Classic Replay

It truly has been a bizarre and awful year, especially for the rich and famous, it was a huge loss when we lost Bowie, Prince and then George Michael, but just when you think, it couldn't possibly get any worse, Princess Leia only goes and suffers a massive heart attack on her flight home! If it wasn't for the superb retro releases of 2016, I wouldn't have hesitated to file this terrible year into the 'Do not open box' the one found in the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Ouch! £7.99. FFS! Screw you Nintendo! That's bloody expensive, but take my money you dirty rotten scoundrels. But know this, I'll forever hold a grudge against you. It's quite sickening what Nintendo have gone and done here, they've given us the first few levels for free, hooked me in, and then fleeced me of £7.99 of hard earned sterling. I'm already addicted (business as usual Nintendo)! The lure and temptation are too much with the first four levels being bloody brilliant, easy to control and capture you from the start. I'm enjoying it, but that price has left a bitter sickness deep within. The world tour mode, the only one I've discovered thus far, appears to consist of only six measly worlds, with four sections within each and the "end level" boss at the end of each section. The first world is easily pushed aside but does enough to prepare you for the trials that lie ahead. The second world reminds me why I hate Mario games; it's not...

Have you ever wondered what Amstrad CPC games were exclusive to the Amstrad CPC? The list below is what I know of, some of the games below are truly awful, but then again, there's quite a few games I wouldn't have missed for the world. This is by no means a definitive list of exclusives, and in most cases, you can find these games on the Amiga, ST and Consoles, but you won't find 'em on the ZX Spectrum or C64 (That's if I've done my homework correctly).  There's some real classic amongst this lot, Bumpy is brilliant, as is Bactron and D.Day is a masterclass in arcade strategy. I also found a game I never knew existed in 'Dempsey and Makepeace' a classic cop series set in the 80s. But the jewel in the crown for me is Get Dexter. Star Driver needs to be checked out if you've never played it, it scrolls along like a mode 7 game, the scrolling technique from the SNES, and if you think you're ready for a challenge, try Builderland, it needs...