Gauntlet is a 1985 fantasy-themed hack-and-slash arcade game developed and released by Atari Games. It is noted as being one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games. The core design of Gauntlet comes from 1983 Atari 8-bit dungeon crawl game Dandy, which resulted in a threat of legal action. It also bears striking similarities to the action-adventure maze game Time Bandit (1983).
Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum is an early role-playing video game, first in the popular and influential Might and Magic franchise. It was released in 1986 as New World Computing's debut, ported to numerous platforms and re-released continuously through the early 1990s.
Jinxter is an interactive fiction video game developed by Magnetic Scrolls and published by Rainbird in 1987 for 8-bit and 16-bit home computers of the time. Jinxter tells the story of a man on a mission to save the fictional land of Aquitania from the looming threat of evil witches. The game was well received by critics upon its release.
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella is a graphic adventure game developed and released by Sierra On-Line for the MS-DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, and Atari ST computers in 1988. The player takes on the role of Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham of Daventry and the twin sister of Gwydion/Alexander, who must save her father and a good fairy and destroy an evil witch. Critically acclaimed, it was one of the first PC games to support a sound card.
Magicland Dizzy is a platform adventure game published in Europe in 1990 by Codemasters for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amiga platforms. By 1992 there were also MS-DOS, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC versions available. It is the sixth game in the Dizzy series, and the fourth adventure-based Dizzy title. The story, set in a fantasy world called Magicland, follows on from the events of Fantasy World Dizzy, the previous adventure title. In Magicland Dizzy the player controls Dizzy, an egg-shaped character, who is trying to save six of his friends who have been placed under spells by the Evil Wizard Zaks.
Driller is a 1987 puzzle video game. It was written by British developers Major Developments and published by Incentive Software for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. It uses the Freescape 3D game engine.
Curse of Enchantia is a graphic adventure game developed and released by the British video game company Core Design for MS-DOS and the Amiga in 1992. The game tells the comic fantasy story of Brad, a teenage boy from modern Earth who was magically abducted to the world of Enchantia by an evil witch-queen. He needs to escape and find a way back to his own dimension.
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.
Don Priestley is a teacher and former video game programmer who wrote over 20 commercial games for the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers between 1982 and 1989. Despite successful releases for DK'Tronics, such as 3D Tanx and Maziacs, Priestley returned to teaching in the late 1980s, claiming changes in the video game industry did not suit his style of work.
Batman is a 1986 3D isometric action-adventure game by Ocean Software for the Amstrad PCW, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and MSX, and the first Batman game developed. The game received favourable reviews. An unrelated Batman game was released two years later, titled Batman: The Caped Crusader.
Dragontorc is an action-adventure game developed by Steve Turner's Graftgold and released for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a sequel to 1984's Avalon The 3D Adventure Movie. The hero of Avalon, Maroc the Mage, returns to defeat an evil witch and save Britain. The game was very well received by critics.
Leader Board is a series of golf simulation video games that was developed by Bruce Carver and Roger Carver, and published by Access Software.
Piranha Software was a short-lived video game publishing label created by Macmillan Publishers in 1986 and closed eighteen months later. In that time it gained a reputation for its unusual output from well known developers such as Don Priestley, Design Design and Delta 4. The majority of their games featured licensed properties including the first video game based on the Discworld novels and two games based on the animated television series The Trap Door.
Soft & Cuddly is a horror arcade adventure game released for the ZX Spectrum home computer, developed by John George Jones and published by The Power House. It was released in September 1987 in the United Kingdom and in early 1988 in Spain. The player assumes the role of a man armed with a laser gun and a jet pack, whose mother, the Android Queen, has been dismembered. The player's task is to locate the scattered body parts of the Android Queen and sew her back together.
Blade the Warrior is a text adventure game written by British author Shaun Watts and published by Cable Software in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum. The fantasy themed game tells of a quest to slay an evil witch. It was Cable's first title to be released and was well received upon its release.
Ice Palace is an action-adventure game designed by Paul Norris for the Commodore 64 and published by Creative Sparks in 1985. Despite the title, it is unrelated to neither the 1984 Commodore 64 game Ice Palace by K-Tel International nor to 1988's Beyond the Ice Palace. The game tells the story of a crown prince's quest to break an evil spell, save his land, and avenge his father. It was mostly well received by critics but failed commercially.
Phantasie is the first video game in the Phantasie series.
Joe Blade is the first game in the Joe Blade series. It reached the top of the UK game charts, replacing Renegade. In Germany, the game peaked at number 7.
Yes, Prime Minister is a 1987 adventure game based on the television series of the same name. It was developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises and published by Mosaic Publishing. It was released in Europe for Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum. Critics found it a faithful adaptation of the television series, but remarked on its high price, short length, and lack of long-term appeal.
Beatle Quest is a text adventure video game developed and published by Number 9 Software. Written by Garry Marsh, the game was developed using The Quill software program. It was released for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computers in 1985.
