Retro Gaming Australia

Crusader: No Remorse is arguably one of the best PC games of the pre-3D accelerator era. After receiving criticism from fans that Ultima VIII was too action heavy, Origin simply decided to build a full-on action game using the same technology.

The Need for Speed, the first game of the Need for Speed series, is drastically different to the games bearing the name in the current day. It featured heavy involvement from Road & Track magazine, and was all about trying to show off exotic sports cars. The Need for Speed was originally released on the 3DO, but quickly made its way to other CD based formats.

Desert Strike was a huge hit on the Mega Drive which resulted in EA taking it to every format under the sun. Gremlin Interactive published the PC version of Desert Strike, which was actually pretty lousy compared to the Mega Drive version.

Before wunderkind Tiger Woods showed up on the scene, EA Sports’ golf series put the PGA branding front and center. PGA Tour Golf introduced the revolutionary three click swing system, which was imitated by pretty much every golf game up to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, which introduced analogue stick-based swinging.

Skitchin’ is a kind-of reminagining of the Road Rash formula, replacing the bikes with in-line skates, just around the time in-line skating’s popularity was at its peak. Players compete in races across North America, and need to grab the backs of cars to propel themselves towards the finish line, while exchanging blows with other skaters and doing stunts.

Is there such thing as a gaiden game in the sports genre? Because that’s exactly what Team USA Basketball is to the NBA Playoffs series. Released in between Bulls vs. Lakers and Bulls vs. Blazers, Team USA Basketball is technically the “1992” entry in the NBA Playoffs series, but features no NBA teams. Instead it focuses on the exploits of the “Dream Team”, the team which represented the United States at the Games of the XXV Olympiad in Barcelona, Spain. The 1992 Olympics marked the first time NBA players were allowed to represent their country, and Team USA was comprised of players such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Earvin “Magic” Johnson. The team absolutely demolished all opposition – the average margin was 43 points and they were the first team to score more than 100 points in each game at the Olympics.

John Madden Football ’92 is Madden’s second outing on home consoles and boasts a laundry list of improvements including EASN presentation, weather effects including rain and snow, new playbooks, instant replays and player injuries. The last one is a particularly amusing one – John Madden Football ’92 came at a time when EA didn’t have any official licenses and didn’t take itself seriously – when a player gets injured, an ambulance speeds onto the field, ploughing down any players unfortunate enough to get in its way. It’s really quite amusing.

John Madden Football is the game which really put Electronic Arts on the map as a viable developer of sports games. The first release for the Genesis and Mega Drive is actually the second game in the series – a series improvement over the original DOS release. It’s interesting to see that, once upon a time, Madden didn’t need official licenses or real players to sell.

Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs is EA’s first basketball game for the 16-bit era (though it launched on PC a year before it launched on the Mega Drive), and launched the NBA Playoffs series, which would eventually be surprassed by the NBA Live series. Unlike future entries in the series, Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs isn’t based on who contested the NBA Finals in the year of release, but rather a celebration of the rivalry between the two biggest teams of the 1980s, the Los Angeles Lakers lead by Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and the Boston Celtics lead by Larry Bird.

Bulls vs. Lakers and the NBA Playoffs is the second game in EA’s pre-NBA Live basketball series. It’s a massive improvement over Lakers vs. Celtics, adding in features such as signature dunks, instant replay mode, improved shooting and passing control, a free throw meter and a much cleaner interface.