Looking back, 1988 in Australia was a weaker year for games in my opinion. Sure it was the year my purchase of the Sega Master System was finally paying off with some good titles. But unlike 1987, games like Mario 2 had to wait until 1989 if you lived in Australia. 1988 highlights for me were Zak McCracken, Kings Quest IV and the champion title of 1988 Metroid.Â
Without a doubt the best game of the year for me. I remember playing this game non-stop for months on end after school until I clocked it. Big, huge, entertaining, this one is still one of my favorites even today.
Thanks to Maniac Mansion the year earlier, I hounded and hounded my Mum if I could get this game for the computer, I even said I would buy it with my pocket money. Finally Mum allowed it and this was the first PC game I brought. At the time I loved it, but it was always too hard for me to finish at 11 years old. But it still stuck with me. Years later I went back, finished it and still love it today.
I had never played a Wonder boy title before and never played another one after this. Monster Land was a fun platformer which gave me a bigger appreciation of the platform genre, but this was as good as it got for Wonder Boy in my opinion.
One of Mum's games, KQ4 was my first introduction to the series. At the time, playing on the PC was a rare affair for me. My parents mainly used it for work. They figured that I had my consoles, so my PC playing was limited. Thankfully, this would change. But what I did play I enjoyed.
While I liked, but didn't love Zelda. I purchased Zelda II at the time hoping that I'd like this one more than the original, and I did. But still not enough for it to warrant me finish it even after my appreciation of the Zelda games started with A Link To The Past. But like I said 1988 was pretty average for games looking back so it gets on this list.
This was an instant purchase for me on the Master System. I'd enjoyed the game at the arcades and now I could enjoy it at home. My main gripe was the game play had changed. You didn't have to save all the hostages on a level to advance, which sort of diminished the experience for me slightly. Faithful port otherwise.
Many the gobbler of 20 cent coins. I was master of this game at the local arcades. I still think of this one fondly.
There's nothing more that can really be said about Double Dragon. The seminal fighting game faithfully ported to the Master System.
More secret game playing. Again I snuck a good play of Dad's copy of this game. Still couldn't get through it because A)There was never enough time or I could be caught and B)Typing adventure games were still hard for me.
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