I decided to make very short reviews about games I played the most, so you can also add your comments and opinions and remember the good old times of early and mid 90's.
Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus was my very first platformer game which I played on our first computer in 1993/1994. I really liked this game and played through it many times. It has nice and colourful graphics and very well-sounding Adlib/SoundBlaster music. The goal of this game is to collect all magical crystals, which are hidden within a level. You need to kill monsters which spawn in your way or ambush you by shooting magical bolts on them. Of course you collect a lot of treasure around levels. And I always liked destructible walls on this game.
In my early years the game was quite challenging to me, but as I grew up, I realized that the game was not really challenging at all and that the gameplay was geting quite repetitive. In fact, the levels are quite similar to each other, just the tilesets and enemies look differently. The annoying thing is that you must press fire-key (which is Alt) for every single shot, so your fingers get quite tired. At least you can often find powerful powerups, like rapid fire. There are often switch-puzzles, but they are very simple and repetitive, so I lack there more sophisticated puzzles and gameplay features (and better secrets). So finally, this is rather a relax game where you don't need to think about anything, just traverse through levels, shoot monsters and collect the stuff.
+ Very nice graphics and awesome music
+ Easy and simple game for relaxation
+ Ideal as a first game for small kids
- Gameplay and levels get very repetitive
- Game is really not challenging, just walking, shooting and collecting stuff
- Alt button rape
Vinyl Goddess from Mars
This was also fine and very colourful one. The game features multiple weapons and interesting monsters and very catchy music which I always liked listening to. In this game you play as a sexy heroine (in my child age I did not realize it at all and it was just a normal game for me), who throws swords/knives at monsters, climbs up vines and jumps on spring pads. The gameplay is extremely dynamic and flows well, but on the other hand, is not much challenging, as you practically cannot die, just are transferred back to start. Also the gameplay and level design is a bit limited and can get stereotypical, but not as much as Hocus Pocus.
+ Very nice graphics and catchy music
+ Dynamic and lively gameplay, high FPS
+ Heroine
- Not very challenging, you cannot die
- Gameplay and levels can get stereotypical
Commander Keen 4
I got this game also very early and I found it being a masterpiece, for its gameplay and possibilities. The most notable is jumping with a Pogo stick, as well as the great variety of monsters (each one is specific in some way) and hazards like spikes, fire and some unknown black liquid. I also very liked (toggleable) moving platforms and variety of secrets. This game can be fairly challenging even with easy difficulty, but hard is really hard. So this is a good piece for skilled players and also speedrunners. I always disliked the underwater level, because of Dopehish - I never knew how to avoid them, so the level was always the hardest one.
This game also features one phenomenon - a secret level (Hand Pyramid). I believe that the way how to get there was a big mystery for every player back then. I remember I once found it by a very random chance and was very frightened when I was transfered to it so I immediately exited the game and had to find it again year or two later
+ Good graphics
+ Interesting gameplay and features
+ Variety of monsters and level themes
+ Secret level
- Dopefish
- Lives have no purpose because you can always save&load
- Could have been made in 256 colors VGA
Jill of the Jungle
This was rather a minor piece, the game is really short and can be finished in 20 mins, but it is still pretty memorable for me. I remember I liked some puzzles and features like pressing buttons, using elevators, destroying walls, but most importantly, transforming into a bird, frog and fish. I also liked the variety of monsters and levels. The design sometimes seemed a bit obscure to me. The music is really interesting and makes some interesting and memorable OPL-synthesizer effects.
+ Interesting gameplay and puzzles
+ Transforming into creatures
+ Fun elements
- A bit obscure level design, graphics and sounds
- Very short levels and game at all
) which didn't have a save feature, so it was thrilling to go a little bit farther and farther each time I played, knowing what I had to do from that point.
