Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1987, ShareData One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:GameTek GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1991, GameTek One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1989, ShareData One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1988, ShareData One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1987, ShareData One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1987, ShareData One of the most successful game shows ever made, Wheel of Fortune is a very popular TV program that catapulted Vanna White to stardom as one of the most recognizable TV celebrities. For those who has never seen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:GameTek GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1991, GameTek One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1990, ShareData One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1989, ShareData One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1988, ShareData One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1987, ShareData One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softie GAME PUBLISHER:ShareData Copyright 1989, ShareData One of the longest-running game shows in existence today, Jeopardy! has attracted millions of faithful fans worldwide. The show’s charismatic host Alex Trebek becomes one of the — if not THE — most recognizable TV show hosts of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Flair GAME PUBLISHER:Flair Copyright 1994, Flair Whizz is a colorful isometric platform game that lives up to Flair’s usual graphics standards, although unfortunately lacking in playability. You are Whizz, a cartoon rabbit who must quickly negotiate network of platforms and obstacles to finish a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Wood GAME DEVELOPER:Arcade Masters GAME PUBLISHER:Empire Interactive Copyright 1992, Arcade Masters Cool Croc Twins is a cute little platformer that has never heard of the wonders of gravity. 😉 The two crocodile stars of this game, Punk and Funk, have a big problem. Their girlfriend,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1994, OCEAN One of the most unique platform games ever made, Sleepwalker was OCEAN’s final game before being bought out by French software giant Infogrames. You are Ralph, the ever-faithful dog (yes, dog) who must lead your master safely home…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Larry Rosenblatt & Mark Sutton-Smith GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1989, SEGA SEGA’s popular side-scrolling arcade game converted to the IBM-PC. You slip into the role of Jo-Musashi, a modern ninja who’s off to rescue hostages and to kill everything on screen with your shuriken and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Remi Herbulot GAME DEVELOPER:Cryo Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1990, Virgin Interactive The first game released under the Cyro label, ex-Exxos. Extase is a great action/logic game – remotely similar to the popular locomotion game in principle. The concept is very hard to describe– suffice to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joe Hitchens & Bryan Ford GAME DEVELOPER:Sleepless Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1994, Sleepless Software Inner Worlds is a fun, very atmospheric shareware game that rivals Konami’s classic Castlevania and features a few nice twists to the tried-and-true concept. You play a scantily-clad Nikita, who has the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Dongleware GAME PUBLISHER:Dongleware Copyright 1994, Dongleware Tubular Worlds is a fairly popular shareware side-scrolling shooter that unfortunately is never well-known in the United States. The game features veriety of weapons and enemies in 4 different episodes totalling 16 levels. As the official page describes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Patrick Maidorn GAME DEVELOPER:Midnight Synergy GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Midnight Synergy Operation Carnage is a fun top-down shooter that rivals Team 17’s classic Alien Breed in addictiveness and sheer fun. The plot– if you are interested in such superfluous “fodder”– is nothing we haven’t seen before.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bullfrog GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1996, Bullfrog Released 3 years after its classic cyberpunk predecessor, Syndicate Wars continues the story that began in Syndicate, with significant improvements all around. From the ashes of the syndicates destroyed in the first game emerged the ultimate victor,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Inline Design GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1993, GameTek Tesserae is a very hard puzzle/logic game. The game rules look fairly complicated at first, but once you got used to the game principle, it can get really addicting. You’ve got to basically clear a board by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:George Snowman GAME DEVELOPER:LittleWing GAME PUBLISHER:Amtex Copyright 1991, LittleWing A decent pinball game from Amtex that is short on graphics and animation but long on gameplay, Tristan Pinball is billed as a “solid state pinball simulation,” and it actually comes quite close to that claim. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Boeder GAME PUBLISHER:Boeder Copyright 1993, Boeder A fun Chip’s Challenge clone with some nice twists, Dimo’s Quest continues Boeder’s knack at replicating classic games and enhance their play value (their first release was Subtrade: Return to Irata, a fun trading game inspired by M.U.L.E.).…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Long GAME DEVELOPER:Core Design GAME PUBLISHER:MicroStyle Copyright 1990, Core Design Nice follow-up to Rick Dangerous, this time more akin to old aliens-invade-the-Earth movies than to Indiana Jones, but gameplay retains the same addictive action/puzzle blend of the original. After the archaeological antics of Rick’s first…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Long GAME DEVELOPER:Core Design GAME PUBLISHER:Core Design Copyright 1989, Core Design Classic puzzling platform game and one of the first bigger hits by Core Design. Obviously a bit inspired by Indiana Jones, Rick Dangerous is a very addicting game with many nice twists and touches.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Braybrook GAME DEVELOPER:Graftgold GAME PUBLISHER:Graftgold Copyright 1993, Graftgold Not to be confused with puzzle game of the similar name (Fire ‘n Ice) that was released for the Nintendo, Graftgold’s Fire and Ice is a competent PC translation of the hit Amiga platform game. The plot,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1993, Hi-Tech Expressions This game is simply utterly, ridiculously horrible. Woof! Not worth buying or downloading for free. In short, Beethoven’s 2nd is a cutesy platformer based on a second-rate family movie about a likeable dog. You play…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Image Works GAME PUBLISHER:Mirrorsoft Copyright 1989, Mirrorsoft Bombuzal is a fun puzzle game by Image Works that plays like a cross between classic Boulderdash and Dynablaster. The goal is to destroy all the bombs on each level without hurting yourself. The game plays more…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Synthetic Dimensions GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1990, SEGA Decent conversion of SEGA’s smash hit arcade beat’em up Golden Axe… decent for PC standards of that time, that is. At least the VGA graphics are faithful although gameplay is far inferior to the original…. “Inferior” is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joe Dixon GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Joe Dixon Although Nintendo never made a PC port of its console-only blockbuster Super Mario Brothers, PC gamers have access to many unauthorized “PC versions” programmed by zealous fans. SouthPark Super Mario Brothers is one of the better…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andreas Kahn GAME DEVELOPER:Rainbow Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Andreas Kahn Giana Family is a great PC version of the famous Rainbow Arts classic that never made it beyond the Commodore 64. Andreas Kahn has pulled off something very few people can do: create a PC…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Remi Herbulot GAME DEVELOPER:ERE Informatique GAME PUBLISHER:Kingsoft Copyright 1987, ERE Informatique Macadam Bumper is a very early pinball simulation with the nice option to create your own pinball tables. For its time quite nice, although ball physics are not comparable with today’s standards. It was designed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Erik Zetterberg & Anders Bjork GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Freeware Hunting Season is an amusing shooting gallery game where the idea is to kill the maximum number of elks before they destroy your tower. Luckily there is no shortage of electronic elks, so environmentalists…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Lobotomy Software GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1997, Lobotomy Software Powerslave is a fun and innovative first-person shooter whose excellent graphics and level design are unfortunately overshadowed by serious interface problems and bugs (which are probably related to the fact that the game was converted…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hookstone GAME PUBLISHER:Viacom Newmedia Copyright 1995, Viacom Newmedia Zoop is a fun action puzzler developed by British company Hookstone. One of the better Tetris-inspired games, although doesn’t quite have that illusive “just one more round” quality of Tetris. GameSpot’s excellent review says it all:…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:C. Bertrand & E. Forsans GAME DEVELOPER:Microids GAME PUBLISHER:Microids Copyright 1991, Microids Swap is a nice puzzle/logic game by Micro?ds. This one is one from the more tougher category. You’ll have to clear a board made-up of coloured tiles (squares, triangles or hexagons) by swapping them…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bruce Johnson GAME DEVELOPER:Access Software GAME PUBLISHER:Access Software Copyright 1990, Access Software Arcade-style action game by Access Software – very “inspired” (to put it mildly) by the coin-op game Narc. Nothing special, except that most of the blood-filled graphics are digitized – as done very often…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Core Design GAME PUBLISHER:Firebird Copyright 1989, Firebird Core Design’s computer conversion of SEGA’s top-down shoot’em up Action Fighter for the Sega Master System and Mega Drive. Actually quite a good conversion of this fun little game. In Action Fighter, you start your mission as…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Image Design (DID) GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1994, Digital Image Design (DID) A great sequel to DID’s underrated sci-fi space simulation Epic, Inferno continues the storyline of the Raxxon – Terran conflict that began at the time of Epic. The premise is more interesting…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Butler GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1989, SEGA Thunder Blade is a below-average conversion of a SEGA arcade game. Although missing the original’s sharp and fluid graphics, this PC version is still a decent shooter without a lot of variety. You get three lives, your…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David R. Mattern & Brian A. Rice GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1989, SEGA SEGA’s arcade 3D shooter brought to the IBM-PC. The arcade game was fantastic for its time (1985) and mainly lived from its great graphics and sounds. Most conversions were unable to capture…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1990, SEGA Crack Down is a decent conversion of SEGA’s Mega Drive/Genesis top-down shooter. As with all good arcade games of yore, Crack Down is simple to learn but challenging enough to keep you playing. There aren’t any complicated moves…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jack Rebbetoy GAME DEVELOPER:Unlimited Software GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1989, SEGA Hokay, for those of you who haven’t seen it in the arcades and missed the Megapreview a couple of issues ago, Afterburner goes like this: launch your F-14 Tomcat from the flight deck of an aircraft…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Illusions GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1993, 21st Century Entertainment Pinball Fantasies is an excellent sequel to Pinball Dreams, featuring yet again four brand-new multi-screen tables to play on. The tables are called Party Land, Speed Devils, Billion Dollar Game Show and Stones…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Illusions GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1993, 21st Century Entertainment Sequel to Pinball Fantasies, Pinball Illusions is the last game in Digital Illusions’ trilogy of pinball games and they finished it off with a bang! =) The conversion of the AGA-only Amiga game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Illusions GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1993, 21st Century Entertainment Pinball Dreams on the Amiga, developed by Swedish developer Digital Illusions, ex-demo group members, was a huge hit and a revolution in the genre. This PC conversion was done by “they-proved-to-be-uncapable” Spidersoft and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Shed, The GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1994, Software Shed, The Theatre of Death is a fun, innovative isometric action/strategy hybrid by Software Shed/Psygnosis. The game is similar in many ways to Cannon Fodder, but a lot more complex. In this futuristic tactical combat game,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andrew Looney GAME DEVELOPER:Magnet Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Fox Interactive Copyright 1996, Magnet Interactive One of the best and most unique puzzle games ever made, Icebreaker is the brainchild of Andrew Looney (no, I’m not making his name up), eccentric puzzle game designer who has a penchant for…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:DMA Design GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1988, Psygnosis Standard side-scrolling shooter from DMA Design (designers of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto among other Psygnosis classics). Menace was their first title, written for the Amiga first in 1988. This is a decent PC conversion, although it’s…