Origin 1986
Genre: RPG
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

For me (and, I guess, not only for me), the Ultima games are the ultimate experience in RPGs. Featuring a great depht in gameplay, and a fantastic blend of story and unfolding things, Ultima games (and especially Ultima V and VII) are true master-pieces of computer gaming.

Graftgold 1986
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

The alien invasion of Earth is afoot, and there's just no way to stop the attacking forces by conventional means. Even if the puny earthling forces manage to destroy one wave, countless more are just waiting to take its place. So the humans recognize their only chance is to go to the source and cut off the invaders' supplies.

Graftgold 1986
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Uridium Plus, released the same year as the Uridium. Not much time to change anything, but also not much need to, since the original version was very successful - never change a winning horse. So the basics remain the same: The player flies the Manta ship's assault on the aliens' huge Dreadnoughts, first taking out the numerous waves of defenders, then landing and activating the self-destruct mechanism - all that to stop the invaders' supply of raw materials.

System Three Software / Epyx 1986
Genre: Action, Sport
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

A well-known classic from the arcade from 1986. Business as usual: Fight against your opponents who become more stronger from round to round and try to collect as many point as possible...

You start as Karateka with the white belt - you can choose Egypt or Australia. It does not matter at all because the starting location has no influence on the game itself. After 3 rounds of fighting you either go to New York or to Rio de Janeiro - and that already was the little excursion because after round no. 3 the background graphic does not change any more. At least as far as I could play...

Mosaic 1987
Genre: Strategy, Puzzle
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Yes Prime Minister is, as the name suggests, a computer game based on BBC2's TV show of the same name which started as Yes Minister in 1980 got renamed when the protagonist got promoted.

Imagine / Konami 1985
Genre: Action, Sport
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Aspiring youngster Oolong wants to become Grand Master of Kung-Fu. To achieve this, he has to defeat ten opponents (one after another, not all at the same time).

Nothing special so far, the mid-80s had their fair share of beat 'em ups (and many good ones). What sets Yie Ar Kung-Fu (I'll drop the capitalization seen on the title screen here) apart is the opponents. In the seminal hits of the time (Karate Champ and all), the player mostly faced faceless enemies who were identical to each other and also to the player. In Yie Ar (to shorten this even further), each opponent has his or her own sprite, his or her own moves and even his or her own weapon (!).

Lucasfilm Games 1988
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Protagonist Zak McKracken is working for a tabloid in San Francisco. He hates his job, and he'd much rather write a novel instead. But he has to earn his money, and so his fat boss gives him another assignment: to write a story about a two-headed squirrel. Urk!