MONTHLY 5 - September 2024

I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to the summer quite just yet, so while September brings autumn with it, it will also bring some summery fun thanks to the Collection Chamber.

Pick of the month is a sunny racing-game sequel; OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006 SEGA Corporation) but if skinny-dipping in the sea is more your style, play the obscure cinematic platformer The Lost City of Atlantis (1995 Noch Software, Inc) - warning: there will be nudity.

I suppose the scorched sun of an alien apocalypse is kinda summery too and that's where the uber-obscure ( and uber-cool) Amiga action adventure Codename Hellsquad (2000 Digital Dreams Entertainment) mostly takes place. The point-and-click adventure purists of you will get a kick out of Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray (2005 Artematica Srl), a fantastical murder mystery based on the classic Italian comic book.

Lastly, we have another slightly flawed yet unfairly forgotten real-time-strategy game by the name of Rival Realms (1998 Activ Pub). I would say it's a lot more enjoyable than last months pick-of-the-month (Rising Lands), but I reckon I've put together a stronger line-up this month, putting this in fourth place. Discuss in the comments where you'd rank them.

Next month is the annual spooky season, so I'll be playing with the other side of the brightness spectrum with some dark and horrifying titles. Until then, cling to the warmth of summer just a little while longer. Enjoy!

MONTHLY 5 - August 2024

The month of August was the month of the Olympics, and outside of an enthusiastically happy blue man in drag, I didn't watch a single second of it. I did celebrate it in my own way by uncovering some officially licenced DOS games based on the 1996 event held in Atlanta. Atlanta 1996: Olympic Games + Olympic Soccer (1996 U.S. Gold Ltd & The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG)) bundles the first 3D game based on the event with a rather standard football game which began a yearly series that would later take on the UEFA moniker. 

If you're not much or a sporty person, I've gathered some other games to keep your limbs from moving excessively. Continuing on from last month is the final mystery at Greveholm. The Mystery at Greveholm 3: The Old Legend (2000 Young Genius) returns to the first-person adventuring roots of the first game and is all the better for it. Ring II: Twilight of the Gods (2002 The Arxel Guild) on the other hand foregoes this style that defined its janky forebear to become a tank-controlled action adventure. At least the absolute weirdness of it all is still intact.

For something a little less fantastical, try the movie tie-in for Fantastic 4 (2005 Activision Publishing Inc, Marvel & Twentieth Century Fox), a flippantly entertaining beat-'em-up for a flippantly entertaining blockbuster. And if flippant doesn't cut it, check out Rising Lands (1997 Microïds), a real-time-strategy game that surprisingly crept up to become my personal pick of the month.

Enjoy!

MONTLY 5 - May 2024

So, April may have been a bust - in terms escapees from the Collection Chamber that is - but there's plenty of newly uncovered convicts once again seeing the light of day in May. Life tends to have a way of getting in the way of life, but I've managed to gather five more games to see you into June.

Pick of the month is a classic point-and-click adventure from the folks behind Flashback and Another World called Cruise for a Corpse (1991 Delphine Software). An American Tail: Aniamated MovieBook (1998 Universal City Studios, Sound Source Int & MCA Music Publishing) continues on from last time's The Land Before Time to provide another educational title for the little 'uns. For a bombastic multiplayer arena shooter, why not give the highly underrated Death Drome (1997 Viacom International Inc) a go. Or perhaps some wargaming is what you're after? If so, try the somewhat forgotten war strategy Offensive (1996 Ocean of America). Lastly, there's Vigilance on Talos V (1996 Square Wheel Studios Inc), a decent Metroidvania for PCs that way, way more Metroid than 'Vania.

That's it for this time. Hopefully I can get it together to post something for the end of June. Until then, happy gaming!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 4

The tree is up, presents are wrapped and now the pitchforks are out. We've got Beasts and Bumpkins (1997 Electronic Arts) on the plate for Day 4 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown, and if you like a real-time-strategy with a bit of hanky panky, then you're in luck. Build your village, breed peasants and kill all those who oppose you. Pretty standard stuff, then. Read on to view my thoughts.

MONTHLY 5 - APRIL 2022

'Tis April, and it's time to go back to a Monthly quintet of oldschool PC gaming. Fancy some action? Check out the futuristic shooter Eliminator (1998, Psygnosis). How about a visit to a spooky old mansion? Try Escape from the Haunted House (1997, New Media Generation).  A puzzle-heavy action RPG? We got you covered with Power Sokoban (1999, Nintendo, Thinking Rabbit). Want a movie instead? Watch the interactive kind that is Quantum Gate II: The Vortex (1994 HyperBole Studios). If none of that tempts you, why not abduct some sheep to build tanks in the strangest of real-time strategies, Tankics (1999, Gremlin Interactive, DMA Design). Read on to find out more!

THE CHRISTMAS CATCHUP - DAY 2

Keen eyes among you may have got an early peak  at the second day of this festive catchup. It's more Dune! Positioned somewhere between a remake and a sequel, Dune 2000 (1998 Westwood Studios) doesn't innovate the RTS genre like the original but still proves to be an enjoyable jaunt on the desert planet. Check it out after the jump!

THE CHRISTMAS CATCHUP - DAY 1

Christmas is coming! So it's about time I gave the Collection Chamber some love with games I should've added months ago. I've got a fair few prepared so I'll be adding one a day up until Christmas, hopefully culminating in a video before the year is out.

We begin with Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (aka The Battle of Arakkis), the original real-time strategy from Westwood Studios. But it's not just that classic 1992 DOS game - it's also several ports and fan remakes too! If you loved Denis Villeneuve's recent feature film adaptation (and I'd question your taste in movies if you didn't), then you owe yourself to play it.

Before I leave, I should probably apologogise for the lack of posts in recent months. My real job, real-life and a real bout of man flu kept me away from anything more strenuous than watching Netflix on autoplay for a couple of weeks (don't worry, the PCR test said it wasn't Covid). At some point I'll even get around to those Star Trek games I left in limbo back in September...

Until then, enjoy the festive season!

Peace

MONTHLY 5 - SEPTEMBER 2021

On September 8th, Star Trek commemorated its 55th anniversary! Also on that date, Good Old Games scuppered my plans to put out some good old games based on the licence. I had Elite Force, Armada 2 and Away Team ready to go and as many of you may know, I'd spent copious amounts of time tinkering with Hidden Evil. That doesn't even mention the first Armada and Bridge Commander already being on the site. At laeast you play them all officially now, from a company with a team of testers and programmers and not from one random guy on the internet.

I still want to celebrate trekking through the stars, so here are five other games good enough for the likes of Kirk, Picard, Sisco and co. First up is Captain's Chair (1997 Paramount Pictures & Simon & Schuster Interactive), an educational CD-ROM that tells you everything about the bridges of five fictional starships. Then there's Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars (2000 Paramount Pictures & Simon & Schuster Interactive), a real-time strategy set in the vase expanse of outer space. If you want a more grounded RTS, then New Worlds (2000 Paramount Pictures & Interplay Entertainment Corp) lands the strategic management on the planet's surface WarCraft style. The Next Generation try their hands at a complex 4X managerial strategy game in Birth of the Federation (1999 Paramount Pictures & Hasbro Interactive Inc), but not before those pesky Klingons train for a bit in the FMV-filled simulation game Klingon Academy (2000 Paramount Pictures & Interplay Entertainment Corp). Follow the jump to find out more!

On a side note, my real-world job does have me swamped at the moment, so both the video and the written reviews will have to be delayed a little (or a lot - who knows?). At least I got the games out on time, so let me know your thoughts in the comments!

MONTHLY 5 - MAY 2020

Our May Movie celebration comes to a close with a quintet of licenced games. Aid the caped crusader through the events of Batman Returns (1992 Konami) in this relatively unknown point-and-click adventure. Take to the skies and defeat alien invaders in Independence Day: The Game (1997 Fox Interactive). Sometimes, all you need is a menagerie of talking animals to save the world - and Michael Jordan. Gather a team of Looney Tunes to play basketball against some aliens in Space Jam (1996 Warner Bros). Get back down to earth in a compilation of Lethal Weapon games. Lethal Weapon Collection (1992-1993 Ocean) features 5 unique games over 6 platforms. Finally, future earth has been flooded, so do your best to survive the real-time strategy in Waterworld: The Quest for Dry Land (1997 Interplay).

Watch our video roundup below or check them out yourself after the jump.

MONTHLY 5 - APRIL 2020

Occupy your quarantined mind with April's selection of games from the Collection Chamber. Flip some balls in a theme park in 3D Ultra Pinball: Thrillride (2000 Dynamix). Solve some science puzzles in The Castle of Dr. Brain (1991 Sierra On-Line). Enter a VR sporting tournament in Locus (1995 Zombie LLC). Cure infected minds in Plague: In the Maze of the Mind (1996 Microforum) then cure infected hard drives in Virus: The Game (1997 Kiddum Multimedia & Telstar Electronics). Head on in to check them out.

MONTHLY 5 - MARCH 2020

Hello fellow humans. We've got a plethora of out-of-this-world treats this week with a quintet of alien-themed gems. This marks our 400th game on the site (have you checked them all out?)! Don't panic with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Collection (1984-2010 Various), a four-game package including the classic Infocom text-adventure and the fanmade remake. Solve some pre-algebraic equations in Math Blaster Mystery: The Great Brain Robbery (1994 Davidson & Associates). Then have a game of intergalactic air hockey in Shufflepuck Cafe (1989 Brøderbund Software Inc). Filter fact from fiction in the educational CD-ROM all about aliens in Sightings: The UFO Encyclopedia (1997 Paramount Pictures). Lastly, shoot some alien bugs in the real-time-strategy Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy (2000 Blue Tongue Inc).

STAR TREK: ARMADA

Many a gaming genre has worn the Star Trek license, but out of all of them, the Real Time Strategy perhaps fits Gene Roddenberry's egalitarian concept the best. Shooters are arguably too violent for the peaceful goals of the Federation while narrative-driven adventures don't always delve into the complexities of diplomacy, telling distinctly one-sided stories. So let's talk about Star Trek: Armada, Activision's 1999 attempt to do the cult phenomenon justice.

GENEWARS

When you think of the iconic games spawned from the minds of Bullfrog, chances are you'd list off a number of all-time favourites. Legendary god-games like Populous, Theme Park, Syndicate or Dungeon Keeper solidified their name in history. However, very few are likely to put forth GeneWars in that memorable list of classics, but does this black sheep deserve to be overlooked?

CHAOS ISLAND: THE LOST WORLD - JURASSIC PARK

Way back in 1997, when Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World what the biggest thing in cinemas, a lot of games were naturally developed from the license. Many know the console games, the arcade shooter or even the delayed travesty that was Trespasser, but did you know a real-time strategy called Chaos Island was also developed by DreamWorks Interactive?

POWERMONGER

Out of all of the great God games designed by the legendary Peter Molyneux, Powermonger seems to get the least amount of love. While the likes of Populous have been given a second lease of life through digital distribution, this strategy war game is nowhere to be found which is a shame as I think it's one of Bullfrog's best from their early years...