Epyx

Arcade Classics: Seawolf II and Gun Fight

Arcade Classics: Seawolf II and Gun Fight

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

Two games in a single package. In Seawolf II, you (and potentially a friend) move subs and shoot through a minefield to take out ships above. In Gun Fight, you and an opponent (or the computer) take on the roll of gunslingers from the old west, shooting horizontally across the screen at each other.

Arcade Classics: Starfire and Fire One

Arcade Classics: Starfire and Fire One

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

A combo release of two games. Despite appearing separately in many collections, these games were distributed together originally. Starfire is reminiscent of Star Raiders/dogfight ship combat; the player turns their ship vertically and horizontally, always firing to the center of the screen. Fire One is a submarine game, shooting torpedos from the bottom of the screen to ships, with a sonar display at the top of the screen.

Armor Assault

Armor Assault

Atari 800 - 1982

Armor Assault is a turn-based strategy game which is about tactical tank battles between NATO and Soviets. However, this is not a wargame as each side has only six tanks to manage. The rules are relatively simple: in each round, orders are issued to the tanks and then the orders of both sides are performed simultaneously. Options include movement, setting mines or fire. The latter comes in two variants, either direct fire or opportunity fire which gets triggered when an enemy tank moves by during the movement phase - each tank is restricted to one type per round. The terrain plays a role because it changes the movement costs and can provide cover. The game comes with six tank types (can be chosen before a match) with certain advantages and disadvantages and twelve scenarios with different victory condition (mostly to conquer or destroy a certain target). The editor can be used to create more maps and tanks.

Axe of Rage

Axe of Rage

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1989

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was also released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (Death Sword in North America), which was published in 1987. The Wizard Drax is back after previous your defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore into the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but each have different approaches in order to defeat them. For example, You can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 levels of dungeons to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Axe of Rage

Axe of Rage

Commodore 64 - Released - July 1, 1988

In the sequel to Death Sword (aka Barbarian), the Wizard Drax is back after your previous defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and put cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but you'll need to use different approaches in order to defeat each of them. For example, you can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 dungeon levels to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Barbarian II (Palace Software)

Barbarian II (Palace Software)

Atari ST - Released - 1989

In the sequel to Barbarian / Death Sword, the Wizard Drax is back after your previous defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and put cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but you'll need to use different approaches in order to defeat each of them. For example, you can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 dungeon levels to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Battleship

Battleship

Atari ST - Released - 1987

Battleships is the international title of a video game based on the classic board game. The object is to sink the opponent's entire fleet (six ships) without him sinking the player's fleet first. This version of the game had the particularity of allowing fire by salvos of up to 24 shots, depending of the number of unsunk ships the player had. After all shots were placed by the player, a scene showing a ship firing its guns at the enemy fleet was played, showing hits and damage. The game could be played in Hotseat, since each player's fleet placement was never shown after the game had started proper. There also have been other versions of the battleship game for various consoles and handheld devices, including Battleship.

Boulder Dash Construction Kit

Boulder Dash Construction Kit

Apple II - Released - 1987

Rockford the Ant returns in another Boulder Dash adventure contains 15 new levels, in addition to the easy-to-use game editor. Players can build, save, and play their own levels. The software includes a feature to sequence your levels on a separate game disk. All of the elements and hazards from the previous Boulder Dash outings are back: The fireflies, butterflies, growing amoebas, enchanted walls, and of course, the boulders. New features include titanium (indestructible) walls, growing walls, and slime that allows boulders and diamonds to drop through it at a varying rate.

Boulder Dash Construction Kit

Boulder Dash Construction Kit

Commodore 64 - Released - 1986

Rockford the Ant returns in another Boulder Dash adventure contains 15 new levels, in addition to the easy-to-use game editor. Players can build, save, and play their own levels. The software includes a feature to sequence your levels on a separate game disk. All of the elements and hazards from the previous Boulder Dash outings are back: The fireflies, butterflies, growing amoebas, enchanted walls, and of course, the boulders. New features include titanium (indestructible) walls, growing walls, and slime that allows boulders and diamonds to drop through it at a varying rate.

California Games

California Games

Apple II - Released - 1987

California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller skating, flying disc (frisbee) and BMX. The game sold very well, topping game selling charts for winter months. It also got very positive reactions from reviewers, many of whom consider California Games to be the last classic Epyx sports game, due to staff changes not long after its release. The game was followed in 1991 by California Games II, but the sequel failed to match the original's success. (from wikipedia)

California Games

California Games

Atari 2600 - Released - January 1, 1987

Get ready for the gnarliest, most radically awesome sports events under the sun! They're six of California's hottest games. Geared for daredevils - and guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping! First, pick your sponsor. Then tackle the heavy competition in surfing, rollerskating, BMX bike racing and more. Take risks to score high, 'cause wimps wipe out! Trophies are awarded for single events and overall competition! So grab your gear and go for it. You'll be up to your jams in awesome action. And you just might walk away with first prize!

California Games

California Games

Apple IIGS - 1988

California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller skating, flying disc (frisbee) and BMX. The game was followed in 1991 by California Games II, but the sequel failed to match the original's success.

California Games

California Games

Commodore 64 - Released - August 1, 1987

California Games was the original "Extreme Games" – what today's generation might call "X-Games in the sun". Players can select sponsors (absent in some versions) and compete in events such as skateboarding, footbag, surfing, roller skating, flying disc (frisbee) and BMX. The surfing event is ranked by judges, which give a score to help the players improve their routine. The Atari versions (2600 and Lynx) of the game omit the flying disc and roller skating events, while the Genesis version omits only the flying disc event.

Championship Wrestling

Championship Wrestling

Apple II - Released - 1986

Championship Wrestling is a wrestling game released by Epyx for the Apple II (1986), the Commodore 64 (1987) and Atari ST. This video game was originally intended as a WWF game, but the licence never materialized. The game includes eight fictional wrestlers, including The Berserker, Purple Hays, H. Manslayer, Zeke Weasel, Prince Vicious, Colonel Rooski, K.C. Colossus, and Zanto Klaw.

Championship Wrestling

Championship Wrestling

Atari ST - Released - 1986

Arcade-style game about wrestling, featuring 8 different characters, like K.C. Colossus or Prince Vicious, and 25 different moves, like leg drops, spin kicks, body slams, rope bouncing, flying drop kicks and the so-called "infamous" atomic drop. You can even throw your opponent off the ring. Scoring is based on the complexity of your moves. Two-player hot-seat feature available as well, and up to 8 players can play in the same championship.

Chip's Challenge

Chip's Challenge

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1990

Nerdy Chip desperately wants to join the "Bit Busters" computer club, led by Melinda the Mental Marvel. However, before she'll let him in, he must prove his intelligence by passing the initiation test. 149 increasingly difficult levels, including a few hidden ones, await Chip in this tile-based puzzle game. Use tools such as keys, and special shoes to bypass obstacles. Manipulate switches to and use dirt blocks to build bridges across waterways. Avoid enemy creatures, grab all the computer chips in the level, and hurry to the exit: On top of everything else, there's a time limit!

Chip's Challenge

Chip's Challenge

MS-DOS - Released - 1990

Nerdy Chip desperately wants to join the "Bit Busters" computer club, led by Melinda the Mental Marvel. However, before she'll let him in, he must prove his intelligence by passing the initiation test. 149 increasingly difficult levels, including a few hidden ones, await Chip in this tile-based puzzle game. Use tools such as keys, and special shoes to bypass obstacles. Manipulate switches to and use dirt blocks to build bridges across waterways. Avoid enemy creatures, grab all the computer chips in the level, and hurry to the exit: On top of everything else, there's a time limit!

Coil Cop

Coil Cop

Commodore 64 - Released - 1987

The star of Thing on a Spring returns in this sequel. The evil Toy Goblin is up to his old tricks, with his giant toy factory producing thousands of evil toys. In order to shut down the factory, Thing must travel through the factory's 11 different levels and collect the tape, floppy disk, listing paper and ROM chip scattered throughout. The levels are filled with slopes, conveyor belts, interconnected pipework (years before Sonic the Hedgehog), and lots of foes to avoid. Question mark times have variable effects: stepping onto them reveals bonus points, objects, or a large weight that squashes Thing flat. As Thing takes damage from enemies or weights, his oil level is reduced. When Thing runs out of oil, he becomes rusted and the game ends. To move between levels, Thing must enter the pipework through a vent and bounce around the pipes to find an exit.

Crypt of the Undead

Crypt of the Undead

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Crypt of the Undead is a fantasy-themed adventure game with light RPG elements. You awake in a cemetery. How you got there, you do not know. The night is cold and damp, and the sun has just gone down. You have 12 hours to escape the cemetery, or you will become a resident there permanently. Played from an overhead perspective via joystick, the player must locate keys to explore the various crypts of the cemetery. They must also collect gold to increase their power, and can find bagels to sustain their health. Eventually, you must find the key which allows you to exit the cemetery. Various enemies including vampires, werewolves, and zombies haunt the corridors of the cemetery. The player receives regular updates on their time and progress through the journey. The game contains a combat system, and the player is warned when enemies are nearby. Monsters present on the map will move incessantly towards the player. When the player is engaged, they can choose to either flee or enter combat. The game rolls a random damage value for the player and monster based upon items collected and power-ups discovered. Battle success is based upon when the player stops the random dice roll.

Danger in Drindisti

Danger in Drindisti

Atari 800 - DLC - 1982

Danger in Drindisti is the second expansion for Hellfire Warrior, following The Keys of Acheron. The player is given the task of defeating four enemies for Yoturni, Wizard King of Drindisti: The Glass Wizard. He lives in a cavern with apprentices and magical glass creatures. The player needs to make his way through a glass maze and also recover a treasure, the Book of Spells. The Illusionist. The player needs to return with his staff as proof of his death. The level he resides on is said to be incomprehensible and confusing, which is why there are no room numbers displayed. The High Priest. The leader of a temple where a creature known as the Demonmaster is worshipped. The Demigod. He is found in the Realm of Mist, where again no room numbers are displayed because of the fog that covers the place. To find his target, a Sage which lives here may provide help to the player.

Death Sword

Death Sword

MS-DOS - Released - 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Death Sword

Death Sword

Atari ST - Released - May 17, 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard-to-perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Death Sword

Death Sword

Commodore 64 - Released - 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Destroyer

Destroyer

Apple IIGS - Released - 1987

Destroyer, the World War II Battleship simulator, allows you take command over a Fletcher Class U.S. Naval Destroyer. Sounds like fun? It is! Destroyer begins by asking what your name is, as the Captain, and what the name of your vessel will be. You then choose which mission to take, after which a description of the selected mission is given. You command the ship from its many different sections. Here is a list of the commands you have to type in to move to all the stations of the ship: BR Bridge NA Navigation OB Observation Deck RA Radar SO Sonar GF, GA Guns Forward/Guns Aft AP, AS Anti-Aircraft Guns Port/Starboard TP, TS Torpedoes Port/Starboard DC Depth Charges DA Damage Control Also - TR To use targeting radar when using forward and aft guns AB Abandon Ship (when all else fails) Control is achieved either with keypad or joystick, open apple being the fire button (though option works as well). Keep an eye on the scrolling messages, such as radar or sonar reports otherwise you won't know what hits you! I think that's all I have to tell you...half the fun will be discovering what all the knobs and switches do in the various sections of the ship. Destroyer has fair graphics, the animation is nice and colourful but it's another of those games ported to the IIGS with a mix of hi-res and lo-res graphics. Crank the volume when you play this game however - the explosion sound effects are excellent!

Destroyer

Apple II - Released

Destroyer is a naval combat simulation computer game released by Epyx in 1986. It was published for the Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. Computer Gaming World in 1987 called Destroyer "an excellent naval simulation [that] doesn't require a vast background in war games ... anyone who has ever played computer games and won at chess should have a ball".

Devon Aire in the Hidden Diamond Caper

Devon Aire in the Hidden Diamond Caper

Atari ST - Released - 1989

An eccentric old millionaire stored all his gems and money in odd places around his mansion. When he dies, his widow is unable to find any of this, so she hires master thief Devon Aire to look in the places his criminal mindset suggests it will be stored. Each room of the house is viewed isometrically, and contains all the features you would expect to find in a large house, from cookers and telephones to pool tables and paintings. Each one can be picked up, pushed, pulled and used, with the diamonds located in intricate and surprising places. Due to Mr. Croucher's keen interest in experimental science, there are also monsters moving through the rooms. Contact with these reduces some of the energy on one of your 3 lives.

Dive Bomber (Epyx, Inc.)

Dive Bomber (Epyx, Inc.)

Commodore 64 - Released - 1988

In World War 2, the Bismarck battleship has been dominant thus far. Armed with torpedoes and a machine gun, can you destroy the Bismarck with a well-aimed torpedo and turn the tide of WW2 in the Allies' favour? Find out is this flight simulation and strategy game. How you complete the task is largely up to you. You will need to deal with the plane's instruments, to take off, and plan which areas of the sky you patrol in the search for the Bismarck. There are four distinct instrument panels to control engineer, navigator and gunner functions as well as the main flight controls. Statistics on how much of each enemy's fleet you destroy are kept.

Dragonriders of Pern

Dragonriders of Pern

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

Dragonriders of Pern is a strategy game with action sequences, based on the novels by Anne McCaffrey, with a strong emphasis on diplomacy. The game may be played by 1 to 4 players. You take on the role as a Weyrleader fighting the deadly Thread. The game consists of two major phases: Negotiation/Intrigue, where you negotiate with Lord Holders or Craftsmasters, and Thread Fighting. where you fight the Thread from infesting your lands. The strategic part is the main part of the game. Here you try to negotiate with Lord Holders of Craftsmasters to make allies in your fight against the Thread. You can facilitate negotiations by organizing special events: To win the confidence of a Lord Holder who fancies dragons, invite him to a Hatching. Weddings also provide opportunities to score diplomatic points. When diplomatic maneuvers fail you, you may be forced to resort to a duel -- a wounded leader is unable to take any actions for a long time --, but this may jeopardize your status with peaceful leaders. Finally, conclaves may be called up after certain events like the death of a Weyrleader. A Dragonrider conclave will cancel all ongoing events for all Weyrs. A Lord Holder conclave will only cancel events involving Lord Holders and the Master Harper. Time passes in realtime during the strategic phase, but you can pause the game. Thread fighting occurs at the end of each year. During this phase of the game, you mount your dragons and you must pursue the falling Thread and char it in midair with the dragon's fiery breath before it lands. Miss a Thread and it may destroy you... or hit the ground and turn the land to dust. At the beginning of the game, you can select the difficulty of the Thread fighting or disable it entirely. Dragon Riders of Pern ends after a certain number of turns (also to be selected at game beginning), when a player reaches a certain number of "Victory Points" awarded for forging alliances, or when a certain number of Holds are infested by threads.

Dragon's Eye

Apple II - Released - 1981

Dragon's Eye is a fantasy RPG in which you are cast as a valiant warrior tasked with saving the lands by completing an epic quest. The lands in question are the "Seven Provinces" and the quest itself involves finding and retrieving the "Dragon's Eye" amulet before its evil power corrupts the entire countryside. The game is played from a strategic map view from which you select which area to adventure into, rest and make your necessary equipment purchases. After that it's off to explore the realm and battle all enemies you might encounter from a side view perspective. Battles are turn-based and you can issue several different orders to be carried out in queue when your turn ends. You can explore the land as you see fit, but beware the time limit imposed by the Dragon's Eye.

Dragon's Eye

Dragon's Eye

Atari 800 - Released - 1981

Dragon's Eye is a fantasy RPG in which you are cast as a valiant warrior tasked with saving the lands by completing an epic quest. The lands in question are the "Seven Provinces" and the quest itself involves finding and retrieving the "Dragon's Eye" amulet before its evil power corrupts the entire countryside. The game is played from a strategic map view from which you select which area to adventure into, rest and make your necessary equipment purchases. After that it's off to explore the realm and battle all enemies you might encounter from a side view perspective. Battles are turn-based and you can issue several different orders to be carried out in queue when your turn ends. You can explore the land as you see fit, but beware the time limit imposed by the Dragon's Eye.

Escape from Vulcan's Isle

Escape from Vulcan's Isle

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Escape from Vulcan's Isle is a fantasy-themed adventure game with light RPG elements. A navigator of great renown, you are swept up in a tropical storm, and shipwrecked upon an uncharted volcanic isle. Exploring a nearby cave, you discover the diary of Alcemnon, a sailor who perished years before. The pages speak of magical artifacts and frightening creatures present on the island. Played from an overhead perspective via joystick, the player must explore the deep caverns and volcanic crevices of Vulcan Isle. The player must gather items to aid their escape from the island, including: a magic flute, a cloak of invisibility, and powerful spells. A lone village on the island can sell resources to the player. Various enemies including flesh-eating Harrises, limb-wrenching Satyrs, and Winged Demons haunt the island to prevent escape. The player receives regular updates on their time and progress through the journey. The game contains a combat system, and the player is warned when enemies are nearby. Monsters present on the map will move incessantly towards the player. When the player is engaged, they can choose to either flee or enter combat. The game rolls a random damage value for the player and monster based upon items collected and power-ups discovered. Battle success is based upon when the player stops the random dice roll.

Final Assault

Final Assault

Apple IIGS - Released - 1988

Final Assault, known as Chamonix Challenge in Europe, originally Bivouac in French, is a mountain-climbing simulation distributed by Infogrames and Epyx in 1987 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS and ZX Spectrum. The original release of the game was copy protected.

Fire One

Fire One

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

The horizon is filled with enemy battleships, destroyers, PT boats and more, all steaming toward your home port. Your fleet is the only thing that stands between them and their final destination. This isn't just any fleet you're facing, it's their biggest, commanded by their most experienced Admiral. You have the ships and fire power to match them boat for boat, and you're commanding the fastest submarine on or under the seven seas. However, it's going to take more than fire power to win this battle, your battle plan better be right on target. This could be the biggest battle of the Pacific Campaign, for the loser it will be the last! This game appears to have never been released stand alone, but rather as part of a compilation.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

Apple II - Released - 1985

G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a 1985 action shoot 'em up video game. It was developed and published by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64. At the beginning of the game the player selects a one player or two player game. The objective as one of the members of the G.I. Joe team is to eliminate any threats from Cobra and to capture eight Cobra operatives. The game cannot be completed if too many members of either side are placed in jail, other members are released to perpetuate the game.

Gateway to Apshai

Gateway to Apshai

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

Turmoil rocks the land and the only salvation lies in the magic of the Temple of Apshai. Unfortunately the location of this temple has gotten lost in time. Furthermore, many heros dispatched to seek it have been slain. A legend speaks that only the blood of the greatest hero of Apshai's greatest hero will be able to reclaim the lost Temple of Apshai. Unfortunately this "greatest hero" has also perished. But all hope is not lost, for the wise man, Merlis has found the hero's son, whose blood is still able to fulfill the prophesy. With great haste, Merlis brings the youngster to the dungeon pits and leaves him to fend for himself. It is this youngster's destiny to find safe passage through the 8 levels, each of which contains passage to 99 different areas. Gateway to Apshai is a top-down action-RPG. As the descendant of a hero, the player starts with basic stats in 4 areas, Strength, Agility, Luck and Health. and basic equipment, a dagger and leather armor. Then it's time to choose a number between 1 and 99 to generate the dungeon. Once begun, the player must explore the dungeon, hidden until explored and revealed. The player can move in four directions and has standard abilities, each mapped to a different control. There are several different actions available to the player. These include: fighting with the equipped weapon, a LOCATE spell to discover traps in the room, a SEARCH spell to discover hidden doors inside of room which would otherwise look like ordinary walls. Players may also use many of the items and scrolls that can be picked up in the dungeon. The treasure can be picked up which include weaponry (swords, bows and arrows), healing slaves, precious items and magical scrolls. Most items are only good for a single use. The Gateway to Apshai is guarded by an assortment of creatures including snakes, swamp rats, bats and many more. These enemies are only visible when they are in the same room as the player and are otherwise hidden. After 6 minutes and 30 seconds has passed, the player is teleported to the next dungeon, many versions of the game also offer the option to manually leave the dungeon at any time. Dungeons get progressively more difficult with faster and more vicious enemies.

Hellfire Warrior

Hellfire Warrior

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Dunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior is a true sequel to Temple of Apshai. The player resumes his role as Brian Hammerhand and starts in the town he saved from the evil ant god in the previous mentioned game. The town has flourished and expanded, but the protagonist is haunted by a recurring dream. In the dream Death himself stops him from saving the warrior queen Brynhild from the depths of the world. Brian decides to venture into the dungeons once more to find this legendary woman and return her to sunlight. Gameplay is similar to earlier games using the top-down view to offer the player a dungeon crawl experience. The game allows importing of characters from earlier games and is meant for characters with 21,000 experience points and above. The expanded town allows for purchasing better equipment than before including special draughts that give temporary attribute boosts. It's now also possible to enchant ordinary weapons and armour with magical properties. The player now also has various optional objectives that may be fulfilled.

Hellfire Warrior

Hellfire Warrior

Apple II - Released - 1981

Dunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior is a true sequel to Temple of Apshai. The player resumes his role as Brian Hammerhand and starts in the town he saved from the evil ant god in the previous mentioned game. The town has flourished and expanded, but the protagonist is haunted by a recurring dream. In the dream Death himself stops him from saving the warrior queen Brynhild from the depths of the world. Brian decides to venture into the dungeons once more to find this legendary woman and return her to sunlight. Gameplay is similar to earlier games using the top-down view to offer the player a dungeon crawl experience. The game allows importing of characters from earlier games and is meant for characters with 21,000 experience points and above. The expanded town allows for purchasing better equipment than before including special draughts that give temporary attribute boosts. It's now also possible to enchant ordinary weapons and armour with magical properties. The player now also has various optional objectives that may be fulfilled.

IK+

IK+

Atari ST - Released - 1988

International Karate + (IK+) is a simple side-on beat 'em up. 3 characters appear on the screen - either 1 player and 2 AI, or 2 player and 1 AI - and proceed to kick seven bells out of each other via various karate moves. Each of the moves scores a different number of points and if you come last in a particular round you are eliminated. There are some sub-games too, involving your karate-master holding a shield and defending himself against bouncing balls from both directions, and kicking bombs off the screen before they explode. All in the pursuit of that elusive black belt...

Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1988

You as the Agency's Field Agent must reach several objectives to prevent the world from being destroyed. Firstly, you must assemble the 3-digit pass code for each tower while at the same time avoiding and fighting off Elvin's robots, using his own security system to help you. Then you must locate and open Elvin's safes and recover the musical sequence locked inside. After securing the musical sequences you must tie them together into a full melody that will open the express elevator doors to Elvin's central tower control room. Finally you have to find the correct computer terminal in Elvin's control room that will disarm the missile launch codes before they destroy you and the world. You score points by entering towers, exploring rooms, finding passcode numbers and reaching the central control room. The sooner you reach the control room, the more points you earn.

Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II

Apple IIGS - Released - 1989

Impossible Mission II is a 1988 computer game developed by Novotrade and published by Epyx. It was released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 64 and 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS based PCs, Atari ST, Apple IIe with at least 128K, Apple IIc, Apple IIGS and Amiga computers. In 2004, it was one of the games featured on the C64 Direct-to-TV.

Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1988

You as the Agency's Field Agent must reach several objectives to prevent the world from being destroyed. Firstly, you must assemble the 3-digit pass code for each tower while at the same time avoiding and fighting off Elvin's robots, using his own security system to help you. Then you must locate and open Elvin's safes and recover the musical sequence locked inside. After securing the musical sequences you must tie them together into a full melody that will open the express elevator doors to Elvin's central tower control room. Finally you have to find the correct computer terminal in Elvin's control room that will disarm the missile launch codes before they destroy you and the world. You score points by entering towers, exploring rooms, finding passcode numbers and reaching the central control room. The sooner you reach the control room, the more points you earn.

Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II

Nintendo Entertainment System - Released - July 15, 1988

Impossible Mission II is a direct sequel to Epyx's 1984 game Impossible Mission. The game follows directly from the same plot, with Elvin Atombender seeking revenge, and the player having to stop him. The overall game structure and basic gameplay is mostly similar, but there are a few differences and new features. The game takes place in Elvin's fortress, which consists of nine towers. Each of the eight outer towers has a specific theme, such as computers, automobiles, furniture and so on. Each tower consists of several rooms connected by two vertical corridors with elevators and two horizontal corridors leading to other towers. This time, the corridors leading between different towers are locked, and can only be unlocked by figuring out a numerical puzzle. Each tower contains the numbers zero through nine in three different colors. The computer interface will allow you to try various number combinations to see if they are correct.

Impossible Mission II

Impossible Mission II

Enterprise - 1988

Impossible Mission II is a 1988 computer game developed by Novotrade and published by Epyx. It was released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 64 and 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS based PCs, Atari ST, Apple IIe with at least 128K, Apple IIc, Apple IIGS and Amiga computers. In 2004, it was one of the games featured on the C64 Direct-to-TV. Impossible Mission II is a direct sequel to Epyx's 1984 game Impossible Mission. The game follows directly from the same plot, with Elvin Atombender seeking revenge, and the player having to stop him. The overall game structure and basic gameplay is mostly similar, but there are a few differences and new features.

Indiana Jones: Pyramids of Giza

Atari 800 - Unreleased - 1985

Invasion Orion

Invasion Orion

Commodore PET - Released - 1979

Invasion Orion is the sequel to Starfleet Orion. Like its predecessor, it is a turn-based science fiction strategy game, depicting battles between fleets of space ships. This time, the Stellar Union must fend off an invasion by the robotic Klaatu. The primary difference between Invasion and its predecessor is that the sequel was designed for one player. In fact, on original release, the game included only a single-player mode, but later versions added a two-player option as well. When playing against the computer (who can be set to control any side), the player can choose from three difficulty levels. Besides the required number of players, the game mechanics have remained the same as in the original: the battles take place on a 32 x 64 grid, and an encounter ends when one side's ships have been destroyed or left the battlefield. Weapons and equipment have also remained the same: short-range beams, long-range missiles and torpedoes, deployable fighter squadrons and tractor beams. One change from the original is that tractor beams can no longer be used on enemy missiles. The game includes 10 scenarios, featuring 30 different ship types (up from 22 in Starfleet). As in the original, the scenarios have to be typed into the scenario editor for the tape versions, while the disk versions include the scenarios as finished files. The editor can not only be used to create new scenarios, but also to design entirely new ships.

Invasion Orion

Invasion Orion

Apple II - Released - 1979

Invasion Orion is the sequel to Starfleet Orion. Like its predecessor, it is a turn-based science fiction strategy game, depicting battles between fleets of space ships. This time, the Stellar Union must fend off an invasion by the robotic Klaatu. The primary difference between Invasion and its predecessor is that the sequel was designed for one player. In fact, on original release, the game included only a single-player mode, but later versions added a two-player option as well. When playing against the computer (who can be set to control any side), the player can choose from three difficulty levels. Besides the required number of players, the game mechanics have remained the same as in the original: the battles take place on a 32 x 64 grid, and an encounter ends when one side's ships have been destroyed or left the battlefield. Weapons and equipment have also remained the same: short-range beams, long-range missiles and torpedoes, deployable fighter squadrons and tractor beams. One change from the original is that tractor beams can no longer be used on enemy missiles. The game includes 10 scenarios, featuring 30 different ship types (up from 22 in Starfleet). As in the original, the scenarios have to be typed into the scenario editor for the tape versions, while the disk versions include the scenarios as finished files. The editor can not only be used to create new scenarios, but also to design entirely new ships.

Jumpman Junior

Jumpman Junior

ColecoVision - Released - December 1, 1984

The object of the game is to defuse all bombs in a platform-filled screen. Jumpman defuses a bomb by touching it. According to the story, these are placed on Jupiter by terrorists. Jumpman can climb up and down ladders, and of course jump, and there are two kinds of rope each allowing a single direction of climbing only. Hazards include falling, "smart darts" (small bullets that fly slowly across the screen, but when orthogonally lined up with Jumpman, greatly speed up and shoot straight in his direction) and other hazards that are unique to a certain level. Points are awarded for each bomb defused, with bonus points available for completing a level quickly. Jumpman's game run-speed can be chosen by the player, with faster speeds being riskier but providing greater opportunity to earn bonus points.

Koronis Rift

Koronis Rift

Apple II - Released - 1985

You play as a techno scavenger in the year 2049, exploring the Koronis Rift, in one of Lucasfilms earliest games. The Ancients abandoned the planet, leaving behind many different artifacts and ships, which you can loot. Send your droid to retrieve modules and try to figure out what the ancient technology is for. It could be batteries, shields or even weapons, to help you fight the trigger-happy saucers that want you dead. The game uses fractal graphics, the terrain is vast and detailed, and the story behind it is quite complex, considering the type of game.

L.A. Crackdown

L.A. Crackdown

Apple II - Released - July 1, 1988

In L.A. Crackdown you play a cop staking out a warehouse to gather evidence in order to break up a drug ring. The action is controlled by monitors in a surveillance van. A rookie officer assists you by searching rooms, planting bugs, and even interrogating suspicious characters (watch out, he learns from experience and can help you make decisions or may disobey orders if he disagrees with a decision.

Lunar Outpost

Lunar Outpost

Commodore 64 - Released - 1984

The Zytron Strike Force is attacking the Lunar Outpost! Without this final garrison, Earth lies open to their assault. Use your Infrared Enemy Detector to pinpoint the Zytron's location. Then race across the moon searching your Lunar Map for the enemy. When you have found them, it's time to switch to the battlefield screen for 3 dimensional combat! Maneuver your Lunar Assault Vehicle under the Zytron ships by moving in any of four directions. Blast them out of the sky as you try to dodge their nuclear barrage. If you're hit or are low on fuel, do you have time to service your vehicle? Can you afford to stand and fight, or is it better to sacrifice this territory to protect another? What is the best strategy? Program the battle to last from 1 to 28 days, each day being more challenging than the previous one. Can you last the lunar month? It's going to take strategy and wits--hurry, the future of the Lunar Outpost is in your hands! - 3rd Generation Action-Strategy Space Game - 3-D Arcade Type Graphics - Three Skill Levels - Two Play Screens - Scrolling Lunar Map - 3-D Battlefield - JOYSTICK CONTROLLED - One Player

Lunar Outpost

Atari 800 - Unreleased

The Zytron Strike Force is attacking the Lunar Outpost! Without this final garrison, Earth lies open to their assault. Use your Infrared Enemy Detector to pinpoint the Zytron's location. Then race across the moon searching your Lunar Map for the enemy. When you have found them, it's time to switch to the battlefield screen for 3 dimensional combat! Maneuver your Lunar Assault Vehicle under the Zytron ships by moving in any of four directions. Blast them out of the sky as you try to dodge their nuclear barrage. If you're hit or are low on fuel, do you have time to service your vehicle? Can you afford to stand and fight, or is it better to sacrifice this territory to protect another? What is the best strategy? Program the battle to last from 1 to 28 days, each day being more challenging than the previous one. Can you last the lunar month? It's going to take strategy and wits--hurry, the future of the Lunar Outpost is in your hands! - 3rd Generation Action-Strategy Space Game - 3-D Arcade Type Graphics - Three Skill Levels - Two Play Screens - Scrolling Lunar Map - 3-D Battlefield - JOYSTICK CONTROLLED - One Player.

Mind-Roll

Mind-Roll

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1988

In Mind-Roll you play a rolling eyeball in an attempt to find your way through numerous mazes. Each maze features different puzzles to solve and objects such as keys to collect in order to find the destination. There is a limited amount of time to solve each maze.

Monster Maze

Monster Maze

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Monster Maze is a Pac-Man variant played from a first person perspective. The player has been trapped in a chamber of horrors where he is being chased by mutated monsters who want nothing more than to put their teeth into human flesh. Throughout the corridors of the maze the player will find gold bars lying around that he can collect. He can also find vitamins which allows him to kill the monsters. When charged by the vitamin the monsters will automatically be killed when the player moves into the same square as them. If the player would not be charged he would instead lose one of his nine lives. The maze consists of multiple levels. When the player is done with one he can move to the next by jumping into a hole which will take him deeper into the maze. As the player progresses the difficulty will increase with him.

Morloc's Tower

Morloc's Tower

Atari 800 - 1981

As the adventurer Brian Hammerhand you have to defeat the Wizard Morloc the Mad in his Tower. The towers stairways comprise Rooms 1-6. With the exception of the ground floor, which has been assigned the next several room numbers, rooms with odd numbers are on Floors 1, 3, and 5, and rooms with even numbers are on Floors 2, 4, and 6. The higher the number, the higher the floor on which the room is located. While your journey you meet many bad creatures and you will find some magic and helpful treasures.

Oil Barons

Oil Barons

Apple II - August 25, 1983

Oil Barons is both a strategy and simulation-type, turn-based game, published by Epyx in 1983. It was released for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS computers. It is considered to be one of the rarest of all Epyx games. Oil Barons represents an unusual fusion between a computer game and a board game, in that it included a game board consisting of a 50 X 40 square grid, as well as numerous individual game tokens, used to denote the significance of various grid locations (which corresponded to various terrain-specific locations within the game). Oil Barons was thus much like a numerically complex board game, in which the computer kept track of the numerous variables. The game could be played in any one of several modes, and with from one to eight players. Unfortunately, the fact this game has been out-of-print since the mid-1980s, and thus very few people today have an Oil Barons game board and tokens (particularly in light of the fact that only a very small number of copies were sold when it was in publication), potentially limits the game's appeal in contemporary times.

Pitstop II

Pitstop II

Commodore 64 - Released - 1984

Race Formula-1 in several tracks while trying to beat a computer, or human opponent. Pay attention to your fuel and tires: It will be necessary to drive into a pitstop to swap them out and refuel. Tire damage is indicated by their colour; they start off black and become lighter as they take damage. Once they have turned white, a collision will send the car off the track. Six different tracks are available to race on, including Brands Hatch and Vallelunga. Tracks can be played singly, or all together in a Grand Prix contest. When playing the Grand Prix, this is scored in the same way as the real contest. Players can select how many laps they want to race and 3 different skill levels. This is the first 3D racing game to implement a split-screen simultaneous two-player game mode. Players could be in completely different places on the racing track, and each split screen would show the view of the track according to the player's position.

Pitstop II

Pitstop II

Atari 800 - 1984

Race Formula-1 in several tracks while trying to beat a computer, or human opponent. Pay attention to your fuel and tires: It will be necessary to drive into a pitstop to swap them out and refuel. Tire damage is indicated by their colour; they start off black and become lighter as they take damage. Once they have turned white a collision will send the car off the track. Six different tracks are available to race on including Brands Hatch and Vallelunga. Tracks can be played singly, or all together in a Grand Prix contest. When playing the Grand Prix this is scored in the same way as the real contest. Players can select how many laps they want to race and 3 different skill levels.

PlatterMania

PlatterMania

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Plattermania is set in a circus and can accommodate one to four players. The player controls a clown up on stage who has 12 poles. As the clown, each player starts the game with 10 platters. Before the start of each player's turn, the number of platters which must be spun simultaneously is displayed. To reach the goal, the player must have the correct number of plates spinning at once for at least 8 seconds. Platters will fall if they start to wobble and the player does not move the clown to it and spin it up soon enough. They will also fall if they are spun too hard. If the player breaks three platters without achieving the 8-second goal, the turn ends. Otherwise, the turn lasts until a platter falls and breaks after the 8-second goal has been achieved. Bonus multipliers for score can be earned by keeping platters spinning beyond the 8-second goal. Once all players have had a turn, the scores of all players will be shown on screen. Each time a player meets the goal, the player is moved up one level. If a player fails two turns in a row, they will be dropped down a level. When a player runs out of platters, the game is over.

Project Neptune

Project Neptune

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1989

Taking on the role of special agent Robert "Rip" Steel, it is up to you to destroy the evil Yellow Shadow's network of undersea mining bases. At the same time, you must protect your own bases from attack. You are in command of a small but powerful submarine, and must work quickly and strategically, if you are to succeed.

Project Neptune

Apple IIGS - Unreleased

Taking on the role of special agent Robert "Rip" Steel, it is up to you to destroy the evil Yellow Shadow's network of undersea mining bases. At the same time, you must protect your own bases from attack. You are in command of a small but powerful submarine, and must work quickly and strategically, if you are to succeed. Created by Infogrames and supposed to be published by Epyx for the Apple IIGS in 1989 (the same year Epyx went bankrupt), but it didn't materialize.

PuzzlePanic

PuzzlePanic

Atari 800 - Released - 1984

Puzzle Panic consists of a series of small pattern-based puzzles, through which you guide Benny (a light-bulb) to the correct answers. Each level can be played individually, or in sequence as part of a larger puzzle, where each level is signified by a unique symbol, that users must discover to complete the final puzzle. Some puzzles are timed challenges, such as "Color Climb", where Benny must climb a series of coloured steps, with clues to the correct colour provided at the top of the screen. Others are pattern based, such as "Triangles First", where Benny must touch all triangles on the screen, followed by squares, then pentagons, etc. In these levels, Benny must also avoid being captured by a Devil-shaped enemy who is chasing him. Every level requires the player to recognise some form of shape, colour, number and/or spatial pattern. Completing each level reveals a series of gates containing different symbols, and passage through these gates will help Benny discover the relationship between the symbols and the levels. In the final level, the "metasequence", Benny must correctly identify the symbol representing each level, and select them in the order that they were played.

Quest for Power

Quest for Power

Atari 800 - Released - 1981

Quest for Power, re-released in 1982 as King Arthur's Heir, is a black and white fantasy-themed adventure game with light RPG elements. After accomplishing many great feats of chivalry, you have risen to become the right hand of King Arthur of the Britons. He has declared you his heir over his own relative Mordred. To prove yourself worthy, you must locate the Scroll of Truth, which has been hidden by the wizard Merlin, and return it to Camelot. Played from an overhead perspective via joystick, the player explores the medieval British countryside. The player can visit various British towns, and must collect gold and other resources to become more powerful. Various enemies including dragons, the Devil, the giant Gogmagog, the Black Wizard, and others will attempt to stop your progress. The player receives regular updates on their time and progress through this journey. The game contains a combat system, and the player is warned when enemies are nearby. Monsters present on the map will move incessantly towards the player. When the player is engaged, they can choose to either flee or enter combat. The game rolls a random damage value for the player and monster based upon items collected and power-ups discovered. Battle success is based upon when the player stops the random dice roll.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

Apple II - Released - July 30, 1987

Originally released in Europe as "The Sacred Armour of Antiriad" on the Commodore 64, You play Tal, and as Tal, your job is to single-handedly clear out the aliens who have invaded a desolate and destroyed post-nuclear earth. To have any chance of this, he must locate a sacred suit of armor. Not only will this protect him from radiation, and allow him to withstand some enemy contact, it also heals him, and enables him to float. This means that the game has two distinct styles, with your character limited to jumping, and with only rocks (located around the screens) to throw. Once he finds the suit he can fly around the ledges, shoot the inbuilt Pulsar beam, and survive within the volcanic hideout the aliens have based themselves. You will need to recharge the suit at times, and also take it off to pass through tight caverns.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

TRS-80 Color Computer - Released - 1988

Rad Warrior is original arcade game, with some adventure game style elements. Although it used a fairly lo-res Coco 3 graphics mode (160x192 16 color), it actually looked pretty good, graphics wise. The sound was fairly rudimentary, and the controls (either on joystick or keyboard) were a little awkward, but the gameplay was a lot of fun, and pretty difficult. The meltdown sequence when you win the game was quite impressive as well. Basically, you are a survivor of the human race, after a nuclear war, and aliens have just invaded (as if the war wasn't bad enough). At the beginning, you are only armed with rocks to throw at the beings, but your first mission is to wander through the forest trying to hunt down some advanced technology left behind by your race from before the war. The suit can recharge you, and also can eventually be made to fly, fire, and serve as an anti-radiation device, all by finding the appropriate power packs, and installing them in the suit. By doing all of that, you can eventually go to the top of the radioactive volcano, and defeat the alien masters, and save the human race.

Rescue at Rigel

Rescue at Rigel

Atari 800 - Released - 1981

In Rescue at Rigel, you take the part of Sudden Smith, a human adventurer teleported down by transporter beam inside a six-floor, sixty-room complex inhabited by an alien race, the Tollah. Scattered throughout the base, which has been hollowed out of an asteroid orbiting Rigel, ten humans are held captive, one in each of ten different rooms. While you can adjust the difficulty of the task, the object in all cases is the same: to search the complex, find and release as many of the prisoners as possible (by activating the transporter beam, which will teleport them back up to the ship), and get out alive-in an hour or less. If the Tollah base can be likened to an iceberg, you begin the game at the tip: inside the top room, the only one that connects the complex with the surface of the asteroid. (Since there is no air and no escape on the asteroid itself, the door to the outside, being "off limits," is not shown on the display). From this vestibule there are only two usable exits. The larger obviously leads to a gravshaft; the smaller looks like an ordinary doorway-but there are no other rooms on the floor. Whichever way you choose to begin your quest, there will be no turning back once you walk through the door.

Rescue at Rigel

Rescue at Rigel

Tandy TRS-80 - Released - 1980

In Rescue at Rigel, you take the part of Sudden Smith, a human adventurer teleported down by transporter beam inside a six-floor, sixty-room complex inhabited by an alien race, the Tollah. Scattered throughout the base, which has been hollowed out of an asteroid orbiting Rigel, ten humans are held captive, one in each of ten different rooms. While you can adjust the difficulty of the task, the object in all cases is the same: to search the complex, find and release as many of the prisoners as possible (by activating the transporter beam, which will teleport them back up to the ship), and get out alive-in an hour or less. If the Tollah base can be likened to an iceberg, you begin the game at the tip: inside the top room, the only one that connects the complex with the surface of the asteroid. (Since there is no air and no escape on the asteroid itself, the door to the outside, being "off limits," is not shown on the display). From this vestibule there are only two usable exits. The larger obviously leads to a gravshaft; the smaller looks like an ordinary doorway-but there are no other rooms on the floor. Whichever way you choose to begin your quest, there will be no turning back once you walk through the door.

Rescue on Fractalus!

Rescue on Fractalus!

TRS-80 Color Computer - Released - 1987

The game utilizes fractal technology to create the craggy mountains of an alien planet, where the visibility was drastically reduced by the dense atmosphere. The player controls a fictional "Valkyrie" space fighter (converted for search and rescue duty) from a first-person view, attempting to land and pick up downed Ethercorps pilots. Some of these mountains hold anti-aircraft guns, which have to be avoided or destroyed. Due to the varied terrain, the direction finder has to be used to locate the pilots, whose visual beacons are often masked by mountain ridges. At higher levels, the enemy Jaggis begin flying kamikaze saucers. The mission area also moves into day/night boundaries. Night missions are particularly difficult, requiring diligent use of the altimeter to avoid crashing. Flying consumes fuel. The way to replenish this supply is to rescue downed pilots who bring their remaining fuel supplies on board.

Rescue on Fractalus!

Apple II - August 27, 1984

Rescue on Fractalus! is an action game played from a 3D first person point of view. Your mission is to rescue stranded pilots on the planet of Fractalus. You begin each mission from the mother ship, and when your quota of pilots has been rescued you must return there so you can move on to the next level. To help locate the pilots and navigate the tricky terrain, your spaceship is equipped with various instruments, such as a compass, altimeter, and scanner. Your enemy, the Jaggi's, have numerous forces on this planet and will be attempting to stop you. Gun emplacements, flying saucers, and the Jaggi themselves are all capable of destroying your ship if you don't destroy them first. To defend yourself from these threats, your ship is equipped with torpedoes. As the levels progress, the Jaggi defenses become more aggressive, and you will even need to fly some night missions where visibility is limited.

Ricochet

Ricochet

Commodore VIC-20 - Released - 1982

A strategy game that can be played by two players or one player versus the computer. The game consists of a rectangular board with a launcher in each of the four corners. The launchers are only able to fire a shot on a 45-degree angle, and the first player can only fire from the left launchers, while the second player can only fire from the right. Each player controls two launchers, and each launcher has a finite number of turns. The horizontal walls consist of bumpers, which always deflect a shot at a 90 degree angle. Each player also controls 6 "chessmen" which are positioned by the computer at the beginning of each game. The purpose of these pieces is to deflect the opponent's shot or to help the player gain more points. Every turn, the player can fire one shot or move one chessman. The shot turn ends when the shot goes off the board, hits a launcher, or hits a target. Players are rewarded more points if they have more bounces before their turn ends. When a launcher is hit, it is disabled for 2 turns. Each turn is timed, and players receive more points if they act quickly. Players take turns until all launch shots are used. At the end of each game, the computer will slightly modify the board to make the next round slightly more advantageous to the loser to ensure a continued challenge between players. There are 5 separate variants of gameplay.

Ricochet

Ricochet

Atari 800 - 1981

A strategy game that can be played by two players or one player versus the computer. The game consists of a rectangular board with a launcher in each of the four corners. The launchers are only able to fire a shot on a 45-degree angle, and the first player can only fire from the left launchers, while the second player can only fire from the right. Each player controls two launchers, and each launcher has a finite number of turns. The horizontal walls consist of bumpers, which always deflect a shot at a 90 degree angle. Each player also controls 6 "chessmen" which are positioned by the computer at the beginning of each game. The purpose of these pieces is to deflect the opponent's shot or to help the player gain more points. Every turn, the player can fire one shot or move one chessman. The shot turn ends when the shot goes off the board, hits a launcher, or hits a target. Players are rewarded more points if they have more bounces before their turn ends. When a launcher is hit, it is disabled for 2 turns. Each turn is timed, and players receive more points if they act quickly. Players take turns until all launch shots are used. At the end of each game, the computer will slightly modify the board to make the next round slightly more advantageous to the loser to ensure a continued challenge between players. There are 5 separate variants of gameplay.

Robots of Dawn

Apple II - Released - August 27, 1984

In this text adventure based on Isaac Asimov's science fiction detective novel The Robots of Dawn, the player takes the role of Earth detective Elijah Baley, who is sent to the Spacer world of Aurora to investigate the murder of Dr. Han Falstofe, a prominent roboticist and constructor of humaniform robots. Suspects include Falstofe's political and professional rival Dr. Kelden Amadiro, his surrogate daughter Gladia, his biological daughter Vasilia, or ladies' man Gremionis, who was rejected by Gladia. Even Baley's robot friend and partner, R. Daneel Olivaw is not free of suspicion. In addition to the investigation, Baley must also deal with his fear of open spaces on Aurora, a result of having spent his entire life in enclosed spaces on the overcrowded Earth. Also, most Aurorans will not exactly be willing to help Baley due to anti-Earth sentiment. As typical with adventure games in the detective genre, puzzles are less based on item manipulation but more on gathering evidence and questioning suspects. In each game played, the murderer might be a different one - the location of items and people's reaction to questions differ accordingly. To convict the killer, Baley must determine motive, means and opportunity and present his evidence to the Chairman of Aurora.

Rogue

Rogue

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1986

The “granddaddy” of dungeon hack RPGs, Rogue has a long history that dates back to the 1970's. It was first released as a test application for UNIX, and quickly captured the imagination of popularity among system administrators and computer science students. It was such a popular “test” that enterprising UNIX admins and users distributed it, expanded it, imitated it, and ported it to their home computers. What is so special about the game that it still attract gamers for over a decade? Many revolutionary features that have become the norm in today's RPGs. Rogue is an turn-based, single player dungeon crawl. Its attraction lies neither in plot nor puzzles, but in the seemingly endless combinations of features, a wide variety of monsters and loot, and randomly generated dungeon that guarantees infinite replayability. In short, Rogue is to RPGs what Crowther's mainframe Adventure is to adventures: a revolutionary game that spawned a genre.

Rogue

Rogue

Apple Mac OS - Released - 1985

Rogue is a turn-based dungeon crawler in which the player controls an adventurer who must explore the dangerous Dungeon of Doom in order to retrieve the precious Amulet of Yendor and make it out alive. The player character starts on the upper-most level and slowly makes his way downwards. The game uses ASCII characters to represent locations, items, monsters, and the protagonist himself. There are twenty-six different types of monsters, symbolized by their initial letters (e.g. L for Leprechaun). Monsters have different abilities and modes of attack. The dungeon and the items in it are randomly generated each time the player begins a new game. Each dungeon level contains a grid of three by three rooms and dead ends. Levels get progressively more complex and maze-like, and monsters grow in strength the deeper the hero ventures into the dungeon. The player character can acquire better weapons and armor, gain experience points and level up. Should the protagonist perish in the dungeon, the player must restart the game anew.

Seawolf II

Seawolf II

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

Seawolf II was released only as a package game along with "Gun Fight". Both are adaptations of older Bally/Midway arcade games to the Atari 8-bit. The arcade version was known as "Sea Wolf II" but for the Atari was renamed "Seawolf II". The player(s) take submarines at the bottom of the screen, which can fire one vertical torpedo at a time and must wait for the it to complete its path before firing another. A limited number of torpodos can be loaded at one time, after they are depleted they reload with some delay. The objective is to shoot ships or enemy subs at the top of the screen, while avoiding the intervening minefield. Ships are worth different points depending on their speed and difficult to hit.

Snowstrike

Snowstrike

Atari ST - Released - 1990

You must fly an F14-LBC "Rapier" on a series of missions all along Colombia. You've land missions like free flight, destroy drug labs, bomb drug refineries, destroy drug stores and destroy drug convoy. You've aircraft carrier missions like free flight, destroy enemy aircraft carriers, destroy drug ships and destroy enemy oil supplies. In the air you can fight the MiG-27, Su-27, MiG-29 and MiG-31 armed with heat or radar guided missiles! You can choose to be an existing pilot or to create a new one. You can choose between 2 levels of difficulty: beginner (less enemy attacks) or expert (the most dangerous). The weather will affect the mission. The good weather will be great for training, and the stormy will be dangerous but great for attacks, as you can hide into the clouds and approach the enemy unnoticed. You'll have a copilot that will help you telling what's going on every moment. You can avoid missiles using your skills, using chaff or... if you can't, you can use your parachute!

Spiderbot

Spiderbot

Commodore 64 - Released - 1986

Deep within the Citadel, three runaway chemical reactors are rapidly approaching meltdown. These time bombs threaten to devastate the surrounding electronic jungle. The only remaining SpiderDroid has been sent into the territory of the Citadel to find and deactivate the reactors

Star Warrior

Star Warrior

Tandy TRS-80 - Released - 1980

It's one warrior against an empire, but you are a Fury, a paladin fighting for freedom, and you have nuclear missiles. Your mission is the liberation of Fornax, a peaceful planet firmly under the boot of the Interstellar Union of Civilized Peoples. The Union has tanks, skimmers, forts, and countless troops. You have a suit of force-shielded, powered armor which jumps, flies, self-repairs, and will even tend to your wounds. Skulk in the woods and snipe, or move fast and blast away. Either way, stay alive, complete your mission, and return to the recovery point. The game screen looks down on one of sixty-three square kilometers, resolved to twenty meters, showing terrain, your position, your enemies, and frequent blaster fire. Terrain is key to survival, as sooner or later you'll need to go to ground and heal up. However, it can hinder your reconnaissance as much as your enemies', and sometimes you'll find yourself under fire from an unseen source. Sound matters, too: your powergun is nearly silent, but the blaster alerts enemies as effectively as it destroys them. Play is turn-based, but fast. The opportunity to press the right key flits by quickly, bringing new bursts of enemy gunfire around you. Varying movement options, weapons, and enemies make tactics the determining factor in your success. Two scenarios fit into the story: a diversionary expedition to blast everything in sight (except the civvies, so check your targets!), and a search-and-destroy mission to start the revolution. Five difficulty levels and varying equipment (customizable in the disk version) lend additional variety.

Starfire

Starfire

Commodore 64 - Released - 1983

Came packaged in a double games pack that contained arcade conversions of Star Fire and Fire One. Star Fire is a 1st person shooter where you are in control of a space ship and you have to destroy as many fighters as possible before your fuel runs out. The fighters come flying towards you firing fireballs and with your laser sight you can fire lasers at them back. If your ship detects a fighter then a lock-on target appears and you can move your ship to move the sight onto the fighter. Once locked on your laser will shoot and destroy it. As you are fighting a timer representing your fuel counts down but certain amounts of points adds more fuel. When your fuel is empty it is game over.

Starfire

Starfire

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

Came packaged in a double games pack that contained arcade conversions of Star Fire and Fire One. Star Fire is a 1st person shooter where you are in control of a space ship and you have to destroy as many fighters as possible before your fuel runs out. The fighters come flying towards you firing fireballs and with your laser sight you can fire lasers at them back. If your ship detects a fighter then a lock-on target appears and you can move your ship to move the sight onto the fighter. Once locked on your laser will shoot and destroy it. As you are fighting a timer representing your fuel counts down but certain amounts of points adds more fuel. When your fuel is empty it is game over.

Starquest: Star Warrior

Starquest: Star Warrior

Atari 800 - 1981

It's one warrior against an empire, but you are a Fury, a paladin fighting for freedom, and you have nuclear missiles. Your mission is the liberation of Fornax, a peaceful planet firmly under the boot of the Interstellar Union of Civilized Peoples. The Union has tanks, skimmers, forts, and countless troops. You have a suit of force-shielded, powered armor which jumps, flies, self-repairs, and will even tend to your wounds. Skulk in the woods and snipe, or move fast and blast away. Either way, stay alive, complete your mission, and return to the recovery point. The game screen looks down on one of sixty-three square kilometers, resolved to twenty meters, showing terrain, your position, your enemies, and frequent blaster fire. Terrain is key to survival, as sooner or later you'll need to go to ground and heal up. However, it can hinder your reconnaissance as much as your enemies', and sometimes you'll find yourself under fire from an unseen source. Sound matters, too: your powergun is nearly silent, but the blaster alerts enemies as effectively as it destroys them. Play is turn-based, but fast. The opportunity to press the right key flits by quickly, bringing new bursts of enemy gunfire around you. Varying movement options, weapons, and enemies make tactics the determining factor in your success. Two scenarios fit into the story: a diversionary expedition to blast everything in sight (except the civvies, so check your targets!), and a search-and-destroy mission to start the revolution. Five difficulty levels and varying equipment (customizable in the disk version) lend additional variety.

Street Sports Soccer

Street Sports Soccer

Apple IIGS - September 18, 1988

Street Sports Soccer was the only title from the Street Sports series to appear on the IIGS, the others being Baseball and Basketball on other platforms, including the 8-bit Apple II. After the game loads, which doesn't take long thanks to it being a ProDOS 8 game, you will be asked if you wish to use a joystick, to which yes would be appropriate if you were to play a two player game. The game can be played only as either a one player game against the computer or human Vs human, with one person on joystick with the fire button being button 0 or button 1 and with the keypad, with shift as the fire button. There are various team configs that can be edited.

Street Sports Soccer

Street Sports Soccer

Apple II - Released - September 11, 1988

A soccer action game for one or two players. Instead of professional players in a soccer field, the game is played in one of several city street locations. Several default teams are included, or you can create new teams from a variety of characters.

Sub Battle Simulator

Sub Battle Simulator

Apple IIGS - Released - 1987

Sub Battle Simulator is a naval combat simulation game released by Epyx in 1987. The game was developed by Digital Illusions, Inc. It was released for the Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Macintosh, MS-DOS, and the Tandy Color Computer 3.

Sub Battle Simulator

Sub Battle Simulator

Apple Mac OS - Released - 1987

Sub Battle Simulator is set in World War 2, with the player on the American or German side. Six different submarines are simulated in a total of 60 missions. You will have to navigate, using five different levels of mapping, and plan attacks based on weather and surroundings, paying close attention to the radar. Watch out for torpedoes and Sonars. This was the first submarine simulation to include aircraft as opponents. You can choose to remain on the surface and defend yourself with your guns, or dive and hope to avoid the bomb and/or strafing that'll surely follow.

Summer Games

Summer Games

Apple II - Released - 1984

Summer Games allows up to eight players to compete in a series of summer themed Olympic events. The gameplay is similar to the other entries in Epyx "games" series. Each player can choose a country to represent, and then takes turns competing in various events to see who will win the gold medal! The game allows you to compete in all of the events sequentially, choose a few events, choose just one event, or practice an event. The events available vary slightly depending on the platform, and may include: Pole vault Platform diving 4x400 meter relay 100 meter dash Gymnastics Freestyle swimming Skeet shooting 100 meter freestyle Rowing

Summer Games

Summer Games

Atari 800 - Released - 1988

Summer Games allows up to eight players to compete in a series of summer themed Olympic events. The gameplay is similar to the other entries in Epyx "games" series. Each player can choose a country to represent, and then takes turns competing in various events to see who will win the gold medal! The game allows you to compete in all of the events sequentially, choose a few events, choose just one event, or practice an event. The events available vary slightly depending on the platform, and may include: Pole vault Platform diving 4x400 meter relay 100 meter dash Gymnastics Freestyle swimming Skeet shooting 100 meter freestyle Rowing

Summer Games II

Summer Games II

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1988

Eight Olympic events feature in this game, and any selection of these can be played at a time. There is no pure sprinting, and only the rowing and cycling can be thought of as pure joystick-waggling. The triple jump involves pressing right to start the hop (before reaching the white line), right again for the step as you land, left as you land for the jump, and then up to propel you through the sand. I high jump, after selecting a height you feel you can clear, you use up and down to control the speed, fire to jump, and then forward to propel you over the bar. For the javelin even you hold down fire to build up speed, and push left to throw the javelin, holding it left before releasing to change the angle. In the equestrian event, you must use up to increase speed, and fire or right to jump when appropriate to clear the hazards - too many faults will see you disqualified. Fencing involves moving your foil using the joystick, always staying one step ahead of your opponent, retreating when appropriate. The kayaking event involves navigating a river by controlling the direction, ensuring that all the gates are past correctly even when this requires some precise lining up. You can also load the events from Summer Games 1 in, to play all 16 events in a marathon session.

Super Cycle

Super Cycle

Commodore 64 - Released - July 15, 1986

A motorbike racing game strongly resembling Sega's Hang-On titles. The game is viewed from behind the bike, which tilts as you turn. You are racing against the clock, although there are lots of other bikes on track to avoid and ride around. There are 3 skill levels, which affect the amount of time you have to complete the level, and the bonus offered if you manage to (the amount of time left, divided by a set number, bigger on lower levels). Your bike has 3 gears and appears to have a top speed of around 120 MPH. After every 2 races there's a bonus round in which you must pick up as many tokens as possible in the time limit.

Techno Cop

Techno Cop

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1988

Techno Cop is set in the near future. You are a cop who seeks to clear his town of all the criminal scum. The game consists of two parts; one driving-action and one sidescrolling-action. In the first part you drive around in your red Ferrari and destroy hostile cars; in the second part, you turn somersaults over gaps, use elevators and shoot lots of enemies until you reach the boss. After having killed / caught the villain, it's back to the road again for the next mission. [

Temple of Apshai

Temple of Apshai

Atari 800 - Released - 1982

Temple of Apshai is the first in Automated Simulations' Dunjonquest series of role-playing games series and one of the first computer role-playing games. The game could be described as a graphical "roguelike", but actually it resembles the mainframe classic DND more, as you cannot see the whole level, but only your surroundings. Furthermore, the level maps are not randomized like in Rogue. Still, the gameplay has a lot in common with Rogue and other early dungeon crawls: A solo character explores a monster-infested, multi-level dungeon to grab some treasure, everything in top-down view.

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Apple Mac OS - Released - 1986

The Temple of Apshai Trilogy includes updated graphical versions of three classic Apshai games: Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai Dunjonquest: Upper Reaches of Apshai Dunjonquest: Curse of Ra

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Atari ST - Released - 1986

The Temple of Apshai Trilogy includes updated graphical versions of three classic Apshai games: Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai Dunjonquest: Upper Reaches of Apshai Dunjonquest: Curse of Ra

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1986

The Temple of Apshai followed the general idea of Dungeons and Dragons, with lots of monsters to meet in battle and treasure to be found. You can start from scratch, with your character given a random 1 to 18 for six basic attributes: Intelligence, intuition, ego, strength, constitution and dexterity, together with a number of silver pieces. You can enter a previously saved character from disc. Thankfully this interpretation has superior graphics attributes of a character from an earlier game. You can restore a previous game saved at any point within Apshai. Each realm has four levels. Dungeons and Dragons followers will find levels 1 to 2 are appropriate to third level, and the lower levels to fourth and sixth level characters. There are special commands, such as examining a wall for secret doors, opening doors, searching for traps, picking up treasures, listening for monsters, talking to monsters, healing with salves or elixirs, checking the and a few healing salves, you are inventory of your treasures or saving the game or character for future use. Most levels of each realm have 50 to 60 rooms, so there is plenty to explore. Some monsters are tied to particular locations, but others wander around looking for the odd meal. The innkeeper will pay you for any treasure you have collected so you have a chance to add to or improve your equipment. There is a little more to Apshai than straightforward monster bashing, but nowhere near the depth of puzzles and quests to be found in more modern offerings such as Ultima and Bard's Tale.

Temple of Apshai: Curse of Ra

Temple of Apshai: Curse of Ra

Commodore 64 - Released - 1984

Temple of Apshai was the first game in Automated Simulations' Dunjonquest series, which span ten individual titles, including expansions, smaller games, and a full sequel, Hellfire Warrior. The add-on, Curse of Ra, required the original Temple of Apshai program to run. The level design and room descriptions for both were created by Tim Bird, Mark Madrid and Andrew Martin. Curse of Ra is set in ancient Egypt and has higher difficulty. It also consists of four dungeon levels, with 179 rooms total.

The Datestones of Ryn

The Datestones of Ryn

Atari 800 - Released - 1981

You, Brian Hammerhand, mercenary at large, presently least senior officer of the cavalry troop, and drawer of the shortest straw, have the singular honor of undertaking this hazardous but glorious mission. Will you emerge victorious, carrying the sacred stones and the head of Rex the Reaver, or will you meet ignominious defeat, pierced through by a cold steel blade thrust from the shadows? The honor of the duchy is in your hands. A 2D text based RPG written in BASIC.

The Datestones of Ryn

The Datestones of Ryn

Commodore 64 - Released - 1983

You, Brian Hammerhand, mercenary at large, presently least senior officer of the cavalry troop, and drawer of the shortest straw, have the singular honor of undertaking this hazardous but glorious mission. Will you emerge victorious, carrying the sacred stones and the head of Rex the Reaver, or will you meet ignominious defeat, pierced through by a cold steel blade thrust from the shadows? The honor of the duchy is in your hands. A 2D text based RPG written in BASIC. Part of the "Dunjonquest" series.

The Eidolon

The Eidolon

Apple II - August 8, 1985

The Eidolon was one of two games that were part of Lucasfilm Games' second wave in December 1985. The other was Koronis Rift. Both took advantage of the fractal technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!,further enhancing it. In The Eidolon, Rescue's fractal mountains were turned upside down and became the inside of a cave.

The Games: Summer Edition

The Games: Summer Edition

Commodore 64 - Released - 1988

The Games - Summer Edition is the follower of Summer Games II and the last game of the Epyx Games series. Epyx has newly created four events from the forerunners Summer Games I + II and integrated four new events. Together with the two Summer Games titles are The Games a nice collection of olympic events. In contrast to other sports games of this time there was no shaking discipline in this game. For the first time there is also a team mode. The game is designed for up to 8 players. The players get points for the successful finishing of events. For each gold medal you get 5 points, for each silver medal 3 points and one point for each bronze medal. The player with the most points wins the game.

The Games: Summer Edition

The Games: Summer Edition

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1989

You start as a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team to compete at the Olympic Summer Games. You can play eight events, including Velodrome Sprint Cycling, Hurdles, Pole Vault, Hammer-throw, Uneven Parallel Bars, Rings, Archery, and Springboard Diving. You can practice each event separately or play the whole competition. The game also features a multiple player option, this makes it a nice party game. If you are alone, you can compete against the computer. If you're stuck in an event, or want to get better, just take the coaching book (= the manual) and read how you can make more tricks. It also features many real facts of the history of the Olympic summer games.

The Games: Winter Edition

The Games: Winter Edition

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1988

Once again Epyx invites players to compete in winter Olympics. This time there are 8 events which can be played, which are: Figure Skating, Cross Country Skiing, Speed Skating, Ski Jumping, Slalom, Downhill Skiing and Luge. Up to 8 players can either play the complete Olympics, compete in one or more events or simply practice an event. Some events can be played simultaneously (Cross Country Skiing, Slalom and Speed Skating) while the others have to be played one after another.

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