Nostalgic Game Review Finale: Part I (198x — 1994)
Nostalgic Game Review
All good things must come to an end! And the time has come when I am running out of games that I am nostalgic of 😀 So to send this column off with a bang, the finale will be a three-part coverage on a list of games from 1980’s to 2010.
These games fall into a special category since they are either 1) ones I had fond memories of, but didn’t play enough to really write a full article for; 2) ones that are already widely reviewed and I don’t have much to add.
Again, by walking through these games with me, I hope to shed some light on the history of game design and reflect on how gaming technologies have evolved.
Without further ado…
Tetris (198x, various platforms)
Tetris is a game I’ve always loved and addicted to, even before I had a PC I’d already played it on a few different mobile devices (including single purpose devices and later, Game Boy) The PC game was very well done and the music just stayed with me. Very recently I tried to make a Tetris-like game for a ‘Game Jam’ event, but failed miserably… more on that later 🙂
Bubble Bobble (‘泡泡龍’ 198x PC)
This game has a special place in my heart. I played it extensively with my childhood buddies on the 286 AT machine with monochrome monitor. It’s a two player co-op, sharing the same big keyboard! One player would play on the WASD side (I don’t think it’s these keys but it’s at the left side) and the other would play using the numeric/directional keys at the right. The background music still comes up in my head from time to time. 🙂
Double Dragon (198x PC)
This is another of my childhood favorites. I also play with another friend, sharing the same keyboard. The game I’ve been trying to build has the same gameplay but Double Dragon has a lot of fun on how you get to pick up and use various weapons, and it has various bosses as well some environmental features such as conveyor belt, fences for climbing.
Batman (1989 PC)
This was the very first game I bought, probably on my birthday. The screenshots I can find seems to differ from my memory a bit. Research suggested that the publisher actually had different versions of this same game on different platforms. I loved Batman as a kid and loved playing the game even though I had no clue what I was doing at all.
吞食天地 (Dynasty Wars, 1989 PC)
It’s a classic JRPG based on the classic Chinese historical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義)” and the manga series done by 本宮宏志. I loved the novel and love how the game provides a way to interact with the characters in the story. The beautiful pixel arts and battle system also left a great impression for this game.
俠客英雄傳 (1991 PC)
This is a JRPG influenced RPG game developed in Taiwan. There have been multiple iterations and re-releases for this game and I have a hard time finding the graphics from the original game. I vaguely remember its complex 武俠 (kung-fu, paladin) story but I did not spend enough time to really get into the game.
如來金剛拳 (1992 PC)
Another 武俠 (Kung-fu, Paladin) game developed in Taiwan, yet this adventure game definitely show the developer’s ambition, with a pretty interesting story, beautiful graphic and artworks, various gameplay and interesting puzzles that’s based on Chinese’s ancient text “ I Ching (易經) “.
Magic Carpet (1994 PC)
I only played the demo of this game and was very impressed by its 3D rendered, beautiful visuals and sound. Plus, who wouldn’t like the idea of magic battle on a flying carpet?
That’s it for this episode of Nostalgic Game Review! Thank you for visiting!
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Originally published at https://heta.link on February 26, 2022.
