With Taito’s magnificent Elevator Action Returns featuring as our tournament this week, what better time to have a look at some of the amazing sequels we have on offer at Antstream Arcade.
Whether it’s more of the same fantastic gameplay or a fresh angle on your favourite game, here are the fabulous follow-ups worth checking out now!
Elevator Action Returns
There are eleven years between this sequel and its forebear, the cartoon style Elevator Action,
released into arcades in 1983. And while the basic concept is the same – the player uses an elevator to go up and down successive buildings in search of various secret files and caches – there’s a lot more to Elevator Action Returns with three playable characters, additional weapons and exploding environmental objects such as barrels. Keen to test your lift-based skills? Then stay on this floor for the Antstream Arcade Elevator Action Returns tournament, springing into action soon!
Xenon 2
The Bitmap Brothers’ fanciful and bizarre visual style had been firmly established by the time it
released this follow-up to its first shoot-‘em-up hit, Xenon. Dubbed the Megablast, there’s an
organic beauty to the shooting action of Xenon 2 and it’s accompanied by some corking tunes from electronic music wizard Tim Simenon, AKA Bomb The Bass.
The Last Ninja 2
Regarded by many as the absolute pinnacle of Commodore 64 gaming, The Last Ninja 2 is a
technically amazing piece of programming, and a game to test both the reflexes and brain cells.
Featuring hugely improved visuals and animation, the varied scenarios are a joy to behold in this first Last Ninja sequel, making it a treat to play, even over thirty years later.
Back to Skool
So you thought sandbox games started in the Nineties with Grand Theft Auto? Think again, because the dear old ZX Spectrum was boasting open world free-to-do-what-you-want games, even back in the mid-Eighties. Playing a cheeky schoolboy by the name of Eric, this sequel has a very significant addition: girls! The challenge is to return Eric’s school report to the headmaster’s safe, and there’s all manner of other hijinks that can be enjoyed for those of a mischievous disposition…and don’t forget to kiss your girlfriend!
Deliverance: Stormlord 2
Ace coder Raffaele Cecco created a number of 8-bit classics in particular, and many of them are
available on Antstream Arcade. Smoothing out some of the arcade-adventure elements of the
original game, Stormlord 2 is a purer arcade experience, although there are still plenty of nubile
faeries waiting for you to rescue them!
Zool 2
That mysterious ninja of the Nth dimension, Zool, is back, and for this sequel he’s joined by the
svelte Zooz and his two-headed pet dog, Zoon. As with the original, there are plenty of colourful
levels to explore and lightning fast gameplay to experience. Can you defeat the despicable Krool and foil his plan to bring terrible ennui to the Nth dimension?
Jumpman Jr
Epyx’s Jumpman Jr is definitely a case of more of the same, as the player takes on the role of
another secret spy, defusing bombs and dodging aliens around a space station peppered with
multiple levels and ladders. With its selectable speed, there’s a stiff challenge here for any gamer
willing to take on the mantle of Jumpman Jr.
Target Renegade
Target Renegade is one of a handful of sequels to arcade games that originated on home systems,
and one of the best examples of this strange sub-genre. Throughout its gritty urban levels, either
one or two players take on assorted malicious gang members, using their fists and feet to pummel
them and avenge your brother.
Boulderdash II: Rockford’s Revenge
Like Jumpman Jr, Boulderdash II does little to change the gameplay of its illustrious predecessor –
but when the game is as incredible and well-balanced as Boulderdash, there’s no need! In Rockford’s Revenge there are more tricky underground caverns to explore and gems to recover – just be careful you don’t get trapped!
Speedball 2
Oh go on then, let’s have another Bitmap Brothers sequel! While Speedball set the template for a
violent futuristic blend of handball and ice hockey in 1988, it was this sequel, subtitled Brutal Deluxe and released two years later, that further ramped up the violence, action and fun. More
competitions, players and score multipliers all combine to make this ferocious sequel a fierce
winner.
Looking for more sequels on Antstream Arcade? You can also try out Thing Bounces Back, Re-
Bounder, Pit-Stop II and Impossible Mission II over on the Commodore 64, while Cybernoid II, Ikari Warriors II and Metal Slug 2 should satisfy those of you with an itchy trigger finger!
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