Shot97 Retro

Dilbert's Desktop Games DreamWorks Interactive/Cyclops Software 1997 *My video review for Dilbert's Desktop Games *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game played on period hardware running Windows 98 When Windows was first gaining prominence it was primarily an application based affair. You went to Windows to be productive, then you dropped down into DOS to have fun. Windows was too much bloat to have many games of substance released for it. Direct-X would eventually solve the problems of running the more complicated games that had always required DOS, but prior to that most of the games that could run in Windows had a very simple nature to them. Aptly given the title of desktop games, for they ran on top of your desktop, there was no shortage of time wasted playing games like Solitaire or Minesweeper. Those classics were built into Windows, but plenty of third party developers threw their hat into the market as well, long after m...

Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception Amiga, 1989 (Original DOS 1988) Infocom/Westwood Associates $49.95 *My video review for Battletech *Friend Gaming Jay's playthrough of sequel *Large world map created by me *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *This game best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio (USA Game) There was something about Battletech that really sucked me in as a kid. It's a licensed game, but I knew nothing of the Battletech universe at the time, nor have I learned much since. My father was a big fantasy and science fiction reader, so perhaps he was already a fan when he got this game. Thinking back on my early impressions from back in the day, I think I just liked the absolute freedom of the whole thing; the non-linear nature. And of course playing in those awesome futuristic 'Mechs.  Battletech is amongst the rare science fiction RPGs. Computer nerds often perceive themselves as havin...

  Fixing My Amiga's Gateway 2000 ACS410 Speakers *My video "surgery" of the ACS410 speakers *Unnecessary Surgery Playlist *A portion of this review written on my Amiga500 using WordPerfect *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings Back in the day my Amiga was hooked up to a nice tuner/8-track/record player with Mitsubishi car speakers. I can remember sneaking down to the basement, turning on the Amiga, climbing up the computer desk so that I could reach the stereos power button... Only to put in a game like Hostage, which had loud noises as soon as it started, scaring me into turning off the machine, lest I got noticed. That thing got a lot out of life, but I believe I ended up dissecting it due to the right audio channel fading out. When I brought my Amiga back to life around 10 years ago, I ended up hooking it up to a Gateway 2000 speaker system, specifically the ACS410 speaker system. It came from my second PC from 1997, ...

Interstate '82 Activision 1999, Windows 98 *My video review for Interstate '82 *My video review for Interstate '76 *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Game reviewed on period hardware running Win98 *Designed for and best seen in a 4:3 aspect ratio As a huge fan of the predecessor to this game, Interstate '76, I'm going to let everyone know from the start that I have some harsh words in store for the sequel you see before you. Interstate '82 was released on November 17th of 1999 to largely negative reviews. Jeff Green from Computer Gaming World started his scathing review by saying that Activision, "... in a flabbergasting display of bad decision making and timidity, has taken one of the best games of the decade, Interstate '76, stripped it of everything cool and unique, and left this... thing... behind, as a sequel". Computer Gaming World would give the title 2 out of 5 stars, with several maga...

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...

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...