Game 42 marks the 10%-ish mark of the Commodorathon. To say it’s been an arduous trek so far is to say that elephants are made of sheet metal. Still it doesn’t help that the six games chosen at random tend to be just that – random. Cacky old arcade conversions, lame film-tie ins and the great, great grandson of Championship Manager lay in wait in this next batch……..

The first landmark of the Commodorathon

GAME 37 : CHASE HQ (1989,OCEAN SOFTWARE)

This is Nancy at Chase Headquarters, we've got a crappy arcade converison here.......

Scum rules the roadways and it’s up to you to track down the criminals and ram them off the road. Armed with a high powered car, fitted with a turbo boost, and in constant communication with Nancy at HQ, you simply have to drive as fast as you can to find the criminals. Once located you have a short time period to ram them from behind until their car explodes and you can make an arrest. There are 5 major criminals out there and only you can stop them.

You get the feeling of the speed of this game from this screenshot, and yes static is a good way to describe it

Given how painstakingly slow this game is, I am amazed you are able to get anywhere near the criminals. This game is an absolute abomination of a conversion. I am really not sure where to begin.

Firstly it’s a multi-load so any level failures and you’ll have to rewind the tape. Secondly, the game looks as if it has been ported across from the Spectrum, as it is all green and yellow, and the backgrounds and course layouts do not change from level to level. Thirdly, the sound effects make your ears bleed and the music is not much better. The absolute undoing of this game, however, is the speed. You cannot have a high speed car chase game where the high speed chase in question is the equivalent of a sloth chasing a worm with a brick tied to its back.

The big red arrow gives the criminals away. You'd have thought they would have removed it before they went on the run

The C64 was home to some pretty torrid conversions of great arcade games. You only have to see how good both the Amstrad and Spectrum conversions were to see just how bad this was. Of course the C64 has limitations, but even so, there is nothing to recommend here other than simply to never play it. A disgrace.

GAME 38 : HARDBALL (1985, ACCOLADE)

Rounders with gloves

Taking yourself out to the ball game, it’s time to wear some silly pyjama type uniforms and spend some time playing the American version of rounders. You play either a friend or the computer over the course of a 9 innings game, with the object being to get more runs than the other team. You take turns at batting and pitching, with the latter being viewed from behind the pitcher. You have a small variety of “ball types” to throw, such as slider, curveball or fastball. You also take control of the fielders, making catches or picking up ground hits and throwing them to the bases.

Despite the limitations and age of the game, this is one of the best baseball games out there

Compared to American Football, baseball is pretty easy to follow, it’s just all the statistics I can’t get to grips with. The good news is that, while Hardball is full of stats it is also incredibly easy to play. You don’t really need to know if a player is left or right handed, or if they have a good average – you just select your team and off you go. Pitching is pretty easy, fielding is strange to start with but easy to pick up but I did find batting quite hard. It seemed almost a miracle to hit the ball hard in any direction. The graphics still look pretty good nearly 30 years since release and the spot tunes and crowd effects actually make you feel you are at a game.

Controlling the fielders does take a bit of getting used to but you'll soon be pulling off catches and whizzing throws back to base

There haven’t been too many memorable baseball games down the years but, even though it is very much a golden oldie, Hardball is one of the best and most playable examples out there.

GAME 39 : POWERDRIFT (1989, ACTIVISION)

The sillier the haircut, the faster the car - so it seems anyway

Taking part in a series of races, in what can only be described as a quad bike/buggy type vehicle, you battle 12 other opponents in your quest to win the racing championship. There are many different levels and courses to choose from, ranging from the more basic tracks to those that go up and over hills, round big bends and down steep inclines. All this is done at a fair pace and with competitive drivers, winning the title is not a forgone conclusion and you will have to battle all the way.

The courses vary greatly and provide a challenge from start to finish

Personally speaking I have always enjoyed the sort of racing games that you can pick up, put your foot down on and just drive. All this changing gear cobblers and slowing down into corners etc – can’t stand it. With Power Drift you get 2 gears and just the warning to avoid contact with other racers and roadside objects. That’s probably the reason I absolutely loved this game back in the day and still do after revisiting it. The whole thing is done in one load which means you can keep going without reloading tracks – you can play all the different levels, choose different drivers etc. It’s just a great package. Obviously, compared to the arcade original, graphically it’s a bit sparse but actually benefits from the lack of detail. I played the Amiga version years ago and that suffered from too much detail. The speed of the game is at the other end of the scale from Chase HQ and the music is awesomely good.

Without trying too hard a top notch conversion was possible and one of the best racers on the C64

This all adds up to one of the best racers on the C64 and a must have. It’s the sort of pick up and play game that I love so much. So imagine my surprise when one casts an eye over the developer – Activision. If you have seen any of my reviews of Activision games here at RetroSection you’ll know that they are responsible for some truly abhorrent C64 arcade conversions. It seems that on this occasion they got it all rather right for a change.

GAME 40 : BLUES BROTHERS (1991, TITUS)

Everybody needs somebody to love (someone to love)....

Jake and Elwood are on the run once again. Through 5 levels of platform mayhem, they have to trek across the city, through a prison and a river to reach freedom. Along the way you need find the missing records to complete your collection. It isn’t an easy task as pretty much everything in this game is against you, including the grannies in the shopping trolleys. All this is done to tunes of the Blues Brothers films so you can bop along whilst gaining your freedom.

This game has little to do with the film and more to do with being fun

In the hands of the wrong developers or a team after a quick buck by cashing in on a licence name this could have been a quite dreadful gaming experience. Whilst it wasn’t as much fun as I remember, it is still a good game to play. It’s easy to play, the graphics are great, the music is quite superb and, whilst it is a little samey and a little easy, there is no denying the charm of the Blues Brothers.

A late addition to the C64 roster but one of the better games

There isn’t a lot here that you couldn’t get anywhere else, but then again not a lot of that has been done as well as this. Titus were not renowned for bringing out quality games but this was a very nice surprise indeed.

GAME 41 : GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989, ACTIVISION)

Who you gonna call ? Anyone but Activision.....oh they did call Activision

5 years since they came to the attention of the world, things are not going well for the Ghostbusters. Reduced to appearing at children’s birthday parties or on dodgy cable TV paranormal programmes, it seems that the almighty heroes are but a distant memory. However, when strange ooze begins appearing in the sewers which changes with the moods of the city’s inhabitants, it soon becomes clear that more ghoulish goings-on are in the pipeline and there are only one set of people you can call.

The opening level does take some mastering but after that it's rapidly downhill

Like many sequels that which made that had you wondering why they had bothered, Ghostbusters 2 the film AND the game of the film are both inferior to the original. The game is multi-load which can only lead to more hair being pulled out. While there is little to complain about in terms of the graphics, the music is mostly hideous and the sound effects just non-existent. The fact the game is only three levels long is unforgivable, although the first two levels do take a little time to master. Once done, there is little challenge or little desire to go back and have another go.

DAMN YOU ACTIVISION !!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a thoroughly unsavoury package courtesy of my old friends Activision. As the police would say – keep moving, there is nothing to see here.

GAME 42 : TRACKSUIT MANAGER (1988, GOLIATH GAMES)

Now you can do a Graham Taylor and call time on Gary Lineker's career - it's not as if it will amount to anything special anyway

You can’t get any tougher job than this – why not try your hand at the England football manager’s job ? Either that or choose from any number of other countries, but your goal is the same ; bring success, and quickly, to your nation after years of failure.

Choosing from a pool of 100 players you pick formation, select tactics, study individual stats and then finally pick your squad. Arrange matches, scout the opposition, suffer squad withdrawals before knuckling down for the important qualifying games. If you get through your group, the cup competition awaits and the fate and the glory of the nation is in your hands.

This is the memo all new England football managers get when they come into the job

At the time there was only one other football management game on the market – the aptly named Football Manager and it’s sequel. This was an area that would get increasingly saturated as time went on and there is no doubt that the success of Tracksuit Manager ultimately had an influence on the successful Championship Manager series.

At the time, the game played out the match in text form, something not done before. There is great depth to the management side, from scouting to selecting players (and having them withdraw – damn you Glenn Hoddle) to picking formation and tactics. For a tape based game there is an awful lot to get your teeth into and your head around.

It might look quite dated but don't forget this is exactly how Championship Manager started out

It is one of the best examples of the management simulation from the 8 bit era. If you can get used to the fact that most of the players in the game are now managers themselves or are involved in the media, and can turn the clock back to 1988, you’ll be in for a treat. Tracksuit Manager is not one of those games left back in the dressing room.

Dateline : 25th January 2012

After spending too long in the wilderness the Commodorathon makes it triumphant return for 2012. Retrobear still has one heck of a way to go before the end but with a semi-regular visit to this vaunted project at least he can chip away at it bit by bit. So here are games 31-36 with more of the same Commodore 64 games goodness.

Feel the quality..........it's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

GAME 31 : RICK DANGEROUS (1989, FIREBIRD)

As fun as it is unfair, this is a pretty good entry into the platform game glut that the C64 has

Taking its influence from the Indiana Jones films, Rick Dangerous is a game based on the adventures of an adventurer. Travelling through 5 themed levels, along the way Rick must avoid enemies, traps, falling objects and things that pop out of nowhere in order to complete his quest and the level. He is armed with limited ammunition and bombs to help, which can be replenished along the way. Collecting all the treasure throughout the level will allow him to move on, but run out of ammunition and it will be curtains for Mr Dangerous.

When this was originally released it garnered very favourable reviews for its looks and its playability. What it suffered from, at the hands of the critics though, was its total unfairness and extreme difficulty. When I say things pop out of nowhere to get you, they really do. Jumps have to be inch perfect, dropping down levels also have to be inch perfect as being just a smidgen off the mark will result in instant death. There cannot be many games where pin-point accuracy is absolutely essential to keep one’s sanity going.

Rick Dangerous is not a bad game at all ; once you get into it you are hooked by the challenge and want to keep going. It’s just the unfair deaths which will have you throwing it at the wall in disgust. A sequel, the well named Rick Dangerous 2, was more of the same. It’s a rock hard platform adventure that is great on the C64 but will finish off the less able gamers amongst you.

OVERALL : A pretty good package, let down by a harsh level of unfairness due to all the hidden traps knocking about. With careful mapping and good memory recall Rick Dangerous shouldn’t put up too much challenge for the seasoned gamer, but is recommended.

GAME 32 : MICROPROSE SOCCER (MICROPROSE, 1988)

Mexico go 1-0 up in one of the funnest and best footie games on the C64

Football games were of three breeds back in the day – the side on view, the text heavy based management games or the overhead view. Microprose Soccer, created by the team that would eventually form Sensible Software and bring us Sensible Soccer, went for the latter option. You could play in a league, cup or international competitions. Unusually, for an early football game you could bend shots (using the banana shot function) to score unbelievable goals. Playing on wet surfaces would see mistimed sliding tackles sending your player flying off the pitch. You also took control of your goal keeper, which could lead to some interesting moments when all of a sudden you realise the reason your keeper is off his line is because you had control.

There were not that many great football games around when this was released, but finally it actually felt like the creators had played every other football game and filled in all the blanks. The unique overhead view provided a new angle, the options to play around with the settings and the game options were great, the sheer variety of teams and cup options were fabulous but most importantly the game was wonderful. OK, so the banana shots weren’t realistic and the manual goalkeepers were a pain, but this was such a revelation you can forgive the game for that.

Realistic and unrealistic in different ways, Microprose Soccer certainly gave the Emlyn Hughes game a real run for it’s money – two of the best football games, available on the same system. Ironically, when the games went to the Amiga they were both poor incarnations of their 8 bit originals. Microprose Soccer is one of the best sports games for the C64 and one that must be in any collection.

OVERALL : It’s not as much fun to play as it was back then, simply because football games have moved on so much since 1988. However the wealth of options, great playability and speed and a sense of fun add up to a highly entertaining and recommended piece of programming.

GAME 33 : STUNT CAR RACER (1989, MICROSTYLE)

It might not look like much but Stunt Car Racer is one of the best racing games ever

A cross between stock car racing, stunt driving and drag racing, Stunt Car Racer is a real mix of petrol based mayhem. Taking part in a league system, you simply race 1-on-1 round some of the most bizarre tracks ever created. Big, tough, steep climbs are mixed with insane jumps and long straights and you have to beat your opponent round a couple of laps of the track. Along the way you can use some limited turbo boost to catch up or increase your lead. The big jumps lead to hard landings which can damage your vehicle and if you lose control and fly off the track then you can easily end up wrecking your vehicle. Work your way through the league and keep gaining promotion to the top league so you can go for being Number 1 in the Stunt Car Racer league.

This is a very unique game of it’s time, mixing the thrill of high speed racing with the most insanely fabulous tack designs ever committed to a computer. The whole race cracks along at a fair lick, giving a great sense of speed even on a C64. The track design is amazing with the big jumps and sharp turns testing your abilities and daringness – after all the bigger the jump the less control you have, which can lead to some rather awesome crashes and some fairly decent air time. The league system simply adds more longevity to the game and the ability to practice all the tracks and set your own lap records completes a most impressive package.

This is one game which shows just what a C64 can do, in the right hands with the right ideas. It isn’t much to look at but the speed of the game, coupled with the great playability, make this an all time classic. Invest in a copy today of one of the best racing games on the system.

OVERALL : Put simply, a class act. The league mode is challenging and the margin for error is very slim. This though is quite simply a superb title that has to be played and owned by any C64 enthusiast.

GAME 34 : ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS (1990, DOMARK)

It's a fair conversion but by 1990's standards C64 owners would have expected better

In true 1950’s B-movie style, it is down to you, and a friend if required, to adopt a Flash Gordon-esque persona and rescue lots of scantily clad women from the clutches of the evil Reptilons and their mechanical miscreants. The game takes an isometric view and armed with a ray gun you simply have to go around shooting the robots and destroying the alien’s equipment and machinery. Along the way you rescue the captured women with each level containing a number of platforms to visit. You have to avoid electrified flooring, smart bombs and robots that home in on your every move. At the end of each section you have to fight one of the Reptilons, a large dinosaur type monster, before moving on to the next section.

I had the pleasure of playing this on the Amiga many years ago and absolutely loved the look and feel of the game. However, and expectedly, the C64 version cannot compete. In fact, it is inferior on so many levels. The isometric view doesn’t really work on this system, the controls appear to be sluggish and unresponsive and the music and sound effects are pretty poor. The whole appearance of the game suffers from small sprites and the colours, appreciating the usual poor choice of coluring that the C64 can have, don’t suit the game.

All in all that makes for a rather disappointing package, a poor conversion of a rather fun and quirky original game. You might get some fun out of it with the two player option, but generally this is one game that should have been left alone when it came to converting from the arcade.

OVERALL : Pretty disappointing all round really. A fun arcade game is turned into a slow and oddly coloured romp which never lives up to the game’s premise. As much as I would like to, this cannot be recommended.

GAME 35 : WINTER GAMES (1985, EPYX)

Plenty of multi player fun for all with the added bonus of frost, snow, ice and lycra

Slip on the lycra, do up the skates, dust off the skis and get ready to take part in a veritable winter wonderland of sport, courtesy of the long running Games series. You can figure skate, bobsleigh, speed skate and hot dog your way through a small selection of events. You can compete against the computer or friends in your battle for the gold medals. As always with this series, you can practice first before heading into direct competition. Just remember that cheats never prosper and that honesty and good sportsmanship will win the day.

This version of Winter Games is one of the better ones and, as with all games of this ilk, it is much better played with a few friends close by. After all, a bit of healthy competition never hurt any one. Some of the sections work better than others, with the Speed Skating and Biathlon sections being much better than Ski Jumping and Hot Dog Ski-ing. The Figure Skating section is very much an acquired taste. This isn’t one of those joystick waggling endurance games of that era, thankfully, so you can get through most of the events without breaking too much of a sweat. The whole thing is multiload though so expect some waiting time between events.

This is a very good package that kept up the tradition of the high quality titles in the Games series. It looks pretty dated now and the control system is pretty basic, but I am sure with the right company this could still provide plenty of entertainment today.

OVERALL : Grab some friends and rewind the clock to 1985, this is a quality sports game which will bring out the competitor in you. Throughly recommended.

GAME 36 : CREATURES (1990, THALMUS)

Weird, cutesy, wacky, violent, bonkers - all words used to describe Creatures

On the face of it, Creatures looks like every other cutesy platform game. However lurking underneath the skin is a violent beast of a game that quite literally cuts that theory to pieces. You are Clyde Radcliffe. Your sole purpose is to rescue lots of creatures dotted about the level, which are then exchanged at the end where you meet a good witch who will give you extra potions and power ups. You are armed with the ability to spit fire and holding the fire button down also gives you a longer more powerful burst of flame. Destroy all the evil creatures along the way to the end of the level. That isn’t all though – at the end of each level you must solve a puzzle to prevent your friends being tortured and ending up as a bloody pulp.

It does sound rather barbaric and reminds you in a way of the Japanese cartoons you saw as a kid – yes they are cartoons but they are violent ! I am not sure how such a game would sit with audiences and censors alike today, but back then this was quite different. The whole premise and added cartoon violence definitely peg it a step above the average platformer, but there are times where the game does appear to plod. The multiload does slow things down and while the music and effects are funny, the much lauded graphics don’t look as sensational as they did back then. The same company Thalmus were behind other games like Mayhem in Monsterland and Summer Camp which graphically are both superior

Creatures was hailed at the time as one of the best ever C64 games. Looking back I think that is a little over the top, though there is no doubting it’s quality. It’s a big game to explore and by no means easy, so a big challenge to all gamers. Just don’t expect it to rock your world as if it was 1990 all over again.

OVERALL : A good solid platformer which certainly stands head and shoulders above other games of the time. Very much recommended, especially if you are a fan of the genre but it might be a little too much for others.

PS Videos to follow again – they take a while to encode you know…

I could do with a large pile of these....

Wednesday 20^th April 2011

Well the sun is still shining…….

GAME 25 : RENEGADE III THE FINAL CHAPTER (1989, IMAGINE)

Looks awesome, plays crap

In Renegade you got your girl back. In Target Renegade you avenged your brother’s death. So what’s new in Renegade III ? Well your stupid bint of a girlfriend has only got herself kidnapped AGAIN (what is it with these women ?) and in an interesting new twist has been transported back in time through the stone age, ancient Egypt etc (you get the picture). You have to follow her back and bring her home, otherwise she will remain lost in time forever.

Lost in time forever is something that should have befallen this game. What on earth were Imagine thinking, other than cashing in on the Renegade name ? While it all looks very nice and the music is again some of the best on the C64, this game has a broken control system and is SO hard that it is practically rendered unplayable. It’s a horrible mess of a game that really defies all the high scores it was given at the time of release.

GRAPHICS : 8.5/10 – Really good looking sprites and very good backgrounds

SOUND : 9/10 (MUSIC), 6/10 (FX) – Super music throughout, simple standard beat em up effects

PLAYABILITY : 2/10 – Broken controls, frustrating control system, almost impossible to pull off anything than a high kick or low kick – no evidence of play testing at all

LASTABILITY : 2/10 – 4 levels to get through but how do you do that if the controls are crap ?

OVERALL : 3.5/10 – One of the best looking games let down by one of the worst control systems I have come across. A shocking disappointment and a blemish on the Renegade series

GAME 26 : CABAL (1989, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

Looks crap, plays awesome

Ah the joys of familiar plot lines. Here you are a US soldier with the simple task of infiltrating twenty enemy screens with the objective to clear all of them as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Along the way you’ll encounter tanks, munitions trucks, helicopters, foot infantry and end of level bosses after four screens have been completed.

Now Cabal doesn’t sound anything original and it does seem clear that it takes it’s idea from Operation Wolf. The controls are a little strange – although you can move your soldier you also control a cross-hair at the same time. Simply aim that at the enemy and open fire. It also allows you to collect machine guns, a super machine gun and extra grenades which are useful when faced with tanks and choppers.

Where Cabal excels is that it is incredibly easy to pick up and once you have mastered the controls is very rewarding. Having cleared six screens after a bit of practice I was suitably impressed by what was on offer. It’s hook on me was evident and I carried on playing. Whilst it lacks the two player co-op from the arcade there is no doubt that Cabal is one of the hidden gems lurking on the C64.

GRAPHICS : 6.5/10 – Typical army game graphics and backgrounds

SOUND : 6/10 (MUSIC), 6/10 (FX) – Nothing special but sufficient

PLAYABILITY : 8/10 – Once you’ve mastered the controls it is a very easy game to play and drags you right in

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – Twenty screens and five bosses to blast away so you’ll be playing this for a good time yet

OVERALL : 8/10 – Underrated game which is fabulous fun to while away the hours with

GAME 27 : TOOBIN’ (1989, DOMARK)

Floating down the river on a lazy Sunday afternoon

Here’s a novelty – an original gaming idea. Take two American surf dudes (I can’t believe I typed that), inflate a couple of large rubber rings, have them sit in them and let them go down the rapids. Along the way collect tin cans which act as missiles to throw at fishermen, natives with spears (well you’ve seen Deliverance haven’t you ?) and other objects on the riverside. You have to avoid twigs, fishing lines, rocks, oh and crocodiles as well. On later levels I swear you have to avoid toxic waste dumped in the river.

So an original gaming idea but is it any good. Actually when it comes to playing the game there is not a lot new on offer here. Simply moving the joystick up and down controls speed whilst left and right move your character across the screen. So no it’s not ground-breaking at all but I have always had a soft spot for Toobin’. I enjoyed the Amiga version a lot and this appears faster. The graphics aren’t up to much, though are colourful and the music really does get on your nerves very quickly. However it is not going to be a game you will play long and often, there simply isn’t enough in it to make it stand out from the crowd.

GRAPHICS : 6/10 – Cartoony and colourful if a little garish at times

SOUND : (MUSIC) 5/10, (FX) 3/10 – Grating music and sparse sound effects

PLAYABILITY : 6/10 – Easy to play but the lack of variety in the game-play lets it down

LASTABILITY : 6/10 – Fun for a while but boredom will set in before long

OVERALL : 6/10 – Floating down the river might sound fun but this game may leave your inner tube deflated

GAME 28 : ALTERED BEAST (1989, ACTIVISION)

Rise from your gave....on second thoughts please don't

Ahhhh Activision, can you perhaps send me a game which actually gives me some joy instead of the foul stench of bile I usually experience ? So this game is all about a man eh ? Oh and he can change shape through collecting globes. Hmmm change into what ? Oh a wolf, a bear and a winged serpent amongst others. OK sounds alright I guess. Oh and I have to punch zombies, 3 headed dogs and end of level bosses too ? Well that sounds plausible I suppose.

OK let me load it up…..hmmm it appears to be a multiload. That’s not good you know ? It better be worth the wait……Cripes those graphics look a bit ropey. And where is the sound ? Some of the other versions had speech – did you know the C64 could do speech ? You did, so where is it ? You’ve made a game that takes almost two sides of tape to load AND I have to rewind to the start if I die. It doesn’t appear all that responsive either…..press button……..kick. Wow a three second delay. Dammit this is driving me up the wall.

Once again Activision you have excelled yourselves. This is tripe of the furriest and smelliest kind there is. It looks horrible, doesn’t sound horrible because there are bugger all sound effects and as for playing the game – would it hurt to have put in some responsive controls for a change ? I tell you what, take your ropey arcade conversions, go away and leave me in peace. Our paths shall cross again and next time I shall be ready to be for you !

GRAPHICS : 3/10 – Blocky, crude looking sprites but the backgrounds are quite nice

SOUND : 1/10 – Non existent except a few grunts and explosion effects

PLAYABILITY : 2/10 – Playing it once will be enough

LASTABILITY : 1/10 – Seriously ? Why anyone would want to wade through this is beyond me

OVERALL : 1.5/10 – Atrocious. We know the C64 can’t produce arcade perfect conversions but for goodness sake give us something closer to it than this pile of tosh. Oh, and by the way the Mega Drive version was a shocker too.

GAME 29 : PUFFY’S SAGA (1990, UBI-SOFT)

The name says it all

I am going to come back to this one because I was having problems with the multi-load. Initial impressions are it looks good in a sub-Gauntlet type of way and the music is very good. However the way it loads each level in is a pain, so when I have a bit more patience I will revisit.

GAME 30 : BADLANDS (1990, DOMARK)

Na na na na - BADLANDS !!!

Remember Super Sprint, the top down viewed racing game ? Well this is a more futuristic version of that with your car armed with missiles and guns to take down the opposition. The premise is still the same – beat the other two cars to finish first in each race to progress. Along the way collect the wrenches that appear on the track to allow you to upgrade your vehicle.

Released shortly after Super Off Road, which had made quite an impression on gamers, Badlands looked cruder, duller and a lot less fun to play. Looking back it’s a little harsh but in some ways quite true. Yes the game looks horrible and the sound is limited to basic car effects and the droning engine noises. However whilst not as polished as Super Off Road it is is still good fun to play. Having to finish first in every race is a challenge and some of the courses are quite taxing.

All in all, Badlands got unfairly ignored when released and is definitely worth an hour or two of your time.

GRAPHICS : 5/10 – Crude, dull dated looking graphics and tracks

SOUND : 4/10 – Average title track and the usually humming engine noises

PLAYABILITY : 7/10 – Eases you in but gets difficult quite quickly. The angle takes a little getting used to but on some of the harder tracks you do get arrows telling you which direction to go

LASTABILITY : 7/10 – A few tracks to get through which will keep you busy but nothing to drag you back long term, only to beat your lap times

OVERALL : 6.5/10 – A strong and sturdy, if unspectacular, driving game. If you liked Super Off Road this will be for you.

As we cross the finish line for the first 30 games, we can look back at some good ones and some utter dross, proving that once again revisiting old games can be a bit of a minefield. Still I reckon that’s around 7-8% of the games cleared……only the rest to go.

Up Next : Avenger : The Way Of The Tiger, Bionic Commando, Stiff Lip & Co, Jack The Nipper, Marauder and Blasteroids.

PS Videos to follow

Load dammit !



Monday 18^th April 2011

Outside the sun is shining. It’s another beautiful day but dammit I have Commodore 64 games to play. No rest for the wicked and these games will not play themselves…..

GAME 19 : THE VINDICATOR (1988, IMAGINE)

It's a maze Jim but not as we know it

You control one of the last humans to survive an alien invasion and it is up to you to save mankind and restore sanity to the world. First walk through a complex designed in the form of a maze, taking out aliens as you go in order to find the access codes to use the computer. Once done it’s then on to your fighter plane and finally into your jeep blasting the aliens before the Final Encounter and the destiny of the human race.

Sounds good doesn’t it ? Well it sound OK if for the fact you can get off the FIRST damn level ! The idea of a 3D-ish viewpoint is good but you have absolutely no idea where you are going, or where you have been. All the corridors and doors are the same, there is a lift somewhere down to the next level and you need to find the passcode to use the computer to get out. However the makers of this game clearly had no idea that most gamers would simply get too frustrated with walking around endless corridors with no idea at all what to do.

All the graphics and sounds are rather good for the time, with the music being an excellent accompaniment to the tense feeling of the game. All said and done though this is simply too much too soon into the game. This is a game that should have been pretty good but ends up almost being unplayable because of how steep the learning curve is set from the outset.

GRAPHICS : 7/10 – Good main and enemy sprites, but those corridors drive you mad after a while

SOUND : 8/10 (MUSIC) 5/10 (FX) – Great tune plays throughout with adequate sound effects

PLAYABILITY : 5/10 – Immersive until you realise it’s a total pig to get off the first level

LASTABILITY : 6/10 – 2 further levels to come but frustration may kick in well before then

OVERALL : 6/10 – Nice to look at and listen to, but perseverance of the highest order is needed

GAME 20 : SALAMANDER (1988, IMAGINE)

It's only fair you get to see as far as I did...

Wahhhhhhhhhh ! It won’t load so will have to come back to it at a later date. Or find another copy.

GAME 21 : RASTAN SAGA (1987, IMAGINE)

Looks dull, plays dull

It’s time once again to pick up a sword, a loincloth and swallow some Dutch courage. Dammit there are hordes of monsters, winged things and large guardians to kill out there and as Rastan that is your job. Along the way pick up armour, shields and new weapons to help you as there are plenty of beasties to banish. A hack-n-slash arcade conversion by Imagine (you’ll notice I have reviewed a lot of their stuff so far).

So is it any good ? Does it compare to Golden Axe (still to be reviewed at some point) in any way as the ultimate sword swinging game to end all sword swinging games ? Both the long and short answers to that is a resounding NO. The main problem with the game is that it is about as schizophrenic a title as I can remember playing. It goes from being ridiculously easy, lulling you into believing it to be a breeze and then suddenly becomes the hardest game in the world, asking you to perform leaps of faith that are nigh on impossible and require the precisest of precision.

While the music is rather splendid and the graphics are quite nice, everything else falls down through the sheer unpredictability of the game. It’s also incredibly dull and monotonous to play – their just isn’t enough variety to keep anyone interested. If you add to that the extra weapons make no difference then you wonder what all the fuss is about. Just as you think it’s going to be something you will whizz through you’ll be pulling your hair out and relegating it to just another mediocre gaming experience. It’s a shame because in there does appear to be a fairly good game trying to get out.

GRAPHICS : 6.5/10 – Nice to look at and very fitting for the game.

SOUND : 8/10 (MUSIC) 5/10 (FX) – Great soundtrack with the most basic of sound effects employed

PLAYABILITY : 6/10 – Up and down. Easy one minute, blazingly hard the next. It’s also too samey to play, with no variety at all and some ropey collision detection

LASTABILITY : 5/10 – If you are up to the challenge and have enough hair to pull out then this is for you

OVERALL : 6/10 – And that’s being a bit generous. It’s not a bad game, just not a particularly great one.

GAME 22 : TARGET RENEGADE (1988, IMAGINE)

Looks like the invites were late for the Hells Angels convention

Take revenge on Mr Big for the murder of your brother, the original Renegade from the first game in this series, for which this is the sequel. Battle hard bikers with your fists, your feet or perhaps a baseball bat to the noggin ? It’s a simple beat em up side scroller with you out for revenge. Hey at least you aren’t trying to rescue your girlfriend this time (well until Part III that is anyway).

No doubt about it this is quite tough going. Initially it’s a pain to get the baseball bat off of the bikers but when you do there is no stopping you. The only down side to this is that being grabbed from behind by one biker and being pummelled by the other one does reduce your energy bar a lot (it’s quite a generous energy bar but you certainly need it). However despite that progress can be made with practice.

It’s one of the nicer looking C64 games of it’s time and has a good soundtrack. It’s also one of those games that suddenly can see progress to later levels rewarded. That said, you’ll also hit the hard bits and be stuck for ages trying to get past it. A learning curve it is, but one that allows you to progress. A much improved sequel and far better than other games of it’s genre at the time (Vigilante, Double Dragon) that were converted to the C64.

GRAPHICS : 8/10 – Big bold looking sprites, well animated and some cool backgrounds

SOUND : 7/10 (MUSIC) 6/10 (FX) – Great main tune with standard beat em up effects

PLAYABILITY : 8/10 – An instant hook and the need to progress is strong with this one, although the controls can take a little getting used to

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – Plenty to get through with a curve that allows you to learn but not too soon

OVERALL : 8/10 – One of the best side scrolling beat em ups for the C64.

GAME 23 : DRILLER (1987, INCENTIVE SOFTWARE)

Yes that is running on a C64.....

The planet Mitral is in danger of blowing up. The cause : excessive mining. The solution : you and your drilling kit. By extracting gas from the planet you can make safe Mitral and save the day. It’s as close as you can get to space exploration and planet analysis without actually jumping on the nearest Space Shuttle and going up yourself. All this is done through the use of quite stunning (for the time) 3D graphics, something the C64 had not seen in this detail before.

When released this game was absolutely stunning with it’s stupendous graphics and an absolutely corking soundtrack to boot. Neither of these factors could be faulted. If one really wanted to point a finger of doom at Driller it’s is would only be because of the speed of the game. Back then it was rather on the slow side, now it simply plods along liken a pensioner on pension day at the post office. Should that detract from how good the game is though ?

Well if you are one to persevere then this is definitely for you. Played on a fast PC through emulation it could easily enhance the experience. These are not the sorts of games that I play but I did find Driller good fun. It’s not something that can be played quickly and so patience is needed as well as a good memory so you know where you have gone and where you have been. Saying that, for retro gamers to simply experience the thrill of seeing such a technological marvel of it’s time it has to be up there on the top games you must play a few times, at least, on the C64.

GRAPHICS : 9/10 – Today they don’t look anything special but back then – WOW !

SOUND : 9/10 (MUSIC) – Simply stunning, one of the best pieces ever on the C64

PLAYBILITY : 8/10 – Ignoring the slowness the urge to explore is easily satisfied. You will though need to read the instructions thoroughly before starting

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – A vast world to explore at a plodding pace – plenty to get your teeth into

OVERALL : 9/10 – One of the quality titles for the C64. A fantastic achievement for it’s day

GAME 24 : B UBBLE BOBBLE (1987, FIREBIRD)

Gaming does not get any better than this

Let us take a trip to the Cave Of Monsters and compete our way through 100 levels of top quality platform action in the guise of Bub (or Bob, or both). Our little dinosaur heroes must trap the evil monsters in the bubbles they blow before jumping on them and turning them into fruit. Along the way collect the letters to make up the word EXTEND for some bonuses as well as little icons such as shoes (to run faster) and an umbrella (to skip levels).

Bubble Bobble’s place in the Hall of Fame for platform games is more or less guaranteed, but what makes this conversion so special. Well, first of all, for a computer which loves the colours grey, brown and blue this is one of the most colourful games on the C64. The graphics are cute and cuddly which is exactly what they should be like. There is also a rather fabulous tune playing throughout which although looping, never actually grates on the ears.

However it is simply playing the game which is where it excels. It’s easy to get into, hard to put down and in later levels can be incredibly fiendish to get through. With 100 levels of bubble blowing madness there is plenty here for gamers of all ages and abilities. It was also a major coup for the Firebird label at the time as the main coin-op conversions were usually handled by Ocean (if you were lucky), US Gold (if you were happy with mostly bad games) and Activision (if you were happy with playing shit conversions that bore no resemblance to the arcade originals). Bubble Bobble is – bottom line – a timeless classic and a stand-out title of it’s genre.

GRAPHICS : 8.5/10 – Cute, cuddly and colourful – exactly what is needed in games like this

SOUND : 8/10 (MUSIC) 7/10 (FX) – Cracking little tune plays throughout and good sound effects

PLAYABILITY : 9/10 – So easy to play, so easy to get into – what more do you need ?

LASTABILITY : 9/10 – 100 levels await so plenty to get through

OVERALL : 9/10 – Simply one of the most addictive and fun games for the C64. It should be on your list of games to play before you die.

It’s always good to play the good games and see how bad the bad ones are. It’s also good to look at games I have never played before. I really thought I’d hate Target Renegade, but there you go.

Up Next : Renegade III, Cabal, Toobin’, Altered Beast, Puffy’s Saga and Badlands.

How I might look when the remaining 405 games have been played.....

Saturday 16^th April 2011

Six more games, six more ranges of emotion. The task is proving very tough indeed if only for the failure of games to load. There are still hundreds of games to get through so let us waste no time and crack on with the next batch of games to see what joy/despair they bring.

GAME 13 : GREEN BERET (1986, IMAGINE)

Storm the enemy camp and rescue the hostages in this conversion of the ancient coin-op called Rush N Attack (there is a reference to the Cold War in there somewhere). Simply move from left to right dispatching enemies before reaching the end of the level. The game continues in the same vein with a small variety of weapons to pick up along the way to make things a bit easier.

For me, the difficulty level is set quite high and that is more than enough to put me off. I know my limitations as a games player is pretty poor but even for me after nearly an hour’s play I still couldn’t get off the end of the level. Sometimes it’s best simply to run from left to right and ignore what is behind you – until they start shooting then you have to deal with it. The other issue is instant death on contact with enemies, which is quite harsh. Couple that with the extra weapons available when you press the spacebar (these are VERY limited ammunition-wise) and you have a frustrating experience all round.

That said, the game is quite playable and does have that “one more go” factor. Graphically it’s nothing special and occasionally the collision detection struggles. A simple recurring drum beat plays in the background whilst the sound effects are pretty minimal but they do the job. I found Green Beret a fun but frustrating experience and one that will certainly reward with prolonged play, but prepare to pull your hair out along the way.

GRAPHICS : 6/10 – Functional without being fantastic

SOUND : 7/10 (MUSIC) 4/10 (FX) – Another great theme tune but sparce in game effects

PLAYABILITY : 6/10 – High frustration will put some off and unfair deaths don’t help

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – The toughness of the game means you will stick with it for a while yet.

OVERALL : 7/10 – A good game beset by a high learning curve, but good fun to revisit.

GAME 14 : RAMPAGE (1987, ACTIVISION)

Ever fancied destroying big cities ? Crushing large buildings and helicopters ? Causing mayhem and madness as you go ? Well if so this is the game for you, though will have to assume the guise of a giant lizard, ape or wolf to do so. That is the game in a nutshell as you simply go round destroying as much as you can to progress to the next level.

Rampage excels as a multi-player game and as such should be best enjoyed that way. It is not the best single gamer experience as the computer opponents seem no more than window dressing. During the few games I played I completely dominated the scoring and I am by no means a good player of games ! The controls also take a little getting used to as climbing can be a little annoying, but this is made up for by being able to crumble large buildings. You also have to destroy helicopters and tanks which shoot as you as well as angry residents in the tower blocks you are demolishing.

I’d neither played the original nor bothered to play this before but I found it rather good fun. Yes it’s quite simple and repetitive but passes the time when you play it. Graphically it’s functional and the main sprites are well animated, although the sound is limited to simple effects. As a party game is where it is at it’s best and I think it would be prime for a retro remake given the popularity of these games nowadays. Get a couple of mates round and it will be great, but play it on your own and the experience isn’t as good.

GRAPHICS : 7/10 – Nice big main sprites and a good look to the game

SOUND : 4/10 (MUSIC) 4/10 (FX) – Sonically average in all respects

PLAYABILITY : 8/10 – Good fun on your own, better with friends

LASTABILITY : 6/10 – It didn’t take me long to crack through five levels so be warned

OVERALL : 6.5/10 – Could be a multi-player masterpiece, but as a singular experience very average.

GAME 15 : ARKANOID (1987, IMAGINE)

Once again technology lets me down. Although the loading screen comes up it doesn’t go any further. Another one to come back to. Why is it always the ones I am looking forward to that fail ?

GAME 16 : QUARTET (1987, ACTIVISION)

Take control of one of four intergalactic warriors and battle your way through hordes of space robots. At the end of each level you have to defeat the guardian to get the key and escape to the next level. All four warriors have different abilities such as jumping, firepower and speed. You can also collect power-ups such as limited invincibility and the ability to freeze time.

Converted from the little known Sega coin-op (I could be wrong but I have neither heard of it nor seen it in the arcades), this is another abomination of a conversion by Activision. This may be a fault with the original game but having seen it running on YouTube, the two games couldn’t be further apart. The original game could see four players at once on screen, but this version allows only two. The graphics of the original are colourful, the C64 version’s are drab and colourless. The original had easy-to-see power-ups, the C64 version has them blend into the backgrounds so you never can see what you pick up. And so on…..

The main fault of the game though it is just too damn easy. I got to level 15 without paying much attention beyond level 9. It is just too repetitive to offer any long term playing. Two gamers with good skills could mash through this in no time at all. It is just a horrible game in every respect and one that I can happily confine to the annals of history without losing any sleep at all.

GRAPHICS : 3/10 – Drab, colourless, samey, poor backgrounds although some of the enemies are OK

SOUND : 5/10 (MUSIC), 5/10 (FX) – Good renditions of the arcade tunes and functional effects

PLAYABILITY : 2/10 – The jumps are variable, the power-ups indefinable and the fact you can destroy the end of level guardians by standing a safe distance away from them are just some of the major flaws with this

LASTABILITY : 2/10 – Too easy and with two players and a breeze to get through

OVERALL : 2.5/10 – Shockingly bad game regardless of how good or bad the original was. A prime example of the lazy arcade conversions that littered the C64 during the 1980’s

GAME 16 : WONDER BOY (1987, ACTIVISION)

Another one of those “rescue” games where your girlfriend Tina has been kidnapped by the evil King and you have to rescue her. Across four levels and four sub levels for each section you’ll encounter snails, frogs and fish that will harm you. Help is at hand with the breaking of giant eggs, which reveal power-ups of an axe, skateboard (for speed) and a fairy who will provide you with protection for a limited time. All the while you must eat fruit otherwise your energy bar will deplete and if it vanishes entirely you die and lose a life.

Everything about this screams “AVERAGE” in a very loud and booming voice. The graphics though cute and big in that typical Japanese way, are OK but Wonder Boy appears to be wearing a nappy. The music is truly horrible as are the sound effects. Whilst the whole thing looks cute, be warned that within is a game that would not take a hardened gamer long to get through.

Whilst Wonder Boy has gone on to enormous success through games on the Master System and at the time was as close as the C64 got to a Mario-type game in looks, there is nothing here that makes it stand out. Having made it look good it should play better than it does and it’s another of these games that has pixel perfect jumps required to progress. So bad was this with a joystick I actually resorted to the keys instead to play it !

GRAPHICS : 6.5/10 – Nice big sprites and the first level seems to be set at night, but not a bad game to look at

SOUND : 2/10 (MUSIC), 3/10 (FX) – Horrid tune, very basic almost Atari 2600 sound effects

PLAYABILITY : 5/10 – Easy to pick up but I struggled with the joystick

LASTABILITY : 6/10 – Not for hardened gamers. Also the four parts to each level are incredibly short so probably not one you will come back to at all

OVERALL : 6/10 – Distinctly average in every respect. Seek out the Wonder Boy games on the Master System instead.

GAME 18 : SLAP FIGHT (1987, IMAGINE)

Take control of the last Slapfighter (surely something got lost in translation ?) and battle the evil hordes through this vertical scrolling shoot em up. Collect power ups along the way that enable you to add to your ship’s firepower, such as lasers, side arms and homing missiles. Collect stars from destroyed enemies to keep bolting on the add-ons and help in your task to liberate your planet and people from the alien invaders.

Sadly I can’t really judge this game as the version I have appears to be broken. After loading it in I found it was impossible to die (and I never EVER use cheats or codes to do this), so I was able to saunter through the game with no real problems. It is certainly a blessing in disguise as the enemy attacks are fast and furious and I know I would have been shot down in a hail of bullets with no problem at all.

I can’t really rate this game because of that, but it appears to be one of the best examples of a shoot em up on the C64. These are plentiful and we shall get to some in the future to look at. Whilst it looks pretty good I should mention the music played throughout : it’s a jolly bouncy tune totally inappropriate for a game like this and belongs somewhere else. One thing is for sure, this will test the real shoot em up fans to the max.

OVERALL : UNRATED – Due to the forced invincibility I can’t score this fairly but it is a bloody good blast.

We are nearly at the end of this run of games which were re-released on the budget Hit Squad (Ocean Software) label. I started with these in particular for all the arcade conversions but as we have seen these do not the best games make. Still as Pete Tong says “We continue….”

Up next : The Vindicator, Salamander (or Life Force as it was known on the NES), Rastan Saga, Target Renegade, Driller (ooooh proper 3D games on the C64) and Bubble Bobble (yes !)

Oh no - not WEC Le Mans AND Enduro Racer !!!

Thursday 14^th April 2011

I am not looking forward to the next batch of games considering that it contains two absolute all time C64 nightmares. At least that is what legend says, after all my opinion may differ from those who have gone before me. We shall see as Day 2 of the Commodorathon commences….

GAME 7 : BATMAN THE MOVIE (1989, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

4 attempts to load and using 2 different tape machines. Sadly it won’t go beyond the loading screen which is a damn shame as I remember this as being awesome. It goes on the pile to revisit later on in the quest.

GAME 8 : SHAO-LINS ROAD (1987, THE EDGE)

By taking the role of Lee you have to battle evil martial arts forces at work. Through a variety of screens and levels (15 in total), the aim is to simply clear out the bad guys as quickly and sustaining as little damage as possible. There couldn’t be a more simple premise to a game. You are armed with kicks, punches and on occasions possessed by magic allowing you to kill the bad dudes from a distance. You can also jump between platforms to get those enemies higher up, or the ones you missed lower down.

Sounds simple enough doesn’t it ? Well sadly that is the main problem with the game. It is far too simplistic (and was simplistic by 1987 standards) to offer any long term play and becomes quite dull, tedious and repetitive in around 30 minutes of game time. In fact that’s probably the best way to play the game. Graphically it’s average, the sound below average with a grating tune throughout. You get a really underwhelming gaming experience.

As with Return of the Jedi (Game 5 in this Commodorathon), the fault really lies with the original arcade game. It was more colourful but was incredibly average. Nothing at all makes this stand out from the crowd. Shao-Lin’s Road is not the path to choose when looking to revisit a retro beat ’em up unless you are really, really pushed for choice. Go for International Karate + instead.

GRAPHICS : 5/10 – OK for their time if on the blocky and average looking side
SOUND : 3/10 (MUSIC) 3/10 (FX) – The music grates and the effects are below par

PLAYABILITY : 5/10 – Easy to pick up but just as easy to put down

LASTABILITY : 5/10 – There are enough levels to keep you busy but boredom will set in

OVERALL : 5/10 – About as average as a game can get.

GAME 9 : RUN THE GAUNTLET (1989, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

This is a very long game to load via tape so you can probably guess it crashed on loading. It’s on the pile for another time with the other games….

GAME 10 : TRIVIAL PURSUIT (1986, DOMARK)

The ever popular (in some households) board game comes to the humble C64 and the old tried and tested format doesn’t change one bit. Well except for a slightly annoying, dart throwing (watch the video) big nosed quizmaster with the David Gower haircut. Aside from that it’s a case of answering the questions, collecting the wedges and winning the game. You can play alone (if you are sad like me) or have up to six friends playing at the same time. The game also comes with two additional question banks to load in if you want to exercise the grey matter even further.

This could have been something incredibly trivial (pun intended) and despite a few of the questions being a little out of date with today’s standards, it is actually very good fun indeed. The whole thing whips along at a nice pace, and if you can stand the main character (who can be switched off) making all sorts of sarcastic comments then you will definitely enjoy this. It’s not an essential purchase but certainly one of the better examples of the fad of taking popular board games and making computer games out of them.

GRAPHICS : 7/10 – Colourful enough and solid enough without being spectacular

SOUND : 4/10 (MUSIC) 4/10 (FX) – Some of the questions are music based so the C64 does have trouble coping and most of the tunes I heard sounded like they could have been played on a Major Minor musical toy. Simple sound effects throughout

PLAYABILITY : 7/10 – It’s Trivial Pursuit !

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – Plenty of questions on tape and the option of having friends round to play.

OVERALL : 7.5/10 – A damn good effort and a welcome departure from shooting/punching things.

GAME 11 : WEC LE MANS (1988, IMAGINE)

Fancy taking part in the world famous 24 hour race ? Well you won’t get the chance in this game but it at least tries to tempt you in with the promise of some Le Mans style racing. Pass through three checkpoints and record the fastest lap time possible. After that things get a bit darker simulating the night stages of the race.

When this was released a lot of column inches were written about just how poor a game this was. The car handles like a bar of soap, the computer controlled cars home in on you, you become trapped on the curb on corners, the trees and road signs seem to move onto the track, the scroller bars to simulate speed appear to go backwards and the track seems incredibly tight. After all that it’s hard to actually find something good about this game. Well the title sound track is pretty awesome.

The original arcade game if anything was TOO fast. It’s not often Konami missed out with their arcade games but this was one that should have stayed there. Not uncovertible by any means, but it was a task too far for the programmers here. In all honesty this racer should have been left in the pits because that’s not far off what it is.

GRAPHICS : 4/10 – The car looks OK but the rest of the graphics are drab and unimaginative

SOUND : 8/10 (MUSIC) 3/10 (FX) – Corking soundtrack. Poor in game effects.

PLAYABILITY : 3/10 – The car handling is atrocious and sometimes the odds seem stacked against you

LASTABILITY : 5/10 – Given how unfair it can be, there might be a small challenge to be had but this is not one you’ll be reloading again and again

OVERALL : 3.5/10 – An all round below par, shoddy and badly presented game. One of the worst racers on the C64, especially if you consider the quality of Pitstop II released 4 years earlier !

GAME 12 : ENDURO RACER (1987, ACTIVISION)

Get your motor running and take part in some crazy cross country bike racing. Leap over jumps, avoid boulders in the road and race to the checkpoint as quickly as possible to continue. Complete all the stages to become the number one dirt bike rider in the world ! (Well I had to make it sound exciting – think Hang-On but from a more vertical position)

This had two things missing from Sega’s original arcade machine – the giant bike you sat down on and the feeling of speed. This version has neither of those things, and thus the biggest selling points to this arcade conversion are missing. In fact so much are they missing you wonder why Activision splashed out on the rights as this, along with another of their home conversions for the C64 Afterburner, and it becomes simply another bike game.

But oh no, not just another bike game, a REALLY BAD bike game. There is no sense of speed, collision detection is optional, you pass through the other bikers as if they aren’t there, everything is lagging 5 seconds behind your controller movement and the only point of the game is to simply beat the clock so you can go to the next stage. After the rather nice title screen and music things go downhill rapidly and stay there.

GRAPHICS : 2/10 – Laughable by 1987 standards, the bikers look more like Police Training cyclists than dirt racers

SOUND : 5/10 (MUSIC), 1/10 (FX) – OK soundtrack but the usual feeble bike effects

PLAYABILITY : 2/10 – Bordering somewhere between unfair and unbelievable – as in “I can’t fucking believe that just happened”

LASTABILITY : 1/10 – Absolutely no replay value whatsoever

OVERALL : 1/10 – As legend has it – a total travesty of a game which should be burned.

So there you go – as bad as I thought it would be. It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t been gutted to the point of despair that neither Batman or Run The Gauntlet loaded. Still as Mrs B points out I am dealing with technology that’s about 30 years old. Oh well……

Up next : Green Beret, Rampage, Arkanoid, Quartet, Wonder Boy & Slap Fight – loading fails permitting of course.

Rumble In The Jungle

Ridding the streets of scum

Jungle Fever

Tuesday April 12^th 2011

The Commodorathon begins. Armed with little more than a pint of orange squash and having surveyed the task ahead this show is officially on the road. This does mean starting with a lot of film tie ins which from previous columns you will notice are not my favourite genre. However they were first out of the drawer…..

GAME 1 : RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART II (1986, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

You are Rambo armed to the teeth with weapons and your tasks are simple – rescue the POW’s without engaging the enemy. That is easier said than done as the enemy are quite happy to engage you. Escaping the first task in a helicopter, you then return to the camp you just visited to rescue some more POW’s before then taking on an enemy helicopter. Beyond that, well it’s difficult to say because that is as far as I got.

At the time of release it went head to head with Elite’s conversion of the arcade smash Commando. The two games are very similar except with Rambo you go up the screen, then back down it and then back up it. I’ll get to Commando at some point in the future but having played it a few months ago I do prefer it, though it is far from a good game.

When this game was originally released though it sold well, it was generally met with fairly average reviews. Time has not improved that and as a result the game is nothing more than a retro memory. The fact it comes with a kick-ass soundtrack does little for the game’s reputation. Sadly this is one you remember for the audio rather than the game. I should at this point mention Martin Galway the composer of the music in this game. His name is legend in C64 circles for the quality of the music he produced in the 1980’s. We shall encounter much more of his work in the future.

GRAPHICS : 6/10 – Adequate for the time. Nicely animated and atmospheric.

SOUND : 9/10 (Music) 4/10 (FX) – Martin Galway’s music on this game is highly impressive, if not some of the best work done on the C64. The in game effects however leave a lot to be desired.

PLAYABILITY : 7/10 – Controls are good, fluid and responsive.

LASTABILITY : 7/10 – Tough enough for bad gamers like me, but more seasoned veterans might breeze through this quite easily.

OVERALL : 6.5/10 – Good enough for a short blast but it may prove a bit too tough for some.

GAME 2 : COBRA (1986, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

Based on the crappy Stallone film, you take the role of Cobra who tries to rid the streets of scum in this formulaic side scroller. The idea is to work your way across the streets disposing of the bad guys on your mission to rescue and protect a glamorous model from evil. See, just reading that back makes it sound truly awful doesn’t it ?

The game itself is utterly horrible. It takes all the worst elements you can imagine – poor visuals, even worse sound effects, poor collision detection, sprite glitches, unresponsive controls. There is one slight redemption in the soundtrack which I quite enjoyed. However that is the only thing it has going for it. The enemies move ten times faster than you meaning you don’t have a chance.

When originally reviewed it was regarded as one of the worst examples of gaming on the C64. That the Spectrum version was far superior speaks volumes. The game looked dated back in 1986 when it was released and the original asking price of £8.95 would have turned any good natured C64 owner into a street vigilante hell bent on getting revenge on the programmers who produced this drivel.

GRAPHICS : 2/10 – Badly drawn, possibly by someone who had never designed a game before. Unimaginative backdrops too.

SOUND : 6/10 (MUSIC) 1/10 (FX) – Main music is ok, sound effects amount to farting noises

PLAYABILITY : 2/10 – Literally a five second delay between moving the joystick and the reaction on screen makes this pretty unplayable

LASTABILITY : 1/10 – In the old days you could have recorded over it. Most probably did.

OVERALL : 1/10 – And that’s being generous. An absolute shocker. You’d have more fun stabbing yourself than revisiting this turd of a game.

GAME 3 : PREDATOR (1988, ACTIVISION)

From Stallone to Schwarzenegger. My God what have I done to deserve this ? Mind you, Predator was a cracker of a film and here you take on the role of Arnie in the jungle. Your crew members are being killed by a mysterious force and it is up to you to find out why. Along the way you’ll be sniped at by enemy soldiers and attacked by vultures, all the while avoiding the big red triangle of the Predator. Later levels see less emphasis on gunplay and more hand-to-hand combat.

For those of you who hate multiload games, then this simply is not for you. After loading the entire first side of the tape, for which you get a rather nice introduction showing the Predator’s spacecraft heading to Earth, you then have to load the levels as you go along. Death means you have to rewind the tape and load it in again. It was a sign of the times back then, so revisiting this requires a lot of patience. Quite how it received rave reviews on release I am not sure, as the reviewers in Zzap actually admitted they had trouble getting off Level 2, but awarded the game 90% !

Graphically the game looks good, with the jungle very well rendered. The main colours being green, yellow and brown do not an attractive game make, and although the sprites are well animated they look quite blocky now. There is minimal sound too, limited to gunfire, squawking vultures and a humming sound when the red triangle representing the Predator appears. As a game though it is very tough and quite unforgiving. The controls take a lot of getting used to, and by the time you have it’s too late and you’ll have to rewind the tape and load in the level again.

GRAPHICS : 7/10 – Nicely drawn, well animated and captures the jungle well

SOUND : 5/10 (MUSIC) 3/10 (FX) – Pretty poor across the board

PLAYABILITY : 7/10 – Tough to crack, the controls take some getting used to and enemies popping up all over the place make this quite a challenge

LASTABILITY : 8/10 – Like the Predator – one tough son of a bitch.

OVERALL : 7.5/10 – Too hard for the likes of me and the multiload is a right pain in the bum, but not a bad little game.

GAME 4 : PLATOON (1987, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

Well it should have been next but it failed to load. In all cases where games do not work or fail to load they will be revisited at some point in the future. Remember – no game left unturned !

GAME 5 : RETURN OF THE JEDI (1988, DOMARK)

Picking up where The Empire Strikes Back left off, the Rebel forces are making the final push on the Dark Side. Through a variety of levels including the forest landspeeder chase, the assault on the Death Star, the blowing up of the base on Endor and the final push to destroy the reactor of the Death Star you take the roles of Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian.

This was converted some four years after the original arcade machine came out, and it shows. The graphics are quite dated and although recognisable as Star Wars are quite poor throughout. The sound has a rather disappointing rendition of the theme, none of the arcade’s speech is evident and the sound effects are quite sparse. It is the controls that let the game down though – they are simply too sensitive. Pushing the joystick one way will see you fly across the screen at breakneck speed. Not a game for the twitchy of hand.

Sadly the faults lie with the original arcade machine and are quite evident. The previous two Star Wars games were vector graphics based. They worked quite nicely, but this is a very poor departure from a successful formula. It can only be that, by 1984 simplistic looking games were out and a proper full blown graphical game was needed. However while that may have been the case, they forgot to include the gameplay.

GRAPHICS : 6/10 – It looks like Star Wars but drawn by an 8 year old

SOUND : 4/10 (MUSIC) 3/10 (FX) – Nothing of note and the rendition of the Star Wars theme is pretty ropey

PLAYABILITY : 4/10 – 3 different starting levels add some variety, but the controls are nothing short of shocking

LASTABILITY : 5/10 – Seasoned gamers will get no challenge from this and there is very little repeat value

OVERALL : 5/10 – The original coin-op is to blame but it is still quite a rough and shoddy piece of software

GAME 6 : RAMBO III (1988, OCEAN SOFTWARE)

Again a non-loader. This was quite a relief as I had quite enough of Stallone-based games by this point.

Up next : Batman The Movie, Trivial Pursuit, Run The Gauntlet, Shao-Lin’s Road, WEC Le Mans and Enduro Racer.

NOTE : Daley Thomson’s Decathlon would be on that list but I am lacking a sturdy joystick, so this shall be revisited at some point in the future.

The only rules are as follows :

• All games in the collection must be played – no exceptions no matter how bad a game’s reputation
• A minimum of 3 games per post will be reviewed
• Where possible the games will be compared to the coin-op original
• I must keep the faith

C64 Goodness

This week got me thinking as to what to do next with the site. Whilst posting comments on various systems and bits of gaming history is all well and good, what I feel is lacking most is actually playing the damn games and reviewing them. The problem with that is where to start ? I mean it’s not as if I have a small amount of games to be going along with that would take a short period of time to cover.

The only way I can approach this is to start in one place and gradually work my way through. That is probably the toughest bit to do as I have decided after much deliberation to start with the Commodore 64. Why there you may ask ? It will mean that rather than saving the largest selection games I have to the end, I can focus on them properly.

I’m not saying it’s going to be a chore – and bloody hell it will be – but a simple glance at the list of games brings both joy and pain alongside each other. For every Buggy Boy there is Enduro Racer, Ikari Warriors to Lee Enfield Tournamont of Death and Wizball to Bootleg Bandits. Look them up and see how they differ – from the sublime to the ridiculous. This does not include compilations either, which means that total of 423 is going to rise and get bigger. If you also factor in my mate Andy bringing round some he found in his loft tomorrow, we might be pushing 500 by the time this is finished.

You will notice from the site layout there is a section under Russian Roulette. This I am hoping to bring back at some point in the future, but with some of the other consoles and games in my collection. For now the focus is purely C64 and hopefully some video footage to go with all the musings, rants, raves and findings that this journey is going to take us on.

This will be an ongoing project so there is no time limit to getting this completed. Although this will be my prime focus for the time being, it will also allow me to post some other stuff as we go along.

So hold on to your hats because we will be getting under way imminently…..look out for the Commodorathon!

I may need this along the way