|
Prince of Persia 2 - The Shadow & the Flame, by Kosta
I love this game! :) In general, one of the thigs I like the most about a game is the story it contains (if one contains any). And, just like it's predecessor, Prince of Persia 2 has a story that you've got to love. And it's well told: this game contains several minutes of illustrated and narrated "storyboard" to pull you in (which is rarely seen in other games from this computer era). In fact, I find it admirable how they've put so many images, sounds and colors in a "less than 5 MB package". Unfortunately, besides huge visual and auditive improvements, Prince's gameplay hasn't changed a bit, and thus many hardcore fans of "Prince 1" were a bit disappointed by it. I wasn't - play it.
by Kosta The game: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/51...the+Flame.html |
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat surely is one of the best one-on-one fighting games ever created. Perhaps the most interesting feature of Mortal Kombat is the presence of a real player action performed by actual "living" actors. It made Mortal Kombat look so much better than any other games' graphics at the time, although still in 320x200 pixels and only 256 colors ("13h" means anything to anyone? :)). I was amazed by it the first time I saw it, today as I play it again after a long time; I realize it's not THAT good looking (especially seeing the edges of the objects on screen), but I also believe it really couldn't have been done better. Two players are supported, and playing a single player game is not any less exciting. There are 7 fighters to choose from, and 2 additional "bosses" to defeat playing a single player game, so get ready to beat the crab out of them! by Kosta |
King's Quest 1 - Quest For The Crown
Some of you gamers out there might look at the release date and think “Nah, King’s Quest was made in 1983 and NOT the year after!” … True, but by IBM and not by Sierra, who took over in 1984 and released the version available for download here. And thus began the greatest adventure saga of all time. Police Quest, Space Quest, and even Leisure Suit Larry are all children of this very first game. King’s Quest: Quest for The Crown takes place in the land of Daventry, where you (Sir Graham) are called before the good King Edward. You are sent on a daring adventure to claim three magical artefacts and give them to King Edward, to prove yourself worthy to become the next king. Along the way you must complete myriad side-quests in order to progress through the game. The story might seem simple enough, but do not be fooled. King’s Quest is a very difficult game to play, but as soon as you pick up the basics you are on your way to completing the grandfather of many adventure games. No one could guess the impact this little game would have on the gaming population of the world, but soon it was evident that a sequel had to be made … and so the epic tales of Sir Graham of Daventry had begun! by Tom Henrik |
Wolfenstein 3D
If you were to make a list of truly legendary games, Wolfenstein 3D would surely have to be in it! It is the father of all present-day FPS games. You are in control of an American agent trapped inside a Nazi prison. Your task is simple - shoot the guards, get keys and find your way to the elevator. As you progress through the levels you will acquire some new weapons and encounter new enemies. Not spectacular, but it keeps the game remotely interesting. The scenery is pretty authentic: pictures of Hitler, swastikas and German WW2 symbols will follow you throughout the game. As for the graphics, considering that this was probably one of the first 3D engines with textured surfaces, I'd say they are almost revolutionary for the time. The game is not truly 3D, but it gives you an impression that you are moving in real space. Bear in mind that this game runs smoothly on a 386. The sounds are also great: Background music creates a wonderful mood, and the Nazi guards' shouts will certainly startle you from time to time. Strafing wildly around a room and knocking down guards with a Schmeisser will probably provide you with some fun. By Kosta |
Desert Strike - Return To the Gulf
Desert Strike is a very simple and fun helicopter game. This is a true relief, as I remember most of the old chopper games made me dizzy or just confused. This one, on the other hand, takes a different approach and places entertainment ahead of realism. You are a chopper pilot and have to carry out various missions in the Gulf. They will vary from seek-and-destroy to rescue and delivery operations. There will be some power-ups on the way as well. The controls are as simple as they come: arrow keys for moving around, and three keys for shooting your weapons. You are equipped with a standard machine gun, and two types of missiles - one light and unguided, and the other guided and heavy. You will also be able to buy new (and better) co-pilots as the game progresses. This is a very solid piece of software that I remember playing for countless sleepless nights smile.gif You might end up doing the same, you never know. Try it out! By Kosta |
Flashback (DOS)
"Flashback" definitely is to be put in the "Ahead of it's time" section. It "feels" a lot like Prince of Persia or Black Thorne, however one thing makes it different: the animation. I always had special feelings for well animated games :-). And there are tons of animations here. Low resolution, of course, but sometimes suprisingly smooth. The levels look pretty good also (not excelent though), especially "The Jungle" (screenshot 1). When I first saw this game at my old frend's brand new PC (it was a 386 I think) I was so jelaous knowing there was no way this game would run on my computer equipped with EGA graphics. Well... enough frustrating memories for now. There are only 7 levels but several animations between them to support the storyline. Gameplay is nothing spectacular, but navigation is easy to get used to. Some will appreciate the way our characters moves: smooth - smoother than Prince for example. The bad thing is: you always carry the same pistol - no interesting weapons around. All in all - this is an average game in it's "brand", but I must say: Highly recommended. At least try it and watch the intro! :) By Kosta |
Centurion - Defender of Rome
This game puts you in shoes of a Roman emperor. Your task is to conquer the world of course! :) The game is immensely addictive, and don't be surprised if you end up playing it for hours and hours from the minute you unpack the archive and run the executable! It's only drawback is it's length. With some luck, and basic knowledge of the game, you will be able to finish it in a matter of hours on the beginner level. However, if you choose to play on a more challenging level, you will find yourself dissapointed as nothing changes, except for the numerosity and size of enemy armies. Nonetheless, it features excellent VGA graphics, interesting diplomatic dialogue between nations, real-time field combat, strategic map of the world etc. Download it and see for yourself, you will most certainly not regret it! It's a classic! :) By Kosta |
Not stub but replaced because it was splitted:
Last Ninja Pack http://www.abandonia.com/files/games...andonia_20.png This is one of the best games ever made for the Commodore 64. It was quite revolutionary in 1987 and is a legend today. Followed by two sequels and a remix, The Last Ninja was the first in the series. If you've never heard of it, now you know a little more. For everybody else, well, come on - it's The Last Ninja; is there really anything more I could say? I guess I could, since there will be youngsters that have never heard of this game. Besides lovely graphics and great music, this game had many innovations. It was one of the first isometric games ever made (maybe even the first, I'm not sure). You had eight directions to move, plus you could jump and perform various moves and attacks with your arms and legs or with several ninja weapons. You could even block. Maybe the existence of your character's inventory wasn't that revolutionary, but I never saw a game before this one in which you could really "pick up" items. In every platform game, you just moved across an item in order to pick it up. But this was different. The story is as follows: You are Armakuni, a member of Ninjutsu, left to guard their shrine while the other members go to the island of Lin Fen. Every ten years, they go there to receive instruction from the Koga Scrolls. However, the evil Shogun Kunitoki has called creatures from the Nether World and destroyed your comrades, so he can bring his own guards and learn the power of Ninjutsu. When he was a child, Armakuni went to the island by using a secret passage. Now he must do it again, but it is not as it used to be. So he (with your help) must travel alone through the unknown, avenge his brothers, and retrieve the Scrolls. (I shortened the story very much.) The PC version came out a year after the C64 version. Everything looked like it did on the C64. Well, almost everything. The game was a little rough. This is very bad, since you'll have lot of trouble picking up some objects (your ninja must reach out his hands exactly on the object) and jumping over water, lava, or mud. Jumping is the worst; you'll have to step perfectly on the stone to jump to another one. Your ninja moved smoothly on the C64 (with a joystick), but here you use Numpad, and the ninja keeps on moving until you press another direction key or 5 to stop. Jumping over rocks is simply too hard. You'll even find it difficult to turn your character in another direction. If you manage to handle the controls and you don't turn away from hard games, you'll like this one. Even now I run a C64 emulator to play it again. I can never forget the first level, when you go down and actually pick up a katana from some rocks. Although the game looks good, you'll have some problems playing the PC version, and that's a real shame. Also, the PC speaker's limitations left the game without the great musical themes by Ben Daglish. The second game is more colorful, with some logic puzzles and (almost) without levels that drive you mad. It's not legendary like the first game, but is still very fun to play. Armakuni finds himself in 20th-century New York without a clue as to how he got there. Feeling that his old enemy Kunitoki has something to do with it, Armakuni isn't planning to take it easy. But Armakuni must be careful; a different time brings different problems. The programmers tried very hard (and mostly successfully) to make every level interesting to play. Some of the logic puzzles require the use of items (the easiest example would be using a key), but most require nothing more than pressing buttons, turning your ninja in exactly the right way to climb a ladder, and so on. The PC version of the second game has smooth animation and better gameplay, so now you can easily play with the cursor keys, jump precisely, and pick up objects without having a headache. So, it turns out that the second part is much, much better on the PC. Don't think that it is easy, but you will have less trouble as you become better and more familiar with the levels. In front of you is a cult game (and its sequel) that probably won't be forgotten. There is a third part for the C64, but it wasn't made for the PC, since the PC versions of the first two parts were never very successful. It's too bad the PC had so many limitations at that time. Both games look (and sound) much better on the C64, so you probably won't experience all the fun these games could provide. Still, I give the games the highest mark, and all those who have really played them will agree. For the rest of you, my advice is to try it. If you don't like it, at least you'll know that you played another old legend. by marko river |
Bouncing Babies
Bouncing Babies is a game in which you control two firefighters and try to save babies from a burning building and get them into your ambulance. You move them by pressing the number keys 1, 2 and 3 (left, middle and right). Sound easy? Well, it ain't! If you are able to get past Level 3 without extensive training, you are either bloomin' lucky or a cheater. by Tom Henrik |
Pole Position
PREPARE TO QUALIFY Pole Position is a racing game. You are a F1 driver and You want to be a Champion. Sounds easy and that easy it is. There is no plot, no track selection just simple racing on pre-defined tracks in order from easy to hard. PREPARE TO RACE Driving in this game is very easy. You can define keys as you want, you got acceleration, brake, turn left & right and just one button to switch gears (because your bolid has only 2 gears). When you drive You need to carefully avoid your opponents and signs near track. Just touch them and your car will explode taking some seconds from your precious time. Time is most important thing in this game. Noone cares about places - You just need to get the finish line before time gets to zero. GAME OVER Graphics aren't good: 4 colour palette, screen looks like divided in two parts. Lower shows your road, upper shows some mountains which scroll right and left when you go through curves. Getting This game to run is a little bit tricky so read "how to run.txt" file before getting nervous. by bob-satan |
This one I've replaced quite some time ago.
Prince of Persia Just who could resist a challenge of putting oneself in shoes of a Persian prince who's only mission is to rescue his princess captured by an evil sultan! :) What else do you need to create a game out of it? A weapon (sword), some obstacles (spikes, crumbling panels to jump over, falling stones...). And there you go! A legend has been born. This happens to be the first PC game I played in my life, so perhaps that's why I'm so sentimental about it :) Graphics are superb, so is the sound, gameplay...need I say more? NO! :) Download and play! by Kosta |
The one replaced by red_avatar a long time ago.
Beneath A Steel Sky Personally, I am a fan of post-apocalyptic stories and games and a reader of Sci-Fi literature. This game forces the player to travel deeper and deeper into the disturbing world of an overpopulated earth: large cities reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's Foundation and beautiful scenes make this game a classic. You are the unfortunate son of a genius who was one of the scientists who invented a supercomputer to rule over men's lives. Everybody is hostile towards you. There are many ways to die, so save often! The version you can download here on Abandonia is for DOS. It has music and sound effects and I prefer it because of its size. However, if you have a broadband connection and wish to download the CD version which can be played using ScummVM, you can do it by clicking HERE. ScummVM is also the best way to run the CD version of the game on modern computer systems. Otherwise you won't be able to run it from Windows at all. by Borislav Dobudja |
The one replaced by red_avatar a long time ago.
Flight of the Amazon Queen - "Hello, I'm Joe King!" - "Well stop it then!" This is my favorite part of this excellent adventure game, that could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with any LucasArts adventures (and that says a lot)! To make a long story short, you have a spoiled dame on board your plane and you crash in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. While you're looking for a way to repair your plane she's off into the wild green yonder. You, of course, have to go after her to discover that she's with a tribe of Amazons, that like to take men prisoners and do unspeakable things to them (in the most pleasurable way possible). That's why two guys are desperately trying to get back to their camp (last time they didn't want them, because they had a strange rash on a part of the body not appropriate to mention – at this point). There's also a gorilla in the jungle, but after a series of long philosophical conversations, this gorilla realizes it is completely out of its place and vanishes into the air. Needles to say, if you complete the game you get the woman back and become a hero (not an Unknown one), because everybody will remember your name - JOE KING (joking). by Sebatianos |
The one replaced by red_avatar a long time ago.
Wacky Wheels I could go on writing epic tales about how addictive and fun this game actually is, but I suppose the easiest thing to do would be for you to buy it :) I know, I also hate the fact that Apogee is trying to actually earn money on those old titles, but hey, that's how big corporations work! They are just trying to squeeze out as much money as possible from games that have no right to be sold at this day. However, since this place is reserved for a review, I'll give you a few hints. There are several animals at your disposal (panda, racoon, moose, tiger, lion, shark...) and you choose which one to race with. There are 3 categories of levels, each one containing about a dozen. Thats's over 30 levels, and trust me, it will take a while before you get bored with a single one. The racing model is quite simple. Throttle, brake, steering, handbrake are all the elements you have to master. And of course, no game is fun without weapons, so there are some hedgehogs, oil tanks and fireballs at your disposal on each level. The sound is just amazing, graphics are also excellent, two-player mode is supported and last but not least, addictivness can be compared to one involving heavy drugs :) by Kosta |
Gobliiins
Gobliiins was one of those games that always gave me a headache, but were incredibly addictive and fun to play. This game was (and probably still is) extremely buggy. There was some kind of a combination or password that had to be entered before starting the game, and if you did that wrong, the computer would freeze. This was also common during the gameplay itself. I remember braking the reset button because of its over-usage while playing Gobliiins ;) Nonetheless, the bad parts aside, this game is very original, and beautifully made. You are in control of 3 goblins, each of them having some special abilities. For completing each level, you'll have to carry out some tasks. Some puzzles are simple, but some will require you to let go of logic and use your imagination :) None of the levels and missions are alike and the scenery is very diverse so the game never gets dull. The graphics are pictoresque and very detatailed for the time. On the other hand, the sound is unsatisfactory so that's another drawback, but since this is and adventure / puzzle game it's not essential. In conclusion, an absolute must for all adventure/puzzle lovers! by Kosta |
Goblins 3
Here comes the last of the Goblins trilogy. It is very often that quality of movies and games deteriorates with every new sequel, but fortunately, this was not the case with Goblins. Goblins 3 are just as good as Gobliins 2 and Gobliiins were. I would even dare to say that they are better. The quality of graphics and sound increased, while all the other necessary ingredients remained equal. The scenery in which the storyline takes place is simply breathtaking, thus the huge screenshots. It just seemed unfair to compress them and loose the quality :) It's a shame that this is the last sequel, but nonetheless they will all be remembered in a good way. If you've come here you probably played the first two parts already so I don't have to yackety-yak about how the game is played or what is it about :) I will just say that it is just enjoyable as the other two, so if you liked them, you'll love this one as well! Have fun! by Kosta |
Space Invaders
Space Invaders, one of those classic games that everyone loves. It was first released in 1978 by Taito. Two years later it came to America and became globally popular. As a matter of fact, it was so popular that it caused a coin shortage in Japan, and the country's coin supply had to be quadrupled. The aim of space Invaders is as simple as they get - stop the alien invaders from landing. To stop them you must shoot them down using your tank / ship. To make your job harder, the invaders will shoot at you, move left and right, and slowly increase their speed as they draw near. The controls should not give you much trouble as they are as simple as the game's story: Left CTRL = Move left Left ALT = Move right Right shift = Fire! Now go kick some alien asses. by chickenman |
Bouncing Babies (A12Alex), Gobliiins (bob-satan), and Space Invaders (bob-satan) reviews replaced on-site.
|
Terminal Velocity
Terminal Velocity is a fast paced action game where you pilot a futuristic craft and carry out various missions. You kill the bad guys of course :) Weapon power-ups, engine upgrades and craft improvements can be picked up after destroying certain buildings. The missions can get a bit repetitive as your goal is usually to destroy a few buildings and then reach the exit. The best thing about this game is probably the flight model which is very attractive. The game engine is very well done, so you can derive pleasure just from flying near the ground or over the clouds. The music and sounds are satisfactory. One thing I didn't like about this game is the infinite number of enemies. I usually like being thorough while playing games, so I would normally wipe out all enemies, and then complete the tasks, but in this game it cannot be done. You simply have to shoot your way through and ignore the crafts that are behind you. Still, the game is pretty addictive and you won't give up on it easily. Let that be a warning :) Don't place the game into a directory that contains more than 8 letters or the game might return weird errors. Give it as many cycles as possible, preferrably over 15000. By Kosta |
Pinball Dreams
Digital Illusions' pinball series in the early ninetees were a real hit! They featured beautiful graphics, dynamic and realistic gameplay, all kinds of tables and much more. Pinball freak or not, once you run this game you will be glued to the screen for hours :) You can even tilt the table. There are many "missions" hidden within each table, and new ones open up as you reach higher scores. I played this game oftenly, and I haven't unlocked all the missions, so believe me when I say that there is a lot of potential there :) Of course, I can't neglect the fact that the music and sound effects are simply fabulous! All in all, a mark of 5 for phenomenal graphics (bear in mind that this is 1992.), wonderful SoundBlaster sound effects and music, and generally for being probably one of the best pinball series ever to be published on PC! by Kosta |
Prehistorik
Prehistorik is one of those adorable old arcade games. You get to be in charge of some silly character (caveman with a bat in this case), and you go around and whack monsters and people on the head with it! What could be more fun than that... :) Of course, you have to dodge birds, jump over spikes and solve some simple tasks. Graphics are very nice and cartoonish, gameplay is excellent, and those are all the ingredients required for a truly fun game! Thumbs up! By Kosta |
The Lost Vikings
As is the case with all games that we feature on abandonia.com, this one is a true gem! You are in charge of three vikings who have been mysteriously lost in time and space. You can control only one at a time, and each has its special ability. One has a shield, one can jump, and one is equipped with a sword. Using those abilities you will have to solve various puzzles, and get through many challenging levels. At each level, the main objective is to gather all the vikings on the exit spot. Once you do that, you advance to the next level and get the code that is necessary to access that level when you restart the game! So no objections here - graphics are superb, sound is also excellent, gameplay is marvelous, and addictiveness is through the roof! :) So what are you waiting for? Download! By Kosta |
Darklands
Darklands takes you to medieval Germany around the 15th century. There is a short introduction which doesn’t show reveal anything about the plot, only a gargoyle coming to life and some kind of magician arriving to welcome you to Darklands. At the start of the game you can select a pre-existing band of four adventurers, or you can create them yourself from scratch. The game starts at the local inn in a random city. Here your character decides to live the life of an adventurer and achieve fame through his/her deeds. In conversation with the rest of the bar's patrons you will get a few tips about interesting locations, but as soon as you leave the inn you are on your own. You will soon realize that the game really doesn’t have a plot! It doesn’t even have an ending! This is the main reason why I gave it a four. Of course, Germany is very big, so there are many quests, random events and lots of freedom, but it lacks plot. It isn’t as great as it may seem at first that you can go where you want and do what you want. The gameplay is very simple. In each situation that arises you will be given a few options and then select what you wish to do next. In the world map you will have to click where you want to go and your band will start moving to that position. The world map is the main area where random events occur. Battles are also quite simple; the game will pause, allowing you to give orders to your characters, before you un-pause the game, sit back and enjoy the show. Dungeon mode is also very simple, very similar to the battle mode. The game's sounds are great! This was one of the few old games whose sounds I didn’t turn off after only a few game hours. In Darklands it’s very easy to get yourself killed so you should save often. And here comes the main bug: you can only save while staying at a city inn, while camping in the countryside or while travelling on the German map. In other situations "save" will also be allowed, but then your game status could be a mixture of present and past situations. The game will still be completely playable, however. Are you still reading? Enough reading; just push the download button because this game is a must for every RPG fan. by sarua |
Gobliins 2
Goblin series are one of my favorites! They are funny, witty and cruel in a Tom&Jerry fashion (and we all love them, don't we?). Playing this game is tremendously entertaining. You will probably find yourself clicking on various objects, and forgeting about completing the puzzle, just so that you can see what will happen to your character when he interacts with it. The game starts with 2 goblins, and along the way you will gain control over some other ones too. Each of them will interact with objects in different ways. Completing levels will not be an easy task as it will require a lot of imagination, tenacity and patience. However, you will love this game no matter what. The graphics are superb. You will barely believe your eyes. Sound effects are also great. I have no objections to gameplay either. I think this is more than enough for a mark of 5! Try it out, you won't be sorry! by Kosta |
Raptor - Call of the Shadows
Raptor is a fairly common 2D sci-fi shooter. What differs it from the vast amounts of similar games is the detail and complexity. It is obvious that Apogee has put a great amount of time and effort into this game. The result is excellent! It's a fast paced, fun to play, great looking game. There are plenty of missions, each one special in a certain way, and each one containing its own unique "boss" at the end. You can destroy both buildings and incoming crafts. Every time you destroy a craft, or a whole wave, they leave a certain amount of money behind that you can pick up. With this money you can upgrade your ship's technology at the end of each level. This aspect is also very well done. You can also save and load missions while you're in the hangar. The sound is very good, no dissapointments here either. The only drawback to this game is that this genre was so massively overused at the time, people were saying "Not again..." before even trying to play it :) If you're a fan of this genre, Raptor is an absolute must! Too bad Apogee is still selling it :/ by Kosta |
Zool 2
Zool 2 kept all the good things that the original Zool had: speed, easy control and cartoon-like graphics. There are also some significant improvements that can can make you feel like playing a new game, and not just some superficial sequel. Besides graphical "faceliftings", you may notice more "active objects" and "extras" to collect: health packs, shields, bombs, etc. You can also choose whether you'd like to be a "Zool" or a "Zoolie". It 'features' the same umbrage of Zool 1 - gets boring too fast. Unfortunately, the game is almost unplayable on faster machines. I went to hell and back to get it running! If you have anything faster than an Intel Pentium 200 and old 72-pin memory banks (an important detail), you probably won't be able to play the game. No slowdown programs (such as Bremze) known to me can help with this one. Emulators such as DOSbox or virtual machines like VMware can't do any good either. So if you own a supercomputer you should forget about it, unless if you're really good at software slowdowns. If you know a way to play Zool 2 on 500 MHz+ CPU's - please feel free to express yourself. By Kosta |
Skyroads
This game lives in the hearts of all of us who went to the same school a long time ago :-) (Playing it was all we did instead of paying attention). Your goal is to fly (or should I say "drive" since it actually cannot fly) a small spaceship (guess) without crashing it or falling off a "star track". Once you reach the end, you have completed the objective and you are ready to start with another one (you can choose a track of any level of difficulty anytime, however, you probably won't finish the more difficult ones without practicing with the easier ones first). No brainwork required. Navigation is simple: space bar and arrow keys are enough to do everything. Graphics looks good considering the disk space it occupies. It is quite addictive and some levels were pretty frustrating :). Recommended. by Kosta |
| The current time is 12:32 PM (GMT) |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.