Creative Sparks 1985
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

I must admit I'm a sucker for classic horror movies and novels. I'm also one of these people who cheer for the bad guys and abhore the wimpy do-gooders. For all those with similarly sick minds, the 80s produced the computer game of our dreams: Mad Doctor.

Ikarion 1995
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Mad TV's success virtually begged for a sequel. Rainbow Arts announced Mad Burger, a fast-food chain simulator. Ralph Stock, designer of the first part, had left the company, though, and he was working in Mad News which was published by Ikarion. Mad Burger never made it, but two years later, Mad TV 2 (the only 'official' sequel) appeared - and it sucked. This review is about Mad News, however. The game which should probably be called the only rightful successor of the original game.

Rainbow Arts 1991
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 5/6
Language: Deutsch, English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

This is one of the few german games which got much international attention. And it really deserved it. Basically, it's a pretty tipically german genre: a business sim. But in contrast to lame tries like Winzer this one is really fun! The reasons for this are simple.

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.

Microprose 1994
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Master of Magic is the sequel to Master of Orion. If you had read my review about that (I know you didn't...), you'd know MOO is my favourite game ever. Of course I had huge expectations. But the game didn't fulfill them all.

Microsoft 1992
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Microsoft Entertainment Package is a pack of 29 games, which were originally released for Windows 3.1. Over the time, some games disappeared, others are still to be found. Few of the games are original. Yet, they compose a fairly entertaining mix no office computer should be without. And home computers will bennefit from this package as well - some of the games are fun and addictive. Let us take a closer look what this package offers:

New World Computing 1989
Genre: RPG
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Might and Magic II was a huge improvement over the first game of the series. The Graphics were pushed to their limits, the gameplay enhanced by a new skill and NPC system and the world even bigger than in the original game. It took me over three months of intense gaming to finish this one; something that can be compared only to later Might and Magic and Wizardry series. I keep playing the game until today. While I rarely finish it, I still enjoy the early stages of character buildup.