[Closed] Video games, they're not what they used to be

monty mole was another bugged game making it almost impossible to complete

and isn't that ^^ (Monkey Island) a pic from the re-make?

used to be late for school everyday waiting for manic to load.

Have a look at [url= http://retrospec.sgn.net/download.php?link=mm&url=http://www.retrospec.sgn.net/users/anoble/files/MM-PC.zip ]this[/url] then.

monty mole was another bugged game making it almost impossible to complete

Not to my knowledge? Are you thinking of, ah, Monty on the Run IIRC, where you'd to choose your escape kit first?

Re Manic Miner, I remember playing it on the GF's laptop about 10 years ago. The weird thing about it was that I completed stage one (at the first attempt) exactly as I would have back in the 80s - and without losing a life. Was an odd feeling - like interactive deja-vu.

Muscle memory. I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago on a real Speccy.

the original doom was groundbreaking

Wasn't it based on Wolfenstein? Or was it the other way around?
EDIT - Wolfenstein was released in 1992, Doom in 1993.

Same for me - Deadly and never progressed but IIRC to get to elite was several times more kills than Deadly so you really had to live on it to get there.

I reached Elite. Took ages, I'm afraid I did live on it. Greatest achievement of my life <sigh>
It set a very bad example to my kids. One of whom ended up working for Codemasters testing games.

I think the best I managed was Mostly Harmless... 😳

BBC Elite on tape didn't have the Constrictor(iirc) mission which was necessary to attain Elite. Mo military lasers either.

The great time-eaters for me were Elite, Doomdark's Revenge on the Spectrum, and the original GTA (2d) on PC.

Have recently expended a decent amount of time on the original Halo on PC though. Great fun. Am currently stuck trying to complete it again on Legendary...damn those Banshees...

Halo on Legendary, now we're talking. That's a proper use of our short time on earth that I am proud to say I've managed on 1 and 2 and about to commence on 3 (I shall probably come blinking into the daylight in about a year with a severe Vit D deficiency).
Martin, by the way, the pistol is surprisingly effective at range against the Banshees.

Pistol, really?

<nerd> I'm on the Two Betrayals level, trapped by a checkpoint with one knackered banshee vs four others. A rocket launcher would be nice, but appears to be unavailable </nerd>

Nerd alert - From memory I presume you have just driven up a winding path in a jeep to a frozen plain with a tall central column in the middle and a nav point you have to fly to to take out one of the cores.
If it is this, I used the MG in the jeep to take out the Banshees before I got in one myself and flew up.

you doom experts on the previous page are right, of course. such an awesome level as were all of them in doom, doom2 and quake. good times. 🙂

ok, any true gaming fans on here will have a little shiver of excitement when they see this:
[url=

life wipeout levitation track 🙂 [/url]

not really.. especially as it was posted already 😛

in this actual thread? 😳

it's still awesome, anyway. 🙂

it's still awesome, anyway

8)

oh alright. 😡 😆

apparently there is a new one out so they are doing a viral campaign. 🙂

ok well that's cheered me up again then, as i have always loved wipeout games. 😀

Interesting not to see half life 2 mentioned in a thread of good games. just started my second play through it. Not looking forward to passing through ravenholme again.

I'm tempted by Skyrim but not sure how I'd find it with the repeated stuff mentioned by someone further up.

On the scary side of things has anyone tried Amnesia? I haven't and don't want to thanks.

Amnesia

Get. Out.

There have always been complaints about games being too easy. I remember reading in ST Format magazine 20 years ago that the Japanese market liked games that were easy to complete, and we didn't. So game designers would make it hard or easy depending on which market they were aiming at.

Games that had me playing for hours and hours:

Atari ST:
F16 Combat Pilot
Elite
Populous

PC:
Half Life
Half Life 2

Playstation(s):
Wip3out
GTA3

But the most absorbing game I have ever played, and one of the greatest OF ALL TIME is UFO Enemy Unknown. I played it on the PC and for many months I was either playing it or thinking about playing it - nothing else. I was upset when I finished it, and proper gutted when I found out the sequels were not as good. I got it on a budget label and there were no giveaways about what was going to happen or even what I was supposed to do. It was totally free-form in terms of overall strategy to achieve your aim, and you didn't even know how you were going to do it at first. Contrast that with Oblivion where you know you are there to close the gates, and each mission aka quest is a predefined sequence.

UFO Enemy Unknown

I've played that until I started having dreams about sectoids, and still never completed it.

If you want proper good story RPGs and don't mind bad graphics then fallout 1&2 are amazing.

I completed it! Yeah!

Cougar - Member
Get. Out.

I got embarrassingly into the Tomb Raider games too - I would lay awake at night walking through levels in my head trying to work out why I was stuck and if I thought of a solution I would have to get up and attempt it.

Atari ST:

You missed Dungeon Master and Carrier Command. And every Infocom game ever.

I would lay awake at night walking through levels in my head trying to work out why I was stuck and if I thought of a solution I would have to get up and attempt it.

Thank god it's not just me. Not Tomb Raider, but the number of times I've woken up at 4am going "that's it!!" I started keeping a notepad beside the bed.

a notepad by the bed for gaming reasons is a novel new depth to which i could never imagine having sunk to!

good effort!

Anyone play Attik Attak (sp) on the Speccy? Loved that game (as well as Manic Miner & Jet Set Willy). Completed it, playing the odd hour here and there on a friend of the parents machine, as we couldn't afford one.

atic atac.... yeah that was a good un.

I remember really enjoying drawing maps of the games/levels, such as Saberman, knight lore etc. Don't think you need to do any of that nowadays, games seem to "auto-map" so to speak. I really fancy a skyrim/fallout but not sure if I have enough spare time to dedicate to it.

Have we done balder's gate on this thread yet?

And every Infocom game ever.

How sad is this ... me and a mate were well into some of their games and on one occasion we even phoned a bloke who put an ad in Zzap 64's help page. Twas a Saturday afternoon IIRC and the solution involved giving a rose to someone.

I remember really enjoying drawing maps of the games/levels, such as [s]Saberman[/s]Sabrewulf, knight lore etc.

Same here. Started doing some in 3D/esoteric too, only to find them appear in the likes of Crash/Zzap etc within a couple of weeks.

Ultimate games rocked.

To my chagrin, I never completed Atic Atac. I remember hand-drawing maps (which was a PITA because your start point wasn't constant) and eventually had it all mapped out, even then it's a solid game.

Sabre Wulf, I did complete. That's a bugger as well because the amulet pieces aren't always in the same place, but at least they're consistently not in the same place; ie, once you've found one, you know where the others are.

me and a mate were well into some of their games

I've actually got Lurking Horror and H2G2 on my phone. Modern technology, gotta love it.

Started doing some in 3D/esoteric too

Isometric, though esoteric is probably apt. Did you ever map Alien 8? The map was the shape of the space ship; nice touch.

Isometric, though esoteric is probably apt

Doh. I knew I had the wrong word because it should've begun with an 'I'.

Did you ever map Alien 8? The map was the shape of the space ship; nice touch.

Don't think we mapped that one - but do recall the shape. Remember buying it in Gamer, Brighton and then hammering it for a few days. Their Speccy games were so much better than their C64 efforts; Underwurlde etc vs Staff of Karnath etc.

Ultimate never really clicked on the 64, I don't think. Utterly groundbreaking on the Speccy though.

I vaguely remember a tale that Knight Lore was actually written a good deal earlier than it was released, long before Sabre Wulf et al. They held it back because they knew it'd destroy sales of every other game ever. May be an urban myth, who knows.

i bought uncharted 3 last week and i have to say some of the levels are some of the best gaming i have played in years.

the shipyard level and the plane/desert are amazing.

the game was way too short (single player) and some of the levels were a bit 'samey'.

rose tinted specs on though, nothing can compare to the old days of waiting for the spectrum to load a game then crashing just as it was about to start and then the amiga/st came along and it was like WTF and took it all to another level!!!!

Jesus, this is a real nostalgia-fest this thread. I remember going to Cardiff with my parents and bought Dynamite Dan on tape for my speccy. When we got back home to North Wales It wouldn't load and I couldn't take it back to the shop. Crash were raving about it and I got so frustrated with it I smashed up the tape! Loved all the Ultimate games. Jetpac! I was a bit mad for Dropzone on the C64, loved that game.

Dynamite Dan was a complete sod to load, I feel your pain. Didn't rate it much as a game myself.

Dynamite Dan

I remember reading and re-reading a review of that during a 4hr car journey to see relatives in Hants. Got a copy soon after and, like Cougar says, found it a pretty pants. IMO it tried to be a clever version of JSW but lost the playability.

See also, Technician Ted.

"How can we take Jet Set Willy and make it hard?"

(EDIT - I could probably have worded that better.)

Two old school games that kept me going for many, many hours and I never finished.
[img] [/img]
On the BBC Micro, we had a massively elaborate map which featured every screen but we couldn't get across one of the very final sections.

[img] [/img]

Pandora's box, even with an invincibility cheat we still never finished it, I'm not even completely sure we were close. I'd love to go back and have a proper run at it to see if it is easier as a grown up.

I was told off by MrAdamW last night. Just got into Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (very short scene for Patrick Stewart!) and am 19 hours in. I've hardly scratched the surface. I'm now limited to an hour a night. 😆

Carrier Command

I had the disk of that but no manual, so I had to figure the entire thing out, including how to control everything and what the game was even about. Made it more fun 🙂

Carrier Command

Yeeeeeeeaaaah!

It took me ages to work out that you could "reprogram" the enemy bases and didn't have to go through the rigmarole of destroying the defenses, then the HQ then building them all up again.

That enemy carrier was a bastard.

had a google but can't find it - anyone remember a spectrum game (plus 2 or 3) where is was a platform shooter and you were dressed as a spaceman and shot what looked like mint imperials at the bad guys?

man that was a hard game in the day..

I'm currently working my way through the Assassin's Creed series (completed 1 + 2, now on Brotherhood).

It's a very long play time.... but so much fun! Best thing I've played since Metal Gear Solid series...

GTA 3/4 series is fantastic too, for hours of havoc on the streets...

had a google but can't find it - anyone remember a spectrum game (plus 2 or 3) where is was a platform shooter and you were dressed as a spaceman and shot what looked like mint imperials at the bad guys?

man that was a hard game in the day..

Nodes of Yesod / Arc of Yesod?

(Or Jetpac)

I completed Carrier Command (sort of) by sinking the enemy carrier. I did it by shooting at him a lot, the normal way, but having sneakily parked my planes in a holding pattern just out of his range.... So when he decided he'd had enough and legged it, I sent the three planes on kamikaze missions into him. His boat was faster than mine, but not my planes.. 🙂

Truly fantastic game though - very clever and involved, haven't seen anything like that since. Can someone make an online multiplayer version please?

(Or Jetpac)

That's what I was going to suggest. You had to collect parts to build a rocket, which took you to the next level. One of the first games I have for the Spectrum 48k.
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I installed a copy of this a wee while back, and discovered I still remembered all the keyboard shortcuts, must be at least 20 years on.

Available on Android phones apparently. But I'd still need a paper map

northwind- is that lords of midnight?

AdamW- becoming the head of the assassins guild is ace fun as is being an arena fighter, oblivion will steal lots of your time 😆

Wow, so many from my childhood/teenage years. Most of my favourites were on Gameboy, SNES and Dreamcast. All-time timewaster was 2-player Super Mario Kart, trying to get as many red shells orbiting your opponent as possible 🙂 Wish I was 14 again...

Tazzy- aye. Night has fallen and the foul are abroad

AdamW- my advice, don't get obsessed with Oblivion gates, they killed the game for me completely.

Going right back - Empire strikes back on Atari 2600 was a git, trying to shoot those flashing coloured squares in the at-ats head to bring 'em down but they just kept advancing.
[img] [/img]

or Star-raiders
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Raiders
came with an extra pad with buttons to make your spaceship do stuff. I reckon the Elite programmers played this loads.

no, soz geeks, this is the 2600 version
http://www.atariguide.com/1/173.php