Classic Replay

If you dig through old ZX Spectrum, Commodore and Amstrad magazines, you'll find interviews and a whole treasure trove of information from our long lost almost forgotten past. It's slow going, plod like almost, but every once in a while you might come across something that you've never seen or heard of before, things that can't be found on the internet. For example; I've searched high and low on the internet for information about old game sales i.e. Units sold for my favourite 8-bit games, across many formats, but unfortunately this consistently turns up nowt. However, this hasn't deterred me, my mission is to seek out old information pertaining to these forgotten classics, the information is out there, but mixed up in a mass of detail. I'm quietly convinced this slug like approach has legs, heck I've even approached ex-programmers in a bid to find out as much information as humanly possible. With that in mind, this is what I've uncovered thus far, ...

I was obsessed with Ninja films back in the day, Revenge of the Ninja, Enter the Ninja, American Ninja, you name it, I've seen 'em all, back to back on several occasions. As you can imagine, I collected and played anything and everything with Ninja in the title for my Amstrad CPC computer. I doubt I've missed any off the list, but if it didn't have Ninja in the title, it can do one, and that goes for those pesky Teenage Mutant Hero turtles! I also wanted to include Way of the Tiger and Avenger from Gremlin Graphics, but they failed miserably and were disqualified for lacking the word Ninja. It's not the end of the world, as some of the below games were absolutely brilliant!     Bionic Ninja - Released 1989: Code and Graphics by Brian Cross I played this quite late in the CPC's life, it was a side-scrolling affair, budget from memory, but it definitely entertained me for a few evenings. I probably wouldn't play it today, but back in the day, things w...

Everyone needs a shiny new game to play on Christmas Day, right? But what happened if that game was a U.S.GOLD title? U.S.GOLD had a bit of an up and down relationship with Amstrad CPC owners. Most of their games felt like quick, dirty cash-in's, with big, bright, colourful graphics and broken controls; worse still, some of their games were riddled with bugs. I'm not sure how you guys feel about it, but for me, playing the vast majority of their games on the Amstrad CPC felt like I was wading through treacle. I felt screwed over on many occasions, but didn't seem to learn my lesson. I'd fall for the same marketing candy time and time again, with the promise that this time, their new game for the Amstrad would be amazeballs! I think the final straw came with the title California Games, the Amstrad version was crap, I suspected nearly every single publisher after that, with the exception of Ocean, I kind of half trusted those guys. Just play California Games on the CP...

CPC Legend - Jas Austin Interview: If the thought of attribute clash or MODE 0 warms your cockles, you'll love this interview with CPC and all-round ZX Speccy legend Jas Austin. To help jog the memory, Jas coded the wonderful Amstrad and Speccy versions of a lot of classic games, including Altered Beast on the Speccy, Nemesis the Warlock, War, Slaine and the futuristic bullet hell shooter, REX (CRASH awarded 82%)! He also programmed Alien 3 and the excellent R-Type on the GameBoy. So Mr Anderson, how on gods green earth was Rex even possible on the humble Speccy? HaHa! Mr Anderson indeed... Damn rumbled. Our previous game for Martech hadn't done particularly well commercially. So for Rex, we decided to re-invent ourselves with fake names and a new company 'The Light' We even invented a back story... That we were all ex IBM employees and wrote the game in a matter of weeks. Of course, all a complete pack of lies. Yes, Rex did have a lot going on... I've a...

In Satan, you really do get to take on the main man, I mean the demon himself. Apparently, (don't quote me on this) there's lots of wizards that need your help, the devil has captured them and is set to use them against our world, in a most distasteful manner. There're two parts to this fabulous game, with the usual Dinamic password system. The first level see's you traversing a large cavern; you must search and collect three scrolls to pr ogress. These scrolls reveal a fabulous secret power, the ability to transfer from Barbarian to Wizard. The second level is more of the same stuff, only this time you're out to rescue the wizards and defend the land from the evil forces of Satan. You swing from one area to the next, clinging for dear life, climbing from one pillar to the next, whilst unleashing unlimited firepower... Against the clock. There're all sorts of pickups, coins, power-ups and more importantly, clocks that give you that much needed extra tim...

In 1989, long before the likes of Need for Speed petrol heads got their hi-octane fix and highway entertainment from 'Chase HQ'. Borrowing a lot from SEGA's Outrun, but with enough spin to go it alone, this pseudo 3D racer had you chasing down the crooks Miami Vice style.  Originally released by Taito, it was subsequently left with Ocean software to work their 8-bit magic, and boy, they didn't disappoint! Although it was released on several platforms, the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions are generally believed to be the most superior conversions which, surprisingly, only took three months to program.  The main protagonists resemble Miami Vices's Crockett and Tubbs and even sport a cool looking black Porsche.  ChaseHQ is really easy to get into and the car features steady, responsive handling, a manual gear shift, and three nitro boosts! Unfortunately, there are a few issues with collision detection, on both the ZX Spectrum and CPC versions, more so on...

Thrust is an easy game to describe, it's like Asteroids mixed with a splash of Moon-lander. You can tell from the word go that the guts of those classics have been well and truly assimilated, whilst retaining their addictive qualities. Visually, Thrust is less than interesting, I remember it having a half decent loading screen, but that was your lot. If you were willing to forego a little colour and didn't mind a bit of light thinking, Thrust was a real treat. Graphically it's very simple, you guide a spaceship where Gravity can work for or against. At first, it starts out easy, but on later stages, you've got to actively and precisely use the ship's thrust in order to prevent crashing into the scenery. I can't remember why you have to do all this, but the story mentioned something about the resistance planning a massive attack on the Intergalactic Empire, ring any bells? Anyway, your mission was to fly in, grab the Klystron pod and escape in two pieces. Be...

On patrol... Amstrad, Speccy, Arcade and C64 Robocop the movie is stunning, the prime directives still resonate in my head even today. I recall from one scene good old Murphy getting blown to smithereens and in another ED-209 powering up with the immortal words - 'Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply'. The game is every bit as enjoyable as the movie and in some ways just as memorable. I'd already experienced Operation Wolf, Chase HQ, Gryzor and Combat School, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to receive. Delta city had never looked so good, it was littered with dark alleyways, ruined building and crime infested streets. Scenes from the movie were cleverly replicated, including the hostage and drug factory encounter. You could never walk more than a few feet without all hell breaking lose. You start out all guns blazing... ultra violence a plenty. The weapons were as devastating as seen in the movie. In between the horizontal scroll...

Super Monaco GP is a cherished gaming memory of mine. It was loosely based on the famous street race in Monaco and for a while, probably my favourite racing game. Super Monaco GP put you behind the wheel of the stupendously famous Ferrari V12 641, the very car that Alan Prost and Mansell once whizzed around in. I was really good at this game, would play it for weeks, if not months on end. In fact, I still play it today, more-so on the Mega-CD, as that was the version to feature CD-quality sound, music and voice overs. You were presented with three game modes, Arcade, World championship and Free Practice. In the arcade mode, a qualification lap would quickly establish your position on the grid. Then it was onto the starting line. Everything looked the same, only in this mode you had to contend with a position indicator, once you made it near the front, you pretty much needed to hold that position, otherwise, it was game over. It wasn't long before I completed the arcade mode a...

It's amazing what I've recovered from my failed H.D.D. Here we have an old Kevin Toms interview from a few years ago, maybe 2009 at a guess, can't believe I nearly chucked it. Hope you all enjoy... lots more to come.   Q: How do you feel about Football Manager all these years on? I am proud of what I created and that it gave so much to a lot of people. Q: When did you realise you wanted to become a programmer? At school and I don't think I really knew what a programmer was, when I decided that. Q: Have you ever thought: 'Wow, I did a great job'? It's not normally what I think. Other people have said I should be more aware of it. Q: How has life changed for you since the 80's? My life is quite ordinary now, apart from the occasional recognition. Q: What are the ten greatest games you've ever played? It's the simplest games that have always drawn me in. I don't like to have to work hard to learn to play. So classics l...

A while back I interviewed Bill Harbison, one of the chaps responsible for the likes of ChaseHQ and Batman... two of my favourite 8-bit games. I thought I'd lost the interview due to a system failure. Here it is, recovered from my now dead hard drive . So, how did you get into the games industry? I had owned a ZX Spectrum for quite some time back in 1988 and, as well as playing games, I was interested in creating art simply for the delight of seeing my work on a television screen. I progressed to taking pictures from arcade games and mocking up a screen of what that game might look like on the Spectrum. After comparing my screens to actual Spectrum conversions I thought that mine were as good or maybe a little better than the ones I'd seen, so with that in mind I targeted a few software companies with my work. After about a year of trying and almost ready to give up, I was offered a position at Ocean Software Ltd in Manchester. What are your fondest memories of...

Released: 1982 Company : Commodore Is it any good? It’s seen by many as the ultimate 80’s computer. The C64 came with a whopping 64K of ram, a screen resolution of 320x200 with 8 selectable colours from a palette of 16. The 8581 (SID) sound chip was very sophisticated for the time, and very popular for both MIDI and programming on a budget. Noticeable flaws were with the attribute system. It placed minor limitations on a number of colours displayable within any 8x8 pixel square. Despite this, the 64 is still an excellent games machine. Killer titles include Commando, Bounder, Ghosts & Goblins, Green Beret, Wizball, Sentinel, Bubble Bobble, Armalyte, Creatures, IK+ and many many more. A chap called 'Chris Abbott released 'Back in time compilations many years back, and since then many people have dedicated their time and support in order to insure the SID chips survival. All can be found at http://www.c64audio.com/      ...