Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Perry GAME DEVELOPER:Virgin Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Disney Copyright 1993, Virgin Interactive Another hero from Disney’s hit movie comes to life in this excellent platform game. Lead Aladdin from his carefree life as street urchin to princess Jasmine’s palace and beyond. Each level captures the movie’s plot…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Fleming GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, David Fleming Airlift Rescue is a fun variation of the classic Chopper game of yore in which, manning artillery, you must shoot all enemies that drop from parachutes before they get close enough to you. The game turns…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ed Scio & Timothy Purves GAME DEVELOPER:Microdeal GAME PUBLISHER:Microdeal Copyright 1987, Microdeal This is one of the earliest isometric action games that is reminiscent of Marble Madness in look and feel, but with much more complex controls and gameplay. You’ve been turned into a ball (!)…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Computer Systems Odessa GAME PUBLISHER:Computer Systems Odessa Copyright 1999, Computer Systems Odessa Aha! is a great puzzle game that combines attractic SVGA graphics with simple gameplay that’s hard to master. It is one of the better variations on the Tetris theme: different enough to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonathan Clark & Dave Taylor GAME DEVELOPER:Crack Dot Com GAME PUBLISHER:Crack Dot Com Copyright 1995, Crack Dot Com Undoubtedly the DOOM of platform games, the only thing that’s different between this underrated gem and that highly regarded classic is the Abuse‘s lack of first-person perspective. Despite…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jordan Mechner GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1991, Anonymous 4D Prince of Persia is a solid unofficial version of Jordan Mechner’s classic action/adventure that starts off the same as the original version but will stump even action veterans with devious level design and tougher enemies in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Clockwork Games GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1996, Psygnosis An innovative 3D version of the classic Lemmings, 3D Lemmings took the great gameplay of its forerunner to a whole new level. The official blurb: “The game features include twenty trainer levels, allowing Lemmings fans the chance…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Takara GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1996, Takara Battle Arena: Toshinden 2 features graphics, sound, music, and action that makes its predecessor seem ancient! With updated moves and defense, the original cast launches back into battle! Newcomers join the fight as well. Gaia, the boss…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Takara GAME PUBLISHER:Playmates Interactive Copyright 1996, Takara A worthy Virtua Fighter clone, Battle Arena: Toshinden pits a group of brave warriors against the evil Gaia and his henchmen. Each character in this game is equipped with their own, unique weapon which aids them in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Softstar GAME PUBLISHER:Softstar Copyright 1993, Softstar A very, very poorly done fighting game indeed. Besides having a cheap name, Violent Fighter has terribly small graphics, plain characters with simple attacks, and jumpy graphics. I was very upset to discover how poorly this game was…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Ton Tan Nerw GAME PUBLISHER:Ton Tan Nerw Copyright 1995, Ton Tan Nerw Based on a Japanese anime series called Variable Geo, this is a poorly made, hentai (i.e. adult/nudity) fighting game. It was released in 1995, though the graphics make it look much older.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Forest GAME PUBLISHER:MegaTech Software Copyright 1993, Forest Metal & Lace: The Battle of the Robo Babes is basically a poorly done hentai fighting game. You purchase a battle mech suit, equip it with special items, and fight women. After beating a woman’s mech suit…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jaid Mindang & Gary O’Connell GAME DEVELOPER:Argonaut Software GAME PUBLISHER:GTE Entertainment Copyright 1995, GTE Entertainment FX Fighter is an exciting 3d fighting game, similar to Virtua Fighter. The story is this – aliens from around the universe have gathered to battle for the title of best…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Shramko GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, John Shramko Endless Horror‘s modest EGA graphics and small executable size ensure that the game can be run on virtually any IBM-PC machine, regardless of age. The characters are line-based, similar to the characters in the Stick Fighter…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sofcom GAME PUBLISHER:Sofcom Copyright 1995, Sofcom Not much can be said about this game, really. It is a two-player battle to the finish with hamsters. There are no endings, no other backgrounds besides the one pictured, and only one character (the other shown is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mindscape GAME PUBLISHER:Atari Games Copyright 1989, Mindscape Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a disappointing PC port of the average arcade version of the second Indiana Jones movie. The description and review at MobyGames says it all about this poor use of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tom Ricket & Sean Ford GAME DEVELOPER:Forgotten Sages GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Tom Ricket & Sean Ford Gladiator is a fun top view, real-time action/RPG game with a good dose of strategy thrown in. You control a team of mercenaries who fight for the glory and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1991, Konami Ahh… the memories. This was one of the few SNES games I played and really liked while growing up. As a die-hard PC gamer, I tended to scoff at what I call nauseatingly cute console games. Well, Legend…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:SYS64738 GAME DEVELOPER:Midway GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, SYS64738 Wizard of Wor is an excellent remake of Midway?s hit arcade game of the same name. The idea: one or two players move around a variety of line-drawn mazes shooting the creatures that wander within. Eliminating all of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Creations GAME PUBLISHER:Sony Imagesoft Copyright 1993, Software Creations Solstice (released only for the NES) and its sequel Equinox (only on SNES) are two of the most underrated console titles ever made. Best described as puzzle RPGs, both games are isometric, third-person games that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Creations GAME PUBLISHER:Sony Imagesoft Copyright 1990, Software Creations Solstice (released only for the NES) and its sequel Equinox (only on SNES) are two of the most underrated console titles ever made. Best described as puzzle RPGs, both games are isometric, third-person games that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:FRACTiLE Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, FRACTiLE Games Molez is an excellent deathmatch game for up to 4 players, in a style similar to Liero and Worms. You control the tiny moles, armed to their teeth with 5 weapons you can select from the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Webfoot Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Webfoot Technologies Copyright 1997, Webfoot Technologies Threat is one of the best shareware action games ever made, bar none. Dan Nguyen said it all in his review for Games Domain: ?There are only a handful of shareware games from the Internet…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1992, Technos Japan Combatribes is one of the most underrated SNES games from Technos, most famous for their Kunio-kun series and Double Dragon games. Similar to other 2D side-scrolling beat em ups, the plot is quite negligible: you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Milo Sedlacek GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Milo Sedlacek Monospace Shooter is one of the best freeware shoot ’em ups you’ll ever come across. It features very smooth-scrolling action and an excellent graphical detail even in a limited white-on-black palette (hence the name Monospace). There…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Justin Smith GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Justin Smith Obliterator is a fine, small and free 360 degree space shooter, with aim no more glorious than achieving a score as high as possible. Luckily, Obliterator plays well and fun indeed. By shooting multiple and distinctive…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ben North & Tom North GAME DEVELOPER:The Bit Bucket Brothers GAME PUBLISHER:The Bit Bucket Brothers Copyright 1992, The Bit Bucket Brothers Although at first glance an ordinary Breakout clone, Paranoid stands out for its extremely well defined, solid gameplay, evident by the fact that once you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:XOR Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:XOR Corporation Copyright 1987, XOR Corporation Bermuda Square is a fun little game based on a neat little mathematical equation: 1^2 + 2^2 + 3^2 + … + 24^2 = 70^2. Your objective is to place as many squares as possible…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Max Tillberg & Klaus-Juergen Wrede GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Max Tillberg Cities is a fun freeware brainteaser for Windows designed by Max Tillberg based on tiles from Carcassonne, an inventive board game from Hans im Gluck, a German publisher, published outside Germany by Rio…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Enix GAME PUBLISHER:Enix Copyright 1993, Enix One of the most original action/RPG hybrids Ive come across, EVO: Search for Eden is a fun game that throws you millions of years back in time. Starting out as a fish, your task is to climb the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Welch GAME DEVELOPER:Blitwise Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Blitwise Productions Copyright 2001, Blitwise Productions Pocket Tanks is a delightful and highly imaginative scratchware game. A brainchild of Micheal P Welch, author of Scorched Tanks and DX-Ball, this artillery based shoot ’em up is his latest creation, which can…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1992, Technos Japan Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun, released only on the Super Nintendo, is a great sequel of Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun, the first game in Technos outstanding beat em-up series that star Kunio and Riki (Alex and Ryan…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1989, Technos Japan River City Ransom (a.k.a. Street Gangs in Europe) is one of the best beat ’em ups ever made for any system, although it is sadly neglected by many gamers due to the unfortunate circumstance of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ed Weed GAME DEVELOPER:Mirror Images GAME PUBLISHER:Mirror Images Copyright 1983, Mirror Images Freddy Fish, Fleet Sweep, and Spyder are three arcade oldies by Mirror Images Software, no doubt one of the most obscure game developers ever. Similar to Windmill Software, Mirror Images produced games that were…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jake Richter GAME DEVELOPER:Mirror Images GAME PUBLISHER:Mirror Images Copyright 1983, Mirror Images Freddy Fish, Fleet Sweep, and Spyder are three arcade oldies by Mirror Images Software, no doubt one of the most obscure game developers ever. Similar to Windmill Software, Mirror Images produced games that were…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mirror Images GAME PUBLISHER:Mirror Images Copyright 1983, Mirror Images Freddy Fish, Fleet Sweep, and Spyder are three arcade oldies by Mirror Images Software, no doubt one of the most obscure game developers ever. Similar to Windmill Software, Mirror Images produced games that were “inspired”…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, Konami Yie Ar Kung-Fu II is a superior sequel to Yie Ar Kung-Fu, one of the first really addictive beat ’em up games. In this second game, Konami adds plenty of new enemies, levels, and attack moves. Although the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, Konami Road Fighter is a fun, early top-down racer from Konami based on the hit arcade game of the same name. The game’s simplicity belies its addictiveness: drive your car as fast as you can along devious tracks, passing…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1986, Konami The Goonies is a great multi-level platformer game based on movie of the same name. Rob Strongman says it all in his review of the NES version for Classicgaming.com about what makes this game a classic: “The Goonies…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, Konami Kings Valley is a fun platform/maze game from Konami, released for the MSX computer and many other 8-bit console systems except the PC in 1985. The game plays like a more updated version of Montezumas Revenge, except it…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Konami Antarctic Adventure is a very cute and funny game from Konami starring Pentarou the Penguin (who later appears in Konami’s Parodius) who must journey across the Antarctic to deliver his fianc?. The game is played from pseudo 3D,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Friends GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Konami Sky Jaguar is an early classic vertical shooter from Konami, released only on some non-PC systems, including the short-lived MSX computer. The game is quite primitive by modern standards, with few level designs, types of enemies, and weapons…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mirage GAME PUBLISHER:Mirage Copyright 1996, Mirage Theater of Pain is a pretty bad 2D fighting game. Not as bad as Rise of the Robot, but bad enough to make you notice the obvious emphasis of form (i.e. graphics) over content (i.e. gameplay). Your task…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Microforum GAME PUBLISHER:Microforum Copyright 1996, Microforum PC Gamer says it all about this ambitious 3D platformer that is not as good as Pandemonium!, but is well worth a look: “Attempting to mix elements from first-person shooters like Doom with 3D platformers like Tomb Raider,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Amazing Graphics GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Amazing Graphics Maze Wars is a decent 3D maze game that is by no means revolutionary, but deserves mention as one of the first 3D maze mouse-driven games that I quite like 😉 The objective is simple: find…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kenneth Morse GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1992, Kenneth Morse One of the best multiplayer freeware titles ever made, Tank Wars is a fun artillery game for 1 to 10 players. The goal will be familiar to anyone who has played Scorched Earth or Gorilla: opponents…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bruce Artwick GAME DEVELOPER:subLOGIC GAME PUBLISHER:subLOGIC Copyright 1988, subLOGIC One of the very few games from subLOGIC that are not flight simulators, Night Mission Pinball is a surprisingly playable, realistic, and highly customizable pinball game. Set with the backdrop of an airport at night, the best…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Unknown “Discover a fascinating land in search of the treasures of nature. At six different hunting grounds, your swiftness as a hunter of fresh Licher beer will be challenged. The mouse button is your hunting tool, in the 360-degree…