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This month in... C&VG '87

Mike Keith

News

Ocean was to bring "Donkey Kong" to the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad.

"Blood n' Guts" was heading to the C64 and was described by publisher American Action as "an ancient barbarian decathlon with all the violence and brutality you've ever dreamed about in a computer game". Oo-kay.

Atari's 7800 was about to hit the shelves retailing for around £70, with games costing £10-15.

Bo Jangeborg was busy finishing "Fairlight II", which was to be double the size and feature a greater variety of graphics.

Newcomer software house Vonsoft was promoting its graphic adventure, "A.R.E.N.A.", by offering a prize of up to £50,000 to the first person to answer a simple question about the gameplay. The prize pool would start at £10,000 and then increase by 50p up to a maximum of £50,000 for every copy sold. They anticipated it would sell 80,000 copies minimum. It was never release.

War gaming specialists PSS were to release "Annals of Rome", a strategy game based on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.

"Triaxos" was to be Reaktor's next game.

Infograme's murder thriller "Murders on the Atlantic" would feature an impressive amount of stuff in the package - all the evidence player's would need to solve the mystery, apparently. It was never release.

Databyte had spent the past three years since releasing "Borrowed Time" on their new graphic adventure, "Stargate Legacy". Looks like this wasn't release either.

Melbourne House was bringing cartoon character "Inspector Gadget" to home computers.

Tony Takoushi gushed about Access Software's bowling sim, "10th Frame".

Mikro-Gen's second National Video Games Championship was held at the Savoy hotel. Seventeen year old David Litherland came out on top.

Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp was snapped carrying a copy of C&VG.

Features

C&VG interviewed Keith Burkhill (a "veteran coder" at 20 years old having started programming 3 years earlier and already had a string of impressive arcade conversions under his belt) about his Spectrum port of "Space Harrier". The game was reviewed in this section, scoring 10/10 for both Spectrum and Amstrad versions.

Marshal M Rosenthal talked to Infocom about their upcoming adventure "Moonmist".

There was a review of 6 joysticks. The Speed King and Mastertronic's Magnum were joint higest rated.

Marshal M Rosenthal visited Space Camp at the Space and Rocket Centre Museum.

Dr Stephen Badsey pondered why British wargames lagged behind their American and Australian counterparts.

Jez San was interviewed about "Starglider".

C&VG previewed a host of games coming for the ST.

Tony Takoushi ranted about piracy.

Notable Previews

Notable Reviews

  • "World Games" Epyx - C64 9/10 Game of the Month "World Games is well worth a place in anyone's Christmas stocking. Great value for money, extremely playable."
  • "Ikari Warriors" Elite - Amstrad 10/10 C&VG Hit "The Amstrad graphics are as close as dammit to the arcade machine and the playability goes off the C&VG scale. If Elite thought they had a hit with Commando then they've got another thing coming..."
  • "Starglider" Rainbird - Spectrum 9/10 C&VG Hit "Whether you've got a 48K or 128K Spectrum, you'll find Starglider engrossing and addictive to play. Check out the 3D vector graphics and I think you'll be impressed."
  • "Dandy" Electric Dreams - Spectrum 9/10 C&VG Hit "Dandy is very playable and very addictive - especially with two players. You'll find yourself hacking and chopping your way through dungeon after dungeon deep into the night!"
  • "Trailblazer" Gremlin Graphics - Spectrum/Amstrad/C64/Atari/MSX/C16 9/10 C&VG Hit "Trailblazer is a simply brilliant game. Original and extremely addictive."
  • "Gauntlet" US Gold - Amstrad 10/10 C&VG Hit "There's really only room for one Gauntlet - and this is THE business. Accept no alternatives and shop at the sign of the chainmailed fist."
  • "Aliens" Electric Dreams - Spectrum/C64/Amstrad 9/10 "Electric Dreams has scooped one of the hotest [sic] films of 1986 and, in my humble opinion, have made perhaps the best movie conversion game around."
  • "Tarzan" Martech - Spectrum 8/10 C&VG Hit "Summing up, Tarzan is probably one of the best looking Spectrum games of recent months and, although it's a little weak on plot, it is addictive enough to keep you playing."
  • "1942" Elite - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "The game is a blast, and if you don't buy it then you don't deserve a 64. It's that simple."
  • "Repton 3" Superior Software - BBC 10/10 C&VG Hit "It's as gripping, entertaining and downright frustrating as ever, but Repton 3 offers something more. With this one you can actually re-design the game to baffle your mates still further."
  • "Flash Gordon" Mastertronic - C64 10/10 C&VG Hit "Overall Flash Gordon is excellent fun and a real bargain, putting many of current full priced games to shame."
  • "Los Angeles SWAT" Mastertronic - Atari 9/10 "The city streets are well drawn and the sounds are simply brilliant. This must be the best Mastertronic Atari game I've ever played."
  • "The Sentinel" Geoff Crammond/Firebird - C64/BBC 9/10 C&VG Hit "Sentinel is from Geoff Crammond, the programmer who brought you the much praised Aviator and Revs. Sentinel is nothing like his older games - in fact it's nothing like anything you've seen before."
  • "Kettle" Tony Crowther/Alligata - C64/Amstrad 8/10 C&VG Hit "With fantastic sound, a jazzed up version of that old nursery rhyme favourite 'Polly Put The Kettle On', easy to see graphics and addictiveness beyond belief, Kettle is just fantastic! Well done, Mr Crowther."
  • "Power Play" Arcana - C64/Amstrad 8/10 C&VG Hit "Powerplay is easily the most imaginative computer Trivia game to hit the streets and I wouldn't be surprised to see more quiz files appearing, either from Arcana themselves or even from third party software houses or individuals who fancy themselves as budding Magnus Magnussuns."
  • "Super Huey II" Paul Norman/Cosmi - C64 8/10 C&VG Hit "Complex, challenging and interesting to attempt. Super Huey II will go down well with those hard-to-please flight fans everywhere."
  • "Dr What!" CRL - Spectrum 8/10 C&VG Hit "Dr What! is a surprisingly entertaining offering with a few original twists."
  • "BMX Simulator" Codemasters - C64 7/10 C&VG Hit "A great game for the price, very entertaining."
  • "Yie Ar Kung Fu II" Imagine - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "Great graphics, music and sound effects combine to make Yie Ar Kung Fu II another winner."
  • "Academy" Pete Cooke/CRL - Spectrum 10/10 Game of the Month "Academy is immensely playable and totally addictive. You'll be thanking Mr Cooke for putting the SAVE option in. It'll mean you can actually get some sleep..."
  • "Bazooka Bill" Melbourne House - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "The graphics are big and butch enough for any would be Rambo, and it doesn't take itself as seriously as Green Beret."