Time Lord (1990). Play online

Summary

Time Lord drops you into 2999 where the alien Drakkons threaten Earth with a time‑travel weapon. As a hired fortune‑hunter I blast back to four pivotal eras—medieval England, the Wild West, the Caribbean pirate age, and WWII France—searching for golden orbs that fuel our only hope. Each level begins unarmed; gift‑wrapped packages hide period‑appropriate gear like swords, knives, firearms and even laser pistols. Rare’s clever use of oblique projection makes the side‑scroller feel almost three‑dimensional, adding a strange depth to the platforming challenges.

A ruthless six‑second‑per‑day clock means one in‑game year squeezes into just over 36 minutes of real time, and there are no continues to cheat death. The pressure builds as you must grab all five orbs before confronting the Drakkon King back in the present. This brutal timer and the scarcity of lives give the title a tense, “beat the clock” vibe that still feels fresh for NES fans today.

Storyline

In the year 2999 Earth is under siege by the alien empire of Drakkon, which has deployed time‑traveling forces to rewrite history. The player steps into the shoes of the unnamed Time Lord, a lone operative equipped with a time‑machine that will self‑destruct on January 1, 3000 if the mission fails. The game’s four stages span distinct eras: a medieval English battlefield in 1250, a Caribbean skirmish in 1650, a Western‑front clash in the United States just before the Civil War in 1860, and a World‑War‑II fight in France in 1943. In each period the Time Lord must defeat the Drakkon invaders and restore the proper timeline. Success across all four eras prevents the alien conquest and saves both the present and the future.