Jet Set Willy is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time.
Knight Lore is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in video games. In Knight Lore, the player character Sabreman has forty days to collect objects throughout a castle and brew a cure to his werewolf curse. Each castle room is depicted in monochrome on its own screen and consists of blocks to climb, obstacles to avoid, and puzzles to solve.
Vampire Killer, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula, is a platform-adventure video game released by Konami for the MSX2 computer on October 30, 1986. It is a parallel version of the original Castlevania, which debuted a month earlier for the Famicom Disk System under the same Japanese title. However, the MSX2 version was localized first in Europe and thus, was published without the Castlevania branding that the franchise would start using abroad in 1987 when the NES version was released in North America.
Castlequest is an adventure/puzzle video game. It was developed and published by ASCII Corporation in 1985 for the FM-7, PC-88, and Sharp X1. Additional versions followed in 1986 for the Famicom and MSX, and was subsequently released in 1989 for the NES in the United States by Nexoft Corporation.
Solomon's Key is a puzzle game developed by Tecmo in 1986 for an arcade release on custom hardware based on the Z80 chipset. It was ported to multiple systems including the Nintendo Entertainment System and Commodore 64. The PC Engine version was known as Zipang and the Game Boy version as Solomon's Club. A prequel, Solomon's Key 2, was released in 1992 for the NES.
Milon's Secret Castle, known in Japan as Meikyū Kumikyoku: Milon no Daibōken, is a 1986 action-adventure game released by Hudson Soft for the NES. A Game Boy version was released in 1993. A sequel, DoReMi Fantasy, was released in 1996 for the Super Famicom.
The Castles of Dr. Creep is a puzzle-platform game for the Commodore 64 written by Ed Hobbs and published by Broderbund in 1984. It takes place in thirteen medieval castles owned by the eponymous doctor, and the player's task is to escape from each castle. One- or two-player games are possible, allowing collaborative gaming for solving the puzzles. It was re-released via Steam on September 2, 2016.
Equinox is an action adventure puzzle video game developed by Software Creations and published by Sony Imagesoft for the Super NES. A sequel to Solstice (1990) for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Equinox depicts Glendaal saving his father, the predecessor's playable character Shadax, from the imprisonment of Sonia, Shadax's apprentice. The player acts as Glendaal, exploring 458 rooms in eight underground dungeons. The player collects 12 blue orb tokens while solving puzzles, killing enemies, collecting keys, navigating platforms and blocks, and battling bosses. It continues Solstice's isometric puzzle game style, with greater emphasis on action adventure and Mode 7 overworld map.
Back to the Future Part II & III is a 1990 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the second and third films in the Back to the Future trilogy. The game was produced by Beam Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their LJN label.
Bomberman is a maze video game developed and published by Hudson Soft. The original home computer game Bomber Man was released in July 1983 for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001 mkII, Fujitsu FM-7, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000, Sharp X1 and MSX in Japan, and a graphically modified version for the MSX and ZX Spectrum in Europe as Eric and the Floaters. A sequel, 3-D Bomberman, was produced. In 1985, Bomberman was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It spawned the Bomberman series with many installments building on its basic gameplay.
The Eggerland (エッガーランド) series consists of several puzzle games developed by HAL Laboratory. Its first release was in 1985 for MSX computer systems. Many titles were made in the series and the gameplay is almost exactly the same in every game as well. Only a few changes were made over the years.
Zillion, known as Akai Koudan Zillion in Japan, is a space adventure platform video game developed by Sega and designed for the Master System as a companion tie-in for Tatsunoko Production's Zillion anime series in 1987.
Dragon Buster is a platform, action role-playing dungeon crawl game developed by Namco and released in 1984. It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware, modified to support vertical scrolling. In Japan, the game was ported to the Family Computer (Famicom), MSX, and X68000; the latter version was later released for the Virtual Console in the same region on November 18, 2008. Dragon Buster has been ported for the PSP and is available as part of Namco Museum Battle Collection. It was followed by a Japan-only Famicom sequel, Dragon Buster II: Yami no Fūin, and was later followed by the PlayStation game Dragon Valor, which was both a remake and sequel.
Escape the room, also known as room escape or escape game, is a subgenre of point-and-click adventure game which requires a player to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings. The room usually consists of a locked door, objects to manipulate, and hidden clues or secret compartments. The player must use the objects to interact with other items in the room to reveal a way to escape. Escape the room games were born out of freeware browser games created in Adobe Flash, but have since become most popular as mobile games for iOS and Android. Some examples include Crimson Room, Viridian Room, MOTAS, and Droom. The popularity of these online games has led to the development of real-life escape rooms all around the world.
Kwirk, known in Japan as Puzzle Boy, is a puzzle video game developed and published by Atlus in Japan on November 24, 1989, for the Game Boy. The game was later published in North America in March 1990 by Acclaim Entertainment.
Chocolate Castle is a puzzle video game developed by New Zealand-based company Lexaloffle and published on April 2, 2007. The game was developed by Lexaloffle's owner and operator Joseph White, who designed Chocolate Castle as a platform for further puzzle games. In this game, players clear a castle's rooms of chocolate by combining smaller pieces into large bars and commanding animals to consume them. After clearing a room, they can select new rooms that are still yet to be cleared. The full version of the game includes a room editor for players to create their own rooms; players may upload these newly created rooms to Lexaloffle's website for other players to attempt.
Mystery Mansion is the name of a series of board games in which players search furniture and other objects inside a mansion to locate a hidden treasure or stash of money.
The Maze of Galious is a 1987 platform-adventure video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX home computer. A reworked conversion was released for the Family Computer. Both versions were re-released digitally for Microsoft Windows. It is the second entry in the Knightmare trilogy. The game stars Popolon and Aphrodite, embarking on a journey through Castle Greek to free their unborn child Pampas from the evil priest Galious. The player explores each map in search for items and power-ups to progress, while also fighting enemies and bosses.
Moonlight Madness is a platform game for the ZX Spectrum home computer, published in 1986 by Bubble Bus Software. The player controls a boy scout attempting to unlock a safe within a mansion to obtain pills for the mansion's owner, a mad scientist, who has collapsed. This requires the player to traverse the mansion's rooms while avoiding hazards such as dangerous house servants and fatal falls.
Towdie is a platform adventure game published in Europe in 1994 by Ultrasoft for the ZX Spectrum. The game, similar in style to Dizzy series, is set in a fantasy land called Alkria and follows adventures of a little restless creature called Towdie. The player controls Towdie, the titular character, who is on the mission to save the kingdom of Alkria from the evil dragon Quido.
