Games From the Late 90's

Counter Strike (1999)

What is it?

Counter Strike was released in 1999 by Valve Corporation. The game was also known as Half-Life: Counter Strike. Counter Strike is a first person shooter game. It was a Half Life modification when it was first released. However, a version for Microsoft Windows was later released in 2000. This was the first game in the Counter Strike series. Counter Strike was also made for Xbox, OS X, and Linux. 

Objective of the Game

The player chooses a team. Those teams are terrorist, counter-terrorist, or spectator. There are various game modes. The game modes are bomb defusal and hostage rescue. In bomb defusal, the terrorist must plant the bomb and the counter-terrorists must defuse the bomb. In hostage rescue, the terrorists must prevent the counter-terrorists from rescuing the hostages.

Technological Innovations

The Valve Anti-Cheat system was developed. This system was used to prevent players from cheating. If a player was caught cheating on a VAC secured server they would be banned permanently from all VAC secured servers.

Other Games That Spawned

• Counter Strike: Condition Zero
• Counter Strike: Global Offensive
• Counter Strike: Source

 Personal Experience

I played Counter Strike when it first came out on Windows. It is a fun game to play with a group of friends. I still play Counter Strike: Source and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. I used to play Counter Strike competitively when I was in high school. I had even modified servers for Counter Strike: Source and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Some of the servers that I had worked on were zombie riot servers which was waves of bot zombies versus humans. In the game mode the players would have to beat each wave of zombies by killing all of them. However, if they do not kill all the zombies the players have replay the wave. As the players get through the waves each wave becomes more difficult. There are even waves where if a player is killed by a zombie they become a zombie. I have also modified the zombie riot in order to create a role playing game version. The RPG version gives players the ability to gain experience in order to level up to buy more skills. Some of the various skills included the ability to regenerate health and to have a health boost from the start. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/10/header.jpg?t=1447887426

http://i.imgur.com/l3UtuPf.jpg

Crazy Taxi (1999)

What is it?

Crazy Taxi is a racing game. The game was designed by Kenji Kanno. Crazy Taxi was published by Sega. It was originally an arcade game. However, it was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast. Crazy Taxi was also made for Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Playstation Network, iOS, and Xbox Live Arcade. 

Objective of the Game

In the game you have to pick up taxi customers and drop them off to their destination as fast as possible. However, you can pick up more than one customer at a time to be able to make more money. You also gain money by performing stunts and near misses while you are driving the customers to their destination. You set the time limits that you have to play the game. The time limits are three, five, and ten minutes.

Personal Experience

I first played this game on the Sega Dreamcast. It was a lot of fun. The best part about this game is the customer’s reactions when you hit something, perform a stunt, or have near miss. I still play this game every now and then because I bought it on Steam during one of the steam sales.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Taxi

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tc1_30IxAgE/U4lvNYSDq8I/AAAAAAAAACw/DORjezRsYeY/s1600/Crazy%2BTaxi%2B3.png

Games From the Early 90's

Kirby’s Dreamland (1992)


Kirby’s Dreamland is also known as Kirby of the Stars when the Japanese name is translated into English. This game was developed by HAL Laboratory. However, it was published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. The designer’s name is Masahiro Sakurai. Kirby’s Dreamland was released in Japan on April 27^th in 1992. This game was later released in North America. The official release date in North America was August 1^st in 1992. This game was the beginning of the Kirby game series. It was also the debut of the Kirby character. The Kirby character has changed the characters abilities within the video game industry. This was because Kirby had moves that were no seen before. For example, Kirby had a copy move. The copy move was not in another Kirby game which was Kirby’s Adventure. There is also a version of this game that was made for the Nintendo 3DS. The main objective of the game is to stop King Dedede who has stolen all the food from the inhabitants of Dream Land. Kirby is one of the inhabitants of Dream Land.

I personally have played through most of the stages of this game on Game Boy as well as Game Boy Advance. This is an enjoyable game which gives players that ability to have unique character abilities. I even have the second game which is Kirby’s Dream Land 2. I originally owned the both titles for the Game Boy then I had sold them at a garage sale. However, I managed to get my hands on these games once again. It is fun being able to play some of these titles from when I was younger.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby's_Dream_Land
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-EAw3CGscwg/hqdefault.jpg 

Puzzle Bobble (1994)


Puzzle Bobble is Pazuru Boburu in Japanese. However, in North America it was known as Bust-a-Move. This game was designed by Taito Corporation in 1994. It was designed for one or two players. Puzzle Bobble is a tile matching style of puzzle game. This game was based on one of their other games which was Bubble Bobble. Puzzle Bobble has the same two dragons from Bubble Bobble. This was originally an arcade game. However, later on it was ported over to other systems such as the Sony Playstation. The objective of the game is to match the same colour bubbles so they make three in a row and burst. You have to get rid of the bubbles in order to clear the level. So you fire the bubbles at the prearranged bubbles on each stage. The first couple of stages there will be dots in a line to help guide your shots. After that you have to judge where you need to shoot to pop the bubbles.

I own this game for the Sony Playstation. I love playing this game especially when I have a group of friends over. I have also played the original arcade version at a local arcade. The arcade that I go to still has this game and is still operational. I enjoy playing this game more than Tetris because every stage you get a different set of prearranged bubbles. Even when you play this in single player it is a good puzzle game. This is still my favourite puzzle game to date.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzle_Bobble
https://www.hit2k.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/puzzle-s6f256df415s-Hit2k.png