100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween ( 89-86 )

89 - Otogi-Myth Of Demons (Xbox) :

In this From Software developed / SEGA published exclusive for the original Xbox, you fill the shoes of assassin Raikoh, last member of a clan who's job it was to deliver a death blow to whoever the Imperial Court wished dead...a job that Raikoh was never very happy doing it has to be said, but one which as a member of the clan was his duty!

One fateful day however, the Court made an order that Raikoh was to kill his own father! Raikoh refused, stole his clan's ancestral sword Soul Shrine, and made a hasty exit from the court.....

Now.... this Court had ruled for over a thousand years, but at the same time Raikoh made his escape,  a mystical Seal that had been keeping the human world seperate from the demon world cracked open.....

Ominous clouds covered the world, and the lands were plunged into darkness. A huge tempest emerged from the blackness, and destroyed all in its wake....When it had passed, only ruins remained and it looked as if nothing had survived. However, all manner of unearthly creatures were now spread over the world, and they seemed intent to destroy anything and everything that did manage to evade the previous destruction....

Raikoh awoke in a place somewhere between life and death, having been rescued by the mysterious Princess, who informed Raikoh he may return to the world of the living in exchange for his servitude to her. If he performs several quests set by the Princess to cleanse the world of the demonic hordes who have ransacked it, he will also gain redemption from his dark past and be forgiven for his previous sins as an assassin....

As we take control of Raikoh, we find ourselves in a rather nice hack-n-slash adventure through a very stylised ancient Japan. Traditional music creates an eerie atmosphere, and the floaty gameplay has you hardly touching the ground in some levels, as you dart back and forth slashing away at the many different types of demons who now inhabit the place.

Missions are pretty straight forward affairs, and some can be quickly completed by rushing to your objective...but doing this means you'll miss out on the various extras and bonuses the levels hold, like freeing trapped spirits or demolishing as much scenery as possible...As with most hack-n-slash style games, the gameplay can have the tendency to get a bit repetitive after a while, but when it looks as good as this and has as much atmosphere, you shouldn't find it a problem if you play in small doses...

I recently discovered this game....and it's even better sequel.....hidden away in my local charity shop,  and having never heard of them before was intrigued as to what they'd be like. Being a fan of all things Japanese I was happy to discover a very enjoyable and atmospheric couple of games that seem to have slipped under most gamers radar...certainly if I had known they existed I would have picked them up before now!

I will say before I finish up talking about Otogi, that I am finding it exceptionally tricky....it's a really difficult game! Not as frustrating as Spooky Castle, but far from easy! So bear that in mind if you decide to pick it up...but if I was you I would definitely try to find the games soon before everybody realises just how awesome they are and they get really tricky to find!

88 - Maxwell Manor (Atari 800) :

Strange things are afoot at Maxwell Manor....The former mad scientist-type owner has been found headless and obviously dead in the library, and strange creatures resulting from bizarre experiments on doilys & combs (seriously!) roam the grounds and manor, as do undead spiders and the like!

The Psychical Society believes that the legendary Skull Of Doom is now in control of the manor and has tasked you... the wonderfully named Professor Arabesque...with the task of entering the manor, seeking out the skull and destroying it!

With no instructions, this game can be rather confusing as you start off in the middle of road with no idea where to go. A gun, shield and sword can be found here, but if you venture too far along the road you'll end up getting lost and find yourself zapped to the mansion gates! This is not the entry into the manor though, and you'll need to find another entrance somewhere along the wall....

Thinking the game was a bit basic, and not really wanting to continue with it, I did manage to find and check out the instructions online before giving up on it completely...and I'm glad I did! The game is a lot more complex than it first appears!

Apparently there are over a thousand variations to how the game will play out, although the instructions are deliberately vague about what exactly affects these variations. Also included in the game manual are some maps that show how the various areas are connected, so it's worth having the instructions for this fact alone! The various creatures can be attacked with the sword or gun, and the shield will deflect some projectiles...but I'll leave it up to you to discover how to beat the Vampyre Spider and it's sticky webbing! Oh, and if you happen to die too many times, escape from Limbo can only be achieved by choosing the right direction!

There are a few more items to pick up with some unique abilities, but again you'll get more enjoyment if I leave these for you to discover yourselves. Hopefully you'll make it to the through the mazes and get to the manor...which I have yet to actually do myself...although I hear some jumping and platforming skills may be needed!

But yeah, having given the game a bit more time, my first impressions turned out to be wrong...and I now recommend Maxwell Manor to any Atari 800 or C64 owners or emulators who are willing to put in that little bit of effort required to fully enjoy it!

87 - Martian Gothic (PS1) :

According to Creative Reality's space-based survival horror, we should be have done a lot more than just send a robot rover to Mars by now.....by their timescale we should already have set up a manned base and started doing tests on various fossils and rocks we've discovered...

Taking place in 2019, ten months after a strange message saying "Stay alone, Stay alive" was broadcast from base Vita 1, the game has us take control of three different main characters...Kenzo Uji, Martin Karne and Diane Matlock. Following orders, they each enter the base at separate airlocks, and we switch control between the three....

It soon becomes apparent that things have gone a bit pear-shaped in the base, with dead bodies lying around all over the place....bodies which soon start levitating and coming to life, setting the scene for yet-another zombie-filled, puzzle-heavy survival game....

And it does a fairly decent job I suppose! Because of a virus given to our three heroes when they enter the base, if they meet up they'll merge into one big gloopy mess of a beast and suddenly develop a taste for human flesh or something...so it's wise to try and keep them apart! You can use Vac-Tubes to exchange items between the trio, something that's required due to the placement of some items. It's all very Resident Evil... right down to the controls and camera angles...but the item-swapping and setting help it feel a little different....

Unfortunately, this is another recommendation I've only recently been able to track down though, so I'm still not that far into it. As I say, so far it seems okay if fairly standard survival horror type-stuff. Oh, and despite what some reviews I remember reading say...the voice acting in this is pretty shocking! Especially Kenzo! But it's almost so bad it's good....almost....

Another thing of note is just how gruesome and gory this game is.. a fact that seems to have been forgotten by one of it's voice actors, a certain Julie Peasgood, who later appeared on UK television spewing nonsense into the ears of real life zombies who worship an evil cult-master named Titchmarsh....Check out this video below!!

Poor Tim! Anyway, as I said the game is a pretty standard survival horror, that's okay but nothing special... so give it a go if you like such things and the above video hasn't made you reconsider playing such obvious hatred-and-violence-filled filth.......

86 - Tricky Doc (Arcade) :

In this 1987 coin-op from Tecfri you play the role of Tricky Doc as he runs around his labs trying to control all his bizarre creations that have escaped from their cages! You do this by running up and down stairs and zapping them with some sort of monster-bug-spray or by punching them in the face! There are also a few obstacles and pit-falls to avoid...

Not much to say about this one really, as it's all pretty much straightforward platformy fun! Although as the title suggests it's also quite tricky! Still, it's well worth a go or two if you can find it out in the wild.....

Cinema Of Stuff - The Mad Monster!

Classic Producer's Releasing Corporation B-movie stuff from 1942, that sees a mad scientist turning his handyman into a werewolf and exacting revenge on his detractors! Dim the lights, get the popcorn in and get watching!

Wiki Page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mad_Monster

Dan's Gaming Stream - Horror Month!

For those of you enjoying the Gruesome Games list, or even those of you who aren't..(I'm looking at you  Anonymous)...you might like to check out a fine young fellow named Dan's stream on Twitch!

All this month he's streaming 24/7 with playthroughs of horror titles...recordings for most of the day of previous streams, but he's live every night at 7PM EST....with some seriously spooky gaming! Come join the chat at the link below and have some fun watching Dan endure massive scares for our entertainment! You'll probably find me lurking there, too....making obscure references to old horror films nobody's seen! 

 http://www.twitch.tv/dansgaming

And here's a few videos as a taster for what to expect!

100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween - ( 93-90 )

93 - Decap Attack (Megadrive/Genesis) :

When the evil Max D. Cap and his minions rise up from the Underworld to wreak havoc, Professor Frank N. Stein sends out his latest creation, Chuck D. Head to put a stop to Max and his cronies! Chuck is a headless mummy....wait, no..actually he's not headless! His head just resides in his stomach...and he can force it out using his intestines or something in order to bash any baddies that happen to get in his way...

As Chuck, you can also get the help of Head, a skull you'll find lying around the levels. He'll attach himself to your torso, and you can lob him at enemies or statues or whatever, with him zooming back to you boomerang style! He'll only stick around until you take a hit though, so it's worth trying to avoid trouble...

Also helping you in your quest are various power-ups hidden away in little gargoyle-type statues..(this is also where you'll find Head should you lose him)...These power-ups don't activate immediately though! They get stored in your inventory, which you can access via a button push and receive helpful information about what each power-up actually does from the Prof. and his assistant Igor...

The levels take place on various parts of a skeleton-shaped island that has been split into various different sections. Every few levels you'll reach the end of that particular section and face an inevitable boss...but even when you defeat them, you might not be quite finished with that section yet, as you have to find a special item on each stage..and if you haven't found it yet, you have to go back and search the level for it!

Vic Tokai's Decap Attack is an enjoyable platformer, with my favourite bits being the groovy graphics and funky spooky music...I would prefer it if the baddies followed suit though, as only a few of them appear spooky enough for my tastes! Also, it can be a little tricky getting used to how Chuck handles to begin with, but if you stick with it you'll soon have no problems...and maybe that's just me being a bit poop!

Overall though, this game should keep you happy and comes highly recommend...Oh, before I move on, I should probably let you know that it's also a port of a Japanese game called Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure which has totally different graphics, music and level design..with only the gameplay remaining similar...

And just one more question...How exactly did Chuck come to have a head in his torso anyway? Isn't that a bit odd? Well, thankfully Nigel Kitching gave us the answer when he did the Decap Attack strip that appeared in Fleetway's Sonic The Comic in the nineties.....

92 - Spooky Castle (C64) :

Every now and then, I'll come across a game so bloomin' difficult and frustrating, it makes me want to seek out and destroy every single copy so no-one else need ever experience the pain of attempting to play it...This is one such game!

It has you taking on the role of Gormless Gary as he tries to rescue Princess Clare from the clutches of some evil ghosts...but with only a handful of screens, it seems the game doesn't actually want you to progress at all! Almost everything that touches you kills you instantly, and...ahh, sod it! I can't be bothered giving this game any more time at all...it looks okay, and has versions on other systems that look good too, but they're all far too difficult! If your a bit odd and like self-punishment, by all means give it a go......and then do me a favour and destroy it afterwards! 

91 - Shadows Of The Damned (Xbox 360) :

I need something really good after Spooky Castle....and this should be just the ticket! It's a game from the creative super-duo of Shinji Mikaki (Resident Evil, Devil May Cry) & Goichi "Suda 51" Suda (Killer 7, No More Heroes)....and it's totally insane!

Described as a "punk rock road trip" by the developers Grasshopper, the game has you take control of Mexican Demon Hunter, Garcia Hotspur, as he goes on a quest to the demon underworld to rescue his girlfriend Paula who has been kidnapped by the Demon-lord Fleming! He's accompanied by ex-demon Johnson, a floating skull who can transform into weapons and a kick-ass motorbike....

Your journey into hell is a bizarre one, which sees you feeding strawberries or brains to cherub-headed doors, shooting goat-heads to lighten up darkened areas, reading fairy-tale-style storybooks about bosses you'll face...and even taking part in an odd little 2D-shoot-em-up on some levels!

The main part of the game though is a pretty damn decent third-person shooter in the style of Resident Evil 4...What makes it different, is the light/darkness mechanic. Demons are constantly trying to plunge you into darkness where they're stronger and you constantly lose health...Luckily, Johnson can fire out a Light Shot which when fired at the aforementioned goat heads will light your path ahead. It can also be fired at demons who retain some of their darkness, making it easier for you to finish them off with one of Johnson's many gun-forms!

You'll constantly be finding crystals when you defeat the demons, and these come in three varieties...White, which are used as currency and given to a big friendly demon named Christopher in exchange for alcohol (which replenishes energy) or Red diamonds. These Red diamonds are also hidden away in the levels, and let you power up the various different gun-forms that Johnson transforms into...these new forms come from the last type, Blue diamonds...which appear after you defeat one of the many boss demons...

This game won't be for everyone though, because as well as it's decidedly Grindhouse-style leanings, it also has a rather immature vein of humour that centres around a certain part of the male anatomy! These jokes litter even the main dialogue of the game, and this might put off some people from playing it....I personally didn't find it too much and the rest of the humour makes the game funny, especially the dialogue between Garcia & Johnson and the various stories in the storybooks! And there's a revelation about strawberries that might well put you off for life!!

I had a real blast playing through Shadows Of The Damned...it had me hooked from the start! Take a look at the videos above and if you like the look of it, give it a go! I reckon it deserves a bit more recognition than it seems to have received...and even if you don't enjoy the humour, you'll still find a lot more in it's quirky settings and gameplay to keep you amused!

90 - Ghost Manor (PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16) :

In this nice little Icom Simulations platformer you take on the role of young Arthur, a teen who for some reason the villagers of Anoraff have decided is their best bet against defeating the evil Orb Gamut and his undead army, who seem intent on enslaving the village and making it's residents join their ranks...

Off he trots then to defeat evil, helped by a magic globe he can fire at his enemies, and seeking out keys to open locked doors as he tumbles and slides down various waterfalls and chutes and climbs ladders and clambers over platforms to reach his goal. He can also get help from some of the ghosties and ghoulies who fly up into their air with their arms outstretched! If Arthur jumps on top of those particular spooks, they'll raise him up with them, making for an essential form of transport in most levels....

Having never had the pleasure of owning a Turbo Grafx 16, I only discovered this title very recently when looking for games to add to the list. As such I haven't had much time to actually play it yet...but from what I've seen of it so far, it's a fun game with great graphics (although Arthur looks a little odd) and some suitably spooky sounds, and although the Bubsy the Bobcat-esque chutes-n-ladders gameplay can initially be annoying, it never gets too frustrating to continue playing....it's well worth checking out!

Well...hope you're enjoying the list so far! We've got a long way to go though, so keep an eye on the blog and if you like what you see, don't forget you can keep better track of posts by clicking the "follow" button at the right-hand side of the blog! See you in a day or two for the next lot on the list!

Coming Soon to Cinema Of Stuff....

Countdown To Halloween !

Just a quick post to explain the pumpkin that's appeared up in the top right corner of my blog! Clicking on the pumpkin will take you to the wonderful http://www.countdowntohalloween.com/ which has been kind enough to add my blog to it's participants for this year's Countdown To Halloween!



There you'll find a list of over 200 other blogs celebrating this month in a similarly spooky fashion...with everything from crazy costume ideas and deliciously rotten recipes, to freaky films, twisted toys, creepy comics and loads more! Go check them out and make this years run-up to Halloween extra groovy !

100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween ( 97-94 )

97 - Personal Nightmare (Amiga) :

Another point-and-click adventure now, this time from a company that makes a lot of the games in these lists, Horrorsoft....This one has you returning to your home village of Tynham Cross after recieving a letter from Mum telling you that your father has started acting a bit odd....another letter received just before you arrive tells you that your mum has gone off to visit her sister and your father, the vicar, has booked you into the Dog and Duck Inn. Apparently, the Vicarage is in need of a spot of redecorating.......

It soon transpires that everything is not as it seems in the Village, and that some evil force is taking control of certain individuals. Your goal is to find out just who is possessed, find enough proof of their devious deeds and inform the police! There are also people to be rescued from bizarre rituals and loads of different places to explore...

It seems to be a fairly decent game, with a good atmosphere and nice enough visuals, sound, etc..Unfortunately though, time hasn't been kind to Personal Nightmare and I found it hard to get past all the loading and disk swapping...it takes 2 disk swaps just to get past the first few screens! Another problem is that you can totally miss something that happens, as some events occur whether you're there or not...even typing WAIT can mean you completely miss an event you were hoping to see....

If you persevere with it and can handle the hanging around for ages you might have more fun than I did...but for me, it's just too much waiting for not much pay off ! It's a shame, as it seems like a game I'd really enjoy  and maybe I'm being a little unfair to it....but until I can find a speedier remake or something, I'm moving on to other games.....

96 - Haunting Ground (PS2) :

There have been many weekends where I've woken up in a strange place with little memory of how I got there, and occasional flashbacks to some horrific moments that give me some clues.....I've yet to wake up in a rusty old cage in some torture dungeon with nothing but a sheet to keep my modesty! Poor Fiona, the heroine of this game, unfortunately finds herself in exactly this predicament....

The cage is somehow unlocked though, so off she wanders to find some clothes and try to work out what the hell is going on, occasionaly having flashbacks to a car crash involving her and her parents. She soon encounters some very odd characters who all seem intent on chasing Fiona around the mansion trying to catch her for whatever devious intentions....

First up is Debilitas, a hulking man-monster who covets Fiona as a sort of living doll ! She must escape or hide in various places to try and avoid his advances. Thankfully she soon has help in the form of Hewie, a dog who it seems has also suffered at the hands of his captors....Hewie can be ordered to attack her pursuers or look for helpful items in various nooks and crannies Fiona can't get into, and he also handily growls or barks when he senses danger! Oh, and he can help look for traps, some of which can instantly put an end to your wanderings by impaling you with spikes or such-like....

Those of you who have played Capcom's Clock Tower series will have realised by now that this is essentially a spiritual successor to those games...Once Fiona has shaken off Debilitas, there are a few other undesirables who hunt her down, and so the hide-and-seek gameplay continues, with only Hewie and the occasional potion to slow the maniacs down....No infinite rocket launchers in this Capcom horror!

So it's important to keep Hewie on your side, and if you don't shower him with praise he won't listen to your commands. If you mistreat him enough he'll even attack you! Although I have to say that I pampered the pooch constantly, and he still decided to ignore what I asked some of the time...so it's not a perfect game mechanic! It is an interesting addition though and helps the game stand out from the crowd...

My favourite thing about Haunting Ground is the atmosphere though! Right from the start it has a very dream-like feel, and it's unsettling storyline is genuinely creepy. It looks great too, with some nice detailed environments to wander through! Definitely a game worth playing, especially if you want a different take on the genre...

95 - Haunted House (Atari 2600) :

Back in the days of early videogames, it must have been quite difficult to frighten audiences with a horror game...when you can't show people getting chased by lumbering maniacs in a cinematic fashion and only have a few blocks to work with graphically, how do you provide enough scares?  Well, in 1982, Atari had the answer.....don't show them anything!!

In Haunted House you enter the mansion of the late Zachary Graves to look for a magic urn that's rumoured to lay in pieces scattered around the house! Get in, get that and make a hasty exit to win the game! Simple! All you have to light your way however, is a box of matches...This means that you'll be scampering around in the dark with only the faint glow of your match showing you any items lying at your feet!

You'll need to pick up a key to open any locked doors you come across and there's also a magic scepter somewhere that'll protect you from the various beasties and ghosties that roam the halls of the place! Oh yes, you'll have to avoid bats, spiders and even the spirit of Mr Graves himself! If you don't have the scepter when one of these guys enters a room, they'll blow out your match and attempt to scare you to death!

Using sound and flickering light effects, Atari have done a commendable job of making the game scary when they had little to work with. The game is still a lot of fun even now, and whilst unlikely to have you fleeing from your screens in terror, it can still get you panicking on the later levels as you try to fumble your way out of the mansion in the dark...

94 - Big Karnak (Arcade) :

This one is a groovy little arcade platformer where you play as a pharaoh out to rescue his lady friend from a big winged creature that's swooped down and carried her off! You'll be using swords, magical scepters and even your good old fists to pummel the creatures between you and your goal...

There's lots of them too! Zombies, mummies, eagles, beetles, cat men, skeletons, snakes....and loads more...all out for your blood! There are lots of traps too in the form of spikes, pits and the usual tomb-like terrors you'd expect to find in Ancient Egypt...

Had lots of fun playing this one, and although it can be a bit tricky in parts, it's only pharaoh 'nuff that you give it a go! HAH! See what I did there? Pharaoh nuff! Hehehe......aheh....ha......*coff*.....sorry....best end this post here, eh!?

100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween! ( 100-98 )

Crikey! October already!?

Yes, apparently the time has come to once again embark on a journey into gaming's gloomy, goo-encrusted dark side in preparation for Halloween.. and pluck out another hundred gruesome games from it's putrid pits!

Last year's list proved to be quite popular, so obviously there are lots of you out there who enjoy a bit of a scare whilst gaming....Hopefully then, you'll find this year's lot to be just as pleasing to your twisted tastebuds!

Like last year, I should point out a few things first! The list puts the games in no order of preference, it's just a list.....Also, some of the games are ones I've only very recently discovered, so I won't be that far through them! This seemed to confuse some people last year as they wondered why I was reviewing games I had barely played...Basically these lists are just meant to be a bit of fun to let you know about some cool games I've found and not Top 100s or in-depth looks at the tiltles...just a sort-of heads up about the many different Grueome Games there are out there! Sometimes I'll get carried away and give an almost proper review of a game, other times just a few words about them....it all depends on how much time I have, how much a game has grabbed me, and what stage of my inevitable October cold I'm at....

Anyway, now that that's been cleared up, let's not waste anymore time and get this thing on the go!

100 - Nosferatu (SNES) :

First up, we're off to help some poor chap rescue his girlie from the clutches of an evil Nosferatu (or vampire  as they're more commonly known) who has snuck into their house one night looking for a snack, and carried her off to his castle so he can nibble on her later, or make her his bride or whatever it is this particlular bloodsucker wants to do with her.....

The game starts off with a nice atmospheric intro, and then you find yourself plonked right in at the deep end and facing a Prince Of Persia meets Castlevania style journey through various monster infested, spiky trapped levels. The baddies you face are a varied bunch, ranging from bat-like vampire imps and melty-gloopy zombies to weird flying eyeballs, ghostly axes and ceiling lurking grabby things! Thankfully, you seem to be quite capable of giving them a good bashing, and combat is quite satisfying. You get some help from red crystals you pick up along the way too, which give you a little power-up for every three you can hold on to! They can be easily lost though, as if you run into a wall or get knocked down by a monster you drop one of them and it vanishes....

Other crystals can also be found lying around in boxes in rooms...these boost your health and as such are very much required. Be sure to check any boxes you find by pushing Up two or three times, as sometimes there's more than one crystal tucked away inside....

Every now and then, you'll face an end of level boss...and these are some odd chaps indeed! The end of the first level sees you tackling a hunchback who suddenly changes into a werewolf...pretty much the type of baddie you'd expect in a game like this really....but the end of Level 2 has you sizing up not one, but two Gorillas!! Any game that throws in random apes gets bonus points from me....but I wasn't expecting them!

Unfortunately, I haven't managed to see any more bosses yet. The game is pretty hard right from the start, but Level 3 sees a massive ramp up in the difficulty by adding lots and lots of spikes....spikes in the ceiling, in the floor, in the walls....spikes bloody everywhere! The controls don't help you much either, as there are one or two odd button combinations required to get our hero to do what you want him too, although if you play the game enough you do get slightly more used to them...But yeah, after hours of play I still haven't managed to make it to Level 4 yet...

Overall then, it's a nicely presented and atmospheric platformer, slightly ruined by some dodgy controls and by being a bit too difficult for it's own good! Still, it's well worth a go or two, especially if you're a fan of Prince Of Persia, Flashback or other similar titles....

99 - Night Hunter (ZX Spectrum) :

Having just looked at how to battle bloodsuckers, we now switch sides and take a bite at life as a vampire! And not just any old sucker, but Dracula himself! He's on a mission to gather up some old parchments and thwart Van Helsing's plan to put him into a daisy-pushing position for good.....

These parchments are lying around all over the place, and taking control of our old bloody...sorry...buddy...you'll have to find various keys and objects to help find them all. Trying to put a stop to this are various helpers of Van Helsing. Well, I say trying to put a stop to it....the men will come along and give you a punch in the face every now and again, but the women just seem to run around not doing much at all really. Still, they all provide a rather handy source of blood and health for Drac at least!

Not like the witches who are flying around all over the place...they seem to have something against vampires and will also bash you around a bit. Luckily, being a vampire has other perks which come in handy, and the ability to change into a bat or a werewolf for a short time helps you avoid these hags and also the various pits and holes which also litter the landscape. It takes a while to work out how best to use these other forms though, and I spent a good deal of time falling through holes and getting confused to begin with...

Once you get used to it though, the game is really quite enjoyable! Nothing startling by any means, but it's nice to play as the baddie every once in a while! It's also available on various other platforms from the era too, so even if you don't have a Speccy there's a good chance you can still experience some Helsing harassment on your system of choice......

98 - Phantasmagoria (PC) :

I got a couple of complaints that last year's list didn't have enough PC games included in it. That's something I intend to remedy this year! The problem has always been that I've never had a PC very capable of running games, and being someone who's always had consoles I've always found the setting up of PC games very fiddly and annoying....

Thank heavens for http://www.gog.com/  then! After finally getting a semi-decent PC last year, I decided to try them out and was very pleased to find that when you download games from there, they get rid of most of the faffing about setting up DOSbox, etc. and just let you get straight into playing the games! Phantasmagoria was the first game I decided to give a go..

Writer Adrienne Delaney has just moved into a new home with her husband Don, hoping to find inspiration for a new horror novel. The house used to be owned by a famous 19th Century magician named Zoltan Carnovasch, and is filled with all manner of spooky items and props.....

However, what the happy couple don't realise is that old "Carno" was a bit of a nasty piece of work, who liked to practice all manner of dark deeds! As Adrienne explores the house, she starts to uncover things that should really be left covered, and things soon escalate to horrific heights!

Being from 1995, the game uses Full Motion Video, the "next big thing" in videogames at the time. Having only experienced console FMV games until very recently though, I can safely say that the PC handled such games a lot better than most consoles of the time, especially when they applied it to point-and-click style games such as this.....

It's fairly easy to control Adrienne, and exploring the mansion and discovering it's secrets is a lot of fun! There are quite a few odd characters you'll bump into during the course of the game too, and although the acting skills vary from character to character, it just helps add to the B-movie style feel of the whole thing...

The game was very controversial on it's release. Designed by Sierra's Roberta Williams who was known for producing family-friendly fare, it features lots of violence, some really gory cut-scenes and most controversial of all, the infamous "rape scene" where Don forces himself onto Adrienne....

Because of this, the game was banned in Australia and many US stores decided not to stock it. This didn't really affect sales though, with Phantasmagoria being one of the best selling games of 1995. No doubt this pleased Sierra, who had invested a lot of time and money into the project...

The script for the game was four times larger than most movie scripts, being 550 pages long and having 100 additional storyboard pages to assist artists in creating the 800 scenes in the game! Filming took four months, with the final chase sequence alone eating up a week of that time. Actress Victoria Morsell spent hour after hour in front of a blue-screen performing the hundreds of different actions players can make her character do in the game, and another 200 people were involved in production! And that's not including the 135-strong Gregorian Choir that was used for the game's score!

So did it all pay off? Well....yes! The game is a lot of fun to play, and although it sometimes suffers from the usual point and click problems like needing to click on something at the right time and in the right place to activate it, and wandering around with not much happening if you're not sure how to advance, it never really gets too difficult or boring. As I mentioned, sometimes the acting can be a bit iffy but overall it's a good, gruesome game that's perfect for playing at Halloween! 

Right, I think we'll leave it there for the moment....sometimes when I did 5 games at a time and waffled on about them lots last year, I felt the posts were maybe a bit too long! Others were a bit short...so I've decided to try and judge this year's posts a bit better, meaning that I'll try and stop when I think I've gone on long enough! I know this will upset those who like to keep things in a nice, neat fashion...but yes, the numbers will be all over the place in this countdown! Anyway, check back in a day or two for the next splurge of games..... 

Cinema Of Stuff - The Black Scorpion !!

Some overactive volcanoes unleash ancient giant scorpions in Mexico in this classic 1957 giant creature movie from Warner Bros...

Semi-interesting little piece of trivia with this one too! Apparently, the spider and worm in the underground sequence are models from the unused Spider Pit scene in the original King Kong!