Lost and forgotten (except by us)

[racofer]

I doesn't change when needed and changes when it's not needed.
And yes, you need to control it every second. Try for example to zoom it out all the way (it's a lie that you can set it at any height, btw) and then move it over a hill or something. Oops, now it's stuck at that height because the camera can't detect changes in terrain altitude as you move it and you're treated to a fullscreen of the beautiful ground texture unless you zoom in and out again to "wake" it up.

Worst camera ever made in any game.

Ask racofer about it.

The best camera:

NWN 1 got it right, DA:O got it right (mostly), KotOR 1/2 got it right... but NWN 2's camera is pure shit.

 

[Gauldur's Bait]

One of the first games I played at home as a kid, on a Commodore Vic-20 cartridge - Gorf! The sound effects were very loud and noisy, and watching this video I understand why my parents went apeshit over them :D


Excellent thread!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Also the source for the "Gorf is Frog backwards" minimeme from ages ago.

 

[Daemongar]

Never knew the trick with flying over the land part of the map - and that after playing it so many times..

That's not the original river raid. There was no trick like that in the original. Also, he is going a *lot* slower than the original. The original has the Activision logo on the bottom.

He's playing a "Fly over Land" hack, which was made in 2014. Which... kind of defeats the struggle of the game.

Compare the speed to this video, which is how I remember River Raid

 

[DwarvenFood]

Yes that's more how I remember it. Good times.

 

[Cerulean]

Total Distortion. A game I never actually played apart from the demo because I could never find it. That situation has not changed. It's an adventure game where you actually get to make music videos. Which was pretty awesome for the time.

That song may be one of the greatest things I've ever heard. More games need to end on notes like that.

 

[Skall]

Below the Root

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_the_Root_(video_game)

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Below_the_Root_1984

Just checked it out, and it actually seems like a very interesting game.

Despite the hardware limitations, it does a great job of evoking a magical tree-world just begging to be explored. Its various gameplay elements might be a bit on the simple side, but there's a lot to be impressed with, especially given the release date:

• An attract mode that doubles as a basic tutorial and preview of the game.
  
• Multiple characters with unique skills/attributes and different starting locations within the world.
• Two major factions with various gameplay/story implications such as being distrustful of the player if they're from the "wrong" side and refusing to aid them, or even attempting to "ambush" them if they spend a night (via stolen items or a kidnapping scenario). Since one side is also vegetarian, this places constraints some player characters as they can't rejuvenate the food resource by eating meat (it makes them sick).
  
• Deceitful characters that say one thing but reveal another when mind-read.
  
• Recharging spirit meter (mana).
• Time-sensitive elements: long limit on full game completion, once-a-day free items from friendly NPCs, hunger/rest resource management.
  
• No apparent permadeath (except from the above limit?) -- when the player character gets hit or falls down from a height, they get briefly stunned and have a chance of breaking an inventory item.
• Interactive environment -- it's possible to make rope bridges or grow out tree branches via magic, and these aren't at just plot-specific points.
  
• Drug-berries.

"Un" has a playthrough of the game on YouTube and goes into the books themselves as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrVt3-iW170&list=PLECB71CCA52849673

In general, Un's channel focuses on somewhat underlooked titles and is worth checking out. He doesn't try to be quite as wacky and zany as most YouTubers, and his videos provide informed commentary. I first found it looking for some info on Dark Savior.

Despite its clunkiness, Dark Savior is an interesting console ARPG that takes place on a single prison-island. Based on the player's early-game actions, the overarching story-thread is dramatically altered (i.e., the main quest and end boss change entirely), and it contains quite a bit of non-linear exploration, colourful and distinct locales, and a unique -- if flawed -- combat system.

Here's a clip:



Un does a full playthrough of the game as well, and its various: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuGEnYyPKOs&list=PLBE703F684617E5FD

 

[Eirinjas]

Despite its clunkiness, Dark Savior is an interesting console ARPG that takes place on a single prison-island. Based on the player's early-game actions, the overarching story-thread is dramatically altered (i.e., the main quest and end boss change entirely), and it contains quite a bit of non-linear exploration, colourful and distinct locales, and a unique -- if flawed -- combat system.

This is in my Sega Saturn collection. Gem of a game! It's a spiritual successor to Landstalker on the Sega Genesis.

 

[Eirinjas]

'Dark Wizard' on the Sega CD was an awesome strategy game:

Spoiler

'The MisAdventures of Flink' (Sega Genesis & Sega CD) had gorgeous graphics and a great soundtrack:

Spoiler

'Star Wars Arcade' for the Sega 32x was legit - Death Star trench was crazy hard. There's also a mission where you have to fly through the insides of a Super Star Destroyer:

Spoiler

'Shining the Holy Ark' for the Sega Saturn - JRPG blobber which reminded me a alot of M&M - fantasy and sci-fi elements:

Spoiler

'Fighters Megamix' for the Sega Saturn - best fighting game ever - mixes characters from Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Fighter Kids, and a bunch of others:

Spoiler

 

[vonAchdorf]

Obscure German strategy game about Hannibal, made by Starbyte:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/hannibal

 

[Tigranes]

Now that looks cool. Was it fun/good?

 

[vonAchdorf]

Now that looks cool. Was it fun/good?

I remember playing it a lot, but I have to admit, that I can't remember if it was because of the lack of alternatives (though there were Centurion and Civ 1). Typically for German games, it was a bit heavy on numbers and the economic part, but I remember that I liked that there were so many cities (a review mentions 700) on the map. The battles were only auto resolve though, no like e.g. in Centurion.

 

[Villagkouras]

During the past week, I was trying to recollect games I was playing in the late 80's/early 90's. I saw this thread and some are mentioned (Stunts, Dizzy, Gobliiins etc), but for oldfags' sake, I'll put some more (all games are on pc):

Thexder (1985)

A very difficult and frustrating platformer where you were in control of a robot that could transform in a jet fighter. You didn't need to aim, Thexder had auto-aim, but shooting your laser drained your energy, so you had to pick the optimal route to kill enemies and maintaining your energy.

Spoiler

Karnov (1987)

Spoiler

Karnov was another platformer about a Russian, with a really cool soundtrack. I still remember its main tune. Very good controls for its time.

Impossible Mission II (1988)

Spoiler

Another platformer, but puzzle platformer this time. The player had to dodge some robots and search for clues or power ups in every single object a level had. I remember playing that a lot, without really knowing what to do. I couldn't even use the power ups, being 6 years old isn't very helpful. Who am I kidding, the game is hard as fuck.

Lakers vs. Celtics (1989)

Spoiler

My first basketball game and it was a blast! I became a Lakers fan after this game! I liked the special sound that the 3pt shot had when it went in. Later, I discovered TV Sports Basketball which is a better game and I could edit the teams to play with European rosters, but you know what they tell about your first love...

Colorado (1990)

Spoiler

Ok, this one wasn't good. Or maybe it was, I don't know. IT'S THE MOST FUCKING DIFFICULT GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED. To shoot and Indian (...) you had to load your weapon. Ok, I know it's logical but in the eyes of an 8 year old it's not. If indians didn't kill you, cliffs did. If cliffs didn't kill you, maybe rocks that Indians throw at you while you are in a boat, dodging all sorts of obstacles in a river, while other Indians on other boats try to kill you with their oars? FUCK ME!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Great post, Villagkouras

I know all of these games, but the only one I ever played (and completed) was Impossible Mission 2. I played the Amstrad CPC version though, which was 'lacking' a few parts of the game and could be gamed so that it always gave the same level layout - which resulted in the 'impossible mission' becoming a merely 'improbable mission'.

But I feel like talking about some old games, and these two came to mind.

Xenomorph (1990)

Dungeon Master had come and...mostly stuck around as the Best Thing Ever for Atari ST users, so naturally everyone and their grandmothers tried to cash in on it. One interesting effort was this game, a game where a transport ship suffers a huge malfunction and is forced to land on a research post that seems abandoned for 'some reason' (as if the game's title wasn't a tip-off).

Half the manual is just background story that explains how come you, the lowest-ranking member of the crew (with the possible exception of the ship's cat, Hydrant, which didn't survive the trip ) is stuck with needing to make the ship space-worthy again by switching out all the burnt-out chips on the circuit boards, as well as finding replacement fuel rods to fuel the ship. It doesn't take long to realize that you're the only living human on-site, and something has gone terribly wrong after a series of gene-experiments involving local samples. I don't think that the PC version is the best version to play, but it sure does convey an interesting atmosphere and pays tremendous attention to detail. It's a survival horror game that's tangled in the wrong game genre.

Murder! (1990)

Unless you read gaming magazines around 1990 (or actually had a copy of the game in your hands) odds are good you've never heard of this one. This is a 'private eye simulator' where you just happen to be present at a fancy party when someone gets murdered, and you're given 2 hours before Scotland Yard arrives and takes over the investigation. That everything is portrayed in black-and-white is deliberate, as the game takes place between the years of 1919-1945, the years that Agatha Christie was at her finest.

The gameplay involves finding clues, interrogating suspects, trying to piece together the events leading up to the murder and proving which murder weapon was used. The thing is, thanks to clever coding and the usage of 'seeds' the game has a couple of million cases to solve, so step carefully into the shoes of 'the Bloody Belgian Busybody' if you fancy a go at this game.

 

[Skall]

I'll add another, a CRPG-at-heart that somehow only ever appeared on a console:

Rings of Power

Rings of Power came with a thick manual that included a full walkthrough of the game, and for good reason: the main quest was almost entirely non-linear and required a thorough exploration of the huge world map. There was also food and water to manage (which drained differently based on various types of terrain and mounted creatures/vehicles), a series of tasks that required proper item/keyword sleuthing, a day/night cycle, terrain deformation, individual cities with their own imports/exports (which were pretty necessary to exploit in order to buy all the spells for all the characters), etc.

It also relied on an iso-style height-map that -- even with the postage-stamp viewport -- the poor Genesis could render at only like 1 FPS, its music tracks (some straight from public domain) were not properly normalized, and its tile-based movement and interface were quite clunky. Despite all this, the game's still definitely worth a look, and not just for the topless easter egg that probably did more for its awareness than any gameplay or marketing.

Spoiler

To this day I'm still amazed at the scope of the world map; just look at this thing! http://rings-of-power.ru/map/RingsOfPower-World(Animated).gif Now just imagine each one of those squares is a room you can "zoom into" or an entire building/dungeon. Granted most of the rooms were generic and recycled, but the they imbued the game with a great sense of scope and exploration.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

Since after digging through the 15 pages of this thread, I don't think anybody has posted anything about it yet.

Warzone 2100
http://wz2100.net/



This was a really neat RTS game that was pretty awesome. One of the major features that this game allowed that like no other games since it has attempted to emulate was unit/tank customization. You had like... 30 or 40 different weapons/utility types, 10 tread/mobility options, 12 or 15 different types of body armor that you mix and match to create whatever task force you needed to get the job done. Each different option had its own pros and cons, like weight, durability, speed, power, etc. There were also hundreds of different research options in the tech tree that improved your buildings or tanks/cyborgs/etc. and they all came with neat descriptions of what they did, and some with verbal explanations.

The missions were generally tough, though you could steam roll through most of the stuff if you took your time in the missions where you didn't have to race the clock and build up your army. But for the most part, you had to play a game of tug of war with your opponent to see who lets up first, sometimes it's fucking brutal, especially towards the end.



I always wished that there were similar games that would make it out to the market. But nothing has, or at least anything that's caught my eye.

 

[grudgebringer]

I don't know anything about the game itself, but that music is from Daikatana soundtrack lol.

 

[octavius]

Tir Na Nog

and Dun Darach

by Gargoyle Games are all but forgotten today, but were minor hits back in the Spectrum days. But they are still playable and I replayed them both five years or so ago.
But even better was Heavy on the Magic

but alas I found that to be unplayable with an emulator. I could't even survive the first enemy. I hope I can goad CRPG Addict into trying it.

Tir Na Nog was supposed to be remade, and there was an article about it in PC Gamer back in 1995, but sadly it never materialized.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I played Tir Na Nog on the Amstrad. All I ever got out of it was wandering around a maze of corridors, doing nothing. I hear Dun Darach is similar, yet different somehow.

Heavy on the Magic is a game I remember mostly for the title. How is it unplayable on an emulator?

 

[octavius]

I played Tir Na Nog on the Amstrad. All I ever got out of it was wandering around a maze of corridors, doing nothing. I hear Dun Darach is similar, yet different somehow.

Dun Darach is smaller and more focused, and with harder puzzles.

Heavy on the Magic is a game I remember mostly for the title. How is it unplayable on an emulator?

Well, unplayable is perhaps not quite the right word. But it was much, much harder than I remembered, making me think "how the hell was I able to complete that game?". The controls are more difficult, and I got the impression monsters and NPCs moved faster (although it may have been me being slower 25-30 years later).

 

[belated]

Anyone else play http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/spacewrecked-14-billion-light-years-from-earth ?
All I remember is a dinosaur (robotic?) enemy...

 

[Unkillable Cat]

belated I know that game as "B.S.S Jane Seymour" and recall reviews from it back in the day. Sadly I haven't played it yet...something I might just do.

 

[Naraya]

Tir Na Nog

and Dun Darach

by Gargoyle Games are all but forgotten today, but were minor hits back in the Spectrum days. But they are still playable and I replayed them both five years or so ago.

Animation in Dun Darach and Tir Na Nog was jaw-dropping, it was like the Prince of Persia of Spectrum. Also - Marsport.

 

[octavius]

I didn't play Marsport back then, but tried it some years ago. It's like the Celtic games, but more frustrating, since it involves much more carrying items from one end of the hard to navigate map to the other. So I never finished it.

 

[octavius]

Birthright Gorgons Alliance, one of my all time favorite games, mix of brilliant grand strategy, shitty tactical combat, and mediocre RPG.

I remember my old gaming buddy used to have a copy of this game, but it's a hard game to find these days. Not on GOG or any of the major Abandonware sites, not even on Steam.
I guess it's not worth trying to find a copy of it.