Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:K-D Lab GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, K-D Lab Biprolex+ is a very addictive arcade-style puzzle game that requires both quick thinking and reflexes. Gameplay is essentially Tetris meets Breakout: At the top of the screen is Tetlix, an entity which emits Tetris-style blocks, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Markku Rankala GAME DEVELOPER:Dodekaedron Software Creations GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Dodekaedron Software Creations Borrowing gameplay from the old CGA-classic Sopwith, Triplane Turmoil is about flying your triplane fighter/bomber horizontally in a highly hypotethical (and even satirical) scenario, where the WWI-styled air forces of England, Germany, Japan…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Flair GAME PUBLISHER:Flair Copyright 1991, Flair A so-so platform game based on the well-known mistress of the dark popularized by Horrorsoft’s RPGs, Elvira: The Arcade Game offers several hours of entertaining dagger-shooting action that is over all too soon. The game is plagued by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Raven Software GAME PUBLISHER:Red Orb Entertainment Copyright 1997, Red Orb Entertainment Take No Prisoners is a refreshing 3D shooter that takes an interesting perspective on the genre – both literally and figuratively. True to their reputation as one of the most innovative action game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Reidel GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1989, Hi-Tech Expressions From MobyGames‘s description of this zany action game based on the cult horror movie: “A truly bizarre game which was rather popular at the time. It’s an action game of sorts, in which you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Page & Dan Kuenster GAME DEVELOPER:7th Level GAME PUBLISHER:7th Level Copyright 1996, 7th Level Battle Beast is a funny arcade-style combat game with terrific full-color graphics and humor… both of which unfortunately sank beneat horrible controls and repetitive action. Despite its claim of being ”The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Manley Associates GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1991, GameTek A much better conversion of arcade hit than the original Ninja Gaiden for PC, Ninja Gaiden 2 opens with a great musical theme accompanying a cinematic scene. You learn that Jaquio, the evil crimelord you defeated at…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:CAPCOM GAME PUBLISHER:CAPCOM Copyright 1991, Capcom Adapted from the hit arcade game (and not the better-known Nintendo version and the better-known alternate name of Ninja Ryukenden), Ninja Gaiden for the PC is a good attempt at recreating the original’s addictiveness that is somewhat disappointing…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Guillaume Dubail & Fernando Velez GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1993, Loriciel A colorful side-scrolling shooter starring Jim Power, the fictitious daring sci-fi hero, Jim Power gets high marks for its vibrant graphics, great level design, and challenging enemies that are quite capable of dodging your…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Acclaim Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Acclaim Entertainment Copyright 1992, Acclaim Entertainment Trog is a cute little Pac-Man-style game with a difference. Despite the strong d?j? vu effect when you first start the game, it won’t take long for Trog‘s charming claymation and surprises to glue you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Yoshiki Okamoto GAME DEVELOPER:Capcom GAME PUBLISHER:Capcom Copyright 1987, Capcom An oldie horizontal shooter that is a decent conversion of CAPCOM’s arcade game of the same name, although much inferior to console versions e.g. NES and SEGA CD. Not much more to say about this one– good…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Titus GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1990, Titus Sequel to Fire & Forget, Fire & Forget II is a graphically superior update to the first game, but an inferior title in terms of gameplay. The goal is still to amass the highest score at the end…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Titus GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1988, Titus A fun Mad Max-style apocalyptic racing game, Fire & Forget is, surprisingly, one of the better games released by a company famous for mundane action titles. The goal is simple: net the highest score by blasting enemies and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Acclaim Entertainment Copyright 1997, Marvel Comics One of the better fighting games for the PC, X-Men: Children of the Atom proves that the PC is indeed a viable platform for fighting games, despite popular opinion. In GameSpot‘s words: “X-Men: Children of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Cale GAME DEVELOPER:System 3 GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1989, System 3 A great sequel to one of the best Commodore 64 games ever made that failed to attract attention of PC gamers. The Last Ninja 2: Back With a Vengeance offers more of the same addictive…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Cale GAME DEVELOPER:System 3 GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1988, System 3 One of the most well-executed action games of all time, The Last Ninja is a great start of a great series that was a huge hit on the Commodore 64. This PC port is excellent,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1990, Konami First in a hit series that is still going strong on the Nintendo 64, Castlevania is the first and only entry that was ported to the PC. The plot is standard kill-the-Dracula fare, but what the game lacks…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Probe Entertainment Copyright 1988, Probe Entertainment One of Probe Entertainment’s earliest games is a good effort at creating an original science fiction platform game that didn’t come out quite right. Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper is still notable for the bigger-than-average character…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1989, Psygnosis A decent conversion of a little-known Commodore 64 game, Baal is a fun side-scrolling shooter with a banal plot: you are member of the Time Warriors, an elite commando unit sent into the alien lairs to defeat Baal,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1992, Infogrames A significant update to Infogrames’ earlier classic Hostages, Alcatraz is an infiltration operation set inside one of the world’s most famous prisons. As a SEAL marine, your task is ultimately to find and arrest a Colombian drug lord…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1989, Konami A solid conversion of a little-known Konami arcade game of the same name, Ajax is a challenging vertical scrolling shoot-em-up for one or two players. The objectives of the game, simple enough, are to destroy all enemy forces…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:J?rgen Friedrich GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1986, Brderbund The first PC game ever made based on the blockbuster series, Star Wars is a primitive-looking first-person shooter that is nonetheless a very good conversion of the Atari arcade game of the same name. The game puts…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1993, OCEAN One of two games based on the hit movie Terminator 2, T2: The Arcade Game is a sub-standard Operation Wolf-style first-person shooter that offers a few hours of mindless fun but little else. All you do is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Synthetic Dimensions GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1992, OCEAN Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a boring game based on Terminator 2 the movie. In all respects, it is a formulaic film license material, i.e. a series of sub-games, each based on a certain scene from the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Data East GAME PUBLISHER:Data East Copyright 1989, Data East Data East’s RoboCop is a decent PC port of a fun coin-op game, not to be confused with OCEAN’s horrible CGA port released earlier. -This release, while still pales besides the Amiga and Atari ST…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1995, Psygnosis Darker is a very atmospheric spaceflight simulator that, ironically, pays too much attention to atmosphere at the expense of playability. You are the Delphi, one of two races on a curious planet where one side is perpetually in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Twin Dolphin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Twin Dolphin Games Copyright 1993, Twin Dolphin Games Smokin’ Guns is a simple shooting gallery for Windows 3.1 with a surprising depth and variety. As the game states: “you are the law in Gangsterland– take on the crime lord and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Virgin Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Domark Copyright 1991, Virgin Interactive One of the first games made under the new “Leisure Genius” label after Virgin took over Mastertronic to form the “Virgin Mastertronic” division, Trivial Pursuit continues Mastertronic’s line of famous boardgames translations. Including their notorious lack…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:GameTek GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1988, GameTek Double Dare is a solid computer version of the not-so-well-known TV gameshow hosted by Alex Trebek. TV trivia buffs might be interested to know that this was Trebek’s *first* gameshow, long before rising to stardom with Jeopardy!. Another…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Logotron GAME PUBLISHER:Logotron Copyright 1989, Logotron Definitely among the most unique action/puzzle hybrids ever created, Archipelagos is a fun cross between chess, Populous, and a good measure of its own idiosyncracies. The goal is to destroy the 2001: Space Odyssey-style Obelisk in order to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Image Works GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1993, Titus A follow-up to Image Work’s 1991 Blues Brothers game, Blues Brothers: Jukebox Adventure features improved graphics, bigger levels, and –naturally– more records than ever to collect. The game stars the Blues Brothers, a duo of popular musicians…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mindscape GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1996, Mindscape Road Warrior is a superior sequel to GameTek’s highly original Quarantine, a politically incorrect roadkill game. As in the original, you still play the role of Drake Edgewater, a cab driver whose only goal is to escape the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1990, Konami The second and unfortunately last in Konami’s widely acclaimed Contra series that were translated to the PC, Super C retains the addictive gameplay of the original while introducing more challenges and new surprises. To those unfamiliar with the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Todd Howard & Morton M?rup GAME DEVELOPER:Bethesda Softworks GAME PUBLISHER:Bethesda Softworks Copyright 1996, Bethesda Softworks The final, and very disappointing, finish to Bethesda’s Terminator series of 3D shooter that began promisingly with The Terminator in 1989. Just how disappointing is the game? I’ll leave it to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Titus GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1990, Titus A much inferior adaptation of the hit Disney screen by Disney’s own Dick Tracy: Crime Solving Adventure, Titus’ Dick Tracy is wooden, shallow, awkward, tedious, and generally devoid of much of the atmosphere that makes the movie a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dima Pavlovsky GAME DEVELOPER:Paragon Software GAME PUBLISHER:Paragon Software Copyright 1991, Paragon Software Troika is an eclectic collection of games from Russia that range from an average title, to an interesting twist on the old idea. The first game, Rebel Planets, is an okay shooter that won’t…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Magic Bytes GAME PUBLISHER:Gremlin Copyright 1990, Gremlin Mindbender is a unique blend of action and puzzle in a fantasy setting. The object is simple: rotate the mirrors held by little gnomes to reflect the ray of spell being cast by your wizard so that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Topo Soft GAME PUBLISHER:Elite Systems Copyright 1990, Elite Systems Gremlins 2: The New Batch from Elite (not to be confused with another game based on the same license from Hi-Tech Expressions) is a decent platform game based on the hit Warner Brothers movie. It…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Juan Sanchez & Keith Weiner GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1991, Hi-Tech Expressions A much worse adaptation of the hit movie license than the platform game of the same name by Elite Systems, Hi-Tech’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch is tedious to the extreme.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Geoff Crammond GAME DEVELOPER:Psygnosis GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1998, Psygnosis When it was first released in 1987, Geoff Crammond’s genre-busting masterpiece The Sentinel immediately acquired a cult following and achieved considerable commercial success. Definitely one of the most unique games ever made, The Sentinel combines quick action,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1990, Hi-Tech Expressions Yankee Doodle’s CAT-astrophe is the first PC game from Hi-Tech that star Tom and Jerry, a pair of cat and mouse from a well-known TV cartoons. The game is based loosely on “Yankee Doodle Mouse”,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eric Biessman & Michael Raymond-Judy GAME DEVELOPER:Raven Software GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1994, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Raven-Games.com posted such a great review of this underdog, packed with interesting background and insider information, that I’d like to quote in its entirety here: “CyClones was…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1992, OCEAN A fun overhead action game based on best-selling book and film, OCEAN’s Jurassic Park is based on the hit movie of the same name that, in turn, was adapted from Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel. The game starts off…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:StarSoft Development GAME PUBLISHER:Box Office Copyright 1988, Box Office The only PC game based on one of the most popular commercials of all time, The California Raisins is an average, if a bit mindless, platform action game. Before we get to the game, though,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Capcom GAME PUBLISHER:Capcom Copyright 1987, Capcom Cabal is a fun early commando shooter that doesn’t stand the test of time very well, although it was well ahead of its time in terms of well-animated enemies and the sheer variety of them. The goal is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Tengen GAME PUBLISHER:Domark Copyright 1991, Domark A dull pirate fencing platform game from Tengen, Skull and Crossbones is much inferior to the swordfighting sequence in Sid Meier’s Pirates!, despite more detailed graphics and Caribbean scenery. Your character, the ship’s captain, is blocky, and animated…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Probe Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Image Works Copyright 1991, Image Works Back to The Future III is a fun variety action game based on the hit movie of the same name. What makes the game more than just another shoot-em-up is twofold: the way it presents…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Image Works GAME PUBLISHER:Mirrorsoft Copyright 1990, Mirrorsoft A fun game based on the hit Michael J. Fox movie of the same name, Back to The Future II closely follows the movie’s plot and is high on the fun factor. The plot picks up where…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Capcom GAME PUBLISHER:Capcom Copyright 1989, Capcom A fun top-down tank shooter from the masters of arcade, Capcom’s Sarge is a decent conversion of the Bally arcade game of the same name that was semi-popular in the 1980s. The goal is straightforward: destroy all enemy…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Capcom GAME PUBLISHER:US Gold Copyright 1991, US Gold Forgotten Worlds, released by Capcom in arcades across the globe in 1988, was the first of SEGA’s reprogrammed versions of Capcom’s late 1980’s coin-op bombshells, around the time when the Genesis first showed up in the…