Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: GN Team - Published: 21 September 2020, 1:31 pm
Grand Prix Circuit is a Formula 1 racing sim created by Distinctive Software for PC and Commodore 64 in 1988.
Later it was ported to Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and other platforms. The Amiga version has more colors than the 16-colors MS-DOS version and uses the fantastic music composed by Kris Hatlelid for the C64 edition. In the game, you can drive the McLaren-Honda turbo of 1988 (the legendary car of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost), the 1989's Williams-Renault, or the Ferrari 3.5 liter V12.
Grand Prix Circuit had the ambition to be a simulation, so the car's behavior is quite realistic. You have to be careful while driving because the vehicle is very sensible. At the same time, there are not many options, and the pit stop is quite simple too. So the learning curve is not too hard. You can grab your joystick, practice a bit, and be ready to race soon.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 18 September 2020, 7:09 pm
Gravity Force is a freeware shooter created by Stephan Wenzler for the Amiga in 1989.
The idea is simple: take the spaceship of the videogame Asteroids and its mechanic of movements, and put it inside a kind of platformer/shooter scenario. As you can expect, you control the ship by activating the boosters and rotating left or right. You have to turn 180° and start engines in the reverse direction to slow down. The problem is you are not in space; you are on a planet, inside a cave. This means that you have to consider the gravity force, and you have to pay attention to the cave walls because if you hit them, your ship will be destroyed. Of course, it's just not about avoiding obstacles - otherwise, it would not be a shooter, right? In fact, the cave is full of enemies, and you have to destroy them with your laser if you want to survive. Interestingly, you shoot by moving up with the joystick, and you activate your engine with the fire button - not vice versa. This makes things more complicated and more fun.
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Author: Gustavo - Published: 14 September 2020, 12:23 pm
WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game is a coin-op created by Midway in 1995.
It is impossible to deny that many of today's adults grew up with games like Super Mario Bros or Sonic. But when they took a break from consoles and decided to watch TV, very few people could deny that they were attracted to WWE (at that time WWF) fights and defended to the death the idea that they were real. With this in mind, a company very used to success decided to join their experience in fighting games with this sensation that had been going on for many years. Thus, WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game (not to be confused with the 1991 title by Ocean) was born.
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Author: E. Bolognesi - Published: 13 September 2020, 2:05 pm
Deadline is a text adventure published by Infocom in 1982. It was written by Marc Blank, one of the principal authors of Zork: The Great Underground Empire. The game was initially released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and TRS-80. Then later, for the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Macintosh, TI-99/4A, and several other platforms.
Blank wanted to try a different genre after the three fantasy chapters of Zork. With Deadline, he tested his writing skills with a hardboiled/crime interactive fiction, and the result was excellent. The story is a classic. The rich and famous entrepreneur Marshall Robner was found dead in his library - the door closed from the inside. Apparently, it's an overdose of antidepressants, and the police will close the case as a suicide. But Robner's lawyer is not convinced and asks you, a famous detective, to investigate. You have exactly 8 hours to find the truth, explore the house, and talk with the possible suspects.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 12 September 2020, 2:03 am
WWF WrestleMania is a wrestling game created by Twilight originally for the Amiga and published by Ocean in 1991.
The game, which was the first official WWF-licensed title for home computers, was also ported to Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum.
Please don't consider it a wrestling sim; this is more of an arcade. Anyway, you will have at your disposal several moves, not just punches and kicks, but also the famous dropkicking, clotheslining, and a grapple maneuver.
You can control one of the famous fighters of the '90s: Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, or the British Bulldog. Instead, the opponents are Mr. Perfect, The Warlord, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, The Mountie, and Sgt. Slaughter. The fact that you can be Hulk Hogan should already be a good reason to play. If this is not enough, consider using the chair you will find outside the ring as a weapon.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 11 September 2020, 8:45 pm
Jim Power in Mutant Planet is a shooter/platformer created initially for the Amiga by Digital Concept and published by Loriciels in 1992. The game was also ported to Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, and TurboGrafx CD.
There is also a console version for SNES and Genesis, but the game is quite different (and much worse).
The game, designed by Guillaume Dubail and Fernando Velez, is very ambitious. The graphics are excellent, with incredibly detailed backgrounds, full of colors, despite the lack of an AGA version. The parallax scrolling adds depth to the animations, which is smooth and precise. Even the graphics of the menu are fantastic. Some people criticized the game's colorful backgrounds because they are even too much, but that will be up to you to decide. What has never been criticized is the beautiful soundtrack composed by the legendary Chris Hülsbeck. This alone represents a good reason to try the game.
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