Acclaim 1993
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

Many sports games are usually followed by at least yearly but unimproved sequels (like FIFA or NHL). NBA Jam is the first part of such a series, so I chose this one for the sake of originality.
NBA Jam simulates (you guessed it, did you?) ghetto sport #1: basketball. To make things clearer the teams are reduced to 2 players, so it's more like streetball than basketball. You can choose from the original NBA-teams, represented by their best (= best known) 2 men. Up to 4 human players can compete simultaneously. In solo games the computer takes control of your partner, but you can still request him passing or throwing. You can also select to always control the player who has the ball or to team up with a friend. Difficulty level and length of a game can be set as well.

Hewson 1987
Genre: Puzzle, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Nebulus is one of the most addictive puzzle arcades I have ever played. First encountered on my Spectrum, the game has followed me ever since, and still graces my hard drive. Created by the same people who released the hellish Impossaball, Hewson, the game is a little simpler, but even more addictive.

Taito 1988
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari ST

Every system of the 80s and early 90s had 'its' platformer. This immensely popular genre was especially liked by the companies because it was so easy to make those games! You didn't need any ground-breaking new ideas. The basics are always the same anyway: run from left to right (and sometimes up and down) and avoid your sprite is killed by the nasty monsters. To kill those, there were two general ways: shooting them (in whatever way) or jumping on their heads. Whoever came up with the latter must have smoked a bit too much of the wrong stuff! But for some reason, this concept stuck.

Infogrames 1989
Genre: Strategy, Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: Francais, English, Deutsch, Castellano, Italiano
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

This game demonstrates the Amiga's superiority over almost every other system. It was also released for the C-64 and the PC. Both versions feature much worse graphics and sound. While this is quite logical for the C-64, it is quite surprising for the PC from today's perspective. Even though the game was ported to the PC much later, the graphics are still really bad. Not to mention the sound...

Delphine 1990
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: Francais, English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

During tests, an American Stealth Bomber does its job all too well and it disappears. Secret agent John Glames is sent to a fictional country in South America to find it. If you think 'Thunderball' now, you hit the nail on the head - Operation Stealth is a try to get the typical James-Bond-feeling into a computer game (in fact, it was even released as James Bond - The Stealth Affair overseas).

Software Dynamics 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Shareware
System: PC

You might not believe it if you haven't lived through that period yourself, but screen savers were a profitable commercial market for a long time. One of the best-known companies living from this was Software Dynamics, and their prime product was called After Dark - the world's single most popular screen saver. Everybody knew the flying toasters back then.

Unlimited Software / Sega 1989
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Remember those old coin-ops where you sat in a cage that rocked with you as you raced a car? The first one I came across and was immediately fascinated with was called Outrun. You were racing a Ferrari Testarrossa through cities, along beaches and over mountains. The sound, video and chair movement were so realistic that even before I sat in a real car, I knew how to drive (or so I thought). Outrun for PC is the best Sega could do to convert the original game.

J. Gamon 1984
Genre: Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Alright, this is definitely a weird one. You play a policeman 'driving' through town on a unicycle, with a blue rotating light attached to his helmet. Your only weapon is a truncheon which can be thrown either straight or up. Don't worry, it always comes back like a boomerang.

Mastertronic 1986
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Plus/4

P.O.D. - Proof Of Destruction. A game in which you're indestructable? Great idea, will take advantage of that immediately! Nah, nah, you can't hurt me, evil monsters! Oops? What was that 'boom' sound? Aw, crap - look for yourself what happened :( This is a fraud! It clearly said 'Proof Of Destruction' on the box. I demand my money back!

Elite 1985
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Paper delivery is a common way of increasing your pocket money. At least I guess it is in the USA. This game is the ultimate simulator of this thrilling job. You can use it to evaluate if this job suits your abilities and interests or for training purposes to improve your service.