Within the 20 years he was active, an eternity in the computer gaming industry, Geoff Crammond managed to keep a spotless record of having only made or been involved in hits. Nevertheless, there is one game in his oeuvre which sticks out. Of course, these days, he is best remembered for his racing simulations (Stunt Car Racer, Formula One Grand Prix). His early work, The Sentinel, is much less grounded in our reality.
Absorbing, thrilling action in a creepy setting by using minimalist design was another attempt Richard Bayliss tried to implement into the game Darkland with the help of the SEUCK (Shoot'Em Up Construction Kit) engine. The programmer is no stranger to this type of development environment. He has his own website on which several hundreds of his games and demos for the C64 are offered. The screenshots on the itch.io website gave me reason to hope that the creative spark leaps over to him and that the result was not just another faceless blast-the-baddies game.
