Tag Archives: retro games

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: The Datestones of Ryn

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While The Temple of Apshai is the most well-known of Epyx’s “Dunjonquest” games, there were actually quite a few games released under this banner.

Not all of them were massive, sprawling affairs intended to be played over the long-term, either. The Datestones of Ryn is a great example of this, offering a short, twenty-minute quest with a fixed player character and a rather arcadey focus on high scores and replayability.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Save Mary

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Back in the early ’90s, people were just getting to grips with falling block puzzlers such as Tetris and its numerous imitators.

Which makes it quite a shame that Save Mary, an interesting and original twist on the formula, never made it to release back in the day — because it’s a really fun puzzler. Still, at least we can enjoy it today as part of Atari Flashback Classics!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Wheel of Fortune

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The public domain and shareware sector of the 8- and 16-bit era was often a great place to find unofficial adaptations of popular board, card and TV game show formulae.

Today’s Atari ST game is a great example of this, providing a solid (if graphically unremarkable) adaptation of the classic game show Wheel of Fortune for two or three players — and including all the tools you need to build your own custom puzzles, too.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Caverns of Khafka

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We take them for granted today, but scrolling platformers were quite an unusual sight back in the early ’80s.

One fun example is Cosmi’s Caverns of Khafka, a game developed by Aztec Challenge creator Robert T. Bonifacio. While the game is by no means perfect — it has some fairly severe issues with collision detection at times! — it’s a fun treasure-huntin’ adventure that is worth a play or two.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Saboteur

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Howard Scott Warshaw is a legendary name in video games — not always for the reasons he might have hoped, thanks to his involvement in the notorious E.T. for Atari 2600.

One of his games that never got released was Saboteur, an interesting multi-phase game that acted as something of a spin-off to Yars’ Revenge. The reason it never got released? Atari wanted to turn it into a game based on The A-Team, then got cold feet at the last minute, so it languished in obscurity until it was recovered for collections like Atari Flashback Classics.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Venus the Flytrap

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Gremlin Graphics were known for putting out great games, right from the 8-bit era up until their disappearance in 2003.

Venus the Flytrap was a great title from the 16-bit era, featuring an inventive take on arcade-style shoot ’em up gameplay combined with platforming. It looked great, too, even on the Atari ST — in fact, some people even prefer the ST version to the Amiga incarnation of this game, which is a rare occurrence!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Beach-Head

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Access Software’s Bruce Carver definitely had a “formula” — one that he successfully refined over the years.

It’s interesting to go back to Beach-Head, one of his earlier games, and see one of the first successful examples of the minigame-centric action strategy his games became known for. Plus it’s just a fun game in its own right, too!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Return to Haunted House

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One of the cool things about the classic gaming scene is that there are always people out there keen to try and built on old favourites.

Return to Haunted House, for example, not only acts as a follow-up to the classic Haunted House, but also builds on the delightful Adventure to provide a rather different experience for those looking for some spooky fun!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atelier Dusk

Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky – What a Way to Make a Living

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cropped-atelier-megafeature-header-1-8868334This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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After several rather “freeform” Atelier games in which the player is left mostly to their own devices — albeit with a strict time limit — it’s quite refreshing to enjoy Atelier Escha & Logy’s assignment-based format.

While on paper, the experience might sound quite similar to how Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland did things, there are a few key differences along the way. So after last time’s exploration of how Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky handles the series’ core concept of alchemy, today we’re going to explore exactly what the rest of our young alchemists’ day job entails.

There’s exploring, there’s building, there’s crafting… but there’s also paperwork and keeping the bosses sweet. We are living the corporate Atelier life now, after all. Let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky – What a Way to Make a Living →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Ultima III – Exodus

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Today we take a look at one of the most influential, important games of all time: without Ultima III: Exodus, we might not have ever gotten the RPG genre in quite the form we know it today.

Of course, I’m sure there are plenty of other games out there that would have taken its place — and the Wizardry series was just as important in the grand scheme of things — but Ultima III: Exodus’ importance to the RPG genre in general cannot be understated. So it seems like a fine time to take on the Atari ST version, non?

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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