February2009
This is the winter portion of the world's foremost amateur sports competition, matching skills against the top athletes from one hundred countries.
It was inevitable that after two batches of events from the summer side of the Olympic festival that the third entry in the Games series would concentrate on the winter side instead. Offering seven...
December2008
Review Impossible Mission II (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Elvin Atombender is up to his old tricks again!
As soon as Impossible Mission II loads up, the improvements are immediate and obvious. The producers clearly went to work on almost every aspect of the original game, polishing, adding and fixing until this sequel was the result. There are no great changes to the concept; players familiar with the...
Review Last Ninja 3 (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Epic fail...
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that we have revised this review in light of the game-breaking bug which prevents the player from progressing beyond level one in the game. We raised this with Commodore Gaming at the time of release and was assured that a patch would be made available ASAP. As this patch is still not available we did...
September2008
Review Boulder Dash (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Oh Boulder Dash!
Boulder Dash is a fondly-remembered classic and was so popular back in the day that it spawned umpteen sequels and numerous ports and remakes which continue to appear even today. It was perhaps inevitable that the game would appear in some capacity on one of the Wii's download services, so how does the old classic stand up today?...
Review Jumpman (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Jumpman is a bomb disposal expert. He is called on to save the Jupiter headquarters after the evil Alienators invade it and booby-trap its 30 levels.
While the video game industry was crashing down around us, personal computers were beginning to invade households around the world. The Commodore 64 was one such computer and went on to become one of...
August2008
Review Pitstop II (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Pitstop II is the first racing game that brings you the thrill of battling an opponent, the excitement of fighting for the lead out on the track and the suspense of struggling to be the first out of the pits.
Racing games, as a whole, haven't exactly aged as well as games from other genres over the years, but there's still something to be said for...
July2008
Review International Karate + (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Karate fighting has never been so much fun.
After the original was released as one of the two debut C64 titles on the VC, we didn't have to wait too long for the even better sequel to appear. At heart the same game, the plus in IK+ refers to a key difference - a third fighter. Whilst you could previously compete against a friend or the computer one...
June2008
Review Summer Games II (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
The pinnacle of athletic achievement. The Summer Games.
The second Epyx sports title (and third Virtual Console release) provides eight entertaining events, of which half can be enjoyed split-screen with another player. As usual, you have a choice of which events to compete in (or practice) and how many players there are – each represented by...
Review Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Federation storage depots have been raided by pirates, taking valuable minerals, jewels, ammunition and the latest battle weaponry.
Part shooter, part maze game, you are tasked to track down and retrieve stolen cargo from pirates, returning it to a storage depot at the end of each level (of which there are 3) before time runs out. Not that the...
Review Nebulus (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Weird things are happening on Planet Nebulus.
Nebulus (known as Tower Toppler in the US and Castelian in its NES and Game Boy incarnations) is another title from Hewson that is memorable largely due to its idiosyncratic presentation. The game is particularly noted for its striking visual design, and justifiably so, as it takes the basic structure of...
April2008
Review World Games (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
Look out, world. Here we come!
After the well received Summer and Winter Games, Epyx turned their attention to various events from around the globe and brought us World Games. As before, you have the choice of which events to play, and can compete with up to 8 players (each picking a country to represent). Only two of the eight events allow for...
Review The Last Ninja (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
The evil Shogun Kunitoki has long envied the powers of the Ninja brotherhood and would do anything to acquire their knowledge.
Critically acclaimed at the time, and still praiseworthy today, The Last Ninja sees you exploring several superbly detailed environments on your quest to defeat the evil Kunitoki. Picking up weapons along the way, you...
Review California Games (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
California knows how to party.
The fifth game in Epyx’s highly respected multi-event sports game series, California Games offered just 6 events, as opposed to the 7 or 8 of previous instalments. That’s not to say it suffers as a result, because some of the new events arguably have a lot more depth than, say, sprinting or weight lifting. As in...
March2008
Review International Karate (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
It's karate time!
You could almost hear the groans of disappointment when this game was announced for the Virtual Console, simply because the sequel, "International Karate Plus", is so legendary. But that's a disservice to the original, as it is a strong game in its own right. Those looking for a quick pick-up-and-play brawler will be...
Review Uridium (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)
15 Super-Dreadnought ships have invaded your galaxy, each looking to steal a different precious metal.
Uridium is a much loved classic amongst Commodore 64 enthusiasts. Well known for its fast-paced gameplay and unique game mechanics, at least some of that reputation is deserved. Designer Andrew Braybrook was known for his idiosyncratic but...
