Here’s a reasonable selection of arcade games for Easter Monday. I said at Christmas I’d have a big list for you, but I don’t have the time to put together one at the moment. I’ve got too much to do with the family over the Easter vacation. I’ll try and post a few extra over the next few days if I can find time. In the mean time I have collected together several games from the same site called Demo News. Most of the games from this site are actually shareware, but they do have a nice stock of decent freeware games. I hope you like the ones I’ve chosen for you. My favorite is the 3D Maze. It’s simple, but entertaining, and ideal as a game to be played in between the bigger games that require a lot more concentration.
Hercules and the Princess of Troy (2.43Mb)
You have to go around with a bow and sword killing enemies through 8 levels and fighting in 5 boss levels. This game does require some skill, but it’s fun to wall jump and ceiling climb! Once you beat the game, and watch all the credits, you are rewarded with a nice set of cheats(including various weapons/invincibility)
Story:
King Laomedon had two gods, Poseidon and Apollo build him the great walls of Troy. But as the two gods had finished their creation, King Laomedon refused to pay for what the gods built for him. As punishment, Poseidon sent a large sea monster to kill King Laomedon's daughter, Hesione. Before the Hydra could kill Hesione, Hercules is there to slay the beast. When Hercules looks to King Laomedon for a reward, he refuses to pay him. Hercules was outraged, and decided to besiege the Cityof Troy. So he raised an army, including a great warrior and friend of Hercules, Telamon. When Hercules's army captured the city, Hesione and Telamon married and gave birth to Teucer. As for Hercules, his adventures continued. And as his days would eventual end, he would rest above the skies in Mount Olympus; being granted the gift of Immortality.
The game comes with its own installer and installs shortcuts to the desktop, but not the start menu.
Controls:
WASD or arrow keys + mouse
Other Keys include:
“F4” – Toggles between Full Screen Mode
“Esc” – can exit you to the main menu
“F8” – Look in Section IV. Troubleshooting for information
Download Hercules and the Princess of Troy via this link
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Tarzan Guardian of Earth (4.95Mb)
This is tiny unique and twisted free 3d game created for GameDev's four element contest. (The Author won 1st place)
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Depending upon how open minded you are this game may not be suitable for younger children as it contains cartoon nudity and urination. Nevertheless, someone had a great sense of humor creating this game. The basis of the game is you’re Tarzan, running around naked, collecting drinks so that you can urinate on trees that have burst into flames. There are four levels of difficulty. I was expecting a poorly animated game, but was amazed when I booted up the game to find a very professional job made of the whole game.
The only downside to this game is the installation. Once unpacked from the zip file you have to manually place it wherever you normally put your games (usually C:\Program Files\ though I use H:\Games and D:\Games as I have two separate discs dedicated to games on this particular computer). Once you’ve placed the games folder you’ll need to create a desktop shortcut (and a start menu one if you want. You can find out how to do this by going to the thread that tells you how to do this. (it’s a sticky in the games discussion thread.
Download Tarzan Guardian of Earth via this link
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Grid Wars 2 (2.48Mb)
When I read the following description of the game I was a little skeptical, however on playing the game I was actually really impressed with it. The game is retro styled and reminded me a lot of the Gravitron series. (There’s a freeware version of Gravitron available via the games synopsis) Here’s the authors description:
A very special and engaging Space Shooter/ Asteroids combination, with great graphics and very playable. The game play looks a bit like an Asteroids game, but is much more. Instead of just asteroids there are lots of different enemies.
Controls:
Joystick - 8 directional digital fire/move + bomb + config
Dual Analog - 360 degree fire/move + bomb + config
Mouse - 360 degree move, LMB fire, RMB bomb (ESC key for config)
Keyboard - WASD move, LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWN fire, SPACE bomb, ESC config
Hybrid - Mouse fire/aim, WASD move, SPACE bomb
ESC - config
F3 - cycle through available grid types
F4 - cycle through number of stars
F5 - toggle particle gravity
F6 - cycle through particle typesF1 - enable cheats
F2 - toggle god mode
1 - side shooters
2 - back shooters
3 - super shots
4 - bouncy shots
x - extra cannon
z - faster shots
I found the mouse was the easiest to use, though if you have a joy stick this game would rock even more. (I need a module so that I can connect my joystick to the computer). The colors are bright and welcoming. This is a very simple game, but definitely a keeper for me. I’ve been getting into these retro games a lot recently after playing too many complex games that take days just to learn the controls, lol. :)
As with the Tarzan game the only downside to this game was the installation. Once unpacked from the zip file you have to manually place it wherever you normally put your games (usually C:\Program Files\ though I use H:\Games and D:\Games as I have two separate discs dedicated to games on this particular computer). Once you’ve placed the games folder you’ll need to create a desktop shortcut (and a start menu one if you want. You can find out how to do this by going to the thread that tells you how to do this. (it’s a sticky in the games discussion thread.
Download Grid Wars 2 via this link
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Crash Bandicoot (1.68Mb)
I wasn’t sure whether to include this game as once unpacked the folders looked a little confusing. For example the game executable will be found in the folder marked Documents and settings and the read me file in a nested folder called Tuukka then Työpöytä. There’s no installer, so you’ll have to install the game manually, then create shortcut to the games executable (see the sticky in the games discussion section of the forums for details on how to create shortcuts if you’re not sure). I though the game was worth it despite it’s simple graphics because my children loved playing the game. It’s a side scrolling platform game. The following is the author’s description and instructions taken from the Demo News site and the read me file:
This is a Crash Bandicoot fan game made for the ‘damaged’ contest.The Story:
The game tells a story, how Cortex transforms Crash in to 2D
and how Crash fights his way to Cortex.Find out more by playing the game!
The game features 20 Crash Bandicoot themed levels,including:
• Boulder Dash
• Un-Bearable
• Night Fight
• Plant food
• Mad Bombers
• Pack AttackThe game focuses most of the time to Crash Bandicoot 1,
but there is levels from 2 and 3.There is 3 different ways to die:
• Fall
• Burn
• SquashedLike in the real Crash Bandicoot there is:
• Lots of boxes
• Lots of apples
• TNTs
• Nitros
• AkuAkuTO PASS THE GAME 100%
You must collect every gem and time crystal!
• Beat all the levels
• Collect all the boxes in every level to get the gem
• Beat time record in every level to get time crystalControls:
• Use ARROW keys to move around
• Use SHIFT to jump
• Use CONTROL to spin
• Use ENTER to confirm/skip
• Use ESCAPE to exit the gameTo save your game,
USE SPACE IN THE MAP
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Controls:
ARROW keys to move around
SHIFT to jump
CONTROL to spin
ENTER to confirm/skip
ESCAPE to exit the game
Download Crash Bandicoot via this link
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3D Maze (703Kb)
This is an excellent 3D maze game. The game comes with it’s own installer. The only negative about this is that no shortcut is put on the desktop. Thankfully there is one in the Start Menus program list. Once you find 3D Maze right click on the icon and select Send To then click on Desktop (create shortcut).
You can change the number of rooms by resizing the window or by changing the "Absolute wall length" in the Options/Parameters section.
To play the game use the cursor keys to navigate around the maze. From the options menu you can select whether to have a square or hexagonal maze. I couldn’t work out how to navigate around the hexagonal maze (though I’m sure there is a method – I didn’t have time to mess around with it. Still, I think it’s an excellent maze program.
Increasing the absolute wall length makes the maze easier to complete. You can also increase the thickness of the walls and the height to create mazes of varying complexity and difficulty.
From the options menu you can also change the color of the maze as well as the forwards and backwards markers using a color picker, so there’s virtually an unlimited number of colors you can change the maze to.
I’ve taken some screenshots showing the versatility of this very simple program. Definitely one for the games library (imo). This is one of those games that’s great for de stressing or taking a break for the odd few minutes in between more important jobs. :)
See images of 3D Maze- all on one page
