THE SIMPSONS: VIRTUAL SPRINGFIELD

The Simpsons were everywhere back in the 90s and for a show that wouldn't air on UK terrestrial TV until its seventh year, that was something. Those kids whose parents were rich enough to have SkyTV were the kings of the playground. When BBC started broadcasting it in 1996, I was hooked and happily a year later Fox Interactive gave us a virtual tour of all that I missed out on. That game was The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield.

JOHN SAUL'S BLACKSTONE CHRONICLES

Legend Entertainment's admiral mission statement to create excellent games based on literary works continued with their last dedicated adventure game; Blackstone Chronicles. Published by Mindscape and released in the latter half of 1998 at the tail end of the genre's golden age, the revered developers managed to weave a ghostly tale worthy of the series of novels by John Saul.

S.P.Q.R. THE EMPIRE'S DARKEST HOUR

Ever want to visit Ancient Rome? With S.P.Q.R. The Empire's Darkest Hour by CyberSites you can, at least virtually. Originally conceived as an interactive website the year before, this 1996 game published by GT Interactive upgrades the visuals and adds some nice touches, but how does it handle as a game?

MEAT PUPPET

Kronos Digital Entertainment are best known for their controversy-baiting Fear Effect series on the PlayStation but their 1997 game, Meat Puppet, could be seen as it's progenitor. It's here that saw the inception of an of hyper-sexualised female protagonist clashing with corrupt corporations in a cyberpunk sci-fi setting. And enough profanity to more than warrant that mature audience rating.

TRIO OF DISNEY GOODNESS

   

The quality of Disney's edutainment titles vary quite a bit, but even the least successful of them offer something for your average Disney-phile. Here's three more games from the late 90s: Tarzan Activity Centre, A Bug's Life: Active Play and Winnie the Pooh & Tigger Too: Animated Storybook.

GOOSEBUMPS: ATTACK OF THE MUTANTS

For a series known for its kid-friendly horror, there was always one Goosebumps tale that always stood out. Attack of the Mutants, the 25th books of the long-running series doesn't feature ghouls or ghosts but superheroes and villains so it's probably no surprise that DreamWorks Interactive based their second Goosebumps game on this tale.

EGGS OF STEEL: CHARLIE'S EGGCELLENT ADVENTURE

Having now consumed so many Easter eggs this past weekend I'm pretty sure I'm contributing to the world-wide chocolate shortage, I thought I'd take a break from eating them to go play as one. So I popped in Eggs of Steel: Charlie's Eggcellent Adventure, an obscure PlayStation platformer released in 1998 by those folks at Atlus. It may be the chocolate-addled brain talking, but what followed is one trippy nightmare filled with yolk-coloured gore and a threatening industrial landscape that's as foreboding as anything conceived by Fritz Lang.