Shot97 Retro

Arkanoid Amiga, 1987 (Original Arcade 1986) Taito/Discovery $49.95,$29.95 *My video review for Arkanoid *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio, preserving arcade's 3:4 ratio What does it take for a game that rips off the style of another to become the game some accuse others of having ripped off themselves? To achieve this feat you'd do best to start from a game that while popular enough to have been known, would have been unlikely to dot many personal favorites lists. This could be for a variety of reasons; perhaps the original was too difficult, saw release only on select systems, has aged with the passage of time, or simply did not offer all that much depth to its gameplay. You must fundamentally raise the stakes of the game to another level, one upping every single category, or perhaps looking at things from a different angle. In this vein something such as Eye of the Behol...

Dragon's Lair Amiga, 1989 (Original Arcade 1983) VDT/Readysoft/Bluth Group LTD $59.95 *My video review for Dragon's Lair *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio Groundbreaking in multiple aspects, nothing like Dragon's Lair had been seen prior to its release in 1983. In arcades, groups would huddle around the machine, awestruck by the beauty before them. This was no Asteroids, no Donkey Kong or Pac-Man, this was detailed facial expressions and body movement, gore, sounds, and a tantalizing damsel that put Pauline and Olive Oyl to shame. The future had come to an arcade near you, and the future cost double your money, the very first arcade game to cost fifty cents. Neither that or the games extreme difficulty would stop the crowds, news reports and documentaries focusing on this game as it carved a spot in history. ^It's 1983 and you see this? Still impressive on the Amiga...

The Three Stooges Amiga, 1987 Cinemaware, $39.95 *My video review for The Three Stooges *Thanks to Intric8 of AmigaLove for pics of the games manual *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game best played in NTSC mode with a 4:3 aspect ratio When I decided to cover The Three Stooges on the Amiga, I wondered if it might be best to simply hit record, play the game, and talk as it came to me. I could see humor in doing it all live versus more of an in-depth coverage where heavy research goes into it all and I take pains to defeat the game. I think I could have made that funny, but there's enough funny when it comes to people showing off this game. I quickly decided that the Stooges would be funny enough on their own, and to properly respect them would be to play the straight man. There was nearly 50 years of the Stooges, almost two hundred short films as well as movies and cartoons. It's a rich history deserving of equally rich cov...

Sid Meier's Pirates! MicroProse Software Inc. Amiga, 1990 (Original C64 1987) $44.95 My video review for Pirates! on the Amiga My friend Gaming Jay's video for Pirates! *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio While there may be many games that we love and come back to time and again, how often do we appreciate the different versions of a game? We usually find ourselves playing the version we grew up with, perhaps even ignoring the best version in favor of nostalgia. If we had no prior experience with said game, we'll ignore the lesser looking versions, even if that might be the original, completely missing out on their charm. How often do we love a game so much that we want to experience as many versions as possible? Sid Meier's Pirates! (referred hereafter as Pirates) is a game I have to have for every system it supports, and I truly love all of the many ports and rem...