Welcome to The Good Old Days!

2023-01-28

Hunted by faceless corporations – nothing more than an imperfection in the matrix – stripped of corporeality by rays and nanobots, I step out of my hover car and leave the Neon Noir scenario to jump back in time to 1938. With my friend Lorry, I get off the Greyhound bus at an old abandoned gas station somewhere on the road to Seattle on 30 March. A werewolf howls in the distance and we enter Hurlements.

2023-01-21

A stylish game from today's vibrant indie development scene, Neon Noir is an entertaining diversion from our all too complex times. Go play!

2023-01-14

Cute games are more of a niche product these days, where every new FPS game has to be even bloodier and more brutal than the previous one. In fact, even a famous plumber with a moustache can hardly keep up. But in the early days of computer history. brutality wasn't so important and you could lure children and teenagers in front of the console with a cuddly clown. Comic Circus transported the players into the exciting world of circus clowns.

2023-01-07

A background story in the form of a thick comic book as in the Sworquest series can also be found in this early title for the Amstrad. The vivid colours of the CPC made Antiriad not only graphically a forerunner, but also in terms of the game mechanics that foreshadowed the Metroidvania genre. This made Antiriad became almost famous among the users of this home computer.

2022-12-31

Just one more Swordquest chapter to go, let's dive into Waterworld. If after the previous one, you don't feel like checking this one out at all, let me assure you this one isn't just the best of the three, but by any standards quite solid. Now, if only the final chapter, Airworld, would finally appear! Well, the game is out, but what about the comicbook? We demand to know what became of Torr, Tarra and Tyrannus!

2022-12-24

Wait, She-Ra, He-Man's twin sister, appeared in an Atari game? Sure looks like it. Just that Swordquest: Fireworld pre-dated the Princess of Power by several years. If anything, were these games an inspiration for Mattel?

Such side-observations aside, Fireworld once again was the basis of a $25000 contest. This time, the winner received a gold chalice. An actual one. Just that the game actually proved completely useless to aspiring contest winners, due to being an unfinished mess. Hard to believe, considering what was at stake for Atari.

2022-12-17

It is the year of Atari's 50 year anniversary. Well, today's Atari celebrates the founding of the original Atari, whatever the link may still be beyond the name. One way or another, as part of an anniversary documentary/game collection, they released Swordquest: Airworld. The long-awaited conclusion to the series abandoned back in 1983. What an opportunity to dive back at the beginnings of the series, taking a look at Earthworld, where it all began. Those who don't remember/never knew what the big deal about Swordquest was: prepare to be amazed!

2022-12-10

Isn't that the guy from A Clockwork Orange? Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger raised the bar of recognisable faces being involved in computer game productions. Behind the scenes, it is pretty much the same game as its predecessor. Not that there was or is anything wrong with that.

2022-12-03

Is Theme Park the best game of 1994? Back in 1994, this would have been a defensible position. The game was immensely popular at the time of its release. Not surprising after Bullfrog's previous hits and based on the incredible first impression this one left. With the benefit of hindsight, it is of course very far from being the best of anything. How much of its appeal the game loses when played longer could not be easily perceived at the time. Showing how important such retrospective looks really are.

2022-11-26

Staying with robots, but a good ten years later, MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries should have been the ultimate game for all BattleTech fans. And indeed, it occupied me once again for much longer than I anticipated. In spite of all the frustration associated with it.