Home Alone (Sega Genesis)

Home Alone is a video game based on the popular Home Alone movie. In my opinion, the movie is one of the best holiday movies of all time. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said about the game. The movie was released in late 1990 to coincide with the holiday season while the game came out in late 1990 or early 1991 depending on the system.

Home Alone was developed by a few different developers for several different systems. The Sega Genesis version (along with the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear versions) were developed by Sega of America. Again, depending on the system the games have slightly different plots though they all are based on the concept of stopping or evading the Wet Bandits (the antagonists from the movie). In the Sega Genesis version the player (as Kevin) must actually protect multiple houses in the neighborhood, fighting them off with a BB gun or other weapons that he finds. If he does this for the allotted time then the game is won. If all the houses are successfully robbed by The Wet Bandits then the game is over.

However, while the Genesis may have slightly better graphics than, for example, the NES version, all versions of the game are pretty terrible. This was clearly a quickly thrown together game to cash in on the immense popularity of the movie. It seems to be rare that you find a quality game that is based on a movie and this one is not an exception.

In addition to the Sega Genesis, this game was also available for the Game Gear, Sega Master System, NES, Game Boy and Super NES. There was also an obscure remake for the PS2 in 2006 that was released only in Europe and was even more terrible than this one.

Maximum PC (July 2005)

Maximum PC (and 'boot' before it) was my favorite PC magazine. It was a sister magazine to Mac Addict and both were enthusiast magazines for their respective platforms. The July 2005 issue of Maximum PC includes:

Maximum PC (July 2005)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (493-496)

All of the photos in this set were taken in the late 1960s and they were all likely taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first photo was processed in December 1966 and is labeled 'Xmas 66'. This looks like a family Christmas dinner.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (493-496)

Zzap! (April 1990)

Zzap! (April 1990)

I spent a lot of time with a Commodore 64 growing up and it was primary gaming program from 1987 to 1993 even though I also had an NES and Super NES along the way. I wish there had been a Commodore 64 specific game magazine here in the U.S. but there wasn't. I didn't know about this U.K. published magazine until many years later. Though it covered the Amiga a little for a short time, it was always primarily a Commodore 64 gaming magazine. The April 1990 issue includes:

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (489-492)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (489-492)

All of the photos in this set were taken in the late 1960s, and all were likely taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first photo was processed in April 1968. This looks like maybe some kind of party. The two older women have flowers but I don't have enough context to know exactly what was going on.

The One (February 1991)

The One is a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While it would eventually become an Amiga exclusive magazine, in early 1991 it was still also covering the PC and Atari ST. The February 1991 issue includes:

The One (February 1991)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Sega Genesis)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist is essentially TMNT: Turtles in Time remade for the Sega Genesis. The controls are mostly the same, the gameplay is essentially unchanged, though the levels are somewhat different. There are five levels and they are a combination of new levels made for this game and others based on Turtles in Time and the original TMNT arcade game.

Between the two, the Super Nintendo version is really the better version. More colorful graphics, smoother animation and it’s neat being able to fling your enemies towards the screen. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with the Genesis version and if you are looking for more of the same style game play as Turtles in Time then Hyperstone Heist is a good choice (assuming you have a Genesis of course). The reverse is true also. Hyperstone Heist only had about half the levels of Turtles in Time but they were much longer levels. The speed at difficulty level in Hyperstone Heist was a bit higher.

Both Hyperstone Heist and Turtles in Time were released by Konami in 1992. The arcade version of Turtles in Time has seen re-releases as a bonus in TMNT 3: Mutant Nightmare for the PS2, GameCube and Xbox. In 2009 a 3D remake was released via Xbox Live and the PS3 PlayStation Network. I’m not aware of any remakes or re-releases specifically of Hyperstone Heist. The images above are from Hyperstone Heist on the Sega Genesis.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (485-488)

All of the photos in this set were taken in the 1960s, probably in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (485-488)

Byte: The Small Systems Journal (November 1980)

You had to be pretty hardcore to be computing in 1980. However, Byte was there to help you along. It covered all kinds of systems and much of the content was highly technical. The November 1980 issue includes:

Byte: The Small Systems Journal (November 1980)

Mean Streets (Commodore 64)

Mean Streets was the first of a series of games featuring Tex Murphy as the protagonist. Mean Streets, which was released in 1989 by Access, was the only one in the series available on the Commodore 64. This was one of those games I always wanted but never got to play. What’s not appealing about a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk mystery? In addition to being available on the Commodore 64, it was also of course available on DOS based PCs where it was first developed. It was also ported to the Amiga and Atari ST but only in Europe for some reason.

The game is essentially a graphic adventure but there are other elements, including even a 3D flight sim. You, as Tex Murphy are investigating the mysterious death of a college professor who was seen falling from a bridge and had previously been working on a secret project. The police think it was suicide but his daughter is convinced it was murder.

The PC version was one of the first to support 256 color VGA graphics on the PC and also introduced a technique for creating digitized voices and other advanced sound using just the PC speaker without a sound card. The Commodore 64 version paled in comparison in these regards (though it seems they could have done better with the sound if they had wanted to). However, the consensus seems to be that the playability is nearly as good as the PC version and that’s what is most important. I’m not sure how the Amiga and Atari ST ports fared.

Sequels included Martian Memorandum released in 1991, Under a Killing Moon released in 1994, The Pandora Directive released in 2009 and Tesla Effect in 2014. The original was also remade in 1998 as Tex Murphy: Overseer. None of these made it to the Commodore 64 though.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (481-484)

The first two photos were processed in August 1979 and show people water skiing on a lake or river probably somewhere in Michigan.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (481-484): All of the photos in this set were take in in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters (Sega Genesis)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters was released on three different systems but it was essentially three different games as opposed to being ports of the same game. While the same basic concept exists in all of them, that is the turtles have to fight in a tournament, the story, characters, locations and controls among other aspects of the game vary greatly between the different versions. This game was released by Konami for the NES (the last Konami game for this system), Super NES and Sega Genesis between 1993 and 1994.

In the Sega Genesis version pictured above, the player travels throughout Dimension X fighting clones of themselves among other enemies. The general consensus seems to be that the Super Nintendo version is the best by a slight margin and the NES version is not surprisingly the worst but they are really all different games and all worth having if you are a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan.

Digital Archaeology: Fujitsu LifeBook N6420

The Fujitsu LifeBook N6420 is a Core 2 Duo based laptop that was released circa 2006. In an era when the laptop market was dominated by HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc., the LifeBook line by Fujitsu was somewhat less common. Unlike various Dell and HP models which came in a multitude of configurations, the LifeBook N6420 seems to have only had two basic configurations. Overall, it seems to have been a relatively high end model though not quite rising to the level of professional workstation or gaming powerhouse.

Digital Archaeology: Fujitsu LifeBook N6420

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (477-480)

Most of the photos in this set were processed in the early 1980s and were likely taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first photo is the exception. It is undated but is labeled "Playground - Marburg". It looks like it was taken in the 1960s and I'm assuming this is Marburg, Germany.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (477-480)

Byte (December 1985)

Byte was perhaps the best multi-format computer magazine there was, particularly if you wanted something more technical. Eventually, it mostly just covered the PC but that was just a reflection of the market. The December 1985 issue was huge at over 500 pages and includes:

Byte (December 1985)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (473-476)

All of the photos in this set were taken in the 1960s and were all likely taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first three photos were all processed in August 1961 and are all labeled 'Bud Maries 61'. This looks like some kind of a party at the home of who I assume were friends of the photographer.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (473-476)

PC World (September 1986)

If you had an IBM PC or compatible in the 1980s or 1990s, PC World was probably the magazine you wanted. It was certainly one of the most popular and perhaps the best all around PC magazine. The September 1986 issue includes:

PC World (September 1986)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (469-472)

All of the photos in this set were taken circa 1974 and were likely taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first photo was processed in February 1974 and was taken at a toddler's birthday party. Check out the homemade Winnie the Pooh cake.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (469-472)

Herzog Zwei (Sega Genesis)

Herzog Zwei was an early real-time strategy game released for the Sega Genesis in 1990. It actually predates and influenced the development of Dune II which is often credited with popularizing the genre. The player controls a flying mech from which they can purchase and deploy/redeploy and assign tasks to various ground units throughout various missions/levels.

Ironically, the game received pretty mixed reviews when it was released but retrospective reviews have been much better. For example, Electronic Gaming Monthly game the game a score of 4.25/10 upon release yet included it in its list of top 100 games (at number 43) in 1997. I think it was a case of limited experience with and not enough time to explore what was really a new genre at the time.

A sequel was planned on the 32X but that plan died with the early demise of the 32X. There have been no official sequels or re-releases since.

The One (January 1995)

The One is a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. While it originally also covered the PC and Atari ST, by 1995 it was only covering the Amiga. The January 1995 issue includes:

The One (January 1995)