Play it: Dishonored (360/PS3/PC, Arkane/Bethesda)

The city of Dunwall is in chaos. A ravenous plague is sweeping the city, turning its inhabitants into "Weepers": infected people bleeding from the eyes and ears. After returning back from an unsuccessful attempt to illicit help from a neighbouring city, Corvo Attano is wrongfully framed for the murder of the Empress. After escaping from jail and going underground with some help from Loyalists, Corvo now helps to restore order to the city, whilst looking for the Empress' missing daughter, the rightful heir to the throne of Dunwall. However, a cruel twist of fate has a last trick to play....

Playing very much like Looking Glass Studio's PC hit Thief from the late 90's, Dishonored is played in nearly the same way. You must get from A to B however you can via 3 ways: Stealth, mixture of stealth and brutality and just sheer brutality. However, the more you play one way affects the ending. Do more stealth than killing? Low Chaos and the happy ending. Go on an all out attack? Here, have a bleak ending. The more chaos you do, the more weepers there are, and the more packs of rats that roam the streets, too. This keeps the game fresh, and ensures plenty of replay value. Along with this play pattern, you can also pickpocket people without being seen (again, something borrowed from Thief), and there are also multiple routes to get to your objective. Want to go over the roof tops? Sure. hide in the shadows and wait for people to go past? Go for it. You're afforded the freedom to play the game your way, ensuring non linearity. The AI is smart. Very smart. Once you've been spotted, the enemy will call for back up, meaning a lone guard can be helped by roughly 4 other guards, meaning fighting them all is suicide, and escape being your only option. Once you've been spotted, the guards will stay alerted. Even once the meter has calmed down (identified by 3 lightning bolts on each side of the enemies head), they'll still be quick to spot you, so you have to take them out quickly, or just avoid them at all costs.

Along with this, you can upgrade your weapons, like the crossbow, increasing the range, and power of the weapon. One upgrade even adds another barrel to your standard pistol, making it double barreled, adding more firepower. On your travels through the game, you also come across runes and bone charms, which can be collected. This is after you're taken to a transworld plane, and meet The Outsider, who grants you the power to cast arkane magic, with powers like Blink, which allows you to zip from one place to another, Swarm, where you can summon packs of rats to aid you, Whirlwind, which blasts wind at your foes, knocking them from their feet, and possession, which as the name suggests, allows you to possess animals and, once upgraded, even people. Yes, even these powers can be upgraded too, allowing for more powerful abilities, like killing your foes renders them to dust, making the stealth path easier to tread.

The game controls really well, with the button layout thought about methodically. Yes, you do have to do some combos, but it never feels haphazard in the approach. The game flows really smoothly, and you'll soon be stringing together Blink and either assassination or choke hold for unconsciousness like a pro. It really is a game to master, and figuring out the best route and approach is easily one of the best mechanics of the game.

One neat feature sis the ability to hack panels for alarms (disabling them), wall of light (making them zap your enemies into dust instead of you) and arc towers (same as the tesla coils on C&C Red Alert 3), turning them to your advantage if there are three or more enemies in your way.

All in all, its a fully packed game with about 6 hours of play time per path roughly. You should be able to pick it up quite cheaply, or go for the GOTY edition, with all the downloadable content included. A game that leaves you wanting more, lets just hope there's a sequel, taking us back to the steampunk city of Dunwall, and letting us play the further adventures of Corvo. One of the best games of the last gen. Don't Miss it.

Returning from the Gwave: Flashback (XBLA, Ubisoft)

Format: XBLA, PSN (?)

Price: 1200pts (or £9.99)

Publisher: Ubisoft

They erased his memory. They took him prisoner. Now, he's on a mission to regain his identity, and stop an invasion before it's begun.

The original version of Flashback arrived in 1993 to much fanfare. It boasted gorgeous graphics, rotoscoped animation, clever level design and intuitive puzzles, and was released on most of the formats of the time, with a remastered version on the 3DO. It's storyline is thus:

Conrad Hart, special agent is captured by aliens, and, after recording a message to himself in his holocube, has his memory erased, so that he cannot tell the rest of the human race of an impending alien invasion. After escaping from his cell, he manages to steal a SkyBike and escape the alien installation in the jungle. However, the aliens give chase in their patrol cruiser, and shoot him down. Crashing into the jungle, Conrad must now find a way back to civilisation, regain his memory, and thwart the aliens plans for world domination.

Cool, huh? Well, the original was an absolute classic. It played well, sounded good, and looked beautiful. So, Ubisoft thought that the time was right to release an updated version for the modern market, with improved visuals, level designs, added features and gameplay elements, voice acting and lots of other whistles and bells. And, it also includes the original game! So, what under the bonnet?

Firstly, the graphics have been completely overhauled. They look pretty neat, and Conrad now looks like a Nathan Drake rip off. Which I suppose isn't really bad. The whole game is now 2.5D, like many side scrolling games nowadays, but as I said earlier, it does look good. The locales are as lush as you could ever see them, especially in glorious HD.

It also sounds as good as it looks, with an update of the original Flashback theme playing on the title menu. However, some of the voice acting & script is just awful. Who the hell says 'awesome sauce'? Really. It makes me cringe every time I hear it. Even some of the voice acting is terrible. I'd have just rather the characters remain mute than this.

Control-wise, it's easy to pick up and play. The controls are nice and fluid. After aquiring your gun, you aim with the right stick for more precision, which is a nice touch, as you have enemies above and below, and the button layout is quite easy to use also. The level layouts are roughly the same, but with some added areas that keep it fresh. But, the problem is, the game is now a bit more ho-hum. The first level, as I remember it, was actually quite tough, and quite long. This one, however, is quite short, and even though I'm playing it on normal, I'm finding it quite easy, and here in lies the problem. Even after playing the first level, I never found it a challenge. Sure, the first game gave you a challenge, but it wasnt to the point of infuriating. This is just stupidly easy, and, if I'm honest, a little boring.

But, wait! There's more! Also included from the off is the 1993 original! Surely, this should redeem it. Ummm, no. Not really. It's a very nice and cool idea, however (and it's a big one), the game is played as though it's in an arcade cabinet. Not a problem, I hear you cry. But, there is. The screen mode is forever played with an arcade screen surround, and the main game area is just a small square in the middle, making the game hard to see. And no, you can't change it. Not now. Not ever. So, you're forever squinting. And, where's the goddamn music??? There's no music on the menu screen, no music on the cut screens, no music at all! And the game is made harder with the fact that you cannot remap the controls to suit you, so most of the time, instead of whipping out your gun for a firefight, you're looking at your holocube for the umpteenth time, and promptly get shot. It totally ruins this classic in every way shape and form. If they're going to ruin a classic, they shouldn't have added it as a feature.

I can see what they were attempting, and I applaud them for trying it. It does have some nice ideas, some good controls (on the remake, anyway) and it looks great. But, I can't help but feel as though it should have been a little tougher. It's a case of style over substance, and it's a shame, as it's a classic that was crying out for a rerelease in today's market, as it had all the ingredients of a corker. And being worked on by the original team, they should really have known better.

Crap Movie Corner Triple Strike Editon: Lavathian, Deepstar Six & The Dark Side of the Moon

Some crap movies can be entertaining (take Lifeforce for example), but some can be just downright terrible. Here I present three that are just awful, they just shouldn't even be watched.

Laviathian (MGM, 1989)
Starring Peter Weller & Richard Crenna, the story centres on a deep sea team who stumble upon a sunken Russian ship. One of the team finds a hip flask of vodka and, sharing it with another crew mate, they start to mutate. Cue lots of elements stolen from The Thing, blood, assimilations and Peter Weller running around with the worlds fattest barrelled Flame-Thrower. Also, cue lots of monster special effects (which I suppose aren't too bad), some rubbish dialogue and lots of crap acting (especially from Ernie Hudson). The story is a shameless The Thing rip off, and doesn't even hide it. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Deepstar Six (Carolco, 1989)
Again, an underwater adventure, this one sees a team sent by the navy to recover nuclear missiles. After blasting a cave closed, a monster that is the weirdest looking in movie history, is iunleashed, ripping Matt McCoy in half, pulling Nia Peeples under the water and eating her, seeing Miguel Ferrer decompress and explode and the captain of the expedition get trapped in a door and drowns himself. The monster is shit, the script is shit, the storyline of one of the characters expecting a baby is mentioned then forgot about, but it does have gore on its side.....and that's it. Pure crap.

The Dark Side Of The Moon (Vidmark, 1989)

An expedition to the moon ends in disaster when a space shuttle is found, and an ancient evil, dispelled from Earth is unleashed. Sounds good, yeah? It's actually very bad. It has gore and blood in, but that can't save a poorly executed plot, no-one knowing who is who (another stolen The Thing idea), cheap special effects and slow pacing. And how can anyone be controlled by a demon by pushing their face into a cut open stomach? Saying that, there are breasts in it (always a winner), it's a shame the bird is as ugly as the bottom of a bucket.

All in all, a selection of crap films, of which only.....well, only Deepstar Six is any cop. And it's still crap.

Speccy Capers: OutRun (Sega/Probe/US Gold - 1987)

Awesome titlescreen. If only they could have animated that ingame.

OutRun is one of those games that's a milestone of 80's arcade gaming. Sega's magnum opus, OutRun saw you drive a bloody fast Ferrari Testarossa across 16 varying tracks, that range from a beach, to English countryside to a desert. At the end of the current track, the road splits, letting you choose whether to go left (and make the game easy), or go right (and make the game harder).  Also on the track with you are other road users, that vary from Porsche's to little hatchbacks to full on juggernaut trucks. A crash with one of these will cost you valuable time, which is constantly ticking down. If you found the full deluxe sit-down cab, you were in for a treat. In the headrest of the seat were two speakers, which pumped out the awesome music and sound effects to help immerse you in the atmosphere of the game. And, if I remember correctly, it's also hydraulic as well!

The lovely Speccy version....

 The music is another of the games trademarks, none moreso than Magical Sound Shower. I don't think it's possible to find an OutRun machine and not choose it as your driving track. But, the other music is also sublime, but MSS was in my honest opinion the pinnacle. So, how did Probe manage to compact it from full on 16bit, 3D scaling road midi gorgeousness, to 128k, sprite-based AY chip goodness? I don't bloody know, but they did it.

...and the rather groovy Arcade original.

First up, the graphics are quite faithful representations of the original. All lovingly detailed, and whizz past at a great speed on Uncle Clive's humble little machine. It also has the scaling roads, although the game can only produce two colours on screen at a time, it's a relatively small price to pay to for the awesome graphics. The status at the top isn't cluttered, and you even get the split road at the end of the track you're on.

Even the music is here too, brilliantly recreated in AY chip lovelyness. You don't get the engine noise, unfortunately, but you get the sound the car makes when you skid off the road, so I suppose that makes up for it. The car controls well, considering your using a joystick and not a wheel. The only thing that's not recreated is the hydraulic cab, sadly.

And here's the rubbish Amiga version. *sigh* 

Still, I give this port a hearty thumbs up. Just don't play the fucking awful Amiga port. It looks and plays like it was coded by a child, and don't push the machine to it's potential.

Speccy Capers: Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (US Gold, 1988)

Originally released under the name Daimakamura in Japan, Ghouls N Ghosts sees our hero Sir Arthur off to rescue Princess Prin Prin from the clutches of a demon. Along the way, he must face skeleton warriors, tornado devils and Firebrand (who got his own game in the shape of Gargoyles Quest on Game Boy). If hit, his armour shatters and you spend most of your time in your under crackers. One more hit, and you lose a life and get reduced to a pile of bones. The arcade original is widely known as one of the best games of the 80s, and is also one of the hardest, with enemies flying at you thick and fast. Luckily, to help fend them off, you get a variety of pick ups like replacement armour, a weapon charge upgrade, and various weapons like axes, blade discs and fire bombs. On occasion, chests pop up, and once opened either grant you said armour, or a magician appears and turns you into either a duck or an old man. The spell wears off after five seconds, meaning you can go in your merry way, slaying monsters and wotnot.

There are 5 stages in total, with an end of level boss on each. The levels vary, with one being set first of all in  graveyard, then on a cliff, the next level sees you running through a village, which then goes up in flames, and the graphics change as the levels progress. If you thought the arcade graphics were awesome, the Spectrum version has some of the best I've seen. Highly detailed, and with minimal colour clash, US Gold came up trumps with how this looks. Yes, they might be monochrome at some points, but when it requires other colours, it works really well.

There's hardly any music, except on the title screen and the map screen, which is a faithful rendition of the arcade version. It does, however, have some great spot effects, like the driving rain on the second half of the first level, and sounds like proper driving rain.

Controls are simple, and are very responsive. Just make sure if you're emulating on the DS, that you use keyboard, and can remap jump to one of the other buttons, as it will help a lot. The status bar at the bottom is a huge step up from Ghosts 'n' Goblins, which was just a yellow bar with writing. Overall, a great effort which retains the playability, and difficulty, of the arcade original, while injecting some Spectrum charm into the proceedings. Highly recommended. Also, check out the remade title screen from Ghosts N Goblins, taken from a hand drawn picture (see above), as it's pretty awesome, and should have been the loading screen.

Classic Movie Corner; Outland (Warner Bros., 1981)

Name: Outland
Year: 1981
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Executive Producer: Stanley O'Toole
Starring: Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle, James B. Sikking

On Jupiter's moon, he's the only law.

On the Con-Am operated mining colony on Io, Jupiter's moon, strange things are happening. The miners are slowly going psychotic, after breaking mining records, and increasing production ten fold. Upon investigating, new Federal Marshall William T. O'Niell (Connery) soon finds out why: a synthetic drug making people do 14 hours worth of work inside of 6 hours, and after 11 months of exposure , makes the taker go crazy. Now, the general manager of the colony, Sheppard has grown desperate at O'Niell's meddling, and has asked his superior for help in the form of two hitmen. With clock ticking until the shuttle arrives, O'Niell must find a why of overcoming the incoming threat, and even threats from within is own ranks.

Definitely one of Connery's best movies, Outland is a sci-fi retooling of the Gary Cooper classic High Noon, directed with panache by Hyams, who clearly has an eye for this sort of thing, and even does justice to the source material. Connery excels at the tough, no nonsense marshall who doesn't back down, and even brings some of his Bond-esque toughness to the role. Sternhagen plays the icy cool doctor  Lazarus, who becomes his only friend, and later partner throughout the whole film, and is a surprising contrast to O'Niell. Peter Boyle plays the corporate bad guy Sheppard who's as corrupt as the day is long, supplying the drugs to the workers, while turning  blind eye to the carnage.

Jerry Goldsmith supplies the music, and helps keep the film going at a cracking pace, and is a very stark contrast to his scores for the Star Trek movies. You could probably mistake it for a score from ALIEN, but it does it's job well. Definitely worth watching for it's space-western like themes, the action and the fact it's just awesome.

Movie to game conversions you must play!

It has been well documented that games to movies don't bode well. In my eyes, they're awesome. Take DOOM. It didn't follow the games storyline (scientists open a portal to hell on the surface of Mars, and that's all she wrote!), but it was an enjoyable romp, with The Rock hamming it up like there's no tomorrow. Movie to games, however, didn't fair all that badly. There were some gems among the chuff, and here they are:

Batman The Movie (any format you can name - Ocean/Sunsoft)
Of course, the first Michael Keaton Batman flick is one of the best, and the game that came out was also one of the best. Where the MD version was your typical side scrolling brawler, the Speccy/Amiga/C64 version mixed the styles up, with multi scrolling, driving and puzzle all thrown into the mix, and what a good mix it was too. Both versions are worth a play.

Robocop (A500/ST/Spec/C64/464 - Ocean)
Another tie in that mixed styles, it also ramped up the difficulty to extraordinary levels, but retained the awesome graphics. This one included shooting gallery levels, as well as the obligatory puzzles and side scrolling ones.

Goldeneye 007 (N64 - Rare)
How can you have a list like this and NOT include this gem. Sniper rifles, mines, huge levels, the chance to drive a tank, lots of guns, the chance to drive a tank, blowing stuff up and firing lasers. Oh, and the chance to drive a tank (in case you missed it).

Star Wars (Arc - Atari)
Your chance to fly an X-Wing down the Death Stars trench and blow the f**ker up. It might have vector graphics, but they do their job, and it still plays great.

The Classic Movie: The Philadelphia Experiment (1984 - New World Pictures)

October 10, 1943. Using Einstein's "Unified Field Theory", the U.S navy have devised a way to make their ships invisible to radar, by bending light around it to create the invisibility illusion. Using the U.S.S Eldridge as a guinea pig, the test is successful...until it never comes back! During the test, two sailors, David Herdeg (Michael Pare) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco), realize something is wrong, jump overboard, and land in 1984, not knowing that WWII has ended and what time period they're in. Now, on the run from the police and the Navy, they must find a way to get back home, with the help of Alison Haynes (Nancy Allen), while tracking down the scientist responsible for the experiment 40 years ago, in an attempt to find out what went wrong.

The film is based on the legend of an experiment that, according to the Office of Naval Research, never took place, and was the basis of Einstein's apparently true "Unified Field Theory". There were several accounts, all with differing details about the experiment, from various people. The film is based on some that were put together, and then a chase thriller added on to it. Some reports stated that when the ship re-appeared, people were seen to be fused into the deck of the ship, which made it into the film, and was a powerful aspect. Some claimed people actually disappeared, which was the basis for the two main characters.

The film, being based on supposed fact, is actually very good. The special effects when the ship disappears are really cool, and even when it goes through the time vortex, there's a sense of 'wow' when you see it. The performances are strong throughout, the script is good, and the scientific parts never make you go "what?".

It's a film everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. It might only be 1hr 40mins roughly, but the film does keep you on the edge of your seat. There was a sequel made 10 years later that, unfortunately, doesn't have the same cast in it, but is an ok follow up with a "what if..." storyline, involving Nazi's and a Stealth Fighter.

PC Capers: Carmageddon (SCi - 1997)

6 combatants. Motors revving. The race official raises the flag, the cars motors sounding like lions roaring. The flag lowers, and the cars speed off, running over the race official. Turning the first corner, one of the racers plows into a gang of people, another hits a traffic light and sends it into the direction of another group, whilst the car gets crumpled like a piece of paper. Another gets blown up, while one goes off a cliff. Two left, ramming each other, while a mine comes into view. The red car, an Eagle Mk.I, rams the 4X4 into the mine, sending it whirling into the air, leaving the Eagle Mk.I the only survivor. This is Carmageddon.

Created by Stainless Software, and published by SCi, Carmageddon was supposed to be an official game, first of Mad Max, first released in 1979, then of the cult movie 'Death Race 2000', which was released in 1975, and starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. In the movie, the racers got points for running over people, whilst racing from one side of America to the other, in a race called the 'Transcontinental Road Race'. After the deal fell through, it was decided to keep the basic premise, but have tracks, laps and weapons thrown into the mix. The tracks themselves range from mine shafts, to cities, to seaside areas. One other element added was the Police presence on various tracks: run over locals in front of a Police van, and it would come after you, until it stopped you. It's armour was tough, and could only be defeated by using the power-up Solid Granite Car. Because of it's subject matter, the game was at first banned by the ratings board but, after a while, it eventually passed with an 18 certificate, whereas in Australia and Germany, it got banned outright (until it was re-edited with zombies, and a password lock).

To kick things off, the game is gory, hence all the controversy around it. I mean, driving around, running people over isn't exactly FIFA Soccer, but even through it's intestine-stained exterior, it's a fun game. The graphics in it's super-duper, Xtra-3D suped-up version are still great. In software mode, it looks good, but it does hurt the eyes after a while. Each car model has hit points, and smashing into a wall in the various places causes that piece to crumple, so in that respect, it's realistic, same as the handling. Meanwhile, the pedestrians are all 2D sprite affairs, but are animated well, and even have accompanying screams when you run them over. Plus, you can also run over cows. Yes, that's right: Cows. You know: they who give us steaks, mince and McDonalds. In the top left hand corner,you've got the Prat-Cam. It shows your driver's ugly mug, as you race through the pedestrians, and they give different expressions whenever they do anything (they even bite their tongue when you use the Instant Handbrake!), but it all adds to the humour of it all.

The game still plays well, even after all this time. You can race, and go through the checkpoints. Or...you can smash into other racers and take them out, or run over all the peds, or a mixture of all three. You don't even have to stick to the track, and can even go and explore the whole area, finding more peds and power ups. The areas themselves are massive, and the track layouts vary with each track, and also as you go up the ranks. An expansion pack, called Max Splat Pack, was released a while later, which added new areas & tracks and new racers. A sequel was released a few years later, and expanded on the game, and while a good game, it was let down by the missions you had to do in ridiculous time limits. TDR 2000: Carmageddon 3 was just piss poor. It looked like a dog, it played like rubbish, and is contender for Crap Game Corner.

Still as great to play, and as irrelevant as ever, Carmageddon is one of the best racers you'll ever play. Go do some Cunning Stunt Bonuses, some Piledriver Bonuses, and some Nice Shots, Sir.

Top 100 games of all time: The Final Insult (aka part 10)

Well, this is it. The final stretch. The final ten. The final frontier. Or..something like that.

10 - Monkey Island II (PC/Amiga - Lucasarts)

LeChuck returns, more evil, more badass, and more dead, in this follow up to the smash hit. Join Guybrush in his attempt to destroy LeChuck (again). More! Puzzles. More! Monkeys. More! Guybrush. The humor is just as sharp, and you can even nail Stan inside a used coffin.

9 - Final Fight (Various - Capcom/US Gold)

Pick your fighter, and take it to the streets in Capcom's seminal three way brawl. Large, chunky graphics, awesome synth music, and smooth controls mean it's the best brawler you'll ever play.

8 - H.E.R.O (Various - Activision)

The ultimate save-em-up, blow up walls to find people trapped in caverns, while avoiding nasties and dead end, and take them to the surface, and safety. A game you can lose yourself in.

7 - Streets of Rage II (MD/GG/SMS - Sega)

Sega's answer to Final Fight, it packed in more levels, better graphics, a stomping soundtrack, and digitized speech. Better than the original, and infinitely better than the cack handed 3rd outing (that got so chopped up storywise, it was indecipherable!).

6 - Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters (Various - Atari/Tengen)

With it's 50's B-movie setting, you control either Jake or Duke, and have to blast your way across Planet X, in order to rescue scientists and stop an impending invasion. A good sci-fi romp for anyone who likes blasting robot monsters.

5 - Football Champ (Arcade - Taito)

Pure arcade action, as you play for the cup. But, whats wrong with taking the other team down with a few dirty tackles or knees to the face, and even punching the ref in the back of the head?  The game that inspired Red Card, it's a game that'll bring out your inner Vinny Jones.

4 - Turrican (Amiga - Rainbow Arts)

What can't be said about Turrican that hasn't been said already? A work of art that still gives a staggering challenge, a platform shooter that to this day still hasn't been bettered, and probably won't be.

3 - The Simpsons Arcade (ARC - Konami)

Pick your Simpsons character, and race to save Maggie from Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers, who have stolen a diamond that Maggie picked up. It has the Simpsons charm, humour and the voices of the actual cast. A top arcade license.

2 - Braid (XBLA - Number None, Inc)

A platformer with a twist: you control time which helps to solve various puzzles to collect puzzle pieces, and save the princess. With beautiful music, gorgeous painted, living backgrounds and responsive controls, Braid is one huge game that will keep you enthralled for a long time, up until the twist ending.

We've been through 99 of the best games of all time. Some choices might seem controversial, but even with the worst looking game, a gem in gameplay hides beneath. So, without further ado, here it is: the Holy Grail. The Ark of the Covenant. The Sankara Stones. The best game ever. It is....

1 - Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Various - Bitmap Brothers)

Inspired by the 1970's movie Rollerball, take control of a struggling team of misfits, and lead them to glory in the most violent spectator sport known to man: Speedball. Converted to most of the home formats of the time, the game is known for it's immersive gameplay, the music, and the shouts of Ice Cream, Ice Cream!! Play it alone against the computer, and take on the various teams, all with increasing difficulty, while managing your team and trading in and out players, or take on a friend, and smash his team to oblivion. It was THE reason to own an A500.
Bitmap Brothers, we thank you.







Right, that's it, now bugger off!

Top 100 games of all time: part 9

20 places left, who will fill them? Will they be games you love? Games you hate? Will you even care? Meh, lets carry on regardless.

20 - Carmageddon (PC - SCi)

The original Death Race, pull off Cunning Stunts, do Nice Shots, Sir, make Piledriver Bonuses and find that Electrobastard Ray as you squash, ram, shunt, and push rival racers over cliffs and run pedestrians into the ground, all in the name of points. Petrol-fueled fun.

19 - Fallout 3 (PC/PS3/360 - Bethesda)

Post Apocalyptic action ahoy as you play a vault dweller who searches for his Pa in the wastelands of a barren wasteland of Washington D.C. Level up, face off against mutants, find stuff and save the world. A game you can literally sink hours into.

18 - Alcatraz (Amiga/ST/PC - Infogrames)

I personally champion this game, as I feel it's often overlooked. Amazing to look at, and to play, it mixes side scrolling action, with first person interior levels. An amazing experience.

17 - Lemmings (Various - Psygnosis)

Make 'em dig, make 'em build, make 'em block, make 'em pop! Guide the suicidal rodents to their home in 100 levels of puzzle goodness. Plus, it has tunes you can tap your feet to.

16 - Tenchu Stealth Assassins (PSX - Activision)

Be a ninja, and take down your enemies quickly and quietly in this 3D action adventure. Good looking, and although it's a hard game to master, the rewards are worth it.

15 - Layer Section (SAT - Taito)

More vertical scrolling action, this time fending off an invasion of Earth. Lock on to your enemies, and unleash a barrage of laser fire at them. One of the best imports for Sega's 32-bit powerhouse.

14 - Shenmue (DC - Sega)

Years in the making, it started off as a game for the Saturn, but development moved to Sega's new baby, and the extra power really shows. It's an absolutely beautiful game. Add to that an Arcade that has arcade perfect versions of Space Harrier and Hang On in it, and you've a game that'll last you ages.

13 - Grand Theft Auto Vice City (PC/PS2 - Rockstar)

The 80's. The quintessential decade. Big shoulder pads, synth-pop and classic telly. All lovingly recreated here, with a cohesive story, and excellent voice acting, GTA: VC is the ultimate GTA game.

12 - GoldenEye 007 (N64 - Rare)

The FPS that changed everything. Lots of missions, loads to unlock, the multiplayer that changed the way we play together and a stomping soundtrack, GoldenEye is the ultimate Bond game, that still plays well even today.

11 - Silent Hill 2 (PS2/PC - Konami)

A contender to Resident Evil's crown, it ups the tension, has buckets of atmosphere, and will give you more trouser brownage than a dose of the runs. The ultimate in survival horror.

We're one step away from that top spot. But, I might make you wait a bit longer to find out what the top game of all time will be (it's such a secret, not even I know what it is).

Top 100 games of all time: part 8

The Top 100: A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, in a world of games who have no imagination. 30 to 21.

30 - Syndicate (Various - Bullfrog)

Take control of a huge mega corporation, and send out 4 top agents to do various mission, like assassinate, capture, 'persuade', and extract, all in gorgeous isometric-vision. Mega violence abound in this cult classic.

29 - Uncharted (PS3 - Naughty Dog)

Playing as a sort of Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider rip off, it is actually a bloody good game, with lots to see and hidden treasures to find, whilst stopping a generic bad guy from making off with the loot, and solving various puzzles. Top draw stuff.

28 - Burai Fighter (NES - Taxan)

8 way shooting ahoy, as you float through 8 bases of Burai and decimate anything in your path. A good rip off of Capcom's Forgotten Worlds, which is actually a tough cookie to beat.

27 - Auf Wiedersehen Monty (Various - Gremlin Graphics)

Monty's final outing on the 8-bit home computers, sees our Moley one collecting money around Europe, so he can buy his own little Greek island called Montos. It also contains many references to various characters, like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, the radio station Radio Luxembourg and two room called Bjorn and Borg.

26 - Outlaws (PC - Lucasarts)

A first person western game, you play an ex-sherriff, who has to rescue his kidnapped daughter, and avenge his wife's murder. Running on a modified Dark Forces engine, it's a tense affair, with shoot outs in towns, a coal mine, a ranch, a moving train and a set of caves. Recommended for shooter fans and western fans also.

25 - Star Trek 25th Anniversary (PC/Amiga - Interplay)

It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim! One of the best Star Trek games around, the point 'n' click genre was made for it's sci-fi setting. Solve puzzles, shoot pesky Klingons, have a space battle or two, and be home in time for tea and crumpets. Plus, the CD version has the cast of the original series lend their voices. Which is nice.

24 - Steel Harbinger (PSX - Mindscape)

An early PSX release, it's also rather good. Some times the clunky controls do hamper progress a bit, but get past that, and you can still have some fun, shooting evil aliens, saving people, and eating body parts for health (that's right. Body parts for health. Hey! I didn't think it up!)

23 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Gamecube - Silicon Knights)

A rather creepy 3rd person adventure, it utilizes a unique system where, the more health you lose, the more your grip on reality slips. There's even a bit where your telly's volume goes wonky. An experience you won't forget.

22 - OutRun (Various - Sega)

Three words: Magical. Sound. Shower.

21 - Ikari Warriors (Various - SNK/Elite)

A vertical scrolling blast-em-up, Ikari Warriors doesn't skimp on the references to the popular action movies of the decade, like Rambo (being the major one), and others. Blow up shacks, shoot people, blow up tanks. Just another day in the office.

Can you smell it? The top 10 is just around the corner. Will you be ready for it? (I won't, and I'm writing the thing.)

Top 100 games of all time: part 7

Hunted by gamers, they survive as soldiers of fortune, being used in your home consoles and computer. If  can find them, maybe you could play:
The Top 100 40 to 31.

40 - Robocop (Various - Data East/Ocean)

The movie was great. The game was hard as nails. That didn't stop it from being in the charts for what seemed like 100 years. Just one of the best uses for a movie license, and it was addictive, if stupidly hard. Still, it sold well, it played well, so it deserves it's position in this list.

39 - The Empire Strikes Back (ARC/Various - Atari/Domark)

Released as a conversion kit for the original Star Wars cabinet, it featured the Battle of Hoth (spread over two battles), and the Millenium Falcon being chased through the Asteroid field. It might be short, but the ever increasing difficulty upon its completion means it be played for a while, but it will get repetitive. Still, it's enjoyable while it lasts.

38 - Bill & Ted's Excellent GameBoy Adventure (GB - Beam Software)

Playing much like A&F's Chuckie Egg, you have to collect orbs that have been scattered around the levels and enter the portal to the next. Highly addictive, and boasting some great graphics, it's a must play for Bill & Ted and puzzle fans everywhere.

37 - Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose (SNES - Konami)

Based on the cartoon of the same name, it's a very competent little game, with various mini games between levels, and the levels themselves take on themes of movies (like Westerns and Sci-Fi).

36 - The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The Space Mutants (Various - Acclaim)

The first Simpsons video game is also the best, with you playing as Bart, and trying to stop an alien invasion. Small, but excellent graphics, and a rather jaunty little rendition of the theme song all add up to a cracking game. Also, the intro sequence on the A500 version is something to behold.

35 - Command & Conquer (PC/PSX/N64/SAT - Westwood)

Build bases, command troops, obliterate the enemy. The perfect RTS series, whatever platform you play it on. A game you can lose hours in.

34 - Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast - Sega)

Mixing 3rd person platform elements with exploration, Sonic Adventure was THE reason to own a DC. It kept you hooked until the end, and would be the last, great Sonic game, until Generations last year. A true gem, and infinitely better than the follow up.

33 - Rambo First Blood Part II (Spec/Ams/C64 - Ocean)

Find your weapons, kill loads of enemy troops, enter the compound, and free the POWs. It's a shame I could never get it to work on the later +2A model Speccy. Still, there's the remake, which is very faithful. Play it. Play it now!

32 - Thunderblade (ARC - Sega)

Similar to Afterburner, you control an Apache helicopter, blowing the crap out of anything and everything you come across. Just make sure to find a hydrolic cabinet version, as it rocks all over the shop like a drunk on a dance floor, and its quite brilliant!

31 - Axelay (SNES - Konami)

First, its a vertical scroller. Then, it flips it on it's head, and turns into a side scroller. Some neat graphical effects, tight controls, and awesome music combine to make this a great shooter.

30 to 21 after the break, and we're getting closer to that elusive top spot, with the pimple just below.