• Tag Archives retrogaming

  • PC Zone (January 2001)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    PC Zone is a PC gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. In fact, it was the first magazine published in the U.K. to be dedicated to PC gaming. It was published from 1993 to 2010. The January 2001 issue includes:

    Previews

    • Operation Flashpoint – An early look at this Cold War era wargame.
    • Mechwarrior 4 – A preview of the latest Mechwarrior game which was developed by Microsoft. I never really progressed beyond Mechwarrior 2.
    • Desperados – A strategy game set in the wild west.
    • Fate of the Dragon – A game with a resemblance to Age of Empires based on Chinese History.
    • Conflict Zone – A real-time strategy game that also involves a strategic use of the media.
    • Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – I prefer RPGs in the style of Baldur’s Gate which came along a few years before this game but this one is still on my to play list one of these days.

    Reviews: New Games

    • Severance: Blade of Darkness – A fantasy based third person action game from Codemasters.
    • American McGee’s Alice – An interesting interpretation of Alice in Wonderland.
    • Escape From Monkey Island – The classic LucasArts point-and-click adventure game.
    • Colin McRae Rally 2 – A racing game sequel that lives up to the original.
    • Simon the Sorcerer 3D – An apparently really bad adventure game.
    • Hitman: Codename 47 – Classic shooter in which you play the roll of an assassin.
    • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 – The first sequel to the classic skateboarding series.
    • Tomb Raider Chronicles – The latest series of Laura Croft adventures.
    • Links 2001 – I was never that into golf games but this was a decent one from Microsoft.
    • Civilization: Call to Power 2 – The original Civilization was already ten years old at this point but this was another worthy entry in the series.
    • Deep Space Nine: The Fallen – A third-person action/adventure game based on Star Trek: DS9.
    • No One Lives Forever – A first person shooter with a very linear storyline.
    • Blair Witch Volume 2 – A not too bad horror adventure game based on the Blair Witch franchise.
    • Screamer 4×4 – A slow paced racing game in which navigating difficult terrain is emphasized over raw speed.
    • Moho – An action game that tries to be unique but falls a little flat.
    • Supercross Kings – A motorcycle racing game that just isn’t very good.
    • MTV Skateboarding – There’s a reason you probably remember Tony Hawk but don’t remember this skateboarding game.
    • Fur Fighters – A combination of first person shooting and simple puzzles featuring cute animals.
    • Motocross Mania – A game that was clearly influenced by Microsoft’s Motocross Madness.
    • Thandor: The Invasion – A real-time strategy game that is well below average.
    • Jetfighter IV – A mediocre combat flight sim.
    • City Trader – This is essentially a stock trading sim. While more entertaining than it sounds, it definitely won’t be for everybody.
    • Hogs of War – A 3-D Worms-like game featuring pigs and a WWI them. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that well.

    Budget Reviews

    • Jimmy White’s 2 Cueball – A great game if you are looking for computerized versions of games such as snooker and darts.
    • Heretic 2 – The classic fantasy third person action adventure game based on the Quake II engine.
    • Heavy Gear 2 – A great classic mech game.
    • Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge – Golf games with Jack Nicklaus’ name on it were usually pretty decent as is this one.
    • Beetle Crazy Cup – A less than mediocre arcade racing game.
    • Total Annihilation: Kingdoms – A pretty mediocre real-time strategy game in which you play as one of four civilizations.
    • Wheel of Time – This fantasy based FPS/adventure game is based on the book series with the same name though the game doesn’t live up to the books.

    Online News

    • Planetside – A massively multiplayer first person tactical shooter by the makers of Everquest.
    • Ultima Online: Third Age – The latest update to this then four year old MMORPG that is still going today.
    • Dark Age of Camelot – I was never really big into MMORPGs but I was addicted to this one for a little while. I can still hear the music.
    • Win a PC and a Dreamcast – The prizes in this competition include a Sega Dreamcast and a Dell PC with a Pentium III-800, 64MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive, 32MB nVidia M64 TNT 2 graphics card, and more.

    Online Reviews

    • counter Strike 1.0 – One of the most iconic online shooters of all time was already a classic at this time.
    • C&C: Red Alert 2 – The latest in what was one of the greatest RTS game series.
    • Game Server Browsers Round-Up – A look at tools designed to help you to find the best game servers. At the top of the list here was Pingtool 2.6A.

    Bulletin

    • Battlefield: 1942 – This game was unique for providing first person control of vehicles, airplanes, and troops all in one game.
    • DS9: Dominion Wars – A 3D space combat game featuring Star Trek ships.
    • Tech Head – A look at the latest from COMDEX including a new Tablet PC spec, the GeForce 2 Go from nVidia, and more.
    • The PC Zone Charts – Top games this month include Red Alert 2, Escape From Monkey Island, Baldur’s Gate II, and more.
    • Hotshots – A new RTS from Codemasters called Z: Steel Soldiers.

    Regulars

    • Mailbox – Letters from readers about sexism in gaming, PC game packaging, videogame violence, and more.
    • Hardware: Graphics Cards – A look at the Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra and ATI Radeon 64MB DDR.
    • Hardware: Upgrades – Some ideas for Christmas including the Abit KT-7 RAID Motherboard, the 1 GHz Athlon Socket A CPU, the IBM Deskstar 75GXP, and more.
    • PC Zone Top 100 – The best 100 PC games of all time. Top games include Half-Life, Shogun: Total War, Deus Ex, Grim Fandango, Midtown Madness, Falcon 4, Fifa 2001, and more.

    Troubleshooting

    • Cheatmaster – Cheats for a variety of games including Midtown Madness 2, Rune, Baldur’s Gate II, and more.
    • Diablo II Walkthrough: Part 2 – The second part of a detailed strategy guide for Diablo II.
    • Dear Wandy – Questions answered about upgrading a Pentium II CPU, hub choices, online gaming, downloads over modem, and more.
    • Watchdog – Complaints about LibertySurf ISP, purchasing a monitor online, NTL cable modem service, and more.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Commodore User (February 1990)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Commodore User is a magazine that was published in the U.K. and covered various Commodore computers over the years it was published. Near the end of its life it was covering the Amiga and Commodore 64. Issue number 77 from February 1990 includes:

    Specials

    • Sound Framework – A guide to creating demos on the Amiga including a look at tools such as Deluxe Video III, Master Sound, and more..
    • Readers’ Poll – A form for readers to nominate the best software in various categories.
    • Tips Special – Tips and tricks for a variety of games including Hard Drivin’, Dr. Doom’s Revenge, Ghostbusters II, Xenophobe, Power Drift, Galaxy Force, Kick Off, Sim City, It Came From The Desert, Bomber, Space Ace, Space Ace, and more.

    Regulars

    • Buzz – Game companies seek rights to make game based on Black Rain movie; new Asterix game forthcoming; Space Harrier sequel; new AD&D gold box game, Champions of Krynn; new game based on Dawn of the Dead; Bloodwych add-on; Hunt for Red October; and much more.
    • Demos – A look at some of the latest demos including some featuring Alf and Roger Rabbit.
    • Adventure – Hints and tips for adventure games including Bard’s Tale, Bard’s Tale III, Shadowgate, Journey, The Valley, and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about game value, Kick Off, software quality, the Atari ST, and more.
    • Arcades – A look at some of the latest arcade games including WGP from Taito, Line of Fire from Sega, Badlands from Atari, and Shadow Dancer.
    • Tommy’s Tips – Questions answered about adding a hard drive to the Amiga 500, CP/M on the Commodore 64, disabling the RUN/STOP and RESTORE keys on the Commodore 64, and more.

    Reviews

    • Aquanaut – A game for the Amiga in which you play the role of a scuba diving secret agent.
    • Fire – A scrolling shooter for the Amiga in which you control a helicopter battling terrorists.
    • Black Tiger – Save civilization in this action game for the Amiga.
    • Bomber – A combat flight sim for the Commodore 64. This kind of game wasn’t really the C64’s strong point.
    • European Space Shuttle – A space shuttle sim for the Amiga.
    • Wings of Fury – A side-scrolling shooter for the Amiga.
    • Space Ace – A conversion of this arcade classic for the Amiga.
    • Starflight – The classic sci-fi strategy game by Electronic Arts for the Amiga.
    • Ringside Manager – A boxing game for the Amiga.
    • Drakkhen – An RPG for the Amiga that was later ported to other systems including as one of the early releases for the Super NES.
    • Super Cars – A racing game with game play similar to Super Sprint.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Amiga Commodore 64 Computer Arcana Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Micro Adventurer (March 1985)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Micro Adventurer is a 1980s era computer gaming magazine that emphasized adventure games, simulations, and war games. The March 1985 issue includes:

    • Letters – Letters from readers regarding adventure game help, adventure game generators for the BBC, Lords of Midnight for the Commodore 64, and more.
    • News – Battle of the Bulge for the Commodore 64 and Spectrum; Darkwood Manor, Shadow of the Bear, and Death Valley Gold Rush for MSX computers; MUD enhancements; and more.
    • Gargoyle’s Glee – An interview with the creators of Tir Na Nog.
    • Classic Games – A look at some computerized board games including Chess for the ZX Spectrum, MyChess II for the Commodore 64, QL-CHess, Reversi, Backgammon for the Spectrum, and Scrabble for the Spectrum.
    • Infocom – The first in a series of articles on Infocom adventure games. This part covers Zork I and Zork II.
    • The Journey – A look at The Journey for the ZX Spectrum.
    • The Holy Joystick – A look at a couple of adventure games created with The Quill adventure game creator, The Quest for the Holy Joystick and The Return of the Holy Joystick.

    • MUD – An article in a continuing series on MUD. This one discusses characters in the original Essex University version of the game.
    • Wargames – A look at three wargames including Legionnaire for the Commodore 64, Combat Leader for the Commodore 64, and Panzer Attack for the Spectrum.
    • Adventure Generators – A look at three different adventure game makers including The Quill Version C (Spectrum), Adventure Writer (Atari, Apple, Commodore 64), and The Illustrator (Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad).
    • Gargoyle Competition – A Tir Na Nog competition in which you can win one of five parchment maps.
    • Arcade Adventures – A look at various arcade adventure games including KnightLore, Sorcerer, Avalon, Impossible Mission, Tir Na Nog, Gift From The Gods, and others.
    • Adventure Help – Helping readers with various adventure games including Wheel of Fortune, Valhalla, Return to Eden, Starcross, Token of Ghall, Infidel, and more.
    • Karn Adventures – Diving into Heroes of Kanr and Empire of Karn from Interceptor Software for the Spectrum and Commodore 64.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of The On-Line Handbook, The BBC Micro Adventurer, Creating Adventures of the Commodore 64, Creating Adventure Programs on the BBC Micro, Crypt of the Vampire, Temple of Flame, and Maelstrom.
    • Software Inventory – A look at new and upcoming adventure games including Staff of Zaranol (Spectrum), Waydor (Spectrum), Treasure of Meathos (Spectrum), Underworld – The Village (Spectrum), Gems of Stradus (Amstrad CPC464), Mountain Palace Adventure (Commodore 64), Zany Adventures (Spectrum), and Telengard (Commodore 64).

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana Retro Games 📎and tagged