Shot97 Retro

  King's Quest Amiga, Late 1986/Early 1987 (Original PC-JR 1984) Sierra On-line $49.95 *My video review for King's Quest *Previous article *Alphabetical list of all writings *Discord for updates *Shown/played as designed, 60hz NTSC, 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (CRT effect) *Some pics slightly altered to show text on top of screens Winners write the history books, so it's said, and just as in the larger scale of world politics, there's been no shortage of revisionist history through the lens of computers as well. When I say "PC", you're not thinking "personal computer", as in separate from mainframes. A micro computer that fits on your desk in the comfort of your home, which would be what a PC actually is. Whatever hardware or software you run matters not, an Atari or Commodore computer had just as much right as an IBM to be called a PC, yet I'd wager you're thinking "IBM PC", even though they never...

  StarFlight Amiga, 1989 (Original DOS 1986) Binary Systems/Electronic Arts/Micro Magic $49.95 *My video review for StarFlight *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of all writings *Discord for updates *Shown/played as designed, 60hz NTSC, 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (CRT effect) I ponder, at times; If perhaps forty-seven years worth of personal gaming may have caused us to be pigeonholed into a narrow-minded view of genres. For the most part I actually find the various categories to be fairly straightforward. Running around, pointing and shooting? You're playing an action game. You might further split the fields into subcategories, if I said first person shooter you would know exactly what I'm referring to, yet any FPS would fit effortlessly into the action mold as well. Leaping over one obstacle to yet more while avoiding enemies or pits? That's a platformer. Should you find yourself tactically contemplating the big and the smal...

  Ghostbusters Commodore 64, 1984 Activision/David Crane $29.95 *My video review for Ghostbusters *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of all writings *Discord for updates *Shown/played as designed, 60hz NTSC, 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (CRT effect) Just as everything else, the life of a computer has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A long lived platform's three distinct phases start when nobody, including the people who designed the machine, have any clue as to what its real capabilities are. Merely numbers, specs mean little until artists are able to illustrate what those numbers mean. There were those who could see a potential for the Commodore 64 equaling the state of the art arcade titles of the time, such as Donkey Kong, but third parties didn't take chances on unproven technology. Generally the first to give off the inklings of the future were the names behind the machine; Avenger, Omega Race, and Gorf were all wonderful ex...