Binary Systems / Electronic Arts 1987
Genre: RPG
Rating: 6/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Only a few centuries ago, the humans have discovered space travel. They build a space station orbiting their home planet, Arth, and send out ships to scour the known universe for habitable planets. No, it wasn't a typo; the humans are convinced that their home planet is called Arth. What they don't know is that due to the rogue Crystal Planet, which has the capability to destroy a whole solar system, all races in the galaxy are in a permanent state of exodus, and during one such exodus the Earth and most of its colonies were destroyed, plunging the backward world of Arth into a dark age. Times change, and Arth is now as advanced as the Earth ever was, if not even more so. However, recently the star your planet is orbiting has destabilized, and ships that were sent out to find another habitable planet disappeared. You are a freshly commissioned captain of a small ship, with only one goal in mind: making money. Since your world needs you, though, you agree to do some exploration on the side as well. You'll soon run into questions you don't have answers for. Who are the Ancients? What is the Crystal Planet and how to stop it? Why did other races flee and why are some of them trying to wipe the humans out? All those and more questions are just the beginning of a story that offers up to 100 hours of gameplay that spans over 800 planets.

Interplay / Electronic Arts 1987
Genre: RPG
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Tales of the Unknown: The Bard's Tale, as this game was originally called, is one of the most important games in the history of computer gaming. In addition to bringing role-playing to the masses with its flashy graphics, simplified character development and relatively good story, never before and never again did a game development team include so many great talents. In fact, this game has launched the careers of several biggest names in the gaming industry, including Lawrence Holland, Joe Ybarra and Brian Fargo.

Time Warp 1987
Genre: Action
Rating: 6/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Every C64 owner knew it, everyone played it and enjoyed it. The Great Giana Sisters. The ultimate Jump & Run Game for this good old computer. Great graphics, many hours of fun, lots of level....so nobody is asking for Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo´s contrahent. in fact, we rather like to play with women, don´t we ?

Magnetic Scrolls 1987
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Magnetic Scrolls send you back to Kerovnia, the location of The Pawn. But instead of a confused stranger, you are an aspired wannabe-member of the famous Guild of Thieves! To be accepted to this illustrious round, you have to prove your abilities. The guild sends you to an island and you have to ransack as many valuables as possible. The castle-like mansion looks like a likely target, but you're already stopped at the entranceby the guards. The nearby bank on the other hand looks like an even harder job...

Infocom 1987
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

It all started out as a completely normal day at G.U.E. Tech: Only one evening left to finish your assignment, and there's a snowstorm blazing outside. For the lack of an alternative, you defy the forces of nature and fight your way to the computer lab where you plan to finish the document you've already started writing. As usual, there's a lone hacker tapping away in a dark corner of the room. You open your document, but it's not quite what you expected - certainly not the draft of your paper. Even worse, no matter how hard you try, you can't even figure out what it is. Strange visions engulf you, and that's only the beginning of the horrifying adventure which will lead you into previously unknown caverns deep below the campus...

Origin 1987
Genre: RPG
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

It was 1980, and an 18-years old kid had nothing better to do than to sit in his bedroom in Houston, TX, and type a computer program on his Apple II. From time to time, a friend was helping him out with the tedious task of hexadecimal calculations. The kid was Richard Garriot and his friend was Ken Arnold. The program they worked on was the first of its kind - a computer game called Ultima: The First Age of Darkness.

Origin 1987
Genre: RPG
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

The three ages of darkness have finished, now a golden one starts and with it a new way of living through philosophy and virtue. A call is sent to summon a new kind of hero, one that does not triumph through the sword, one that can become a spiritual guide and help others to walk the path, an avatar of the virtues.

Icom Simulations 1987
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Driving a car at a stormy night can be quite dangerous: Accompanied by your little brother, you're on a quiet and lonely road through the open country when suddenly an unrecognisable figure appears before you. Trying to avoid hitting it, you pull the wheel aside and crash into a tree. Everything goes black.

1001 Limited 1987
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Darts... ever heard of that? Those pointy thingies you throw at that round thingy hanging on the wall? Yeah right - that's it. This is Darts... 501 to be precise. The rules of it are simple - the points you score are subtracted from 501 till you reach 0. However you got to reach this by hitting a "double" field. Bit of mathematics involved here. ;) The player first reaching 0 wins (of course). Easy concept and great to be played in a pub. Well - and also on a computer. I found the game to be best playable with a joystick - it's a lot of fun then. If you want to try your luck with the keyboard go ahead. It's a lot more difficult, but still playable. The controls rely on a system I'd like to call 'system of the unsure hand troubled by gravity' - basically you give the hand holding the dart a push to one side and it always goes a little too far, which is by concept. After a while you get the hang of it though and learn to calculate those motions.

Mr Chip Software 1987
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Plus/4

Everything was so easy 'back in the days'. Just throw together a action-packed game concept in which you control some vehicle in some tricky situation, add some nice graphics, mix it up and there you are: a finished game.