Neil Sorenson 1993
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Freeware
System: PC

This is a must for every Xanth-Fan! I always loved the great books of Piers Anthony and searched hard for any computer-games based on it. Long before I was able to get my hands on the graphical adventure I found this game (and lost it when my harddisk crashed).

Infogrames 1992
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

This game is loosely based on H.P. Lovecrafts works. So you can expect a decent horror athmosphere. And that's what the game is all about: the athmosphere!
It is created mainly be the presentation. The graphics are an attempt to be as movie-like as possible. You're playing in third-person perspective. The perspective changes depending on the spot where your alter ego stands.

Infogrames 1994
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

When people start filming a western the local cowboy ghosts seem to dislike the idea and start causing mayhem. The only solution is calling Carnby, who will come, kick some asses, solve absurd puzzles and save an old friend.

Michael S. Gentry 1998
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Freeware
System: Interpreter

This inheritence came as a surprise: Even your husband Michael had never heard of these distant relatives of his before. Now, the last of the family Verlac has died and Michael is the only remaining heir of the nice estate in the small New England town of Anchorhead. Since this goes along well with his teaching job, you two decide to move there.

Factor 5 / Hudson Soft 1992
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Conversions of console games to computers often go wrong. Translations of Japanese games just as often. With B.C. Kid, it went surprisingly smooth. It first appeared on the PC Engine and had (for 'western' tongues) a really strange name. The English version became 'Bonk'. Bonk? To make a long story short, the Amiga version got a better title when it was ported by the German company Factor 5 a few years later.

Sierra 1995
Genre: Strategy
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Battle Bugs is one of the games that do not need a story. You just complete mission after mission. Nevertheless it has a naive charme because of its theme (insect battles). The military background is ironically weakened by that. Most times they are about "conquering" most of the food that is lying around. That is done by moving a "unit" near the thing that you want to conquer. Then a flag appears on it, slowly rising. If you have more bugs there the flag will rise faster. When it has reached its top you own the object. Unfortunately the enemy tries to achieve the same so that heavy battles take place. As long as both sides have insects around the food nobody owns it. Conquered targets can of course be taken over the other army if it dominates the control zone. Almost any unit has its own special ability, strengths and weaknesses. A grasshopper for example is lethal for enemys but it also is killed fast. Bees can (of course) fly and also drop bombs, dynamite or cheese (!) on the enemy. This last thing is used to stun units. All flying animals have to fear ants with missiles. These specific characteristics should be considered when planning the battle. An example: A huge mass of enemies that would easily crush you hands down comes nearer. You send your "pill bug" in their direction. The enemy army concentrates on it, so that all are on the same place and beat it up. Now your bee starts and drop its bombs on this concentrated mass. The pill bug is immune to bombs but the enemies die in the explosions. Level completed!

Century Interactive / BMG 1996
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 3.5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Vinyl record sleeves and game boxes have something in common, in the sense that a particularly good design can prompt you to buy the record/game without trying it first. That's how I ended up with The Virgin Prunes' If I die, I die, which is absolutely god-awful. And Bermuda Syndrome, which is great fun.

Interplay 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Blackthorne - the 2-D scrolling shooter that doesn't really scroll. That simple sentence is the most complete and accurate description I can come up with today. Looking back several years I can only ask myself: why did we love this game so much? Because we didn't know any better? Probably so. But then again, nothing can change the beautiful memories and give back the countless hours we spent in front of the small, low-quality 14" monitor playing what we thought was the greatest game ever made. Does this sound unfamiliar to you? Probably, if you have never experienced it.

Cameron Wilkin 1999
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 2/6
Licence: Freeware
System: Interpreter

"Ignorance is bliss", people say. Know those clichéd fantasy settings in which a knight in shining armour slashes his way through hordes of 'monsters', although the whole time, you have this nagging question in the back of your head how this guy is exactly 'good' and how his victims are 'evil'? Then Bliss might be for you. On the surface, the game is exactly what we all despise: Your alter ego, the hero, has been captured by the Orcish army of an evil magician. Now, he has to escape from the dungeon and finally kill the evil guy's dragon. The whole journey being a violent killing spree. However, the evil wizard has apparantely put a curse on your head as sometimes, reality just seems to fade away...

Millenium 1993
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

In contrary to the potential expectations considering the name, Brutal Sports Football does not have very much in common with soccer or football (or even sports). Some elements have been adopted, though. Two teams try to put a ball into the enemy's goal while guarding their own.