Exile (1991) by Peter Irvin and published by Audiogenic Games for Commodore 64, Amiga, and Atari ST. Most of the discussion around this game will call it a masterpiece, I don’t really know how to feel about it. Exile sees you as an astronaut on an alien planet on a rescue mission to stop aContinue reading “10/24/20 Exile (1991)”
Category Archives: The Cellar
Chernobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Simulation (1987)
Chernobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Simulation (1987), developed and published by Cosmi Corporation for Commodore 64. Cosmi is, from everything I can find, a pretty shoddy developer, which makes this title all the more peculiar. It’s an incredibly dry simulation of a nuclear power plant, opening with a short essay about the history of nuclear powerContinue reading “Chernobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Simulation (1987)”
10/22/20 Tough Guy (1995)
Tough Guy (1995) developed and published by Panda Entertainment Technology for DOS. It’s a fighting game, on DOS, and it’s called Tough Guy! How could I not check it out? It’s… good? Maybe? Tough Guy is clearly trying to fill the fighting game hole that existed (and, to be frank, still exists) on home computers.Continue reading “10/22/20 Tough Guy (1995)”
Metroidvania is a Bad Term (But Not for the Reason You Think)
The term Metroidvania is not a new one. It’s existed since the late 90s and has evolved from a hacked-together mixture of two existing games’ titles to a legitimate subgenre with a hardcore following, regularly breaking into mainstream gaming discussion Video game genre titles are a total nightmare, but I want to hone in onContinue reading “Metroidvania is a Bad Term (But Not for the Reason You Think)”
10/17/20 Wrath of the Demon (1991)
Wrath of the Demon (1991) by Abstrax and published by ReadySoft Incorporated for Atari ST, DOS, Amiga, and Commodore 64. Oh boy, the first Atari ST game I’ve covered! Too bad it’s not that great. Now, to be clear, this game excels in its presentation. I’m a sucker for parallax scrolling, so once the firstContinue reading “10/17/20 Wrath of the Demon (1991)”
10/16/20 North and South (1989)
North and South (1989) developed and published by Infogrames for DOS, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, and more. I wanted to like this one more than I could. It’s a combined strategy and action game set in the American Civil War, where you take control of the Union army against the Southern separatists. The strategyContinue reading “10/16/20 North and South (1989)”
10/15/20 || Music Spot: Not Tomorrow – Silent Hill
I recently finished streaming my very first playthrough of the original Silent Hill. One of the most striking things about that game is its soundtrack, composed by Akira Yamaoka; most of it is ambiance that makes creative use of filtering and sound design to make an unsettling atmosphere. What makes Not Tomorrow so interesting, then,Continue reading “10/15/20 || Music Spot: Not Tomorrow – Silent Hill”
10/14/20 Pipe Dreams (1989)
Pipe Dreams (1989) by The Assembly Line and pulished by LucasArts (RIP) for Amiga, DOS, Apple II, Arcades, Commodore 64, Windows, and many, many more. Also known as Pipe Mania, this is a good, simple puzzler where the aim is to place pipes for the “flooz” to flow through until the target distance is met.Continue reading “10/14/20 Pipe Dreams (1989)”
10/13/20 ActRaiser (1991)
ActRaiser (1991) by Quintet and published by Enix for SNES. This is one of the first games ever developed for the Super Nintendo, and it’s quite the way to kick off a console’s library. ActRaiser feels like a game that someone really wanted to make because they had a great idea. In it, you areContinue reading “10/13/20 ActRaiser (1991)”
10/8/20 Shatterhand (1991)
Shatterhand (1991) developed and published by Jaleco for the NES. It’s been a minute since I covered a console title, and man is this ever a return. This game is awesome! It’s an action sidescroller that feels heavily inspired by Fist of the North Star. Compare this, released on the system’s deathbed, to most gamesContinue reading “10/8/20 Shatterhand (1991)”
Taigen Moon Works 