Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Twitch
    Game on Aus
    • News
      What’s coming to PlayStation Plus in June 2023?

      Whatโ€™s coming to PlayStation Plus in June 2023?

      June 1, 2023

      IT’S JUNE! โ€” and that means two things: it is officially the rainy season & it’s time for the next…

      ANZPL Split 1 2023 Trophy

      ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals: Champions Crowned

      May 30, 2023

      This is it. The ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals.ย Who would win the Lower Final and make it to the Grand Final to face the Skorpions?

      Company of Heroes 3 Xbox console give-away

      Company of Heroes 3 Xbox console give-away

      May 30, 2023

      TODAY’S release of the Company of Heroes 3 Console Edition released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, FiveStarGames…

      Assassin’s Creed: Mirage details emerge

      Assassin’s Creed: Mirage details emerge

      May 25, 2023

      AT the PlayStation Showcase this morning there was a few moments of excitement for me, one of them being the…

      PlayStation ’23 Showcase report

      PlayStation ’23 Showcase report

      May 25, 2023

      PlayStation went ahead with its PlayStation Showcase earlier this morning and kicked off the old E3-style season presentation of a…

      View All
    • Reviews
      Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

      Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

      September 6, 2023

      The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than…

      Hyper Karting and Hyper VR street signage

      Hyper Karting & Reality Hyper Amazing!

      June 7, 2023

      I recently visited Hyper Karting, a go-kart and VR centre in Sydney. As well as the go-karts, I was very keen to experience Hyper Reality.

      Company of Heroes 3 (Console Edition) – Tactical Brilliance

      Company of Heroes 3 (Console Edition) – Tactical Brilliance

      June 5, 2023

      Company of Heroes 3 marks the highly anticipated return of the critically acclaimed real-time strategy franchise to consoles. Developed by…

      Diablo 4 Review – A Dark and Thrilling Return to Glory

      Diablo 4 Review – A Dark and Thrilling Return to Glory

      May 31, 2023

      Diablo 4 is the long-awaited continuation of the iconic action role-playing game series developed by Blizzard Entertainment. I had the…

      Alienware AW510K Low-Profile RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

      Alienware AW510K Low-Profile RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

      May 25, 2023

      When I reviewed the Alienware AW720M Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Mouse at the start of the year, I came away intrigued…

      View All
    • Podcasts
      Nuts & Bolts Ep 84 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 84: What Is The LCS Doing?

      June 3, 2023

      The World Of Tanks ANZPL LAN Finals have decided the Split 1 champions. Jim takes us through the action! Lots…

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 83 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 83: Let’s Get Down To Business

      May 20, 2023

      There’s lots to cover this week. Join Mercury and Jim as the World Of Thanks ANZPL heads towards their LAN…

      The Weekly Show Ep 279 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 279: Tech Issues: The Show

      May 19, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 82 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 82: We Missed You!

      May 13, 2023

      It’s been a couple of weeks so Jim and Mercury catch up to talk all things Dreamhack Melbourne. Plus Snoop…

      The Weekly Show Ep 278 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 278: Look Who Just Drops In

      May 12, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      View All
    • Categories
      • BY PLATFORM
        • Playstation
        • Xbox
        • Nintendo
        • PC
        • Mobile
        • VR
        • Retro
      • BY GENRE
        • Action
        • Action-Adventure
        • Battle Royale
        • Fighting
        • FPS
        • Horror Games
        • RPG
        • Simulation
        • Sports
        • MMORPG
        • MOBA
        • Platformer
        • Strategy
        • Survival
        • Indie
      • GOA ESSENTIALS
        • Esports
        • Conventions
        • Tabletop
        • Hardware
        • Funny
        • Streaming
        • Win
        • Podcast
        • Video
    • More
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
    Game on Aus
    Home ยป Retro Rocks Review: It Came From The Desert
    Retro Rocks Review: It Came From The Desert
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Retro Rocks Review: It Came From The Desert

    Dan van der MeerBy Dan van der MeerMay 12, 2020
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    For long time readers of GOA’s Retro Rocks Series, you’ll know that I have a long lost love affair with the long lost game publisher Cinemaware. Back in the late ’80s (yes, I’m that old), they were the “Rockstar” of video games (mind you, they released games more often than Rockstar, but that’s another story).

    Cinemaware were as eclectic as they were groundbreaking. They’d go from producing a “TV Sports” type franchise and then release a game about the Three Stooges.

    Today’s Retro Rocks Review: It Came From The Desert, is straight out of the “we didn’t see that coming” folder.

    At the time, this game was huge! It was so different to anything we’d seen and once again, the team at Cinemaware produced the goods.

    For the uninitiated, the game sees you play geologist Dr. Greg Bradley. A meteor has crashed near Lizard Breath, California on June 1, 1951, and it’s your mission to study the crash site.

    Pretty early on, you realise that radiation from the crash has mutated the local ant population into gigantic bloody beasts, and it’s your role to stop them reproducing and taking over the world.

    It’s also your job to convince the local rednecks that this is real and it is happening (sort of like what’s going on right now in the US of A).

    The beauty of this game is that (again, groundbreaking), it was considered to be in real time. You had a specific amount of calendar days (in-game) in order to complete it, so the time pressure was real, but it actually felt like you were on the go, trying to sort this problem and save the world.

    Visually, the game (again, for its time) was AMAZING! It looks quite lame now but back in its day, these were next level graphics.

    If you’ve got a spare 10, watch a bit of this to get a feel for it.

    WATCH:

    The gameplay was various, and again, this was groundbreaking for the time. Sometimes you were first person, sometimes you were top down, sometimes it was a point and click adventure. It all made sense and all added to the theatre of what you were doing.

    If you don’t believe how groundbreaking this was at the time, we found this. A trailer to a pulpy movie made about this exact video game. As Pete and I always attest, there are so many games that would make epic movies, and this is a prime example of that.

    WATCH:

    Some years back, Cinemaware had a bit of a resurgence, delving into the world on apps and re-releasing some of their classics. Sadly, some Googling shows that the resurgence may have been short lived.

    We did find this, so if you’re not keen on firing up an emulator, this could be the go.

    Either way, this is yet another epic title in what was a run of epic titles when this little guy writing this was running around in short shorts.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous Article7th Sector Review
    Next Article LOSE YOUR MINDS! Tony Hawk 1+2 Remasters Announced And The Internet Is Breaking!

    Related Posts

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!
    GAMING REVIEWS September 6, 2023

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

    The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than…

    Hyper Karting and Hyper VR street signage
    GAMING REVIEWS June 7, 2023

    Hyper Karting & Reality Hyper Amazing!

    I recently visited Hyper Karting, a go-kart and VR centre in Sydney. As well as the go-karts, I was very keen to experience Hyper Reality.

    Subscribe

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    Ads

    Categories
    • ACTION
    • ACTION-ADVENTURE
    • APPLE
    • BATTLE ROYALE
    • CLOUD GAMING
    • CONVENTIONS
    • DLC
    • ESPORTS
    • Events
    • FEATURE
    • FIGHTING
    • FPS
    • FUNNY
    • GAMING HARDWARE
    • GAMING NEWS
    • GAMING REVIEWS
    • GIFT GUIDE
    • GOA
    • GOA PODCAST
    • HORROR GAMES
    • INDIE GAMING
    • Industry
    • MMORPG
    • MOBA
    • MOBILE
    • NINTENDO
    • Open-World
    • OPINION
    • PC
    • PLATFORMER
    • PLAYSTATION
    • Press Release
    • PREVIEW
    • RACING
    • RETRO
    • RPG
    • SIMULATION
    • SPORTS
    • STRATEGY
    • STREAMING
    • SUBSCRIPTION GAMES SERVICE UPDATES
    • SURVIVAL
    • TABLETOP GAMING
    • TECH
    • VIDEO
    • VR
    • XBOX
    Related Article
    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

    September 6, 2023Zak BearmanBy Zak Bearman

    The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than many other NVME PCI-E…

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!
    GAMING HARDWARE

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!

    July 13, 2023Zak BearmanBy Zak Bearman

    Our friends at Crucial offered us an opportunity to review some of their Pro series memory! Me being the avid gamer and hardware savant…

    Hyper Karting and Hyper VR street signage
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Hyper Karting & Reality Hyper Amazing!

    June 7, 2023Darren 'Str8JaktJim' MacneallBy Darren 'Str8JaktJim' Macneall

    I recently visited Hyper Karting, a go-kart and VR centre in Sydney. As well as the go-karts, I was very keen to experience Hyper Reality.

    Game on Australia Logo

    Game On Aus is an Australian games publication working across written, video and podcast, and supported by an ever-growing community of content creators and fans!

    Copyright GameOnAus 2023. Privacy Policy. Website by Digital Hitmen

    CONTENT
    • News
    • Gaming Reviews
    • Podcast
    • Tech
    • Indie
    ABOUT GOA
    • About Us
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.