Shot97 Retro

The Secret Of Monkey Island Amiga, 1991 (Original DOS 1990) LucasFilm, $59.95 *My video review for Monkey Island *Set the mood; full soundtrack recorded from my Amiga 500 *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *This game best played in NTSC mode with a 4:3 aspect ratio Originally adventure games were an all text affair. The use of your own imagination in combination with the written word was required to bring this genre to life. To this very day there are some who think that was the pinnacle of adventure games. Sierra came to challenge the likes of Infocom, showing many could enjoy graphics with their adventures, sometimes even making fun of those games for being all text. But just as Sierra had risen because of an untapped market, LucasFilm could soon be found pointing their fingers straight at Sierra. The two companies actually produced similar themed games. Both having a 3rd person zoomed out perspective,  and both creating p...

  Winter Games Amiga, 1987 (Original C64 1985) Epyx Inc *My video review for Winter Games *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game designed and best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio *Fast memory must be disabled to play game In a dark corner of my parent's basement lied the Amiga. Shrouded in shadow due to a fish tank, file cabinets, and the computer's desk creating a wall of gaming. There were a few windows to the outside world, but they had been covered up with cardboard. Sunlight is not going to spoil this party. Towering above our Commodore monitor the desk housed stacks upon stacks of computer magazines. It was in these very magazines that I first laid eyes on Winter Games from Epyx. Several pages had been dedicated to the game, showing large screenshots. What amazing scenery, my young self thought. ^Options and opening ceremony The magazine was as close as I got to the game back in the day, as we never got i...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist Sega Genesis, 1992 Konami $54.95 *My video review for The Hyperstone Heist *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game shown as designed in a 4:3 aspect ratio *If pics show artifacting, zoom in/out (Ctrl + Ctrl -) - CRT interlace effect As a kid I was such a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that I somehow managed to convince my mom to shove her way into the mob of holiday shoppers in order to get their highly sought after action figures. Sorry about that, mom. Originally made into comics, a Saturday morning cartoon came out of it and was so wildly popular that it spawned three movies at the time, an original album (I've got it) to go along with the movie soundtracks, a concert tour for that album, and many years later it would be rebooted to similar success. Add onto all of that a series of video games from Konami that may very well just be the things that have held up the ...

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...

Eye of the Beholder Westwood Associates/Strategic Simulations Inc. Amiga, 1991 $49.95 *My video review of Eye of the Beholder *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game designed for and best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio My father comes immediately to mind when mulling over this classic role playing title. Running down the basement stairs to the corner where our Amiga lied, I'd see him penciling marks on graph paper, as was the tradition for the role playing genre. It could be a long slog as a kid peering in on my dad, as he weaved his way through some of the most iconic games ever created. I'd often run off to entertain myself in the down time, but the second I heard a sound shout through the stereo he had connected our Amiga to, I'd drop whatever imaginary world I was currently traveling through to run back to him, in my chair next to his. There I'd gawk at the graphics of the monsters, I'd wait in an...