Dynamix 1991
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Rise of the Dragon takes you to one of these futures which are in fact historical periods. Sure, there is some sci-fi stuff floating around, like for example videophones and combined identity/credit cards. Some people are running around wearing strange body armour instead of normal clothing. But that's about it. Everything is reminiscent more of the 1930s than any kind of futuristic vision.

Electronic Arts 1992
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Road Rash - one of the few signature games of the Sega Mega Drive (apart from Sonic, of course). The Amiga and the Mega Drive had quite a few things in common hardware-wise, so porting this successful hit was only a question of time. A year after the original release, it finally appeared.

Rainbow Arts 1989
Genre: Puzzle, Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Time to clean up your mouse again, because a small speck of dust is lethal in Rock'n Roll. Without any try at a backstory or an explanation about the situation, you have to control a little ball trapped in a maze. Your only goal is to escape and by that reach the next level where everything starts again.

Dommelsch 1999
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Freeware
System: PC

Pinball games were the big hype for some time some years ago. It was all started by 21st Century Entertainment with their Pinball Dreams . In the following years, every company produced similar games in masses, most of them without any innovation as usual. But they were all commercial, sold for the 'normal' price of 50$ for one game including between merely one to up to four tables. The question how such a ridiculously high price can be justified was already valid back then.

Tengen / Domark 1990
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 2/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari ST

You've all gone through this: You see this amazing game, a technological marvel, a sensational experience. You buy the game, and then it turns out your own computer doesn't really seem to be up to it. These days, you'd just go out and buy a new video card or a faster processor, but in 1990, that just wasn't possible - because all hardware on the consumer market wouldn't have cut it in some cases. Cue S.T.U.N. Runner.

Lucas Arts 1994
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Castellano
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Which character appeared most in Lucas Arts' Adventure games? Chuck the Plant, I guess. Just counting the mammal characters, though, it's Sam & Max. Their creator, Steve Purcell had been drawing backgrounds for many of the games, and Sam, the dog, and Max, the rabbit, had small guest appearances (e.g. as an idol in front of the giant monkey head, as a costume on Booty Island and as a portrait in the Edison's motel). And then, it was time for their own game.

Infogrames 1993
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: Francais, English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

The village of Illsmouth. A town hall, a post office, a tiny harbour and a few houses. Nothing special really, it's like the epitome of a comfortable hood, none of the modern-world related problems occur here.

Icom Simulations 1987
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 2/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

It seems there is no fantasy world in which people can live happily and undisturbed by huge threats. This one is no exception. An evil Warlock is trying to summon a mystical monster - the Behemoth. You impersonate the good hero who has to stop him.

Legend Entertainment 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 3/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Legend followed up their excellent Death Gate with a game which is quite similar on the surface. It uses the same game engine, graphics are similar and it is - again - based on a popular branch of fantasy novels: Shannara. The game isn't a direct 'port' of any book, but it takes place between the first two. Some evil warlock called Brona, whom the father of the game's protagonist Jak apparantely killed in the first book, is back. He can only be defeated with the 'Sword of Shannara' which in turn can only be used by offsprings of the Shannara family - namely you and your father.

Bantam 1985
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Whole generations have been entertained and thrilled by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most popular character by now. 221b Baker Street has been turned into the museum of a person which never lived there and even never existed! And only because of the random (?) choice of an author who had no idea what he had just created. In fact, the character Sherlock Holmes is so well known that many people actually believe he is a historical character!