Syndicate - Action/strategy classic by Bullfrog gets a DarkwyndPT review

Well, this retrospective sure is going slow, isn’t it? Sorry for taking so long, but because of recent work issues, I no longer have a lot of free time. And it happened all of a sudden, without notice, so I couldn’t cancel anything or plan around it. Anyway, today’s review is probably of my favourite Bullfrog title (apart from Theme Hospital and the original Dungeon Keeper, that is): Syndicate.

Wing Commander - An incredible space sim gets a BIG Cola Powered Gamer review

When talking about space sims, sooner or later someone will mention Wing Commander. Developed by Origin Systems, Wing Commander can be considered one of the best and influential space sim ever created.

Wing Commander had a different take on the then established space sim formula, bringing the game and space combat to the levels of Hollywood blockbusters. The game is set in 2654 and follows the Terran Confederation and the ongoing war against a predatory feline race called the Kilrathi (they were inspired by Kzinti of Larry Niven’s “Know Space” series). In Chris Roberts words the game is inspired by WW2, especially the Pacific War. When you start a game you have just finished a training sim session, and you must enter your name and callsign. The player character has no name, but internally in Origin, he was nicknamed “BlueHair”, because his hair although black, had highlights of blue (due to a limited color palette), which was what probably the reason they named him Blair in the later games.

Dungeon Hack - A classic Dungeon Crawler reviewed by DarkwyndPT!

Confession time: I never really got into tabletop RPG. I’m not saying it’s bad or something. I’m simply stating that I’ve never had the patience for it. However, I do love RPG videogames, whether they’re western computer style or eastern console style. And my introduction to computer RPGs was also my introduction to dungeon crawlers and to the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. I’m talking about Dungeon Hack.

Theme Park - One of the best theme park strategy games gets a DarkwyndPT review!

Now, we’re just upping the ante, aren’t we? Still, it’s impossible to make a Bullfrog retrospective without mentioning another critical and commercial successful title, which is perhaps their most colourful game that also begun its own influential series. I’m talking about Theme Park.

Theme Park is a managerial strategy game developed by Bullfrog and published by Electronic Arts. It was originally released in 1994 for the 3DO, Commodore Amiga, DOS and Macintosh. The following year, it was ported to the Amiga CD32, FM Towns, Genesis/Megadrive, Jaguar, PC-98, Playstation, Sega Mega-CD, Sega Saturn and SNES/Super Nintendo. In 2007, it was remade for the Nintendo DS and in 2008, that remake was ported for the Playstation 3 and PSP and in 2012, it was ported for the PS Vita. In 2013, the original version was re-released for Windows and Macintosh. There’s also an iOS remake with microtransactions which was released in 2011, but it wasn’t as well received (I wonder why).

Populous - A brilliant Strategy game reviewed by DarkwyndPT

Well, it isn’t too hard to figure out which Bullfrog game I’ll start reviewing for this retrospective. And it’s only fair that I start with Bullfrog’s first and possibly biggest success ever: Populous.

Populous is a managerial/strategy game developed by Bullfrog and published by Electronic Arts. It was originally released in 1989 for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. The following year, it was ported to the Genesis/Megadrive, PC-98, Sharp X68000 and the SNES/Super Nintendo. In 1991, it was ported to the Master System and Turbografx-16. In 1992, it was ported to the Acorn 32-bit and the following year for the Macintosh. In 2011, it was re-released for Windows.

Antstream - A retro game streaming subscription service is a Kickstarter success

Great news if you were supporting the Antstream Kickstarter; a crowd funding campaign for a retro gaming based streaming service. As we've recently been informed through our twitter feed, that not only is it a Kickstarter success but the pledges are still increasing and it's now beyond £50,000! For those of you didn't follow our previous article, Antstream is being developed as the brainchild of CEO Steve Cottam and inspired by his involvement in 3DO development, this service features a lovingly curated selection of games from a catalogue of thousands of fully licensed titles!

Who Framed Roger Rabbit DOS review by DarkwyndPT

Well, it’s Easter again and to celebrate this holiday, we’re going to take a look at an adaptation of perhaps the best live-action and cartoon crossover movie ever made (that also features a rabbit BTW). We’re talking about Who Framed Roger Rabbit! - Who Framed Roger Rabbit is an action game developed by Silent Software and published by Buena Vista. It was originally released in 1988 for the Commodore Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and DOS.

Batman: The Caped Crusader DOS review by DarkwyndPT

I’m taking advantage of this opportunity to review a DC Comics licensed game (since I’ve already reviewed Marvel games). And I’m reviewing the first game ever to be released on the PC of my favourite DC superhero: Batman. Batman: The Caped Crusader is an action-adventure game developed by Special FX and published by Ocean in Europe and Data East in the US. It was originally released in 1988 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It was re-released the following year for DOS.

WWF WrestleMania - The latest DOS review by DarkwyndPT

Any wrestling fan out there (even filthy casuals like me) knows that the upcoming weekend is WrestleMania, definitely the most famous wrestling event in the world. And to celebrate such occasion, let’s look at one of the first wrestling games ever made for the PC, WWF WrestleMania (not to be confused with all the other games with the same title though).

OpenTTD 1.9.0 RC2 - Open Source Transport Tycoon Deluxe gets a new release candidate

OpenTTD is one of the most popular open source releases on our site, and that comes as no surprise to us as it's a constantly updated open source version of Microprose's hit game Transport Tycoon Deluxe. A game that's so addictive you'll be spending hours developing your very own transport tycoon company in an all time classic hit real time strategy and management game that has since been updated to the latest version of OpenTTD 1.9.0 RC2 with even more fixes and improvements!

Xenon - The Bitmap Brothers 1980's Shoot 'em Up reviewed by DarkwyndPT

Yes, I know that in my last review I promised to get away from the stars, but I spent the last weekend playing some old arcade titles and thus decided to write a small review that just happen to be of a classic shoot ’em up. Sorry. Anyway, today’s subject is Xenon (the DOS version, obviously).

SpeedBall - Classic The Bitmap Brothers Sports brawler reviewed by DarkwyndPT

One of the most famous developer studios from the late 80s and early 90s was The Bitmap Brothers. If you had a Commodore Amiga, you know what I’m talking about. The Bitmap Brothers is one of those studios that started small but valued quality over quantity which resulted in fantastic games and a rockstar fame among video game companies. Perhaps one day I’ll write a retrospective about them. But today, we’re going to take a look at one of their earliest games: Speedball.

Space Quest II review - A classic Sci-fi adventure reviewed by DarkwyndPT

So, the new MCU movie, Captain Marvel, is on cinemas right now and as far as I remember, Carol Danvers isn’t in any video game whatsoever, so I decided to just review a classic sci-fi game set in space. And why not Space Quest II? Space Quest II: Chapter II – Vohaul’s Revenge is a graphic adventure made by Sierra and originally released in 1987 for the Apple II, Atari ST and DOS. It was re-released the following year for Amiga, Apple IIgs and Macintosh.

Quarantine - Driving simulation and FPS action from 1994, a DarkwyndPT review!

Everybody knows that one of the most influential videogames ever to be released for the PC was Doom. So much so that shortly afterwards a bunch of games with very similar gameplay and graphical engines were released, which became known as “Doom clones”. I’ve already reviewed one of these clones (and one day, I promise to review the original Doom), but today we’re going to take a look at one of the few Doom clones that dared to add something extra. I’m talking about Quarantine.

Blackthorne - DarkwyndPT takes a look at a very good classic action game!

Well, like I promised last time, today’s review is from a GOOD action PC game and it’s also one of the first games produced by a famous game developer. I’m talking about Blackthorne. Blackthorne (AKA Blackhawk in Europe) is an action/platform game developed by Blizzard and published by Interplay. It was originally released in 1994 for DOS and SNES/Super Nintendo. It was ported the next year for the SEGA 32X and the following year for Macintosh and the PC-98. It was re-released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance and in 2013 for Windows.

51 DOS game intros - Over 2 hours of nostalgia goodness!

Call me an old timer but I love talking about the days of DOS, a time when the only thing in front of you other than a computer was a blinking command prompt waiting for you to run a game such as C:\, C:\Dune and Dune.exe. So to hear from einokeino303 that he has done a spectacular Youtube video in relation to 51 great DOS game intros, my mind was blown and wanting more!

The A-Team - Pity the fool who plays these games

Licenced games. Nobody expects them to be good. Sometimes you get exceptions... Robocop or Airwolf. This is not one."If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can play... a crappy A-Team game."

DOS creation contest - DOS based games on IRN! Awesome :)

Call me an old timer but I love talking about the days of DOS, a time when the only thing in front of you other than a computer was a blinking command prompt waiting for you to run a game such as C:\, C:\Dune and Dune.exe. So to hear from high-voltage.cz that they were running a DOS creation contest in which you had to make an executable under MS-DOS 6.22 at a 486DX , made my eyes sparkle like a kid in a candy store.

OpenTyrian - Open Sourced Tyrian classic shown as Amiga Vampire footage!

Growing up there was nothing more satisfying than playing top down scrolling shoot em ups such as the fantastic classic Tyrian and more especially Tyrian 2000 before it went open source in 2007. A game developed by World Tree Games Productions, published by Epic MegaGames that featured non stop blasting action, multiple enemy types, different weapons, a fantastic UI, impressive graphics, and a full story that make it a joy to play even today. So if you're interested playing Tyrian on an Amiga 68k, especially with a Vampire, then read on!

Pila - Top down humorous action puzzle game lost and found - PC/MAC Release Soon!

In the late 90's childhood friends Kasper Kabell and Jon Auring Grimm were about to release a charming action puzzle game with humorous overtones as 'Pila' for MS-DOS, but sadly after concerns and fears, the game never got published, at least until now. Thanks to renowned retro gaming guru Bobby, who owns the combined retro gaming and toy store, barber shop and arcade in Copenhagen, Ruben og Bobby. Pila was re-discovered in 2016 and towards the 28th of April will be coming to both Windows and Mac!