Abandonware

It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen American Gladiators. For all you younger types out there, it was a show where people had to fight through obstacles in order to get points. On the way these muscular guys and gals would try to hinder their progress one was or the other. 

Well, here you have it: the oldest game in my collection, and as I recall the first one I played in my life.

Alien Trilogy is a somewhat underrated shooter. Many of you won’t agree with the 4 mark that I granted to this game, but you should give it a second chance in order to get a glimpse of its better side. 

Snooker has always counted in the category of sophisticated sports. You don’t sweat playing it, you can have your brandy glass right beside you and you can even play it with your cigar in the mouth. Yes, it’s truly a gentlemen’s sport. 

I love this game. All of it. Period. 

Aaargh! There's a giant monster coming to smash our village in search of those huge slices of pizza and fruit we've hidden... 

I remember seeing this game at a friend of mine a long time ago, and I remember how jealous I was of him. The game is excellent when it comes to gameplay, setting, feel, addictivness, graphic... you name it, Veil of Darkness scores high points!

Now the first thing that really surprised me was the use of Video Graphic Adapter (or simply put VGA graphics). The game was made back in 1989 and VGA was still very new. Off course you can also select CGA or EGA graphics (but they’re not that nice). There are also two pre-set keyboard maps you get to use (and don’t forget space – also useful for leaving the street and going to different houses), or simply use a joystick.

You're the pilot of a spacecraft launched from Earth in order to protect it! First off, you encounter a furry llama looking creature, Brin O'Keef, who tells you of the Maka Bola - the base for an anti-Korok movement. The Korok are a machine race who are attacking our space. They are led by the Master Computer Robot - a twisted piece of machinery that has started attacking people. There are many races united to fight them, and you are the representative of the Human race!

Ever heard of Ed Wood? You should have. He's only the worse movie maker in history (at least that's what they claim). He made a cult movie (becoming a cult movie by being so bad) entitled Plan 9 from Outer Space. This was also Bela Lugosi's last movie (you should know who Bela Lugosi is). He died during the filming.

The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Harlan Ellison (1934 - )

And Japan is full of both! At least, in Nippon Safes. In 1992, Dynabyte released this game, and it spawned three characters we would see in many following games: Dough Nuts, Donna Fatale and Dino Fagioli.

In the midst of all the Kings Quest and Leisure Suit Larry games that Sierra was putting out in the late 1980s they also published a somewhat forgotten duo of games named Manhunter: New York and Manhunter: San Francisco. The Manhunter games were unique at the time as they were one of the first Sierra games to play from a first person perspective. They also deviated from the somewhat tiresome text parsing game play that Sierra had relied on until then.

From the first glance of the opening screen...this game had me hooked! I suggest you take a look at the extras and play the track from this game (it’s from the C64 version of the game, but still...). The PC version has slightly worse sounds and graphics, fortunately the gameplay stayed the same (but it does seem a bit sluggish).