Trailblazer is an early game from Gremlin Graphics — and one which still holds up well today. Just as well, really, as it’s actually had a surprising number of rereleases and ports over the years!
The concept is simple: control a rolling ball as it speeds down cosmic causeways, doing your best not to fall in the big black holes. And there are a lot of big black holes to fall into, as well as speedy-uppy tiles, jumpy tiles and warp tiles. Never a dull moment!
Darts! One game, one hundred yen. I’ll try it once. Except it wasn’t one hundred yen, it was twenty quid, and it offered quite a variety of different darts-related experiences for your money.
Darts video games have never really taken off, aside from as minigames inside other games (hence the Shenmue reference above) but for a while a number of developers tried to make them work. John Lowe’s Ultimate Darts for Atari ST, brought to us by Gremlin Graphics, was a solid effort — and presents far less risk of accidentally impaling the cat or puncturing a loved one than real at-home darts.
Gauntlet is an all-time classic arcade game — and it got a whole bunch of ports to various different systems over the years following its original release.
The Atari 8-bit version, developed by Gremlin Graphics, is not the best version of Gauntlet you’ll ever play — but it was my first ever experience with the game, and as such will always carry with it certain fond memories.
Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
Gremlin Graphics were known for putting out great games, right from the 8-bit era up until their disappearance in 2003.
Venus the Flytrap was a great title from the 16-bit era, featuring an inventive take on arcade-style shoot ’em up gameplay combined with platforming. It looked great, too, even on the Atari ST — in fact, some people even prefer the ST version to the Amiga incarnation of this game, which is a rare occurrence!
Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
Gremlin Graphics was a developer who lasted a long time — from the early 8-bit days right up until the early 2000s, when the company was swallowed by Infogrames, and then folded. Today the Gremlin spirit lives on in the developer Sumo Digital.
Zone X is a classic Atari game from Gremlin Graphics I remember playing back in the day and never being able to get very far with. Turns out I still can’t get very far with it, but it’s an interesting game nonetheless!
Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
There are some games that, when they release, you just know they’re going to be all-time greats, forever regarded as classics.
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge from Gremlin Graphics was definitely one of those games. It pushed the “vanishing point” racer formula massively with its split-screen two-player action and its variety of interesting courses, and its presentation and gameplay were immaculate.
It would go on to form the basis of the widely beloved Top Gearfor Super NES, which would go on to inspire more recent works such as Horizon Chase Turbo. So please put your hands together and give it up for a true racing legend.
Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? Some mouse, I think.
Yes, it’s time for the official computer game adaptation of one of Disney’s most beloved properties: one Michael Mouse. This game was produced by Gremlin Graphics, and was noteworthy at the time for being a licensed game that eschewed the usual platform game formula. (Granted, Mickey Mouse and friends had several very good platform games throughout the 8- and 16-bit eras, but it was cool to see something a bit different!)
This is a pretty cool game with a couple of aspects that are inordinately frustrating… most notable of which is the fact that actually completing a level is next to impossible thanks to a monstrously difficult boss encounter! Oh well. At least it looks nice.
Atari A to Z 