Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: GN Team - Published: 1 September 2021, 1:33 pm
Hard Drivin' is a famous 3D racing coin-op created by Atari and released in 1989. The conversions for home computers, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, and Mega Drive, were managed by Domark.
The arcade was revolutionary, not just because it was one of the first racing games to use full 3D polygonal graphics but because Atari built the cabinet like a real car. The experience for the players was fantastic. Of course, this could not be preserved in the home versions, as racing wheel controllers were unavailable then. But technically speaking, Domark did a great job porting the 3D engine to all computers and consoles, including the less powerful ones (like the ZX Spectrum). On Amiga, DOS, and Mega Drive/Genesis, the 3D engine works well, even if it's not faster than the arcade. Unfortunately, more playtesting would have been necessary because the controls are not perfectly tuned, and it isn't easy to drive the cars properly. Some users hated it because of this, while others were impressed by the fantastic 3D graphics.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 29 August 2021, 1:18 pm
NY Warriors (aka New York Warriors) is a top-down shooter for 2 players developed by Synergistic and published by Virgin Games in 1990. The game was released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, DOS, and ZX Spectrum.
If you take two arcades, such as Ikari Warriors and Commando, and mix them with the famous movie Escape from New York, you have a clear idea about what the developers wanted to accomplish. You have terrorists from the future, a dystopic world, distorted guitar music, bullets flying everywhere. And of course, 2-players simultaneous mode in co-op, for maximum fun. The graphics are not exactly top-notch, probably a bit amateurish, but this does not affect the gameplay. We are not at the levels of the arcades mentioned above, but considering that the Amiga port of Ikari Warriors was not exactly a masterpiece, NY Warriors is a good alternative. Bullets, explosions, and guitar, what else do you need?
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Author: GN Team - Published: 27 August 2021, 12:05 pm
Wayne Gretzky Hockey is an ice hockey simulation created by Bethesda Softworks for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS and released in 1988. There were also Macintosh and NES versions, while the C-64/128 version was never completed.
This hockey sim was officially licensed and sponsored by the Canadian professional player Wayne Gretzky, also credited for the game design with Ed Fletcher, Julian Lefay, and others.
The title is a complete ice hockey sim; you can play the matches and manage your team, as in Sensible Soccer. Each player has several skills: aggression, quickness, power, fatigue, penalty, injury, skating, passing, puck control, checking, and shooting. You can select the players with the right skills to set your team playing style, but you can also change a player's characteristics to customize your team fully.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 24 August 2021, 2:19 pm
Blade is a fantasy turn-based tactical RPG created by Scorpius Software and released in 1997 for Amiga, including AGA and CD models.
The game, designed by Mark Sheeky, is not a classic RPG. You don't create your characters, but you can choose between the eight predefined classes and races. Combat is turn-based, and every character has limited action points available. Once all points are consumed, the enemies move. Because of this and the isometric point of view, many have defined the game as a sort of UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-COM: Terror from the Deep with fantasy settings. There is also an exciting game economy, with money that can be deposited in the banks and used later to buy items and weapons. The AGA chipset and increased memory are used well, with 256 color graphics plus speech and additional effects.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 8 August 2021, 3:05 pm
Nebulus 2 is the sequel to the famous puzzle platformer Nebulus (aka Tower Toppler) designed by John M. Phillips and released by Hewson. The first game introduced a concept of pseudo-3d based on the "rotation" of the background.
If the predecessor, born on 8-bit platforms, was later ported to several other computers, Nebulus 2 was not so lucky in terms of distribution and never reached the fame of the first title. The sequel was born thanks to the initiative of two young German developers, that were not satisfied by the 16-bit versions of the first Nebulus. It was developed for the Commodore Amiga. Despite an Atari ST version being announced (and printed in the cover and manual), the game was released only for the Commodore 16-bit computer. Signed by Infernal Byte, Nebulus 2: Pogo a gogo was published by 21st Century Entertainment, founded by Andrew Hewson himself in 1991, once Hewson Associates was closed.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 7 August 2021, 2:28 pm
Phantasie is a role-playing game designed by Winston Douglas Wood and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. It was released initially in 1985 for Apple II and other 8-bit platforms.
Andromeda Software curated the conversions to Amiga and Atari ST and published them in 1987. An MS-DOS version was also released in 1988. The game was the first chapter of a popular series that ended with Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus (if we exclude the fourth title that was released in Japan only).
Phantasie resembles the first chapters of Ultima, at least in graphics. Its main features include managing a party of up to 6 characters, with several classes to choose from ranger, monk, thief, fighter, priest, and wizard. Races include the classic human, halfling, dwarf, elf, gnome, ogre, pixie, lizard man, minotaur, and more. Explorations of dungeons and wilderness use a top-down view. In towns, you can find shops and also banks, where you can store money. The view switches to a separate screen during encounters with enemies, where you can control each character in a turn-based combat mode.
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