CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 7

It's time to explore the midnight lands in the seventh game of the great Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown. Mike Singleton's Lords of Midnight III: The Citadel (1995 Maelstrom Games & Domark) is an ambitious open-world RPG with a generous helping of Dragons. Read my full thoughts after the jump.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 4

With Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon recently hitting Netflix, and the fact that I've already reviewed both unrelated Rebel Moon games some time ago, I thought I'd bring in a slightly different touch or rebellion for the fourth day of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown. Rebel Runner: Operation Digital Code (1996 Microforum) is a tough action side-scroller from a little-known South Korean developer named Family Production. Check it out after the jump to see if it's as explosive as Netflix's most recent and expensive streaming blockbuster.

MONTHLY 5 - January 2023

It's 2023 and a full month has gone by. Other than collecting my musings of the movies and modern games I've encountered over the last year, it's time to get back to the old stuff. We have five interesting obscurities to kick off the year, starting with the fantasy Tomb Raider clone Asghan: The Dragon Slayer (1998 Silmarils). Next up is a recently translated PlayStation platformer featuring the first creation of Dragon Ball's Akira Toriyama called Dr. Slump (1998 Bandai). Then we have the racing sequel Monster Truck Madness 2 (1998 Microsoft Corporation & Terminal Reality) complete with dozens of fanmade tracks and trucks. Travel the high seas and shoot your way to treasure in Overboard! (1997 Psygnosis) otherwise known as Shipwreckers! in the US. Lastly, guest reviewer Austin takes on a crazy ride with the action-arcade-strategy hybrid that is Space Dude (1996 Evryware).

That's not all. A minor improvement to the site sees the list of all of the Labels in full view at the very bottom. It was something I didn't even think about until a random comment popped up, so hopefully it'll prove useful when browsing the hundreds of game reviews (we're edging towards 600!).

Talking about the games, we have a few updates. Shannara now uses DOSBox-X (but may have an issue so the last version remains - expect the fantasy adventure to appear here again next month), Nocturne now has some tweaks for better compatibility while also adding an editor and soundtrack too! Lastly, MetalTech EarthSiege fixes the crash at the end of Campaign 4, Mission 8 while also getting upgraded to DOSBox Daum as its emulator of choice. You can see their full details of their game pages or on the Game Updates page found to your right.

For the others, go check them out by clicking after the jump...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 7

Snuggle up to an anthropomorphic feline on Day 7 of our Christmas Countdown. Lionheart (1992 Thalion Software) may look like He-Man crossed with Thundercats' Lion-O - and you'd be right - but his stunning platform game is much better than either of their efforts. It was once exclusive to the Amiga, but thanks to some fans, a reimagined Windows remake (2022 Byron 3D Games Studio) has been doing the rounds too. If, like me, you're as curious as a cat, explore after the jump to explore onwards.

Also on another note, the recent download issue has been solved apart from the offending game file (bye bye Need for Speed SE). Unsure what triggered it as opposed to anything else, but that's life I suppose. 

MONTHLY 5 - JANUARY 2022

I have an eclectic bunch of games to talk about in the first Monthly 5 of 2022. There's the family-friendly collection of activities in The 3D Adventures of Sailor Moon (1997 SNaoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation) and some less-kiddy thievery in the heist adventure The Clue! (1994 NEO Software Produktions GmbH). A bunch of dragons need riding in action the role-playing fantasy Dragonriders: Chronicles of Pern (2001 Ubi Soft Entertainment) while some tripods need racing in the futuristic Killer Loop (1999 VCC Entertainment). Lastly, in memory of the recently passed Meatloaf we have the original game based on The Rocky Horror Show (1985 On-Line Entertainment & Druidcrest Ltd). Enjoy!

MONTHLY 5 - JUNE 2021

I'm getting June's post up just in time, though the video will take a little longer I'm afraid. Still, there are some doozies in this quintet of interactive gems. First up is an educational title set in the Medieval times; Crusader: A Conspiracy in the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1997 Index+). Anyone who ever had a Windows PC in the 90s played Full Tilt Pinball (1995, Maxis) or at least the Space Cadet demo the operating systems came with.  Next up is Galapagos: Mendel's Escape (1997 Anark Game Studios), a unique puzzle game that uses artificial intelligence in a disopian 3D world.  We also continue our adventures with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002 Electronic Arts) - more of the same, but better; just how I like it! The last game is an adventure set in the ruins of an ancient necropilis in Qin: Tomb of the Middle Kingdom (1995 Learn Technologies Interactive). Enjoy, and I'll see you soon for the predictably late video rundown...

DRAKAN: ORDER OF THE FLAME

You don't often get to play as a dragon in a video game. More often than not, the monstrous fire-breathing beasts are something you kill rather than control. Drakan: Order of the Flame, Psygnosis' late 90s action adventure filled that gap by putting you in the shoes of a dragon rider complete with an over-powered flying lizard as your companion.

 

WATCH THE VIDEO REVIEW!

 

MONTHLY 5 - JANUARY 2020

We've got something for everyone in the first collection of mini-reviews of the new decade. Survive an alien game show in the 2D platformer Hunter Hunted (1996, Sierra On-Line). Mourn the loss of Terry Jones by playing the action platformer Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game (1991, Virgin Mastertronic). Spill blood in the ultra-gory fantasy action-RPG Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight (1992, Mindscape). Want more blood? Then play Quarantine (1994, GameTek), an ultra-violent action/driving game. Lastly, save your planet in the sci-fi puzzle game Syyrah: The Warp Hunter (1997 Sunsoft). Enjoy!

BLAZING DRAGONS

The knight's a pathological liar.

Rapunzel's schizophrenic.

Forget the sword.

Bring a psychiatrist.

From the twisted mind of Monty Python Troupe member Terry Jones comes BLAZING DRAGONS. This warped medieval adventure brings over 40 wacky characters to life with a freakish mix of voice-over talents like Cheech Marin, Harry Shearer and Terry Jones. The wild arcade action (like dragon thumb wrestling!), kitty-hurling villains and brain-liquefying puzzles will grip you with laughter - even as you lose grip on reality!

• As the evil knight, Cheech shoes us there's a cuddly, funny side to vicious, criminally insane behaviour.
• Bizarre cast of over 40 characters, from redneck hillbilly hunters to syrupy-sweet critters.
• Over 50 screens with Monty Python-esque sequences and subplots.
• You'll go crazy over the tricky puzzles and brain teasers.

~ from the back of the US PlayStation box

If you were a child in the 90s, you'd probably remember a fun little cartoon called Blazing Dragons. It was created by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame and was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. Bizarrely for a traditional point-and-click adventure, it remained exclusive to consoles never to appear on home computers that perhaps best suited to the genre.

DISCWORLD

You'll find here wizards, dragons, heroes and household hygiene specialists. There is danger here, but there is also custard around the place. Because Discworld is a fantasy world with a low reality threshold. The real world keeps on breaking through - but Discworld changes it.

So you'll find here things that you sort of recognise.

Discworld has got photography (tiny imps paint the pictures) and movies (tiny imps paint really fast) and it is even getting its second generation of computers now that the old stone circles don't work fast enough.

However, because it is a fantasy world there are some things that it has to have, and one of them is a certain tendency to experience some trouble with dragons.

Unfortunately, a dragon is now ravaging Ankh-Morpork, the world's leading city. Many people would consider this falls under the heading of civic improvement, but what Ankh-Morpork needs now is a hero. All it's got, however, is Rincewind the wizard, whose only talent is that he is not in fact dead yet. He also has the Luggage, the nastiest piece of travelware in the Universe. With that at his side, there is probably no limit to the things he can fail to do...

Oh, did I say he? I meant... you.

Beware of anyone who TALKS LIKE THIS and carries a scythe, and remember that a loaded pun sometimes goes off...

 ... and have fun..

        - Terry Prachett

~ from the back of the box

Thursday saw the sad passing of one our greatest authors, Terry Pratchett. He is perhaps one of the most beloved and influential authors of his generation. To celebrate his life and work, I will dedicate a whole week to all things Pratchett, reviewing his adaptations in digital and celluloid. We begin a classic; the 1995 adventure game Discworld...