Category: Arcade and Action Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kenta Cho GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Kenta Cho In the crowded field of freeware shoot ’em ups, Kenta Cho’s games stand a league of their own. Innovations abound, from the abstract wireframe graphics, to randomly generated enemy gunfire, to fluid controls. Just when you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jim Calhoun GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1986, Brderbund One of the first innovative “edutainment” software titles, The Toy Shop from Broderbund is also one of the first software of its kind to have a hefty price tag: it retailed for over $75 in most stores.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Motivetime GAME PUBLISHER:Project 2 Interactive Copyright 1996, Motivetime Strike Point: The Hex Missions is a decent 3D action game that is better known on the PlayStation. The banal plot: Hex, an evil corporation, plans to destroy the planet’s ecosphere with strategically placed shockwave devices.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Voss & Jim Voss GAME DEVELOPER:Moonlite Software GAME PUBLISHER:Moonlite Software Copyright 1992, Moonlite Software Clyde’s Adventure is a below-average platform game for DOS that starts out promising enough before descending into mediocrity around halfway through. Your goal: make your way through each of the 32…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Torbjrn Josefsson GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Torbjrn Josefsson RotoCube is a Rubik’s Cube style brainteaser that offers addictive and challenging gameplay alongside polished graphics that belies its freeware origins. As the author describes, the game is very similar to Cubulus, an oldie PC game,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonnathan Smadello GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Jonnathan Smadello Diceies is a good remake of a little-known puzzler called Palamedes, release only for the NES console. Your objective in this Tetris variant: keep the falling row of dice from reaching the bottom of the screen…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bepposoft GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Bepposoft The Line Continues is a great sequel to The Line, a very original freeware platformer from Bepposoft. The plot, in the designer’s own words, is almost as wacky as the game itself: “It seems The Line continues. You’ve…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) GAME PUBLISHER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) Copyright 1982, International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) Rubik’s Cube is a below-average BASICA game distributed only among IPCO members. Due to limitations of the BASIC language and early 1980 hardware, the game amounts…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:IBM GAME PUBLISHER:IBM Copyright 1983, IBM Zap’em is a very lackluster “old skool” shooter from IBM coded in BASIC – one of their most disappointing releases. The description from MobyGames goes as follows: “Zap’em is an action game for one player. You control a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Juna GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Juna Virtual In 2 is a great sequel to Virtual In, a fun one-on-one robot fighting game from Japan. If you hate the first game or “cute” stumpy-head Japanese games, there is no reason to try this one. But…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dave Greenbaum GAME DEVELOPER:Dynetron GAME PUBLISHER:Dynetron Copyright 1983, Dynetron Sailing: An Adventure in The Bermuda Triangle is a decent but primitive action/sport hybrid from Dynetron, released way back in 1983. Your objective: finish sailing 3 legs around the Bermuda Triangle, rescuing stranded swimmers and rafters along…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tarn Adams GAME DEVELOPER:Bay Twelve Games GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Bay Twelve Games WWI Medic is a fast-paced, unique, and violent action game. In contrast to most other games set in world wars, your objective in WWIM is not to take lives but to save them:…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Anonymous Destruction Desire is another excellent 2D one-on-one fighting game from Japan, created with Enterbrain’s popular Fighter Maker application that unfortunately is not available in English. In contrast to most games coded with M.U.G.E.N. engine, all the fighters in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:kuni GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, kuni Spout is a fun arcade-ish game from Japan that is best described as an “abstract caveflier/shooter.” Similar to many Finnish freeware classics like V-Wing, your goal in Spout is simply to make your way safely from one level…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Zac Soft GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Zac Soft IFRIT is a fun 2D horizontal shooter from Japan in the same vein as R-Type and similar games, albeit a lot simpler. Polished anime graphics, decent soundtrack, and solid gameplay round out this well-designed freeware. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:TRRN GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, TRRN UFP and SLD are two fun little arcade games from Japan from the same author. UFP is a cool shooter that lets you fly a paper airplane and shoots at balloons and other paper airplanes for points. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:TRRN GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, TRRN UFP and SLD are two fun little arcade games from Japan from the same author. UFP is a cool shooter that lets you fly a paper airplane and shoots at balloons and other paper airplanes for points. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robert Lupinek GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Robert Lupinek Raging Skies is a great 360-degree shooter from Darthlupi, make of Mage Craft which is another Top Dog game on this site. Although it is basically a straightforward top-down shooter as far as gameplay goes, numerous…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Fallen Angel Industries GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Fallen Angel Industries Super Ken Senshi is yet another superb freeware release from Fallen Angel Industries, one of the best “Klik” designer groups. Aside from excellent anime graphics and animations that FAIND usually delivers, SKS has a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mika Halttunen & Josh Schroeder GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Mika Halttunen Delirium is a fun reflex-oriented puzzle game that plays like a cross between Tetris and Bubble Bobbles. The official blurb explains the premise: “[The] basic idea is rather simple: clear the level from…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jay White GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Jay White Shikun is a simple but addictive action game that sports bright anime-style graphics, fun arcade-ish gameplay, and enough surprises for multiple replays. Your goal: collect chickens using either a net or seeds which you can use…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Simon & Schuster GAME PUBLISHER:Byron Preiss Multimedia Copyright 1997, Byron Preiss Multimedia Forbes Corporate Warrior is a thoroughly average and repetitive FPS that is noteworthy only for a curious attempt to set the kill-everything-in-sight gameplay in the business world. Official blurbs already make it…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Hauray GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Hauray Yet another weirdly-named but addictive freeware gem from Japan, Anchor is a great coffee-break game that plays like a cross between my favorite underwater anime game Oden Todo Fish and SubHunt. In the words of our forum regular…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Monolith Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Fox Interactive Copyright 2000, Monolith Productions One of the most underrated action/adventure hybrids in recent memory, Monolith’s Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact is a fun and creative game that showcases how versatile the powerful LithTech engine (that powers No One Lives Forever) can…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Fallen Angel Industries GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Fallen Angel Industries Machines of Destruction is a very fun – but also very difficult – arcade/racing gem from Fallen Angel Industries. Best played in multiplayer mode, the game, in the developer’s words, is “…a mixture of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Miguel Perez GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Miguel Perez Last Defender is a great horizontal shooter from Miguel “MIG2” Perez, amateur designer who is best known for Lost Valley RPG game. The game features outstanding graphics, addictive and frantic shooting action, and well-designed levels and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Rage Software GAME PUBLISHER:Rage Software Copyright 1998, Rage Software Expendable is a fun 3D action shooter that is Rage’s sequel-of-sorts to Incoming. Bob Mandel of Adrenaline Vault says it all in his thorough review: “More than any other offering I have played with this…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Erik Simon GAME DEVELOPER:Blue Byte GAME PUBLISHER:Blue Byte Copyright 1997, Blue Byte Extreme Assault is an addictive 3D action game from Blue Byte, a prolific UK developer responsible for excellent Battle Isle series. Probably the best-looking action game ever made for DOS, the game boasts superb…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve Herring GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1990, Steve Herring Diamaze is a fun little ASCII game in the same tradition as early “maze games” such as Kroz series. That is, a game that blends action and puzzle together in a neat little package. The game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:DMA Design GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Rockstar Games Wild Metal Country is the second release in Rockstar Games’ popular (and widely appreciated) “Free Download” series, which brings to gamers everywhere full version downloads of the company’s classic games. Unlike Grand Theft Auto, the sleeper…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jeff Groteboer & George MacDonald GAME DEVELOPER:US Gold GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1988, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, and Shadow Sorcerer are three releases in SSI’s series of action/RPG games that are based on AD&D’s “Dragonlance” fantasy world.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jeff Groteboer & George MacDonald GAME DEVELOPER:US Gold GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1989, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, and Shadow Sorcerer are three releases in SSI’s series of action/RPG games that are based on AD&D’s “Dragonlance” fantasy world.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Raptisoft GAME PUBLISHER:Raptisoft Copyright 2004, Raptisoft Neverball and Hamsterball are two superb Marble Madness-inspired games from a freeware and an indie developers, respectively. Your objective in both games is similar: guide a ball (or a hamster-trapped-inside-a-ball in Hamsterball) safely to the exit before time…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robert Kooima GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Robert Kooima Neverball and Hamsterball are two superb Marble Madness-inspired games from a freeware and an indie developers, respectively. Your objective in both games is similar: guide a ball (or a hamster-trapped-inside-a-ball in Hamsterball) safely to the exit…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1988, Apogee Probably two of the rarest Apogee games in existence, Word Whiz and Trivia Whiz are two decent trivia games by George Broussard and Scott Miller, two founders of Apogee. Word Whiz is the more limited and straightforward…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:George Broussard GAME DEVELOPER:Apogee GAME PUBLISHER:Apogee Copyright 1988, Apogee Probably two of the rarest Apogee games in existence, Word Whiz and Trivia Whiz are two decent trivia games by George Broussard and Scott Miller, two founders of Apogee. Word Whiz is the more limited and straightforward…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joseph White GAME DEVELOPER:Lexaloffle Games GAME PUBLISHER:Lexaloffle Games Copyright 2003, Lexaloffle Games Neko Puzzle (or Cat Puzzle if you want to translate Japanese into English) is a fun shareware underdog from Lexaloffle Games. The game is similar to Zen Puzzle Garden in that the only ‘user…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joseph White GAME DEVELOPER:Lexaloffle Games GAME PUBLISHER:Lexaloffle Games Copyright 2003, Lexaloffle Games Zen Puzzle Garden is a unique and superb shareware puzzle games from Lexaloffle Games, an independent game developer. As a Zen Buddhist monk, your objective is to rake through all the sand in the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Thomas Kahabka GAME DEVELOPER:Kingsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Kingsoft Copyright 1992, Kingsoft Balance is thoroughly average and obscure German action game from Kingsoft. The review-style description at MobyGames: “This German game of dexterity delivers what the title promises. Balance is a lesson in applied gravity: guide a ball to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Dawes GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Adam Dawes Highway Pursuit is a great arcade-style game that takes its inspiration from a number of classic games, but plays most like Midway’s classic Spy Hunter – so much so that I have decided to assign this…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Hamish GAME DEVELOPER:Fallen Angel Industries GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Fallen Angel Industries Commando is a superb side-scrolling platformer from Fallen Angel Industries, one of the best freeware making groups. The excellent review at Totalklik mirrors my thoughts almost exactly: “Commando is one of the best click…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ezra Dreisbach GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1991, Ezra Dreisbach Hextris is an excellent Tetris clone that introduces hexagonal (beehive-shaped) blocks as the name suggests. The edges of the playing area are also hexagonal-shaped to fit the blocks. The game is more difficult as a result,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brad Taylor GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1990, Brad Taylor Fallout! is the superior sequel to Beyond Columns, Brad Taylor’s excellent Columns clone. The game is much more obscure than its predecessor for some reason, despite being improved in every way, including sharper graphics and more…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Stephens & Subha Ghoshal GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1991, John Stephens & Subha Ghoshal Notrus is an excellent Tetris clone from a duo of programmers. Aside from sporting some of the best graphics I have seen in a Tetris game, Notrus adds one twist…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kevin North GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Kevin North Superb PC remake of Nintendo’s Dr. Mario, an inventive Tetris clone. Your goal in this game is to eliminate all the little germs in the bottle by matching the color of your pills to the color…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Enigma Software Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Friendware Copyright 1995, Enigma Software Productions Trauma is an above-average and rare shareware shooter from Spain. The reason it is obscure to most gamers is that it was released only in Spain and Britain. The plot is simple, as with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Arcana Software GAME PUBLISHER:Microdaft Copyright 1990, Arcana Software Rotor is an above-average multi-directional shoot ’em up that bodes well for the spiritual descendants such as Zone 66 years later. Good graphics, smooth gameplay, and an interesting mix of tactical options. The description at MobyGames…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Emerald Software GAME PUBLISHER:Emerald Software Copyright 1989, Emerald Software More of less a “beta version” of If It Moves, Shoot It!, Phantom Fighter is a one-year-older vertical shooter from Emerald Software that is identical to the better-known IIM,SI game in every respect, except for…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ancil Anthropy GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Ancil Anthropy Jaywalker is a unique and fun little puzzle-bent action game from Ancil Anthropy, lone designer of Piquin and Cubots, two other puzzle gems reviewed on this site. Subtitled “the game of pedestrian revenge,” Jaywalker puts you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ancil Anthropy GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Ancil Anthropy A nice PC clone of Daleks, classic Macintosh puzzle game. For an explanation of what Daleks is, here’s excerpt from my review of DRroboWHOids, an older clone for DOS: “In this game, you must help that…