The Top 10 Best Mini Golf Games

The first mention of modern miniature golf was in The Illustrated London News (June 8th, 1912) where it was referred to as Gofstacle: at once transforming Golf from a sport of mild privilege overrun by leaden headed pragmatists to a preposterous world of fantasy that requires only one club, numerous windmills, dinosaurs and barely an acre of space. If you ask me it was a huge improvement (like adding milk to tea) and the onerous slog that was once golf lost it's pretensions and became laugh-a-minute fun. In this digital age mini golf games abound, having transformed the venerable sport yet again (requiring even less space, patience and skill) and appearing in crude form on some of the earliest Pong hybrid consoles. They've always been a favourite genre amongst tea-break gamers but a select few have rightfully been elevated to classics. This list is my personal ranking in order of pedigree from Pebble Beach to the exalted shores of the Royal and Ancient. I've played many but this is by no means a comprehensive list and should act only as encouragement to other digital mini golfers to venture forth and find their favourite front nine.

*****

10: Putt & Putter - SEGA Gamegear / SEGA Master System

Putt & Putter. Three little words. "You can't even say them you emotionally stunted bastard." However, one additional word beginning with P would make its description complete. 'Pinball'. Yes! Bumpers, switches, warp zones and other pinball contrivances are located creatively throughout the game. It's interesting to note that pinball is one of the most common digital mini golf themes: appearing to various extents in many games. Offering reasonable depth, a satisfying difficulty curve and an intuitive control system - this is mini golf game polished to a sheen. P&P was released for Game Gear in 1991 and again for Master System in 1992. Despite getting a lukewarm reception upon release both versions are respectively the best mini golf experiences on these systems and hold-up well today.

One from each nostril.

A beautifully concise review from MathPirate.

Download from Edge Emulation.
The history of pinball.

9: Mario Golf - Nintendo 64

Everyone knows Mario Golf 64 is a bona fide classic, with courses so phantasmagorical as to qualify as crazy, but less appreciated is its built-in mini golf simulator. It utilised a somewhat unimaginative alpha-numeric course design that presents a serious putting simulator with added edutainment value. Despite the perfunctory course design the putting system in Mario Golf is so well implemented that gameplay in these simplistic courses is greatly amplified: making for some truly rewarding multiplayer battles. The courses can also be set to fast or slow greens which is a nice touch. Overall a great game for honing your putting skills whilst mastering the alphabet.

Now I know my ABC's.

YouTube playthrough of the front 9.
Learn to count with Sesame Street.
Download from Emuparadise.

8: Wonderputt - iOS / Web

Wonderputt presents a beautifully compact golfing universe: containing everything from ancient megaliths and giant squid to submarines and space ships. The entire history of mankind played-out by means of mini golf. Thematically this is a tour-de-force: the BBC Civilisation of mini-golf games if you will. Play is solid and rewarding but slightly restricted by the compactness of the golfing domain. Nevertheless few golf games offer the variety, polish and constant thrill of discovery as Wonderputt.

That lily could not support the bulk of Ian Woosnam.

Play online at Miniclip.

Review from Wired.

Watch Kenneth Clark's Civilisation.

7: Gopher Golf - Apple II

Every golfers nemesis, the gopher, makes his unwanted presence felt in this shareware classic from 1989. The ingenious groundsman has decided to forsake golf with its immaculate lawns and opt for mini golf - perverting the gophers dark intentions - making his former hazards a desirable obstacle. I would like to believe this game was loosely based on the film Caddyshack. First released for the Apple II, Gopher Golf is a true pioneer of the genre. A perfectly realised simulator with many classic mini golf features and the added zest of a level editor. It seems poetically satisfying that golfer and gopher are such similar words. Gofer Golph anyone?

Bill Murray confronts a gopher.

Download from Macintosh Garden.
Watch the Best of Caddyshack!
Bob Mancarella's followup game Goofy Golf Deluxe.

6: O.B. Club - SNES Sattelaview

A richly detailed, competitive mini golf experience with a profusion of characters, course designs and gameplay not typical of the genre. The twist here is a croquet like ability to thwack your opponents ball out of bounds (OB) by bumping into it. OB Club was only available in Japan on the SNES through its Sattelaview broadcast service and as such was mired in obscurity for many moons. Thanks to the modern emulation scene this game is now playable and eminently worth your time.

Playing cautiously from out behind the emmental she spots a weener.

Passionate review from RVGFanatic.
Satellablog a resource for everything Satellaview.
Play English patched version online.

5: Kirby's Dream Course - SNES

Everyone's most loved / detested pink globular hoover is back to drizzle joy and star dust on the sad face of golf. With a rare whimsy in his eye Kirby invites you to his Dream Course - golf re-imagined by a marshmallow. Not surprisingly it's a vast improvement and here Kirby gallantly plays the role of the ball himself: propelling his bulk around strange daemon infested landscapes: there are even boss fights. Imaginatively designed and offering a welcome change of pace for jaded mini putters this is a deep and enjoyable offering from that loathsome puff.

If you were a blob would you play golf with yourself?

A potted history of Kirby games.
Download from Edge Emulation.
A remarkably bogus psychological evaluation of the colour pink.

4: Will Harvey's Zany Golf - Amiga / SEGA Mega Drive / Atari ST / DOS / Apple II

When crazy just isn't crazy enough it's time to go 'next level'. Hence, Zany Golf. The first hole starts out mundanely enough with the tried and tested windmill. Little does the player realise what's in store: an exponential curve of madness. Zany rating is officially reached by hole two which features a hovering burger that must be kept aloft by rapid mouse clicks. Further on we discover faeries, magic carpets and the logical conclusion of the pinball trope: until we reach the final outrageous level that seems more like Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday than a typical afternoons golf. There are many versions; with the Mega Drive offering the most polish but sadly lacking the secret hole and mouse control. The Amiga version offers a decent mix of graphics and control mechanism but the Apple II version just seems to have that certain je ne sais quoi. The Will Harvey in question also ported Marble Madness to the Megadrive and designed the excellent Music Construction Set for EA.

Simply touch the fairy then approach the burger.

Download for Apple II.

A comprehensive version comparison.
On the Music Construction Set.

3: Hole In One Miniature Golf - DOS / Amiga

If the last game was zany where is there left to go? I'll tell you. Directly into worlds of total physical and thematic abstraction. Ever played golf on the event horizon of a black hole? Ever played golf through the legs of majorettes under the shadow of a colossal floating mouse? Ever sunk a ball by smashing it off a cat's jaw? Some may see these levels as crude and the ball physics as primitive but where this game shines is in its total disregard for all tablets of stone. Gone are the primitive tropes of mini golf and even the laws of physics and in their place a bizarro realm where sometimes the only thing reminding you of golf is your checkered trousers.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre meets Mini Golf.

Download from My Abandonware.

A list of the most renowned holes-in-one!

Footage of a robot making an ace!

2: Minigolf Maniacs - Windows XP

What happens when you have played a hundred mini golf games and still want more? Well you should probably play this. A mini golf masterpiece salvaged from the scrap heap by a coterie of die-hard enthusiasts. When Sierra started going-under this was one of the first projects to be canned, but fortunately they'd already done enough to allow modders to complete the developers intended vision. And what was their vision? Well more mini golf than you could shake a stick at, all lovingly rendered in 3D, and played by a pack of wild animals. With a variety of level design, modes of play and sheer amount of content that elevates it far above the pack.

A canine on a dogleg.

Download from Mini Golf Maniacs homepage.

An article on understanding mania.

Famous golfing animal invasions.

1: Fuzzy's World of Miniature Space Golf - DOS

Fuzzy's World of Miniature Space Golf excels on every level. Of course reinterpreting any sport in a sci-fi context is a recipe for improvement but Fuzzy's exceeds all expectations. The marriage of sci-fi trappings such as laser beams, hover boards, teleportation and meteor strikes with mini golf is so natural you would think the game had originated in the 23rd century. Not forcibly supposited with gimmicky features like so many lesser games. The course design is elegant with just the right obstacle to clutter ratio and the potential for creative stroke play is enormous. The music is a perfect blend of screwball chip-tunes and atmospheric space melodies. Every hole is satisfying. Fuzzy's is not only the greatest mini golf game but a contender for the best alternative sports game of all time: ranking comfortably alongside Shufflepuck Cafe.

These days, the title says it all.

Download from Abandonia.

Famous footage of Alan Shepherd playing golf on the moon.

The closest affordable real world equivalent.

*****

Well, it's been quite a journey. It's amazing how many artistic styles, locations, traps and obstacles are represented in the world of digital mini golf: at times transforming that most tedious of sports into something unrecognisable. Now all that remains is to severe all remaining links with golf; get rid of that last club (perhaps replace it with a gun), replace the ball with a bullet, ignore the stupid hole in the ground and aim for a monster. Could DOOM be the greatest mini golf game of all time? Have we all been playing mini golf our whole lives and not realised it? It's a mind bending twist worthy of the worst Twilight Zone episode never made. And with that I'll see you at the 19th hole, adieu!

The Top 10 Best Cyberpunk Games

The altogether post-modern phenomenon of cyberpunk is defined by these key concepts; its infatuation with technology, its occurrence in a dystopian future (or at least some bleak parallel universe) and its ironic perspective; embodied by the central protagonist . . . your typical anti-hero. Rising to prominence in the 1980's and heavily influencing the movies and science fiction literature of that period: it became an established counter-culture movement. It was of course during this time that computer games were becoming an established form of entertainment: you could say the two grew up together. It is then no surprise that the general ideas, themes and situations suggested by cyberpunk found arguably their most relevant host in the technologically fuelled and suitably ironic medium of computer games. 

*****

10: Syndicate Wars - PC / Playstation

Syndicate Wars - essentially a real-time squad based strategy game - presents a highly evocative urban dystopia; where thugs, brain addled junkers, religious zealots and amoral law enforcers all prowl the streets in a desperate power struggle for the hearts, minds and credits of  a soma-sodden public. Pulling the strings are the ominous Syndicates - with the money to invest in superhuman cybernetically enhanced agents - tools to carry out their often unscrupulous objectives. You control a crack squad of these agents and must manage their affairs as they traverse the major cities of Earth in a bid to quash the Church of the New Epoch (or visa-versa). Not relying purely on RTS the game offers a research tree, resource management, engrossing geo-political plot and a non linear approach to completing missions . . . as well as some truly mind-boggling weaponry. A cyberpunk classic in every sense (the original game Syndicate is also highly recommended).

When just one Robocop just isn't enough!

Pre-Eminent Fansite
Download from SnesOrama
Syndicate Wars Soundtrack
Patch for Modern OS's

9: Snatcher - Mega CD

Something of a paean to the film Blade Runner, Snatcher manages to articulate what is a very similar story in a manner that is both fresh and immensely enjoyable. Play switches from standard point and click adventure to Virtual Cop style shoot outs (a Menasor light gun is necessary to extract the complete experience), which certainly helps maintain a sense of urgency (unsurprisingly rare in point-and click-adventures). The graphics and characters are in the anime style of the late 1980's, reminiscent of cyberpunk shows such as Bubblegum Crisis and Cybercity OEDO 808. Expertly developed by Hideo Kojima, who would later continue his cyberpunk trend with hugely successful Metal Gear Solid, this game is also noticeable for one of the best computer game soundtracks of the era. There is a spiritual successor (of sorts) entitled Policenauts for the Sega Saturn which riffs from the film Lethal Weapon (not such illustrious source material) and maintains a distinct tech-noir feel.

Has it comes to this? Nights out in fantasy bars with Sparkster the Possum?!

Junker HQ - For all your Snatcher Needs
Article at Hardcore Gaming 101
Download from Edge Emulation
Download Soundtrack from Galbadia Hotel

8: Shadowrun - SNES

Although something of a lightweight thematically this action RPG, based on the ever popular FASA pen and paper campaign setting, is certainly fun. Not concerned with just your typical cyberpunk fare: Shadowrun lumps in the whole of Tolkien as well. Ancient dragons are in charge of conglomerates and elves seem to make great computer hackers. You start off as your typical RPG amnesiac who needs to get his life back together; with nothing better to do you soon become a runner, hacking his way through cyberspace and failing that, blasting your way through a sprawling megalopolis in search of your lost identity. There was a game of the same name on the Megadrive which is somewhat truer to the original role playing system and offers a more substantial RPG experience; I have been meaning to play it for a while but have never found the time; although deep I would be surprised if it was as enjoyable as this.

As my Gran always said "just run it under a cold tap".

Epic Article at Hardcore Gaming 101
Shrine at RPG Classics
Download from Edge Emulation
Compilation of FASA Publications

7: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - PC / Mac

 
In what is usually a child friendly genre there are few point-and-click adventures which deal with such dolorous subject matter: albeit not in any great depth. Based on a short story by Harlen Ellison (who plays the main vocal role in a feat of supreme hamminess), the plot revolves around the rogue A.I theme (a la Cyberdyne, Tron et al) but this time it succeeds in its mission and exterminates all human life (one may ask: "where the hell was Arnie?"): save for five emotionally complicated individuals. These last vestiges of humanity are taken beneath the Earth to the nexus of the artificial intelligence and subjected to 109 years of physical and psychological torture. Eventually the ennui plagued mainframe tells them of a way to end this suffering: by each completing a simple test of character . . . and so our story begins. There are five quests and each is unique to the protagonist; each one a voyage of self overcoming, forcing the survivors to face their own deepest fears or forever live in torment. This is a reasonably-intelligent and relentlessly-gloomy adventure that leaves an indelible impression long after it has been completed.

It might not look it, but this is probably the least bleak screenshot in the game.

The Short Story - Available Online

Review at Adventure Gamers  

Article at Cyberpunk Review

Download from SnesOrama

6: Neuromancer - PC / Mac / Amiga

Based on the quintessential cyberpunk novel by William H. Gibson, Neuromancer is a graphical adventure in which you play the role of an everyday sort'a hacker who unwittingly uncovers the overtures to a sinister cyberplot. The game mechanics are smooth, the locations evocative and the juxtaposition between the real world and cyberspace has never been bettered. The future cityscapes are superbly detailed with; information, tip-offs, hints, clues and leads coming at you in abundance. With no electronic journal or notepad to keep track of them - keeping your own memos become essential (making the detective work seem all the more satisfying). Garnishing the cake is a soundtrack by DEVO - a band ideally at home in a 1980's interpretation of the future. Of all the games on this list Neuromancer is arguably the truest conceptually to the cyberpunk genre.

I remember when Body Shop used to sell loofahs and bath oils . . .

Neuromancer - The Web-Book
Download from Abandonia
Entry at Home of the Underdogs
Neuromancer - The Graphic Novel

5: Beneath a Steel Sky - PC / Amiga

 
This is another classic of the point-and-click genre. The eponymous steel skies are in fact the roofs of self contained cities under which the majority of the human population is crammed. Serving an uber-totalitarian robot master-brain, life beneath a steel sky is unsurprisingly gloomy. Luckily your character, Robert Foster, grew up in the wastelands (colloquially known as the Gap) outside of the states civilizing influence. At the games onset you are abducted by the military and sent back to a life in the city; however your flight is hijacked by an unknown terrorist group and lo much adventuring ensues. What is essentially a typical cyberpunk / dystopian setting is made more engaging by the superb interface, good sense of humour (provided mostly by his sardonic robot sidekick Joey) and all round excellent scripting, pacing and plot.

In the year 3000 they finally decided to remake Frasier.

Download the ScummVM Version
Detailed Walkthough
Dedicated Page at Abandonia
Writer Dave Gibbons' Website

4: A Mind Forever Voyaging - PC / Mac / Amiga

The antechapel where the statue stood
Of Newton with his prism and silent face,
The marble index of a mind for ever
Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone.

(Book III, The Prelude, William Wordsworth)

Perhaps Infocoms finest text adventure, AMFV presents a techno-political chiller as seen through the PRISM of the worlds first sentient computer. Circa 2031, the United States is a technocratic republican hell-hole where teens are dying of over-stimulation and nuclear weapons the size of a deck of playing cards are making things just a little unstable. Your role as PRISM (aka Perry Simm) is to gather local data for an experimental political simulation: where outmoded cold-war values are to be replaced with new and improved cold-war values. Your research takes place in the small town of Rockvil, South Dakota, where the wealth of data uncovered as you explore town is used to extrapolate ever more sinister totalitarian futures with the aid of your powerful on-board CPU. As with most Infocom adventures a trove of feelies were included with the original game (advertisements, a local Rockvil publication, a corporate pen etc): an experience too bloated for the miserly, famished, DVD cases of today. Superbly written, realised and produced: A Mind Forever Voyaging achieves in three megabytes what few games can achieve in three thousand.

>Insert< Generic joke about graphics.

Download from Abandonia
Full Short Story and More at The Infocom Gallery
Excellent Walkthrough
Interview with Writer Steve Meretzky

3: System Shock - PC

While most ninnies were happily careening their way through hordes of Martian daemons in Doom, an elite few dined at an inconceivably richer table (as a flee bitten roadside burger-bar is to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe). These lucky few were amongst the first to play System Shock by Looking Glass Studios a game light-years ahead of its time. Containing a superabundance of features (for what the less alert might deem a shoot'em'up) it transcended the genre in a myriad directions : improving combat dynamics, plot construction, atmosphere, interface and more besides - its only comparison was the inordinately brilliant Ultima Underworld - also developed by LGS. Indeed System Shock plays much like a cybperpunk version of UU: a game where interface and a deeply realised game-world promote a higher level of immersion. Imprisoned aboard a space-station and engaged in a brutal battle of wills, wits and resources against the megalomaniacal A.I. Shodan, System Shock offered an experience that has become the stuff of computer game legend. A contender for the greatest of all time, Shock's legacy is such, that without it, the only two games to rate (marginally) higher on this list would not exist.

In this brave new future the etiolated programmer look is in vogue.

System Shock Fansite Hub
Dowload from Abandonia
System Shock Intro 
System Shock Music Collection 

2: Deus Ex - PC

 
A roller-coaster of a first-person action RPG containing; gadgets, weapons, cybernetic enhancements, plot twists, mega-corporations in bed with technocratic fundamentalists and characters in trench-coats: on top of  which is garnished sharply written dialogue and a non-linear gameworld oozing with cyberpunk detail: basically - its got it all. Though implementing a linear mission based structure, the levels or zones allow for extensive exploration and through the sheer variety of weapons, upgrades and abilities many different styles of play are encouraged. During the first mission you can opt to duke it out with guards at the main entrance, simply hack through their security systems or use your imagination to find alternative ways to enter the building; a free-form approach to gameplay that echoes throughout. Deus Ex has cyberpunk written all over it (OK, something of an emphasis on the cyber) yet asserts itself with such panache that fans of all genres (no matter how low-tech) owe it to themselves to play this masterpiece.

I wonder if she looks good without mods . . . 

Planet Deus Ex
Visual Walkthrough 
Download from SnesOrama 
Article at Cyberpunk Review 

1: System Shock 2 - PC

 
Ranking amongst the very finest computer games ever made, System Shock 2 is still heralding the future of the  medium over ten years after its initial release. Alone and in constant danger, on board a vast starship trillions of miles from Earth, you alone must thwart the sinister machinations of both a maniacal rogue artificial intelligence and an unknown alien consciousness; starting out with nothing more than a wrench. You wake to find the ship empty of human life and in a disturbing series of pre-recorded messages, journals and psychokinetic emanations (ghosts), slowly the dismal fate of your crewmates are revealed. Never in any other game has fear been made so palpable, never has the desire to survive transcended into virtual reality so distinctly. Played on the hardest difficulty setting (highly recommended) every bullet, every skill point and every ounce of cunning must be used to navigate the tortuous corridors of your interstellar prison. The groans, ominous mantras and the cold whirr of defence turrets keeps you transfixed to the edge of your seat; the use of sound has never been used to such powerful effect. This is deep and involving on a level that almost no other game can match; employing the full use of an extensive range of weaponry, abundant psychic powers, skills, research trees, exotic cybernetic upgrades and gadgets. Ultimately System Shock 2 combines the depth and involvement of the best computer RPG's with the instant immersiveness typical of games from other genres. Merely describing the mechanics does not do this landmark title justice; the complete experience is one that will live on forever in video game legend. System Shock 2 gives a taste, just a taste, of what computer games could be. There can be no greater accolade.

Cyborgs in the night, exchanging glances . . .

Sshock2 - The Premier Fansite
System Shock 2 Mod Archive
Download from SnesOrama
Watch the Introduction at Youtube

*****

Of the many excellent titles that didn't make it, here are some of the best that I've played through; Anachronox, Uplink, Burn:Cycle, BioForge, Blade Runner and Cyber Mage. In compiling this list I've realized that though countless hundreds of games explore facets of the cyberpunk environment, characters, technology and to some extent ethos, very few embody the spirit of cyberpunk directly. Perhaps this lack of pure cyberpunk games can be linked to the computer game medium itself; after all when engrossed in an interactive electronic art form, controlled by an artificial intelligence, with the possibility of people from all over the world beamed through cyberspace and appearing as characters on your screen, the cyberpunk setting doesn't seem such a necessary place to visit. Whatever the reason; the titles that define cyberpunk as a gaming genre are amongst the most engrossing, relevant and enjoyable I've ever played. Thanks for taking a cursory glance at this list - we may meet again somewhere in cyberspace - now it is late and I must be logging off . . .

 

 

The Top 10 Best Steampunk Games

 

     Steampunk is a science fiction sub-genre that presents a beguiling anachronistic vision of the future: where Victorian technology has continued to evolve within its pre-silicon constraints resulting in a world profuse with brass gears, gaskets and valves. The spirit of invention still hangs thick in the air, as does the smog from a smelting forge and the steam from a passing locomotive: familiar modern technologies and their sociological offspring are still apparent, only the computer is a development of Babbage's Differential Engine and the internet a labyrinthine mesh of telegraph wires. There are similarities between steampunk and its cyberpunk namesake: the ironic anti-hero, the dominance of big-business (think more East India Company than Cyberdyne) and the disaffected urban milieu. Like many new genres it found itself at ease within the world of software / computer gaming and though the library of pure steampunk games may be niche its trappings can be found in some of the most successful games of all time: Morrowind, Final Fantasy VI & VII and Bioshock to name but a few. This list will eschew these blockbusters for games some may have missed and others that hold truer to their roots. I am by no means an expert and as always there are probably more classics omitted than presented but I shall shunt off regardless in the hope that some may be intrigued enough to develop their own personal list of coal powered classics. 

***** 

10: The Chaos Engine - Amiga / SNES

An early entry in the steampunk cannon, Chaos Engine (known as Soldiers of Fortune stateside) crafted by the British software house Bitmap Brothers, embodies everything explosive about the genre; from oversize blunderbuss to TNT laden automata. The titular Chaos Engine is a retro-engineered steam-driven computer of grotesque proportions that has overridden its own primitive circuitry in pursuit of world domination. Step up six diverse Victorian mercenaries who in search of coin and fame attempt, over the course of four maniacal worlds (each replete with pumping industrial soundtrack), to save the British Empire from this pickle. With an intriguing back-story, gripping two player mode and money driven character customisation; what was ostensibly an overhead shoot ’em up becomes a deep, atmospheric and above all challenging romp through quintessential steampunk territory. The appearance of mutants of varying smell and silliness promotes this title as a member of yet another nascent fiction genre: Genepunk or as it is sometimes known Biopunk.

A beautifully crafted bronze character development screen: yours for just £9.99

Excellent FAQ
Epic Longplay Youtube Video
Download from Edge Emulation
Entry at Lemon Amiga

9: Steel Empire - Sega Megadrive

Taking freely to the skies has been a lifelong obsession throughout mankind's history and it was only in the smog shrouded haze of the industrial revolution that it finally descended from fantasy and into the dirigibles, blimps and propeller driven beasts that populate the skies above the burgeoning steel empires of Earth. Indeed what better way to celebrate mankind's endless creativity than to blast them from out the sky in Hindenburgesque conflagrations whilst ladening your attack Zeppelin with cannons and bombs of all persuasions. Steel Empires would be a typical side-scrolling shoot ‘em up were it not for the presence of the superbly realised industrial backdrop with matching machineries of war, influenced in no small part by the classic Studio Ghibli film, Laputa: Castle in the Sky. By no means the only steampunk shoot ‘em up Steel Empires was one of the earliest to adopt the setting and remains the most fully artistically realised that I've played. There was a painting by Magritte in which he ominously silhouetted in black the strange forms of these new fangled flying machines, presaging their future utility. In pursuit of one of our earliest dreams - to soar as a bird: there loomed beneath our metal wings the shadow of death.

René Magritte, Le Drapeau noir [The Black Flag], 1937

Article at Blame the Control Pad 
Soundtrack at Zophar's Domain 
Download from Edge Emulation
Review at Sega-16

8: The Incredible Machine - PC

Alright, something of a lightweight thematically one may say: but this game and its many progeny embody the state of science and its sprocket laden trappings from around the time of the early industrial revolution (1800). Long before synchrotrons, scanning tunnelling microscopes or any atomic (nay quantum) view of the universe reared its confusing head. Science progressed hand in hand with invention and nowhere in gaming is this can-do approach to progress better emphasized than in the Incredible Machine. Given a seemingly simple objective (i.e. place ball in hoop) and an array of springs, drive belts and fans: the task throughout its many levels is simply to achieve your objective whether through an understanding of classical mechanics or just good ol’common sense: all that matters is the job gets done. It is partially this creative ad-hoc sense of invention that gives steam its punk.

Patent Refused

Download from Abandonia
TIM-Forums
Wikipedia Entry 
Article at Hardcore Gaming 101 

7: Wachenroder - Sega Saturn

From the same stable of tactical thoroughbreds; as Vanguard Bandits, Vandal Hearts and Shining Force, comes Wachenröder: a lesser known beast, having never been officially translated into English (though a high quality fan translation is available) and appearing only belatedly on the Sega Saturn. Your countless isometric battles take place in a stunning fog shrouded island world where steam power rules supreme; powering exotic weapons, all manner of transportation and a hodgepodge of gadgetry of which the bearded inventors of old would have been proud. The main city is divided, a’ la Metropolis, into two class dependent levels: with the proles left to wallow in the cess of the upper-class’s excess. It is in this mire that the protagonists sister develops a fatal condition that prompts his revenge laden tactical quest against the tyrannical King Wizar. The art direction is superb throughout (the game coming packaged with an exclusive industrial art-book) and it is this quality that staves off some of the tedium inherent in the endless succession of missions (though I find them strangely compelling). Bonus points are also awarded to a reference to Mervyn Peake’s masterful Gormenghast trilogy (one character being named Titus Groan).

Kasparov, stop kidding yourself: you know this is better than chess.

Review at Defunct Games
Complete English Script
Download from SnesOrama 
Wachenroder Art

6: Skies of Arcadia - Sega Dreamcast

A well loved RPG that first surfaced on the Dreamcast with a subsequent and slightly improved release on the Gamecube. Aside from familiar RPG tropes, Arcadia dazzles with incredible art direction and an exciting aerial world of floating cloud capped islands; home to lost cities, treasures and unreasonable monsters: reachable only by those magnificent men (or Buffon haired monosyllabic boys) in their flying machines. The setting is a Verne inspired world of high adventure and naturally the only way to travel is in your Zeppelin: battling rival ships and their crew as you go. Disembarking on occasion to peruse a passing dungeon, explore a town, and when you feel like it, to advance the plot. Discovery plays a key role in proceedings, many lands are uncharted and their whereabouts are worth bags of doubloons, courtesy of the sailor’s guild. Although suffering from a glut of random encounters the games strength is in the setting and no matter how many irksome bands of Dung Fly’s thwart your progress the desire to explore never leaves. Perhaps owing more to the age of adventure than the technology fuelled world of invention: Skies of Arcadia still packs a distinctly steam driven punch.

"Man overboard! . . . erm."

Ares Arcadia - Comprehensive Fansite
Download from SnesOrama 
Walkthrough's at GameFAQ's 
Skies of Arcadia World Forums 

5: Transarctica - PC

The locomotive, that great talisman of the industrial revolution has been perverted by greed beyond its visionary intent into a vast rail-bound corporate HQ, laden with ill gotten wealth and resources, guarded by corporate militia and steaming off towards noting less than total dominion of the globe. Yet this globe is not the pleasant Gaia we know and love, the sun has disappeared from the sky, plunging the world into an indefinite ice-age and more pressingly the woolly mammoth has re-emerged from its 10,000 year slumber to wreak terrible revenge upon mankind (only partially true). All that holds civilisation together are the vast rail networks monopolised by the ruthless Viking Union. This is a unique and compelling steampunk setting derived from the French novel La Compagnie des Glaces by Georges-Jean Arnaud: all the elements are present and accounted for; evil conglomerate, a Victorian technology ingeniously extrapolated and a desperate fight against the system. Having hijacked the armoured train Transarctica you are put in command of its resources (including much needed slave labour), weaponry and route management as you traverse the continent in an effort to rekindle the sun. Later appearing on PC, Atari and Macintosh the game has a cumbersome interface and a rushed English translation but these defects are more than compensated by the sheer imagination of the piece.

Aboard a train, under the doleful gaze of a mounted walrus: a man considers suicide. 

Entry at Home of the Underdogs
Download from Abandonia
Transarctica Forums 
Useful Gazetteer
 

4: Space 1889 - PC

 

Based upon an earlier pen and paper campaign setting, Space 1889 (perhaps a play on the similarly unlikely Space: 1999 TV show) is an RPG that posits the age of empire and adds the space race in for good measure. The British and other European powers have established permanent bases on Mars and Venus whilst the Japanese and Americans have secretly assembled subterranean technological enclaves. After setting off to solve the mystery of King Tut your six customised characters are whisked away on a solar system spanning adventure taking-in, Mercury, Venus and the Moon by way of the four mysterious corners of the Earth and Atlantis just for fun. Computers in principle yes, robots OK but space travel?! Surely this is one steampunk fiction gone too far: well yes and no. At first it seems that liftwood a rare anti-gravity material found only on Mars (and incorporated in the visiting Martian sky galleons) is the only expedient to other worlds but soon the ingenious Earthlings have cobbled together their own vast steam-driven sky barges capable of interplanetary travel, making use of the real (if fallacious) early scientific theory of luminiferous ether to make plausible their excursion. Verne, Wells, science and adventure: Space 1989 is a deep and captivating work of steampunk fiction.

Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the . . . vacuum.

Heliograph's Resource Site 
Official Space 1889 Homepage 
Download from My Abandonware  
Home of the Underdogs Entry 
 

3: Thief II: The Metal Age - PC

 

One of the most respected series on home computer Thief II departs slightly from the castellated setting of its predecessor and introduces a techno-cult (the Machinists) infatuated with the power of steam and its ability to infuse all manner of lumbersome contraptions with the semblance of life. Here the anachronism is even more pronounced as instead of transposing industrial technology into the future it makes its debut in the past, some 500 years before the invention of the motor. Nevertheless it blends in splendidly amidst the trebuchets and complex pulley systems of the medieval age and somehow seems less jarring than the organic monsters of the original. Already endowed with a superb engine, gameplay, characterisation and an original setting to be proud of, Thief II raises the bar higher still, granting those of a stealthy disposition ample reason to celebrate. Donning the cloak of Garret, master thief and sniper; you sneak, snoop and steal your way through the homes of nobility in an effort to garner both personal wealth and unveil the secret behind this new dark age of technology.

T-1

Thief: The Circle
Repository of Fan Missions 
Download from SnesOrama 
Through the Looking Glass Forums 
 

2: Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams - PC

The second and last in the short-lived Worlds of Adventure spin-off series from Ultima, Martian Dreams plays something like Space 1889 only with more emphasis on character, less on science - and perhaps an even more ludicrous premise. A note is found describing strange events at the legendary Crystal Palace World’s Fair circa 1851: Percival Lowell (the famous astronomer) loaded a space cannon with many pre-eminent figures of the time; Sigmund Freud and Marie Currie to name but two and mistakenly blasted them to Mars: where they promptly encountered an intelligent and industrious race of plants who after having abused a dream machine find themselves inhabiting another dimension, well I’m sure you can predict the rest . . . Your character creation is undertaken on Sigmund Freud’s couch and as the game unfolds, discussion plays as great a part as exploration, as you are blasted to Mars in a new design of Nikola Tesla’s invention to uncover the fate of those illustrious travellers. Dripping with quality dialogue Martian Dreams enacts an original and highly entertaining steampunk story with some camp 50’s sci-fi thrown aboard for good measure.

Having a favourite game map could just be the most pathetic thing in all history . . .

Martian Dreams: Lets Play Journal 
Download from Abandonia
Game Opening at Youtube 
Resources at Worlds of Ultima 
 

1: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura

This game oozes steampunk from every gasket yet its adherence to the genre is not why I place it number one. Possessed with a game world of ludicrous depth and notation, Arcanum deposits you amidst a world fractured between the emerging tenets of science and the old methods of magic: here necromancers rub shoulders with medics whilst alchemists loose precious business to chemists. Set loose in these confused times you must specialise in the fading mystical arts or embrace the new rational order as you are left to wander the vast and fractured landscape in search of a new life. Into this heady mix throw the world of Tolkien: with Orcs, Elves and his classic assortment of diminutive misfits, found lining the gangplanks to board Zeppelin or choosing to remain hidden in their fairytale retreats. Not only are technology and magic ideologically opposed, their very existence seems to frustrate the efficacy of the other. Magic users are forced into taking third class seats on trains, not simply due to technocratic bigotry, their very presence disrupts the workings of the engines. It is as if two dimensions with alternative natural laws had irrevocably collided. Massively open ended, yet with satisfying characters, concepts and plots around every corner, Arcanum is a tour de force.

Two hour commute sitting next to an orc . . . the banal side of fantasy.

Terra-Arcanum Resource Site 
Walkthrough at Mike's RPG Center
Download at SnesOrama  
Article at Brass Goggles

***** 

    Steampunk straddles many genres: the innate aesthetic value of hulking brass and copper gadgets (when machines were synonymous with craftsmanship) makes the setting an irresistible artistic backdrop to action. The historical, scientific and technological underpinnings allow for both an informative and unusually deep game world. The final ingredient is the sense of exploration and discovery, taking as its cue the stories of H.G Wells, Jules Verne and the exploits of empire. Like cyberpunk there are close ties with Japanese animation, Steamboy, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Age of Wonder are but a few deserving mentions. Novels I’m familiar with include The Land Leviathan, Perdido Street Station and Titus Alone (perhaps even Erewhon) and from the realm of cinema I would mention Metropolis and The City of Lost Children. Like cyberpunk, steampunk is above all a technologically fuelled genre: stipulating a scientific advance and watching how humanity reacts to increasingly inhuman and remarkable circumstances. Thus it should come as no surprise that steampunk's place amongst the computer hardware of the present is secure: were it not we would have to travel back in time and invent it.