The Good Old Days - fresh reviews of classic games

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by jbenam

Good points. I guess we should split it in two ratings, then: "Historical Rating" and "Subjective Rating" (to save us from the raging pitchfork-equipped crowd) or "Modern Rating"

I proposed something along those lines some years ago on my site. Wasn't met with a lot of enthusiasm. I get it. Finally, nobody wants to overcomplicate things.

Originally Posted by jbenam

The truth is, some games *do* actually age very well, while others do not. Going back to my Ultima III example, Hack came just a year later than Ultima III and I still do find it immensely enjoyable (after you get past the very cryptic controls). It is a very purpose-driven and focused game that still holds up today. Can't say the same about Ultima III, and I am one of the biggest Ultima fanboys you can find around

Good example. Even the original Rogue from the 1970s still holds up pretty well in my view. Sure, these days, I'm rather in the mood for Brogue when I want this sort of game. Nevertheless, the original still works for me.

As far as Ultima is concerned, yes, I was blown away by the perceived endless world and complex worldbuilding of Ultima III in its day. I'm quite reluctant to give it another spin, fearing exactly the disappointment you hint at. It is the one game of the whole series which isn't on the site, which really annoys me, because it was a major step in its day. Unlike, say, the second one which is really just a re-hash of the first.

Coming back to the original point:

Originally Posted by Minuous

1. The publisher is apparently "Unimex", but this is the first time I have ever heard of them. Where did this piece of information come from?

2. After a mostly complimentary review, it only gets 1 star out of 6.

I asked LostInSpace (who reviewed it) to comment. He doesn't have an account here, so I'll just transmit his reponse:

Originally Posted by LostInSpace

I found only one other game published by Unimex called Air/Sea Battle which is cassette #7.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/airsea-attack
https://www.mobygames.com/game/circus__

Just 1 Point to express that this game is only worth to play out of pure curiosity. It's like a warning sign: do not cross the line, you will be disappointed. The review of course tries to be fair and looks at the game in his contextual environment.

[demoniac]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

As far as Ultima is concerned, yes, I was blown away by the perceived endless world and complex worldbuilding of Ultima III in its day. I'm quite reluctant to give it another spin, fearing exactly the disappointment you hint at.

If it's any consolation, I enjoyed playing this a number of years back. I only booted it up and spent about a hour back in the day. Not a huge Ultima fan either as I only played III and IV.

[Seiya]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

Today's new coverage is Blasteroids. It was one of the first games I ever had on the Amiga. Would hardly call it one of my favourites today, but occasionally, it's still fun.

Blasteroids i loved in the Coin-op version and maybe i expected too much from conversions. Nice asteroid clone, but maybe more optimized for 2 players. Single player is ok, but not the same beauty.

[Mr Creosote]

Today, we have a look at Spot: The Video Game for the Game Boy.

[Mr Creosote]

Here is the very christmassy Lords of Time from Level 9! We're covering both the Spectrum original and the Amiga remake from five years later.

[Minuous]

@Mr Creosote:

>I found only one other game published by Unimex called Air/Sea Battle which is cassette #7.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/airsea-attack
https://www.mobygames.com/game/circus__

I am quite sure that the information on that site is incorrect. Eg. for Air/Sea Attack, they are showing the Interton VC 4000 box but saying the publisher was Unimex. The publisher for that version was Interton (eg. see https://www.mobygames.com/game/1292-...overId,646687/ ). I am not sure about the developer, probably UA Ltd. but that is only a guess so I would leave it blank. For Acetronic games the publisher (but not necessarily the developer) would be Radofin.

[alkis21]

Somehow I had missed this fantastic website. It seems that everyone is doing video reviews these days, but I always prefer reading. Well done!

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by alkis21

Somehow I had missed this fantastic website. It seems that everyone is doing video reviews these days, but I always prefer reading. Well done!

Thanks, alkis

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by Minuous

@Mr Creosote:

>I found only one other game published by Unimex called Air/Sea Battle which is cassette #7.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/airsea-attack
https://www.mobygames.com/game/circus__

I am quite sure that the information on that site is incorrect. Eg. for Air/Sea Attack, they are showing the Interton VC 4000 box but saying the publisher was Unimex. The publisher for that version was Interton (eg. see https://www.mobygames.com/game/1292-...overId,646687/ ). I am not sure about the developer, probably UA Ltd. but that is only a guess so I would leave it blank. For Acetronic games the publisher (but not necessarily the developer) would be Radofin.

Here is LostInSpace's response:

Maybe this depends on the region of the release. In mobygames there is another game published by Unimex called Prizefight. And as alternate title there are several entries listed. For example: "Micro Processor System Cartridge 14: Prizefight" -- Radofin/Acetronic alternate, which seems after googling to be based in the UK.

Also the backcover you have linked could belong to a regional different version. My guess is, that Unimex is a very unknown German publisher of that time.

[Mr Creosote]

We ended 2021 with Police Quest III: The Kindred; the first in the series to move fully towards point & click. Kicking it off for 2022 is Dreamweb, the very game which redefined the term "oddity".

[mkrleza]

Sid Meier Pirates! Wow. Played it on C64, on tape, so it was a pain. Then Amiga came... Just blew my mind.

[Mr Creosote]

Traps 'n' Treasures was a throwback to classic Amiga days for sure. Then, fast-forwarding a couple of years, I took a dive into Diablo.

[gimbal]

Diablo 1 is as repetitive as it gets, but it definitely has style. What sets Diablo 1 & 2 apart from Diablo 3 and makes them far better games in my opinion is just the fact that you're never overpowered, if you slip up and take a wrong turn you can be a goner. The good use of darkness / a limited field of vision really creates a pretty unnerving experience because of it.

And then they made Diablo 3 where you can see everything for miles and you're pretty much a walking tank... I had little fun playing that game. Not even in coop play.

[jbenam]

IMHO, Diablo 1 had more charm than Diablo 2 - D2 felt very "generic" in a lot of the settings and/or monsters. Diablo 1 also made a great use of the closed space.

[Mr Creosote]

When I played it this time around, after about 2/3 of the levels, I honestly got kind of bored. It is as gimbal says, the scaling of enemies with player progress keeps you on the edge at all times. Yet, around level 11, I felt that there was really nothing I could do to be better, more successful. Mainly, by this point, it was about keeping am abundance of healing potions ready for quick consumption during fights. No clever approach could help change this.

[Minuous]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

Here is LostInSpace's response:

So basically the erroneous information was copied from another game's erroneous information...? I would not recommend using MobyGames information as a source for anything, it is very frequently incorrect.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by Minuous

So basically the erroneous information was copied from another game's erroneous information...? I would not recommend using MobyGames information as a source for anything, it is very frequently incorrect.

So, any chance you'll enlighten us on the correct information, and provide a source? I'm sure everyone will be happy to learn it!

[Minuous]

It is currently unknown, it is still an area of research.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by Minuous

It is currently unknown, it is still an area of research.

I'm curious

[Minuous]

Some interesting discussion about it at https://atariage.com/forums/topic/326084-radofin/ but the software side of things, at least, is still rather mysterious...A game such as Circus was rebadged and published for the various hardware platforms, presumably by the manufacturers, eg. at http://amigan.yatho.com/i-boxes.rar there are box photos for Acetronic, Fountain, Grundig, Hanimex, Interton, Prinztronic and Voltmace versions of Circus, all of which are identical binaries, as far as is known, and often also identical box art, numbering etc. The actual programmer(s) of a few of the games are known (eg. this guy https://sig2650.wordpress.com/ wrote the Leapfrog and Munch & Crunch games for Voltmace) but generally not. Additionally, a few of the games (not Circus though) have "Interton" or "Voltmace" as part of their graphics which suggests that those particular games were written or at least modified by those companies.