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🎮 Game · 1986

100 archive picks

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is the first title in the Zelda series, it has marked the history of video games particularly for it's game mechanics and universe. The player controls Link and must make his way through the forests, graveyards, plains and deserts of the Otherworld to find…

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Castlevania

Step into the shadows of the deadliest dwelling on earth. You've arrived at Castlevania, and you're here on business: To destroy forever the Curse of the Evil Count. Unfortunately, everybody's home this evening. Bats, ghosts, every kind of creature you can imagine. You'll fin…

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Bubble Bobble

In the game, each player controls one of the two Bubble Dragons, Bub and Bob. The player can move along platforms, as well as jump to those above and to the side, similar to most platform games. The player can also blow bubbles. These can trap enemies, who are defeated if the…

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Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros. Not to be confused with the western Super Mario Bros. 2, this sequel to Super Mario Bros. is very much an expansion to the original, with many reused graphics and concepts, though new ones are also pres…

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Arkanoid

Arkanoid is an arcade game developed by Taito in 1986. It expanded upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s by adding power-ups, different types of bricks, and a variety of level layouts. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes.

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OutRun

OutRun is a racing game originating in the arcades. The player can race across varied terrain in a readily available Ferrari, complete with a female passenger, over a series of short tracks. Gameplay is viewed form just above and behind the car. The roads are full of sharp be…

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Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Journey through the planet Aries to the beautiful City of Radactian, and save it from the evil Janken the Great. Alex Kidd in Miracle World was considered to be Sega's answer to Super Mario.

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Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus is an action platform video game for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. The plot of Kid Icarus revolves around protagonist Pit's quest for three sacred treasures, which he must equip to rescue…

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Dragon Warrior

All is darkness. The Dragonlord has captured the Princess and stolen Erdrick's powerful ball of light. You are Erdrick's heir. To you has fallen the most dangerous task— to rescue the King's daughter and recover the mystical ball of light. Your mission is deadly, but it is you…

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Wonder Boy

Wonder Boy is a 1986 platformer video game published by Sega and developed by Escape (now known as Westone Bit Entertainment). It was the first in the long-running Wonder Boy series of games and was followed up by five sequels, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III: Mons…

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Ikari Warriors

Ikari Warriors is a vertically scrolling action game. One or two players fight their way through a variety of terrain, such as jungles, rivers, and ruins. Along the way different weapons can be found, including machine guns, grenades, and rocket launchers.

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Defender of the Crown

The Age of Chivalry! A time of lusty wenches and black hearted villains. King Richard has been murdered and England is thrown into civil war! Amidst the ringing clash of steel and the thunder of charging steeds the bold Saxon knights have chosen you to lead them into battle ag…

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Gauntlet II

The gameplay is very similar to the original Gauntlet, a topdown dungeon crawl supporting up to four players. The biggest difference from the original game is that players can choose identical classes, instead of being limited to a particular one for each joystick; each player…

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Salamander

Salamander is a scrolling shooter arcade game released by Konami as a spin-off to Gradius. It introduced a simplified power-up system, two-player cooperative gameplay and both horizontally and vertically scrolling stages. Some of these would later become the norm for future Gr…

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Rygar

An evil being known as Ligar is about to conquer the land of Argool. Such is his power that no living creature dares to cross paths with him. But the legendary warrior Rygar rises from his grave to restore peace and justice. Armed with his famed weapon Diskarmor, Rygar begins…

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King's Quest III: To Heir is Human

King's Quest III: To Heir is Human is an adventure game in the King's Quest series. Players control Gwydion, a young slave to the evil wizard Manannan in the land of Llewdor. The game follows Gwydion's journey as he learns magic, escapes his captor, and discovers his true iden…

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Solomon's Key

Solomon's Key is a puzzle game developed by Tecmo in 1986 for arcade release on custom hardware based on the Z80 chipset. The game is generally recognized as one of the most difficult games to appear on the NES. The player, controlling a sorcerer known only as Dana must overco…

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Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter

He's out to clean up the universe... ...But he doesn't do windows. Strap into your computer station and prepare for blast-off. If the thrilling graphics don't blow you off your chair, the laughs will have you rolling on the floor. If you can help Roger Wilco he could use it.…

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Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder is a run and gun/action arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986 and licensed to Atari Games for US manufacture and distribution. It runs upon Namco System 86 hardware, and was later converted for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the Commodore 64, the Amstrad CP…

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720 Degrees

720 Degrees is a 1986 arcade game by Atari Games. 720°, a skateboarding game, is notable in that along with BMX Simulator, it is one of the first extreme sports video games, and has a unique timed structure that requires the player score points in order to keep the game going.

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Starflight

Starflight is a space exploration role-playing adventure video game developed by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. Originally developed for IBM compatible and Tandy systems, it was later released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh and Commodore 64. A ful…

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Star Soldier

Star Soldier is a 1986 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX. It is the first game in the Star Soldier series. The player pilots the starship "Caesar", traveling through space stations occup…

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Action Fighter

Take to the streets or take to the skies. Because Action Fighter is the incredible, transformable combat vehicle. You start out on a customized cycle. Built with enough speed and power to jump over water and overtake enemies. Then, by finding the right parts along the way, yo…

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Athena

Athena is a 1986 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by SNK, in which players control Princess Athena as she traverses a series of mythological worlds in an effort to return to her own realm. The gameplay centers on navigating platform-based stages, defeating…

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Uninvited

What a pity about your automobile. And your sister, she came to our mansion for help. But now, I'm afraid she desperately needs yours! Welcome to our humble abode... I regret you'll have to carry on your search alone. It seems we're down to a skeleton staff. Oh my! Is that you…

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Might and Magic: Book One - The Secret of the Inner Sanctum

Feel the power... Experience the magic! Lead your party of hand-picked adventurers into the enchanted Land of Varn. From dark, moldy caverns through corridors of majestic castles, you'll travel in search of clues to unlock the Secret of the Inner Sanctum. Daring exploits of he…

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Fantasy Zone

The Fantasy Zone is a solar system consisting of eight brightly colored, fantastic planets. The evil Menons are trying to take over all of the planets in the Fantasy Zone by using misappropriated foreign currency to build their forces. It is the player's job to recover all of…

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Double Dribble

Double Dribble was the second basketball arcade game developed and released in 1986 by Konami, following Super Basketball. Much of the game's popularity came from its animation sequences showing basketball players performing slam dunks, as well as The Star-Spangled Banner them…

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Milon's Secret Castle

Guide Milon through the four levels of Garland Castle in his quest to reach the top floor and vanquish the big boss! The journey is a difficult one though, because the castle is locked up tight and Milon doesn't have the keys. You will have to use your bubble attacks to fend o…

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Knightmare

Knightmare, known in Japan as Majou Densetsu (魔城伝説 , Demon Castle Legend?), is a 1986 MSX vertical scrolling shooter computer game. The player is a knight, Popolon, who has to fight his way through several levels to defeat Hudnos and rescue Aphrodite. Knightmare was an innova…

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World Games

World Games is an Olympics-style sports game with arcade-oriented gameplay. The events players can compete in include: •Barrel jumping •Bull riding •Caber toss •Cliff diving •Log rolling •Platform diving •Pole vault •Skiing •Sumo wrestling •Weightlifting

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Shanghai

Shanghai is a computerized version of mahjong solitaire. After winning a game, the tiles reveal the three-dimensional blinking eye of a dragon behind the game screen. The Macintosh and Sega Master System version shows an animated dragon spitting fire.

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Mighty Bomb Jack

A platform game where the main character travels throughout various levels collecting bombs. The hero of the game, Jack, must make his way through 16 levels of a pyramid in order to defeat the demon Belzebut and rescue the royal Pamera family.Each level is split into two parts…

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Batman

Batman is a 1986 3D isometric action-adventure game by Ocean Software for the Amstrad PCW, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and MSX and MSX2 microcomputers, and the first Batman game ever developed. Upon release, the game received favorable reviews, and received a sequel two years la…

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The Goonies

The Goonies is a 1986 platform game. The main theme for most of the game is a chiptune rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough". The game was previously released only in Japan, but was later released as an Arcade Playchoice-10 title in North America.

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The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight

When the going gets even tougher... Another wolf! Your magic sword cleaves him mid snarl, and he drops in a fur pile at your feet. There's a slime ball conjurer just out of reach who'll keep summoning these slobbering missiles until your sword arm drops off. Unless you can fi…

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Zanac

The "system" was created by an organic intelligence body many milleniums ago and began attacking the human race. The earth was thrown into turmoil with only one hope for salvation. Fighter model AFX-6502 ZANAC was perfected by the 256th Riot Fleet to ward off the enemy system.…

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Pro Wrestling

Pro Wrestling is a pro wrestling video game developed and published by Nintendo. The game was the third wrestling game on the Nintendo Entertainment System (after M.U.S.C.L.E. and Tag Team Wrestling). It is one of Nintendo's sports-themed games for the NES, alongside titles li…

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Vampire Killer

Vampire Killer is a side-view flick-screen game where you are a Vampire hunter who has been tasked to remove Dracula from the 12th floor of a block of flats by a client on the floor below. The problem is, as well as facing and killing a vampire, the job has to be completed bef…

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Uridium

Uridium (released on the NES as The Last Starfighter) is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up originally designed by Andrew Braybrook for the Commodore 64, and later ported to other 8-bit machines. It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with…

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The Chessmaster 2000

The Chessmaster 2000 is the most powerful computer chess program in the world today and the friendliest! It draws from a mammoth opening library of over 71,000 moves - the world's largest. In mid-game, it displays amazing combinations of classical and modern strategy. At end g…

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The Mysterious Murasame Castle

Restore peace to a land that has been overridden by evil! One stormy night in feudal Japan, a mysterious force begins to take control over Murasame Castle and its lands. Each lord in four neighboring castles has taken possession of a dark sphere of power, allowing them to sum…

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Saboteur!

Saboteur! is the classic retro game hit made by Clive Townsend in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum 8-bit computer. In 1985 Saboteur! received the prestigious award "The Crash Smash" from Crash magazine and was high-rated with a 93% score. Now after 36 years MobileFabric in collaborati…

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Side Pocket

Side Pocket is a pocket billiards video game originally released into arcades by Data East in 1986. The arcade version was eventually ported to six home console platforms and two sequels to the game were produced, as well as a spin-off series called Pocket Gal. G-Mode currentl…

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Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball (also known as Dragon Ball: Le Secrets du Dragon and Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo) is the second video game based on the Dragon Ball series (its predecessor being Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou) and the first Dragon Ball game produced and distributed by Bandai. It i…

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Legendary Wings

Legendary Wings is a fantasy-themed shoot-'em-up game released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in 1986. The player takes control of a young soldier equipped with magical wings who must save the world from a malfunctioning supercomputer. Legendary Wings is set in a dist…

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MagMax

A horizontal scrolling shooter, players control the title hover ship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to destroy any enemies attempting to stop it. The three-headed mechanical dragon found as a boss character in the game, known as Babylon,…

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Gunship

After selection of region, style, and enemies, the pilot is assigned a primary mission and a secondary mission. These could include such objectives as "Destroy enemy headquarters" or "Support friendly troops" (i.e. destroy targets near friendly forces). The latter would be an…

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Alter Ego

Alter Ego is a life simulation game where players create a character and guide them through seven life phases from infancy to old age by making decisions in various situations. Players choose from multiple response options that influence personality, health, and future scenari…

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Super Pitfall

Pitfall Harry returns to adventuring in this "Super" sequel to Pitfall! and Pitfall II: Lost Caverns. Harry’s mission: to recover the famed Raj Diamond, and also to rescue his niece Rhonda and loyal lion sidekick, Quickclaw. Now armed with a gun, Harry must navigate some 270…

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Mappy-Land

Mappy, who is a policeman, prepared all kinds of wonderful birthday presents for his girlfriend, Mapico. But, Nyamco and his child Mukies have hidden them in the eight towns of Mappyland. What a pity! Mappy must hurry to get the presents back before Mapico's birthday party. Th…

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Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord

Japanese RPG. Two editions exist, one for the MSX1 on cartridge, and one for the MSX2 on 3.5" diskette. The seal of the Dark Lord Terarin has been broken and Terarin has been unleashed into the world again. She has stolen the Golden Seal and opened pandora's box, unleashing e…

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Guerrilla War

Guerrilla War is an overhead run and gun game produced by SNK. Originally released for arcades in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade game, Guerrilla War followed the adventures of two unnamed rebel commandos (Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Japanese version) as they raid an un…

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Penguin Adventure

Penguin Adventure: the main character - a male penguin - must save the penguin princess from a sickness that has spread across the penguin world. The cure to the sickness can be found in the Golden Apple of the Golden Apple Tree. In this action packed game, you take control o…

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The Great Escape

The Great Escape is an isometric action-adventure game. Controlling a prisoner of war in a German camp, your goal is to break out undetected. There are numerous ways to freedom - back doors, cracked fences, even underground tunnels. However, you have to plan your escape while…

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Gumshoe

Jennifer's been kidnapped! Now's your chance to prove you're a sharp-shooting detective by helping Jennifer's father find the five diamonds that will pay her ransom. You'll use your Zapper light gun to blow away anything that gets in your way. But even with the Zapper, this ca…

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Nobunaga's Ambition

The second game in the series, previously released as Nobunaga's Ambition in the West. Players take on the role of one of the main characters of the period, Nobunaga Oda, Shingen Takeda, Kenshin Uesugi, or others and try to unite the 50 kingdoms of Japan, from Ezo in the nort…

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Ghost House

The player controls Mick, a young vampire hunter out to destroy five vampires in each stage before proceeding to the next. Everything is out to stop Mick from completing this tasks and making his way out of the mansion. The player has to punch, or jump on, his enemies to defe…

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Trojan

The arcade version can be played by up to two players alternating. The game's controls consists of an eight-way joystick and two action buttons. Similarly to Kung-Fu Master or Rush'n Attack, the player jumps by holding the joystick upwards instead of having a dedicated jump bu…

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Leaderboard

Welcome to the exciting world of professional golf with LEADER BOARD. With amazingly realistic 3-D animation, golfers will face multiple 18-hole golf courses that demand strategy, total concentration, control to come in under par. Undoubtedly the most realistic golf game avai…

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Atlantis no Nazo

Atlantis no Nazo is a side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft and released for the Family Computer in 1986. The game is set in the mythical land of Atlantis. The player controls an amateur adventurer named Wynn, whose objective is to save his mas…

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Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road

When we last saw Paul and Vince, they had saved the Colonel and were about to head for home in a special plane given to them by the General. But then, while in flight over the ocean, the sky suddenly blackens - the ocean begins to churn - and the plane goes spinning! A booming…

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King's Knight

King's Knight is a fantasy-themed top-down shooter where four heroes have to unite to defeat a dragon and rescue a princess in despair. It was one of the first games published by Square Soft (now one-half of Square Enix). King's Knight is a variation on Konami's Knightmare whi…

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Solaris

Solaris is a space combat game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari Corporation. It was developed by Doug Neubauer, who owns the copyright and the Solaris trademark. The game is a sequel to Neubauer's Atari 8-bit family game Star Raiders from 1979. Both games feature…

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Enduro Racer

The player rides the dirt bike through five stages and must avoid other riders as well rocks and trees. They can also jump over them with assist from the logs. The game's most definitive feature was the 'Wheelie' feature that allowed players to pull up the handlebars on the ca…

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Super Sprint

Super Sprint is a racing video game released by Atari Games and Midway Games in 1986. Up to three players drive Formula One-like cars on a circuit that is viewed from above. The game is a successor to Gran Trak 10 and the Sprint series, which were black-and-white games from th…

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BreakThru

BreakThru is a 2D side-scrolling vehicle shooter. Your mission: race, jump, and blast your way through five levels (mountains, bridge, plains, city, and airfield) of enemy defenses to recapture the stolen jet fighter. A host of enemy soldiers, mines, vehicles, and aircraft wil…

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Dark Castle

Dark Castle looms over the landscape like a plague. Its evil ruler, the Black Knight, must be defeated. And you're the only candidate to do it... First you'll have to make your way through chambers of nasty hazards. The castle guards are hunting you, plague-infested rats and…

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Ace of Aces

Ace of Aces is a combat flight simulator developed by Artech Digital Entertainment in 1986. The game takes place during World War II and the player flies a RAF Mosquito long range fighter-bomber equipped with rockets, bombs and a cannon. Missions include destroying German figh…

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Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia

A sci-fi action-strategy game released in Japan in 1986 for the NES, developed by T&E Soft and published by Toshiba EMI. It's part 6 of a long-running series, though the only one to be released on the NES.

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Mystery Tower

Mystery Tower, previously known as The Tower of Babel (Babel no Tou) or just Babel, is an action puzzle game. The game consists of 64 "floors" or puzzles that involve the positioning of many L-shaped blocks. You must manipulate them to create stairs so you can reach the exit o…

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Hyper Dyne: Side Arms

Forerunner to Forgotten Worlds. The control method allows you use the fire buttons to shoot in opposite directions, defending yourself from attacks from the rear. The power ups are selectable and if you collect an alpha symbol you combine with another ship for a super robot.

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Druid

Druid is an arcade-style dungeon crawl where the player controls the last of the Great Druids on a quest to save the land of Belorn by destroying the four demon princes lurking in the dungeons of the evil lich Acamantor.

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World Class Track Meet

Stadium Events/World Class Track Meet is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was first released in Japan in 1986 as Running Stadium. In America, the game was released in 1987 as Stadium Events, and then in 1988, it was rereleased as World Class Track Meet.…

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Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou

Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou is the first Dragon Ball console video game ever released. It was developed and released by Epoch in September 27, 1986, for the Super Cassette Vision console, making it the only Dragon Ball game not produced or distributed by Bandai or the subseq…

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Deadly Towers

On the moonlit eve of his coronation ceremony, pensive Prince Myer sits at the lakeside to ponder the future of the kingdom. Suddenly, a shadowy kami called Khan rises from the lake and coalesces into the form of a man. Although he doesn't identify himself, the figure greets P…

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Quartet

A platform shoot-em-up hybrid from Sega for one to four players, selected from either Joe (yellow), Mary (red), Lee (blue) and Edgar (green). The action takes place over a number of sideways scrolling levels, the bulk of which consist of straightforward platform action. On som…

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Alleykat

Alleykat is a vertically-scrolling racer with elements of a shoot-em up game. The player, a speeder pilot, strives to become the Alleykat Champion by competing in eight space stadiums scattered around the galaxy. Different races like demolition derbies, time-trials, endurance…

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Empire City: 1931

In Empire City: 1931 which is set in 1931 you are a federal agent that has to eliminate all criminal activities in New York City. You must hunt the criminals down and shoot them one by one. To locate a criminal you just have to follow the arrow on the left or right of the scre…

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Spindizzy

As GERALD (Gyroscopic ExploRAtion Landing Device) you must explore 385 screens of Hangworld, using limited fuel. The game is viewed isometrically, which means that the controls are rotated through 90 degrees - this, coupled with the fact that many screens have huge gaps and di…

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Bomb Jack II

Bomb Jack II is a licensed follow-up developed for 8-bit home computers by the British games publisher Elite Systems in 1986. The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Leaderboard. Mighty Bomb Jack was released in 1986. The game was largely identical to the ori…

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Into the Eagle's Nest

"Pandora's first game combines the Gauntlet style with the World War 2 setting, and specifically the Eagle's Nest building which is being used by a commander as his HQ. Three Allied soldiers have been captured, and you must infiltrate the facilities, rescue your brave comrades…

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Moonmist

Moonmist is an interactive fiction computer game written by Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence and published by Infocom in 1986. The game was released simultaneously for many platforms, including the IBM PC, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It is Infocom's twenty-second ga…

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Labyrinth: The Computer Game

Labyrinth: The Computer Game is a 1986 graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by Activision. Based on the fantasy film Labyrinth, it tasks the player with navigating a maze while solving puzzles and evading dangers. The player's goal is to find and d…

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