MONTHLY 5 - June 2024

So, the end of June is here, meaning that half of 2024 has passed by! And with that, the Collection Chamber has set free a further five prisoners  filled with fun times.

My pick of the bunch hails from Sweden; The Mystery at Greveholm (1997 Young Genius) a spooky first-person adventure for all ages based on a TV show beloved by all Swedes of a certain age. Beyond this, we have the next entry in Don Bluth's edutainment series with All Dogs Go to Heaven 2: Animated MovieBook (1996 MGM Animation, Inc & Sound Source Interactive). Instead of watching the fourth movie in cinemas, reenact the second in Bad Boys II; Miami Takedown (2004 Blitz Games Ltd, Empire Interactive Europe Ltd & Columbia Pictures). Join the rebel force against a conquering alien race in the FMV-heavy action-packed The Raven Project (1995 Cryo Interactive) before heading back down to earth with the high-speed XCar: Experimental Racing (1997 Bethesda Softworks).

That's all for now! I'll see you next time for some more retro goodness.

MONTHLY 5 - NOVEMBER 2023

December is nearly upon us, but before we commence our countdown to the festive season, let's gander at an eclectic quintet of PC gaming perfection* from the past.

First up for November is Beyond Time (1997 DreamCatcher Interactive, Inc), a time-travelling ancient Egypt-set first-person adventure that dabbles in everyone's favourite* presentation style; FMV. For more trips throughout history, why not try Excalibur 2555 A.D. (1997 Telstar Electronic Studios), that sees Merlin's granddaughter travel to the future to do some exciting* actioning along with that adventuring. If you want some full-on guns-blasting action, take a look at Machine Hunter (1997 Eurocom Developments), a fantastically* frenetic top-down shooter that rises up to become my pick of the month. If all the bloodshed is not to your liking, try the ever-tranquil* SimSafari: Step into the African Savannah! (1996 Maxis, Inc), that takes the tried and true SimNoun template into a safari park. Lastly, navigate a cute little tank across vast landscapes in Wild Metal Country (1999 DMA Design / Rockstar Games), an overlooked gem* from the folks behind Grand Theft Auto. Despite my tongue-in-cheek asterisks, all of them are worth a try so check out my reviews to find out more.

Sadly, no updates I'm afraid, but I did catch up on some of the missing written reviews from the last couple of months. Check out my thoughts on Weird and SimIsle and let me know yours in the comments. I'm currently neck deep in preparing for the annual Christmas Countdown that will commence 14th December - that's 12 days straight of gaming goodness just for you lovely folk! On that note, I must crack on with it. Until then, head on after the jump and enjoy!

* Your definition of what's considered this may vary drastically...

MONTHLY 5 - April 2023

If you saw one film in cinemas this past month, chances are it was Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I saw it with most of my D&D group and had an awesome time - perhaps the most fun I've had in a theatre post-pandemic. So, I thought I'd dig out some old D&D games of yesterear and give them a whirl. Of the three chosen for this month's monthly five, classic computer RPG Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001 UbiSoft Entertainment) is my fantasy pick of the month, but with its mix of wargame strategy and first-person role-playing, Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance (1996 Sierra On-Line) is also pretty good. Less so is Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft (1996-1997 TSR & Acclaim Entertainment). This one-on-one fighter featuring well-known D&D characters, classes and races is pretty pants and I tried both the DOS and PlayStation versions in a vain attempt to find something good. For kusoge gamers only.

Beyond the giant lizards and underground chambers, I've kept the variety up with a much-requested mech action game called G-NOME (1997 7th Level Inc). For adventure-gamers there's the obscure Amiga point-and-clicker called Sixth Sense Investigations (1998 CineTECH); a respectable indie game that's heavily inspired by LucasArts' Day of the Tentacle. It's pretty good too if you can forgive its terrible Leicester-accented voice acting.

For this month's updates, we begin with Obsidian which now takes advantage of its induction to ScummVM's list of supported games. The Amazing Spider-Man Collection has also been updated and tweeked which fixes errors, adds manuals and updates emulators. See the Game Updates section or head on over to their review pages for full update info.

That's it for this month! I'll see you at the end of May for more classic gaming goodness. Until then, head on after the jump to read my thoughts on April's ragtag group of aging code.

MONTHLY 5 - August 2022

Summer is coming to a close, but what better way to distract from the boredom of the office job/school work/financial crisis than a nostalgic trip to the 90s with a quintet of lesser known gems of the era. My good pal Austin is back with a review of SpaceKids (1995 MicroProse) , a strange supposedly educational title that plays like a wordless multi-path adventure. One adventure game I've always been meaning to play is Escape from Delirium (1995 Virtual X-Perience), a shareware title who wears its LucasArts inspiration on its sleeves. For a more Myst-like adventure, try Titanic: A Mysterious Undersea Adventure (1998 Dosch Design GmbH) which has more to do with an Atlantis-like sunken city than a sunken passenger ship. If you want a little more action, the mech shooter Iron Assault (1995 Graffiti) may be more up your alley or, if you want to drive fast through the British countryside, give Mobil 1 Rally Championship (1999 Actualize Ltd & Magnetic Scrolls Ltd) a go.

That's not all! I've updated a couple of packages too! Azrael's Tear now uses a different fork of DOSBox to help even out its speed (though like the original game, it is still prone to the odd slowdown). I've also updated both the DOS and PlayStation version of Silverload. Among the plethora of changes, the DOS original now includes a scan of the manual while the PlayStation remake now supports mouse control. Head on over to their game pages to download and find out more.

And while your at it, check out August's games by clicking on the links after the jump...

THE CHRISTMAS CATCHUP - DAY 5

Aliens have landed, and they brought their bloody huge mechs with them! Play as a psychotically stereotyped Russian soldier with his own massive mech to take them down. It's none other than Krazy Ivan (1996 Psygnosis)! Go get some!

METALTECH SERIES

   

The excellent Metaltech series defined what PC gaming was in the early to mid-90s, at least to me. It showcased some impressive polygonal graphics, explosive combat and complex mechanics which were not possible for those stuck with a Super Nintendo or Mega Drive. Add to that an n-depth control system and online play and you have a series that were miles ahead of the 16bit consoles. In the 20-plus years since its debut in 1994, does this once high-regarded series still hold up? Read on to discover my thoughts on the first three in the series: Battledrome, EarthSiege and EarthSiege II...

TERRA NOVA: STRIKE FORCE CENTAURI

It's a great shame that many great games can disappear into obscurity where those who may go on to love them will have probably never heard of them. It's an absolute travesty that most games from Looking Glass Studios fall into this category. Their output was inventive, universally praised yet played by so few. The subject for today's post - Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri - is no different.

GHOST IN THE SHELL

In 1995, an animated movie from Japan was released to great critical acclaim. It has since inspired the Wachowski's Matrix Trilogy, spawned several sequels and television shows and is credited as being one of the movies to bring about an adult anime boom in the west. Two years later, it was adapted into a video game by Japanese developers Exact exclusively for the PlayStation. Unlike its cinematic counterpart, it eventually found itself amongst the forgotten residents of the Collection Chamber.