a jester and a sorceress who inadvertently summon a giant monster, and so must…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Namikaze Project GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Namikaze Project One of the best anime shooters I?ve ever played, Idinaloq is an amazing game that boasts an incredibly high production value that would have justified its release as a commercial game. But fortunately for us, Namikaze…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hewson GAME PUBLISHER:Hewson Copyright 1990, Hewson Onslaught is an okay platform game from Hewson that is not as original as their masterpiece Nebulus. Essentially, your character must battle his way through sideways scrolling screens of attacking hordes and reach the enemy banner. As the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Spectrum Information GAME PUBLISHER:Spectrum Information Copyright 1993, Spectrum Information 18th Airborne is a fun and hugely underrated (and unknown) action/strategy game from Taiwanese developer Spectrum Information. Although it looks like a typical top-down two-player frag fest, 18th Airborne is very different from your ordinary…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jordan Mechner GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1986, Brderbund One of the first fighting games ever made, Karateka is an excellent side-scrolling gem that catapulted Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia series) to fame and fortune. The plot: as a trained master Karateka, you must invade the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Moshe Rubin GAME DEVELOPER:Mountain Vista GAME PUBLISHER:Mountain Vista Copyright 1999, Mountain Vista Fathom It! is a fun and addictive puzzler that is an excellent computer version of “Battleships,” a popular column that appears in GAMES magazine, among others. The game is best described as a more…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ronald Millar GAME DEVELOPER:Blizzard Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Interplay Copyright 1994, Blizzard Entertainment Blackthorne is an excellent action/adventure hybrid in the same vein as Delphine’s celebrated Out of This World. Probably the most underrated, overlooked game from Blizzard (made before the company became famous with WarCraft series), the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Coktel Vision GAME PUBLISHER:Coktel Vision Copyright 1989, Coktel Vision A fairly mediocre jump’n run based on Disney’s movie of the same name, which is in turn based on Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist. In this Dalmation 101 wannabe, you play Oliver, a cat who…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Coktel Vision GAME PUBLISHER:Tomahawk Copyright 1990, Coktel Vision No Exit is an oldie beat’em up by French developer Tomahawk (later Coktel Vision). While it doesn’t offer much long-term play value, it’s still quite an interesting karate game that stands out from other games with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Edward Collins GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Edward Collins One of the most original– but sadly unknown– puzzlers ever made, freeware or otherwise, The Continuing Adventures of CyberBox is a great Sokoban variant that is very innovative and ingenious. Based on 1991’s CyberBox, Edward Collins’…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1987, Georges Remi The first PC game to feature popular classic comic character Tintin, Tintin On The Moon is a competent conversion of classic Spectrum/Amstrad game of the same name. Based loosely on Explorers on the Moon episode, the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Howat GAME DEVELOPER:Human Code GAME PUBLISHER:GT Interactive Copyright 1998, GT Interactive Another classic puzzler that migrates to the 3D world, this time with an outstanding result. Lode Runner 2 is the sequel to the remake of Doug Smith’s timeless classic, and last in the series.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Phantagram GAME PUBLISHER:Phantagram Copyright 1996, Phantagram Zyclunt a fun anime side-scrolling platformer that not many people have heard about, mostly due to it being distributed only in shareware channels. The game is set in a dystopian future: in the year 2002 AD, planet earth…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Colin & Jeff Nauman GAME DEVELOPER:Monarch Development GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1988, Bally Midway Rampage is a decent PC conversion of Bally/Midway’s popular arcade game. This is a side-scrolling action game for up to 3 players, in which you, mutated into a giant monster, have to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Spidersoft GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1995, 21st Century Entertainment A competent PC pinball game designed by Spidersoft. Contrary to what most people believe, Swedish developer Digital Illusions who designed the original pinball classic Pinball Dreams did not design this sequel– Spidersoft designed it…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Delvin Sorrell & Craig Wight GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1992, Accolade Zyconix is a fun Tetris/Columns clone with some new ideas. Instead of controlling the falling tiles themselves, you have to catch the tiles and can control one, when caught. There are also some nice…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Garvan Corbett & David Lawson GAME DEVELOPER:Mastertronic GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1989, Mastertronic One of the worst platform games ever made and definitely a low point in Mastertronics varied career. Barbarian (not to be confused with the excellent game of the same name from Palace Software) casts…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:CAPCOM GAME PUBLISHER:CAPCOM Copyright 1988, CAPCOM Heralded as a pseudo-sequel to Commando, Bionic Commando is an excellent “realistic” action game that is a far cry from cutesy platformers of the time that require nothing more than reflexes. You play Ladd, a rookie soldier tasked…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Yoshix GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Yoshix Pure Fighter Erika is a great anime shooter that features a first-person perspective a la Space Harrier –quite unusual for the genre. You play a round cat who shoots wrenches (monkey wrenches, to be exact) at invading hordes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Anonymous Yet another fun freeware shooter from Japan?apparently a very prolific and lively community for action game developers. Reflection has no plot to speak of, or even twists to the age-old shoot-everything-in-sight concept. What it does offer, however, is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Anonymous Hoppop’n is a cute and unique anime action game that is strangely addictive despite repetitive gameplay and level design. From the review at Otaku World: “This is one of those strange games that seem to only originate in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Colin Stokes GAME DEVELOPER:Pie in The Sky GAME PUBLISHER:Pie in The Sky Copyright 1994, Pie in The Sky Terminal Terror is a much-improved sequel of sorts to Pie in The Sky’s campy 3D shooter Lethal Tender. Despite banal graphics and clich? plot (another Rambo-style infiltrate-and-capture mission),…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Colin Stokes GAME DEVELOPER:Pie in The Sky GAME PUBLISHER:Pie in The Sky Copyright 1993, Pie in The Sky Lethal Tender is a fun, albeit amateurish, first-person shooter from Pie in the Sky, maker of shareware classic Corncob 3D. In this campy Rambo-inspired game, you play beefy…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ken Silverman GAME DEVELOPER:Epic Megagames GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, Ken Silverman A horrible 3D game from Ken Silverman, wonderboy creator of Build Engine, the groundbreaking engine behind 3D Realms Duke Nukem 3D— arguably the first game that posed a serious threat to ids DOOM as the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Anonymous SeptFox is a unique puzzle game that plays like Sokoban with a unique twist. The goal: move a well-known mischievous anime fox to the green exit cone. Obstructing your path are immovable blocks and movable dice, each occupying…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compile GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Compile Tales of the Float Land is a fun demo of a unique anime RPG/board game hybrid that plays like a cross between a simplified version of Magic: The Gathering and Life board game. The goal of the game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Angelo Mottola GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Angelo Mottola WetSpot 2 is an outstanding arcade/puzzle hybrid which plays like a cross between Bubble Bobble and Pengo (and the author in fact acknowledge their influence on his site). The game even uses character graphics and music…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Damon Slye & Jeff Tunnell GAME DEVELOPER:Dynamix GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1988, Dynamix Skyfox II is a fun, early 3D space shooter from Dynamix that marks one of the earliest and few collaborative efforts between its two founding designers, Damon Slye and Jeff Tunnell?long before they…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Freeware Decent ripoff of Epic Megagames/Electronic Arts’ underrated shooter Fire Fight, done by a “warez” group. Fire Fight players will immediately recognize the ships, explosions, and even tiny graphical detail. Gameplay is also identical: pilot a futuristic ship in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1988, Konami Jackal is a decent PC port of another NES classic from Konami, although with much inferior graphics and sounds. The plot is as banal as any other Rambo-style game, but here it is anyway: you are a commando…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Atari Games GAME PUBLISHER:Interplay Copyright 1996, Atari Games Back in the early 1980s, Atari’s Tempest was one of the best-selling games on both home systems and in the arcades. Given the current prettier-means-better thinking in the computer games industry, it’s no small wonder that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:The Oliver Twins GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1993, Codemasters Fans of Spectrum computers would recall that Codemasters’ Dizzy series were some of the best games ever made for that computer. Created by a quirky pair of designers who call themselves The Oliver Twins, the series…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:The Oliver Twins GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1993, Codemasters Fans of Spectrum computers would recall that Codemasters’ Dizzy series were some of the best games ever made for that computer. Created by a quirky pair of designers who call themselves The Oliver Twins, the series…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:The Oliver Twins GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1992, Codemasters Fans of Spectrum computers would recall that Codemasters’ Dizzy series were some of the best games ever made for that computer. Created by a quirky pair of designers who call themselves The Oliver Twins, the series…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Dow GAME DEVELOPER:Ultimate Play the Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, John Dow Yet another flawless unofficial remake of a classic on Spectrum computer. In Cookie, you control Charlie, a little chef (not a Happy Eater). Your goal: zoom around the screen shooting the floating ingredients…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Dow GAME DEVELOPER:Ultimate Play the Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, John Dow Pssst is an outstanding remake of the classic Spectrum game of the same name. Gameplay typifies the style that Ultimate Play the Game was famous for: simple, yet addictive. You play Robbie, a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Apocalypse Inc. GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Apocalypse Inc. Mean Bean Machine 2000 is an excellent unofficial PC remake of popular Megadrive/Genesis Tetris-style puzzler Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine (aka Puyo Puyo in Asia). Gameplay is simple, but addictive: little blobs fall in pairs at…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, E-Game Each new promotional game release from E-Game gets better and better, and Teracom Digital TV is no exception. Sponsored by Swedish telecom giant Teracom, Teracom Digital TV is a fun puzzle game. The goal is as follows “Your…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, E-Game Another arcade game clone by E-Game, this time the victi– err– inspiration is Taito’s Arkanoid. Instead of just ripping of gameplay directly from the arcade game as they have done in the past, E-Game this time includes some…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, E-Game A straightforward Paperboy clone, designed by E-Game for Dagens Nyheter (aka DN), Sweden’s premier newspaper. From the in-game description: “Help the news delivery boy to deliver the newspapers to all subscribers in the neighborhood. You have to place…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, E-Game A fun Pac-Man clone sponsored by Ericsson, one of the world’s largest mobile phone companies. Your goal in Ericsson Mobile Travel is to visit as many major cities as you possibly can during your holidays (by just travelling…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, E-Game A cute little game from E-Game, leading promotional game developers. Sponsored by Swedish energy giant Sydkraft, your mission in Sydkraft Energy Saver is– not surprisingly– to help the little light bulb Elvis to turn off the lights in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, E-Game Sumo Carrier is a humorous delivery game designed by E-Game for Sumo, Sweden’s premier electronic products retailer (similar to Best Buy in the US). From the in-game description: “Help Sumo deliver all the nice things people has ordered…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, E-Game A simple but fun Space Invaders clone, the second game E-Game designed for DOF, Sweden’s premier mobile phone company. In DOF Invaders, you shoot keys from the phone’s keypad instead of aliens. The numbers shoot “#” and “*”…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, E-Game DOF Messenger is a simple Donkey Kong clone sponsored by DOF, Sweden’s premier mobile phone company. Navigate the DOF man from the mobile to the computer by riding the electric circuit line, while avoiding sparks by jumping over…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:E-Game GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, E-Game One of E-Game’s earliest promotional freeware titles, GulaSidorna Super Finder is an okay action game sponsored by GulaSidorna, Sweden’s premier Yellow Pages. Gameplay is simple, as the in-game instruction states: “Your mission is to visit some facilities in…