Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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#frontpagesports #baseballgame #footballgame #dynamix #sierraonline
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0:00 Front Page Sports Baseball ‘94 - 1994
3:01 Front Page Sports Baseball ‘96 - 1996
4:10 Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro ‘98 - 1997
5:25 Front Page Sports Football - 1992
10:53 Front Page Sports Football Pro - 1993
12:02 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘95 - 1994
19:26 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘96 - 1995
21:49 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘97 - 1996
23:02 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘98 - 1997
23:47 Sierra Sports NFL Football Pro 99 - 1998
More about Front Page Sports Baseball & Football (from Wikipedia):
Front Page Sports Baseball was a series of baseball games created by Dynamix in the mid to late 1990s. It remains popular as a simulation engine for online leagues.The first edition was Front Page Sports: Baseball '94 for DOS. This was followed by the release of Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '96 released on 30 June 1996. Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '98 was released on 31 May 1997.
Front Page Sports Football (or FPS Football), first released in 1992, was the first in a series of American football simulations released by Sierra Online. The Front Page Sports series was notable for being one of the first football simulations to include a career mode where players aged and retired, and for the number of statistics it offered. The first game did not have a license from the NFL or its players association, meaning that all teams and players offered were fictional, but subsequent versions starting with Front Page Sports Football Pro '95 in 1995 included real NFL players and teams. New versions of the game were introduced each year, with the final one coming out in 1999, however, the 1999 version was recalled. A 2000 version was also planned, however it was cancelled shortly after the 1999 version recall.
The first version of the game, titled Front Page Sports Football, was released in 1992 for DOS on the personal computer. This was game publisher Dynamix's first sports simulation game.
The game divides itself into three separate, but directly connected, sections: on-field action, coaching playbook, and team management. The game allows players to compete against the computer or head to head against another player and features exhibition, single season, or career/league play.
Seasons can be designed in one of five league sizes divided into one or two conferences with up to three divisions each. Seasons culminate with divisional championships, postseason playoffs, and a final Super Bowl-style showdown.
Almost every detail of a team's franchise can be customized by the owner: team name, nickname, head coach, jersey colors, stadium type (domed or outdoor), and nearest city. The last two options also have a direct influence on weather conditions, temperature, humidity, and precipitation, which in turn affect field conditions and player performance.
Rosters and player management featured 47-man teams, complete with injured reserve, free agent pools, drafting, training camp, and trading. Players are rated from 0 to 99 in eight performance classifications. The game did not include a player editor however the gaming community had several shareware applications and utilities available for download that allowed players to edit the players themselves, or download unofficial, user-created rosters. In career leagues, potential and actual ratings could be affected by such factors as training, injuries, and aging. This added a depth of realism not seen before.
The game recorded more than 300 statistical categories that could be displayed onscreen or printed. Detailed box scores were available during and after games, as well as match-ups from the previous week. League leader stats compare all teams and players in the league in a wide range of categories.
The game also featured a playbook editor. More than 200 stock plays were included with the game and were divided among standard offensive and defensive formations. Utilizing a point-and-click drawing interface, you can easily alter any of these pre-designed plays or create your own.
The on-field/arcade play featured three skill levels that offered full or partial control of the action and coaching duties. The game supported keyboard, mouse, and dual joysticks. Your view of the action could be changed to one of nine fixed camera positions. These views, as well as a free-floating camera, also contribute to the game's extraordinary instant-replay system.
Reception
Computer Gaming World wrote that "a better debut" by Dynamix "would be hard to imagine ... the award for the best football game on the market in the first attempt ... One of the top product releases of 1992". The magazine called the graphics and rotoscoped animation "very impressive", and liked the league mode and play editor. It named Front Page Sports: Football the 1993 Sports Game of the Year.
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#frontpagesports #baseballgame #footballgame #dynamix #sierraonline
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0:00 Front Page Sports Baseball ‘94 - 1994
3:01 Front Page Sports Baseball ‘96 - 1996
4:10 Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro ‘98 - 1997
5:25 Front Page Sports Football - 1992
10:53 Front Page Sports Football Pro - 1993
12:02 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘95 - 1994
19:26 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘96 - 1995
21:49 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘97 - 1996
23:02 Front Page Sports Football Pro ‘98 - 1997
23:47 Sierra Sports NFL Football Pro 99 - 1998
More about Front Page Sports Baseball & Football (from Wikipedia):
Front Page Sports Baseball was a series of baseball games created by Dynamix in the mid to late 1990s. It remains popular as a simulation engine for online leagues.The first edition was Front Page Sports: Baseball '94 for DOS. This was followed by the release of Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '96 released on 30 June 1996. Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '98 was released on 31 May 1997.
Front Page Sports Football (or FPS Football), first released in 1992, was the first in a series of American football simulations released by Sierra Online. The Front Page Sports series was notable for being one of the first football simulations to include a career mode where players aged and retired, and for the number of statistics it offered. The first game did not have a license from the NFL or its players association, meaning that all teams and players offered were fictional, but subsequent versions starting with Front Page Sports Football Pro '95 in 1995 included real NFL players and teams. New versions of the game were introduced each year, with the final one coming out in 1999, however, the 1999 version was recalled. A 2000 version was also planned, however it was cancelled shortly after the 1999 version recall.
The first version of the game, titled Front Page Sports Football, was released in 1992 for DOS on the personal computer. This was game publisher Dynamix's first sports simulation game.
The game divides itself into three separate, but directly connected, sections: on-field action, coaching playbook, and team management. The game allows players to compete against the computer or head to head against another player and features exhibition, single season, or career/league play.
Seasons can be designed in one of five league sizes divided into one or two conferences with up to three divisions each. Seasons culminate with divisional championships, postseason playoffs, and a final Super Bowl-style showdown.
Almost every detail of a team's franchise can be customized by the owner: team name, nickname, head coach, jersey colors, stadium type (domed or outdoor), and nearest city. The last two options also have a direct influence on weather conditions, temperature, humidity, and precipitation, which in turn affect field conditions and player performance.
Rosters and player management featured 47-man teams, complete with injured reserve, free agent pools, drafting, training camp, and trading. Players are rated from 0 to 99 in eight performance classifications. The game did not include a player editor however the gaming community had several shareware applications and utilities available for download that allowed players to edit the players themselves, or download unofficial, user-created rosters. In career leagues, potential and actual ratings could be affected by such factors as training, injuries, and aging. This added a depth of realism not seen before.
The game recorded more than 300 statistical categories that could be displayed onscreen or printed. Detailed box scores were available during and after games, as well as match-ups from the previous week. League leader stats compare all teams and players in the league in a wide range of categories.
The game also featured a playbook editor. More than 200 stock plays were included with the game and were divided among standard offensive and defensive formations. Utilizing a point-and-click drawing interface, you can easily alter any of these pre-designed plays or create your own.
The on-field/arcade play featured three skill levels that offered full or partial control of the action and coaching duties. The game supported keyboard, mouse, and dual joysticks. Your view of the action could be changed to one of nine fixed camera positions. These views, as well as a free-floating camera, also contribute to the game's extraordinary instant-replay system.
Reception
Computer Gaming World wrote that "a better debut" by Dynamix "would be hard to imagine ... the award for the best football game on the market in the first attempt ... One of the top product releases of 1992". The magazine called the graphics and rotoscoped animation "very impressive", and liked the league mode and play editor. It named Front Page Sports: Football the 1993 Sports Game of the Year.

![Conan: Hall of Volta - C64 gameplay - Datasoft, 1984 - platformer - Commodore 64 | Apple II port
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#conan #retrogaming #c64games
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More about Conan: Hall of Volta (from Wikipedia):
Conan: Hall of Volta (or simply Conan on the box cover and title screen) is a platform game from American developers Eric Robinson and Eric Parker and published by Datasoft in 1984. It is based on the character Conan created by Robert E. Howard. This game was originally written for the Apple II and ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers.
Released in 1984, the games launch coincided with the debut of the film Conan the Destroyer. The box shows a painting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the muscular warrior with his new costume for Destroyer. Despite this attempted tie-in, the game has little to do with the film besides the Cimmerian in the title role, having originally been designed as a boomerang-throwing game titled Visigoth. One of the screenshots on the back of the box is from a prototype version and shows a boomerang instead of a sword.
Gameplay
The player controls Conan as he attacks the evil Volta in his castle fortress. Conan is armed with 10 boomerang swords. From time to time, Conan may be aided by an Avian Ally as he tries to defeat Voltas sinister hordes, which includes bats, scorpions, giant ants, fire-breathing dragons and floating eyeballs.
The game includes seven diverse levels requiring the player to navigate lava pits, geysers, spike pits, and floating platforms. Along the way, the player often needs to collect magic gems or keys in order to progress.
In the game, Conan does not jump, he somersaults. If he falls, he launches into a dive.
One innovate and original feature of the games time was a random close-up picture that would be shown upon the players last death. For example, dying in the first level might show a close-up picture of a bat with the caption Bats in your Belfry. Deaths in other levels would yield a picture of a hazard unique to that level. Each level has 4 possible random death messages that can be shown:
1a: Back to Cimmeria barbarian!!
1b: Bats in your belfry
1c: Your Struggles are in Vain
1d: Your odyssey has ended before it had begun
2a: A watery barrier
2b: Quest terminated
2c: There is no glory for you here
2d: You withdraw battered and torn
3a: Death at thy feet, life from above...
3b: You beat a heated retreat...
3c: Only a cleric can help you now
3d: You Succumb to Lassitude
4a: Thus, the story ended...
4b: Conans Bane!
4c: The End
4d: You sink slowly into a peaceful bliss
5a: You shuffle off defeated for now
5b: To be continued...
5c: Advetures End... [NOTE: Adventure is misspelt.]
5d: The glow from the pyre lights the room
6a: The eyes have it
6b: Thy fate is sealed
6c: A Shocking End
6d Crom awaits
7a: Voltas minions take you to the Loph-ka slave pits
7b: Volta is victorious
7c: You retire more dead than alive
7d: The Crimson Orb recedes on your horizon
Technical Information
Conan was one of the earliest games to use a software 1-bit Stencil buffer for masking foreground and background objects.
Release
In Bulgaria, where Conan the Barbarian was generally unknown, the Apple II version was translated into Bulgarian and distributed by ZMD Pazarjik under the name Добрия рицар (The Good Knight).
More about Conan: Hall of Volta (from conan.fandom.com):
Conan: Hall of Volta is a 1984 action/platform computer game, designed by Eric Robinson and Eric Parker, and published by Datasoft. It is based on the character Conan created by Robert E. Howard.
Released in 1984, this games launch coincided with the debut of the sequel to the popular feature film, 1982s Conan the Barbarian. The games box even featured a painting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the muscle-bound warrior. Despite this attempted tie-in, the game has little to do with the movie series except for the fact that it features the Cimmerian in the title role. This is due to having originally been designed without the Conan tie-in, as a boomerang throwing game titled Visigoth. One of the screenshots on the back of the packaging is from a prototype version, and shows a boomerang instead of a sword.
This game was originally written for the Apple II and ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 400/800.
Description
The player controls Conan as he attacks the evil Volta in his castle fortress. Conan is armed with 10 boomerang swords. From time to time, Conan may be aided by an Avian Ally as he attempts to defeat Voltas sinister hordes, which included bats, scorpions, giant ants, fire-breathing dragons and floating eyeballs.
The game includes seven diverse levels requiring the player to navigate lava pits, geysers, spike pits, and floating platforms. Along the way the player often needed to collect magic gems or keys in order to progress.
In the game, Conan doesnt simply jump, he somersaults. If he falls, he launches into a full-scale dive. These effects, along with the diverse levels, made this game popular. Conan: Hall of Volta - C64 gameplay - Datasoft, 1984 - platformer - Commodore 64 | Apple II port](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nkg4mNRmzEY/mqdefault.jpg)




![Lode Runner - C64 gameplay - Broderbund, 1983 - puzzle platformer - also for Apple II DOS VIC-20
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#loderunner #c64 #puzzlegame
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More about Lode Runner (from Wikipedia):
Lode Runner is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to Space Panic from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in a level and get to the end while being chased by a number of enemies. It is one of the first games to include a level editor.
After the original game, a number of remakes, spin-offs and sequels were published in the Lode Runner series for different computers and consoles by different developers and publishers. Tozai Games holds the copyright and trademark rights.
The player controls a stick figure who must collect all the gold in a level while avoiding guards who try to catch the player. After collecting all the gold, the player must reach the top of the screen to reach the next level. There are 150 levels in the game, which progressively challenge players problem-solving abilities or reaction times.
Release and ports
Lode Runner was originally released on June 23, 1983. The original microcomputer versions were for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, VIC-20, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles. The VIC-20 version was released on cartridge, including the level editor. The Commodore 64 had both a disk and cartridge release, with the latter having 32 levels. The IBM PC port was originally on a self-booting disk and is incompatible with video cards other than CGA. A 1986 MS-DOS release runs on any video card.
The Famicom version was released by Hudson Soft in 1984 (North American NES release in 1986) and became one of the earliest third-party games made for that system. It has 50 levels, scrolling screens, added music, and graphics redone in a more cartoon-like style. In addition, fruits and vegetables randomly appear which may be grabbed for additional points. A level editor was included, which in Japan used the Famicoms Family BASIC tape drive to save ones work; however, as with many US localisations, the NES lacked the tape drive and thus there is no way to save levels created with the US release.
An arcade version of Lode Runner was produced by Irem in 1984. It was notably the first time an American computer game was adapted into a Japanese arcade game. It had some added features like the ability to hang off the ends of ladders and an improved enemy AI.
A port for the Macintosh 128K followed in January 1985; it runs on machines up to OS 6 and can be used on System 7 with a patch. Other versions include those for the Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, a licensed version for MSX published by ASCII Corporation, SG-1000, Windows 3.1x, and Game Boy.
Broderbund released an enhanced version, Championship Lode Runner, in 1985, with 50 levels and a higher difficulty. The company offered a commemorative certificate to anyone who could submit proof of having beaten the game (and submitted proof of purchase to show that their copy of the game was not pirated). It was ported to the Apple, Atari, C64, MSX, and IBM PC, as well as the NES (although that version did not reach North America).
The Atari 8-bit version of Lode Runner was converted to cartridge and re-released by Atari Corporation in 1987, as one of the series of releases for the Atari XEGS console. This version contains all 150 levels and the level editor, which requires a disk drive.
Reception
Lode Runner was very successful. It was Broderbunds second best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987, and sales had surpassed 300,000 copies by August 1984. It was the top-selling computer game in the United States during 1983. By 1985, the game had sold just as many copies in Japan. As of 1999, Hudson Softs Famicom (NES) version had sold about 1.5 million cartridges in Japan and all versions of the game had sold over 3 million units worldwide, including more than 2 million sales in Japan alone.
Softline in 1983 praised Lode Runner, calling it smooth, thoughtful, and quite addictive. The magazine approved of its large number of unique levels, level editor (the possibilities are astounding), and emphasis on wits and strategy over violence. Computer Gaming World praised Lode Runners unusually easy-to-use level editor and the strategy necessary for an arcade title, describing it as one of the few thinking mens arcade games. In August 1984, Computer Gaming World held a contest for the best reader-built level. Praises for the introduction of strategy into the climbing game genre and for the intuitive level editor were repeated in Video magazines review of the game as well as praise for its graphics and animation, with the Apple II version being described as stand[ing] out far ahead of the pack.
Ahoy! in 1984 called the game a top-notch action game that requires both a quick mind and an agile joystick. With the easy-to-use game generator, Lode Runner is one of the best games available for the C-64. Lode Runner - C64 gameplay - Broderbund, 1983 - puzzle platformer - also for Apple II DOS VIC-20](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/on5ZsHfb1OY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Drol - longplay - Broderbund / Sega, 1983 - Apple II - platformer - also for C64, Atari 8-bit, Amiga
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#drol #appleii #retrogames
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More about Drol (from Wikipedia):
Drol is a video game published by Broderbund in 1983. It was written for the Apple II by Benny Aik Beng Ngo, then ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family. Versions were released for the SG-1000 in 1985 and Amiga in 1991.
The player controls a robot flying through a four story maze, attempting to rescue people and animals while avoiding traps and enemies such as alien creatures, snakes, eagles, magnets and axes. There are only three levels, but the game repeatedly starts over in a more difficult version if the third level is completed. In the third level of some[which?] versions, in order to reach the final floor without being eaten by a plant sprouting from out of nowhere, the player must choose between three different trapdoors, and the correct trapdoor varies from game to game.
When reviewing three new games in February 1984, ANALOG Computing said that Drol was by far the best thought-out, with refreshing sound effects and some of the best pseudo-3D graphics Ive ever seen, reminding the reviewer of a scene from The Ninth Configuration. Run magazine, reviewing the Commodore 64 version in May 1984, gave it an A–its highest rating—and described it as fun, funny, and exciting, although it was criticized for slow loading times. In 1984 Softline readers named the game the seventh most-popular Apple program of 1983. Ahoy! in 1984 called Drol an amusing little game. Electronic Fun with Computers & Games gave it 4 out of 4. Reviewer Marc Berman wrote:
Once in a while a home game comes along that has hit written all over it. Often its from an arcade hit or a spinoff of another game. But occasionally its a totally original idea. Games like that are as rare as honest politicians. Drol is one and I heartily endorse it.
David Stone reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that the high quality of the animation, the cleverness of the animated foes, and the nonsense of the theme, all make Drol well-worth the money. Drol - longplay - Broderbund / Sega, 1983 - Apple II - platformer - also for C64, Atari 8-bit, Amiga](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p7yt8_9WFSI/mqdefault.jpg)


