Legend Entertainment 1997
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Jake Stonebender is one of the regulars at the prolific bar where people from the past, the future and various mythological dimensions meet. Some visitors share their personal problems freely with the protagonist - dragging him right into them as he tries to solve them. How do you turn a series of short stories into a computer game? Make it episodical. Each of the episodes can be played independently with the bar acting as the place where short interludes take place. Interestingly enough, each episode is quite long on its own, resulting in a massive game when combined.

Sensible Software / Virgin Interactive 1993
Genre: Action, Strategy
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Take the title. Take the slogan 'war has never been so much fun'. It's obvious Cannon Fodder is not a game to be taken seriously. Is war something to make fun of? Well, why not? However, it doesn't make a game automatically good as some people seem to suggest. It's still the game which counts, not the theme. So let's talk about the game.

PDS 1997
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Freeware
System: PC

A dark backroom filled with smoke. The evil masterminds had a meeting. "How can we achieve world domination the fastest way?", asked the overweight boss. The suspicious looking man on his right was playing with his knife but his mouth remained closed. For the first time, we can see the third man's face. He had been slumped back into his chair but now he was leaning forward on the table. He was wearing thick glasses, the little hair which is left was completely white. He's wearing a brown suit. "Can't we just do it like in the old days? Let's just fake the results of the elections!" Fury was glowing in the big cheese's eyes. "Stupid fool!", he shouted out, "Oh Great Satan, why do I have to be surrounded by such idiots?". Suddenly, a slim shadowy figure stepped out of a dark corner. The three looked surprised - they obviously had no idea there was someone else in the room. Stunned by the shock, they just looked at the mysterious man eyes wide open. Tension was building up in the air, the silence would have killed every normal being. At last, the figure began to speak: "I come directly from the the nameless one you serve." "You mean.....", was all the big cheese could gasp pointing his head eastwards. "Silence!" Despite his unimpressive appearance, the unknown person seemed to have some kind of natural authority over all the other men. "Listen to me carefully as I'll only say it once: the youth of today is the future voters. Control the youth, and the future is yours!" In the very next moment, the figure was gone again - as suddenly as it had appeared. But he had left inspiration in the other men's heads. "Heureka! Let's make a computer game!", they shouted unisono.

Electronic Arts 1992
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Car & Driver is indeed a magazine, but they managed to get a racing game out. When you go into the menu, it's exactly as if you were reading their magazine, except that it has the game's screenshots and some real pictures. It features 10 best cars and tracks with very nice range of variety. This is almost like Electronic Arts's prequel to their beloved Need For Speed Series.

Incentive / Domark 1990
Genre: Adventure, Action
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

If a game primarily tries to sell its technical merits, its plot is quickly pushed on the back bench in the development phase. That is probably why this part of the Freescape series (a series known for its free-movement three-dimensional graphics) sends the player on the standard quest of the standard quests: The player takes over the role of either a prince or a princess whose respective counterpart twin has been captured by a magician. The player enters the baddies' castle on a rescue mission, but before he or she can enter the actual dungeon, he or she has to find ten items spread all around the castle.

Sierra 1991
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

If you want to become Dr Brain's new helper (and you want if you are playing this) you have to solve all the puzzles that wait on his castle, placed to test your skills resolving problems of all kinds.

Unlimited Software / Konami 1990
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Released for the PC three years after its NES appearance, Castlevania is the first of a long series of horror platformers. That is, the first to bear the name "Castlevania". The game is a sequel to Vampire Killer, which appeared in Japan in 1986 for the MSX2 Home Computer system. This fact was apparent immediately for everybody who played the original games, as most sprites were directly taken from Vampire Killer, and only the backgrounds and music were improved.

Dregenrocks 2001
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Freeware
System: PC

Catch the Kreis is a simple, yet fascinating arcade game. It resembles the huge coin-ups of the 70's and that where it draws its fascination from. You're an 'X' (controlled by the cursor keys) hunting a '0' on a board divided into squares. Very hectical - be sure to pump up enough adrenaline! But let's hear what the author has to say about the developement of the different versions (comments from Dregenrocks are in italics):

Bits of Magic / Electronic Arts 1990
Genre: Strategy, Action
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Centurion: Defender of Rome was one of those overly complex yet simplistic games that had their heyday in late 1980s and early 90s. Designed by Kellyn Beck, the mastermind behind Defender of the Crown, the game is built on the same principles, only set into a different time period.

Real World Multimedia 1997
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Based on the Griffin and Sabine trilogy of books, by Nick Bantock, Ceremony of Innocence brings to life the story of an intense relationship carried out entirely through a mysterious exchange of exotic postcards and letters. Griffin Moss is a lonely postcard designer who one day receives a very odd card from a woman named Sabine Strohem—a card in which she states she has a psychic link to him and his artwork. So Griffin and Sabine begin the correspondence that forms the backbone of this surreal and haunting story.