Greenwood 1995
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 4/6
Language: Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

A safe way for a game to become successful back in the 'golden days' was to get good reviews in the magazines dealing with computer games. Most companies went with simple bribery (even though you never believed this of course, eh?).

Graftgold / Firebird 1988
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: ZX Spectrum

Meta robot KLP-2 from Quazatron is back: This time, the reactors of eight satellites have to be shut down. Of course, these satellites are full of robots to destroy as well.

KLP-2 moves (or rather floats) over the three-dimensional platforms which now have a fixed distinction into screens (circumventing the problem of the rather slow scrolling). Again, it's all looking and moving very smoothly - technically, this is yet another step forward from the already high standard the predecessor set.

Ron Balewski 1988
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Shareware
System: PC

Mah Jongg is one of those little gems you just HAVE to have on your harddisk - for the simple reason that it's small, runs under Windows without the slightest problems (at least not under those Windows versions I played it under - which are Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP) and is exactly the game you are looking for when you want to play but don't have an idea what to play. It's always good for a round or two... or even for a playing it all night (if you are like my mother - and she's hardly a gamer, far away from that actually!).

Cyberlore 2000
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 6/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

One day, in the middle of 2000, I bought several magazines with demo cds on a computer fair. On one of those cds, I found the demo for "Majesty: the fantasy kingdom sim" and, mildly interested, decided to give it a try. The second I started playing the demo I was hooked, and the game hasn't left my harddrive since.

Krisalis 1995
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

So, the evolving of this review was a bit odd. I had this game up at my old site The Keep and when I was going through the games at that site to see which ones might be worth being transferred over to The Good Old Days I came across this one. The review of it wasn't even short, so technically I could have just packed things up and sent them over to Mr Creosote. But then I decided that the screenshots weren't so great and I'd better make some new ones. Well well... I then started the game and tried to find my way around it.

Sierra On-Line 1988
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Manhunter: New York was by all accounts one of the most unique adventure games of its time. In addition to a brand new approach to Sierra adventures, it featured a very original story, a very good atmosphere, but also weak graphics, interface and gameplay. I would think that it was the gameplay that sentenced the game to obscurity, which, however, was not deserved.

Lucasfilm Games 1987
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

This is it - the game which started it all. The game which revolutionized Adventure games by finally throwing out the text parser completely. The game which put Lucasfilm's games division into the limelight, where they stayed for almost ten years. And even when they stopped producing these great Adventure games, nobody else was there to take their place. But I'm disgressing.

Bug-Byte Software 1983
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: ZX Spectrum

Manic Miner is probably the best known Spectrum game ever created. Not only it offered an unprecedented length of gameplay, it offered a reward for the first person to complete the game, lush graphics and the never before heard of in-game music.

Electronic Arts 1984
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Marble Madness was one of the first games on the new and fresh Amiga system. And what a way to get a system started! Although the game was also released for pretty much every other system out there at the time, it was the Amiga version which outshone them all. Closest to the original arcade machine (and even with the two player feature), it showed off the new computer's technical capabilities perfectly. A killer application, especially considering the direct competitor, the Atari ST, only had a greatly inferior port.

Origin 1991
Genre: RPG
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

In the Victorian age many celebrities that range from Marie Curie to Lenin have ended stranded on Mars. Now a second expedition, with a few more celebrities along the Avatar and professor Spector, is sent in a rescue mission.