Classic Replay

The number of great looking games on the CPC might  be few and far between, but can anyone remember a beauty from Gremlin called “Switchblade”? There are in my opinion few games that can hold a candle to Switchblade in the looks and playability department. (Bloody long time we waited to). On something of a crusade to prove just how good Switchblade is, I’ll go as far to say that in a straight fight, Switchblade blows away shed loads of competition; Gryzor and Resistance included. Switchblade is a classy-looking 2D platformer, its visuals are undeniably endearing, but for me it’s the feeling you get from playing. You play a young superhero known as ‘Hiro’, the last protector of the Blade Knights. The trouble is ‘Hiro’ has lost his sword; the ‘Fireblade’. It got  smashed whilst out jogging in the Underc...

Once again,  it’s up to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to come to the rescue! Once again Shredder’s after world domination and has kidnapped April and your sensei Splinter (a giant rat) in order to hold them, until completing his plan. April and Splinter are being hidden deep within the bowels of the Technodrome, which just happens to be heavily fortified and primed full of traps. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  is an action packed game based on the late eighties/early nineties movie and cartoon series of the same name. You play as the Pizza eating Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, and have the ability to swap between turtles at the beginning of each battle.  Gameplay takes place from a side scrolling perspective, with most of the action taking place on foot. In addition to each turtl...

Imagine a game with countless doors. Opening one, you find yourself outside of  a well known food chain. Behind another is a music store or ammunition shop, and yet another is filled with evil-red eyed Zombies offering to kill you with a single bite. You’ve heard of Disney Land, well this is Zombie Land, a monstrous shop till you drop of pain. Zombi is loosely based on ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ You control the actions of four survivors – Alex, Sylvie, Yan and Patrick. Your helicopter has run low on fuel, and in an emergency you have to land on the rooftop of a nearby shopping mall. Your mission is to get more fuel and fly the hell outta there. Just like in the film you must navigate your way through a vast shopping mall whilst trying to avoid flesh eating Zombies and contact with other surviving humans hell bent on stealing your ride. Zombi is an adventure game which incorporates animated point and click graphics, as opposed to an arcade ...

Set in ancient Persia, Jordan Mechner’s game follows a tale loosely based on the book ‘One Thousand and One Nights’. The story goes; many moons ago a rich Sultan is called to arms in a bid to protect his land against the enemies of Persia. Whilst away fighting in a distant land the Sultan’s Grand Vizier made an illegal claim for the throne.  The Viziers evil knew no bounds, and his insatiable desire for death and destruction seeped throughout the Persian kingdom, destroying the very fabric of Persian life.  Only a rag-tag unlikely hero is prepared to stand against the Grand Vizier, a humble man with dreams of glory, who one day hopes for the hand of the Sultan’s daughter. The Prince, our hero, is imprisoned, since Jaffar (the Grand Vizier) also has designs on the Princess. Knowing about the history between them, Jaffar also imprisons the Princess, giving her an ultimatum and one hour to decide, marry him or die.    The game starts with an amazi...

In development since 2008, the journey through the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girlfriends is finally on! Right now... CPC style! The game-play remains as simple as ever. You'll need to corner, capture and surrender all enemies using your bubble blowing antics before they can escape. It wouldn't be fair to compare BB4CPC with the other 8-bit versions, especially when considering the time line. Instead, what we have here is the best damn conversion, we could have ever wished for, on the humble CPC. It completely trounces Firebirds effort of the 1980's, and unlike the CPC original, in this new version, the bubbles can't simply be popped by walking straight into them (I always hated that). This time around, we've been treated to the original infectious theme tune, cute sprites, strategic game-play, oodles of secrets, tight controls and a largely responsive, albeit hit and miss Jumping system (Somethings gotta give). As usual, with this type of CPC game, B...

The infamous ‘Oliver Twins’ better known under the Codies label, primarily developed and released all their games on the CPC and Speccy. The brilliant thing about their lingering, albeit fringe popularity, is it is largely down to the hard boiled adventurer. As a character; Dizzy has appeared on nearly every format, maybe even rivalling Mario and Sonic in terms of appearances. Love him or loathe him, Dizzy had bags of instant appeal and has actually aged fairly well. Now look, let’s get things straight. You’re an egg, right? There’s a wizard running wild and your land is rife with athlete’s foot, ok? (Well, it’s not ok, but you know what I mean.) Sounds like you've got your work cut out eh? Standing at around 30 screens tall, his first adventure is also one of the smallest. It is hard at first, tricky even, but in most cases you’ll love doing the tricky stuff. Try to imagine all the weirdest bits from the many classic fairy-tales and fables , all happening at once...