Popular games for platform SG-1000
Rally-X is a maze & driving arcade game, that was released by Namco in 1980 and licensed to Midway Games for US manufacture and distribution in 1981. It was ported to the SG-1000 in Taiwan.
There is trouble in the mines! Volcanic activity has trapped numerous miners, and it is your job to save them. As Roderick Hero, you need to make your way through the dangerous mineshaft avoiding the dangerous creatures and lava, and find out where the miners are located before you run out of energy. To help on your mission, Roderick Hero has several useful types of equipment. A prop pack will allow you to hover and fly around the mineshaft and (hopefully) avoid the many dangers within. Your helmet features a short range microlaser beam which can be used to destroy the bats, spiders, snakes, and other creatures you'll encounter in the mines. From time to time, your path through the mine may be blocked by stone or lava walls. You begin each mission with six sticks of dynamite which can be used to destroy these obstacles (be careful you don't blow yourself up, though!) If you run out of dynamite, your laser beam can also be used to destroy the walls, though this will take longer and use up more energy. As the levels progress, the mine shaft will become longer and more maze-like, creatures will more frequently block the path, and lava walls and pools will appear which are dangerous to the touch.
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.
Zaxxon is a 1982 isometric shooter arcade game developed and released by Sega. The game gives the player the experience of flying a fighter craft through a fortress while shooting at enemy entities (missiles, enemy gunfire, etc.) The object of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel, which can be replenished paradoxically, by blowing up fuel drums.
Road Fighter is a car-based arcade game developed by Konami and released in 1984. It also was the first car racing game from Konami. The goal is to reach the finish line within the stages without running out of time, hitting other cars or running out of fuel (fuel is refilled by hitting a special type of car). The game also spawned two sequels in its time, Midnight Run: Road Fighter 2 in 1995 and Winding Heat in 1996, respectively. A Japan-only rebooted sequel was also released in 2010, 14 years after Winding Heat.
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 innovative upward-scrolling shoot 'em up game on the MSX system released as game cartridge. The top-view graphics were considered very sophisticated for its time, similar to other MSX games such as Nemesis and Penguin Adventure. Konami also released a slightly altered version that could be bought from LINKS network. (Japanese "internet replacement" of the 80's) In this version you could submit high scores to online server. It was brought without a license to the SG-1000 in Taiwan.
Congo Bongo is an isometric platform arcade game released by Sega in 1983. The game has come to be seen as Sega's answer to the highly successful Donkey Kong game that was released two years prior. The player takes the role of a red-nosed safari hunter who tries to catch an ape named "Bongo". The hunter seeks Bongo to exact revenge for an apparent practical joke in which Bongo set fire to the hunter's tent, giving him a literal "hotfoot". The game was named by Peter W. Gorrie who was the CFO of Sega at that time.
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.
Bandits are holding up a bank and have taken people hostage, and as a gunslinger, it's your job to shoot them. The bank has 12 doors, and the bandits are behind each one of them. When they pull a gun out at you when you open a door, you have only a few seconds to shoot them before they shoot you. If you shoot them too early (ie: before he sticks his gun out at you), it is considered unfair, and you won't score any points, but if you're too late, he'll shoot you and you lose one of your three lives.If you waste too much time, a bandit will come out from one of the doors and stick dynamite on it. You must then shoot the dynamite to get rid of it. If you're lucky, either a man or a woman will throw you a bag of gold coins. If you shoot any of these people by accident, you also lose a life. More often than not, the person will throw his/her hands up, saying "I haven't got anything". That's when they will be replaced by bandits. Some men will carry three to five pieces of gold on top of their heads, and shooting at all of the gold will award you with a bag of gold coins. Others will be tied up with rope. If you shoot the rope, there's more money for you, because not only will you receive one bag of gold coins, but you'll get three bags of gold coins.
Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns is the sequel to Pitfall and was released for a variety of systems during the mid-1980s including the SG-1000 in 1985. It was also ported to Sega System 1 arcade hardware by Sega. Gameplay is similar to the original game, but the levels are more maze-like. Sega's version of Pitfall II was tweaked significantly from its western counterparts released for the Atari 2600, ColecoVision etc. The gameplay is largely the same, but there are many additions. These include a Lives system, mine-carts, balloons, and a final Demon boss. The increased specifications of System 1 hardware means the arcade version is much more detailed and allows the player to see more of the maze at one time. The SG-1000 version is directly inspired by the arcade game, and though cannot match the same level of graphical quality, it is arguably the nicest looking home port of the game.
Feel the excitement of the starting line up and take in the atmosphere before letting your throttle unleash to send your formula one-style vehicle around the courses at incredible speeds! In the amazing World Grand Prix you must battle your way up the pack to snatch pole position and maintain it for as long as possible to whoosh over the finish line first in each race to become the true tarmac racing champion!
Choplifter is military themed scrolling shooter where you play as a pilot. Take off from your home base and fly across a horizontally-scrolling playfield of rugged terrain to reach the enemy Bungelings' barracks. There, you must land and rescue a group of helpless hostages and return then to your base. To hinder your mission, the enemy will attack with an array of armaments including tanks, jets, and dangerous air mines. To complete a perfect game, you must rescue all of the 64 hostages.
In the game, the player pilots a starship called the Final Star, while shooting various enemies and destroying enemy structures for points. Unlike later vertical scrolling shooters, like Toaplan's Twin Cobra, the Final Star had only two levels of weapon power, and no secondary weapons like missiles and/or bombs. Each stage in the game was named after a letter of the Greek alphabet. In certain versions of the game, there is an additional level called "Infinity" (represented by the infinity symbol) which occurs after Omega, after which the game repeats indefinitely.
Exerion is a vertical shoot 'em up released by Jaleco in 1983 and licensed to Taito for distribution in the United States. Screenshot from arcade version Exerion is a shoot 'em up game featuring parallax effects and inertia simulation, something notable for 1983. The player travels around strange scenarios shooting aliens. The player has two types of guns: fast single shot (limited) or slow double shot (unlimited). In 1984, along with the MSX1 port of the original, a sequel was released titled Exerion II: Zorni for the MSX1, with similar gameplay to the original. There were plans for an NES release of this game. In 1987, the game was followed by the semi-sequel titled Exerizer, also known as Sky Fox.
When it comes to fast-paced action and intrigue, nobody does it better than Bond. James Bond. But you can try when you reenact scenes from four great James Bond movie classics. 007's specially designed vehicle will take you on the ride of your life--over land, in the air, and under the sea! Through it all you must avoid obstacles, avert enemies, and accomplish four different missions!
Tranquillizer Gun is a 1980 arcade game developed by Sega for VIC Dual hardware. It has the player control a hunter, who must make his way around a maze, shooting animals and dragging their bodies back to his truck. The game was brought to the SG-1000 as Safari Hunting by a then-just founded Compile with slightly updated graphics. It was also included as a minigame within Dynamite Cop.
Uranai Angel Cutie (占いエンゼルキューティー) is a fortune telling program published by Sega for the SC-3000.
The Black Onyx is a role-playing game developed by Bullet Proof Software. It was released, among other consoles and computers, for the SG-1000 in 1987. It was the last SG-1000 game to be released in card form, and the last to be published by Sega, but it is currently unknown as to whether it was the last SG-1000 game. MSX and PC-8801 versions had been released in 1983 and 1984, respectively, meaning this version is unusually late. The game was followed by The Black Onyx II: Search For The Fire Crystal, which saw its original MSX release in 1984.
The game has a fairly standard plot of rescuing a princess from a castle, though the game itself was considered very large for the time. It also contains a map system similar to that of later Metroid and Castlevania games. The Castle was followed by the game Castle Excellent.
Guzzler is a coin operated arcade maze game developed and manufactured by Tehkan Ltd., and licensed to Centuri for United States distribution in 1983. It was released as a conversion kit, including a new marquee and control panel.
Borderline is a VIC Dual arcade game developed in 1980 by Sega. It is a shoot-'em-up in which the player controls a red jeep who must destroy the enemy refineries. Borderline was ported to the SG-1000 in 1983, and has also been released as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series in Japan. The second gameplay section was also recycled for the Atari 2600 release of Thunderground, though instead of driving a jeep the player controls a tank.
Ninja Princess known as Sega Ninja in the west, is a Sega System 1 arcade game by Sega. It is a top-down shooter/action game, in which you play as a princess disguised as a ninja who is attempting to stop the evil tyrant Gyokuro. The game was ported to the SG-1000 in 1986 exclusively for Japan, with an MSX port following shortly afterwards. It was also brought to the Sega Master System as The Ninja, however The Ninja makes several adjustments to the story and characters, as well as updating the gameplay.
Hang-On II is an SG-1000 sequel to the critically acclaimed Hang-On. Despite the name, the game is meant as a direct sequel to the Mark III version of Hang-On, and is virtually identical to that game. The only difference is downgraded graphics and the addition of music from the arcade version. Meanwhile, Super Hang-On is the direct sequel to the arcade game. It is compatible with the BH-400 bike handle controller, and would be the only SG-1000 game designed for it (though the peripheral is compatible with the Sega Master System and Sega Mega Drive).
A maze game where the player controls a tank and battles enemy tanks that pursue and attack.