Contra is a run and gun video game developed and published by Konami, originally developed as a coin-operated arcade video game in 1986 and released on February 20, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various home computer formats, including the MSX2. The arcade and computer versions were localized as Gryzor in Europe, and the NES version as Probotector in PAL regions.
M1 Tank Platoon is a tactical simulator of tank warfare developed and published by MicroProse for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS in 1989. The game features a mixture of first-person, third-person tank warfare, and tactical simulation gameplay. It was followed by a sequel, M1 Tank Platoon II, released by MicroProse in 1998 for Windows. M1 Tank Platoon was sold to Interplay Entertainment in 2009. M1 Tank Platoon is available on Steam and Epic Games services.
Ikari Warriors, known as Ikari in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished Ikari Warriors were rotary joysticks and a two-player cooperative mode. The rotary joystick controls were in turn based on SNK's earlier TNK III (1985). Ikari was originally intended to be an official licensed adaptation of the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), but SNK were initially unable to acquire the rights to the film.
The Kick Off franchise is a series of football simulation video games created by Dino Dini. Kick Off was published by Anil Gupta's publishing house Anco Software for the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. First released in 1989, Kick Off was well-received and won awards.
Commando, released as Senjō no Ōkami 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.
Last Action Hero is a series of action video games based on the 1993 film of the same name. Versions were released for the NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, and MS-DOS. Versions were also planned for the Sega CD and Master System, but ultimately were not released.
Wizards & Warriors, titled Densetsu no Kishi Elrond in Japan, is an action platform video game developed by Rare and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America in December 1987, and in Europe on January 7, 1990. The player controls Kuros, "Knight Warrior of the Books of Excalibur", as he sets out in the Kingdom of Elrond to defeat the evil wizard Malkil. Malkil holds the princess of Elrond captive in Castle IronSpire, deep within the forests of Elrond. The player fights through forests, tunnels, and caves, while collecting keys, treasure, weapons, and magic items.
Super Star Wars is an action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. It was released by JVC Musical Industries in Japan and Nintendo in North America in 1992 and Europe in 1993. The game was followed by two sequels based on the subsequent Star Wars films, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993) and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1994). The game was re-released in November 1996 as part of Nintendo's Player's Choice series. It was released on the Wii’s Virtual Console by LucasArts in 2009.
Garry Kitchen's Super Battletank: War in the Gulf is a 1992 tank simulation single-player video game which takes place during Operation Desert Storm. The player controls an M1 Abrams main battle tank for the United Nations. A sequel, Super Battletank 2, was released for the Super NES in 1994.
Rick Dangerous 2 is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. It was released in 1990 and published by Micro Style as a sequel to Rick Dangerous.
Thexder is a run and gun video game from Game Arts, originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1985. It was ported to many systems, including the Famicom.
Imagineering, based in Glen Rock, New Jersey, was an American in-house studio of Absolute Entertainment. Many notable video games developed for Absolute include A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia, Battle Tank, Super Battletank and The Rescue of Princess Blobette. They are also best known for their video games developed for third-party publishers, such as Acclaim Entertainment, Atari Corporation, Activision, Hi Tech Expressions, Gametek and THQ.
OutNumbered! is an educational video game published by The Learning Company in 1990 for both Windows and Macintosh PCs. It is aimed at children ages seven to fourteen and is designed to teach children mathematical computation and problem solving skills.
Xexyz, known in Japan as Kame no Ongaeshi - Urashima Densetsu, is a 1988 video game published by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in Japan on August 26, 1988, and saw a North American release sometime in April 1990. The game was never released in Europe and the game is not playable on PAL consoles.
Barbarian is a 1987 platform game by Psygnosis. It was first developed for the Atari ST, and was ported to the Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Amiga port was released in 1987; the others were released in 1988. The cover artwork is by fantasy artist Roger Dean.
Artillery games are two or three-player video games involving tanks trying to destroy each other. The core mechanics of the gameplay is almost always to aim at the opponent(s) following a ballistic trajectory. Artillery games are among the earliest computer games developed; the theme of such games is an extension of the original uses of computer themselves, which were once used to calculate the trajectories of rockets and other related military-based calculations. Artillery games have been described as a type of "shooting game", though they are more often classified as a type of strategy video game.
Gunboat is a simulation video game developed and released by Accolade in 1990 for MS-DOS. Ports were released for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Amiga and TurboGrafx-16. It is a combat simulator of a Patrol Boat, River (PBR).
Doughboy is a Commodore 64 video game by Ken Coates released in North America in 1984. A port for the Famicom was released in Japan in 1985 with the spelling changed to Dough Boy.
Super Battletank 2 is a 1994 tank simulation video game that was released exclusively for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Conqueror is a video game released as the follow-up to Zarch, using the same landscape engine. It is a third-person shooter with strategy elements in which the player controls a fleet of tanks. It was originally developed and released on the Acorn Archimedes by Superior Software in 1988 and ported to other home computers in 1990 by Rainbow Arts. The game was well received, particularly for its blend of strategy and arcade action.
