Review Highlight: Archon – The Light and the Dark
Have you ever heard about Napoleon? Yeah, the genial goblin-like garlic-eater. It's strange how along the time, the good games that had a look at this formidable person...simply failed to appear.
His full dedication was aimed towards the C64. Not only popular classics are reviewed by him, but he also like digging out more obscure titles. And gaming along is not enough - he's always on the look for the ultimate operating system and the best applications for his favourite system!
Have you ever heard about Napoleon? Yeah, the genial goblin-like garlic-eater. It's strange how along the time, the good games that had a look at this formidable person...simply failed to appear.
Galleons of Glory: The Secret Voyage of Magellan. Never heard of it? As a total addict of any "new world exploration" type game, I had to fill this knowledge gap, obviously. This one was easy to get into, unlike certain… ahem… other games which may or may not appear in this place at a later point.
Mr CreosoteWhich year has this been released? Any guesses? No, no, no. The correct answer is: 1989. Double Dunk is a very late entry to the Atari 2600 library. How much care would you assume has been put considering the small remaining market? Surprise, it's quite a decent one. Not up to the technical standards of the time, but with good ideas and well playable.
Mr CreosoteSentient Software, probably a typical American garage company – or a start-up, as we would call it today – was founded solely for the purpose of publishing the text adventures produced by owner Michael Berlyn himself. Reportedly already addicted to science fiction literature as a teenager, the game he first published, Oo-Topos, was naturally also from this genre.
LostInSpaceInto the mine, out of the mine. Descent 2 repeated the original game's formula with very few changes. I remember being quite annoyed by it at the time. Time passes, I got older and more forgiving. The game not being all that expensive anymore may help as well. You should play it!
Mr CreosoteYou're about to embark on an epic journey through several kingdoms. On a mission of no less than to save the whole world. But, you know, as the main evil henchman says at the end, himself and the hero are not that different. Yes, it's a huge bag of trite clichés. Though presented in a self-aware, ironic way. At its core, Xeonjia: Ice Adventures a humble, entertaining game.
Mr CreosoteAppointment with F.E.A.R. took me a longer time than usual. With more sections than your normal book and no less than four mutually exclusive paths inside, plus a mechanic which makes parts of the solution impossible to brute-force, it is no wonder in retrospect. The surprising thing about it: I felt entertained the whole time!
Mr CreosoteSoon, this land will be mine! In today's indie gaming world, there are so many things to discover. The issue being to find them. Or, from a developer perspective, to receive any attention. Having discovered this humble little game called There is Only Power through semi-random browsing on itch, and having enjoyed it, here is a recommendation for you.
Mr CreosoteYup, it's Sonic! But, of course, it would be too easy to take the one everyone knows. Let's be honest, nothing to add to the public opinion about that one. Though the semi-recent release of a C64 port motivated me to take a look. Hoping to raise some awareness of this amazing work.
Mr CreosoteIn Quack A Jack, the player encounters many weird opponents, which are loosely based on a rather strange story and somehow seem to have nothing to do with the actual game. The crowning glory of the bizarre humour, however, is a nose. Yes, a nose. But not just any nose, but Sue's nose, who is even mentioned in the credits and was supposedly also responsible for food and drink. So much for the female role in the 80s.
LostInSpaceDiving into my own past of (virtual) warmongering again. Well, sort of. By the early 2000s, it was not even remotely my favourite genre anymore. But old love never dies. After enjoying Paradox Entertainment's Europa Universalis immensely, it was a given I would also buy their next title, Hearts of Iron.
Mr Creosote