Hazily Remembered Games With Only the Vaguest Notion of What They Were

My most aggravating hazily remembered game isn't a video game, it's a board game. Back in junior high school one of my best friends had a Lord of the Rings board game that we would play on the weekends when one of us spent the night at the other's house. This was back in the mid-80s, so well before the modern glut of LOTR board games. All I remember about it was that the board was huge - it was either many, many tiles that all fit together into one massive board, or it was a folded paper/fabric map. It felt enormous, we'd have to clear out a big space on the floor to lay it out. It took hours to play, and seemed very complex and with a ton of detail. I distinctly remember game elements like Gandalf dying to become Gandalf the White, and characters like Treebeard, the hobbits, and Tom Bombadil.

I've searched the BoardGameGeek archives and while there are a handful of LOTR games from the late 70s and early 80s, they are very clearly not the game I remember. It's bugged me for years.

Sounds like the 70s version of War of the Ring:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/...

Aaron D. wrote:
Grenn wrote:

Was there a game, possibly on the Genesis, in which you were a ninja

You just described like every game from that era!

Come on, it's that ninja game. You threw shuriken and hopped around incessantly. You know the one.

PoderOmega wrote:

Also another ninja game where one boss had a huge cheeks and blew you around. Might be the same games.

Pretty sure that's Kid Niki - Radical Ninja (NES and Arcades)

IMAGE(http://www.freeroms.com/roms_screenshot2/mame_kid_niki_-_radical_ninja_(us)_2.gif)

Grenn wrote:

Was there a game, possibly on the Genesis, in which you were a ninja and, based on which weapon you had picked up, you could change into different beasts or monsters?

And this sounds like Magician Lord, which was for the Neo Geo (and also arcades)

IMAGE(http://stopxwhispering.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/neo-geo-magiciann-lord-different-forms.png?w=545)

Alz wrote:

Pretty sure that's Kid Niki - Radical Ninja (NES and Arcades)

IMAGE(http://www.freeroms.com/roms_screenshot2/mame_kid_niki_-_radical_ninja_(us)_2.gif)

Could that title exist anywhere else but the '80's!

Tanglebones wrote:

Sounds like the 70s version of War of the Ring:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/...

I saw that, but that board/map does not look at all like what I remember. I don't recall any sort of hex grid on it, nor that garish blue sea. However, I admit it was 30 years ago so my memory probably cannot be trusted.

Boudreaux wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

Sounds like the 70s version of War of the Ring:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/...

I saw that, but that board/map does not look at all like what I remember. I don't recall any sort of hex grid on it, nor that garish blue sea. However, I admit it was 30 years ago so my memory probably cannot be trusted.

Hmm. Looks like they released another edition later (distinct from the modern 'War of the Ring' game, still). This might also help:
http://www.freewebs.com/tolkienboard...

Fire... Something? It was the last game we bought for our ailing Commodore 64. It was like Gauntlet but with a story and levels that went all over the countryside. I've half-heartedly looked for it but whatever I find doesn't match my memories.

Now that I think of it, it was completely usurped in my memory by Dungeon Explorer. Now that was a game!

Also, all the mention of side-scrolling knights has me thinking of Wizards and Warriors.

gains wrote:

Fire... Something? It was the last game we bought for our ailing Commodore 64. It was like Gauntlet but with a story and levels that went all over the countryside. I've half-heartedly looked for it but whatever I find doesn't match my memories.

Probably Fire King.
http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http...

There was also Firelord, but that was an earlier game I believe.
http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http...

AUs_TBirD wrote:
Malor wrote:

There was an early wargame on one of the consoles that I've been trying to remember for years and years. I'm pretty sure it was hex-based, and I think it might have been on either the Turbo Grafx 16...

... I'm remembering it as being rather like Advance Wars, but haven't been able to pin anything down.

Military Madness - (just happened to watch a Turbografx system retrospective last night where this was featured.

Played the crap out of that one. You couldn't build units though. They were seeded in the factories, so getting to a factory first meant a lot. I bought that system FOR that game... man, that made for one expensive game.

I remember a couple of games called Wizball and Starblazer. Wizball was the first time I can recall digitized voice on a computer. (not special intellivision voicebox required) It was like the gameplay of Qix.
Starblazer was an awesome side scrolling shooter with stages. (bomb the radar, tank, etc)

I also remember playing the crap out of Astrosmash, Swords and Sorcerors, Microsurgeon and Burgertime on intellivision.

Curiously, I also remember wanting a $300 Redline or Kuwahara BMX bicycle and desperately bought some cereal trying to win a Super Zaxxon arcade cabinet.

Alright, I think I'm about to stump the band, but I hope not.

There was an arcade game years ago that I'd like to see if there's video of. It was in the arcades around the same time as Dragon's Lair. It was similar in gameplay, but was Anime - and it was gorgeous.

It started out with a bank robbery and the robbers were running out of the bank with bags of money with bills blowing out of them. Then the perspective switched where the player had to jump over boxes and the game shouted "Jump!". Then the player got into a car and took off and... crashed. Over and over and over again. I never got any further. This game was ridiculously hard and I f*ckin' HATED it!!! It was so hard and I had no idea what to do.

Ring a bell for anyone?

Laputa or Castle in the Sky
I will find it. Give me a second.
edit: Found it, I was close. It was called Cliffhanger in the states. It was a video game version of Lupin th 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQq...

Alright, I got one. Another arcade game that I played in the mid-'90s, this was a sit-down tank (or hovertank) game, controlled with two joysticks. IIRC the setup was two connected cabinets. I seem to recall the graphics being wireframe vectors, but I'm not sure about that. After some Googling, I'm sure it wasn't Battlezone (it was a sit-down cabinet), pretty sure it wasn't T-MEK (the cabinet had a roof, and I think it was more of an arena game than a tournament with a boss), and it definitely wasn't Cyber Sled.

Not sure about that one but I did love Assault:
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_de...
edit: how about Tokyo Wars? Not vector graphics but I think you'd be hard pressed to find vector graphics in the mid 90's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetR...

fangblackbone wrote:

Laputa or Castle in the Sky
I will find it. Give me a second.
edit: Found it, I was close. It was called Cliffhanger in the states. It was a video game version of Lupin th 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQq...

Thank you! It was Cliffhanger. Grrr grrr grumble grumble... still makes me angry.

Watch that video, it is a complete walk through. It looks like it gets even more insane very quickly!

fangblackbone wrote:

Not sure about that one but I did love Assault:
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_de...
edit: how about Tokyo Wars? Not vector graphics but I think you'd be hard pressed to find vector graphics in the mid 90's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetR...

It was first-person and futuristic. Watching videos of T-MEK I'm thinking that's what it must have been (weirdly it's the 32X port that looks more familiar), conflated in my mind with Battlezone.

Thanks for looking!

Edit: Never mind - I found it! Snooper Troops!

IMAGE(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/211297-snooper-troops-case-2-the-case-of-the-disappearing-dolphin.png)

Here's one that has been bothering me for years. Its a game I played at my friend's house, on his Apple ][

You are a private detective, and I believe you're trying to solve the kidnapping of a dolphin (no, it's not Ace Ventura). The main part of the game involves you driving around the city, top-down GTA style. It was very easy to crash the car if you didn't time the key press right.

The idea was that you could stop in front of a house, get out of the car, knock on the door and question the person inside. But there were times that the person wouldn't be home, and you could "sneak in" and look for clues. But if you stayed too long, they would come home and you'd be caught.

It was remarkably detailed for it's time, but I had no idea what I was doing and never solved the case. I also, sadly, have never seen mention of it again.

There was this space ship dueling game on the original Gameboy. Two opposing ships are placed on opposite ends of the screen, only able to move side to side as the ship in Space Invaders. Both ships can fire lasers that deplete the opponent's health bar. Moving debris that nullify the lasers are placed strategically in the middle of the screen.

I'm pretty sure a versus mode was available, but the game had a robust campaign. Player can visit a different number of star systems, each with a unique set of enemies and environmental features.

How 'bout this one...

It was a C64 game. You're an egg shaped robot on a derelict spacecraft and you have to repair it before it explodes. You repair it by grabbing pieces of pipe and fixing pipes at various locations to gain access to other locations, eventually gaining access to the bridge, I believe.

Ring any bells?

Tanglebones wrote:

Hmm. Looks like they released another edition later (distinct from the modern 'War of the Ring' game, still). This might also help:
http://www.freewebs.com/tolkienboard...

I think it did! Looking at the list, the only one that was promising was the Iron Crown Enterprises 1983 release "Fellowship of the Ring", but there weren't any photos other than a picture of the game box.

However, that led to the same game entry on BGG. After looking through some of these photos, I'm 90% sure this is the game I'm thinking of. I don't recall the hexes on the map, but the general color/style is very evocative of what I recall. Then I looked at the cards, and all sorts of bells started going off, particularly when I saw the cards for the Fellowship and the Minions of Morgoth, especially that Balrog.

Now I kind of want to track down a copy of this. Which is the cool thing about board games, I could actually still play it today.

Great thread!
I have this distinct memory of visiting cousins of mine in Montreal in the early 90's and binge-playing Rampage for the NES, and some mysterious PC rpg dungeon crawler type game with the one notable thing about it being that one of the characters had four arms - and was possibly made of stone? (like the Thing from fantastic four)....

Alz wrote:

Edit: Never mind - I found it! Snooper Troops!

IMAGE(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/211297-snooper-troops-case-2-the-case-of-the-disappearing-dolphin.png)

Here's one that has been bothering me for years. Its a game I played at my friend's house, on his Apple ][

You are a private detective, and I believe you're trying to solve the kidnapping of a dolphin (no, it's not Ace Ventura). The main part of the game involves you driving around the city, top-down GTA style. It was very easy to crash the car if you didn't time the key press right.

The idea was that you could stop in front of a house, get out of the car, knock on the door and question the person inside. But there were times that the person wouldn't be home, and you could "sneak in" and look for clues. But if you stayed too long, they would come home and you'd be caught.

It was remarkably detailed for it's time, but I had no idea what I was doing and never solved the case. I also, sadly, have never seen mention of it again.

Oh my. I think I had the first game in that series. I had completely forgotten about it until I clicked that link. Wave of nostalgia activated!

Serengeti wrote:

How 'bout this one...

It was a C64 game. You're an egg shaped robot on a derelict spacecraft and you have to repair it before it explodes. You repair it by grabbing pieces of pipe and fixing pipes at various locations to gain access to other locations, eventually gaining access to the bridge, I believe.

Ring any bells?

Rasterscan?

Thirteenth wrote:

There was this space ship dueling game on the original Gameboy. Two opposing ships are placed on opposite ends of the screen, only able to move side to side as the ship in Space Invaders. Both ships can fire lasers that deplete the opponent's health bar. Moving debris that nullify the lasers are placed strategically in the middle of the screen.

I'm pretty sure a versus mode was available, but the game had a robust campaign. Player can visit a different number of star systems, each with a unique set of enemies and environmental features.

Volleyfire?

Anyone remember this series of books- I think kind of like Choose Your Own Adventure- that had you typing in some very rudimentary games and graphics in BASIC?

Great thread idea

I remember going to my cousins place back in the late 80s and playing a game where you in this massive house with a room per screen, and you had to go around the house collecting items, which where used to unlock newer rooms, and eventually escape (I guess... I never finished it).
It had lines for walls... the character was a ~10 pixel high sprite... There were monsters you had to avoid (and maybe kill with objects you'd collected)... it was a PC DOS game... and that's stretching the limit of my memory of it.

Any ideas?

Buzzrick wrote:

Great thread idea

I remember going to my cousins place back in the late 80s and playing a game where you in this massive house with a room per screen, and you had to go around the house collecting items, which where used to unlock newer rooms, and eventually escape (I guess... I never finished it).
It had lines for walls... the character was a ~10 pixel high sprite... There were monsters you had to avoid (and maybe kill with objects you'd collected)... it was a PC DOS game... and that's stretching the limit of my memory of it.

Any ideas?

Sounds a lot like Maniac Mansion, except the ~10 pixel sprite character.

I remember playing some weird fighting game where you could dismember each other and limb loss carried over between rounds. (I played on an arcade cabinet at the local convenience store in the 90s.)

Anyone have any idea what that was?