Top 10 Weird Retro Games
Gaming has always been a platform for both realism and surrealism. Sometimes you want to be a premier league footballer, or a soldier in the middle of a battle, recreating moments of glory. Other times, however, you want to escape the mundane realities and embrace the unrealistic. Whether that’s protecting llamas or building pigeon nests, sometimes you want to live your best weird life. To celebrate the best weird in retro, here are 10 Weird Retro Games by Antstream Arcade…
Number 10: Wizkid, 1992, Amiga
Become a bouncing green ball and defend the world in this 1992 Amiga side-scroller. Yes, you heard us. That’s a totally normal thing to do, right? The wizard Wiz has a colour-sucking enemy who has turned the brightly coloured Wizworld into a dreary planet. Restore the colour by defeating enemies and looting colour from their corpses. Still with us? Good! Upgrade the ball by shooting enemies and collecting bubbles. These upgrades are a must if you’re going to get through this wacky wizarding wizball world!
Number 9: Mama Llama, 1985, C64
The first of several Jeff Minter games on this list — man, that man could make WEIRD games — Mama Llama is a 1985 release on the C64. It’s pretty standard stuff — protect three llamas from an alien invasion. Any of the llamas can be killed, but the game is over if Mama Llama dies. Choose your wave and then advance through waves as more and more aliens descend on you. This one’s all kinds of bizarre. It took me a while to get to grips with it but it’s so wonderfully weird that once I’d started I found it difficult to stop.
Number 8: Ancipital, 1984, C64
Another Jeff Minter game — trust me, this also won’t be the last. Ancipital is a 1984 C64 game with no storyline — a strong start for a weird game entry and we’re here for it! You play the role of what we THINK is a Yak. But this yak walks on two legs and shoot its enemies with bananas. Look, we don’t know either. Jeff Minter has raised a lot of questions! Your banana projectiles change as you progress and each level is themed, cos why just have one type of weird!
Number 7: Wheelie, 1983, ZX Spectrum
A racing game…with a difference. A bike game…with a difference. Trapped in a nightmare park, you must find an escape before taking on the Ghost Rider. Told you it was different. There are the standard obstacles to overcome, such as ramps and school buses, but it’s the mutant hedgehogs, mutant kangaroos and much more that make Wheelie a 1983 vision of racing weirdness on the ZX Spectrum.
Number 6: Revenge of the Mutant Camels, 1984, Amiga / C64
Our third Jeff Minter entry on this list is this 1984 Amiga and C64 release. Not content with making yaks and llamas the focus of his work, Minter created the wonderful Mutant Camel series, starting with Attack of the Mutant Camels. But it’s Revenge of the Mutant Camels that I love! The support camel who mimics your movement and the enemies that include umbrellas and drink machines make this a typically mad Minter experience.
Number 5: Hover Bovver, 1983, C64
Don’t you just hate it when you want to mow your lawn and your mower doesn’t work! Well, now you can re-live that stress and adventure in this 1983 C64 game from Lllamasoft. Programmed by, you guessed it…Jeff Minter. To get around the pesky problem, you simply steal your neighbour’s mower and get on with your garden chores. Mow as much as you can without getting caught. Simple, right? Think again — Afterall, 80s gaming was anything but simple!
Number 4:Potty Pigeon, 1984, C64
Poor Percy the Pigeon needs ten twigs to build his nest. But these twigs are scattered to the winds, each on the road that is full of cats and cars, and the sky is full of planes and other birds. It’s a tough life being a pigeon. Swoop down and get the twigs whilst avoiding the hazards. Of course, you won’t go into this road battle empty-handed: you’re armed with eggs to drop on your foes below. You can only carry one twig at a time so completing this will take some perfect pigeon precision!
Number 3: Toilet Truble, 1985, ZX Spectrum
Meet Zak. Zak has fallen down the loo and you need to help him escape, grabbing toilet roll on the way. Prepare for 20 screens of toilet based action, but don’t spend too long on any one screen or poor Zak will become delirious — being trapped in a toilet would do that to anyone! Everything that isn’t a toilet roll is deadly to touch, and Zak is one speedy snail, so don’t expect this one to be easy to master!
Number 2: Paradise In Microdot, 1985, ZX Spectrum
Released as part of the Ten Pack Volume 2, this 1985 text-based adventure on the Spectrum is possibly one of the oddest games I’ve come across. I love a text-based adventure so had to fire this one up and check it out. Trapped in a microdot and accompanied by a disembodied head, you have to escape by solving puzzles to reach the secret object. Trying to sort the meaningless from the meaningful can be a challenge as you’re bombarded with puzzles and riddles to keep you on your toes. But one thing’s for certain, this one will never bore you!
Number 1: Weird Dreams, 1988, Amiga
Another classic ‘you’re trapped and must escape’ entry to round off this list, Weird Dreams is a 1988 Amiga release with both action and puzzle elements. A demon has trapped you in your own subconscious and you must find four orbs to break free. With such levels of weirdness as feeding a wasp cotton candy and beating up totem poles with fish from the sky, this one is sure to leave you scratching your head.
Well, that’s 10 weird retro games and if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that the 80s were a weird time, so we know there’s more out there! Leave a comment and let us know the strangest game you’ve discovered! And check out AntstreamArcade.com for all the games mentioned here and more.
See you next time!
