Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
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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Author: GN Team - Published: 31 July 2021, 12:47 pm
War Planets: Age of Chaos is a sci-fi real-time strategy game set in the War Planets universe created by the toy company Trendmasters.
The game, created by Trendmasters itself, was published in 1997 exclusively for PC, both in Windows and MS-DOS versions.
Faithful to the RTS tradition, you can choose between four different factions: the Krag, born on planet Rock, Biowolf, from planet Bone, Kryos, from Ice, and Darkones, from Beast. Each race has different and unique units. For example, Biowolf has disk throwers and war dogs, while Krag has stealth tanks and drones, Kryos has jet launchers and death spinners, and so on.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 28 July 2021, 6:02 pm
Chip's Challenge is an arcade puzzler created by Epyx, with a team lead by Chuck Sommerville, originally for the Atari Lynx console. The game released in 1989 was one of the launch titles.
The game was much more successful than the console itself, and it was ported to several other platforms, including Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS. Most of the conversions were handled by Images Software. Microsoft also released Chip's Challenge in a Windows 3.1 version in 1992.
At first sight, it looks like an 8-bit title converted to 16-bit without improving the graphics, but, despite the simple visuals, the game design is fantastic. Gameplay involves collecting enough chips in the rooms to unlock the level. To do that, you will have to open the doors, using the right keys, avoid traps and enemies. There are 148 levels and most of them are really brilliant. Difficulty increases gradually, with a perfect balance. A useful password system will allow you to continue from the last level you solved, like Lemmings.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 20 July 2021, 7:27 pm
Spherical is a puzzler arcade game created by Rainbow Arts in 1989. It was initially released for the Atari ST and later ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
The German studio, famous for the Turrican series, took inspiration from a popular Tecmo arcade called Solomon's Key. Spherical has many elements in common with this title, but despite the lack of innovation, the game designed by Stefan Preuss and Thorsten Mutschall is a small gem. Thanks to excellent graphics, perfect music, and an incredibly well-balanced difficulty level, it's a title that creates addiction. If this is not enough, consider that Spherical supports two simultaneous players. So cool.
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