This month in... C&VG '85

News

US Gold had signed the licenses to a couple of Disney games, "Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood" and "Donald Duck's Playground". Both were aimed at children, and both were written by Al Lowe (including the music).

Even though Ocean had been publishing Konami's games in the US, they were strangely absent from UK shelves. This was about to change with "Hypersports", followed by "Konami Tennis", "Yie Ar Kung-Fu", "Hyper Rally", "Golf", "Mikie" and "Comic Bakery". I might be wrong, but I think "Hypersports" was Martin Galway's debut.

There was a slightly snarky note that Domark had appeared to give every Commodore mag an "exclusive" of the new Bond game (C&VG had run it's "developer diary" for several months).

"Quake Minus One" was to be the new game from Mike Singleton and Warren Foulkes. It was due for release on the Spectrum and C64, but only the latter made it out.

Ocean were touting their novel use of an audio cassette included with their "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" game which not only included an exclusive mix of "Relax", but also included instructions on how to play the game. Apparently they hadn't seen "Deus Ex Machina".

The designer of the month was Vaughan Dow - a former RAF Harrier jump jet pilot - who had just finished up his latest game "Jump Jet".

St Bride's ("where grown women pay for the chance to re-live their jolly hockey sticks schooldays") announced "The Secret of St Bride's". Headmistress of the school, Miss Scarlett, promised this would be the first of a series of "unusual" games.

A new Multi User Dungeon was in the works, this time titled MUNG (Multi User Network Game).

The excellent "Commando" hit the arcades.

Features

• Tony Takoushi lamented the fact that many great games released in the US and Europe never make it to the UK. There was a huge list of games for the C64 and Atari machines, but many were eventually released and some titles mentioned were somewhat bizarrely cracks of UK games.
• Max Headroom was "interviewed."
• There was a roundup of "computer graphics packages" that were available for home computers.
• Atari's efforts in the home computer market were examined. They had failed to find any real success despite shipping arguably superior hardware earlier than competitors. C&VG's theory about cause of this? The high prices US software houses were charging ($30ish). The hope was that the new ST computers would turn things around.

Notable Reviews

• "Way of the Exploding Fist" Melbourne House - C64 Game of the Month 10/10 "If you can't make up your mind on which game to buy this month, you could do a lot worse than splash out on The Way of the Exploding Fist."
• "Frank Bruno's Boxing" Elite - Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Blitz Game 10/10 "Overall a great sports simulation. The animation is great and play action really addictive. A champion game!"
• "Herbert's Dummy Run" Mikro-Gen - Spectrum 9/10 "Mikro-Gen are one of the few companies who consistently release better and better software. Herbert's Dummy Run is no exception."
• "Dun Darach" Gargoyle Games - Spectrum Blitz Game 10/10 "Dun Darach is an entertaining game. It has real atmosphere - you really feel as if you are pounding the streets of a strange city.... It's also a real step forward for the arcade animation adventure game."
• "Jump Jet" Anirog - C64 9/10 "For those who like flight simulations, Jump Jet is well worth buying."
• "Dropzone" Archer MacLean/US Gold - Atari 8/10 "The graphics are excellent and the high-speed scrolling screen allows fast and very smooth as you blast nine different alien attackers."
• "Dragonworld" Telarium - C64 9/10 "I must say that Dragonworld is on of the better adventures I have played for some time, and should provide many hours of spills and thrills for adventurers of moderate skill."
• "Bored of the Rings" Delta4 - Spectrum/C64 8/10 "Bored of the Rings is a must for Hobbit-haters, and lovers of parody."

Notable Previews

• There was a long and detailed preview of"Summer Games 2" from Epyx. Anticipation was high.

This month in... C&VG '85

News

Plans were afoot to build Britain's first Laser tag centre. It would be built on Wellington Pier in Great Yarmouth and promised to "take leisure and entertainment 'into the 21st century.'"

Games Workshop was about to release "Chaos" by a certain Julian Gollop who would go onto produce such genre defining games as Rebelstar and XCom. He has a remake of "Chaos" underway and you can follow his progress on his blog.

A "genuine Harrier pilot" had created Anirog's latest game "Jump Jet".

The awesome "The Way of the Exploding Fist". Initially to be available on C64 with Spectrum and Amstrad versions to come (I had the Spectrum version - complete with synthesised speech - and thought it was brilliant).

The Wally saga was to continue with "Herbert's Dummy Run", David Perry once again the author.

Pimania's golden sundial mystery continued to baffle people. Automata only promised that they would give C&VG 20 minutes notice before the prize was claimed, if the puzzle was solved. All eyes were on July 22nd (22/7 = Pi).

Features

• C&VG's "A View to a Kill" "developer diary" wrapped up with a competition. I actually bought this game largely due to these diaries, but boy it turned out to be pretty dire.
• This month's "Letter from America" brought news of Nolan Bushnell's latest venture: a programmable robot called ANDY that could be connected to a C64 or Atari. Elsewhere, LucasFilm had signed a deal with Epyx that would see "Rescue on Fractulus" and "Ballblazer" re-released after Atari (the original publisher) ran into trouble.
• There was a look at astronomy software to aid star gazing.
• A slightly odd article described how to "create your own Max Headroom." Basically it said connect your computer to your vcr, draw some pictures on your computer, then record it....

Notable Previews

• "International Tennis" Commodore - C64. According to the very excited previewer this looked even better than the excellent "Match Point".
• "Frank Bruno's Boxing" Elite. I absolutely loved this game.
• "Mercenary" Novagen - Speaking of excited previewers, I don't think anyone could be more excited for a game than the person that wrote this preview. "Visually this game is truly stunning - air-sick bags at the ready!", "Playing this game is so exhilarating!", "A-mazing!". All justified of course as it turned out to be brilliant.

Notable Reviews

• "Knight Lore" Ultimate - Blitz Game Amstrad 9/10 BBC 10/10. Both reviews strangely dismissive of the game, despite the high score. The Amstrad one poured some scorn on Ultimate's games in general. All rather odd, given that the original Spectrum version is one of the most significant games ever made.
• "Gribbly's Day Out" Andrew Braybrook/Hewson - C64 8/10 "But the real star is Gribbly. His large eyes, comic expressions, and bubble-blowing antics are a real treat."
• "Ghettoblaster" Virgin - C64 9/10 "I was born to love you, Ghettoblaster." For a while the James Smiths department store in Wellington had a Commodore SX-64 in one of its windows which just constantly played the attract mode of "Ghettoblaster" - I was entranced.
• "Confuzion" Paul Shirley/Incentive - Blitz Game C64/Spectrum/Amstrad/BBC 10/10 "So when you're next looking for a game to spend your cash on, don't be confused by the huge which confronts you at your local store - go for Confuzion!"
• "Rocky Horror" CRL - Blitz Game C64/Spectrum/Amstrad 10/10 "Rocky Horror looks good, sounds good and is very addictive - just like the show itself!"
• "Glass" Quicksilva - Spectrum 9/10 "Glass is an extremely well presented and playable game. But once the novelty of the neat graphics has worn off how long will the appeal of the game last?"
• "Bounty Bob" US Gold - C64 10/10 "We defy anybody not to be hooked instantly and it will be many hours before you complete the progressively harder platforms."
• "Revs" Geoff Crammond/Acornsoft - BBC 9/10 "Acornsoft is promoting Revs as the 'most advanced race simulator yet.' A bold claim but one which is probably justified."
• "Super Huey" Paul Norman/Cosmi - C64 9/10 "...rest assured that you'll be getting one of the best flight simulations around."
• "Spy Hunter" US Gold - C64/Spectrum/Amstrad 10/10 "The graphics on all versions are good and the game is totally addictive. Get it."

Charts

All

1. "Soft Aid" Quicksilva
2. "Spy Hunter" US Gold
3. "World Series Baseball" Imagine

Spectrum

1. "Soft Aid" Quicksilva
2. "Spy Hunter" US Gold
3. "World Series Baseball" Imagine

Amstrad

1. "Knight Lore" Ultimate
2. "Daley Thompson's Decathlon" Ocean
3. "Ghostbusters" Activision

C64

1. "Soft Aid" Quicksilva
2. "Pitstop 2" Epyx
3. "International Basketball" Commodore

This month in... C&VG '85

News

• Atari announced they were about to launch a new range of computers. First there were the new XEs which were basically upgraded/re-styled 800 XLs. But more importantly were the STs which would provide an impressive jump from the existing machines.
• Robert Schifreen who had written the "Bug hunter" and Micronet columns for C&VG was arrested for hacking.

Notable Reviews

• "Starion" Melbourne House - Spectrum Game of the Month 10/10 "Programmer David Webb, a 19-year old student, spent nine months working on Starion - and if there's any justice in the world he will be rewarded with a number one hit!"
• "Shadowfire" Beyond - C64 9/10 "Though the die-hard text adventurers will probably ridicule it, the game is well worth trying."
• "Wriggler" Romantic Robot - Spectrum 10/10 "This is Romantic Robot's first venture into the games market - and if this is an example of the quality of their product then they are a name to be watched."
• "Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge" Martech - Spectrum/C64/BBC/Electron/Amstrad 10/10 "The game demands a great deal of tactical thinking as well as stamina and - of course - a tough joystick!"
• "Zaxxon" Electric Software - MSX 10/10 "Excellent graphics and every effective sound are the order of the day in Zaxxon. This is definitely one to look for."
• "Norseman" Electric Software - MSX 10/10 "This is not an easy game to play. But if it was that easy, there wouldn't be much point!"
• "Dambusters" US Gold - Atari 9/10 "Dambusters is really a shoot-'em-up of the best kind and should keep trigger-happy owners contented for some time."
• "Demon Attack" Imagic/Parco Electrics - TI 10/10 "While waves of demons attacking the outposts of our planet would seem old hat, occasionally a rare spark in programming comes up with something that lifts a game out of the ordinary. Imagic have certainly managed this, with smooth graphics and the most imagintaive demons I've yet seen."
• "Microsurgeon" Imagic/Parco Electrics - TI 10/10 "The multi-screen graphics are superb"
• "Popeye" Parco Electrics - TI 10/10 "The price might seem a little heavy but, when you calculate how much you drop in the coin slots, it all becomes relative!" (the game cost £24.80)
• "Tunnels of Doom" Parco Electrics - TI 10/10 "Moody background music and superb graphics really show the Texas at its best."
• "Slymoids" Parco Electrics - TI 10/10 "A lively game, with certainly different ideas."
• "Gremlins: The Adventure" Adventure International - C64/Spectrum/Amstrad 9/10 "The game has a nice easy feel to it being amusing and fairly easy at first, but becoming progressively more difficult towards the end."
• "Entombed" Ultimate - C64 8/10 "Excellent puzzles and clever puzzles add up to another smash for Ultimate."
• "Mama Llama" Llamasoft - C64 7/10 "Mama Llama is a game for dedicated Minterites. Lesser mortals might find it a mite too complex for them."
• "Gates of Dawn" Virgin - C64 9/10 Star Game "Gates of Dawn, with superb graphics, animation and sound, combines joystick action with strategy, enabling you to pit your wits in an effort to solve the mystery of the dream and the 'mystery of the mind'."
• "Buck Rogers" Electric Software - MSX "Good sound effects and title theme and smooth, colourful graphics make use of all the MSX has to offer."

Notable Previews

• "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" Denton Designs/Ocean
• "Minder" DK'Tronics
• "Dun Darach" Gargoyle Games
• "Super Pipeline II" Taskset

Features

• C&VG previewed upcoming sci-fi/fantasy movies, namely "Morons from Outer Space", "2010", "The Neverending Story", "Terminator II" and "Alien II".
• A look at the people (Digital Productions) and technology (a rented Cray X-MP) behind the special effects on "The Last Starfighter".
• The Enterprise was a new computer about to be released which promised impressive sound and graphics, and a rather unique design featuring a joystick built into the keyboard. Despite the huge hype preceding its launch the machine was a commercial failure.
• The Bond Diary continues, though by now it's given up all pretence of being a developer diary and is just a preview of the game based on "A View to a Kill."
• Mike Singleton took a rather disparaging look at several strategy games: "Superpower - The Final Strategy", "Dragonriders of Pern" and "Battle for Normandy". But thankfully he found something to love: "Archon".

Golden Joystick Awards

• Game of the year: "Knight Lore" Ultimate - Spectrum
• Software house of the year: Ultimate
• Best original game: "Elite" Acornsoft - BBC
• Best adventure game: "Claymorgue" Adventure International - Spectrum/C64/Amstrad
• Best strategy game: "Lords of Midnight" Beyond - Spectrum
• Best arcade style game: "Daley Thompson's Decathlon" Ocean - Spectrum/C64
• Programmer of the year: The Ultimate team

This Month in... C&VG '85

News

Not games related as such, but May saw the launch of C&VG's "Bring Back the Doctor" campaign after the BBC announced Doctor Who was to end. I don't know if the BBC had specified when this was to happen, as it would last another 4 years.

The "Designer of the Month" was Stephen Redman, a 21 year old uni student who released the somewhat controversial (how innocent we all were) game "A Day in the Life". The game sees the player try to guide Sir Clive through his day and onto a very important appointment at Buckingham Palace. From what I can tell, this was Stephen's only game.

Gossip included Colin Stokes leaving Software Projects and joining Ocean, and Jeff Minter refusing the lamb dish at a trade dinner due to his fondness for sheep...

Level 9 announced they would be moving towards disc-based adventures.

Notable Reviews

• "Gyron" (Firebird) - Spectrum 10/10, Game of the Month "Once you've got the hang of driving the Hedroid around the maze - and it does take a bit of getting used to - you'll be hooked. Don't fail to have a look at Firebird's best full price game yet."
• "Slapshot" (Anirog) - C64 9/10 "There's only one thing wrong with this superb sports simulation from Anirog. You have to have two people to play it."
• "Pitstop II" CBS/Epyx - C64 10/10, Star Game "Slip into the driving seat and prepare for the best Formula One racing game since Pole Position!" I remember playing this 'round my mates place. It took so long to load from tape (15+ mins?) that we would go outside and play some footie while waiting... and then it would fail to load about 25% of the time. Great game, though.
• "Wizard's Lair" Stephen Crow/Bubble Bus - Spectrum 10/10 "A worthy sequel to Atic Atac. Wizard's Lair is extremely well presented, great fun to play and terrific value for money." Of course they didn't mean "sequel" as in any official way - it was a clone of Atic Atac, but an exceptionally good one.
• "A Day in the Life" Stephen Redman/Micromega - Spectrum 8/10 "The game isn't just good because of its novelty value - it is playable too."
• "Cauldron" Palace Software - C64/Spectrum 9/10 "There are lots of things to discover and puzzles to be solved"
• "Everyone's a Wally" Chris Hinsley/Mikro-Gen - Spectrum 10/10 Star Game "Everyone's a Wally will keep you busy for hours - and when you've solved it you can still admire the pretty graphics."
• "Yie Ar Kung-Fu" Konami - MSX 10/10 Star Game "If you haven't got an MSX, beg or borrow one just to play this game."
• "Dropzone" Archer Maclean/US Gold/DataSoft - Atari 10/10 "Fast smooth scrolling - as you'd expect from the Atari - nine different alien attackers and superb moon landscape graphics go to make this the best Atari game around right now."
• "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Infocom - 12,877,431/10 "The puzzles to be found in the Adventure are somewhat like its humour, that is, as rich and nutty as my mother's fruit cake - and that's great!"
• "Emerald Isle" Level 9 - 8/10 "All in all, another offering from Level 9 of the high standard we've come to expect."

Features

• May saw the first instalment of "The Bond Diary", which was a development diary of the upcoming "A View to a Kill" licenced game from Domark. Very little information about the actual development, and more just deals the bosses made and general marketing. Includes the supposed factoid that Roger Moore enjoys/enjoyed computer games.
• One of the game listings was for a game called "Pyramids of Aaron" for the Spectrum, by Richard Evans - maybe the same Richard Evans of Black & White/The Sims fame?
• "Alien8" (Ultimate) and "Sorcery" (Virgin) mapped.