From the forum issue 126 - Favourite isometric games

[Oblisky]

Rings of Power on the Megadrive. When I first played it I thought I wouldn't persevere with it, but eventually got into it and completed it after several months. I then wrote a walkthrough for it and created a website too, albeit a not very good one.

I thought Light Crusader was also very good. About time I played it again actually.

[nokgod]

Seeing as Vandal Hearts is my fave game of all time, i'm going to go with that, same as crusto.

There's also RC Pro Am on the gameboy that i spent many, many, happy hours on!

I played stuff like Knight Lore and Alien8 when it came out first...even paying £10 for the big box version of Alien 8 iirc, but as amazing as those games were I was rubbish at them, so i never considered them good value for money, seeing as £10 would almost buy you a small planet, at the time

[TheDude18]

Here's a few which I think haven't been mentioned yet -

Crusader No Remorse (PC)
Syndicate (Amiga)
Last Ninja 2 (C64)
Spindizzy (C64)
Monster Max (Game Boy)
Rock & Roll Racing (SNES)

[Bluce_Ree]

Isometric games always seemed a little too awkward, both in terms of controls and gameplay, to ever really be fun. I got nothing out of the Ultimate games or even Batman and Head Over Heels but Quazatron somehow makes it into my Speccy top five. The graphics were a bit rough (especially the scrolling) but the gameplay was fantastic. Lots of action and a great grappling mini-game. Best game Steve Turner ever made.

[Lost Dragon]

Including yourself, as Escape From Planet Of The Robot Monsters is classed as a shooter....

Since when? The coder certainly doesn't regard it as a shooter

i'd happily post the actual image up here, if i could, but i guess you forgot the magazine advert for the home conversions by Tengen/Domark and i quote from the advertising text:


'Yes! This is the latest, wackiest, most playable shoot-em-up for a very, very long time'.

http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/advert.php?id=378

But back on topic:Bit of 16 Bit Micro love here:

Spindizzy Worlds, Vodoo Nightmare,Brat and Treasure Trap.Plus Robotics, a kinda 3D Pong....

[Lost Dragon]

Dunno if it's ever been mentioned, but been reading old interview with Mark Stephen Pierce (back in 1990), where he talked about working with fellow coder Bonnie Smithson on the 2 year project that was Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters.Basically Mark's dad sold comic books, so he grew up with them, was fascinated by them, and in particular the concept of an interactive comic book, something where you had influence over the story being told, rather than just following it and that was what he was aiming for with Escape...in his words, it was'nt perfect, but was getting closer to the concept...


He admitted that whilst Escape did'nt offer anything radical in the gameplay stakes, it was basically just shooting robots and rescuing captives, it was the presentation that set it apart-The isometric viewpoint was perfect.Because you were looking down into a room from the corner, the player can see everything there was to see.

It worked out well for them as well, as they re-used the old Isometric Playfield Generator that was used in Marble Madness and put it to work in Escape....the basic routines used in E.F.T.P.O.T.R.M and Marble Madness are one and the same.


He had some regrets about the game though-it was'nt 'pacey' enough, he'd have liked to of offered more control over Jake and Duke, giving them more 'combat' moves, so you could 'fight' as well as just shoot away, he hoped this would add more atmosphere to Escape....

[markopoloman]

RG cover story - EFTPOFTRM and Marble Madness in separated at birth shock news!

Thanks for that - two games I have always liked immensely.

[Lost Dragon]

Paul Shirley's Spindizzy was born from him just messing'abart with an isometric routine.Was talk of an ST Spindizzy II from Electric Dreams once the original game had hit the shelves on the 8 Bits, but it never got beyond just talk, sadly.Activision asked Paul to produce Spindizzy Worlds.

Reason ST Head Over Heels took so long to appear was because once it was complete, Ocean 'sat on it' unsure how best to release it:full price?, part of a compilation? as a budget release? etc.