Classic Replay

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

The RAF had an insane idea, instead of taking off horizontally (creatively speaking that is) why not take off vertically? Early testing involved eight Kestrel aircraft, (the prototype and forerunner of the Harrier Jump Jet) testing involved taking off from unprepared fields and woodlands. The results proved the concept worked, and in the late 1960’s, the RAF placed the Harrier into active service. Although the RAF have long since taken the Harrier out of service, today; the US marine corps continue to use its services and will continue to do so well into 2030! This was one of the first side-scrolling games for the CPC, it was released a year earlier on the Speccy and received favourable reviews. I suppose most people today will think that Harrier Attack belongs and should stay in the scrap yard, but back in eighty-four, not only was it my favourite aircraft, it fast became my favourite game and only aviation medicine. There's no flying skills needed, the manual rests in you...

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...

In the hot seat this month is 8-bit legend Jim Bagley. He's the main man and sole programmer responsible for many classic games on the Speccy and CPC. He was behind the fantastic Batman: The Caped Crusader, Cabel, Midnight Resistance and the massively addictive adventure, Hudson Hawk! But all these were nothing compared to what Jim considers his greatest achievement... Read on!   I played Batman the Caped Crusader to death? Glad it was good enough to keep you playing, I enjoyed making it. and Hudson Hawk was a great game, Yeah, shame the movie was a flop, I really loved the game also, it was fun to make as well! Amstrad Action awarded it a MasterGame! You must of been really proud? Yeah, I was, especially considering the slating the movie got, it was like we were off to a bad start I guess the only way was up lol. I loved Midnight Resistance, although a tad slow, played like a dream back in the day? Thanks :D yeah it was a bit slow on CPC unfortunately, but it was p...

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...

Jet Set Radio Cel-shaded, psychedelic, roller blading graffiti action. Sega at their best! Countdown: 100 - Jet Set Radio - Dreamcast Join our blog for more...

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...