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This month in... C&VG '87

Mike Keith

News

The Robot Society of America was offering newly signed up members the chance to win an "experimental sound-activated robot" kit. Membership was $50 per year.

Bug Byte was to release old Virgin games under its budget label. "Strangeloop" and "Falcon Patrol II" were among the first batch.

Also getting in on the budget action was newcomer Alternative Software with releases such as "Howzat", and "Henry's Hoard". Not exactly the most thrilling line up.

"Heroes for Wargaming" by Stuart Parkinson was a guide to role playing game figurines, and included details of how they were made and how to make them look "really professional".

CRL's upcoming "Ball Breaker" was an isometric "Break Out".

C&VG ballsed up an advert for mailorder publisher Fanatic Software. A typesetting error resulted in the address being given as that of E & J Software. Whups.

Code Masters were "a company to watch in '87" with a string of upcoming releases. "Super Robin Hood", "White Heat" and "Necris Dome" were all to go on sale for £1.99.

After the well received release of Electric Dreams' excellent "Aliens" game, word arrived that Activision were releasing a completely different "Aliens" developed in the US.

Quiksilva was working on a "Grange Hill" game based on the popular BBC TV series.

Several games were to be re-issued on Telecom's budget Silver label, including "Rebelstar".

Programmer Gary Partis included a dedication to his girlfriend Tracey in the "huge scrolling message" at the start of his "Uridium" clone "Psycastria". Right after he finished the game, Tracey dumped him. Audiogenic removed the message before release. C&VG viewed this as karma for blatantly ripping off Andrew Braybrook's classic.

It was quite common for board games to make their way to home computers, but "Brian Clough's Football Fortunes" was to make a move in the opposite direction.

A screenshot had surfaced of Stavros Fasoulas's "Delta", and C&VG had a little profile on him.

The MSX 2 had been impressing people in Japan, with "experts" predicting the games market would move away from the Nintendo Entertainment system. Panasonic and Sony both had MSX 2 machines out, retailing between £115 and £130.

Steve Turner's new game was revealed to be "Ranarama".

Features

A player's guide for "Academy".

The first in a new monthly feature covering the happenings in Play-By-Mail scene.

Marshall M Rosenthal took a look at how cheap and easy digitising images could be (focussing on the Digi-View digitiser for the Amiga).

Marshall paid a rather surreal visit to Infocom.

The competition results for the Trap Door competition were announced, and amongst the winners was a certain Charlie Brooker.

C&VG tried their hands at LARPing with a group running the Labyrinthe Club.

An "ST Spectacular" looking at upcoming games for the ST.

Tony Takoushi ranted about "my computer is better than yours" arguments, and declared the C64 "the best" as the Spectrum (or "doorstop" as he kept referring to it) couldn't match it on specs. He was fond of the Atari XL and MSX, thought the Amstrad was nothing special, and declared the BBC "DEAD".

Notable Previews

Notable Reviews

  • "Contact Sam Cruise" Microsphere - Spectrum 9/10 Game of the Month "One thing was for sure this would make a brilliant game." (The "review" was a rambling attempt at a film noir/hard boiled story)
  • "Fairlight II" The Edge - Spectrum 9/10 C&VG Hit "Fairlight II is a game for map makers and game purists alike. If you've got a few months to spare pick up a copy today..."
  • "Skate Rock" Bubble Bus - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "Skate Rock is a different game which skate-boarders and gamesters alike will enjoy playing."
  • "Paper Boy" Elite - C64 10/10 C&VG Hit "Overall, a well executed game, and another worthy C&VG Hit for Elite. Many of the most recent arcade conversions have been very poor. Paper Boy is the exception."
  • "Uridium/Paradroid +" Andrew Braybrook/Hewson - C64 10/10 Game of the Month "The ultimate compilation. Two classic 64 games in one package, and not just satisfied with re-releasing the original games together Hewson have come up with enhanced versions of both these smash hits."
  • "Championship Wrestling" Epyx - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "The action is fast, fun and very realistic. The only gripe is the constant reloading the disk after a bout has finished. That's very boring."
  • "Impossaball" John Phillips/Hewson - Spectrum 9/10 C&VG Hit "Impossaball is totally addictive and very playable. A great debut from Mr Phillips."
  • "Kat Trap" Design Design/Streetwise - Spectrum 9/10 C&VG Hit "Kat Trap is a sort of futuristic Green Beret with a few nice gimmicks added in. It's a winner."
  • "Boulderdash Construction Kit" Databyte - C64 10/10 C&VG Hit "Boulderdash fans are in for a real treat! Databyte have produced the Boulderdash Construction Kit which allows you to create your OWN screens of never ending playability!"
  • "Terra Cresta" Imagine - C64 9/10 C&VG Hit "Terra Cresta is one of Imagine's better offerings - it's a challenging zapper which will please even the most demanding joystick jockey."
  • "Erebus" Virgin - C64 8/10 C&VG Hit "The game has no real faults and is slickly presented. But you have played games like this before, so check it out before you decide to break into your Auntie's gift token."
  • "Dodgy Geezers" Melbourne House - Spectrum/C64/Amstrad/BBC 8/10 "The game captures atmosphere of the characters and plot beautifully, and goes to make a very entertaining and quite difficult, adventure."
  • "Kayleth" Adventure Soft - Spectrum/C64/Amstrad/BBC/PC 19/10 "Kayleth IS brilliant - it's one of those adventures which needs careful thought to sort out the puzzles."
  • "Myorem" Robico Software - BBC 9/10 C&VG Hit "Myorem (I haven't quite worked out what the title stands for yet) is a cracking good adventure - hard, entertaining, and easy to play."