As we’ve seen a fair few times on this series to date, it was quite fashionable for home computer developers to put together “unofficial” sequels to arcade classics.
Sega’s OutRun certainly wasn’t immune to this, and enjoyed several home-exclusive follow-ups over the years — including OutRun Europa by Probe. In this game, you’re on the run from the police — attempting to outrun them, you might say — and must speed your way across Europe in a variety of vehicles. And it’s not bad!
Type-in listings written in BASIC were a common sight in Atari 8-bit magazines — as were BASIC listings that were used to create executable machine code programs on disk or cassette.
The magazines Antic and ANALOG in the United States also had a strong interest in the programming language Action!, though, and published a number of listings written using this speedy, game-friendly setup. Today’s Atari 8-bit game is one such example, bringing some solid and challenging platforming action home for us to enjoy.
Do you have games that you enjoy just firing up and chilling out with? Games that don’t have any real “point” to them, but you find them enjoyable regardless?
Simulations are a great way to satisfy that particular gaming need — particularly if they err on the more freeform, unstructured side of things. So I thought they might provide a good backdrop for a nicely chilled out, irregular series where we can just chat; I can tell you what I’ve been up to of late, and you can enjoy some pleasantly relaxed, comfy action.
Check out the first installment of this occasional series in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
Back in the early days of the Atari 2600 — and indeed throughout gaming history in general — there have been plenty of games that never made it to market for one reason or another.
Stunt Cycle, an Atari 2600 version of Atari’s own home port of its own arcade game, was one such example. Its 2600 version was complete and ready to go, but never made it out the door. It also never quite became a Dukes of Hazzard game, like was considered for a while. But it did eventually see the light of day in 2003.
You know me, I’ll find any excuse to play TimeSplitters 2. So even though we looked at the PS2 version a while back, here’s the mostly identical Xbox version. Because I felt like playing it.
TimeSplitters 2 is an amazing game that still feels just as fresh and enjoyable today as it did back in the early years of the 21st century. And in its Xbox and GameCube incarnations, you even had four controller ports to enjoy split-screen multiplayer to the max without the need for any extra hardware! Apart from controllers, obviously.
Arcade conversions could be a bit hit and miss on the Atari ST, largely because the computer’s built-in hardware couldn’t hope to compete with the specialist arcade units of the time.
That didn’t stop developers from trying their best to make a solid conversion, however — and The Sales Curve’s Random Access team actually managed a pretty competent job of bringing Taito’s The Ninja Warriors home for Atari ST owners to enjoy.
“Let’s make a video game about doing our taxes!” thought John Freeman and Anne Westfall of the brand spanking new software company Free Fall Associates. “I’m sure that will resonate with the game-playing community!”
Sadly, it did not — but that doesn’t mean that Tax Dodge for Atari 8-bit isn’t a good game. Quite the opposite, in fact — it’s a really fun, interesting take on the maze chase genre with a non-violent twist. Although it does benefit you to have at least a passing understanding of all things financial, especially if you don’t have a manual to hand…
A lot of people think of the concept of “street racing” as a relatively recent thing, though that’s only really looking at the modern type.
In fact, it’s pretty much been a thing for as long as cars have been around, as the ancient old bangers on the front cover of 1977’s Street Racer for Atari 2600 will attest. So here we have a video game for up to four players about the concept — though this being 1977, the format of “the racing game” hadn’t quite been nailed just yet…
Opinions vary greatly as to which PC Engine shoot ’em up is the best — largely because there are so many of the damn things. I most certainly am not complaining.
Most people can agree that Hudson Soft’s excellent Soldier Blade is near the top of the rankings, though, thanks to its high-speed action, its satisfying power-up systems and its excellent music. It’s also highly accessible to shoot ’em up newcomers, so if you suck at the more intense titles — like I do — then this is a great title to cut your teeth on.
The design’s weady! Ergonomicawwy tewwific! We’ve conquered the sector! We’ve nuuuuked them! We’ve won!
Ah, Mega-Lo-Mania, such an iconic game — and not just for those wonderful speech samples, but also for its excellent gameplay. Many people regard this as one of the first examples of a real-time strategy game — though it does things a little differently from its fellow genre progenitor Dune 2, which came out a year later.
