Popular games for platform PC-8800 Series

Following the defeat of the evil triad in the previous three Ultima games, the world of Sosaria changed beyond recognition: continents rose and sank, and new cities were built, heralding the advent of a different civilization. Unified by the reign of the benevolent monarch Lord British, the new world was renamed Britannia. Lord British wished to base people's well-being on the ethical principles of Truth, Love, and Courage, proclaiming the Eight Virtues (Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility) as the ideal everyone should strive for. The person who could accomplish full understanding and realization of these virtues would serve as a spiritual leader and a moral example for the inhabitants of Britannia; he alone would be able to obtain holy artifacts, descend into the Stygian Abyss, and access the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. This person is the Avatar. The fourth game in the Ultima series features an improved game engine, with color graphics and enhanced character interaction: the player can have conversations with non-playable characters by typing names of various topics. However, the main difference between Ultima IV and its predecessors in the series (as well as other role-playing games) lies in the game's objectives and the ways to fulfill them. Instead of building up a character by any means possible in order to face a villain in the end of the game, in Ultima IV the player is trying to become the Avatar, a role model for people. This means upholding the Eight Virtues, basically trying to become a better person. Making morally conscious decisions and helping other people is not done expecting a material reward, but because it is the actual goal of the game and the main focus of its gameplay. The game frowns on behavior typical of most other RPGs, such as backstabbing fleeing enemies or picking up everything that isn't nailed down even if it does not belong to the protagonist. This different approach established the game's reputation as the first "true" Ultima, influencing the design philosophy of later installments and the overall spirit of the series. Character creation is done by choosing responses to morally ambiguous questions. Each of the Eight Virtues corresponds to a character class; by determining the player's personal priorities in the virtues, the game assigns a class and a starting location for the Avatar. After emerging in Britannia, the player is free to explore it in various ways (on foot, moongate teleportation, on horseback, by ship, etc.). Certain items must be collected in any order to enter the Stygian Abyss and complete the game. The Avatar also has to reach the highest level in all virtues. This is achieved by various means: donating blood increases Sacrifice, not fleeing from combat increases Valor, etc. The process, however, is not irreversible: should the Avatar overpay a blind seller, he gains Compassion points; should he, on the other hand, cheat the seller by underpaying, his level in several virtues would decrease. These unorthodox features of the game co-exist with plenty of traditional RPG elements, such as dungeons to explore and hostile monsters to kill. Enemies are encountered on the world map as well as in dungeons; combat takes place on separate top-down screens, allowing player-controlled and enemy parties freely move on them. Characters accumulate experience points and level up, gaining higher amount of hit points and access to stronger magic spells. Like in the previous installments of the series, world map, town exploration and combat are presented from a top-down view, while the dungeons are pseudo-3D and are explored from first-person perspective. Ultima IV also introduces several new gameplay features to the series and role-playing games in general. A number of initially non-playable characters living in various areas of the game world are able to to join the party and fight alongside the hero, replacing traditional player-generated characters or mercenaries and adventurers available only in special locations. Additional new elements include buying and combining reagents in order to cast spells, puzzle rooms in dungeons, and others. The FM Towns version, while identical to the others in gameplay, introduces upgraded graphics similar to those used in next installment of the series.

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.

The hero of Ys is an adventurous young swordsman named Adol Christin. As the story begins, he has just arrived at the Town of Minea, in the land of Esteria. He is called upon by Sara, a fortuneteller, who tells him of a great evil that is sweeping the land. Adol is informed that he must seek out the six Books of Ys. These books contain the history of the ancient land of Ys, and will give him the knowledge he needs to defeat the evil forces. Sara gives Adol a crystal for identification and instructs him to find her aunt in Zepik Village, who holds the key to retrieving one of the Books. With that, his quest begins.

Adol Christin's long-time friend, Dogi, wishes to return to his home town of Redmont after hearing about strange disturbances that are happening there. Always looking for an adventure, Adol joins him and soon finds out the cause of this new evil. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys breaks away from the "bumping into enemies" battle system of the first two games, allowing Adol to control his sword in a variety of directions. Beside changing the battle system, the game's perspective switches to a side-scrolling view, as opposed to the top-down one of the previous games. Adol also has the ability to jump now. New to the series is the use of magical rings, which give Adol different powering-up abilities such as healing and shielding. The game also uses various key items found along the way to solve minor puzzles and progress the story.

Bruce Lee is a video game designed by Ron J. Fortier, with graphics by Kelly Day and music by John A. Fitzpatrick. It was originally developed for the Atari 8-bit family and published in 1984 by Datasoft, along with a port for the Commodore 64. The game was converted to the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC and published by U.S. Gold in the same year. An MSX version was published in 1985 by Comptiq. Bruce Lee is a platform game/beat 'em up hybrid, in which the player controls Bruce Lee.

Déjà Vu is a point-and-click adventure game that draws inspiration from "noir" detective novels that were popular in the 1940s.

Archon: The Light and the Dark was a game developed by Free Fall Associates which loosely modeled the game of Chess, with a number of additions to the gameplay. It was programmed by Anne Westfall, and released originally for Atari 8-bit computers in 1983. It was quickly ported to a number of different systems, and was well-received.

Lode Runner is a 1983 puzzle video game, first published by Brøderbund. It is one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game's popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests to see who could build the best level.

BurgerTime is a 1982 arcade game created by Data East for its DECO Cassette System. The game's original title, Hamburger, was changed to BurgerTime before its introduction to the US. The player is chef Peter Pepper, who must walk over hamburger ingredients located across a maze of platforms while avoiding pursuing characters. The game was popular in arcades. In the US, Data East USA licensed BurgerTime for distribution by Bally Midway. The Data East and Midway versions are distinguished by the manufacturer's name on the title screen and by the marquee and cabinet artworks.

Lunar Pool is the first advanced home video billiards game ever. Never before has the player been able to choose among 60 different "tables." Jump around to your favorite, or master each stage consecutively. Your score is kept automatically. You set up the electronic cue stick, aim the cue ball, choose the power you need and shoot! Then watch the ball ricochet around the "table" and land in the pocket. Learn to be a "hustler" by mastering all 60 stages!

R-Type is set in the 22nd century, and the player flies a futuristic fighter craft called the R-9a "Arrowhead", named for its shape, and because it is the ninth model in the 'R' series of fighter craft (but it is the first of the series to actually be used in combat; the previous models were all prototypes). The mission is to 'blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire'. The R- in the series title originally stood for "ray", as in a ray of light. It was a reference to the many different types of ray-like weapons in the first R-Type. his was later retconned in R-Type Final to refer specifically to the production code as well as a term of endearment for the player fighter craft, the "Round Canopy". The original R-Type was well received by most gaming critics. However, it was also infamous for its relentless difficulty. It earned 7th place in IGN's Top 10 most difficult games to beat. The gameplay of R-Type is noticeably distinct among shoot 'em ups. Invariably the player will lose, not because of an inequality in firepower, but because of the design of the levels themselves. There is usually a 'correct' way to get through a level, but players must learn these by experience - i.e. by losing and restarting from earlier in the level. The game innovated with its weapon system compared to contemporary shooters, featuring a chargeable shot (beam-meter), and detachable 'force' pod; levels were designed to require different tactics and ideal weapons (air-air, diagonal, or air-ground laser).

Tennis is a sports game developed and released by Nintendo for the NES. In North America and Europe, Tennis was one of 18 launch games for the NES. A Game Boy version was also released. The game features single-player and two-player modes for singles and doubles matches, with either competitive or cooperative gameplay. A computerized opponent's artificial intelligence can be set to one of five difficulty levels. Mario referees the matches.

Rogue is a dungeon crawling video game first developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman around 1980. It was a favorite on college Unix systems in the early to mid-1980s, in part due to the procedural generation of game content.

Several levels await your super-tough Commando in this arcade conversion. Armed with only a standard rifle and a few grenades you must take on hordes of enemies. Some are wandering around in the open, while others have picked out hiding places, which you must approach from certain angles. Trees, rivers and bridges create a varied combat-like terrain and must be incorporated into your thinking. Extra grenades can be collected, and will definitely be required, as they allow you to kill from distance and thus avoid some enemy shots.

The situation: for three days have the strategic central computers of the great powers acted up. An unknown person manipulates their programmes; at the end of these programmes is the starting command for the intercontinental rocket. The countdown is on, only 6 hours keep the humanity from an atomic inferno. An unknown person? Only professor Elvin, the insane computer expert could crack the top secret start code, Elvin, who entrenches himself in his intangible subterraneous, guarded by 90 murderous robots, that until now had hunted down every intruder. No one who has ever set foot on the lift to Elvins cave labyrinth has returned back alive. The last hope: Special Agent 4125, the most cunning, toughest and most indiscriminate man, that the secret service can offer. Only ice cold reckoning and superior physical condition give this unarmed hero a tiny chance to avert the disaster in the last minute. The game: your task is to put a stop to evil Elvin Atombender's game. For this you have to enter in his laboratory, protected by a vault somewhere on his underground stronghold. To open the laboratory's door you need a nine letters password, each letter of which Elvin coded into a punchcard, just for cutting in four each one of them, painting them in different colors and hiding the resulting pieces everywhere in his base's furniture. So all you have to do is search into every object of every room for pieces of puzzle while surviving the robots, the pits and doctor Elvin's annoying voice, retrieve all the 36 pieces, put them together in groups of four, and head for the laboratory, where an unpleasant surprise waits you

In the first graphic adventure game ever, the player along with seven other people is in an old mansion hunting for some jewels. All too soon it becomes obvious that someone is killing one member of the group after another. It is the player's task in this murder mystery to find out who the murderer is before the player is killed himself.

Sokoban ("warehouse keeper") is a is a classic puzzle game created in 1981 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi, and published in 1982 by Thinking Rabbit, a software house based in Takarazuka, Japan. In 1984 the ASCII Corporation published a version produced by Khaled Bentebal. It was the basis of numerous clones in the later years. It is set in a warehouse. On each level, the player must push crates (from square to square) to get them onto designated spots; once each crate is on a marked spot, the level is complete. Crates can only be pushed one at a time (so two crates next to each other cannot be pushed together), and cannot be pulled--so it's possible to get a crate stuck in a corner, where it cannot be retrieved! By the last levels, you must plan 40 steps in advance.

Elevator Action is a 1983 arcade game by Taito. It debuted during the "Golden Age of Arcade Games". Innovative in gameplay, the game was very popular for many years. In the game, the player assumes the role of a spy who infiltrates a building filled with elevators. He must collect secret documents from the building and traverse the 30 floors of the building using an increasingly complex series of elevators. The player is pursued by enemy agents who appear from behind closed doors. These agents must be dealt with via force or evasion. Successful completion of a level involves collecting all the secret documents and traversing the building from top to bottom. In the lower floors of the building, the elevator systems are so complex that some puzzle-solving skills are needed. The game was available as a standard upright cabinet The controls consist of a 4-way joystick and two buttons, one for "shoot" and the other for jumping and kicking. The maximum number of players is two, alternating turns. The graphics are extremely simple, 2D color graphics and in-game music was composed by musician Yoshio Imamura. The game was followed by a sequel, Elevator Action II (also known as Elevator Action Returns).

The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats called Mewkies (Meowky in the U.S. version) to retrieve stolen goods. The player uses a left-right joystick to move Mappy and a single button to operate doors. The mansion has six floors of hallways in which the stolen items are stashed.

"Bounty Bob" is mining a radioactive mine in the year 2049. Help him "claim" all of the various stations (multiple screens). Avoid contact with the deadly mutant organisms by running away, or hopping over them. Collect various articles left by previous miners for bonus points.

Front Line is a vertically scrolling action game. Your mission is to infiltrate enemy territory and destroy their fortress. To reach the fortress, you will have to make your way through varied and dangerous terrain. Jungles, deserts, brush, and rocks all slow your progress, plus each area has numerous enemy fighters and tanks trying to stop you. To help get past these obstacles, you are armed with a machine gun and grenades; at some points in the game you may even come across an abandoned tank which you can control to increase your odds of survival. When you reach the end of the level and successfully destroy the fortress, the game will repeat at a higher level of difficulty. Gameplay is for one or two players, and four different skill levels are available.

"Inindo: Way of the Ninja" is a console-style RPG with a touch of strategy. You navigate your hero on the world map, visit towns, and descend into dungeons. The battles are turn-based and are viewed from a third-person perspective, like in Final Fantasy games. You can move on the battle field and use melee or long-ranged attacks. You'll be able to recruit characters of various classes to your party, who will join you for profit or for other reasons. After you gain enough experience, you'll also be able to talk to daimyos (feudal rulers) of various castles and to convince them to work together against Nobunaga. You can also perform various tasks for the daimyos, such as spying. 1581, Japan. Fearing a rebellion and striving to conquer the entire country, the warlock Nobunaga orders to attack the Iga ninja clan. The ninjas bravely defend their village, but, being vastly outnumbered, are mercilessly slain by Nobunaga's men. Only one survived: you, the hero of the game. Shortly before the assault you were sent to a nearby village to warn the elder of Nobunaga's attack. However, the other village is also destroyed by Nobunaga's army. You swear to avenge his crime. But for now, you are just an inexperienced young men, and are "wanted" by Nobunaga's men and ruthless bounty hunters. Will you be able to unite Japan in the ultimate struggle against Nobunaga?

M.U.L.E. is about four hopeful explorers trying to make a fortune on a virgin planet. This is done by producing various goods (Food, Energy, Smithore, Crystite). Each of these goods have their uses: if you don't have enough food, you will have less time during your turn. If you don't have enough energy, your output will be lower. If enough smithore isn't produced, there will be a shortage of M.U.L.E.s. Crystite is the big earner that can make or break your game. You start the game by selecting your race. Some are easier to play, some harder. There are three levels of difficulty, in the easiest the game only lasts 6 turns, but the real game is 12 turns. Crystite is not available at the easiest level. Each turn starts with land claim. Each player gets to choose a spot of land for themselves from the map. If two players choose the same spot, the player with less money wins. The map consists of different landscape. River is best for producing food, plains for energy, mountains for smithore. Crystite is hidden and must be first found by taking a land sample to the town. After the land claim each player takes turns in cultivating their land and do other tasks. They can buy M.U.L.E.s to start production on their land, sabotage other players by buying M.U.L.E.s and letting them loose, try to catch the Wumpus for cash and try to find crystite veins. The time to do these things depends on if the player has enough food. Finally the player goes to the casino and wins a small amount of money, depending on how much time was left.

Pac-Land itself is split into trips. In each of these trips the objective is to get the fairy (that is kept under Pac-man's hat) to Fairyland and also to return home to Pac-Man's house. The majority of the trip involves moving from left to right avoiding various obstacles such as the enemy ghosts, water spurts and quicksand traps. Each trip is divided into a number of rounds, the end of which provides Pac-Man with bonus points depending on how much time he has left and also his position in jumping at the end of each round. If the player runs out of time before finishing the round, Sue, the purple ghost, will speed up rapidly. The penultimate round of a trip ends with Pac-Man entering Fairyland and returning the fairy under his hat to the Fairy Queen. In return the Fairy Queen gives Pac-Man magic boots. For the final round of the trip, Pac-Man has to travel from right to left back home. For assistance he uses the magic boots, which allow him to jump repeatedly while in mid-air. Once Pac-Man completes the trip, he is greeted by Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man. In the US release of the game, Pac-Man's cat and dog in the cartoon series, Sour Puss and Chomp-Chomp, are also there to welcome Pac-Man home. Pac-Man then begins his next trip following the same objectives as before, although the difficulty increases. As in the original Pac-Man, there are fruit which appear to eat for bonus points and power pellets to turn the ghosts blue and vulnerable. A hidden item (sometimes accidentally dropped by the ghosts) is a Flagship from Galaxian, which rewards 7650 points when collected (a reference to Namco's goroawase number of 765). The Galaxian Flagship is a long running cameo that appears in the Namco-made Pac-Man games. There are also hidden bonuses in the game, eating ghosts in a certain order will give extra time and pushing an obstacle in the opposite direction can give extra lives, invincibility, and balloons to collect for points and warps.