Screenshot of Nakamoto

Nakamoto

(The Power House, 1987)

Reviewed by Pug

Nakamoto is an old school platform game in which you’re tasked with collecting all of the objects scattered around the screen. A unique feature not seen in many games of this genre is the ability to jump and cling to overhead rails. You can use these to overcome tricky areas of the screen. The critters on-screen come in two forms – a creature that flies around, and a platform-based one that occasionally warps to other parts of the screen. The visuals are bright and colourful and move smoothly. It’s an easy game to get into that does have an addictive quality, even though it’s a simple platformer.

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Screenshot of Nanako Descends to Hell

Nanako Descends to Hell

(The Mojon Twins, 2009)

Nanako’s village is under attack, so Nanako decides to visit the Oracle and ask for his advice. He tells her to venture into the depths of hell and retrieve four pieces of an artefact that will destroy the attackers. Of course, hell is not a particularly pleasant place to explore, and there are lots of ghoulish monsters to avoid. However, you can collect bottles of holy water, which will kill them. Axes and scissors can also be collected in order to cut down trees and fences (whoever heard of using scissors to cut down a fence?!). This is a fairly simple game to play, and the playing area is quite large, so making a map is advisable. It’s well presented with some lovely graphics, but the appearance of monsters at random every time you enter a screen is annoying.

See also: Nanako in Classic Japanese Monster Castle.

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Screenshot of Nanako in Classic Japanese Monster Castle

Nanako’s younger sister, Mya, went to the Heún Tower, but she has not been seen for several weeks. Being the caring sister that Nanako is, she goes to the tower to rescue her. Starting at the bottom floor, you have to reach the top of each screen by moving boxes around the screen, which you can use to build staircases or platforms. Karakasa (umbrella-like monsters) roam the tower as well, and Nanako can stand on top of them – but if she falls off, she will lose a life. The graphics are very colourful and well drawn and really enhance the appeal of the game, and each level has a password allowing you to skip earlier levels in future games. However, the random movement of the karakasa means that lives are often needlessly wasted, which can be very frustrating.

See also: Nanako Descends to Hell.

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Screenshot of NARC

NARC

(Ocean, 1990)

Reviewed by John Beckett

In this very faithful version of the hit ultra-violent arcade game by Williams, you play as tough anti-drugs officer Max Force (with – in two-player mode – his buddy Hit Man... nice name) and, using your twin machine guns and rocket launchers, you set out to destroy the cities leading criminals and shut down the drugs empire KRAK once and for all. There are seven levels in the game, with you taking out a different criminal mastermind in each, culminating in a huge shoot-out with Mr Big himself. I quite enjoyed this game. The graphics are good, the levels are varied (you can even hop into a Porsche on the third level to mow down the bad guys!), it’s not too hard and it has a great two-player mode. On the down side, however, it plays rather slowly and there’s absolutely no in-game sound at all, which is a great shame.

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Screenshot of Narco Police

Narco Police

(Dinamic, 1990)

Reviewed by Robert Small

Take out the drug barons’ factories as part of a futuristic police squad. Choose your entry point on their island and then your supply of weapons and equipment (including rockets, armour and first aid kits). You are then plunged into tunnels to take on the enemy in a third-person shoot-’em-up with a little bit of strategy thrown in. Graphically the game really impresses with its 3D graphics engine. Enemies dive and drop from cover and you will need to be quick on the trigger to take them down. Sound effects are functional, but disappointingly there is no music. The controls should be more responsive, and as is mostly typical of Spanish games, the difficulty is very high, but it’s worth a look for the graphics alone.

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Screenshot of Nebulus

Nebulus

(Hewson, 1988)

Several towers have popped up on the ocean planet Nebulus, and our hero has to reach the top of each one, starting from the bottom. Each tower is surrounded by staircases and lifts which you have to use. You also have to avoid the various monsters; running into one sees you tumbling to the bottom, usually into the ocean. The graphics are colourful and well animated, and there’s a really nice tune to listen to as well. The game is a bit tough, but it’s worth sticking with it.

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Screenshot of Necris Dome

Necris Dome

(Code Masters, 1986)

Orbiting above Earth is the Necris-Dome, a graveyard for the dead now that there is no room for them to be buried on Earth. It is ruled by the Arch-Mandroid and his servants who have taken it over. You have been sent in a coffin along with the latest batch of arrivals, and you have to destroy the Arch-Mandroid and the Dome itself. This is a text adventure created using GAC, and the accompanying pictures are OK, especially the picture of the Mandroid, but there is hardly any description of the rooms, and experienced adventure fans might find it a little bit easy.

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Screenshot of Le Nécromancien

Le Nécromancien

(Ubi Soft, 1987)

  • Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.

You are Kothar the mercenary, and your friend Balthar the Red has written a letter asking you for help. You decide to travel to the town of Stragla to find out what is going on – and it’s very sinister indeed. A necromancer has brought terror to Stragla, and his hordes of lizard-men patrol the streets, bringing death and destruction to the town. This is one of those multiple choice text adventures, in which rather than entering commands and trying to guess the right ones, you choose one option from two or three. This makes it very easy to play (well, if you can read French), although the game is by no means easy to complete. The prose is well written and atmospheric, and it’s one of those games in which you really want to explore further.

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