Game-a-day #56...Age of Adventure - The Return of Heracles

Ok, "The Return of Heracles" is an RPG/adventure that is based on Greek mythology.  It's not the best RPG in the world, but there is something retro cool about how simple and 8 bit it's RPG experience is.  The Greek font that the game uses is very creative and gives "The Return of Heracles" the ancient Greek feel it's going for.  You can play one or more mythological Greek heroes, and the goal is to complete 12 tasks (like the 12 Labours of Hercules).  I'm not over fond of the game play, it's clunky and slow.  The graphics are meh, but I see the creativity in it, and I like that it's not knights and dragons.  Perhaps a little more time spent playing this game would glean a love for it... only time will tell.

The Return of Heracles on Gamebase64

Game-a-day #57...Accolade Comics.

"Accolade Comics", I like this game a lot, it's funny, has great artwork, and game play is cool and always interesting.  It all takes place in the world of wisecracking secret agent Steve Keene, and his world is a comic book.  The creators took great pains to make this game feel like an actual comic book and make it playable at the same time.  Mini-games that are all action break up the choose your own adventure style play that dominates the experience.  Accolade made some of the most advanced games that I owned in the 80's and this one did not disappoint.  The only thing that was a tiny bit annoying about "Accolade Comics", was the very long load times between sequences.  I mean, it was the 80's and computer technology wasn't fast, so couple that with a game that was a little too advanced for the technology it was running on (Commodore 64) and you get a few long waits.  Now, as a kid I had quite a tolerance for computer wait times because that was what we had in that era.  However, today I find myself getting a little squirmy if I have to wait for anything longer than a millisecond.  How times have changed.

Accolade Comics on Gamebase64

Game-a-day #58...Alter Ego.

Want to live an entire life from birth to death in 8 bits and with very limited choices?  You can!  "Alter Ego" makes it possible.  This game is actually fun to play, but very limited as far as an actual life simulation, and that is what it tries to be... a life simulator.  Now, obviously the complicated nature of a human life (any life for that matter) is hard to simulate on an 8 bit computer like the C64, I know we can't do it with the supercomputers of today, but "Alter Ego" plays less like a simulator and more like, I know I say this a lot... A choose your own adventure.  Ok, so it's a choose your own adventure of a life, and you can live a Male or Female life.  The C64 had two separate versions for Male and Female, so you had to decide what version you wanted and buy that one back in the day.  I did own this game as a kid, and I did like it.  I like it still because it's easy and entertaining to be presented with situations, choose a path, and then see what the results of your choices are... OMG, it IS a life simulator.  You get to choose what phase of life you want to start at from infancy to old age, and you can have the computer choose a base personality for you, or you can make a custom personality.  If you choose to do the custom thing you will have to complete a short psychological test that asks some questions you might have seen on a personality test in Psychology 101.  This game has no graphics to speak of and is almost all text, it is three floppies large, so that's a lot of text.  It's worth a play if you like something a little more serious and pensive in your vintage game experience. 

Alter Ego: Male on Gamebase64

Alter Ego: Female on Gambase64

Game-a-day #59...Dylan Dog - The Full Moon Nights

Wait...what?  Never heard of it... That's what I thought when I came across this obscure title on The Gamebase64.  "Dylan Dog" is an Italian horror comic from the 80's so it's no wonder I didn't know who Dylan Dog is, and the game was unpublished anyhow so even if I did know about the comic I would probably not know about the game anyway.  That said, "Dylan Dog" the game for C64 is just a Choose Your Own Adventure with music playing in the background.  It does have cool graphics but it's not a true text adventure as it only gives you two choices at every choice point.  It was also, I guess, originally in Italian, and the English version lacks a good translation so that makes this game a little less good than it already isn't (Does that make sense?).  One thing about "Dylan Dog", it's LOW commitment on the playing, so it's good if you just feel like reading a story.  If it seems like something you want to check out here's the info.

Dylan Dog - The Full Moon Nights on Gamebase64

Dylan Dog Comics on Wikipedia

Game-a-day #60...Ghostbusters.

One of the most iconic movies of the 80's was "Ghostbusters".  The C64 game is no less iconic, it's the perfect companion to the movie, a real 80's computer game for a real 80's movie.  Game play is fun, it's story driven, and like all good games and movies it has an end.  You start with some cash and you are The Ghostbusters.  You have to buy a car outfit your HQ and guys, then you catch ghosts around town and try to collect them before they all gather and bring the PKG energy to a head.  There's a keymaster and a gatekeeper and everything.  I like this game, and it was ported to other systems as well.  It's probably the best computer game based on a movie that they made in the 80's.  It's funny, now they make movies based on computer games.

Ghostbusters on Gamebase64

Game-a-day #61...Transformers.

So "Transformers" seems like a cool game, but I don't know how to play it, and I don't have time to figure it out at the moment.  I will say that it has a kick ass introduction that takes up the ENTIRE b side of the floppy.  A lot of talking in the intro, and fantastic graphics... but then I try to play it and because I have no instructions, find I can't figure it out very well.  I mean I'm sure it's a fun game once you find out how to play it, it seems to have a bunch of options and transformers to play.  The Transformers were super popular in my kid years, I mean we tried to be the first one on the block to have the newest one, and I know they weren't cheap.  My favorite was the laser gun who was a purple color.  The new movies in my mind are a travesty, and in no way capture the REAL transformer spirit.  I would go ahead and Netflix or rent or torrent the old cartoon movie "Transformers: The Movie" 1986.  It's a cool anime style cartoon designed to sell toys, but way better than the new horrible series of movies.  Anyhow, none of this get's me closer to knowing how to play this game... If you know how or can send me the instructions I'll be in your debt.

Transformers on Gamebase64

Game-a-day #62... Nosferatu the Vampyre.

Isometric... that is the word to describe this game.  For some reason isometric games are always cool to me regardless of game play.  However, in my brief time playing "Nosferatu the Vampyre" I have discovered that I would like this game even without the Iso graphics.  It's based on the actual Dracula book by Bram Stoker, and you play the three main characters, Jonathan, Lucy, and Van Helsing.  I guess the idea of the game is to ultimately destroy the vampire, but first you have to escape from the castle, then lure the vampire (with Lucy) to wherever you have to kill him.  The music in this game is cool and creepy and of coarse very C64.  "Nosferatu" is the type of vintage game I like the best, a graphical adventure that's more than hack and slash based on a book I read.  What more do you want?

Nosferatu the Vampyre on Gamebase64