Goodbye 1991, Hello 1992

Goodbye Atari 2600 - Released way back in 1977, Atari Corp finally retired this piece of video game antiquity on 1st January 1992.  Not only did it outlast its successor (the Atari 5200) but ceased production on the same day as the Atari 7800.

Goodbye ZX Spectrum - Going through a lot of changes in its 10 year lifespan, Amstrad pulled the plug on the ZX Spectrum with the +3 version.  As of July 2012 there had been over 24,000 titles released for the Speccy.  Not bad for a British computer built down to a price.

Goodbye Sega Master System - Soundly beaten by the NES, Sega withdrew their Master System from sale in the US.

Goodbye Amiga - Released after the Atari ST, the Amiga outsold its rival by roughly 3 to 2, mainly due to its superior hardware.  Commodore ceased production after 7 years.  It is not all bad news however...

Hello Amiga - A second-generation Amiga appeared in 1992 featuring the AGA chipset.  Despite many improvements over the original, the new Amiga (or Commodore itself for that matter) wouldn't survive much longer against the PC and console onslaught.

Hello Windows - Version 3.1 was released in April. This (or at least 3.11) was the first taste many PC users of the time had of a Microsoft GUI.  It was then a DOS program rather than on OS in its own right and didn't see much in the way of games.

Hello SNES - As usual Europeans were the last to receive a major console release - in this case the 16-bit Nintendo.  It arrived in the UK in April and in June for the rest of Europe.



1991 took a long time to get through, mainly due to real life getting in way and not having enough time to dedicate to playing games.  1992 looks like it will be a long year too as a house move is on the cards before the end of 2016.  There are also a lot of  RPGs on my shortlist.

One RPG we won't see is Ultima VII: The Black Gate. I took a sneak peak at it and despite the amazing graphics and the start of a good storyline, it just didn't grab me.  I remember things that annoyed me such as the AI controlling NPCs in combat, the difficulty in mapping, and Iolo being constantly hungry.   What I didn't remember is how bloody long it takes to do anything.  Just exploring a single town and speaking all the citizens seemed to take forever as does traversing the map.  I didn't get on with the new 'improved' interface either.  Not a bad game but not a favourite.

Other RPGs include the last of the Gold Box games.  The series started off very well but seemed to get weaker as the years have gone by - I didn't even bother to finish Pools of Darkness. I'm hoping we see another glimpse of what made Pool of Radiance  and Curse of the Azure Bonds such classics.

Out of the other games for 1992, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is the only one that really caught my eye.  It got rave reviews on release, but how will it fare nearly a quarter of a century later?  And will it make me nauseous like nearly all early (and a lot of later) first person games did?  Only time will tell.

Goodbye 1990, Hello 1991

Hello Sega Game Gear - April saw the arrival of the handheld in North America and Europe.  Although it sold reasonably well it couldn't touch the sales of the Game Boy.

Hello SNES - Nintendos entry in the 16-bit console arena was released in North America. The August release was two years to the week after the rival Sega Genesis.


1990 was the biggest and longest year on my shortlist - it represented the crossover of the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, some new console manufacturers elbowing in, the emergence of the PC as a capable games machine while the Amiga and ST were still going strong.  Playing through half a dozen RPGs didn't help.  Thankfully, it's all downhill from here on in.

One of my let downs of 1990 was Eye of the Beholder.  I remember it as one of the first games that made me jealous of Amiga owners - an AD&D based Dungeon Master clone seemed right up my alley.  Unfortunately, a turn based tabletop game doesn't translate well into a real-time first person dungeon crawler so it had to get the chop.  Like Dungeon Master (though not as subtle) the enemy creatures roamed in set areas - a group of kobolds wouldn't follow you around a corner for example.  The reaction based combat didn't work for me either.  It did, however, make me appreciated the Gold Box games that bit more.

Another big disappointment was Turrican on the Amiga.  It started out as a difficult but fair run and gunner sporting excellent graphics, sound and gameplay.  The open levels rewarded exploration and offered lots of power-ups and extra lives.  The third planet soured the whole experience for me.  The levels became enclosed, the time limit harsh, extra lives dried up and you had to rely on memorising the level to avoid frequent deaths. 

Looking forward to the 1991 games I haven't played before.  Firstly we have Another World* (or Out of this World if you live in North America).  It's a game that I've always liked the look of but never got around to trying.

Mega-Lo-Mania (also renamed in North America as Tyrants: Fight Through Time) is another game I've always wanted to play.  One of my friends had it on his ST but I only saw it running - I never got to play it myself

Finally, on the RPG front we have the fourth Final Fantasy game and the fourth game in the Pool of Radiance series of gold box games - Pools of Darkness**.  Hopefully this entry will turn out better than the disappointing Secret of the Silver Blades.


* Much to my chagrin, Another World has been deferred to a later date.  I've discovered the best version is on the Sega CD and won't be out for a couple of years.

** Try as I might I really couldn't get into this game.  I didn't like the combat and I couldn't get into the story, which are two of the most important aspects of an RPG.  This is the first Gold Box RPG I didn't finish and I have no regrets.

Goodbye 1989, Hello 1990

Goodbye Amstrad CPC – The last of the three main 8-bit computers onto the UK market was the first to leave.  In the UK at least, sales of the system always lagged behind the Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64.

Hello SNK Neo-Geo Max 330 Pro-Gear Spec Advanced Entertainment System – Or Neo Geo AES to you and me. Launched in January it was basically Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware in console form.  As it was able to play the latest arcade releases (not ports) it was only for gamers with deep pockets.  In the US the basic console was $400 while games started at $200.  That’s a lot of quarters.

Hello Sega Game Gear – This handheld console was released in October as a competitor to the Nintendo Game Boy.  Although technically superior it suffered from a short battery life and couldn’t compete in terms of sales.  Due to similar hardware, Master System cartridges could be played by way of a converter.

Hello Nintendo Super Famicom – Nintendo’s 16-bit console was launched in Japan in November 1990, just over two years after its Mega Drive rival.  Nintendo needn’t have worried about being left behind as it eventually sold more units than the Sega 16-bit.

Hello Sega Mega Drive – As usual, European gamers got the shaft.  The Mega Drive eventually arrived in November, 25 months since its initial launch in Japan and 15 months after North American gamers got their hands on it.


I can’t remember what I was doing in 1990 but it couldn't have been much gaming as I hardly recognise any titles on my shortlist. Then I saw it – Ultima VI: The False Prophet.  So that’s what I was doing in 1990.  I religiously mapped all the towns and dungeons and got a long way into the game until my game disk corrupted.  I downloaded the game from gog.com a while ago and if I still find it playable I will give it another go.

The only other games I’m looking forward to are Cadaver by the Bitmap Brothers and Powermonger by Bullfrog Productions.  I had both these games for the Atari ST but never got around to playing them.

Game Over: The Eighties

During the course of my blog I have witnessed the rise and fall of the 8-bit home computer.  There were still games being released for the Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum and Amstrad CPC into the early nineties, but their glory days were well and truly over. Their position in the market had gradually been usurped by the 16-bit Commodore Amiga and Atari ST from the middle of the decade.  The PC was also making its way from the office into the home and was becoming a viable games machine as the graphics and sound hardware improved.

After adding a couple of video games for Atari consoles in the early eighties, the NES took up the mantle and dominated the console scene.  This Japanese machine would continue to remain popular for a few years to come.  At the very end of the decade Sega released the Mega Drive/Genesis, nicely taking us into the 16-bit era of the early nineties.

Over the decade I have discovered some gems I had never heard of (eg Below the Root), played games for little known systems (eg Sharp X68000) and seen the birth of franchises that are still going strong today (Mario, Metal Gear, Zelda etc).  I also experienced my first JRPGs and finally completed my nemesis of many years – Ultima IV.

To find my personal crème de la crème for each year, a lot of 'classics' have bitten the dust.  I messed up a little at the beginning by deleting games from my shortlist as I played them but, to put it into perspective, the number of games that got through are listed below against the number I rejected (in brackets).

            1981                3          (??)

            1982                1          (??)

            1983                9          (37)

            1984                16        (58)

            1985                14        (83)

            1986                7          (107)

            1987                13        (117)

            1988                10        (149)

            1989                12        (181)

I have also listed the number of games that got through for each system.  It comes as no surprise to see the Speccy on top.  A machine is only as good as its games and these figures justify my purchase back in the day.  What is a surprise is that the Atari ST features more games than the Commodore Amiga.  This was mainly due to the early ST exclusives and lazy conversions that didn't take advantage of the Amigas better hardware.  This position will certainly reverse as we move into the nineties.  I had expected the PC Engine to have some good arcade conversions, but it was the Sharp X68000 that really impressed me.  Games such Space Harrier (not on the blog) and Gradius were as near as dammit arcade perfect.  If Sharp could have packaged the hardware into console form and distributed it worldwide, who knows what the current gaming scene would have looked like?

 1.   Sinclair Spectrum (24)

 2.   Commodore 64 (18)

 3.   Atari ST (12)

 4.   Nintendo NES (10)

 5.   Commodore Amiga (9)

 6.   Amstrad CPC (6)

 7.   Commodore VIC-20 (5)

 8.   Sharp X68000 (4)

 9.   BBC Micro (3)

 =    NEC PC Engine (3)

11.   NEC TurboGrafx-16 (2)

 =    Atari 2600 (2)

 =    Atari 5200 (2)

 =    PC (MS-DOS) (2)

 =    Sega Master System (2)

16.  MSX (1)

 =    Philips Videopac G7000 / Magnavox Odyssey2 (1)

 =    Sega Mega Drive (1)

 

          

Goodbye 1988, Hello 1989

Hello SVGA - According to Wikipedia it was in "1989 that a standard for programming Super VGA modes was defined by [the] Video Electronics Standards Association".  This is the point at which PC graphics quality had finally surpassed those of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga.

Hello Sega Genesis - The Genesis was the North American name for the Sega Mega Drive.  Released in August, it was the first of the 16-bit consoles to enter a market dominated by the NES.

Hello TurboGrafx-16 - A redesigned and renamed PC Engine.  Also released in the US in August, the NEC machine failed to make any impact against its 16-bit rivals.

Hello Atari STE - An enhanced Atari ST released in late 1989.  Designed to take on the dominant Amiga, it featured upgraded graphics and sound.  Technologically it still lagged behind the Commodore machine and few games took advantage of the improved hardware.



My biggest surprise of 1988 was that Ultima V didn't make it onto the blog.  I had never played it before and as much as I tried I couldn't convince myself I was having fun - it just felt like I was going through the motions.  I gave it a good few hours over a couple of weeks so didn't feel guilty about stopping.

As for 1989 I am really looking forward to dusting off my Pool of Radiance characters and tackling Curse of the Azure Bonds.  I also enjoyed Phantasy Star so I'm looking forward to it's sequel.  Hopefully Phantasy Star II* will tie up some of the loose ends from the original story, but I'm not counting on it.

A game I have played before is Chaos Strikes Back** on the Atari ST. I played it on release and found it waaaay too difficult to be enjoyable.  I'll give it another crack of the whip and see if it's any better through older and wiser eyes.



* I got the year wrong - the English version of Phantasy Star II wasn't released until 1990.  I only realised this after I played (and dismissed) it.  It was way too linear and I found the combat even more simplistic than Phantasy Star.  The dungeons also had an annoying parallax scrolling thing going on which obscured dead ends and walls making them infuriating to map.

** Nope, Chaos Strike Back didn't make it on the blog.  It is slightly better (easier) than I remember but it is more like a puzzle game wrapped in the Dungeon Master engine.  I may go back to it when I have more time but I can't ever see it becoming a favourite.  Sorry Petrus.

Goodbye 1987, Hello 1988

Hello CD-ROM² - This peripheral for NEC's diminutive PC Engine came out in April 1988.  It was the first time optical media was used to hold video game data for a console - something we now take for granted.

Hello Sega Mega Drive - Released in Japan in October, Sega was first out of the blocks with a 16-bit console.  It was based around the same Motorola 68000 / Zilog Z80 processor combination as the Sega System 16 arcade board, potentially making it easier to port arcade games.

As I predicted, 1987 was a long year, no small thanks to Ultima IV.  1988 looks to be no different.  Amongst the myriad arcade conversions on my shortlist are sequels to some games I played this year - Ultima V and Final Fantasy II.  Staying on the the RPG front are the well regarded Phantasy Star and Ys: The Vanished Omens for the Sega Master System.  A game I am personally looking forward to is The Sentinel* by Geoff Crammond.  I remember The Sentinel getting rave reviews for every platform it was released on but it looked too daunting to me so I've never played it.  Now I'm forced to give it a go.


*Later edit - I appreciate the Sentinel may have been good in 1988 but in 2013 I just couldn't get on with it.  I found it far too slow and, as a consequence, too hard to keep track where you were in relation to the Sentinel and where to move next.  I'm glad I tried it though.

Goodbye 1986, Hello 1987

Hello Amiga 500 - Announced at the same time as the Amiga 2000 and released in early 1987.  It was the entry-level Amiga model sold as a direct competitor to the then dominant Atari ST.

Hello VGA - Video Graphics Array was introduced by IBM in April 1987 on their PS/2 line of computers.  With up to 256 different colours on screen at once, the PC was at last able to display decent graphics. 

Hello Sinclair Spectrum +3 - The ultimate Spectrum model went on sale in June.  The +3 model came equipped with an inbuilt 3-inch floppy disk drive in place of the tape drive.  Despite being released late into the life of the Spectrum it did well, making up 15% of all models sold.

Hello Sega Master System (again) - Launched in Europe in September it proved more popular than the NES.  It eventually outsold the Nintendo machine despite the NES having an 11 month head start.

Hello PC Engine - Released in Japan in October 1987.  The PC Engine was never officially released in the UK, but thanks to articles in various magazines there was a demand for 'grey' imports.  In those pre-internet days I remember seeing magazine adverts selling the machine  and games for exorbitant prices.

1987 looks like being a long year with several RPGs to wade through.  There is a good mix of console and 8-bit and 16-bit computer releases this year.  What games am I looking forward to that I have never played?  Two 8-bit games that seem to be universally praised are Head over Heels* and Wizball.  I was disappointed with Jon Ritman's Batman so I hope Head over Heels will make up for it.  Two seminal NES games also stand out for me - Final Fantasy** and The Legend of Zelda.  It will be interesting to find out how well they all fare in 2012.


*Sorry, Head over Heels simply didn't do anything for me and consequently won't by in my blog. I must not like Jon Ritman's style of isometric games.

**Yes, I know Final Fantasy wasn't released in English until 1990.  I'm going with the Japanese release date as I want try Final Fantasy II (1988) and Final Fantasy III (1990) in chronological order.

Goodbye 1985, Hello 1986

Hello Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128 - Launched in the UK in January.  It came with an extra 80Kb memory, a three channel sound chip and an external heat sink that helped keep your tea warm.  Sadly it was too little, too late....

Goodbye Sinclair Research - In April the Sinclair brand name and computer range is sold to Amstrad.

Hello Sinclair Spectrum +2 - The first 'Spectrum' to be released by Amstrad.  Essentially a Sinclair Spectrum 128 in an Amstrad CPC style case with built in joystick ports and cassette deck.

Hello Sega Master System - Released in North America in June.  It was completely overshadowed by the NES.

Hello Nintendo NES (again) - Released in Europe in October.  It did not fare nearly as well as it did in the US.  It was outsold not only by the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, but ultimately also by the Sega Master System (which was released in Europe in '87).

Looking through my shortlist of games for 1986 I've either played or not heard of most of them.  The only one I haven't played that really stands out is Pentragram* by Ultimate Play The Game.  I'm looking forward to playing Uridium and Tau Ceti again to see if they are still as good as I remember.

1986 looks like another year dominated by 8-bit home computer releases with the occasional 8-bit console and 16-bit computer games starting to creep in.  

*I've since played Pentagram and didn't enjoy it.  It plays like a combination of Knightlore (good) and Nightshade/Gunfright (bad).

Goodbye 1984, Hello 1985

Goodbye VIC-20 - Commodore pulled the plug on the venerable VIC-20 in January.

Hello Commodore 128 - Released in January as the intended successor to the Commodore 64 but was discontinued 5 years before it.

Hello Atari ST - The first of the two main 16-bit home computers was unveiled in January and available to buy from early July.  It beat the Amiga to the market by two months.

Hello Commodore Amiga - The Amiga 1000 was the first Amiga model released.  Although superior to the ST in the video and audio departments, many of the earlier games were direct ports.

Hello NES - The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in North America in the wake of the video games crash.  It would go on to become the world's best selling console until eventually being overtaken by Sony's Playstation.

Hello Sega Mark III - This snappily titled console was released in Japan in October.  It would later be redesigned, re-branded and exported as the Sega Master System.

1985 games I'm looking forward to but have never played….

Paradroid

SunDog: Frozen Legacy [Later update] - A good, not great game.  Did not make the cut

Super Mario Bros.  *Hangs head in shame*

Goodbye 1983. Hello 1984.

Goodbye Atari 5200 - The 5200 was discontinued just 2 years after it was introduced and a full 7 years before the console it was designed to replace.

Hello Amstrad CPC - Released in June 1984, it completes the triumvirate of 8-bit computers that dominated the UK market for the next few years.

Hello Sinclair Spectrum+ - Also released in June 1984. The ‘+’ means a redesigned case and improved keyboard to replace earlier squishy rubber effort.

Hello EGA - PC owners play games too, you know!  The Enhanced Graphics Adapter introduced by IBM in October was a massive improvement over the eye watering CGA graphics.  It could display 16 colours simultaneously from a palette of 64.

For me 1984 marks the start of a golden age in UK home computing.  The market was dominated by 8-bit home computers so the US video game crash of 1983 did not affect us.  Video game development had been moving away from bedroom coders and towards software houses that still weren’t afraid to experiment and release original or ‘off the wall’ titles.  Additionally, the limits of the 8-bit machines were being reached pushing out some truly seminal titles that could not have been dreamt of just couple of years earlier.  This era lasted well into 1986 when the 16-bit computers and Japanese consoles started to dominate the market.

Games I’m looking forward to but have never played….

H.E.R.O.

Impossible Mission

Underwurlde

Goodbye 1982. Hello 1983

Hello Commodore 64 – Released in the UK in early 1983.  And so ensued many a playground argument over whether the C64 or the Spectrum had the best games.  These arguments are still rumbling on today in some quarters.

Hello Nintendo Famicom – Released in Japan in July.  Would later take over the world as the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Hello MSX – Released this year and was ‘an attempt to create unified standards among hardware makers’. Zzzzz...

Games I have never played and am looking forward to are…

Deathchase*

Forbidden Forest*

M.U.L.E.*


*[Later edit] Unfortunately I didn't really get into these games so they didn't make it on the list.

Goodbye 1981. Hello 1982

Hello BBC Model A/B – an educational computer released in late 1981/early 1982. Bought by parents for their kids to do their homework on.  Yeah right.

Hello Sinclair ZX Spectrum – the little black box with the dead flesh keyboard was released in April in the UK. 

Hello Commodore 64 – the beige breadbin was released in August in the USA.

Hello Atari 5200 – supposed replacement for the Atari 2600.  Released in North America in November and came with the world’s most unergonomic controllers.

Hello hormones – I became a teenager in June.

I had hoped to use this page to name some of the 1982 releases I was looking forward to playing but there was only one….

And that’s coming up next….