Global Effect fits into our 20-year-retrospective perfectly: The majority of magazines back in the day reviewed it in their respective issues for May 1992. Usually, games were spread among very different months, due to 'exclusives' (the euphemism for 'review based only on screenshots or an incomplete demo version'), different publication schedules of the magazines and last, but not least, differences in international release schedules of the games themselves. All this seems to have been mostly coordinated for this particular game.
We're deep in May 1992 now. Another game released that month is Space Crusade. As usual, the overenthusiastic British press loved it (What game didn't they love?) while it received mixed and somewhat lukewarm reviews in Germany. As usual, you will have to make up your own mind.
Soul Crystal is a German graphic/text hybrid adventure originally reviewed in Powerplay magazine, issue 05/92. They recommended it with caution. How does it hold up today?
Black Crypt, discussed between Wandrell and me, concludes the run of games from April 1992. Stay tuned for… surprise, surprise: May 1992!
Another game originally reviewed 20 years ago is Floor 13. Interestingly two popular German magazines both gave this one low ratings; Power Play mainly had moral objections – not that far fetched considering you have to torture and assassinate people in this game – while Amiga Joker pointed out the limitations in the gameplay. Various English-speaking magazines liked it very much, on the other hand.
We (meaning Wandrell and me) decided to try something different again. We call it 20 Years Ago… Meaning it is a retrospect to games released exactly 20 years ago. Or, to be more exact: Reviewed in a contemporary magazine 20 years ago. Most computer games magazines appeared monthly back then, so this is the term we are using to match games and reviews to our own activities, too.
So how do these games hold up compared to the way they were reviewed when they were new? The first candidate for this comparison is Star Trek: 25th Anniversary which was the title story of the April '92 issue of the magazin Power Play. Expect further games soon.
Everyone is invited to join in on our coverage of 1992 – however, this does not mean that the rest of the site has to grind to a halt. If you've got something else, outside of the scope of 20 Years Ago, that's still fine, too, of course.
faceman-bjk reviews Pizza Connection, eliminating the game from the list of stub entries. Thanks!
Now it's the time of another game. And again it's a NES one: Flipull (NES).
And now, not surprise on this, docs for Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds.
New docs, which you can see at Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.
Well, who says we can't be surprised? In a jump of about 15 years (but not so much across genres), Teset now presents us Little Big Adventure 2.
Teset, who last year already brought us Microsoft Adventure, added Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz this time. The pattern should be pretty clear. Thanks!
Updated Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar with new manuals. Enjoy them.
Savage Empire received docs, including the cluebook. Should be all in existence for the game.
ror.schach wrote a second review of Veil of Darkness. In fact, he did so last year. Since then, I've been trying to get in touch with the guy. Oh, there was nothing wrong with the review itself, but have a look yourself – there is a certain (obvious) discrepancy with the rating he submitted along with the review. No reaction. So I can only approve the review (including its rating) as it is.
While this is a nice review, it is, unfortunately, a reminder how hard it is for me to handle the submissions to the site. In 90% of the cases, I have to write back to the user who submitted something, because some small thing is still missing, something is not quite clear or whatever else. 60% of these users I write to never react. 90% of those who do react promise to complete their submission in some way, but then never do (and don't react to further mails anymore). Please – make this easier for all of us – if you decide to contribute something to the site, great, this is more than welcome! But please be responsive, because chances are someone will get back to you.
New documents for Quest for Glory: So you Want to be a Hero. Also added a pair of stubs for the other two versions of this game.
A curious game is Ice Climber (NES). You just have to climb a mountain, but is not as easy as it sounds. A classic game from the NES.
Sadly, I lack quality docs for Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. But what I had now is on the page.
Keeping with the M&M docs, now Might and Magic: The Secret of Inner Sanctum got manual, map and cluebook.
I decided to review Blood & Magic not because it was good, but because it's little known. A RTS based on D&D which could have been better.
Now Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen got downloads. If somebody has the game in any other language, please share it. I'm sure there a Spanish and a German version of the game somewhere. And also, probably a German version for the previous one also exists.
Time for the obligatory end-of-the-year update. In previous years, I usually posted a summary of games added to t he site in the course of the year. This, however, ignored all other contributions. Whether it is reviews or files, it is all valuable. So instead, here is the table or users sorted by the contribution points they earned in 2011. Check out the full list of contributors and everyone's profiles for a detailed breakdown of who did what. And since there have been a number of questions concerning these in the past months, let me state again that the points of course are not supposed to measure the time and effort someone puts into the site with complete accuracy. Such a thing would not be possible. It is only an approximation. So, without further ado, here is the list – thanks to all of you for making this site better for everyone! Maybe we'll see your names again in next year's news.
| User | Points |
|---|---|
| Mr Creosote | 1128 |
| Wandrell | 387 |
| Josh | 101 |
| ibmpc5150 | 63 |
| Kiomlrak | 60 |
| Elwood | 30 |
| Underdogs | 30 |
| Teset | 20 |
| mgtroyas | 20 |
| Feik001 | 20 |
| Wayfarer | 13 |
| te_lanus | 11 |
| bacheshatonee | 10 |
| tautology | 10 |
| allanwer | 9 |
| anabate | 6 |
| cloudrunner | 5 |
| KevinLancaster | 3 |
| ueda_mizukage | 3 |
| meyou | 2 |
| luisbotelho | 2 |
| AnnaWu | 1 |
| gernot66 | 1 |
| Nebros | 1 |
| hydr0x | 1 |
| Osgos | 1 |
| Lexcort | 1 |
| comradesean | 1 |
Another article, about yet another game competition. This one is significantly smaller than the last one: Herbstlaub 2011.
Still filling the RPGs with all the content I have, this time Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen has received several docs and downloads.
One of the best games I know is System Shock. And I found it just by chance many years ago. Sadly, it's also another game which tried to create a new genre, but was forgotten, even if some new games like BioShock supposedly evolve from it (or from System Shock 2 at least), they just end going to the linear shooter kind of game.
Josh provides a second manual for Sim City. Sorry, that has been sitting in the queue for quite some time. Entirely my fault.
Menzoberranzan has received docs and a few downloads.
New docs, this time for Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra.
luisbotelho took care of integrating Home of the Underdogs' review of The Manager into our site. That removes another game from the list of incomplete stubs.