Name these strange older PC games
October 24, 2008 7:11 PM

PC-game-filter: I vaguely remember reading about these games years ago, help me remember what they were and bonus points for where to "obtain" them. 1) A game about B-movie like monsters --or maybe it was a make your own monster and set it loose on a city with a "movie mode" tacked on? 2) A game where you control a bizarre floating island that you build into a "battle ship", with jet engines, guns and even a battering ram.

More info:

#1) The "Monster Game" I remember reading a review/preview of it about 4-7 years ago. The premise was you could make (or recreate) famous B-movie monsters and set them loose in a simulated city. I think the review mentioned specifically as examples Giant Ants, but I got the impression things like Giant lizards, blobs, aliens were also part of it too. I remember the review said something like if you do enough damage the Army shows up to fight you.

Somehow I think there was also some sort of "movie mode" where it would go into black and white and you could watch a cinematic replay of the damage you wrought on the city. I am PRETTY SURE that the movie making was NOT a primary part of the game, just a bonus (so I'm not confusing this with the recent Movie-maker games... this was certainly years before those titles).

#2 The floating battle Island game. This one I read a review of about 5-10 years ago. If it helps it was a PC gamer review and I specifically remember the reviewer comparing the feel of the game to a "MC Escher painting where giant lizards are floating on an Island in space" or something like this.

The general premise was a sort of space battle/city builder (I guess). But I specifically remember the review talking about how you could build/buy jet engines to strap onto your island to make it move, and then you buy a mix if different ranged weaponry (from catapults to cannons and *I THINK* futuristic stuff like lasers... and for CERTAIN a battering ram) and stuff like that. Then I guess your battle island fights other battle islands.

Again, all of the above information was from PC game magazine reviews (I never actually played either of these games), so be skeptical of my game-play descriptions accordingly. I cannot remember which magazine the "Monster-movie" one was (and in fact it may have been a "PREview" so I don't know if the game was even released), but the "battle island"one was almost certainly from PC gamer and a review.

I'd be content just to know the names of these games as it has bugged me for years looking for them... and of course would really thrill me if I could DL and play them. THANKS HIVE MIND!
posted by DetonatedManiac to Computers & Internet (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
Game #2, I'm entirely sure, is Stratosphere.
posted by ZaphodB at 7:19 PM on October 24, 2008


Game number 1 - I Was An Atomic Mutant, for sure. "Has anyone seen Steve? Steve!"
posted by TheManChild2000 at 7:57 PM on October 24, 2008


i have been trying to remember Stratosphere for ages! thank you!
posted by darkpony at 12:13 AM on October 25, 2008


For game #1, if you're further back than 4-7 years, there was a Commodore 64 game called _Movie Monsters_ that I played quite a bit circa 1988-90 (?).

That's probably too far back for what you're talking about, but thanks for the nostalgia. :)
posted by trouserbat at 7:42 AM on October 25, 2008


Ah, found it: The Movie Monster Game. (2)
posted by trouserbat at 7:48 AM on October 25, 2008


This is a total shot in the dark, and it's for PS2 and not PC, but your description of the first game made me think of War of the Monsters. Don't know about that replay mode though...
posted by Monster_Zero at 7:49 AM on October 25, 2008


Ah! And this review says,

"A nice touch was that each game would bookend with a quick sequence inside a movie theatre, complete with opening and closing credits, playing into the idea that the game itself was actually a film being watched by an audience. It’s a theme that would resurface again years later in the War of the Monsters game, which featured a menu based around a drive-in movie theatre lot.

Is that it?
posted by trouserbat at 7:52 AM on October 25, 2008


« Older Scanned mail while traveling   |   WSXGA+ LED, where art thou? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.