19: Neunzehn

Nintendo Famicom Disk System - Released - March 4, 1988

The heir to the throne is shared by four brave people: Darius, Simon, Thales, and Sonia. The 19 gods of Olympus left behind an omnipotent stone to the great emperor Achilles, who has ordered a search to be conducted for the stone. You take the role of one of these four in an effort to find the stone on the island before the rest, waging war with opponent armies to prevent them from finding it first. 19 is somewhat unique among turn based strategy games, in that turns are taken in real time, following rules that are reminiscent of the Japanese chess-like game known as Shogi. The game takes place on an overworld map, on which players take turns moving troops. When opposing troops vi for the same location, the game switches to a zoomed-in combat screen, showing each individual member of the opposing forces. While the story of the game revolves around finding a stone, there is no actual stone to discover. Your only goal is to wipe out the armies of the other three opponents.

Bakutoushi Patton-kun

Nintendo Famicom Disk System - Released - August 5, 1988

Bakutoushi Patton-Kun is an action game developed by Soft Pro and published for the Famicom Disk System in Japan in 1988. It is an overhead tank combat game similar in style to Atari's Combat game. It was the first FDS title to allow for four players to play simultaneously. In the game, players attempt to destroy one another's tanks. If a tank is destroyed, the driver of the tank will exit the vehicle, and must try to stay alive long enough for a replacement tank to parachute down from the sky. Game play continues until only one tank is the sole survivor. Then players advance to a new stage with different terrain. There are 56 stages in total. Despite referencing the name of American General George S. Patton in the title, there is no mention of him anywhere else throughout the game. The game also features a construction mode where players may design their own stages. Although the game was only release in Japan, the loading screen instructions contain English profanity.

Breeder

Nintendo Famicom Disk System - Released - December 15, 1986

Breeder is a sort of fighting game featuring automated fighting robots designed by the player. The action takes place in the distant future and to improve the quality of their war-robots, a star civilization decides to organize special tournaments. Those "metal combats" are held in arenas where two robots fight against each other in a death match. A vast list of components can be edited and customized from the start and the game counts seven different types of robots ( 2 legs, 4 legs, snake, hover, 3 tires, 6 tires and Belt). 1000 points are given to the player and they need to be strategically spent over fifteen abilities - from speed, dexterity to luck and IQ. When the player robot is ready, it can be activated and fight in a special arena. However, the fight is totally controlled by the CPU - so the player just sits down and watch the action until his robot wins, or loses. Up to eight robots can be saved on the Disk Card.

Choplifter!

Sharp X1 - Released - 1985

Choplifter! is a side-scrolling action/arcade game that puts you in command of an attack chopper. Your mission: Go behind enemy lines and rescue up to 16 hostages per level. Be careful, though, because tanks and enemy aircraft will try to stop you - and they won't stop shooting while you are rescuing those hostages! Originally released for Apple II home computers, Choplifter! was later ported to the arcades and a number of video game consoles. Many imitators and homages would follow.

Circus Charlie

Nintendo Entertainment System - Released - March 4, 1986

You are Charlie, a member of a circus troupe. Your job is to please the crowd by performing five death-defying stunts: Stunt #1: You and the lion must jump through several rings of fire. Remember to avoid the jugs that emit fire. You must do this for 100 meters. Stunt #2: Walk the tightrope for 70 meters, avoiding the monkeys that get in your way. Jump the cyan monkeys for 500 points. Stunt #3: Roll on a ball for 80 meters, jumping from ball to ball. You can move balls backwards if the target is too close to make a successful jump. Avoid contact with the ground. Stunt #4: Ride a horse for 200 meters, bouncing on trampolines along the way. Be careful not to miss the jump or go over the tops of trampolines. You can speed up or slow down the horse. Stunt #5: Finally, trapeze from swing to swing for 50 meters. If you miss, make sure that you land on the platforms below so you bounce back on a swing. Once you have completed all five stunts, you have to do them again and hopefully, more points will be awarded.

Dam Busters

NEC PC-9801 - Released - 1986

Dam Busters is an early flight simulation, set in World War II. It focuses on Dam Busters who historically were used to heavily bombard strategic objectives, in this case dams. This task is not easy, as en route you will face heavy opposition forces. Fortunately, you won't be a sitting bomber in the air. Your aircraft is equipped with machine guns (left and right) with unlimited rounds of fire power, so fire at will as the enemy approaches. When the time comes, you will have to bomb the target manually. So, get ready to unload the cargo and give them hell!

Fairytale

Nintendo Famicom Disk System - Released - April 28, 1989

Fairytale is a turn-based war strategy game that takes place in an archetypal fairytale world. The player and their units must fight off an invasion of pigs by encountering them on the map and fighting in strategic battles where the opponent and player commit to a course of action and watch both sides move and act simultaneously. In this respect the challenge is not only out-maneuvering their opponent but also correctly predicting their next plan of attack and reacting ahead of time.

Karateka

Nintendo Entertainment System - Released - December 5, 1985

High atop a craggy cliff, guarded by an army of fierce warriors stands the fortress of the evil warlord Akuma. Deep in the darkest dungeon of the castle Akuma gloats over his lovely captive, the Princess Mariko. You are one trained in the way of karate: a Karateka. Alone and unarmed, you must defeat Akuma rescue the beautiful Mariko. Put fear and self-concern behind you. Focus your will on your objective, accepting death as a possibility. This is the way of the Karateka.

Lode Runner

Fujitsu FM-7 - Released - 1984

The Bungeling Empire has stolen a huge cache of gold from its rightful owners, and your mission is to infiltrate its treasury and recapture it. This entails progressing through 150 screens of platforms, ladders and ropes. The Empire has sent robotic guards down to protect the gold, and contact with any of these will cost you a life. Your method of escaping them is to press fire to dig a hole in their line of movement, thus causing them to fall in briefly, allowing you to move across the gap safely. Once all the gold has been collected, a ladder allowing you to move onto the next screen is added. Completing these screens often requires forward planning and precision. This was one of the earliest games to include a level editor, allowing the creation of new level designs with no programming skill.

Pulsar no Hikari: Space Wars Simulation

Nintendo Famicom Disk System - Released - October 2, 1987

Pulsar no Hikari ("Pulsar of Light"): Space Wars Simulation is a game for the FDS created by computer game developer Soft Pro International. It's a rather dense strategic space simulator that has the player control a starship as it explores a galaxy and fights off enemy ships. The player needs to keep an eye on various pieces of information, such as their energy and their destination, and ensure they don't accidentally wander into an area with pulsars or black holes, or off the galaxy map all together. Exploration in Pulsar no Hikari seems to follow a set course of scanning nearby space, moving into the next region once it's been ascertained with the long-range scanners that there are no insurmountable obstacles to be encountered there, destroy any asteroids or enemy ships that might be prowling around by checking the short-range scanners and then long-range scan/warp to the next area. Once the ship's energy/fuel is low (combat and movement will steadily drain it), the player should return to the closest star base for refuelling. Smaller star bases can refuel the ship's standard energy unit, but damage and lost ammo (the torpedoes, of which the ship has a finite amount) must be recovered at the major bases. Accidentally warping to a location with a black hole will instantly end the game. It's generally considered a bad idea.

Rabbian

Microsoft MSX - Released - 1985

Spare Change

Sharp X1 - Released - 1985

In Spare Change, you are the owner and operator of the Spare Change Arcade, dedicated to making your place of business run as smoothly as possible. Inside the arcade are Token machines, jukeboxes, telephones, movie booths, popcorn machines, and so on. The token machines need to be restocked with money from the cash register when they are out of tokens, but eventually, the register must be replenished with cash from the safe. You must drop the tokens in one of your two storage bins. When you have stored at least ten tokens, the movie booth opens, and you can go inside to proceed to the next level. You are also awarded one bag of money, but if you store more than ten tokens, then more than one bag of money is awarded for each extra token collected. If nine bags of money are obtained, you proceed to the next level. But the Zerks, two aliens that run around the screen, can steal tokens either from the machines or from the storage bins. Sometimes, a Zerk will toss a token to the other nearest the "piggy bank". You must touch them in order to get the token back, before they throw it in their piggy bank. Alternatively, you can throw a token into the jukebox, telephone, popcorn machine, etc. and the Zerks will get distracted from their goal, giving you enough time to continue filling the storage bins. If the Zerks insert five tokens in the piggy bank, the game is over. Between levels, an intermission plays, which are similar to those in Pac-Man. Later in the game, you have the ability to access these intermissions. As you proceed through the levels, the game gets quite difficult.