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[Tomb Raider]

Tomb Raider is a 1996 action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive as the debut entry in the Tomb Raider media franchise. It was first released on the Sega Saturn, followed shortly by versions for MS-DOS and the PlayStation. Later releases came for Mac OS (1999), Pocket PC (2002), N-Gage (2003), iOS (2013) and Android (2015). The game follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft, who is hired by businesswoman Jacqueline Natla to find an artifact called the Scion of Atlantis. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes while fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress. An expansion pack subtitled Unfinished Business was released in 1997, containing new standalone levels.

The initial concept was created by Toby Gard, who is credited as Lara's creator and worked as lead artist on the project. Production began in 1994 and took 18 months, with a budget of £440,000. The character of Lara was based on several influences, including Tank Girl, Indiana Jones, and Hard Boiled. The 3D grid-based level design, innovative for its time, was inspired by the structure of Egyptian tombs. The music was composed by Nathan McCree, who took inspiration from English classical music. Originally announced in 1995, the title went on to receive extensive press attention and heavy promotion from Eidos Interactive.

Tomb Raider was praised for its innovative 3D graphics, controls, and gameplay. The game went on to win several industry awards and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made. It is also one of the best-selling games for the PlayStation, with seven million units sold worldwide, and it remained the best-selling title in the Tomb Raider franchise until the 2013 reboot. Lara Croft herself became a cultural icon, rising to prominence as one of gaming's most recognizable characters. Following the game's success, numerous sequels were released, beginning with Tomb Raider II in 1997. A remake, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, was released in 2007. A remastered version of Tomb Raider, alongside Unfinished Business, was released as part of Tomb Raider I–III Remastered in 2024.

Source: Wikipedia

I always enjoy these videos looking at lists of games.  This is about impressive games on the 2600.  Check it out...

[Up'n Down]

Up'n Down is a video game developed and published by Sega.  It was first released in 1983 as an arcade game, then later ported to the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64. In Up'n Down the player drives a car forward and backward along a branching, vertically scrolling track, collecting flags and jumping on other cars to destroy them.

GamePlay
Up'n Down is a vertically scrolling game that employs a pseudo-3D perspective. The player controls a purple dune buggy that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle. The buggy moves forward along a single-lane path; pressing up or down on the joystick causes the buggy to speed up or slow down, pressing right or left causes the buggy to switch lanes at an intersection, and pressing the "Jump" button causes the buggy to jump in the air. Jumping is required to avoid other cars on the road; the player can either jump all the way over them, or land on them for points.

To complete a round, the player must collect 10 colored flags by running over them with the buggy. If the player passes by a flag without picking it up, it will appear again later in the round. The roads feature inclines and descents that affect the buggy's speed, and bridges that must be jumped. A player loses a turn whenever the buggy either collides with another vehicle without jumping on it, or jumps off the road and into the grass or water.

The history of a game that needs no introduction...

"The Hunt" is a turn based combat puzzle game. You control a young Predator on his first Hunt on the planet Earth. Fight your way through 16 randomly generated, and progressively harder, levels to claim your ultimate trophy.

Just in time for the Atari Jaguar's 30th anniversary. "The Hunt" can be downloaded and played on your Jaguar, or in BigPemu, for free! If you are playing on your Jaguar console, you will need to flash the ROM file to your Skunkboard or play it from SD card on your Jaguar Game Drive. If you are playing in BigPemu (Atari Jaguar emulator), be sure to enable the "Force JGD Emulation" option in settings.

Download Here

Step back in time as we uncover the fascinating and often overlooked history of the Channel F, a groundbreaking console that laid the foundation for the gaming industry as we know it today! Uncover the secrets behind the first-ever interchangeable game cartridges that set the Channel F apart from its competitors. Learn about the challenges faced by the developers and the ingenious solutions that shaped the gaming experience for generations to come.

From it's groundbreaking R.A.V.EN. Prototype to its lasting legacy, witness the evolution of the Channel F and its contributions to the gaming world. We'll explore the iconic games, technological advancements, and the cultural impact that this console had during its heyday.

There's nothing more emblematic of the Holiday seasons than the cozy feeling you get waking to a fire and conifer brimming under with presents. That feeling of togetherness and warmth and holiday spirit shared while singing songs of the season with friends and family. That feeling of throwing the controller at your TV when you lose a ball. Ah, such memories!

PINBALL! That's right, this year's game is xmas pinball! Same pinball engine from xmas 2016 but with an all new table! Shoot the ramp, aim for the targets, and light up "SANTA" for big points. If you're skilled enough you can even unlock multiball!

Order Here

RetrogamerGen X posted this video looking at the history of the GameBoy.  Check it out...

"The Hunt" is a turn based combat puzzle game. You control a young Predator on his first Hunt on the planet Earth. Fight your way through 16 randomly generated, and progressively harder, levels to claim your ultimate trophy.

Download for Free and play our your Jaguar Game Drive or Skunkboard: https://jagcorner.com/the-hunt/

A port of the ABBCU SW competition:  The original Atari 8-Bit computer version can be found here:
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/218058-the-hunt-from-abbuc-sw-contest-2013/

Thank you to Jakub 'Ilmenit' Debski (original code), and Michal 'stRing' Radecki (music), for making a great game that deserves a bit more attention, and for their approval, feedback on music and other thoughts suggestions. Also, credit goes to Pawel 'ripek' Szewczyk for the artwork in the original version.

Also, a special thank you to Lawrence Staveley (Reboot) for helping prepare the ROM for release in time for the Atari Jaguar's 30th anniversary.

When the legendary console was finally killed by Atari, its legacy continued on with these clones with built-in games up until 90's. They are marketed under many different names, but the manufacturers and the built-in games were pretty much the same. This particular model is PAL-B/G.

This is another system that was recently released that plays Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 games but, surprisingly, is capable of also running arcade, NES, Genesis, etc. games...  Check out this video.

If you're not aware of this, then you've been hiding under a rock for the past several months!  He's the latest Atari system for everyone to enjoy. Here's a review by John Hancock...

I was at FreePlay Florida this weekend.  Took quite a few pictures of the event.  Check them out here:  FeePlay Florida 2023.

[Commando]

Commando, released as Senjō no Ōkami ("Wolf of the Battlefield") in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released by Capcom for arcades in 1985. The game was designed by Tokuro Fujiwara. It was distributed in North America by Data East, and in Europe by several companies including Capcom, Deith Leisure and Sega, S.A. SONIC. Versions were released for various home computers and video game consoles. It is unrelated to the 1985 film of the same name, which was released six months after the game.

Commando was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1985 and one of the best-selling home video games of 1986. It was highly influential, spawning numerous clones following its release, while popularizing the run-and-gun shooter genre. Its influence can be seen in many later shooter games, especially those released during the late 1980s to early 1990s.

The game later appeared on Capcom Classics Collection, Activision Anthology, and on the Wii Virtual Console Arcade, as well as Capcom Arcade Cabinet for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A sequel, Mercs, was released in 1989.

Gameplay

The player takes control of a soldier named Super Joe,[7] who starts by being dropped off in a jungle by a helicopter, and has to fight his way out singlehandedly, fending off a massive assault of enemy soldiers.

Super Joe is armed with an assault rifle (which has unlimited ammunition) as well as a limited supply of hand grenades. While Joe can fire his gun in any of the eight directions that he faces, his grenades can only be thrown vertically towards the top of the screen, irrespective of the direction Joe is facing. Unlike his assault rifle bullets, grenades can be thrown to clear obstacles, and explosions from well-placed grenades can kill several enemies at once.

At the end of each level, the screen stops, and the player must fight several soldiers streaming from a gate or fortress. They are ordered out by a cowardly officer, who immediately runs away, although shooting him in the back awards the player bonus points. Along the way, one can attempt to free prisoners of war as they are transported across the screen by the enemy.

Some home console ports of the game contain hidden underground shelters that can only be accessed with grenades. Inside these shelters are prisoners for the player to rescue. Some of these ports also include items. Among the items included in the NES version are a more powerful machine gun upgrade, an unlimited grenade upgrade, and "glasses" to let the player view all the hidden bunkers. The player will lose these upgrades after losing a life.

Extra lives are given at 10,000 points, and per 50,000 scored up to 960,000; thereafter, no more lives. Play continues to the last Super Joe dead, which ends the game.

The arcade version contains eight unique levels. The NES version contains only four unique level designs, but repeats those levels with minor changes and increasing difficulty to create a total of sixteen levels.

Source:  Wikipedia

Here's some footage from an absolutely incredible trip Mike's Gaming Gala made to Western NY State, visiting an awesome pinball hall as well as the Strong Museum of Play, which included a behind the scenes tour of their lab and archives!  Check it out as you'll likely see something in this video that you've never seen before!

You know, it is fascinating to see how corporations like McDonald's have also tried to be part of the video game world with different entries.  I just watched this video by Classic Gamer74.  The games are mostly about Ronald McDonald and the McDonaldland gang.  Did you know that Ronald is called Donald in Japan?  Apparently they don't have the R sound!  Check it out...

These games were selected by taking in the top 5 games from Atari 7800 ProSystem Gamers Facebook Group, Atari 7800 Forever Facebook Group, and the AtariAge Facebook Group.  They submitted their Top 5 games and then 7800 Pro Gamer gave them a score from 5 to 1.  Their number one game got 5 points, number two got 4, number three got 3, number four got 2, and number five game got 1 point. 7800 Pro Gamer then added the points after 2 days to come up with this list.

Just watched this video.  It asks an interesting question.  For me, Bentley Bear would have been a great mascot for the company...

[Gex]

Gex is a platform game developed by Crystal Dynamics. It was originally released for the 3DO in 1995; ports of the game for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were later developed by Beam Software, and a PC version was licensed by Microsoft and released for Microsoft Windows. It was a pack-in game for Panasonic models of the 3DO later in the console's life. It is the first in the Gex series of video games, and introduces players to the title character, a wisecracking, television-obsessed gecko voiced by comedian Dana Gould, who must venture through the "Media Dimension" and defeat Rez, the overlord of the dimension who wants to make Gex into his new network mascot.

Gex was created by Lyle Hall in 1993 shortly after he had joined Crystal Dynamics, and initially followed a movie stuntman named Gecko X before being retooled at the advisory of lead programmer Gregg Tavares. The game's lead character was intended as a mascot for the developer who could rival the likes of other immensely popular platformer characters – primarily Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. Initially intended for completion in June 1994, and later in September of that year, development of the game took 21 months, with time constraints and a limited development team leading to numerous production difficulties. Several features were cut because of a necessity to complete the game on time, but some of these features were later re-added by a team of developers who programmed several other secret features into the game.

It was released in April 1995 to largely positive reviews from critics; particular praise was aimed at Gex's unique platforming abilities and Gould's voice work as the character. The 3DO version of the game managed to sell over a million copies, making it one of the system's better-selling games. Two sequels were later released, titled Gex: Enter the Gecko and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, with Gex becoming Crystal Dynamics' mascot for a short time.

Source:  Wikipedia

PatmanQC takes a look at the strange history and some of the games for Sega's failed 32-bit add-on...