Meet Wildcat's big brother

"Blazing your way to glory" in Wings of Fury initially rests on one's ability to successfully lift off from an aircraft carrier situated in the Pacific Ocean. A tricky task that flummoxes many newcomers to such an extent that they give up at the first hurdle, never to fully appreciate the joys of the horizontally scrolling, arcade-strategy flight sim that captivated my inner Maverick as a child. As the pilot of an F6F Hellcat deeply entrenched in America's World War II campaign against the ferocious Imperial Japanese army, our pivotal contribution comprises mowing down exposed foot soldiers patrolling the beaches, eliminating bunkers, machine gun nests and barracks, torpedoing battleships into oblivion and engaging in high-altitude, spine-tingling dogfights.

If you struggled to get airborne from the outset, good luck touching down again to refuel, replenish ammunition supplies and carry out repairs! You'll soon discover that fighter planes are far less efficient resting on the seabed 50ft below the surface.

This article is also available as a video presentation on YouTube.

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More fox than you can sheikh a golden scooter at

During the height of the super-cute platformer game era, Titus' contribution was to lend their mascot, Titus the Fox, to the cause. It's an entertaining, solidly constructed effort enlivened with charming graphics, albeit one hampered by excessively rapid motion and infuriating inertia. Interaction with springs, weaponised crates, skateboards and magic carpets further enhance the above-average offering better-known in France for its association with humorist, TV presenter, singer and actor, Vincent Lagaf. In the original iteration, Lagaf is the playable protagonist rather than Titus the Fox.

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Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

Boasting gameplay mechanics more addictive than heroin on toast, Rainbow Islands is a strong contender for the best arcade game of all time, ever. As if you needed convincing, I wax lyrical listing all the multifarious reasons nothing else comes close. I hope you've packed your Speedos and a towel; this could take a while!

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Warning - May contain Timets

Prior to release, NEON Software's Amiga version of Mr Nutz (subtitled Hoppin' Mad) was known as 'Timet: the Flying Squirrel'. How Timet ended up starring an anthropomorphic squirrel taken from a totally different Ocean Software game, Mr Nutz for various consoles, developed by Ocean France, is an intriguing story. I assess both of the immensely fun, lusciously beautiful pixel art platformers, as well as tracing the fascinating history of their origin tails with a bit of help from some of the developers.

This article is also available as a video documentary on my YouTube channel if you'd rather experience it that way. It features some previously unseen, original Timet artwork, which I have artist Antony Christoulakis to thank for.

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Jumpers for goalposts

Reviews of Sensible Soccer's Cannon Fodder have never been so much fun! I analyse the life out of the masterpiece, spinning off into two separate articles. One covering the origins of the 'Boot Hill' graveyard scene, and another that dissects the overinflated controversy concerning a certain red flower used as a charity organisation emblem by the British Legion.

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