Just a middle aged Canuck who grew up in the 8 bit world and still wants to spend time there.
When the unfamiliar imagine video games, a few common images might occur to them: mowing down fields of descending aliens, in the vein Space Invaders, or perhaps navigating a running, jumping figure through a pixelated landscape à la Super Mario Bros. After that, they might describe something like Blockbuster.
For decades, where did all chess world champions come from? Correct the USSR. Yet, it seems this clean-shaven US boy wants to play the Russian chess computer for world dominance. Representing game's player. Geopolitique 1990 does not allow to take over the "other" side. Even though it should really have been possible. It is a minor oversight in a game which is full of very good ideas and paved the way for other, much more commercially successful re-interpretations.
Mr Creosote
Yes, it is the incredible John Hurt! In the 1990s, he actually appeared in several so-called FMV games. In spite of the horrible hairpiece the makers of Tender Loving Care made him wear, he graces the game with his presence. Giving it a degree of credibility it otherwise surely wouldn't have reached. You'll be remembered!
Mr Creosote
Already in the days of the home computers, smaller software houses were that extra something. The resourceful name Pandora obviously promises a big surprise when opening their products. This became a reality for me after playing Into the Eagle's Nest. Because a few years later, I had a déjà-vu as I regard the much more famous Wolfenstein 3D only its logical sequel.
LostInSpace
It's a little bit ironic. Starship Traveller is a game with a technobabble science fiction theme. Yet, it is presented in fully analogue format itself. A Fighting Fantasy entry from Steve Jackson, be prepared for experimental gameplay…
Mr Creosote
You know what I dislike just as strongly as people dismissing anything "old" as automatically bad? Elitist retro-ists treating all kinds of later developments the same way. For instance, there are tons of people claiming "all FMV games are crap". Well, yes, ok, maybe not the greatest example. FMV games not exactly being all that recent anymore. Nevertheless, the point remains. The presentation of things does not make or break a game, unless it is an extreme case. In each format, gems can be found. "Gem" probably doesn't describe The Dame Was Loaded, but it is quite a decent game nevertheless.
Mr Creosote
Piloting a spaceship in the vastness of the universe has always stimulated the imagination of game designers. With Crazy Blaster, a Finnish programmer has also made a contribution in the spirit of this overflowing continuum of creative energy, not forgetting to aim a few completely earthly and not less satirical arrows at his (un?)beloved communist neighbouring state, which, as we know, shoots cosmonauts and not astronauts into the sky.
LostInSpace
A roleplaying game on the Atari 2600? A real one? Featuring an overworld, including swamps, forests, wilderness and villages, as well as an underground dungeon? It may not be Ultima, but Dragonstomper comes dangerously close! If you squint your eyes, you may already be able to read its secret, of course.
Mr Creosote
Germans and their business sims… Das Haus (The House or The Building) is not even is not even about managing a department store, as the title screen may suggest, but it's literally about running a boarding house. Not the crazy type.
Mr Creosote
The name Soulless doesn’t speak for itself. The piece of software, which was published about 10 years ago and fits on an old fashioned 5¼ floppy disk, contains a lot of heart and soul. The developers of Soulless have laid the foundation for a small fantasy realm. Action-oriented game principles from well-known classics of the C64 era – the soul, so to speak – were adapted and implanted into this world. With Soulless II, the first offspring appeared 2 years ago. Expectations are high to see whether the series will continue.
LostInSpace
Done! Quaid has saved Mars! Oh, wait… Martian Memorandum is a Tex Murphy game, definitely not starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though Access Software may not have objected too strongly against false associations at the time.
Mr Creosote