Blue Byte 1993
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 5/6
Language: Deutsch, English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

British and American games usually keep their names when they're released in Germany - even if it's a translated version. That's good, makes international conversations about them easier. German companies on the other hand sometimes take really silly measures to increase their chance on the international market. Not that it has ever worked, but giving up would be silly, too. One of the effects is that German games have English names - even here. If you can't see anything strange about that, you're probably from the USA. What would you think if a game by an 'American' company would carry a title in Suaheli? To take it one step further: what would you think if a game by a German company was released in your country carrying a German title?

Virgin Mastertronic 1990
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Diplomacy is a '[board-] game of international intrigue' which was developed in the 1950s. It takes place in the Europe of 1901. Seven major military powers are locked in a deadly power struggle. Each one is trying to achieve world domination, but neither can do it on its own.

Nintendo 1983
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: NES

Donkey Kong is the signature game of NES. While originally developed as an arcade game by Nintendo and later ported to every single console available at that time, NES has been the flagship product of Nintendo, and so it's only natural that it was here that the game was most visible. This game not only started the most successful game franchise of all times, it also transformed a 90-years old game cards company into an electronic entertainment behemoth and in the process set one of the most important legal precedents for the gaming industry.

Cryo 1992
Genre: Strategy, Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Deutsch, Francais
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the best known pieces of fictional literature - beaten only by the bible and a few others. Millions of people have read it and even those who didn't at least know the name because they've seen the movie, they've just heard of it somewhere or they've played one of the computer games.

Westwood / Virgin Interactive 1992
Genre: Strategy, Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Francais, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Despite popular beliefs, there is nothing original about Dune II. Except of one thing, which enabled Westwood to become a powerhouse among games developers. As for gameplay, however, the game did not "revolutionarize", "create a new style of gaming" or "became the first of its kind." All it did was to combine several games already out in the market. The developer did this very skillfully, however, creating an unique experience and one of the most entertaining games ever.

Legend Entertainment 1991
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

The story is not very original: As a idiotic knight on the king's court, you have to rescue the kidnapped princess. We had that several times before, as well as comedy.
Eric the Unready is more based on allusions to classics of film and gaming than on an intriguing plot. Serious things (Star Trek) are used as well as other satires are quoted (Monkey Island) or carried on (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) without envy. Of course, that is sometimes done better and sometimes worse. The recognition is high is any case. You will notice the most (and in my opinion best) humor only if you step aside from the normal solution. You can try every silly action you want, the game will recognize almost everything and comment it.

Enix 1993
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

ENIX-Always a company that was willing to make games that were...well, non-standard. Not that that's a bad thing. Certainly not in this case. EVO is one of those one-of-a-kind games that are fun to play, hard to categorize. And yes, I may be biased because biologists generally like tinkering with animals :)

SSI 1994
Genre: Strategy, Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Cyber- & Fantasy Empires: These two games are so similar that it's almost impossible to write separate reviews for them. In both games the objective is to conquer the whole world. Up to four opponents try to do the same. You command your army on a strategic map in a turn-based way. You can build fortresses in order to improve your defense and different kinds of 'factories' (in Fantasy Empires they're barracks) to produce more units. With those you conquer more territories and so on. Then there are some other options like simple diplomacy and spying.

Gametek 1993
Genre: Simulation
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Shareware
System: PC

Frontier is the sequel to The classic space trading game "Elite". Elite offered one of the first truly open ended games. A game of freedom where you could go and do whatever you pleased with no set storyline or levels. However Elite was also pretty dated by 1993, especially the original polygon wire looking BBC version. So Elite II hit the shelves.

Kalisto / Mindscape 1993
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Fury of the Furries is one of the best platform games of the time. You control small, lovely, furry balls with hands and feet, called Tinies. The objective is to overthrow 'The Wicked One', who has captured the king and turned all other Tinies into mindless beasts.