Classic Replay

The 8-bit era was a fascinating time for home computers, with several iconic machines vying for dominance. Let's dive into why the Amstrad CPC was considered one of the best 8-bit computers, and how it compared to the Commodore 64 (C64), ZX Spectrum, and the MSX. Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC series, launched in 1984, was known for its robust design and built-in monitor, which set it apart from its competitors. It featured a Zilog Z80A CPU running at 4 MHz, 64 KB of RAM (expandable to 128 KB), and impressive graphics capabilities with a palette of 27 colours. The CPC's sound was handled by the AY-3-8912 sound chip, offering three channels of sound. Commodore 64 (C64) The C64, released in 1982, was a powerhouse in the 8-bit market. It had a MOS Technology 6510 CPU running at 1 MHz, 64 KB of RAM, and superior graphics with a resolution of 320x200 and 16 colours. The C64's SID (Sound Interface Device) chip was legendary, providing three channels of complex sound and music. ZX Sp...

Back in 1993, 32 years ago, SEGA licensed a machine powered by a 32-bit Intel 80386SX CPU running at 25 MHz. At the time, the Intel DX2 and Pentium processors were just emerging, with the DX2 released in March 1992 and the Pentium in March 1993. Unfortunately, Amstrad's offering came a bit too late to make a significant impact. However, it was upgradable to 16MB of RAM and featured a 40MB hard drive, along with SVGA graphics boasting 256KB of RAM. There were plans to release a Cyrix 486 model, but it's unclear if it ever made it to market. The Amstrad Mega PC had potential, but several factors could have made it more successful: Better Timing: Releasing the Mega PC earlier, before the dominance of more powerful 486 and Pentium CPUs, could have given it a competitive edge. Improved Performance: Upgrading the CPU to a 486 or even a Pentium would have made it more appealing to consumers looking for better performance. Competitive Pricing: Offering the Mega PC at a more affordab...

Golden Axe, a classic hack-and-slash game developed by Sega, has left an indelible mark on the gaming world since its release in 1989. Let's explore its journey across different platforms and see how it fared.  Arcade   Golden Axe made its debut in arcades, captivating players with its engaging gameplay and fantasy setting.  The arcade version is often hailed as the best iteration, thanks to its smooth controls, vibrant graphics, and immersive sound. It set the standard for beat-'em-up games and remains a beloved classic. Sega Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis in North America) brought Golden Axe to home consoles. While not a perfect port, it retained much of the arcade's charm and added two extra levels and new play modes. This version became a staple for Mega Drive owners and is fondly remembered for its faithful adaptation. Golden Axe on 16-bit Computers Golden Axe, the iconic hack-and-slash game, made its way to various 16-bit computers, including the...

The Amstrad CPC was my first home computer. I had the Amsoft ten pack that came with £100 worth of free software. It felt like a great time to be alive and I played those Amsoft titles until they refused to load. Later I discovered that you could pretty much walk into any supermarket or retail store and buy additional games. One problem, pocket money was rare back then, so that meant I could look, but not touch. I remember saving up for Outrun on the Amstrad. Took me around 6 weeks, then disaster struck. The game was a complete travesty, a massive Christmas Turkey. That was the day I learned a valuable lesson, don't believe everything you read. That's when I found Amstrad Action, they were trustworthy and I never bought a bad game again. This is about all those game I finally managed to purchase and stick with. Back then I purchased a game and would be stuck with it for for months on end until I could finally afford a new game. I think this allowed me to uncover almost every as...

The Amstrad CPC had a cult following, and people would spend hours typing in lines of code just to make it do cool things. I mean, that's dedication right there. And don't even get me started on the games.  The Amstrad CPC had some of the best games of the era, from classics like "Chuckie Egg" to more obscure titles like "Gryzor." But of course, like all things, the Amstrad CPC eventually fell out of favor. It was replaced by newer, more powerful computers, and people moved on. But for those of us who remember it, the Amstrad CPC will always hold a special place in our hearts.  #amstrad #amstradcpc #amstradcpc464

Restore peace on earth and collect a high score while doing so in the first one of the Fire and Forget games by Titus. Fire and Forget is a racing game in which you have to complete courses by blowing up various enemies and avoiding obstacles on the road. The different tracks are located all over the globe. There are six courses within each level of difficulty. You have an infinite number of lives, but when your car runs out of fuel it's game over. So be sure to pick up those power-ups.

Konami is famous for its arcade games, what's strange when it comes to the 8bits and in particular the Amstrad CPC, is that instead of using other software houses to convert their licensed games onto home computers. Konami sometimes produced its own conversions. I think the first was prison break for the humble Amstrad CPC.

Since the decline of the Amstrad CPC, post commercial life has gone from strength to strength. The Amstrad CPC community is now at its strongest since the 1980s. Hundreds of games have been released for the Amstrad CPC over the last decade and just in 2020 alone, over fifty games were released. But which of these games are the best? Join me as we look at the top 40 new games for the Amstrad CPC! Thanks for your support, leaving a comment, or rating my video! I really appreciate it. Please subscribe and like :)) Thanks. Follow us at: 👪 Join our Community - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClassicReplay 🐦Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/classicreplay 📖 Like us on Facebook - https://facebook.com/classicreplayoff ...

I was just digging through a mountain of my old books and magazines and noticed an old letter I received from Amstrad Action back in the day. Chris Anderson was the publisher and claimed I was one of the first 500 people to have taken out a subscription with Amstrad Action. The letter makes for an interesting read, especially when you consider I renewed and they sent me a free copy of the masterpiece that is Thrust and the wonderful Starstrike 2 . Happy memories and happy days that I thought I'd share with you! Enjoy the contents of this letter from Amstrad Action. 

You've probably heard about or seen this hidden rant by Richard Aplin buried deep within the Amstrad CPC version of Shinobi, well if not, here it is, after a bit of tidying...  Ok, now all that game rubbish is out of the way, I would like to begin the customary rant, which programmers often put in their code. It is at the moment 04:04:38 on 04/06/89. It is, if you were wondering, very early on a Sunday morning, and I am sitting here in a totally empty office in the centre of Bristol, (13 Small St, if you want to pop in and say hello!) and I am in raptures at the moment listening to the utterly, ridiculously excellent album 'The Wall' by the utterly, ridiculously excellent Pink Floyd. (It's just got to the classic 'How can ye have any pudding if ye don't eat yer meat?' bit!)I am, as if you cared, Richard Aplin, Project Manager (and the person who gets to rush in at the last moment and finish/rewrite games when someone else screws them up totally ...

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, ...

How a new Dizzy game might look on the Amstrad CPC... I’ve always thought that the Dizzy series, when taken in its entirety, is as wonderful, wacky and varied as anything you see in a Sonic or Mario adventure. But our egg-headed friend desperately needs a comeback, and a Mario game mixed with the speed of a Sonic adventure might just be the ticket to bring Dizzy kicking and screaming back from the success of the 80's. Dizzy is a sleeping giant; why can't Codies see this? He should be up there with Sonic and Mario in terms of brand and mascot; it's almost criminal to keep him under wraps like this. Now for the weird part... He could be revived on the Amstrad CPC, the true home of Dizzy. He could use the Amstrad’s hardware scroll, as seen in Killer Cobra - look at the speed that game runs at! Now just imagine replacing the main sprite with an egg, then force upon him the laws of gravity, stick a rocket up his arse and watch him go. I can just see him now, rolling, bounci...

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...

In the 1980s, My local fish & chip joint held a striking resemblance to a small arcade hall, I'd never seen anything quite like it, without fail they'd always have the latest and greatest arcade games, it was incredible, absolutely amazing! I spent a ridiculous amount of time there, I'd walk in after a few weeks of not going and be like "will you look at that!", new arcade machines everywhere. The food counter was on the left, but the main reason for the majority of my visits was to play on their growing collection of arcade games. The machines were badly but tightly packed into this tiny right-hand corner of the restaurant. It was a dream come true though, I remember they'd get packed to the rafters, especially after school, sometimes I just went to watch how other people played and completed these games. Throughout the years, this is where I played classics such as Kung Fu Master, R-Type, Bubble Bobble, 1943, Outrun, UN Squadron, Pit Fighter, Bion...

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...

It`s time to roll up your sleeves and fight for your life! Grab those nunchucks, tighten that belt and get your shuriken death stars at the ready. Meanwhile, back on earth, this article celebrates all those weird and wonderful fighting classics, powered by pixel push and 3D technology! So kick back, grab a slice of pizza and in no particular order... kick some ass! If I missed off your favourite fighter, it's probably because I never played it, but please comment and recommend all the same. I'm always looking for a good scrap. Virtua fighter 2, Arcade and Saturn, released 1994 The Sega Saturn was butchered by the Playstation, but VF2 (Both coin-op and Saturn version) were the highlight of the 90s 3D proving grounds. Virtua Fighter 2 doesn't get boring, you just improve, with the fight becoming more tactical the further you progress. Master one character and it's back to basics for the next. Virtua Fighter 2 came w...

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...

New games continually arriving for the Amstrad CPC...  I’ve been playing quite a lot of Amstrad CPC games of late, it's quite easy to forget about the commercial world of gaming if you allow retro gaming to take over. Recently there's been all sorts of 8-bit competitions and some seriously good games have come out the other end. The library of new games and projects in the pipeline is phenomenal, for example, I'm playing Magica and Doomsday Lost Echoes on the CPC at the moment, with the classic Amiga game Pinball Dreams arriving shortly. I haven't even mentioned the new games I'm playing on my other retro systems, but what a fantastic problem to have, seriously though I can't keep up.  I have  Uncharted 4 and the new Tomb Raider just sitting idle on the shelf gathering dust, nowhere near enough hours in the day to play 'em all.   My Amstrad CPC in 2016 has a wad of original titles, on par and exceeding in most cases the stuff I owned as a kid. I...

I first played HotShot in 1998, it was a demo that came bundled on cassette with the latest issue of Amstrad Action! I loved it so much, but I was never able to fully experience the game in its entirety. I looked everywhere, but nobody stocked the game, even tried to get it on mail order, but that attempt failed miserably, instead they sent me a copy of Karnov, and I never bothered with mail order again! Strangely, I never to played it under emulation, but now in 2016, I've finally tracked it down, thanks to eBay and it's every bit as challenging as I remember. This is Pinball, Arkanoid and Pong all mashed into one, it feels futuristic and there's a fantastic two player option. No time to spare, I need to get back to being a crack shot! What the press thought!

I’m sitting here staring at a blank white Microsoft Word background. My head is swimming with random retro thoughts, however, I haven’t got a clue where I’m gonna go with this, but I'll give it a shot.  I've currently been thinking about all these new remakes i.e. The NES, Megadrive and five hundred other devices that are currently available or incoming. Initially, I was really excited by it all, but in essence, these are just more lumps of plastic that I’ve already collected. In 2016, shouldn't we be able to play all our favourite games on a single platform? For sure we have the PC and Raspberry Pie, but I’m thinking more along the lines of a SEGA console that plays all SEGA games, for example; SMS, Megadrive, Game Gear, 32X, Saturn, and Dreamcast all in one lovely lump of Japanese plastic. The same goes for Nintendo, Atari and any other console manufacturer, sick of the prospect of buying yet another lump of plastic and feeling restricted to only one genre of consol...