Karnov (1987)

at August 18, 2023

 

Karnov (カルノフ, Karunofu) is a platform game released in arcades in 1987.A Nintendo Entertainment System port followed. Players take control of the title character Jinborov Karnovski, or "Karnov" for short. Karnov is a strongman popularly illustrated as being from an unspecified part of the Soviet Union's Central Asian republics as shown on the arcade flyer and again in Karnov's Revenge.

As a character created by Data East, Karnov was reintroduced in several other games from the company, including Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja in which he is a boss in the first level. Karnov later appeared in the 1994 Neo-Geo game Karnov's Revenge. This game, also known as Fighter's History Dynamite, is not a sequel to the original Karnov, but to Fighter's History, a one-on-one fighter in which Karnov is the final boss.

Karateka (1984)

at August 18, 2023

 

Karateka is a 1984 martial arts action game by Jordan Mechner and is his first published game, created for the Apple II while attending Yale University. The game was published in North America by Broderbund and in Europe by Ariolasoft. Along with Karate Champ and Yie-Ar Kung Fu (both also released in 1984), Karateka is one of the earliest martial arts fighting games. It was inspired by Japanese culture (Ukiyo-e art, Akira Kurosawa films, and manga comics) and by early Disney animated films and silent pictures.

The player controls an unnamed protagonist attempting to rescue his love interest, Princess Mariko, from Akuma's castle fortress. The character walks and runs from left to right through a linear, side-scrolling level, dealing with attackers and obstacles, while moving deeper into the fortress. Each encounter with an enemy is one-on-one, as in a fighting game. Cinematic cuts show Mariko's situation and Akuma's actions prior to the player reaching them.

Karateka was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Game Boy. Mechner led a 2012 remake, released in 2012 for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and iOS.

Final Fantasy I

at November 03, 2017

The first installment of the series premiered in Japan on December 18, 1987. Subsequent titles are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games; consequently, the numbers refer more to volumes than to sequels. Many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, personal computers (PC), and mobile phones. Future installments will appear on seventh and eighth generation consoles. As of November 2016, the series includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XV, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs, both released and confirmed as being in development. Most of the older titles have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms.

Rampage (1986)

at November 03, 2017

The characters you play were once ordinary people until they were mutated into the game's monsters: George, the giant ape; Lizzie, the giant lizard; and Ralph, the giant wolf. George was mutated after swallowing mega-vitamins, Lizzie was mutated after bathing in a radioactive lake, and Ralph was mutated after eating sausage scam. The mutants' goal is to destroy every city which they come upon. The game has 768 days of destruction and some of them are alike. The players move from city to city destroying skyscrapers and various vehicles and eating people that get in the way. Health is awarded at startup and during the game by putting quarters in. Health is decreased by being shot by National Guardsmen, being hit by another monster, falling, being hit by cops or tanks, going underwater, being struck by lightning, or by eating something bad, like dynamite. Health is replenished by eating food found in the buildings. Once all buildings in a city have been destroyed, the monsters move onto another city.

Pac-Man

at November 03, 2017

Originally released in 1979 in Japanese arcades, only fourteen years later, in 1993, the legendary Pac-Man, developed and published by Namco, made its appearance in Europe on Nes.

Although quite wacky, the principle of the game could not be simpler. You control Pac-Man, a round yellow character with a mouth. Your only goal is to swallow all the pac-gums, small beads absolutely arranged around a maze. The only buttons you have to use so are the arrows of the cross key to move. If that seems a priori easy, know that four little ghosts, each with their own personality, you constantly continue. At the slightest contact with these creatures, you lose a life. The blue ghost, Bashful, is the least dangerous of all. Shy and timid, he will flee as soon as you approach a super pac-gum, we describe the effects later. Pokey, the orange ghost is very unpredictable. There tend to pry the labyrinth according to his desires without always consider your position. Speedy, pink ghost is the fastest. He will try mostly to anticipate the move to cut your way. Finally, the red ghost named Pac-Man Shadow will follow like a shadow. Attention, therefore, the U-turns. It should be noted that the main purpose of Pac-Man is, as in any arcade game that respects itself, to get the best score possible.

For this, various options available to you. Certainly swallow small ball your score increases but there are also much more effective methods. The first is to eat the super pac-gums. They are bigger, brighter and are four in number in each level. Once a gum such swallowed, the ghosts turn blue, show a terrified expression and move away from Pac-Man. They know that it now has the power to devour them. This new ability only lasts a few seconds and swallowed ectoplasm will be systematically replaced. The second method is to eat fruit. They appear randomly in each maze and there are eight, all different, each bringing a greater or lesser bonus. There are cherry,item Space Invaders to two thousand points the bell three thousand points, and finally the key to five thousand points. If a player exceeds the ten thousand points, he gets an extra life.
This life is a great asset and it is better to have as much as possible if your goal is to reach the last labyrinth. Long, the game was considered infinite but it turns out that the 256th table was unplayable due to a bug . Pac-Man thus includes 255 different levels. Technically, the lifetime is enormous but many will be quickly discouraged players because of the difficulty and repeatability of software . Others, cons, consider the extremely addictive and can devote many hours.

Graphically, Pac-Man is far from exploiting all the capabilities of the console. A background of a deep black, very similar blue mazes from one level to another, a yellow pie as a main character, four little ghosts, as saying that the whole is good enough even for the time. Some will still be delighted to find the graphics of the old version released many years ago on arcade. The soundtrack, meanwhile, was not a success because it is virtually nonexistent. A little music between levels but nothing during your party apart from the noise Pac-Man actually swallowing his pac-gums. These sound effects are nonetheless successful and have become cult in the gaming universe.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

at November 03, 2017

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse[a] is the third Castlevania video game produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was published by Konami in Japan in 1989, in North America in 1990, and in Europe in 1992. It was later released on the Wii Virtual Console in the PAL regions on October 31, 2008, in North America on January 12, 2009 and in Japan on April 21, 2009.

The plot of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a prequel to the original Castlevania (much like the earlier Game Boy game Castlevania: The Adventure) set a few centuries before the events of the original game. The game's protagonist is Trevor C. Belmont, an ancestor of the original hero Simon Belmont.

Castlevania III abandons the action-adventure game and role playing game elements of its immediate predecessor Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and returns to the platform game roots of the first Castlevania title. Unlike Castlevania, however, Castlevania III is non-linear: Trevor, the main character, can be assisted by one of three possible assistant characters, and after completing the first level, and at several other points throughout the game, the player is given a choice of two branching paths to follow. The player can obtain multiple endings depending on the choices they make throughout the game.

There are two main routes through the game's sixteen stages, which are referred to as blocks - and broken down into several sections. The second stage is an optional excursion for picking up one of the three partner characters, and the main branch occurs part way through the third stage. Each route contains total of nine stages (ten if the player takes the optional second stage). The upper route takes the player across the lake to the main bridge, entering Dracula's castle through the front gate, and is generally regarded as the easier of the two routes. The lower route takes the player through a series of underground tunnels and cavernous areas, eventually scaling the cliff side below the castle, and is generally considered more difficult than the upper route. The lower route also features one short branching section of its own at stage 6. The two paths converge in the main hall of the castle.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

at November 03, 2017

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a platform-adventure video game produced by Konami.It was originally released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan in 1987 and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1988. It is the second Castlevania title released for the NES, following the original Castlevania. Set sometime after the events of the first installment,[8] the player once again assumes the role of vampire hunter Simon Belmont, who is on a journey to undo a curse placed on him by Dracula at the end of their previous encounter. With Dracula's body split into five parts after his defeat, Simon must find and bring them to the ruins of his castle to seal and defeat him

The gameplay departs from the standard platforming genre of the first Castlevania for a game more similar to the nonlinear gameplay of Metroid, with several RPG elements such as a world map which the player is free to explore and revisit.Simon, controlled by the player, can talk with townspeople who will offer him clues or lies.He can also go to merchants who will sell items, either for fighting enemies or for traversing to unreachable areas. To pay for them, he must collect hearts, which are dropped by defeated enemies.In addition to the ordinary items in Simon's inventory, he can also purchase new whips in a few locations of the game. He begins with a standard Leather Whip, and can upgrade to stronger ones with each new purchase.Simon's Quest introduces an Experience Rating system, also found in role-playing games, which is increased by collecting hearts.After he finds a sufficient amount, his level and maximum health will increase with his Experience Rating.

The period of time in Simon's Quest cycles between daytime and nightfall, which has a prominent effect on the game and Simon's encounters. During the day, the enemies outside of towns in the game are weaker. At night time, they gain strength and inflict more damage to Simon's life points, though when defeated, they drop more hearts.The townspeople and merchants in their respective locations are no longer available to talk to during night time, and are replaced by zombies.

Despite the departure from the previous game, there are elements from it that have remained.This includes the Magic Weapons, which are secondary weapons to Simon's whip. Each of them have a different use.Like most games in the series, some of these require the usage of hearts. One of them returning from Castlevania is the Holy Water, a small glass which can disintegrate walls that conceal hidden items.Some Magic Weapons make their first appearance in Simon's Quest, such as the Diamond, which attacks enemies while bouncing off any surrounding walls.

The objective of the game is to travel to the five mansions to find the body parts of Dracula's corpse, and an item known as the Magic Cross.The body parts can be utilized to support Simon in the game. For example, Dracula's Rib can be used as a shield to block any projectile attacks fired from an enemy.Finding all of the required items will allow Simon to clear the blockade in front of Dracula's castle to fight the last boss.After the player defeats Dracula, there are three possible endings based on the time taken to complete the game.The best ending is achieved when the player beats the game in eight game days.

 

Castlevania (1986)

at November 03, 2017

Castlevania[a] is an action-platformer video game developed and published by Konami for the Family Computer Disk System video game console in Japan in September 1986. It was ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in May 1987 followed by a European release in 1988. The game was developed in tandem with the MSX2 game Vampire Killer, which used a similar premise but different game mechanics.

The game takes place in the year 1691 where players control Simon Belmont who is tasked with defeating the vampire Dracula. It was re-released for the Family Computer (FC) in cartridge format in 1993. It is the first game in Konami's Castlevania video game series; it was followed by two more NES games titled Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (released for the NES in 1988) and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989). A fourth game, retelling the events of the original, was released for the Super NES and titled Super Castlevania IV.

Castlevania was positively received and financially successful. It is considered an NES classic by PC World, while Nintendo Power and Game Informer ranked it in their best video games list (at 22 and 48 respectively). IGN ranked it 19 among their favourite NES games.

Castlevania puts players in control of Simon Belmont as he travels through Count Dracula's castle, which emerges every 100 years. Simon battles numerous bosses along his way, including Frankenstein's monster, Igor, a pair of Mummy Men, the Phantom Bat, Queen Medusa, the Grim Reaper, and Count Dracula himself. Simon encounters Dracula in his lair and defeats him. He escapes the castle as it crumbles apart and credits roll. The credits feature fake names in homage to classic horror film actors such as Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Max Schreck, and Christopher Lee.