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Juno First – A Hidden Arcade Gem from 1983

Juno First, Konami’s 1983 arcade release, distinguished itself with its innovative perspective and frantic pace, though it remained a cult classic compared to the giants of its era.

Release year: 1983, developed by Konami and distributed in North America by Mylstar Electronics.

Platforms: Arcade, later ported to MSX, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, and IBM PC.

Genre: Fixed shooter with vertical scrolling and a tilted perspective, reminiscent of Nintendo’s Radar Scope. At a time dominated by Galaga, Defender, and Space Invaders, Juno First sought to deliver a more dynamic and three-dimensional experience.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Free movement: The ship isn’t locked to a grid; it can move forward, backward, and sideways.

Dynamic enemies: They don’t appear in static formations but attack in mobile swarms, raising tension.

Warp and “mystery”: Players can use a warp system to escape critical situations and earn bonus points.

Escalating difficulty: Aliens evolve into more dangerous forms if not eliminated quickly. These design choices foreshadowed mechanics Konami would revisit years later in titles like Axelay.

Critical Reception

At the time: Praised for vibrant graphics and speed, but overshadowed by bigger hits.

Retro reviews: Today it’s seen as a “hidden gem” of retrogaming, admired for originality and its sense of depth.

Limitations: Despite its innovation, it never became a cultural phenomenon, remaining a cult favorite among enthusiasts.

Juno First exemplifies Konami’s willingness to experiment beyond the boundaries of the shooter genre in the early ’80s. A fast, elegant, and surprisingly modern arcade game, it deserves rediscovery as a key piece of video game history—even if it never reached the fame of Pac-Man or Defender.

#arcade #atari #c64 #msx #juno first #Youtube

Adventure Island is a platform video game developed by Hudson Soft, originally released for Nintendo Entertainment System and later adapted for Game Boy. The game follows the adventures of Master Higgins, a young explorer who must travel across perilous islands to rescue Princess Tina.

Gameplay and Mechanics

The game retains the style of Wonder Boy, featuring eight areas, each composed of four levels. Master Higgins must collect fruits to maintain his health and use weapons hidden inside eggs scattered throughout the journey. Additionally, he can ride friendly dinosaurs to overcome obstacles and enemies.

Reception and Legacy

Adventure Island received excellent reviews, leading to multiple sequels for NES and Game Boy, including Adventure Island II and Adventure Island 3. The game was later re-released on Virtual Console for Nintendo 3DS, allowing new players to rediscover this classic.

#game boy #adventure island #nintendo

Tropical Angel

#arcade #irem #1983

You Can Now Play Namco's Controversial Cancelled PS3 Remake 'Dancing Eyes'

#arcade #1996 #DANCING EYES

#atari 2600 #arcade #1982

In the year 4014, the planet Earth and the planet Mars are locked in a century-long war. The Martians have devised a plan to destroy Earth using the power from their latest weapon: the Destructo-Bomb!! The Martian forces have managed to construct five bombs and have placed them deep inside the Martian Caverns, awaiting the final command from their leader to attack!!! Do you have the skill to navigate to the depths of the Martian caverns, active the Destructo-Bombs, and escape before they explode? Good Luck!

#atari 2600 #conquest of mars

Adventures of Tron is a platform video game produced by Mattel in 1982 for the Atari 2600.[1] It is based on the Disney film Tron.[2] The game was originally intended to be a port of the Intellivisionvideo gameTron: Maze-A-Tron, but it became an original title as development progressed. An Intellivision version of Adventures of Tron was also planned, but it was ultimately cancelled and never saw an official release.[3] Following the loss of the Tron license, the game was re-released as Adventures on GX-12.[4]

In the game the player controls Tron, who has to avoid a variety of enemies whilst navigating a building with four floors. The upper floors are accessible via two elevators on the left and right of the screen. The player can jump down one floor by pressing down, and can jump up in the air by pressing the fire button. A gap with a pole in the center of the floor will drop the player down to the ground level, and must be jumped across in order to get to the other side.

Enemies patrol each floor (all of which are biased on aspects of the film), including the Recognizers and Grid Bugs which travel in groups of three, and the Tanks, which are much larger and fire fast moving projectiles. A unique enemy are the Solar Sailers, which fly in the air, and don’t kill the player on contract, but rather push them backwards, impeding progress and potentially putting the player into harm's way. The player can’t fight back, and thus must evade these enemies by jumping over them or dropping down to a lower floor. The player must collect floating Bits which fly near the ceiling of each floor (the higher the floor the Bit is collected on, the higher the point total).[5]

#atari #atari 2600 #arcade #1982 #Mattel Electronics #Hal Finney

In Battle through Time you drive a small vehicle and have to fight through different worlds. At the first levels you have to avoid airplanes and their bombs and shoot them. Furthermore you encouter obstacles which you have to overcome. At the start you are in World War I, then in World War II. The third level happens during the Korean War, which is accompanied with the melody from M*A*S*H.

In the SID the melody of Star Wars is played, that's why I suppose that there is a corresponding "Star Wars-Level". However, the "Star-Wars"-thing is not quite correct. In the fourth stage (World War III?) you can hear the "Imperial March" from the 5th movie.

After the Korean War you get transported to the Vietnam War (1970). If you are successful again, you enter World War III. Then the world and the C64 are destroyed (only a joke from the game) . It continues with the War of Mutations, to finally get to the beginning of time. There you fight against flying dinosaurs, stone age men and devils (in any event some small creatures with horns that throw spears). The level ends with a end fight against a big dinosaur.

Then you get to level 2..... the same again from the start.

#c64 #battle through time #1984 #video games #retro video games

Juice!

#c64 #retro video games #8 bit #juice!#1983

Turmoil

Turmoil is a fast-paced shooter. You pilot a ship that is trapped within a chamber of seven tunnels. Your ship can only move up and down along a vertical corridor connecting the tunnels. You are not alone, however. A variety of enemies travel along these tunnels, focused on destroying you. Therefore, the ultimate objective of “Turmoil” is to zoom up and down the center alley and blast aliens as they streak by. Keep shooting and keep moving, and you will survive to live another day! As you move quickly up and down, you must also fire your own weapons into the left or right side. Part of the intensity of this game is driven by the fact that you can’t stay in one place for too long.

If you do, an indestructible enemy will come flying at you, forcing you to move onward once more. The enemy ships you will encounter in each of the seven tunnels travel at a variety of unique speeds. The faster a given enemy moves, the more points you will receive if you shoot them. Occasionally when you destroy one of the enemy ships, a flashing orb will appear at the far end of the tunnel. This is the one exception where you are not restricted to your vertical pathway. In these situations, you are allowed to move down the tunnel to recover it. If you grab it quickly, it is worth bonus points. If you hesitate, it hatches into a fast-moving missile and will destroy you if you get in its way. When you start a game of Turmoil, you are given five ships. If you can blast all of the aliens in a level, you’ll receive a bonus ship. In addition to your current ship, you can hold as many as six reserve ships at one time.

You will lose a ship if you make contact with any of the passing aliens. There are nine levels to the game, each with multiple waves to complete, and each one faster and more challenging than the previous level. This is considered by many to be one of 20th Century Fox’s best games.

#atari #arcade #console #80s tech #8 bit #turmoil #1982