Sega Super Scaler Games #7

Super Hang-On (1987)
By: Sega AM2 Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 9,950,140
Also Available For: Mega Drive, X68000, Nintendo 3DS, Game Boy Advance, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Apple Mac, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

Just thinking of the great names of the other 'Super Scaler' games automatically reminds me of giant hydraulic machines with excited crowds around them in bustling amusement arcades, but that's not the case with Super Hang-On. I had it on my Speccy and later I also had it on my mighty Mega Drive, but I was never fortunate enough to encounter the original in any arcades I visited, so I guess I've always associated it with those two systems. I suppose the Speccy more than the MD, though the version for Sega's own console was obviously far more accurate. The Speccy version was good too, though. As far as I recall, anyway, though I haven't played it for many moons. It may even be among the best racing games on the little home micro. Not that that's saying much, I know. But regardless of all this, I'm way overdue in checking out the super-scaling original, so let's go!

Puzzle Games #24

Skweek a.k.a. Slider (1988)
By: Loriceils Genre: Puzzle Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Atari ST First Day Score: 40,710
Also Available For: PC Engine, Game Gear, Amiga, Amstrad CPC

I'm not sure why but I've long been intrigued by gonks. I've had many fine examples adorn my shelves or desks over the years, but I think when I played this game at my good friend Luke's house so many years ago it was the first time I had actually controlled the actions of one of the fuzzballs. The gonk in question fittingly stars in a puzzle game. I'm not sure why it's fitting, it just seems right. This rightness also extends to his name. I'm not sure I could've come up with a better name for a yellow gonk who waddles around tiled stages in a puzzle game if I tried. He's actually an alien, you may not be surprised to hear, from a place called Skweezland which has apparently been overrun by the minions of some flange called Pitark who has, for some reason, turned the lush pink countryside of Skweezland blue.

Indie Nuggets #8

Sapphire Yours (2017)
By: Bence Sipka Genre: Puzzle / Action Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: Android, iOS

There were a number of classics I missed out on in my youth. Among them was Boulder Dash, the much-loved jewel-grabbing, debris-avoiding mazey action/puzzler. I'm still not quite sure how I managed to miss it since it was released on every format under the sun but I have of course now remedied my oversight. Just in case anyone else missed it, or perhaps wasn't even around in its heyday at all, it was brought back to grace our screens once again much more recently! Okay, it's not officially part of the series but it may as well be. The first version dates back to 2001 and was created by an Austrian (I think) developer called Reinhard Grafl while the version I've looked at here comes to us courtesy of Bence Sipka, a Hungarian (I think) indie developer who is presumably a fan of both First Star Software's iconic game as well as Mr. Grafl's unofficial follow-up, and whose own game is available to play for free. How generous of him!

Action RPG's #3

StarTropics (1990)
By: Nintendo R&D3 Genre: Action RPG Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES
Also Available For: Nothing

This game is unusual in that it was an NES game made by Nintendo themselves but only released in the US and Europe, with poor Japanese players having to do without. This has probably happened with certain types of sports games or tie-ins to things only popular in the west but this was an action RPG - a genre more popular in Japan than maybe any other! It's also, oddly, a game I never heard about in its day from magazines or other gamers, only learning of it later from collectors. It has, however, intrigued me since then, mainly due to its name and the images it conjured in my head - something to do with spacey, sun-bathed alien worlds overflowing with lush vegetation and glowing sands, punctuated by curious creatures and hiding some sort of magical adventure. The other day I was oafing around in my garden and decided it was time to see what the actual game was like, and if it bore any relation to the version I have been having visions of for many moons. Join me as I venture forth, into the mysterious tropics...

Computer Platform Games #9

Bomb Jack II (1987)
By: Elite Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: ZX Spectrum First Day Score: 10,400
Also Available For: Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64

I was a big fan of Tehkan's classic bomb-collecting platformer, Bomb Jack, and as detailed in a previous post, I spent a great many happy afternoons playing the excellent CPC version at a friend's house on the way home from school. As you might imagine, I was therefore keen to acquire the game for my Speccy too, but I never saw it in the shops for some reason. I did see Bomb Jack II though, and soon bought it hoping it would be more or less the same as the game I had been enjoying so much. Sadly, I quickly learned that aside from using the same name and main character, it bore little resemblance to the original. Okay, it was also a single-screen platformer and there were still small platforms dotted around the screen and you still had to collect stuffs and there were still enemies to avoid. But it still didn't play much like the mighty Bomb Jack (no, not Mighty Bomb Jack). But was it enjoyable in its own right?

Arcade Shmups #29

Ashura Blaster (1990)
By: Visco Corp / Taito Genre: Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 126,000 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

There can't be a huge number of arcade shooters that never left Japan (they were one of the most popular genres in the West, after all), and even fewer that never received any home conversions, but I managed to find one in the fairly splendidly-named Ashura Blaster, developed by Visco Corp and released by the mighty Taito just as that most wonderful of decades had drawn to a close. Due to this somewhat restrictive release I can't tell you too much about its backstory, but I can tell you it's apparently set in the far-flung future of 2020 (chortle). As you may have noticed, it's a vertical scroller, and a very familiar type too. It doesn't take a genius to work out the probable vague outline though - some dictator or heinous regime has threatened national/global peace and only you (and a friend) can save the day for some reason. Better dig out that chopper license!

Non-Speccy Homebrew Games #2

Electrobots (2021)
By: OxCode Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: BBC Micro First Day Score: 1,800
Also Available For: Nothing

There are quite a few retro formats that receive deserved attention from the homebrew community but for what I'm disappointed to say is only my second review in this series of posts here, I've gone for another BBC example. I've had it for at least three years ago now (if you watch the video below on YT you can see a comment of mine from that long ago!) and played it quite extensively at the time, but didn't get around to reviewing it then for some reason. The title screen to the right here saves me the trouble of relaying the game's brief backstory but what I probably should mention is that it takes the form of a flickscreen platform adventure which is set over three zones - Land Zone, Water Zone and Space Zone. The ancient objects mentioned in the story are dotted around all three zones. As are various enemies too, naturally, which appear to be robots as well, or security droids or something.

Licensed Games #5

Robocop (1988)
By: Data East Genre: Platform/Fighting/Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 56,800 (one credit)
Also Available For: NES, Game Boy, PC, Amiga, Atari ST, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, TRS-80

In my younger years when much of my gaming was done on my trusty Speccy, many of the biggest and most successful games, or at least most hyped games, were adapted from major movies of the time. A lot of these sucked donkey balls, naturally, and were rightly derided, but I always remember one of them being a monster smash hit that topped the Speccy sales charts for many, many months. It was a game based on one of the best movies of its time which starred Peter Weller as a slain cop who was given a new lease of life after being repaired/augmented by electronic devices and assorted mechanical doodads. This would, I believe, make him a cyborg rather than a robot, so technically the film should've been called Cybercop, but name inaccuracies aside, it was a bit of a stonker. The tie-in game was originally found in arcades which was a little unusual, and as good as the Speccy version was, it can't have been as good as the arcade version, surely? Sadly, I didn't find out as I never encountered it.

NES Shmups #6

Over Horizon (1991)
By: Hot B Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 322,860
Also Available For: Nothing

I used to greatly enjoy reading the multi-format games magazines back in the 80s and early 90s and getting a taste of what delights were available to lucky owners of systems I did not own. Sometimes it could be frustrating, admittedly, and other times it gave me ammo for mocking said owners, but now and then, seemingly unremarkable games from these pages would get stuck in my head forever. Many of them were NES examples since I never owned it in its day, nor knew anyone who did (it wasn't popular here in the UK for some reason), and one such game that has been making its presence well known in my brain lately is Over Horizon which I have oddly-specific memories of seeing in the mighty Mean Machines magazine. As I recall, it received only a mediocre reception from Jaz and the gang, but, as sacrilegious as this may sound, I've become aware increasingly in my advancing years of just how often their opinions did not necessarily correspond with mine. Let's see if this is another example of that!

Maze Games #15

Druid (1986)
By: Electralyte Software / Firebird Genre: Maze Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Atari 8-bit First Day Score: Acolyte
Also Available For: Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX2, Tatung Einstein, Famicom Disk System

Like many games of its time, Druid was released on a wide variety of systems including the Speccy, my old favourite of the time. Instead of looking at that version for this here review, however, and even ignoring an excuse to do another review on my newest favourite system, the MSX2, I decided to take a look at what was, to my knowledge, the original version, and on a system I've never played a single game on before. Well, I say 'system' but it's actually a number of systems that fall under the 'Atari 8-bit' umbrella, but more on that another time. For now, let's concentrate on the splendidly-named game in question which recently returned to my brain after many moons away. I don't think I even heard about it in its day, in fact, and few details have reached my ears since, so I was quite excited to recently learn that it's apparently like Gauntlet.

Crap Games #14

Rigel's Revenge (1987)
By: Smart Egg Software / Mastertronic Genre: Text Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: ZX Spectrum First Day Score: 16/50
Also Available For: Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64

Unlike most of the games so far in this feature, I never saw Rigel's Revenge getting slated in reviews of the day. I don't remember even seeing any coverage of it at all, in fact, and I found out many years later that it was actually very well received, so why is it here? Well, that's entirely down to me and my good friend Luke, I'm afraid. It was a cheapie budget release which we both had for our respective 8-bit micros (Speccy for me, CPC for him) and we both hated it. I'm not even sure why if I'm honest, but I recall Luke once angrily refusing to even acknowledge it as a legitimate computer game! With advancing years comes a more mature and rational mindset, however (in theory, at least), not to mention an enthusiastic appreciation of the 80s and the games released during that glorious decade, so after recently remembering this game randomly, I decided to give it another try to see if it really has sucked all these years, or if Luke and I were just idiotic youths without any taste.

Steam / GOG Downloads #9

1001 Spikes (2014)
By: Nicalis, Inc. Genre: Platform Players: 1-4 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Mac

I can't recall how I first came upon this game but pixelly platformers always catch my eye, and it wasn't long before this example reminded me of a specific, not to mention notorious game from the 80s. Can you guess which one from the screenshots here? Yes, that's right, it's Rick Dangerous! If you've ever played Core Design's game you'll know exactly what that means, but if you haven't, allow me to explain. I believe in general terms the genre is known as 'precision platformer' but in the case of Rick Dangerous, it would be better described as 'cheap death platformer'. Cheap deaths are generally frowned upon in the gaming world but it didn't stop Rick Dangerous from being pretty popular. Does this much newer game from Nicalis Inc. share its appeal? Let's find out :)

Overrated! #9

Hard Drivin' (1988)
By: Atari Genre: Drivin' Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 44,091
Also Available For: Mega Drive, Lynx, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

When I recently had the brainwave to include this notable game in my 'Overrated!' feature it seemed like a superb idea and I congratulated myself accordingly, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's a game that was ever all that highly rated to begin with. I mean, I seem to recall the conversions getting decent reviews in the many magazines of the day but it's not really a game that gets mentioned nowadays, nor as far back as I can remember after its release. I first played it on my trusty Speccy and it was pretty good, all things considered, but fairly soon after I did actually find its arcade progenitor too. I seem to recall it being a pretty pricey game for the day but I had to try it, obviously. It was housed in a large sit-down cab and was one of those machines that made it seem like a big deal. It even had a key to start it! Once I started playing it, however, I was rather less impressed.

Random Game I've Never Heard Of #15

Banana (1986)
By: Victor Musical Industries Genre: Puzzle Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 2,170 (yes, I'm crap at puzzle games)
Also Available For: Nothing

Selecting the next game to review for this series of posts isn't usually a very complicated matter - just look at lists and see if any names stand out! For some reason, I've always enjoyed games that feature fruits and vegetables. They usually take the form of collectibles for bonus points but here was a game that was actually named after a fruit! The reason for this is unclear but it made it stand out to me in any case. A quick perusal revealed that it was a pretty early release for Nintendo's sprightly Famicom and never made it out of Japan for some reason, which goes some way to explaining why I hadn't heard of it. I also soon learned that it was a puzzle game starring a nameless mole, who for review purposes we'll call Gronk, and it's his job to rescue a nameless female mole, who we'll call Fleeple. She must be a bit of an airhead too, as she apparently gets re-kidnapped (or lost, or whatever is going on) prior to every single stage of the game! C'mon Gronk, sooner or later you've just got to accept that anyone who takes such bad care of themselves perhaps doesn't deserve to get repeatedly rescued.

Game Boy Games #5

Choplifter II: Rescue and Survive (1991)
By: Beam Software  Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: ???,???
Also Available For: Nothing

I've never really been a handheld gamer for some weird reason - it was always the home consoles that interested me - so when I saw that Choplifter III had been released on the SNES I was mildly startled. I had long enjoyed the original game on my delightful Master System, and here, apparently, was the third game, but what in the blue blazes had happened to the second game? The answer wouldn't find my eyes until many moons later but it turned out that Choplifter II was a Game Boy exclusive of all things. Crikey, I exclaimed! Once I got over the shock of this unexpected news and considered the game for a moment, I was immediately sceptical that such a game would work on the small, blurry screen. The view of the action would have to be much more zoomed-in so you could actually see stuff for one thing, and that would open you up to being killed by something when it scrolled onto the screen right next to you. I suppose I should play the game before condemning it for my imagined slights (to partly quote Thor from The Avengers) though, huh?!

Run 'n' Gun Games #10

Psycho-Nics Oscar (1987)
By: Data East Genre: Run 'n' Gun Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 93,900
Also Available For: Nothing

I'll be the first one to admit that my coverage of the Commodore 64 has been pretty woeful here. The reasons why could be the subject for another post, but I have been meaning to review Turrican here for a long time. I decided to finally do so recently, only to find it was apparently 'inspired' by an earlier game, and an arcade game no less. Accordingly, my OCD will not allow me to review Turrican first, so here is a look at the curiously-named Psycho-Nics Oscar, released in 1987 by Data East. This puts it in their RoboCop/Dragon Ninja phase which was, in my opinion, their best period as an arcade developer. It doesn't seem to have much in the way of a backstory though. As far as I can tell, the player takes on the role of Oscar, but I'm not sure if he/it is a robot or a guy controlling a mecha. Hmm, anyway, whatever Oscar is, your simple-yet-difficult job is to liberate Ordio City. I am again unsure if this is a city on a future Earth or if it's on an alien planet, but who needs an excuse to neutralise alien (probably) filth?

Arcade Adventures #7

Lord of the Sword (1988)
By: Sega Genre: Arcade Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Sega Master System
Also Available For: Nothing

For the second review in a row I've found myself in the not-unstartling position of apparently having had a game's genre wrong for 35-odd years! Last time was It Came From the Desert and now it's this MS exclusive from Sega. It got rather mediocre reviews in its day so I've never shown a huge amount of interest in it, but from screenshots I always assumed it was a Rastan or Legendary Axe type deal. It kind of is I suppose, but it's a more adventurey kind of game than those two. We'll come to that later though. You play through the game as a fellow known as Landau. I assume this isn't meant to be classic actor Martin Landau, star of Mission: Impossible and Space: 1999 amongst many others, probably including even more examples with colons. No, this Landau is just some guy with long hair.

Arcade Adventures #6

It Came from the Desert (1989)
By: Cinemaware Genre: Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Amiga
Also Available For: PC, PC Engine

I mention the old games magazines I used to read in my younger years quite often here at Red Parsley, and indeed they continue to provide me with many warm memories. One game I always remember seeing was the scarily-titled It Came From the Desert - scary, perhaps, more due of the giant ants that featured in screenshots of the game and adorned promotional material than the name itself. I remember seeing reviews in several magazines such as C&VG and Ace and I wanted to play it despite not owning anything that could play it, and not even really knowing what kind of game it was since neither system I owned (Spectrum and Master System) featured anything like it to my knowledge. By the time I actually had an Amiga, I guess I had forgotten about this distinctive game, and it has remained unplayed by me for all these long years since. That is... until now!

Indie Nuggets #7

Adventures of a Radish (2016)
By: Sorceress Game Lab Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: Nothing

I'm always liked seeing fruits and vegetables in games. Usually they are just pick-ups for bonus points or a power-up of some sort, but how many games actually let you play as a fruit or vegetable? I can't think of too many but Adventures of a Radish is definitely one such game! I can't remember how I first discovered it now but it's another one that has lain dormant in my 'games to review' folder for many years of men. Actually, that's not strictly true - I have played it on and off but the review has clearly not been forthcoming. Upon returning to it for this post I realised it doesn't seem to have a backstory, so I guess you're just... a sentient radish. I'm not complaining, of course - there are undoubtedly worse things to be - but some games require stories or objectives to provide motivation to play them.

NES Shmups #5

Burai Fighter (1990)
By: KID / Taxan Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 121,120
Also Available For: Game Boy

There are an absolute ton of NES games that I've heard of but know bugger all about. This is due to a combination of buying multi-format games mags back in the day such as Mean Machines, and not having an NES and therefore paying little attention to reviews of said games. One of them, you may be shocked to hear, is Burai Fighter. I've known of the name for over 30 years but I wasn't even sure what genre it was until my interest in it was recently piqued by its soundtrack - its most derided aspect, I've subsequently discovered (not sure why though). It turned out to be a (mostly) horizontal shooter in the same vein of Side Arms and Forgotten Worlds, and that's no bad thing since both are at least decent games. It's also a game that, much like the recently-reviewed Dragon Ninja, is named after its bad guys rather than the hero. Indeed, the Burai are apparently a 'race of super-brains' who, for thousands of years, have used their intellectual gifts to conquer the universe. Can't accuse them of lacking ambition, I guess!