The first Basic program was run on May 1st, 1964. Designed as a simple and high level programming language, it was later adapted for use with personal computers. For many game design hobbyists - myself included - Basic provided an easy to learn introduction to linear programming.
X-Com:UFO Defense is a turn-based tactical squad based wargame in which the player controls an anti-alien invasion task force. Developed by Mythos Games and released by Microprose in late 1993, it quickly became very popular, even topping IGN’s list of top PC games of all time.
Pardon my dust.
I’m in the process of migrating all of my content from the old domain to this one. Until it’s complete we’re going to get a bunch of intersital links leading back to the old domain. It won’t take long, so go ahead and update your bookmarks/RSS feeds.
Don Resinger at CNet Blogs has declared the SNES the greatest console of all time. I know, I know, one random blogger’s opinion has all the weight of a Wikipedia article stamped heavily with the dreaded [CITATION NEEDED] warning, but he makes some good points, and I happen to agree with him.
Wasteland was the first piece of commercial software I can remember picking up for myself, on three 5 1/4 floppy discs for my Commodore 64. Oh yeah, I had the disk drive. No waiting half-an-hour to load a program from the casette tape drive for me!
The review archives for Retro Remakes houses over a thousand freeware indie games, 1056 as of late November. Despite the name, most of the games are not actually remakes, but rather original games independently created.
SubTerra is a freeware puzzle game developed by Crystal Shard Games. The player runs around in a variety of boards, collecting gems, avoiding traps, and solving puzzles.
Gameplay: Several tutorial levels introduce the player to the different elements of the SubTerra, and believe me, there are quite a few. The controls are simple enough to grasp instantly, but the permutations the game levels introduce in the form of shifting tiles, falling rocks, and explosives keep things fresh and interesting enough to make the game’s 500 levels palatable. Gameplay Score: 3/5
Presentation: Puzzle games don’t need very flashy graphics, which is fortunate for SubTerra because the graphics aren’t very special. They’re not poorly done, per say, but they lack a certain aesthetic cohesiveness. The game plays in full screen mode only, which caused some graphical overlay in Vista at first, but this wasn’t too much of a problem in the long run. Presentation Score: 2/5
Story: The only stabs SubTerra makes towards a story is claiming the player is looking for gems in a mine. But c’mon, it’s a puzzle game - this is more than most of them get. Story Score: 2/5
Overall: SubTerra is fun to play until it gets frustrating. There are a lot of gameplay elements to keep track of, and some of the later levels get very difficult. If you’re a huge fan of this sort of puzzle game, it’s definitely worth a shot. Overall Score: 2.5/5
The Gnome has recently posted lists of freeware games on his blog.
Go check it out. I’ll be investigating and reviewing some of these later on.
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antarres was developed by Simtex and released by Microprose in 1996, winning that year’s Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game. It was almost universally lauded by critics and fans, and at the time it seemed to me to be the best Science Fiction 4X strategy game ever.
Somewhat sadly, after over a decade, it still does.
Know of a cool indie or retro game I should check out? Want to plug your latest project and get a review of it? I’ve set up a suggestions page for just this reason. Send me a link, or drop me an email, and I’ll give whatever game you think is worth a look a try.
Just make sure it’s Windows Vista compatable - I’m still saving up for a MacBook Pro, and be aware I’m operating on a new but low-end machine at the moment.
