Classic Replay

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...

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...

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!

A good sense of speed in a driving game is one of the most vital ingredients, but is there such a thing as too fast? Not many driving games on the Amstrad CPC move at a fair old lick, but Twin Turbo from Codemasters threw out the rule book, breaking the Z80 speed barrier for Amstrad racers. This game is frantic, nerve-shredding almost, where driving dangerously seems to be the norm. Twin Turbo takes the traditional arcade concept where you race to the finish line over five stages. The car resembles a Ferrari, similar to the F40 seen in Turbo Outrun, only faster! The sense of speed is highly convincing, giving you the feeling that you are up against it, with other cars reacting to your movement. Every race feels dangerous, the pace is fast and weaving through traffic, negotiating corners and desperately trying to see over the brow of a hill requires massive concentration and good reflexes. Unfortunately, accidents will happen, in fact, lots of crashes will happen, this is ...

I'm sure gaming enthusiasts everywhere at one point or another have experienced the arcade behemoth that is Power Drift! In my humble opinion, it is still a great racing game, especially when you consider that it was released way back in 1988? I also had the Amstrad CPC version which turned out to be one of the best arcade conversions for the CPC. It looks a bit messy these days, but back then it felt just as fresh and in y' face as the arcade original. Seriously, it was like a roller coaster ride on steroids. I'm now playing the new 3DS port, which was released by Sega on their Classics Collection compilation, but I'm really struggling. Even on the lowest difficulty, I can't make it past the fifth stage, across any of the twenty-five different circuits. Thrilling and exciting this game might be, but far more difficult than I remember. Lucky for SEGA fans, we now have a 3DS port, re-written and lovingly crafted in 3D. As with 'Outrun' released last ye...

I've finally played it, admittedly only a demo of the first level, but so far things look and play just as good as the Amiga original. This will never replace a real life Pinball experience, but it's bloody good for a computer simulation. The ball moves exactly as you'd expect, and the flippers are highly accurate, you can even give the table a shove. Graphically I've never seen anything like it on the CPC, initially I was convinced it was Plus only, but the programmers have outdone themselves with this one.  Time will tell how good this game translates to the CPC, but so far, on current form, this could go down as the best game ever for the CPC! Published on 27 Oct 2016 * October 2016 PREVIEW for Amstrad CPC * First presented at RetroSevilla 2016 * IMPORTANT! We strongly recommend to play the game on real CPC & monitor! * Minimum requirements: - 128kb of RAM - Floppy drive * Instructions: run"disc

The Soviets strike again, only this time with innovation! I'm still struggling to understand how this one slipped me by. Twenty-six years later I'm scouring eBay, and the next minute, it's delivered through the letter box. This is basically Tetris with a 3D perspective, created by the same Alexey Pajitnov. There're three levels of difficulty, starting with beginner, advanced and finally expert. Each difficulty settings features its own game speed, with the latter seeming almost ridiculous. WELLTRIS continually chucks shapes at you, this bit being similar to the original, the difference now is that you can rotate each shape around the four outer walls as you watch it fall deeper towards the ground. There's sound, but nothing in the music department, sad really as I half expected the Tetris original, instead I found myself humming the original Korobeiniki soundtrack. The graphics are well defined, but seriously lack any real colour, it's also disappoin...

Solomon's Key, Out of This World, 720, Sorcerer Lord, Red Led Anywhere you look on the internet, you'll find scores of videos and top ten articles from Amstrad CPC enthusiasts. But what about the games that never make these lists, the unsung heroes that programmed these unknown classics. Now is the time to don my cape, and celebrate the forgotten games of the CPC. So, here we go, these are a few games that I feel deserve a mention and recognition.   Sorcerer Lord - PSS, Amstrad Action, Rave, 81% This was great back in the day, no issues here, a great early 8bit strategy game, graphics as with all these types of games do their job, sound and presentation is nothing to write home about either, but engagement and play are where it shines best.   Western Games - Magic Bytes,  Amstrad Action, Rave, 76% These are some of the best graphics on the Amstrad, in fact, it's difficult to set them apart from the Atari ST version. The gameplay is great, with ...

Are you still working with computers? In 2000 I came back to Cambridge to do a PhD in the Computer Laboratory.  I've remained an academic since then, in the Security Group. What qualities have you found most important throughout your journey? I've always found it useful to concentrate on the details. That's how  you understand what's important about the big picture, and why that big  picture is shaped the way it is. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? I've always found work to be fun. Running our own software house for 13  years certainly helped, but I've enjoyed my other jobs as well. Was your time with Alan Sugar as traumatic as it for the contestants in the Apprentice, did the partnership work out for you? I only met Alan Sugar a handful of times -- and I found him to be  extremely sharp and very focused on what mattered. Why Amstrad? They found us. The people they'd chosen to do their CPC project had let  them down,...

The best driving games for the Amstrad CPC range of computers... See the video below... 

Classic Replay Top Ten Amstrad CPC Games... See the movie below... 

Part one of a chronological view of the consoles and games I've played over the years. Please click on video below... 

I'm old enough to remember when the Amstrad CPC was first launched, at a time I'd just joined a primary school and hadn't the slightest hope of ever owning one, however much I may have wanted to. But a house move in 1984 provided my father with the size of garage that allowed him some extra cash, by tinkering with and repairing old cars. That Christmas I opened my Presents, and there she stood, the Amstrad CPC 464 Colour Personal Computer, so here I am telling this tale. The CPC looked a thing of beauty, came with plenty of oomph, more than enough to keep up with the ZX Speccy and C64; the operating system was really good and the screen, whilst certainly heavier than a modern monitor, took very little time to setup and get used to. While I was getting on with reading the manual, I tried to load my first ever CPC game, but everything I tried wouldn't work, the cassette player just wouldn't start. I was convinced the computer needed some attention. With previous...

Stefan Walker is not only a CPC Legend, but an ace programmer in his own right. He was just twenty years of age when he snatched his first job at MicroProse, where he wrote the excellent Pirates for the Amstrad CPC. He later joined Electronic Arts and gave us Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer. ACE Magazine included Chuck Yeager in their top-100 games for 98-97. Retro Gamer awarded Pirates the 84th best game ever made.  Are you still passionate about games?  Not new games. I find them far too time consuming than the days of old when you could just pick up a joystick and play, now it’s 30 minutes of customising your character before you even see any gameplay. What was it like working in America compared to the industry in Britain? It was the late 80’s when I worked at Microprose in Baltimore. Reagan was still president, it was certainly a more relaxed ‘vibe’ than working in the UK, but the expectations were probably higher. The Americans were actually ama...

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 timeline. 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 gameplay, oodles of secrets, tight controls and a largely responsive, albeit hit and miss Jumping system (Something's gotta give). As usual, with this type of CPC ga...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/12/archaeologic_amstrad_cpc_464/  via @theregister

I must have taken my eye off the ball. This video has been sitting on YouTube for some time now, and I didn't even see it. Finally proof that Chase HQ 2 did and does exist. It looks a bit sluggish, but seems to pick up on speed in a similar way to Burning Rubber on the GX4000. Now all we need is a ROM? See video below...

Proof that you don't need a 16-bit to get big, bright graphics. We all liked Renegade on the Amstrad. Go on, admit it, even those of you that owned a Speccy or C64. You were just a bit miffed that the graphics weren't as good on your respective systems. Amstrad owners take note. There's no waiting to throw the first punch in this new game, currently in development for the CPC. This new fighter looks to feature stunning graphics and great animation. It's unclear when this game will be released, or at what stage coding is at, but one thing is for sure, this project looks to be cooking on gas. Just look at the sheer amount of detail and moves on display, as pictured to the left and below. What started out as a quick question on the CPCWIKI  forum, has now blossomed into what can only be described as a full blown project. The new beat-em-up will include a 2 player mode, up to six characters on screen, all packed neatly into 128K of ram. This looks to be an a...

Winner of the Amstrad CPC 16K Rom competition This 16K horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up pits you amongst a host of truly nasty aliens who fire nasty things at you. Make sure your trusty trigger finger is up to the job as this is one serious onslaught waiting to happen. Watch below...