LAS T

ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK VOLUME 2 - 2020

BLAST ANNUAL Volume 2 is dedicated to everyone worldwide who has been affected by the Corona
Virus (Covid-19). An unprecedented global tragedy, with current figures showing more than 10 million
people have been infected resulting in over 500,000 deaths globally, and still continuing to rise. From
everyone at Blast Annual 2020 publication our sincere condolences to families who have lost their
loved ones and we would also like to show our sympathy and support to all those millions of people
worldwide who have lost their jobs from the economic impact created by this pandemic. Our deepest
gratitude goes out to all the health workers on the front line putting their own lives at risk in treating
and caring for corona virus victims and continuing to carry out the mammoth task of daily testing. We
hope and pray that a vaccine is found soon to stop any further loss of life from this devastating virus.

Copyright © Blast Annual 2020: Volume 2.

First published 2020.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise) without the prior written permission
of the publisher. Any person who performs any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal
prosecution and or civil claims for damages. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by any way of trade or
otherwise be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.

DISCLAIMER

The Blast Annual game review philosophy is a very simple one: We want to review as many new games as possible across as many
8-bit and 16-bit machines. We have primarily reviewed games released in 2019. We allow ourselves and reviewers some leniency
with games released outside of 2019.
Reviewers are able to write in their own words, write their own style and make their own judgments when it comes to the
ratings. None of our reviewers are professional journalists - we like it like that because we don't discriminate and we feel it gives
a much more fan based perspective. We do not seek to give preferential treatment or favour to any games, any developers or any
companies. We encourage reviewers to write exactly how they feel about a game, deciding for themselves if they have enjoyed
playing those games and letting them discover for themselves if a game is worthy of high merit or not. With all reviews software
and hardware, we strive to provide positive reviews and outcomes.

Our reviews generally follow a template that may include the following criteria:
* An intro.
* Information about the developer.
* Gameplay.
* Likes.
* Dislikes.
* A Verdict.
* Followed by a rating.
Game reviews comprise a mix of two page, one page and mini reviews. If a game is rated between 85% - 89% this receives the
BLAST ANNUAL HOT award. If a game is rated between 90% - 94% this receives a BLAST ANNUAL SCORCHER award and if a
game is rated 95% - 100% this receives a BLAST ANNUAL INFERNO award.
 LAS T
B

GAMES - INTERVIEWS - REVIEWS - FESTIVALS - TUTORIALS

COMMODORE AMSTRAD SPECTRUM ATARI MSX SEGA NES ZXNEXT AMIGA

ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK -- VOLUME 2 - 2020

 Index

INTRO
volume v
BLAST ANNUAL 2020
Welcome to Volume 2 of Blast Annual 2020. What you will find inside
is even more original awesome game reviews for your favourite 8 and
16 bit machines and even more articles on coding, game dev contests,
developer interviews, retro community events, demo parties, do it
yourself projects and so much more from 2019. Once again, I must
acknowledge that it would not have been possible without the massive
contribution from the retro gaming community. Retro gaming is more
than a computer or video game, it is a love affair and passion for millions
of people around the world. It doesn’t matter which retro computer or console you adore
the most, retro gaming is as fun, exciting and as popular as it's ever been.

We can’t thank the developers, the gamers, the play testers, the musicians, the graphic
artists, the reviewers and youtube walk through experts enough for making retro gaming
cooler than ever. Firstly, even though we didn’t reach the Kickstarter target earlier in the
year we would like to thank all the Kickstarter backers who made a pledge. We thank all
322 of you!!! Secondly, thanks to the people and companies who supported us during the
Kickstarter campaign people such as - Darren Doyle and Jamie Battison of Bitmap Soft,
James Grayson of Rhayader Computers, Mike Berry at Old School Pixels, Chris Abbott of
C64Audio.com, game developer Misfit, Reset64 magazine and John Kavanagh of Retro
Format. Thank you all so much! Now let's enjoy all the awesome retro game reading inside!

« INTERVIEWS
John Champeau -------------- 192-195
ATARI 2600
Galagon --------------------------------------- 180-181
Jorge Romero Gonzalez -- 196-197 Pro Bowling --------------------------------- 182
Batman Group ----------------- 198-201 1vs1: Three Point Play ---------------- 183
8 Bit Symphony ---------------- 204-207 Wizard of Wor Arcade ------------------ 184-185
Bass Fishing Tournament ------------ 186
Amoeba Jump ----------------------------- 187
Dragon's Descent ------------------------ 188
Beast ------------------------------------------ 189

NES
Project Blue -------------------------------- 178-179

SEGA
Xenocrisis ----------------------------------- 176-177

© Blast Annual 2020: Volume 2. Retro Gaming Book

4
 Index

CONTENTS
«
THE TEAM ----------------------------------- 06-07
Alain Massoumipour Tribute ------- 08-09
PLAY EXPO GLASGOW ----------------- 10-11
ATARI PARTY EAST 2019 ------------- 12-13
COMMODORE
Santron -------------------------------------- 133
MSX Meet Up UK 2019 ---------------- 14-16
Space Orbs -------------------------------- 134
C=Treffen Graz --------------------------- 17
Street Defender -------------------------- 134
EVOKE 2019 -------------------------------- 20-21
Lily Lander --------------------------------- 134
ATWOODS PARTY 2019 --------------- 22-23
Bugout --------------------------------------- 135
DATASTORM 2019 ----------------------- 24
The Great Escape 115% ------------- 135
LOST PARTY ------------------------------- 25
GERP 2019 --------------------------------- 26
GUBBDATA 2019 ------------------------- 27 SPECTRUM
ZOO 2019 ----------------------------------- 28-29 Aliens: Neoplasma --------------------- 136-137
Making ZX Music Tutorial ---------- 30-33 Maze Death Rally X -------------------- 138
BASIC Sprites On CPC ----------------- 36-37 Manic Pietro ------------------------------ 139
Coding With AGD / CPCTELERA --- 38-39 Booty Remake --------------------------- 140-141
C=Plus 4 ------------------------------------- 40-43 P.T.M ------------------------------------------ 142
Sonic GX4000 Dev ----------------------- 44-47 Sardonic ------------------------------------ 142
PUDDLE Software Dev Profile ----- 48-49 Rade Blunner ----------------------------- 143
Work In Progress ------------------------- 52-56 Atlantis ZX --------------------------------- 143
CPC Game Pad Project ---------------- 57-58 Yazzie ---------------------------------------- 144-145
CPC TURTLE Project ------------------- 59-60 Astro Blaster ----------------------------- 146-147
MEGA65 -------------------------------------- 61-63 Elon M With A Jetpack --------------- 148
SEGA Genesis Mini Review --------- 64-66 Ninjakul 2 ---------------------------------- 149-150
Blast From The Past -------------------- 67-73 Moon's Fandom Festival ------------- 151
Atari Lynx 30 Years Celebration -- 76-79 Mister Kung Fu --------------------------- 152-153
MSX Dev 2018 Contest ---------------- 80-82
ZX DEV MIA Remakes ----------------- 83-85
SEUCK 2019 Compo -------------------- 86-91 CPC
RGCD 16K Compo ----------------------- 92-97 Ludic Break The Loop ------------------ 154-155
#CPC Retro Dev -------------------------- 98-117 Pinball Dreams ---------------------------- 156-158
Phantomas 2 ------------------------------- 159

COMMODORE MSX
Alpharay ------------------------------------- 120-121 X-Racing -------------------------------------- 160-161
Endless Forms Most Beautiful ---- 122 Buddhagillie -------------------------------- 162-163
Adventure Park -------------------------- 123 The Awakening ---------------------------- 164-165
Chopper Command -------------------- 124 Linez ------------------------------------------- 166
Keystone Kapers ------------------------ 125 Twinlight ------------------------------------- 167
Frostbite ------------------------------------- 126 Uchusen Gamma ------------------------- 168-169
Adventures In Time --------------------- 127
Legend Of Zador ------------------------- 128-129
130
AMIGA
Super Mario Bros 64 --------------------
Rygar ------------------------------------------ 170
Xplode Man --------------------------------- 131
Reshoot-R ----------------------------------- 171
Precinct 20: Dead Strange ---------- 132
Sidwave Shooter ------------------------- 132
Desantranques Jaen ------------------- 132 ZXNEXT
Tyvarian -------------------------------------- 172
Baggers In Space ------------------------ 173-175

5 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 The Team

Andrew Fisher (UK)

Commodore 64 expert/ C64 owner since 1985. Writer for Commodore Force and Commodore Format in the 1990s. Co-founder of
Scene World diskmag. Now writing for Retro Gamer and Wireframe magazines. Contributor to ZZAP Annuals and main C64 games
writer / contributor to 8-Bit Annual 2018 and 2019.

Andy O'Flaherty (UK)

8-bit console and computer games enthusiast. Andy's first love is console gaming namely Sega. In recent times Andy has become
an Administrator of various retro gaming groups on Facebook, including - Retro Games Forever, ZX Spectrum Latest Games and
CPC Latest Games. In 2018 Andy was a major game review contributor, writing game reviews for new ZX Spectrum and Sega
Master System games for 8 Bit Annual 2019.

Brian Matherne (USA)

Atari 2600 expert. Brian Matherne is a vintage gaming collector of the Atari Video Computer System (VCS, later known as
the 2600), Mattel Intellivision, GCE’s Vectrex, and Milton Bradley’s Microvision. Currently, Brian is the curator of “The Most
Comprehensive Atari VCS/2600 Homebrew List” on the internet, which began in 2013. Most recently, he has assembled the
largest ROM pack for the Atari Flashback Portable. Brian is the author of a book series entitled "The Atari 2600 Homebrew
Companion", and currently volumes 1 through 3 and a special holiday edition are all available on Amazon.

Dougie Mcg (Scotland)

All round gaming enthusiast, lover of ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computer games. Dougie was a major game review
contributor, writing game reviews for new ZX Spectrum, NES and Amstrad CPC games for 8 Bit Annual 2019. Dougie is an
administrator of a number of retro groups on Facebook - Retro Games Forever, ZX Spectrum Latest Games and CPC Latest
Games. In 2019 Dougie released his first ever ZX Spectrum game with Arcade Game Designer (AGD), called Scot Bot. In June of
2019, Dougie taught his P6 grade students to make their very own games with AGD, a total of 21 new ZX Spectrum games were
released.

Frank Romero (Spain)

MSX expert. Frank has been an MSX owner since 1989. He is a writer for Retromaniac Magazine and Memoria Pixelada. While he
is not busy with those, Frank spends time writing for his own blog which contents are 80% related to the MSX computers. Frank
has documented a lot of MSX information, many of them available through his Youtube channel and as Wikipedia entries and
regularly collaborates with other retro gaming groups. Frank Romero is a retro gaming freak - he is the main organizer of annual
Retrocomputing Event Vigo Retro in Spain and also finds time to make artwork of MSX posters with retro game themes.

BLAST ANNUAL 2020 RETRO GAMING BOOK - BLASTANNUAL.COM

6
 The Team

George Bachaelor (Australia)

Involved with video game playing for as long as I can remember. Can’t get enough of arcade games, proper arcade cabinet gaming
is what i was fed and grew up on. My home computer of choice is the mighty Amstrad CPC 6128. In 2008 instead of playing games,
I got involved with the Amstrad Action 118 tribute magazine by Neil Reive. In 2015, I created the Amstrad CPC Classic Gaming and
Demo’s Facebook group and more recently with Dougie Mcg i created the Amstrad CPC Latest Games Facebook group. Since then
I have gone on to write freelance for Eight Bit magazine and Paloetronic magazine. In 2017 I took on a co-creator and content
collector role for 8-Bit Annual 2018 and 2019 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns.

Gordon King (Scotland)

Gordon has been gaming since the dawn of time. He grew up in a Scottish seaside resort as the arcade boom began, playing all the
classics as they landed on his doorstep. As the home computer industry developed in the 1980’s, his love for 8-bit gaming went
stratospheric; from ZX Spectrums, C64’s and Amstrad CPC’s, he played them all and simply couldn’t get enough. He still insists
this was the greatest era of gaming. Nowadays you can find him as a host on RGDS Podcast (Retro Gaming Discussion Group),
where he still waxes lyrical about this bygone, but amazing, time in video games.

John Davies (Indonesia)

John's love of video games started in 1976 when a Pong machine appeared in his local chippy in Derby. He spent almost every
weekend of his childhood blowing all his pocket money in 70s and 80s city centre arcades. He's a huge fan of all home gaming
systems especially the ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500, PC and PlayStation. and was a major contributor of homebrew game reviews,
mainly Spectrum and Atari 2600, for 8 Bit Annual 2019. John did Spectrum BASIC programming in the early 80s but never released
any games until last years Percy Penguin and Mage Rage, using a tool called Arcade Games Designer (AGD). A 3rd game is
currently in the works. He also collaborated with Richard Langford in the production of the Spectrum themed PC games Project
ZX and Project ZX 2 - Jetboot Joe. He enjoys running game contests on Facebook, in groups like Retro Games Forever, on a
regular basis.

Lobo (USA)

C64 oriented since 1982, drunken master in training since 1973, have worked with many talented individuals over the years on
DS homebrew games as well as C64/ZX/NEXT and games related packaging for Protovision, Illustrations and design for various
other games/platforms/magazines, currently an active member of 3 demo groups (Atlantis/Onslaught/Protovision) and all of that
because the cat demanded it.

Louie Dimovski (Australia)

My first home video gaming experience was with a Hanimex HMG 2650 hooked up to a black and white TV that did not have an RF
connection on it (try getting any sort of video signal out with that setup). By my early teens, I became one of the 'cool' kids with
a Commodore 64 and have been smitten with the system ever since. Now in my late 40s, I appreciate the nostalgic feelings that
can be re-lived by looking back at all of the great titles from the 1980’s but my passion lies in the current generation of games
released for the old bread bin (that's the brown C64 for the uninformed) and supporting current day programmers with their
part-time hobby via my RetroGamerNation on YouTube. Looking forward in 2019 and beyond, I will be jumping onto the darkside
of 8-bit current gen gaming to cover other systems such as the Amstrad, MSX, Atari and ZX Spectrum to see what the fuss is all
about (what's taken you so long to get over to the dark side, trust me you will love it - Ed).

FACEBOOK.COM/Groups/BlastAnnual

7 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Tribute K
Alain Massoumipour
1960 - 2019
Article by Tarodius
English Translation by Roberto Calangelo

I kindly pay tribute to Alain

Massoumipour, aka POUM.
He was a journalist for the
popular French magazine,
Amstrad 100%, from February 1988 to
October 1993.

Born in 1960, Alain Massoumipour came to

delve into the world of micro-computers
through his studies in architectural arts.
He first had access to a Philips VG5000
(MSX), which he borrowed from a friend.
Alain read the news about the Amstrad CPC
computers in France and, based on the good
reviews, he decided to buy one for himself.
He went to the store to buy a CPC664 but
found out they were discontinued and
bought an Amstrad CPC 6128 instead. He Fondly remembered. Alain Massoumipour, 1960 - 2019.
quickly fell in love with his new Amstrad
CPC 6128, which would ultimately help him
become a developer and journalist.

Beginning with programming in BASIC,

Alain began developing video games just
for his own interest. Being a regular reader
of Amstrad 100%, he could not fail to spot
a coding contest within this very magazine
and mailed a few screenshots taken from
"Evasion", the first adventure game that he
had written. Impressed by the quality of the
game, the staff at Amstrad 100% decided
he could become part of the team as an
official journalist, using the same nickname
"POUM".

As a self-made man, Alain regularly shared

the listings of his type-in games and is to be
credited for Evasion, S.O.S 100% and Delta
Force among others, but this was just the
beginning. Having a significant interest in
adventure games, he is notably the author
of "L'ile" featuring Laurent THERON and M.
BREVAINGER, released by UBI Soft in 1988.

Then in 1991, Alain showed the Amstrad

CPC world what was possible with sound
and music as UBI Soft released his Equinoxe
music software.

Alain Massoumipour Amstrad CPC

program credits can be found at The incredible Equinoxe music program on the Amstrad CPC,
CPC-POWER.COM released by Ubi Soft in 1991.

8
 Tribute K
H is love for the Amstrad CPC propelled him to the rank of Chief Editor
of Amstrad 100% magazine until the last issue in October 1993.

On the 7th of June, 2019, Amstrad 100% through its Facebook page disclosed
that POUM had passed away at the age of 58 years following what is commonly
named a long illness, leaving a great void. A cheerful and loving person, Alain
was greatly involved in the French Amstrad CPC scene. Many French Amstrad
CPC enthusiasts remember just how Alain would always reply to the readers'
letters with great enthusiasm and kindness, which has left very warm and
loving memories of his life amongst those in the Amstrad CPC community.

One of Alain Massoumipour’s type ins for

Amstrad 100% magazine.

9 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - festivals

PLAY EXPO GLASGOW

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

After their highly successful Play Expo Manchester popular culture and gaming fair in May 2019, retro
gaming event experts, Replay Events, headed north of the border to showcase their Play Expo event to
more than 6000 gaming fans at The Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, on the weekend of the 8 - 9th
June, 2019.
Organiser Andy Brown said "Ticket sales were phenomenal, we have sold many more tickets than we
did for the same show last year. A lot of this is down to the bigger show we have put on, with more video
games and gaming machines for people to play”.

F
or the first time the Scottish Another first for the
Gaming Championships event was the live
were being held at the show. entertainment with
Gamers were playing for £150 in Australian comedian,
prize money. A secret selection John Robertson
of gaming goodies from across hosting his hilarious
the ages were chosen to test out game show -
just how good a gamer you are. The Dark Room,
which sees members
The games selected were Balloon of the audience
Fight, Burnout 3, Super Hang On, being trapped inside
Super Puzzle Fighter and Super an imaginary retro
Star Soldier (what no classic 8-bit video game.
games? - Ed). Heats were held on
Saturday, contestant Lewis Dyer What makes the Play
says “ This round was basically a Expo Glasgow event such a cool games and got to see what we
grand prix - each game had a high weekend is the sheer amount of older gamers grew up with but
score challenge with it (e.g. get gaming goodness for every gamer. also got to play rhythm action
as many points in Balloon Trip as At £16 for adults and £10 for games they love too. The good
you can), then everyone's ranked youngsters, once you pay for your points for me was to see Jim
per game and given points for entry tickets the best part of all is Bagley and the ZX Spectrum Next,
the overall standings based on that all the games are free to play. that was just wonderful. Retro
position (so 1st gets 100 points, gaming on all platforms were
2nd gets 95 points and so on)”. Retro freak Chris McGilvray terrific. There was tonnes of 8 bit
attended Play Expo Glasgow and and 16 bit ranging from old home
Head to head contests were held said “Play Expo was an excellent computers to consoles.
on the Sunday afternoon to crown experience for young and old, kids
the winners. loved playing old and new

10
 Features - festivals

Even the kids loved playing our old

computers, but I especially loved
playing all the arcade machines
I hadn't seen in years, more
likely had not seen in decades.
The other stuff I liked were the
tonnes of merchants selling
awesome swag, seeing new games
being touted for kickstarter
campaigns and watching the
Gaming Championships on lots of
different formats.

Bad points. It was so packed

there were long queues. I
witnessed some thieving from the
merchant stalls and I didn't get
to play everything I wanted to.
Unfortunately I didn't see anyone
else there of real note and I
thought they didn't make enough
of Jim Bagley and the ZX Next
being there, he should have had
a stage to promote what he was
there for but all he had was a desk
and a TV, rather poor I thought
but maybe that’s all he was able
to get?”

Another retro gaming freak,

Dougie Mcg attended Play Expo
Glasgow and here’s what he had
to say about it. “I didn't enter
the comps, maybe I should have?
I spent too much time on the
arcade cabinets, god, they are
brilliant fun. They should have
had more Outrun and Space
Harrier hydraulic cabs as there
was long queues for those games.
I met up with ‘Kingy’ from the
RGDS podcast and had a cracking
time getting schooled on Manic
Miner and PAC Land although he's
bloody brilliant at both of them,
I got my own back on Speedball 2
though! I spent most of my time
on Joust as usual but got to play
just about every other arcade
cabinet game by the end of the
day and a few pinball machines
too. I also enjoyed getting "hands-
on" with some of the more
obscure systems. Once again I
didn't see an Amstrad CPC 464
(under-represented as usual), but
I did see an Amstrad CPC 6128
and GX4000 console."

11 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - parties

by George Bachaelor

B
@cpcgamingdemos
ill Lange and Peter Fletcher
founded the annual Atari
Party East in the summer attendees to play including Midway’s
Ms Pac Man, Data East’s Karate
of 2017, based on the Atari
on show included an Atari model Champ and Universal’s Lady Bug.
Party created by Bill Kendrick in C-380 Video Pinball console, I don't
California. Atari Party East 2019 recall seeing this machine before. Everything was displayed
encompassed all the products professionally. Each computer had
that made Atari an amazing Amongst the huge amount of Atari an identity / history card. The tons
company. From arcade video systems there was an Arabic Atari of games carts, disks, manuals,
game machines, to consoles, 65XE which must be a rare item. Atari books and other related items were
computers, pinballs and even 2600's were plentiful, with other stored in clear buckets available for
Atarisoft (which runs on C64/128, Atari consoles the 2800, 5200, Atari attendees to view and select to play.
VIC, TI, Apple, etc). Portfolio and Atari Video Tablet also
seen at the event. Atari ST machines Anyone who made the trip could
Held in the basement of Bill’s were everywhere too, with people have had a most wonderful
house, of the 80 members from the playing games like Metrocross (US back in time feeling - the huge
Facebook group, about three dozen GOLD, 1987), Missile Command amount of retro coolness in Bill’s
people attended on the weekend of (Atari / Tengen, 1986) and The Secret basement event could be described
September 14th, 2019. of Monkey Island (US GOLD / Lucas as the ultimate Atari man cave
Film, 1991). entertainment room. While the focus
A great amount of passion by of the party was on everything Atari,
passionate Atari people put together Almost everything you could possibly other systems such as C64, MSX,
this amazing Atari meet up. Full be fascinated by with respect to Apple II’s and even a BBC micro were
credit to Bill Lange and everyone Atari machines could be found, even also demonstrated at the event.
else involved in creating this Atari the classic Atari upright arcade game
‘love festival’. Classics like a working Gauntlet could be played. In fact
Pong cabinet were able to be both there were a row of great arcade
marvelled and played. Other devices cabinets from other publishers for

12
 Features - parties

Atari Tablet, MSX2, Video Pinball. Pacman, Berzerk, Draconian and other classics!
photo: ROB WANENCHAK photo: ROB WANENCHAK

Atari Portfolio running good old 'Zork'. MS Pac Man, Lady Bug and Extreme arcade!
photo: ROBERT MENES photo: ROB WANENCHAK

Atari Video Touch Tablet. Atari 2800, paddles and games!

photo: ROBERT MENES photo: ROB WANENCHAK

13 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - parties

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

T he Centre For Computing

History (CCH), in Cambridge,
U.K. is much more than a museum.
However, as this event was organized
without enough lead up time to inform
more people, sadly there were few visitors
CCH’s MSX meeting held by Toni of AAMSX,
covered the wide ranging history of the
Hosting hands-on exhibitions, in attendance. MSX computers along with demonstrations
educational workshops, a wide of MSX clones. Other topics discussed
range of activities and events, the On display at the CCH were various included MSX homebrew hardware,
CCH most importantly, makes the generations of MSX machines to use software, video games, and peripherals.
history of computing relevant and and learn more about. For those who A session was conducted on how to do
fun for all ages. don’t know much about these wonderful repairs, while other presentations were
machines, the MSX spawned four held about what’s going on in the MSX
In 2018, members of the Association of generations: MSX (1983), MSX2 (1985), community including current MSX projects.
Friends of MSX (AAMSX) visited the CCH MSX2+ (1988) and MSX TurboR (1990).
and liked what they saw there. The CCH has Of note about the MSX get together was
rooms prepared for special events, and the The first three were 8-bit computers based a demonstration of the awesome power
AAMSX started to think about the idea of on the Z80 microprocessor, while the MSX of MSX music with the Moon Sound,
organizing an MSX meeting inside the CCH. TurboR was based on a custom 16-bit, R800 soundcard. Toni mentioned that the MSX
The following year, (2019) Nacho Osete, microprocessor. music with MOON SOUND has more power
from The Association of Users of Classical and produces better sound quality than the
Computing (AUIC) had also visited the CCH. much more popular Commodore Amiga.
He proposed to join with AAMSX to hold an
MSX event at the CCH together, which was
eventually held on the 3rd and 4th of May
2019.

The main objective was to show the MSX

standard, its scene, its hardware and games
(old and new), to visitors of the CCH. Since
the U.K. had a lot of "U.K. owned machines"
like Sinclair, BBC and Amstrad, the MSX
struggled to gain a fanbase in the UK 8-bit
market. AAMSX and AUIC brought several
generations of MSX machine all the way
from Spain to the CCH museum (MSX1,
MSX2, 2+ and TurboR). The museum did
have a few MSX machines already, so an
area of MSXs and mandatory CRT screens
was quickly established. There were also
GFX9000 games and the fantastic Yamaha
MSX1 music computer CX5M to enjoy!
The CCH also showed us a very rare MSX
computer from Saudi Arabia, the Al-Alamiah
All four MSX generation computers set up at the Centre For Computing History (CCH),
AX990: 50% MSX, 50% Sega Megadrive.
Cambridge, U.K., May 3-4, 2019. On the far right is a Phillips, MSX1. To the left is a
Between the AAMSX and members of
Sony, Hit Bit, MSX2 with a built in modem and software to connect to Bulletin Board
the CCH, we worked together to find the
Services (BBS) - yes before internet. Then the third machine from the far right is a third
hardware problems it had.
generation, Panasonic MSX2+ with built in 3.5” disc drive. On the far left is a Panasonic,
MSX TurboR.

14
 Features - parties

The guys from CCH, AUIC and AAMSX MSX Associations with the last
ever MSX produced by Panasonic - the MSX Turbo-R. T.

1| Batman by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond (Ocean

1986) is being played on the Panasonic MSX TurboR.
This model is the A1-ST, the GT model came after it. The
impressive Moon Sound expansion is to the left of the
computer.

2| Kralizec’s fantastic 2004 port of the Bomb Jack arcade

game being played on a Sony MSX2, Hit Bit, T7 model. The
‘T’ stands for terminal. The special feature of this machine
was that it came with a built-in modem as well as built-
in software. It was released in Japan, circa 1986. It was
designed for communication purposes so you could use it
for connecting with other computers and Bulletin Board
Services (BBS). This was the standard system before the
world wide web and the Internet came along in 1990. The
HB-T7 model comes with two cartridge slots, a Z80A from
Sharp (LH0080A) and an MSX-Engine S1985 from Yamaha.
The modem speed is 300 / 1200bps and has automatic
features (dial and log in).

3| The amazing Ghost game by Francisco Téllez

De Meneses (2017) being played via the One Chip
MSX. Produced in 2006, the One Chip MSX is a re-
implementation of an MSX-2 computer that uses a single
FPGA to implement all the electronics (except the RAM)
of an MSX-2, including the MSX-MUSIC and SCC+ audio
extensions. The system is housed in a transparent blue
plastic box, and can be used with a standard monitor (or
TV) and a PC keyboard. Original MSX cartridges can be
inserted, and SD and MMC memory cards can be used as
an external storage medium. Even though it lacks a floppy
disk drive, disks are supported through emulation on a
memory card. MSX-DOS is also supported. Due to its VHDL
programmable hardware, it's possible to give the device
new hardware extensions by running a reconfiguration
program in MSX-DOS. The "one chip-MSX" is equipped with
two USB connectors that can be used after adding some
supporting VHDL code. Several MSX fans have modified
the original VHDL code to improve on the original features
and add new ones including MSX2+ compatibility, upgrade
of the memory mapper to 4MB, addition of Kanji BASIC
and the BASIC KUN compiler. The One Chip MSX comes
with 1MB of RAM as standard.

15 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - parties

MSX MEETUP 2019

4| The Goonies game cartridge being shown on a Panasonic
3rd generation MSX 2+. It includes a built-in Floppy Disk
Drive (FDD) and an FM chip for better sound than the
previous MSX generations. These MSX models were
released in Japan, circa 1988. They come with 64kb of
RAM as standard. The main RAM can be natively expanded
to 256kb internally. This particular model was available
in black and red on the front. Connections include two
cartridge slots (one at the top, one at the back) and a Z80A
integrated in the MSX-Engine T9769(A or B) from Toshiba.
This Z80A can be switched from to 3.57MHz to 5.37MHz
via the I/O port. There is a front switch to disable the
Cockpit firmware execution on startup. MSX-MUSIC can be
added internally by soldering the missing chips. The main
difficulty is adding the ROM. While the Sony and Sanyo
MSX2+ systems can run only at 3.57 Mhz, the Panasonic
systems are capable of running at 5.37 MHz. In Basic this
can be achieved with the following commands:

Activating the 5.37 MHz Mode

Switching to Turbo 5.37 MHz mode can be

activated with the following command:

IF PEEK(&H2D)=2 THEN OUT 64,8:IF INP(64)=247

THEN OUT 65,0

Deactivating the 5.37 MHz Mode

Switching back to 3.57 Mhz is done with this

command:

IF PEEK(&H2D)=2 THEN OUT 64,8:IF INP(64)=247

THEN OUT 65,1

5| Starting from the far right is a standard Mitsubishi, MSX

1. Inserted is a special MEGA FLASH ROM cartridge with an
updated version of Pong being played using NES controllers.
To the left of that is a One Chip MSX with the game called
Don’t Cock It Up. To the left of that computer is a Raspberry
Pi with the MSX game Parodious by Konami, 1988. Finally at
far left is a ZX UNO with Azzurro 8 Bit Jam game, developed
by Relevo Games in 2011.

6| A Panasonic, 4th generation MSX TurboR. Only two

models of the TurboR were released - the GT and the ST
and both of them made by Panasonic. The Panasonic FS-
A1GT MSX turbo R is the last MSX computer produced and it
follows the latest standard for the MSX line. The GT model
preceded the ST model. In the picture above is the ST model.
It came with 256kb of RAM whereas the GT model has
double the amount of RAM with 512kb. Having said that the
memory of the ST model is more than enough to play almost
every existing MSX game. The GT model though has a built-in
MIDI in / out port, while the ST model has a separate
audio and video output port. Otherwise, differences
between the two models are limited. computinghistory.org.uk

16
 Features - demo parties

Treffen
Graz

With Martin 'Martinland' Schemitsch

C=Treffen Graz is a long running Austrian based, Commodore

computer group formed by Martin "Flexman" Brunner and
Martin "Martinland" Schemitsch. The first club meeting
was held on October 26, 2010. Each meeting takes place at
the Spektral on Lendkai 45 in Graz, Austria, with meetings
held on a Saturday and starting around 4pm. There are
five meetings per year - February, April, June, October,
and December. During summer season the group will
usually organise a BBQ in August, for a social get-together
at the home of one of its members. It is a cool group of
Commodore enthusiasts and nerds who use the meetings for
drinking and playing Commodore computer games.

Each meeting the patrons exchange information, floppy

disks, any instruction booklets and provide know-how repair
solutions for the Commodore range of computers. Demo
comps are generally held at group meetings with some
really cool productions emerging. Discussions about coding
and presentations about different aspects of Commodore
machines is often shown at group meetings. Each group
meeting follows an agenda to be carried out. Below is an
agenda of events that occurred at the 46th group meeting,
June 2019.

Commodore meeting Graz $2D (number 46) program-

- "ctgbook": 20th pixel portrait for WIL [ML]
- "Nerdware": The FPGASID sounds (and flashes)! [ML]
- "Nerdware": The Ultimate64 in full splendor! On it [AMIX]
- "Nerdware": "Deus Ex Machina", "We are New" and slide
- "CTG box": Foundation of a continuity tester from his HTL
time [AMIX]
- "Games Corner": Bomberland, Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's
Super Off Road [FLEXMAN]
- "For digestion": The Crack in the Cosmic Egg [ML]
- "Literature Corner ": "Retro Game Dev" (2017), Derek
Morris [WILFRIED]
- "Literature corner ": " Basic Tenliners " and " Endless Loop
" [LOGIKER]
- "Fun Compo": C64-pixel background landscape quiz [LORD
LOTEK]
- "Presentation": The C64 Graphics Modes, Part 2 [ML]
- "Let's Play Live": FPGASID test with Panic Analogue, Space
Lords & Arkanoid [ML]

For all the group meeting information visit:

martinland.mur.at/ctg

17 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

eEeEe

abyss connection • alpha flight • arise •

arsenic • artstate digital • artline design •
bonzai • booze design • camelot • cascade •
censor design • chorus • cosine • darklite •
delysid • dentifrice • desire • excess •
exclusive on • f4cg • genesis project •
hitmen • hoaxers • hokuto force • Ian •
laxity • lethargy • lft • mayday! •
multistyle labs • nah kolor • offence •
onslaught • oxyron • padua • panoramic design
• performers • plush • prosonix • protovision
• proxima • rabenauge • raiders of the lost
empire • resource • samar productions • shape
• siesta • singular crew • the dreams • the
solution • triad • trsi • vision

18
 eEeEe

19 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - demo parties

Evoke is an annual demo

party in Cologne, Germany, which has been running
since 1997 and has always attracted a large number
Dates :
16 - 18 August
of groups and individuals with a wide variety of
Place :
categories for a two day multiplatform event. This
AbenteuerHallenKALK , Cologne, Germany
year, besides competitions, Evoke programme featured
seminars such as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage,
WEB: evoke.eu
Shader Showdowns for some live coding contest, live
sets with several DJs, Amiga 500 demo coding and
even a beer seminar. The total number of entries in
12 different categories was way over a hundred with
The list of winners in 10 categories - 2019
music, demo, ANSI/ASCII, pixel graphics, animation, 64K
intro and other categories.

1st place in PC demo category - 'Red Heaven' by 1st place in Pixel gfx - 'Party Hard!' by Elko/tristar
Hoodlum. and red sector inc.

1st place in 64k intro category - 'fr-093: Technology' 1st place in PC4k intro category - 'Glitch Rider' by
by BeRo / Farbrausch. Alcatraz.

20
 Features - demo parties

EVOKE 2019

1st place in Interactive category (game) - 'Alpharay' 1st place in Graphics category - 'You can logoff - but
by Assassins and Bauknecht and Resource. you never leave!' by Ozan / Rebels.

1st place in Animation category - 'Buildings' by 1st place in Alternative platforms category (demo) -
Lycan / LNX. 'Connect Me' by Abyss-Connection.

1st place in ANSI/ASCII - 'Bat Country' by Elko / 1st place in ANSI/ASCII (AMIGA) - 'The Evokator' by
Tristar and Red Sector Inc. Hellbeard / Divine Stylers ^ Impure.

The winners in the music categories:

*MP3/OGG - 'Never Leave' by Chromag / Rebels
*Tracked Music - “Libertine” Remix - ' Twilight Remix' by Twilight / Lego ^ Wildfire
For the full list of 2019 entries check out: demozoo.org/parties/3680/

21 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - demo parties

Organizers :
Thunder.Bird & NomiStake
Dates :
9- 11 August 2019
Place :
38229 Salzgitter - Germany
Atwoods Summer Open Air is a C64-only event featuring camping,
gaming, demos and a barbecue. Organized by Atwoods Studios and
C64 Berlin Club, this festival in its second year of running is for all
of those in the neighbourhood willing to camp in the woods (where
the wild things are) while screening latest scene productions in a
cozy tent.

'ASOA' , co-op demo by Atlantis & Delysid, 'Every Bit You Take' by Mythus of Delysid,
presented at Atwoods Party. C64 music entry.

'Finnsids Collection' by Delysid, a C64 'Full Borderline' by Spider Jerusalem, C64

Music Collection. music entry.

'Donkey Trolls' by Atlantis, a game 'Let's drink and worship cats', a gfx entry
preview presented at the party. by Lobo of Atlantis.

22
 Features - demo parties

ATWOODS 2019 DEMO MEETING by Thunder Bird @TuB64 and George Bachaelor.

8 -bit computer freaks are highly innovative people. Demo

parties over the years seem to get bigger and better all the
time. Revision, Alchemie and Evoke have become huge annual
events. The German 8-bit fanatics love a good demo party but
instead of travelling to large cities sitting in a dark room filled
with hundreds of computers and other people, a small group of
friends from the C64 BCC (Berlin Computer Club) have decided to
take 8-bit gaming and demo parties back to nature. As of 2018,
they have launched the Atwoods Demo Party, an event that
invites sceners to create and develop their code beneath the
stars and in stress-free, earthly surroundings.

Thunder Bird states “It is not the first time a demo party has
been held outside in open air though. Revision Party held in C64 is going all natural with no wires or leads out in
Saarbrücken has a real nice outside area with a DJ playing music. the woods!
There are booths to get a Curry Wurst (sausage pieces and As many as nine people with a peak of 12 attended the 2018
curry), where you are able to sit inside a big climate tent, talking Atwoods party. In 2019, 17 people with a peak of 19 C64
to friends and making new ones. The outside idea has also been enthusiasts and freaks ventured into the woods for the second
tried by the Nordlicht Party in Bremen”. meeting. The peak visitor count is explained by some friends of
NomiStake checking in for a few hours. There is a lower count
listed on the CSDB website because some people were not listed
or because of age or non-existing productions for C64.

Atwoods is like a big family of friends party. The party tent is

as big as for 20 people sitting around the tables and there are
smaller tents for people to use for sleeping over and hanging
out. I asked Thunder Bird where does the demo and game coding
occur? Is it really under the night skies? He responded “yes
indeed it is - with all the scary nightly sounds of frogs and owls!”

Waking up in natural surroundings at Atwoods

demo party.
“Personally, I liked that outside demo party idea so much that
this was one of the main motivations for me to attend those
above mentioned demo parties. I discussed the idea with my
friend NomiStake at the BCC #12 party. And that's when the
Atwoods Demo Party was born. His father has a big place with
a normal house, a garden house and this big area of nature. The
demo party date is chosen a short time after the birthday of
NomiStake. It's been such a cool event to be a part of”.
C= demo party in the woods, Atwoods!

An outdoor BBQ with your C64 friends makes a

great weekend demo party.

23 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - demo parties

Organizers :
Up Rough Soundsystem, Genesis Project,
2019
PACiF!C, Divine Stylers and Tulou
Dates :
ty
2 - 4 August 2019
Place : r
Karlavagnsgatan 13, Gothenburg Sweden
. pa
m
Datastorm is an annual Commodore festival, now in its 9th
t or
year. This year's tagline was 'the ultimate demoparty for s
ta
da
machines with blood and soul'. The party attracted more
than 150 visitors enjoying various demo, graphic & music
presentations. It also included Baud Boy trading battle,
appearance by SysOP and the Sensible World of Soccer
tournament with the BBQ.

'The Last Truckstop 3' by Fairlight, 1st place 'Two Sided' by Atlantis, 2nd place in demo
in demo competition. competition.

'4k PETSCII Intro' by Shadow, Shine, Zyron / 'Eyes of the storm' by Malmix / Fatzone, 1st
Genesis Project, 1st place in 4k Intro. place in C64 graphic compo.

'Essentials' by Hack n' Trade, 3rd place in 'Northstar' by Prowler, 1st place in Amiga
demo competition. graphic compo.

24
 Features - demo parties

Organizers : Tristesse
Hosted by: atari8.info
WEB: lostparty.pl
Dates :
11th - 14th July 2019
Place :
Licheń Stary, Powiat koniński, Poland
following the submissions screening with an after-party BBQ. A
Lost Party is a newcomer demo party which held its first total of 35 entries were submitted in eight different categories.
gathering in July 2019 in Poland. With the idea to hold an annual Even though the graphics category had the most entries, the
meeting, the party is a multiplatform event covering Atari XL/ Wild category had interesting submissions such as Great Green
XE, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC with usual Adventure 2: Prologue , a game for Atari 8bit, 'Star Vagrant
demo, intro, graphics and music categories. The event took place Intro'(Atari 8bit) and the Next to Karateka ZX Spectrum demo.
in a large hall with live acts (Wacek/Arise & Brothers in .ATRs ) ZX and Atari tracked music was not lacking either.

'z-bars 256b' by Koala / Agenda, 1st place in Atari 256 'Captain Pork' by Piesiu / Agenda, 1st place in Atari
Byte Intro competition. Graphics competition.

'Flat Country' by Piesiu / Agenda, 1st place in C64 + ZX 'Great Green Adventure 2: Prologue' by Dely, 1st place
Spectrum Graphics competition (C64). in Wild competition (Atari 8 bit).

'Burning Tail' by Piesiu / Speccy.pl, 2nd place in the C64 'Lost in Lichen' by Odyn1ec / Lamers, 2nd place in Atari
+ ZX Spectrum Gfx competition (ZX). Graphics competition (Atari 8 bit).

25 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - demo parties

<
Organizers : had seen 49 entries across various categories such as Amiga 4
Nature & Traktor channel Music, Amiga Graphics, Amiga demo entries, Chip Music,
Dates : Cover Music, Other Platform Demo entries, Other Platform
1 - 3 February 2019 Graphics entries, ASCII and Wild productions.
Place :
Skövde gerp.planet-d.net
Sweden
GERP is a multi-platform retro party organized in Sweden with
the main focus on Amiga but not short of Atari, C64, ZX and other
platforms productions as well. The party has been running since
2013 and each year has seen a sizeable amount of cross-platform
releases. The 2019 event was no different and in total the party

'Play it again Sam' by Optic, 1st place in 'Copper-Kaah-Baah-Yaah' by Dead

AMIGA OCS/ECS graphics compo. Hackers Society, 1st place Amiga demo.

'Jophar' by Shadow and Yerzmyey, 1st 'SMag-FX #2' by Maggie Team, Masters Of
place in ZX spectrum demo category. Electric City and SMFX, for Atari ST.

'Space Knuckle Ride' by Facet / GP, 1st 'Gerp ASCII' by deadguy (PACiF!C), 1st
place in C64 graphics category. place in Amiga OCS/ECS - ASCII.

26
 Features - demo parties

Organizers :
bepp, Dymo, hedning, Rhythm, Taper
Organizer Groups : Genesis Project 'The Elder Scrollers' by Booze Design, 1st
Dates : place in demo competition.
28 - 30 June 2019
Place :
Lund, Sweden
Gubbdata is a Swedish Commodore demo party, running since 2012. This year's
theme was 'Framtiden var bättre förr (The future was better back in the days)'
so entries that reflected categories with retro themes were separated from the
others. The event featured a large collection of demo, music and graphic entries.
A sum of fourteen C64 demos, twenty one music entries, fifteen graphic entries,
three wild demos, eight mixed graphics (retro), sixteen mixed graphics (other) and
six mixed music entries were showcased, besides productions released outside
the compo such as 'Space Orbs' (a game preview) and others. A total of 80 sceners
'The Dive' by Genesis Project, 2nd place in
reported to duty for this three day event.
demo competition.
gubbdata.se

'Thera' by Atlantis, 4th place in demo 'Skåneland 2' by Fairlight, 3rd place in
competition. demo competition.

'Purgatory' by Razorback / GP, 3rd place in 'Mind the Power' by Apollyon / Artline
graphic competition. Designs, 5th in graphic competition.

27 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - demo parties

Organizers : different as more than 200 people attended the show under
Digital Art & Culture Association & the motto 'We Are The Chimpions!'.
Artline Designs, Byterapers Inc., Damage,
Extend and Topaz Beerline Music and graphics categories dominated the list for a total
WEB : zooparty.org of 24 gfx, 24 mixed (PETSCII) besides a total of 22 music
Dates : entries. As usual, there was a selection of demos, a total of 12
4 - 6 October 2019 entries were presented in Wild / Basic categories. There was
Place : also one category not commonly featured at parties, which is
Viialan Seurahuone, Akaa, Finland 'disk covers'. The next meeting for ZOO party enthusiasts is
scheduled for 2021.
The ZOO party is the largest Finnish Commodore-only demo
party, running since 1997 and each time showcasing new
and fresh music and graphic productions. This year was no

'Out of Contex' by Artline Designs, 1st place in Demo 'Rebels 1989' by Rebels, 6th place in Demo
competition. competition.

'Able Marble' by Accession , 3rd place in Demo 'Metadimension' by Pers' Wastaiset Produktiot ,
competition. generative 2.5K demo, 4th place in Demo competition.

28
 Features - demo parties

'Basic V3' by Jupp3, 1st place in C64 Basic program 'Channel0' by Lobo/Atlantis, 4th place in Mixed
competition. Graphics (PETSCII) competition.

'Raster Split' by Electric / Extend, 1st place in 'Jack of Apes' by Electric / Extend, 1st place in Disk
Graphics category. Cover category.

'Crystaleyezed' by Prowler, 6th place in Graphics 'High Hopes' by Apollyon / Artline Designs, 9th place
competition. in Graphics competition.

'Grill Master' by Electric / Extend, 3rd place in Mixed 'Swimming Pool' by Edi / Exotic Men, 1st place in
Graphics (PETSCII) category. Mixed Graphics (PETSCII) competition.

29 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - tutorials

Making music on your

ZX for non-musicians
SPECTRUM by Andy Dansby
@andy_dansby

A game theme tune for

either the main menu
or for in-game music is an
Save that melody
$30.00 just to test the program.
Now that you have that melody in your
important aspect of your game head, don’t expect it to last in your head The program does actually work but
presentation. It sets the mood forever. You need to save it for the future, with quite a few caveats. First the
to your game, pure and simple. as the melody will eventually dissipate. technology behind the program is still
Imagine Super Mario Brothers If you are a musician, you might write being developed and can be a bit buggy
without its trademark theme, or down the musical notation or pluck the at times. The programmer is still working
Zelda without its famous quest- melody on a keyboard and save the tune. on it. Next, your voice does need to be in
like themes. Not all games must However, I’m not a musician and the way tune. Otherwise you'll be writing some
have a theme song during game I save my tune is to record me singing the sour-sounding music, either too flat or too
play. Some games will play a tune into my phone. I personally have an sharp. Every now and again, the program
tune during the main menu or iPhone, under the Extras Folder, there is a catches your intended note, but more
just before a game begins, think voice memo function that I use to record often than not, you are having to adjust
of the song during Pacman, it my voice. To make the melody even more the tune in your MIDI editor. This is a
is only played before the game distinctive, I will often use the phrase, LA distracting process, that takes away from
starts, but not during the game. or DA and go around the melody at least the flow of creating music, at least it did
Can a game be fun without its once. I try to end the melody at the same for me. As the technology and program
music? Sure it can, but it can be note as I start so that the song is loopable. improves, it may not be an issue, but my
quite often the little edge that particular version 0.9.0c, this did not work
makes your game stand out. as well as I had hoped.
Making a song
At $25.00, it’s not a bad investment if you
Inspiration There are a number of ways to try to get believe that the program will improve over
your music onto your computer from time.
Finding inspiration is quite often difficult just your recording. Let me cover a few
and easy at the same time. The simplest different ways that I experimented with it.
thing is to listen to music. What kind Experiment 3: Melodyne
of music usually doesn't matter. What Experiment 1: Amazing MIDI
matters the most is to try to catch the Melodyne (starting at $99.00 for the basic
underlying melody. Sometimes the This is a music transcribing tool (tinyurl. version - celemony.com) does offer a 30
underlying melody can be easier caught if com/54awd ). Works great with piano, day demo of their software. It has a similar
listening to classical music, but can also pulse, sine waves, however works poorly concept to Imitone, take music notes
be done by listening to popular music. If with voice audio. Still worth a try especially (which can be voice) and adjust those
the song has an attractive melody that since it’s free. notes to output a MIDI. Unlike Imitone, this
you think might fit your game theme, program does not perform this action in
then that’s the one for you. Experiment 2: ImiTone real time, but because it does not do that,
it has time to get a more accurate reading
Be especially aware of “Ear bugs” or “Ear Imitone is a voice to MIDI conversion tool of your notes. The program is more mature
Worms”, which is a melody that often (imitone.com). As the site indicates, “Play than Imitone and the detection routines
sticks in your head and doesn't easily any instrument with your voice. Explore are better. However, this program is
go away. That can quite often be what and create music with only a microphone.” expensive. For the most basic version,
you are looking for in a game song. The Simply use a headset (gaming headset with you are shelling out $99.00 and the most
game song must match the game you are microphone), a MIDI recorder and Imitone, advanced version sells for $849.00. This
designing. Take the theme song out of you can record a melody from singing into is a professional level of software that is
Super Mario Brothers and replace it with the headphone. above and beyond most people’s funding.
a slow theme song, and the game feeling Still, the program offers a trial version.
changes considerably. One of the reasons Great concept and exactly what I’m looking
the theme song works with Super Mario for. There is no demo of the software and The usage of this program takes a little
Brothers is that its a simple, lighthearted you have to take it on faith. It cost $25.00 more time to get used to, but you simply
fun tune, with a reoccurring strong for the basic version of the software. I use a recording of your audio tune (in WAV
melody. didn’t have a gaming headset so I bought or MP3), let the program analyse
one for $5.00, so now I am vested for

30
 Features - tutorials

your tune, make some adjustments to the phone, so there's no need to actually
notes and perform a SAVE AS – MIDI. purchase a MIDI keyboard. This section is quite deceptive
as a 0 indicates a playable note
The program performs better than Experiment 5: Beepbox and a 1 indicates a non playable
Imitone, considerably better, but in my note. The notes are arranged by
opinion, not enough to cough up $99.00. Beepbox (beepbox.co) is an absolutely C,D#,D,E#,E,F,F#,G,A#,A,B#,B. So for
The program does suffer from some of free piano roll sequencer. There is an example, you want to play in the scale
the same issues as Imitone (garbage in, online and offline version available and of major blues which are the notes C,
garbage out) meaning that if your voice works on any computer that supports D, D#,E,G,A, you would make your scale
is not in tune, you will get bad and sour Javascript. When you go to the link, you array into [!0,!0,!0,!1,!0,!1,!1,!0,!1,!0,!1,!1
results. are provided with a series of bars and ]. Restart the session by closing out the
using your mouse, you paint your notes Beepbox window and loading it again, and
Experiment 4: ThumbJam to the screen. If you select Preferences you should find your new scale.
– Show Piano, you can view a keyboard
Thumbjam ($8.99 available through Apple on the left side of the screen. This is an A nice, neat function behind Beepbox is
Playstore thumbjam.com) offers an audio intuitive page/program that allows you to that you will not find a save function for
to MIDI conversion tool that is fun to come up with a tune in just a few minutes. your notes, the browser address serves
play with and can give similar results as If you select Wave – square, you can as your save function. Simply copy your
Imitone. The algorithm is not nearly as approximate how the music will sound on address and save it in a text editor and you
advanced as Imitone, but does give similar your Speccy.
results, at $8.99, it’s quite a bargain. It
not only can record your tune as you are By far this is my go to
singing it, it offers a music keyboard along program that I use to
with a large number of music scales. It also generate a tune on the
offers a record function. There is no demo Spectrum. I highly
of this program, so again you have to buy recommend this and This is a basic boogie Woogie bass line in C Major.
it on faith. best of all, it’s free.
There are some
The keyboard and recording function of limitations to the
this program is intuitive enough that in software, like changing
a few minutes you can start plucking out key in the middle of
some tunes on the keyboard. your tune and
changing the scale, but The Mid tones snippet looks like aa basic rhythm pattern.
Record and converting your audio by for the most part, those
singing, is also offered, but you have to are not needed for
drill in the menus system to find it, you coming up with a quick
will select the record function (on the tune for your game.
left, second button down and then select You are allowed 3
the microphone) and sing into your phone different voices, so
live. It works amazingly well for a $9.00 you can create a decent
The song lead looks like this
app, but just like Imitone and Melodyne, AY tune or a multi
garbage in, garbage out. channel beeper tune.
can pick up our session again.
The most impressive thing behind You can even do some hacks to the For example, the link -
Thumbjam is the music keyboard. It’s fairly Beepbox code to allow it to have different tinyurl.com/yyc3x5qa will pull up a
quick and easy to tap out a quick tune, scales. This may not be for everyone, but it Boogie Woogie style song that I created
export it to MIDI and email the MIDI to is an available option. in a short time. A short snippet of the
yourself. melody bass line shows the above. And
As a quick introduction to modifying varying the three tracks will give a good
Alternatively, you can also link Thumbjam Beepbox scales, you would need to have variety in your tune, meaning it won't get
to your Windows PC and use Thumbjam as the offline version of beepbox, edit the boring or irritating to listen to.
a MIDI keyboard over your WIFI network. HTML in your favourite text editor and
To do this, you need to use a program search for a.scaleNames=[. You will see When you are finished with creating your
called DSWifiMIDI (dsmi.tobw.net) along all the names associated with the scales, tune, don’t forget to export to MIDI.
with loopMIDI (tinyurl.com/y3u9u9xk) using the same format, either add a new
and a MIDI recorder gives you the ability name, or change an associated name.
to record directly to your PC straight from Right after all of the scale names, you will
your see a list of 1’s and 0’s. These are the keys
associated with the scales.

31 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - tutorials
..:::: making music on your zx spectrum

Scales / Key and Rhythm Let’s look quickly at two pieces of music or F# Minor, perhaps D# Minor. End of
by late composer Henry Mancini. The the Level, perhaps a song in F# Major or
Important decisions about your music and Pink Panther Theme and Baby Elephant D Major. Game Over, perhaps a song in Ab
theme are the subjects of Scales, Key and Walk (look them both up on Youtube Minor or F Minor. Fortunately, this is fairly
Rhythm. Scales are the selective notes if you are not familiar with them). Pink easy to do in Beepbox, now please note
in small intervals chosen from the entire Panther seems to give a sense of mystery, that not all keys are available in Beepbox.
scale of notes. Certain scales work great which starts after the first chord A, B Flat
with certain types of music, but not all. and B. That simple off-kilter chord sets
Key works along with scale and mostly a mysterious feel to the song. Then the Rhythm
promotes a mood of the music. Rhythm is majority of the song has a stealthy feel to
the speed and pattern of the music. it. I can’t imagine any other type of theme Although most people define rhythm as
song for this movie. The song is written in presented as drums, it’s not always the
It takes scales, keys and rhythm to make a the Key of E Minor. case. Yes, drums are quite often used for
melody. rhythm, but that’s not always the case.
The second song- Going back to a Boogie Woogie song, you
Scales can easily pick up on the rhythm, yet there
“Baby Elephant Walk”, is a fun tune to is no drum behind the music, just pure
Our scale is selective notes in a short listen to, also carries a strong melody piano. Drums can be added for help
duration that work well with one another. and can be identified as a happy tune. It’s
written in C Major.
In Beepbox, the scale EASY is actually the
Major Pentatonic scale which works with The emotions identified by a song key is
the notes C, D, E, F, A, if you are working certainly subjective and not always defined
in the Key of C, and you can create a great by key as it can be scale and rhythm that
song using that scale. However, there are defines a feeling behind a song.
a great many other types of scales you can
work with. Here are some commonly used The composer Christian Schubert wrote
scales. about the emotions behind a songs Key
and his writing is being referenced today.
Major
C D E F G A B I am going to boil down his writing for
brevity.
Minor
C D D# F G G# B C major: Completely pure, innocence. with the rhythm and they are great for
C minor: Love-sick lamentation that, however some beeper engines do
Major Blues D major: Triumph and victory not support drums, so if you use one of
C D D# E G A D minor: Melancholy those beeper engines, you may want to
D# minor: Anxiety rely on bass for your rhythm. If you are
Minor Blues Eb major: Love and devotion using the AY (on 128k Spectrum), you can
C D# F F# G B E major: Incomplete joy use the noise envelope to produce a drum
F major: Complaisance and calm sound, so you are in luck. Usage of the
Lydian F minor: Deep depression drums is entirely optional and ends up as a
C D E F# G A B F# major: Triumph over difficulty preference to the composer.
F# minor: Gloom
Major Bebop G major: Gratitude and friendship In Beepbox, there is a Rhythm section and
C D E F G G# A B G minor: Discontent and uneasiness Tempo section, feel free to experiment.
Ab major: Death, grave and judgement
I’m personally biased towards the Major Ab minor: Difficult struggle
and Minor Blues scales which are the A major: Innocent love, satisfaction
basis to many upbeat tunes besides the A minor: Tenderness of character
name blues. The scale is the basis to many Bb major: Cheerful love
popular types of music such as Boogie Bb minor: Sad and gloom
Woogie, Rock music and Bebop songs can B major: Anger, rage, jealousy, fury and
be written in this scale. despair
B minor: Patience
Key
What key should your game song be
The key in music is the centre note around written in? Whatever mood you want to
which the melody will play and quite often convey. If you are in a shooter game and
emits emotion. want to convey danger, perhaps Ab Minor

32
 Features - tutorials

Of course a faster Tempo and faster What to do with your MIDI Line 10
Rhythm will convey a sense of urgency and
can be fun to play with. As a rule of thumb, Ok, so you have come up with a new tune Sets mode 0 (resolution 160 x 200, 16
on an action game, try to convey urgency in MIDI format, now what? My MIDI editor/ colours) with back border and background.
with a fast rhythm, while during a level viewer of choice is OpenMPT (openmpt.
over, use a slower rhythm. During a game org). By Selecting Patterns in the top bar, Line 20
over, use an even slower rhythm. you can now see your notes, duration and
pause. Give your song a good listening to, SYMBOL AFTER, sets the number of
What to choose and why? sometimes there are errors, but usually permissible user defined character. (I've
they happen toward the ending of the set from 250)
Sometimes, it takes a long time to write a song. If there are, simply delete the SYMBOL command, redefine the char 255.
song that matches the mood, speed and ending. (first parameter)
scale of your game. You should now have Tips: you can redefine chars also like:
a sense of what type of music to write I cannot cover OpenMPT within this article,
depending on the feeling you want to but there are many guides to using it symbol 255,%11111111,%10000001,%100
present to the player. already. We are simply using this to show 00001,%10000001,%10000001,%10000001
our notes, pauses and tracks. For our next ,%10000001,%11111111
Let’s look again at some well known step, we are going to have to use a ZX if you put a new line after the comma, you
examples of in game music. Spectrum friendly tracker. will notice the figure-

Super Mario Brothers: This is perhaps 5 'Fast scrolling 2019 by Fabrizio Radica %11111111,
the most famous tune of them all. Almost 10 mode 0: border 0:ink 0,0:ink 1,26: defint %10000001,
guaranteed that someone will be able to x,j,y,h,u,k,o:x=1:x2=1:y=5 %10000001,
hum at least the first few bars to this song. 20 symbol after 250:symbol %10000001,
It’s a happy, joyful tune and perfectly sets 255,1,54,78,32,67,92,88,1 %10000001,
the mood to the game. It’s written in C 30 tag:move k,180-y:print " %10000001,
major, normal scale with a triplets rhythm. "+chr$(249);:k=6+k mod 320:move u,200- %10000001,
y:print " "+chr$(249);:u=8+u mod 320 %11111111
This is a fast paced, joyful song. A pure ear 40 h=31+(h mod 320):move x+h,100-y:print
worm. The song theme matches the game chr$(255);: Simple. :)
perfectly. Not all games want that feeling 50 move j+h,300-y:print chr$(255);:tagoff:
though. If we want a dangerous feeling to 60 locate 12-o,y:print chr$(255)+" ";:o=1+o Line 30
a song, try +6 written in F#, normal theme. mod 10
If we want a mysterious theme, try +4, 70 goto 30 Set graphics mode for text, so you can
written in D Minor, normal theme. use the graphics position instead of text
A happy song, try triplets, written in C position. When you set Tag, you can use
major, island theme. HOW IT WORKS? MOVE for draw pixel by pixel.

A thinking song, B minor, +4, easy theme. Line 40

A victory song, D Major, +6, normal theme. Move char number 255, with a simple math
function: xposition=1+xposition MOD line,
Try not to overthink, but experiment, where MOD it's the rest of division. So, you
move the bass scale up and down slightly can't need any loop FOR NEXT
between tracks so the bass does not get
monotonous. Match midtones to the Line 50
same rhythm to your bass, but vary them
slightly, perhaps go off beat every now Similar to line 40 but now, set TAG OFF for
and again and catch the player’s ears by the next line.
surprise. It could be that one off note that
takes the attention of the player off of the Line 60
game slightly and make the game harder.
Now we are back to Text Position Cursor
Most of all, write music that you enjoy (because TAG OFF command) and we can
hearing. It’s often difficult to be entirely move chars with LOCATE instead of Move.
happy with your tune and very easy to
second guess yourself. Have fun and with Line 70
enough creativity, you can have a catchy
tune. Go to line 30. Main Loop (and only one).

33 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

eEeEe

34
 eEeEe

35 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - tutorials

BASIC SPRITES
on AMSTRAD CPC

L ocomotive BASIC on the

Amstrad CPC is one of the
most powerful implementations
10 PRINT "BUM!"
20 GOTO 10

of BASIC on an 8-bit computer. Which is far more fitting, because usually

It's fast, it's feature- we were children when we got hold of
complete (something that a home computer for the first time and by Zoë Kirk-Robinson
was surprisingly rare on most children like "rude" words. The thing is,
home computers in its price the PRINT command can be used for far when printed onto the screen.
range back in the 1980s) and it more than just making your computer So how do you turn a command for eight
comes complete with a bunch of write "BUM!" all over the screen - it can pixels in a row being either on or off
hidden features that the manual do much, much more; providing you know into one number? That's the part that
never covered. how to enhance it. PRINT can be used to gets most people; which is why symbol
display strings of characters and numbers; redefining software was so popular
When it comes to the great debate on which is excellent for programming amongst BASIC programmers back in the
which 8-bit computer is "the best", the because Locomotive BASIC can be used 8-bit era. The thing is, once you understand
Amstrad CPC is often attacked by fans to redefine hundreds of characters and how to calculate the numbers, you won't
of the Commodore 64 for not having print them directly to the screen using the need symbol-creation software any more
hardware sprites; something that hindered PRINT command. This means we can make (although it will still make things quicker
game production for the machine back our own user-defined characters and print and easier).
in the Eighties. It's true, the CPC doesn't them onto the screen, either on their own
have hardware sprites (and it wouldn't get or in groups. If we group our user-defined Each of the eight numbers in the SYMBOL
them until the arrival of the Amstrad Plus characters, we have the building blocks to command relates to a binary number;
machines in the Nineties) but that doesn't create our own sprites, right there in the with 0 translating to the binary number
mean we can't create our own sprites for BASIC that's built into the computer. 00000000 while 255 translates to
our games. 11111111 in binary. When laid out like
this, we can see that the binary numbers
Normally a home coder would need to Creating Our Own Characters identify which pixels need to be turned
create sprites for their games using on (indicated with a "1" in the binary) and
a sprite creation program and then The CPC comes with some nice-looking which need to be turned off (indicated
incorporate machine code into their code symbols built in that can be used in your with a "0"). So we can define each of the
in order to use the sprites in their games. own games. Characters like the small 8x8 pixels in the symbol just by using eight
Today we are going to discover that you rocket; the face; and the asterisk became numbers. So we can therefore make a
don't actually need to do that - you can use staples of type-in BASIC games in a lot of chequerboard symbol very easily by noting
the CPC's own in-built firmware to do it, magazines. The problem here is that they that 01010101 in binary translates to 85
right from within BASIC! are well-known to anyone who's been in decimal, while 10101010 translates to
around the CPC scene for a while; so they 170 in decimal. If we alternate those two
My First Program instantly identify your game as a stock CPC numbers four times, we have the code for
BASIC game. We don't want that, we want an 8x8 character. The code will then be:
Back when we all sat down at our very to take our game to the next level.
first computer and learned a little bit
about how to program it, we were usually That means learning to use the SYMBOL SYMBOL [character number we want to re
introduced to the PRINT command. This command. SYMBOL allows us to redefine define],85,170,85,170,85,170,85,170
is the command that lets us create what the individual characters in the CPC's
is widely regarded as "Everyone's First character set (sometimes called the "CPC Which will print a chequerboard on screen
Program": font" but it's not actually a font and when the character is printed using PRINT
perhaps someone will go into why it's not CHR$(character number). It's pretty smart!
10 PRINT "Hello, world!" a font in a future article). The SYMBOL But each character defined using SYMBOL
command requires nine sets of numbers is still only 8x8 pixels and will still look
Now that's a very nice story that we all after it, to inform the CPC of the number like a small, BASIC character, no matter
like to tell one-another in polite company of the character to be redefined, plus a how fancily we design it. If we are going to
because we are all lovely people who don't number that corresponds to the values for make a sprite, we are going to need to be
want to embarrass our friends but let's be each of the eight lines of pixels contained able to string multiple characters together.
honest here, usually our first program was in the 8x8 square the symbol will take up
this:

36
 Features - tutorials

Which brings us back to the PRINT CHR$(14) instead of 15, by the way). Let's Q and A keys.
command and its many fancy add this text colour into the mix and make 10 SYMBOL AFTER 128
enhancements. a square on the screen! The code for that 20 SYMBOL 246,56,56,146,0,0,0,0,0
is: 30 SYMBOL 247,0,0,0,0,0,40,40,40
Enhancing the PRINT command PRINT CHR$(65)+CHR$(15)+CHR$(2)+CHR 35 INK 1,17: INK 2, 23: INK 3, 14: INK 0,9:
$(66)+CHR$(10)+STRING$(2,8)+CHR$(67)+ BORDER 9: PAPER 0: MODE 1
In the last section, we introduced the CHR$(15)+CHR$(1)+CHR$(68) 40 sprite$=CHR$(15)+CHR$(3)+CHR$(248)
ability to print individual characters to +CHR$(22)+CHR$(1)+CHR$(8)+CHR$(15)+
the screen using the CHR$() command. RUN that and you'll see: CHR$(1)+CHR$(246)+CHR$(8)+CHR$(15)+
Normally, you wouldn't print anything CHR$(2)+CHR$(247)+CHR$(22)+CHR$(0)
below CHR$(32) to the screen, because AB 50 x=12: y=12
if you try them on their own, the only CD 60 LOCATE x,y: PRINT sprite$
character code that seems to do anything 70 oldx=x: oldy=y
is CHR$(7) (which instructs the CPC to in two colours. You may have noticed I 75 a$=UPPER$(INKEY$): IF a$="" THEN
bleep). All the character codes below 32 included a STRING$ command in there; GOTO 75
have specific instructions built into them, which is simply to save on having to type 80 IF a$="Q" THEN y=y-1 ELSE
but some of them need a second character CHR$(8) twice to move the cursor two 90 IF a$="A" THEN y=y+1 ELSE
code to follow them in order to actually do spaces to the left. The STRING$ command 100 IF a$="O" THEN x=x-1 ELSE
anything. Some of these character codes tells the CPC to print the same character 110 IF a$="P" THEN x=x+1
are particularly useful in creating sprites; code (in this case the code to move left) 120 IF y<1 then y=1
as we are about to find out. several times in a row. You can use it for 130 IF y>25 then y=25
any character code and for as many times 140 IF x<1 then x=1
Let's start with the codes that move the as you need the code to be printed. 150 IF x>40 then x=40
cursor around the screen. If you type So, now we have four characters being 160 LOCATE oldx,oldy: PRINT " ": GOTO
PRINT CHR$(8) on your CPC, you won't see printed on two lines and in two colours, all 60
very much happen at all. That's because from one PRINT command. That's great if
CHR$(8) is the command to move the you want each block of your sprite to be a In this program, you'll notice I've put all
cursor one space to the left. Not very single colour but what if you want multiple the CHR$() character codes into a string
useful on its own but fantastic for use in colours in each block? Can we print over called "sprite$" instead of simply printing
printing graphics! Similarly, CHR$(9) moves a character that we've just printed on the them onto the screen with the PRINT
the cursor one space to the right; CHR$(10) screen? As it turns out, yes we can. command. For this particular program, we
moves the cursor one line down and Normally when a character is printed could have simply printed the sprite to the
CHR$(11) moves the cursor one line up. to the screen, printing over that same screen as we have in previous examples
The best part is, you can absolutely string location will delete the character and but I've chosen to create a string here
these together; either with each other, replace it with a new one. You can stop instead because it allows you greater
or with other character codes. So let's do that happening by turning on transparency freedom in your own code.
that. Try typing this: mode for printing; which is achieved
using the CHR$(22) command. As with the By setting up a string like this, it allows
PRINT CHR$(65)+CHR$(10)+CHR$(8)+C commands to change the PEN colour, you'll us the option of printing other sprites in
HR$(66) need to follow CHR$(22) with a second place of the one sprite we have created.
You'll see this printed on the screen: CHR$() command; where CHR$(1) turns You could create several sprites of your
transparency on and CHR$(0) turns it back stick figure and have the CPC rotate
A off again (don't forget to do that or you through them, for example. You could
B could run into problems later). create multiple sprites depending on
Knowing this, if we enter the following which direction the stick figure is moving
It's not exactly going to blow your mind, is command: it; or whatever else you fancy doing. Each
it? You could have done the same by just of those could then be printed instead of
typing: the standard sprite. Normally in BASIC,
PRINT CHR$(65)+CHR$(15)+CHR$(2)+CHR symbols are printed in only one colour
10 PRINT "A" $(22)+CHR$(1)+CHR$(8)+CHR$(66) but with this simple system and a little
20 PRINT "B" knowledge of how the control codes
RUN We will see a B printed on top of an A, work, we have been able to put together a
with both characters printed in different multi-coloured sprite using BASIC without
Nevertheless, you did it using one PRINT colours. Naturally, you can stack this code having to resort to machine code or special
command; which would normally only print multiple times, to produce multi-coloured software. We've also demonstrated that
symbols on one line of the screen. sprites using simple BASIC characters and the CPC is capable of printing these multi-
Now let's change some text colours! You easily manipulate those characters in your coloured sprites in a program with almost
can do this with CHR$(15). On its own, own games. So let's end this example by no slowdown; so we can use this system
this will do nothing, because it requires a creating a very simple program that will to create our own games and employ
second CHR$() command to tell it which demonstrate this. In this program, we will the CPC's vast array of colours to our
PEN colour you want to use (you can place a multi-coloured stick figure on the advantage. From here, the possibilities are
also change the PAPER colour by using screen and move it around using the O, P, endless.

37 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - tutorials

Throughout my life, interesting tools like importing an

I've been surrounded image (jpg, png, etc.) and converting by Carlos Perezgrin
by code. I had several it to a sprite that can be used directly.
computers as a kid, I’m always afraid of graphics when it
including the Atari VCS, C64 comes to developing a game, I have Firstly, I thought about what the
and Spectrum, and I was always no experience doing this; with this game would be about. Spaceships
curious about how games were tool I only had to edit some pixels to and shooting is an easy concept, but
created. I read the manuals get a decent and acceptable sprite. I needed to add something special in
included with the machines CPCtelera also includes a comfortable order not to have another ‘shmup’.
to start constructing my first sound tracker in which you can Should I make a vertical or horizontal
BASIC programs and build my compose tunes to be imported into shoot-'em-up? Why not both?
knowledge base with the help your game later. It's as easy as editing Eventually, I decided the player would
of the marvellous ‘Micro Hobby’, a config file. I felt confident enough be in a 3D world but only see a 2D
a magazine featured lots of to make a complete game, a little projection, and he will move around
readers' type-in games. It took doubtful in the beginning but this was on the x, y and z axes.
me lots of hours to type those something I was pursuing since my
lines in my old ZX, but I would childhood.
learn a bit more with each
keystroke about video game
development. When I had to
decide my professional career,
I had no doubt it would be
related to programming.

A few years ago, almost by accident,

I discovered the whole "retro"
community that still plays and makes
8/16 bit games. Amongst all the
fantastic YouTube channels about
this subject, I found Fran Fallego's
tutorials on developing Amstrad
games using the C language and a
dedicated game engine (tinyurl.com/
y4xl788l). Despite not having touched
that computer in my life, the videos
and documentation were so clear Amstrad CPC, 'Earth Defender' main screen coded with
and numerous that I decided to give CPCtelera.
it a chance. From the first sessions I
realized I had a powerful tool between
my hands, with only a few lines I
was able to do a lot of operations
needed to create videogames. For
example, with only this call I can draw
a rectangle on the screen, very useful
for scoreboards, or even our hero or
enemies.

void cpct_drawSolidBox (void*

memory, u8 colour_pattern, u8
width, u8 height);

Coding in C is a real advantage, but

CPCtelera also has a lot of extremely In game screenshot of 'Being left is not right', ZX
Spectrum game.

38
 Features - tutorials

As I was writing my first real code, a great group of

CPCRetroDev2018 was opening up. online users that offer
I was familiar with this competition help to solve your
and I was excited to be part of it. But problems. It’s a pity
the deadline was very close and I had that all these upgrades
no experience in game developing. are not in a centralized
Maybe I wouldn't be able to finish in project, resulting in
time? I decided to start with the first many branches from
and final stage to have a playable the original source.
game, and later adding more stages You need to know
and details according to the time the functionalities
left. I sent my game, Earth Defender, of every version to
within the last few days of the contest decide which one to
despite fighting to get some extra use.
memory bytes for the final code. This
is common when developing games Once we have The 'lose a life' routine for Being left is not right, ZX
for these old machines; you have to everything related to Spectrum game.
plan wisely how to program because the new game, such as characters
That’s how I got the idea of splitting
you only have less than 48 Kbytes for design, enemies, screens, mechanics,
the screen in two: on the left you
your game. Something inconceivable then it’s time to do some coding.
control a spaceship shooting enemies;
nowadays, but it makes you look for AGD has its own language grouped
on the right, an astronaut has to jump
the best solutions and improve your by different events. For example, we
over the platforms to get to the ship.
skills. can program what all the sprites of
In most of the stages you need to
a same type will do every time we
complete some objectives to break
AGD is a very famous engine to build enter a screen, and so on. The AGD
the wall between them and continue
games, you can even use it on a real language is very limited and rigid, but
to the next level.
machine, as it loads in your Spectrum. this can be an advantage to people
From its main menu, you can design without programming knowledge.
As I was thinking of different ideas, I
and animate 16 x 16 sprites in a very With only a few commands, a coder
designed the different stages, trying
intuitive way. You can also design can add all the functionality they have
to make them a little different from
blocks of various natures: solid, ever dreamed of to their new game.
each other; like the next-to-last
platform, void, deadly, etc, and then Also, AGD includes some templates
stage using some kind of horizontal
use them in the screens you go on to for the most common actions like
scroll, something very weird in AGD
build. In fact, it's all so easy to use walking side to side over a platform
games. After the 15th stage was
that you can have a functional game or bouncing around the screen.
finished, I only needed a title for
in only a couple of hours, hence why
the game, “Being Left is not Right”
there are hundreds of AGD games After I watched a Youtube tutorial
was the chosen one because the two
available. by Paul Jenkinson (tinyurl.com/
meanings of the words Left and Right.
y3nrmpzf) I was ready to make a game
To sum up, I can say that AGD is a
We always have to bear in mind that with this tool, but I was also looking
perfect tool for beginners in video
this is a program developed by only to make something a bit unique. I was
game development. In a few hours
one person, Jonathan Cauldwell with wondering if it was possible to make
we can have a playable game to
no commercial purpose. So it’s normal two games in one, controlling two
encourage us to go on. Of course it
some bugs should appear, but there’s characters at the same time, one by
won't be suitable for everything, but
each hand. The first
the sheer number of options AGD
tests were great,
includes means it's definitely worth
the movement and
a try. You can even design custom
the response were
characters, and add melodies with the
perfect; so I decided
easy tool created by David Saphier.
to join the two most
used genres in AGD
games: shmup and
platforms. With
You can download the games for free
Earth Defender, I
or play them online (loveretro.es) at:
wanted a small and
simple project that
could be finished
quickly. tinyurl.com/esretro

Using the AGD sprite editor to create the main

character sprite for Being left is not right, ZX
Spectrum game.

39 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - 3 Plus 1 for all

Written by:
Luca Carrafiello @Kekule1025
Mika Misfit Keranen @RGMisfit
Stefan Mader
George Bachaelor @CPCGAMINGDEMOS

C ommodore's Plus/4 really is

awesomeness in a box, and yet
it never had any real commercial
amazing games including GTA, Lemmings,
Blood Money, and many more). Interesting
fact- Mike actually started his career on a
less so in total really 121 colours), but
with no sprites, terrible sound, differently
shaped peripherals connections and, in a
success. In hindsight it was a Plus/4! Csabo and Luca manage the site in a word, no compatibility to use the strong
strange decision to launch the webspace kindly offered by Mike Dailly. C64 software library”. Despite having some
machine, but one at the time must minor success in Europe (Hungary and
have felt necessary for Commodore Anyway, moving right along from Mike Germany), the Plus 4 failed to gain any
to do so. Mocked by computer users Dailly...
universally for being an inferior
system to almost anything else at
the time, it had no real purpose in
Commodore's machine base. They
already had the C16 and the Vic
20. Why would they need a C16
Plus/4? Even on Wikipedia it has
been described as the "Minus /
60" computer due to its failure to
capture strong sales in the United
States.

While the Plus/4 shared the same basic

architecture as the C16 and C116 models,
it looked odd and was incompatible with
most of the C64 hardware and software. If
you are unaware of why it was called the
Plus/4, it's due to the four built-in ROMs
containing a word processor, spreadsheet,
database and graphs. This was what set it
apart from other computers at the time. Commodore’s Plus/4 looked odd for a Commodore based machine
Commodore had been thrust into a heavy and was described as the "Minus / 60" computer for its failure in the
price war with its competitors around 1984, 1980’s computer marketplace.
particularly in Europe against the Sinclair
Spectrum machines. It was something it Luca Carrafiello (aka Luca of Fantastic notable market share or take out any of
did not want to be a part of, so it's answer Italian Research Enterprise or FIRE), Commodore’s major competitors. The very
was to launch a more business-orientated describes in more detail about the history last stocks of C16 and Plus/4 machines
machine (the Plus/4) so it would not of what happened with the Plus/4. “They were sold to the Hungarian Ministry of
encroach on C64 sales but would instead fill (Commodore), wanted to have a 10 chips Education, when Hungary was still behind
a gap in the market and take out a few of machine to take the fight up to Sinclair Russia’s iron curtain rule. The C16’s were
the competitors at the same time. Or so it in Europe. Because of this decision, shipped into Hungarian primary schools
had hoped. Commodore took a huge bet on the TED and the Plus/4’s found homes in Hungarian
chips. TED stands for Text Editor. What secondary schools. They in fact replaced
Luca Carrafiello along with Csabo they thought would be best to do is to the Hungarian local educational computer,
maintains and manages the amazing push on the serious side of computing, by the Primo, which was often buggy.
Commodore Plus/4 World website, it's got enriching the BASIC they previously got
everything you could ever want to know from Microsoft, and, in general, orienting Naturally, Hungary and Germany became
about the Plus/4 game and demo scene the whole computer toward the business the areas where a Plus/4 scene took place,
and probably even much more than that. side of things. What they got was a 15 chip smaller but parallel and mimicking its bigger
He explains “Plus/4 World in an inheritance computer not 10 as they had intended and brother the C64, with demos, cracks and
from Mike Dailly - (yes, the author of in the end, it was good for use in coding unofficial conversions.
and had 128 colors (8 shades of black no

40
 Features - 3 Plus 1 for all

Due to many weaknesses though, suffering ‘Misfit’. Based in Finland, Misfit

from serious reliability problems, a power takes an interesting approach
supply prone to overheating and the to his game titles as well as his
expensive cost of upgrading, the Plus/4 game development. Looking to
failed to excite the marketplace in any be slightly different to the norm
great numbers. Production of the machine with traditional game styles.
ceased a year after it had hit shelves. Even He has released three games :
though the machine had little love and less Dork Dave And The Dirty Trick
users than other computers, games were (2015), Mr Angry Dude (2015)
still being made for it as a result of the and Rodmän (2018). A fourth
penetration it enjoyed in Hungary. game Crazy Blaster is also
being made, due for release in
Luca of Commodore Plus/4 World website 2019 / 2020. Mika writes “I have
informed me there has been a Plus/4 to inform you that I have never
renaissance taking place right under our seen a real PLUS4 machine. In
noses for a decade. While the website stats the 1980's my cousin had a C16
show productions for the Plus/4 trending and I almost got one before my Misfit released Dork Dave And The Dirty Trick (2015).
up and down year on year, some years like parents bought a C64. Generous colour with a tint of thinking outside the norm in
2003 with 71 productions and 2007 with 84 this traditional platformer in saving the ‘Stupid Princess’.
productions are greater than other years.
My first C16 game I created was Mr.
Luca explains “there's a turning Angry Dude. It is something between
point as to when this Plus/4 gaming a platformer and puzzle. The second
revival began. The Adventures in game I made was Dork Dave And The
Time (AIT) game can be marked Dirty Trick. When I started to make my
as the real first homebrew Plus/4 multiplatform game RodMän, I wanted
game of the modern era that to show that it could be ported to the
started it all”. Coded by K. Róbert C16. I think the Plus/4 is something
(KiCHY) with music composed like a VIC-20 with steroids. It is a very
by Luca himself and published by charming machine”.
Psytronik Software, AIT earned a
Retro Gamer Sizzler award in 2010. The Bauknecht team - M.Christian (Sire),
The reason why AIT is known as a S. Philipp (Decca), J. Ingo (Degauss), M.
Plus/4 milestone game, Luca writes Rainer (nero) and Stefan Mader (Mad)
“it’s when developers created a have moved away from demos, focusing
bigger game focused on using only their efforts on creating amazingly jaw
the machine and its capabilities. dropping Plus/4 games. The first one
There were no conversions, no re- I played was Slipstream (2017) - the
using code, and no use of add ons. pulsating addictive shoot ‘em up with
no shooting! The music in that game can
AIT is not a historical milestone only be described as the coolest you will
of the Plus4 story, but a cultural ever hear, so good that it came with its
one. AIT made a statement to own CD. The atmosphere the music adds
developers that the games to to the gameplay is just so awesome no
follow could be done specifically for matter how detailed you care to explain
the Plus/4 with no use of gfx and it. My personal opinion is that the game
music from other machines, it could must be played to be believed, the
stand on its own, demonstrating images look great on their own but they
proper quality TED music and don’t do the game justice, the playing
showcasing the characteristics of experience is where Slip Stream excels.
the large Plus/4 palette. It paved
the way forward, where games
could be produced at a higher
quality and be commercially sold.”

And so like the fall of Russia’s Iron

Curtain and the tearing down of the
Berlin Wall, the Plus/4 homebrew
revolution had begun.

New to the Plus/4 revolution is a

game developer Mika Keranen or

41 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - 3 Plus 1 for all

Plus 4 Awesomeness
scrolling in the game later on.

The Plus/4 is pretty good when it comes to

bitmap scrolling. Much more comfortable
than the C64. The second part of "MoS"
was called "The Lands of Zador" and had
scrolling throughout the game. There were
also some color lines parallaxed in the
background.

Then followed a huge project involving

Luca, Kichy, Starbuck, Nero, Carrion, BSZ
and many others called Pets Rescue. We
had first ported the source code from NES
Super Mario line by line. Then we realized
that Nintendo was very restrictive and we
Slip Stream (2017), one word “Incredible”. remodeled and re-coded the whole game.
Pets Rescue must be a milestone in the
history of Plus/4 games because of all the
Then, in 2019, Bauknecht released Alpharay, command set as the C64. Sire, with whom people who worked on it, many of whom
blowing everyone's mind once again. I had built "Empirion", was immediately are professionals in their field.
There is no way they could have matched involved in writing a music routine including The last and latest game "Alpharay" is a
or bettered Slipstream but they have with a piece of music for the Plus/4. And I technical giant. Kichy and Starbuck worked
Alpharay, the R-Type styled shoot ‘em quickly translated a few effects from the on it, at least they were available almost
up. It's game development excellence, in C64 to the Plus/4. The result was the demo daily. "Alpharay" uses a lot of techniques
anyone's language. "Threeve". This was followed by direct that have never been used before on the
collaborations with Degauss from TEK. Plus/4 and offers 50hz smooth scrolling
Stefan Mader, a Plus/4 programmer We made the demos "States United", and 121 colors with up to 17 sprites at
from Germany writes “My first encounter where the TED sound on the demo party once on the screen. With thanks to other
with the Plus/4 was in my school days. sounded like an official drum and bass track, demosceners like Bubis and BSZ, this game
A classmate had a Plus/4 and we often "Metamerism" that amazed at Evoke 2012. was made possible. At the moment we are
played games at his house, we would And our previous demo milestone "Rocket still building a few new games, but more
sometimes skip school for it. That must Science", where Nero played a very about that sometime later ” writes Stefan.
have been around 1990. I was totally important part.
enthusiastic about the possibilities of However, if you're looking for the one
the Plus/4, because I grew up in the GDR After "Rocket Science" I got the crazy idea person who has demonstrated precisely
and only had the luck to play and code on to program games for the Plus/4 and see how far, graphically, the Plus/4 can go,
Robotron computers there. At that time where the limits of the Plus/4 could go. I you need look no further than M. Tomasz
the Plus/4 seemed to be inferior to most was especially keen on the 121 colors and (Carrion). Since 2011, he has created no
other computers, so I was glad to own a tried to program sprites and sound. less than 23 graphical demo slideshows.
C64 myself sometime later on. A few years Carrion’s GFX show from 2015 is one of my
later, around 1996, my career as a game The first game "Majesty of Sprites" (MoS) favourites because of the detailed abstract
programmer began. I worked with icons like ran without scrolling. Some demosceners nature of the artwork shown in each image.
Peter Thierolff, Chris Hülsbeck and also got harshly excited about the missing
demoscene icons like Dierk Ohlerich, Peter scrolling, which is why I tried to include
Cukierski and Jochen Wilhelmy, who knew
almost every demoscener at that time. But
for a long time that meant only consoles
and PC programming.

Until I started to write demos on the C64 as

a hobby again in 2008. I created the demo
"Empirion" on the C64 in cooperation
with some other demosceners. After some
demos on the C64, at a small demo party
I met probably the best Plus/4 Coder
Degauss of the demo group "The Electronic
Knights", he told me about the Plus/4 and
its features. I was immediately wide awake
when he mentioned the 121 colors of the
TED chip and that it used the same

42
 Features - 3 Plus 1 for all

1999: Historical minimum of overall

releases, see: plus4world.powweb.com/
sl/stats/date

2000: Summer: after several other

mediocre and incomplete attempts,
YAPE (Yet Another Plus/4 Emulator)
by Attila Grósz, the first complete 264
machines emulator enters the scene.

2001: Mike, from Southampton (UK), a

Plus/4 fanatic, puts up Plus/4 World, the
Mecca for any C16/Plus4 user till today,
and he offered his own creature to be
maintained, once he saw there was a
whole scene around the machine.

2010: Adventures in Time is the game

which symbolizes a true reborn of the
machine in the era of the discovery of
His Monumentum +4 Gfx slideshow is 1986: In order to push the unsold retro scenes, being a big project, actually
another outstanding display of artwork machines, Commodore Germany signs worthy of a commercial release and
images capturing the amazing colours a contract with the Hungarian Ministry proudly playing a proper TED sound OST
of the Plus/4 in a variety of fantasy like of Education, in order to purchase with no shortcuts or outer hardware
situations. You know there is a gaming Commodore 16s for primary schools enhancement; further examples will
revolution happening on the Plus/4 and Plus/4s for the secondary schools; follow.
machine when you start seeing remakes meanwhile Udo Gertz, under the label
of games from Ultimate Play The Game. Kingsoft, takes the Commodore 16 2017: With just 16kb, Slipstream by
3D isometric game Knight Lore was games at their very best. Stefan Mader and Bauknecht group
released during 2019 with good online blows everyone away without shooting,
user ratings. Also during 2019 renowned 1988 : Following the major scenes demonstrating extraordinary tunes and
game developer Jon Woods, famous for (mostly C64), a demoscene rises up in 3D polygon graphics receiving 1st place
creating a variety of Berks games released Germany and Hungary; Pigmy (András at BCC Party 2017, freestyle compo.
Berks Four in 2019. Jon writes in his Szigethy) moves a first step forward in
game notes that the project began as an order to improve the poor audio of the 2018: The game Pets Rescue by Stefan
expanded version of his 1980’s game Berks Plus/4 by coding the very first frequency Mader [code], Carrion75 [graphics],
3 but it grew much larger than originally converter (frq converter), which uses Nero [graphics], Kichy [Graphics, design],
intended. Berks 3 had to run on the C16 the SID files from C64 to play them into Starbuck [music], Degauss [music, code]
and a number of compromises were made the more restrictive TED; after some and Luca [sprites, music] allows the
to get it running in 16K. The new game was easy attempts involving easier tasks, whole world of retro scenes to get in
designed to take advantage of the 64K Pigmy (again) converts the C64 game touch with Plus/4, taking it from being
memory available on the Plus 4 and uses "Revs" to Plus/4, and "Elite" will follow an exotic curiosity to being an affirmed
virtually all the available RAM. in a few weeks, starting a great tradition retro platform by winning prizes and
of game conversions from C64 which competitions. Others will later follow this
PLUS/4 HISTORIC MILESTONES will contribute to feed the Plus/4 scene same path.
keeping it alive.
Notable milestones about the Plus/4 2019: Stefan Mader and Bauknecht
history in general by: Luca Carrafiello. 1990: WIT (Brúnó Biánki) codes the group do it again taking out first place
first digi converter (or wave converter), at Evoke 2019, interactive compo, with
1984 Fall: it's the beginning of the a wasting and raster consumption way the stunning blast ‘em up - Alpharay.
Commodore 264 series machines; they to play C64 SID files simulating the Username ROOT808 on Pouet.net
will survive for very few months being original SID waves by playing little slices describes Alpahray as “the best technical
surpassed by the forthcoming C128, of digi samples; Two To One is the last achievements ever seen on the 264 series
the advent of the 16bit machines and commercial release in the commercial machines, especially the fantastic HSP
the same immortal C64, still in vogue at life of C16/Plus4. moved via TED registers which allows
that time; as a cheap form of access to to move a bitmap with sprites within
home computing, the Commodore 16 1993: The online: ftp.inf.bme.hu (later: one single frame at 50Hz and no double
will commercially resist for some years, ftp.rulez.org) is the first online archive of buffer, you damn geniuses!”
thanks to the worthy ratio between Plus/4 stuff, me (as Luca/FIRE) begin to
effort spent and earnings. feed it.

43 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - Sonic GX dev

by Arnaud “NoRecess” Storq

@norecess464

Unofficial Sonic fan game

coming to the Amstrad GX
and Plus machines
INTRO

T he Amstrad GX-4000 launched

in 1990, was Amstrad’s
attempt to create a video game
console to compete against
Nintendo’s NES and the Sega
Master System. Hindsight was
quick to demonstrate that the
GX-4000 console was far too late
to the 8-bit console party, with
only a handful of games being
released for it during its short-
lived commercial life, and from
all evidence it did not convince
gamers at all of what it was capable
of. Thirty years later, the console
is progressively grabbing a new
interest within the retro-gaming
community, with a new game
currently in development called
Sonic GX helping to put the console SonicGX on the GX-4000… Who would have imagined that in 1990? No one i'm sure - Ed!
once again on the map! We asked
the programmer of this game, different. Creating a game reusing some
NoRecess, to provide an article existing licenses that could be ported back
of our demo scene skills appeared like
revealing development details to the Amstrad, but in the end we picked
an interesting alternative to us, we were
about this project and he kindly Sonic, Sega’s famous blue hedgehog. Of
instantly attracted by the GX-4000’s
accepted. course there was the immediate technical
new rise. Indeed, cartridge-based game
challenge of how we would do this by
development for the GX-4000 was made
SONIC GX ORIGINS recreating the fast scroller. Historically,
possible in 2015 thanks to a new device
there was a close relationship between
called “C4CPC” (created by the hobbyist
Sonic GX is a new purely fictional episode Amstrad and Sega (US Gold game
and hardware-maker “Gerald”). In a few
of Sonic the Hedgehog for the GX-4000 conversions from the 80’s and 90’s, the
years, this resulted in a new wave of
console, with a planned release date of Amstrad Mega PC with a built in Mega
productions revealing the true power of
late 2020 (the game will also run on the Drive console and compatible game
the platform: a remake of the intro screen
Amstrad Plus computers). A preview controllers just to name a few). Sonic was
of Shadow of the Beast from Logon
was first shown at “Alchimie Treize” in cruelly missing in the list of ported games,
System (this is astonishing I still watch this
November 2019, a popular retro-coding/ so we checked the legal side of things
video today go check it out - Ed), not one but
retro-gaming event in France where first before we started development, we
two remakes of the game Ghost ’n Goblins
homebrew developers can present, observed that many unofficial remakes
by developers Xifos and Golem, as well
discuss and eventually release their work. of Sonic were also available on other
as an impressive demo called CRTC3 from
The initial reception of the preview was platforms. Sega had even hired the author
Resistance.
great, even kids played the game on real of one of those fan-game engines to make
hardware with great enjoyment! the official mobile versions of Sonic!
So we decided to create a game for the
We (Condense team) released “phX”, a Since the GX-4000 is a commercially dead
GX-4000 as a new project, and it was
demo for the classic range of Amstrad CPC platform for decades now, we did not
obvious to us that reusing an existing
machines, ranked 2nd at the Old School see any damages or infringements being
game as a reference would speed up
Compo at Revision 2018 demo party. After made to the license and decided to start
the development process. We love the
spending 5 years on that production, we development on this title.
Commodore Amiga, and there are tons of
had an interest to make something

44
 Features - Sonic GX dev

The original Sonic FROM PROTOTYPE TO GAME

features animated
flowers in the We took the decision to make a new Sonic
background, so we episode, not a port of existing levels.
had to support this Thus, we started with an empty level and
as well. Our first then added progressively new gameplay
implementation features to it. To create the map, we relied
relied on hardware on an existing tool called Tiled, which
sprites, but we proved to be a real time saver. Soon, we
switched later to added the Sonic character colliding with
the use of software the ground, still based on the Sega Game
sprites. Of course Gear version. Then the rings followed, but
it was slower to we quickly felt limited, since the maximum
process, but this number of sprites on screen is technically
effort proved fixed to 16, we had to implement a
to be crucial to powerful sprite manager allowing dynamic
display more content refresh based on player position
No Recess presenting Sonic GX on real hardware at Alchimie Treize sprites on screen in the map. Creating a good camera system
(Alchimie 13). for gameplay. was actually quite challenging. Our initial
In the end, the version was based on Sonic’s position in
scrolling engine (including flowers) took the world. Then we experienced a good
PROTOTYPING BACKGROUND
approximately 50% of the available improvement when a displayed portion of
SCROLL ENGINE
CPU time in worst cases. From there, we the world actually tries to follow Sonic at a
knew we could make a game out of this slower speed.
Sonic is all about fast action, so we knew
prototype.
we had to provide large worlds moving in
both horizontal and vertical directions,
and at great speed. One problem: the GX-
4000 has no tileset functionalities, unlike
the Nintendo NES or the Sega Master
System. So we had to find a way to mimic
this feature. The first versions of our
scrolling engine did not allow full frame
rate speed. Having a generic algorithm to
draw graphics data was not optimal, so
we tried another approach (with success)
based on tiles converted as precalculated
Z80 opcodes instead. We also had to
learn the platform and fight against some
unsupported features of the Amstrad
emulator we used. And when we finally
reached the expected behavior under our
tool chain, we experienced other issues on
Palm Tree Sega Game Gear Vs Amstrad GX4000. The GX-4000 version features
the real machine as well, this time because
more visual details than the Game Gear!
of hardware bugs in the physical machine.
In the end, almost 6 months of work were
necessary to reach an acceptable result.

Of course, a scrolling engine is nothing

without any graphics to display. We found
online the reverse-engineered graphics
of the Sega Game Gear version and based
our work on that. The graphical video
mode of the GX-4000 allows 16 colors on
screen, exactly like the Game Gear. But on
this console, a pixel is a perfect square,
while the GX-4000 features a pixel having
the shape of a horizontal rectangle. So to
match a correct ratio, we had to double
the vertical resolution of the Game Gear
tileset. Of course, CeD (our graphist) took
this as an opportunity to improve the
visuals!
In game jumping - Sonic GX is a very colorful game.

45 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - Sonic GX dev

Sonic GX

This resulted in movement feeling AN INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT Agile-based methodology, and we also
much smoother thanks to the per-pixel APPROACH relied on Dynalist to organize/brain-storm
accuracy of the scroll engine. When we ideas.
started to get a glimpse of the real game, Most games on Amstrad CPC machines
we contacted Targhan / Arkos for the rely on assembly language to provide the PLATFORM LIMITATION
audio part. Working with him was a time fastest implementation. This remains true
saver for us - he is not only an excellent for Sonic GX, but with a twist. The game Providing dynamic content for a sprite on
composer, but also a programmer also makes use of the C programming the GX-4000 is a nightmare (a data copy
providing a dedicated audio player that can language for its game logic which is quite is necessary). It’s quite outrageous when
be embedded quickly in any game engine. unusual for a fullscreen, full frame rate compared to the C64, released 8 years
The initial work we received was too game. Sure, it’s a bit slower to process before, featuring the ability to change
theatrical, so we had to shape the vision to than optimized assembly language code (C sprite visuals almost instantaneously. The
get closer to the original Sonic game while part in Sonic GX takes approx. 15% of the console itself features some hardware
keeping Targhan’s unique musical touch. CPU time); but it proved to be a life-saver bugs. Work-arounds exist, but not
to manage and iterate on the different mentioned in the official Amstrad manual.

ArkosTracker: Audio part in the game was created by Targhan CeD, the talented graphical artist behind the game.
using his tool called 'Arkos Tracker 2'.

Then we improved the collision system game states. As an example, with some On top of that, emulation of the GX-4000 is
to allow Sonic to collide against enemies, additional work, only the C part of the good but not perfect, since full support is
rings, bumpers, spikes and the likes. game could be modified to reuse the scroll incomplete, a developer must continuously
Initially, hit-boxes were almost as large engine in the context of a shoot ’em up test on real hardware after every major
as the visual sprites. We experienced game. change. To this day, it remains challenging
better gameplay by reducing the size of for a new developer to collect all the
those hit boxes (player must be clearly TOOLCHAIN required information.
located inside an enemy to die). Since
most of the mandatory gameplay was Everything was produced using free tools.
implemented, it was time to focus on some As mentioned earlier, Tiled was used for
details. We added the title screen. First map authoring. Good old WinAPE emulator
version relied on a more modern version was used for testing / debugging (the
of the Sonic character, it proved wrong to GX-4000 support is not quite perfect, but
merge multiple design types. Finally we it remains the best tool we could rely on
adapted the original Sonic screen as used using a PC). Additionally to that, a set of
in the 8-Bit version. Then we added the custom tools have been implemented.
act screen. It may appear quite subtle, but C++ was used to convert data to a custom
this image is actually relying on hardware format compatible with the GX-4000.
techniques to display more than thirty We also created a bridge to allow SDCC
colours on screen! Finally, we completed (the C compiler) compilation output to
the experience by adding the boss fight be compatible with the syntax of Rasm
system. Initially, the proposed gameplay (a very powerful Z80 assembler). CeD
was way too easy, but when we decided to relied on Photoshop to edit the graphics,
make Dr Eggman shoot projectiles every while Targhan used his own tracker, Arkos
time he could, this proved to be actually Tracker 2. We also relied on some online,
'iOS_Dynalist' (mobile phone app) is used
fun and difficult to beat! free-to-use management tools. Trello
to capture ideas while commuting to
proved to be useful to schedule tasks using
work!

46
 Features - Sonic GX dev

The game will (cf. make the game fun). We recommend to

feature 4 or share previews with some people of trust
5 levels, with having solid technical / game experience,
increasing so you can gather pertinent feedback and
difficulty, providing improve the game. Another thing, keep
20-25 minutes in mind that the first working version of
of gameplay, a new feature / visual / music is rarely the
depending on the final one; get ready to iterate and rework a
remaining size on critical portion of a game.
the game cartridge.
The game will be We also recommend, in the context of
entirely based on large maps, to always manage sprite
the Green Zone positions using world coordinates. Never
Hill level, which base gameplay on projected 2D screen
appears not to be coordinates !
a problem since
it’s what people Finally, when things get too complicated,
Sonic GX Sprite Sheet - the game features an impressive number of remembered do not force yourself. Take a blank paper
sprites for an 8-Bit game. from the original and a pen instead, then try to draw an
Sonic. To this day overview of the problem and understand
(Nov. 2019) it’s still not yet decided if what blocks you.
Finally, the GX-4000 does not feature
other music will be integrated or not. The
hardware tileset management, creating
game will probably feature new gameplay FINAL WORDS
an efficient one as in Sonic GX is tricky and
elements: horizontal bouncers, multi-
involves advanced programming.
steps support, different elevation when Thanks to BLAST ANNUAL team for
Sonic jumps, sprite multiplexing for more allowing me to write this article. It was a
REWRITING HISTORY pleasure to deliver information describing
sprites on screen, in-game enemies will
be able to launch projectiles, and some our past work on the game and what we
Sonic GX itself is an important milestone
other minor improvements and bug fixings. will be doing next year. A small tip for
for the GX-4000. It proves that a fullscreen,
Final release is planned end of 2020, but readers - now may be a good time to buy
multi-directional scroller with 1 pixel
it may be delayed if quality requires to an Amstrad GX-4000 with a C4CPC before
accuracy is perfectly doable on this console
be improved even more. Remember it’s a prices go crazy!!
(this was not possible on the old Amstrad
hobby project made by people having a job,
CPC machine). This game has the potential
kids, so our time is limited.
to redefine the GX-4000 inside the 8-bit
gaming community. Maybe this console was
ADVICE & RECOMMENDATIONS
not that bad after all - some great games
WHEN CREATING A GAME
could have been ported with minor changes
from the Amiga versions: Micro Machines,
With this project, we learnt a few lessons
Desert Strike, Chuck Rock just to mention
that are worth sharing. When doing a game
a few.
remake, we realized that mixing visuals
of multiple versions of an existing game
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FINAL
is a bad idea. Also, we found it actually
VERSION
quite difficult to make a good level design

Development Environment used to program SonicGX. Editing the map using 'Tiled'.

47 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Developer profile

Written by:
Ant Stiller @AntStiller Everything is still new, in the
Stefan Vogt @8bit_era start-up phase at Puddle,
Graham Axten @zxmutant64 so just what could
George Bachaelor @CPCGAMINGDEMOS we possibly expect to
see being delivered by
Puddle or Puddle Soft is the them for the retro gaming
spiritual successor to Pond community in the months
Software, with members and (hoping many) years
including Ant Stiller, Stefan ahead? Let me just say
Vogt and Graham Axten. firstly these guys are super
They have very exciting plans ahead cool. They probably don’t
for 8 and 16 bit gaming platforms, like me saying that, but
so if you love playing new games on they are the real deal, very
a Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX down to earth guys, it's
Spectrum, Atari ST or Commodore always a pleasure to chat
Amiga, follow them on twitter by with them and discuss
anything 8-bit or retro C64 version preview of the loading screen for Hibernated II.
looking for @puddlesoft - to keep
informed and up to date with all their gaming related. game on tape, disk or cartridge, so will
new exciting future productions! Puddle be releasing their games as physical
ANT HAS ALL THE PLANS u versions? Ant writes “yes physical releases
PUDDLE MAKES A SPLASH! u will be made through poly.play”. Puddle is
First up I chatted with Ant Stiller who is purely a game development organisation
You may wonder what ever happened an experienced graphics person as well as with poly.play as the distributor of their
to the hobbyist gamedev team and non game developer. I asked Ant what will be games. Hibernated II is a two part sequel
profit software publisher Pond Software? the focus of Puddle going forward ? Will to Olivia’s famous adventure that Stefan
I know I sure did. Over recent years they the group be creating C64 games only? Vogt is creating. It is his most sophisticated
have released some amazing 8-bit games Ant writes “Puddle will be a multi-format work to date! There will be versions for
such as the text adventure Hibernated 1: game developer creating different genres C64, Plus4, Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX,
This Place is Death, The Bear Essentials of games. Stefan Vogt is currently focusing Amiga, ST and DOS. Stefan had planned for
and Spaceman Splorf: Planet of Doom on text based adventure games. Graham is the game to be finished and released at the
just to mention a few. So it was a little looking at platform games, a sequel to the end of 2019. However, as a new decade has
perplexing when, in 2019, there were no Bear Essentials being one of them, which he started, it's expected early in 2020.
announcements from them at all. As far has started releasing progress screenshots
as I know, Pond Software is in a holding of on Twitter and I am
pattern for now due to circumstances working on various
beyond anyone's control. Some of the game projects - something of a
developers from Pond, namely Graham shoot ‘em up and an RPG
Axten, Ant Stiller and Stefan Vogt have type of game”. Sounds
gone out on their own, establishing Puddle awesome already, a good
Soft or Puddle, the spiritual successor to mix up of game styles, a
Pond Software. little bit of everything for
many people to have a
Even though all group members live crack at when these games
thousands of miles / kilometres apart from are finished. Ant writes
each other, Ant based in Australia, Graham “It's going to take us some
based in the U.K., Stefan based in Germany, time to get up to speed
and new recruit graphics artist Dylan, also but it's pretty exciting for
based in the U.K, already after a short time all of us right now.''
together things are starting to progress Ever popular these days is Petunia Pickle's Pumpkin Peril is 80% coded says Ant Stiller
quite rapidly. purchasing a physical and it's looking like a fun game.

48
 Developer profile

PUDDLE’s BEAR ESSENTIALS u

The Great Outdoors (The Bear Essentials II) is

the game Graham Axten has been working on and
you guessed right, it's the sequel to his popular and
addictive C64 "cute as a button" bear game released
in 2016. It is the same platform style as the first game
with a few scrolling sections if all goes to plan. In this
new game, Mr Bear is dispatched on another reluctant
adventure, to face the consequences of his over
enthusiastic apple collection. It turns out that although
the Bear family made it happily through the rough
Winter months with food to spare, some of the other
animals are not too chuffed with them. One of these is
Dale Snail, who has been tasked with the investigation
of alternative fruit for the annual Cider Festival.
Graham writes of the C64 game work in progress
“I have included an Extended Background Colour Mode
(ECBM) where you have a restriction of 2 colours per
character, but one of the colours has to be from a choice
of 4 different background colours. Also, the screen is
built from characters rather than being bitmapped, and The Bear Essentials II: The Great Outdoors coming to a C64 near you
you are limited to 64 different characters - which is why in 2020.
this mode isn’t used very much for games.
With regards to Pumpkin Peril, “it has been a long, long journey for
I’m finding it gives games quite a unique look and feel, and I am this game. Unfortunately life got in the way of development and I
enjoying using it”. Development of the game is well under way, had to step back for over a year.
Graham says, “it will be a mash up of ideas, bringing together the
sequel to The Bear Essentials and my long unfinished project called The good news is that once ‘CQ+’ is done I’ll be making the
A Snail’s Tale. Ant is currently working on the seems-to-be-in- finishing touches to Pumpkin Peril (I’d estimate it’s about
development-forever "Petunia Pickle's Pumpkin Peril" game 80% code complete). Some people have been waiting for this
under a combined Pond / Puddle label and "Chef Quest +" will be game for a long time!”
his first official Puddle game (though it's an enhanced version of
his RESET 4k Game Competition entry). Both games will be for the
C64.

Ant says “Chef Quest+ will still be quite similar to the original game
but will feature some key improvements based on feedback from
the 4k version plus I am excited to say it will also contain a whole
lot of new music supplied to me by some very talented young
musicians who were given the task of learning how to make
a SID tune as part of their course.”

M
E
E
T «
THE
P SOFT
U
D T
D E
Aussie graphic artist and game Mr Bear Essentials, the delightful Text adventurer extraordinaire the L A
developer, Ant Stiller loves being Graham Axten. wonderful Stefan Vogt. E M
surrounded by 8-bit gaming nostalgia.

PUDDLESOFT.NET FACEBOOK.COM/PUDDLESOFT @PUDDLESOFT

49 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

eEeEe

50
 eEeEe

51 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - work in progress

by John Henderson
@JohnHen65953721

A truly Deluxe AAA C64 Cart / Disk Game,

with beautiful packaging, accompanying
artwork, and a visually stunning game
manual.
The Wild Wood
Team We are very lucky to have a lot of talent
working on this title.
A little about John Henderson and why he
started developing Wild Wood on the C64 Game concept, design and graphics by
(in his own words). Hend.

Hello everyone I am John W Henderson or Coding by Achim Volkers (Age of

‘Hend’. I'm a professional Artist, Illustrator Heroes), Andrea Schincaglia (Sydney
and Art teacher. I have been pixelling on Hunter), and Zirias (Excess), Artur (Excess)
the C64 for just a few years, but have done
quite a few bitmaps for various C64 games Music and SFX by NM156 (I.K.Ultimate).
(which you can see examples of below). I
love the Commodore 64 and its various gfx WILD WOOD GAMEPLAY
restrictions make it a fun challenge to work
with. For Wild Wood, I really wanted to You will be required to guide young Hare
create a vehicle to express my art and had as he makes his way to the very Heart of
an overwhelming desire to build the most the Wild Wood. During this dangerous
visually lavish and compelling game world I journey there are many large and
could. enchanting locations to explore, ranging
from Cavernous Warrens, Cathedral
The Wild Wood concept itself is inspired Halls, Catacombs, Ancient Ruins and the
from references to the "Wild Woods" in the ominous Wild Wood itself, to name but a
well known book "The Wind in the Willows" few. In between exploring, Hare will find
by Kenneth Grahame - a book I loved as himself battling past the many inhabitants
a kid. In the book, the wood is dark and and giant Guardians of the Woods as well
mysterious, a place to be feared, set within as running for his life in exciting fast-paced
an idyllic countryside. The perfect backdrop chases. He will however, be helped on his
for a dramatic adventure! adventure by his good friend, The Old
Badger. There will be a variety of gameplay
WILD WOOD AIM elements, ranging from large 8 way
scrolling platforming levels, to fast paced
The Wild Wood team's main aim is to horizontally scrolling "chase" levels. On
produce: top of this are Secret Rooms, Shops, Bonus
sections and Boss encounters.

52
 Features - work in progress

New Zealand Story: Written by: Benjamin Yoris @BenYoris &

Amstrad CPC Remake George Bachaelor @CPCGAMINGDEMOS

Back in the golden days of computers Benjamin Yoris owned an

Amstrad CPC 6128 but upgraded to an Amiga. He worked for French
computer magazine Amiga News writing game reviews but after the
Commodore bankruptcy he and his fellow magazine staff tried to
revive the publication for three more issues but unfortunately
weren’t able to support it any longer. Benjamin would dabble in
coding in AMOS back in the old Amiga days, then went on to become
a video game producer for Atari / Infogrames releasing many games
on Game Boy Colour / Game Boy Advance platforms. Then he founded
his own studio called Dream On Studio where he released many
Nintendo DS games. So just how did he even get back to thinking of
making a new game for the Amstrad CPC?

BACK TO THE FUTURE

It was two years ago at the Alchimie festival in France that Benjamin
Yoris had met other CPC fans and discovered that the CPC scene is
very much alive and well. It was there he saw the extraordinary Eerie
Forest: Shadow of the Beast Demo by Logon System (2017), and the
remakes of classic games such as Ghosts 'n Goblins and Bubble Bobble.
It wasn’t until he learned that Toki for the CPC was in development
that he said to himself “I had to be part of that".
The New Zealand Story had amazed him back in the day, at the time he
thought it was so cute with its large colourful sprites and graphics, the
huge playing levels, excellent music and fun gameplay but
unfortunately the arcade to CPC conversion by Choice / Ocean from
1989 was very limited - looking like a rushed port from another 8-bit
machine. So he decided as a massive Taito arcade fan to re-honor this
classic with a new version on the Amstrad CPC.

WHERE FOR ART THOU CPC CODERS ?

To get the project started Benjamin Yoris knew he couldn’t do it alone, he needed a team to bring this project to life. How does one do that if
they have been out of the scene for a while? Social media has all the answers and that's what Benjamin did - he hit Twitter about April of 2019
with posts about a remake of New Zealand story for the CPC seeking coders to help him on this new adventure. It took a while with quite a
few posts showing off his graphical work on the project to entice coders to join him. One day Benjamin was contacted on Twitter by a Spanish
guy who introduced him to a coder named Abalore. They discussed things about the project for nearly one hour and that was it, the first
coder had been found! At the same time Benjamin was also contacted by another coder E-Dredon who is a musician. I (George.B) like many
others were helping to spread the word on social media about this project and E-Dredon was found on a Facebook group. It took about 2
months for a full team to be assembled with an announcement made at the end of June, 2019. Benjamin Yoris is based in Montpelier, France,
however the other team members assembled to make the New Zealand story remake game are many many miles apart. Abalore is based in
Spain and E-Dredon is a French guy based in Hong Kong. Once it all had been agreed, Black Gator Team was born!

May 29th, 2019. Level 1-1 graphics of the Amstrad Plus version June 13, 2019. The New Zealand Story Remake for Amstrad continues
were completed but still Benjamin was looking for coders to to advance with Benjamin completing some of the sprites but still the
help him bring the project to life. search for coders continues.

53 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - work in progress

GETTING TO WORK

While it was slow going at the beginning, Benjamin had stayed

motivated in his quest to get The New Zealand Story remake from a
one person idea to a development team. He had started to work on
the graphics and show the retro community what he was capable of
achieving through his social media posts. At the early stages he had
envisioned the game to be an original CPC game, but it became clear
to him the best option was to focus on delivering the production for an
Amstrad Plus platform, in his words “to get some decent power”.
He simulated some sprites and screenshots constantly changing the
look and feel of the game. He is creating the graphics by using
Graphx2 on a PC. He says “it reminds me of the good old days from
the Amiga with Deluxe Paint”. The ultimate goal for Benjamin Yoris
with the graphics is to try and get the game looking as close to the
arcade version as possible, that is the hope.

The comparison screenshots he has posted on Twitter look just as

visually impressive as Taito’s original arcade version. The team have
been discussing including the missing features from the original CPC
version - warp zones, heaven mode, EXTEND free lives and more.
Benjamin says “We think that this should not be a problem for the
Amstrad Plus and we may even get it to work on a normal CPC
machine too”.

Albalore who is the main coder of the remake is using WinAPE and a
bunch of self-made tools to convert sprites and backgrounds to custom
formats. On August 12, he released a scroll test demo video of the
work in progress on YouTube which can be found here:
tinyurl.com/s5nu7wh

So far Levels 1-1 through to 1-4 have been completed with work on the
first boss the Frozen Whale the next task to complete. On November
26, 2019, work on the The New Zealand Story remake had been paused
as Benjamin looked towards starting his next adventure working on a
Wonder Boy remake for the original Amstrad CPC machines as this too had a very poor arcade conversion by Activision in 1987.

This is just a hobby so even though everything looks great and is coming along just remember that these things take time and that people’s
personal lives come first so when the game will be released is unknown. It may happen in 2020. But it may not. We just need to be patient. If
you have seen some of the latest CPC remakes in recent times we are sure to be spoiled again!

Working on the Frozen Whale boss sprites. Sprites for a new Wonder Boy being made for original CPC’s in
development?

@BenYoris

54
 Features - work in progress

CARAVAN BOOMER - MSX

Written by: N.I. @n_i15 Bo Design @Bo_Pixel_Design
and George Bachaelor @CPCGAMINGDEMOS

Caravan Boomer is a new R-Type style shoot ‘em up in development

for the MSX2. It uses PSG and MSX-MUSIC sounds, and a host of
legendary game musicians have been working on it including Shinji
Hosoe (Dragon Spirit, Ridge Racer, Street Fighter fame), Keishi
Yonao (Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force, Star Trader 68, etc) and
Masahiko Ishida (R-Type 2, Ninja Spirits) just to name a few.
The game has two modes: Caravan (time attack) and normal.

Graphically you can see the game has outstanding visuals which
game developer BO DSGN has put together using the MSX’s screens
4 and 5. Some are suggesting that this horizontal space shooter
reminds them of Konami's Space Manbow and Parodius.
According to BO DSGN, the game is more oriented on big boss battles
than the classic shooters and includes over ten end-of-level bosses that actually look like proper end of level bosses you want to encounter
and destroy. BO DSGN is an international team with French, Japanese and Chinese members.

Pre orders of Caravan Boomer started in April of 2019 and there were a limited number of physical boxed copies (2xDD) priced at 5000
Yen (around $45USD). I spoke with one of the game developers - N.I. who writes “ the graphics are drawn in 16 of 512 colors. Tile map
mode is used in the game duration to scroll the screen, but bitmap mode is used in the boss duration to draw it in detail, music is played on
OPLL(FM)."

Caravan Boomer - Caravan Edition is another version of the game, a promotion disk mainly designed for time attack parties and friendly
gaming get togethers. It contains two different caravan modes:
1) An exclusive boss.
2) An exclusive title screen. It was released in August 2019. It comes in a small cardboard package, priced at 1200 Yen (around $11USD). This
can be purchased at the excellent retrogameshop1983 link here: tinyurl.com/retro83.

MSX gamer Thomas Lipschultz wrote of his experience playing the Caravan edition back in October 2019 stating stating "This game is good!
It's a very simple score-attack thing right now, so there's not much to it, but it controls well, and makes me excited for the final product when
it drops, hopefully in early 2020. Part of the reason this finished game will stand out as more than just a middling shmup on a system with
a ton of other shmups to offer, though, is the music. This game includes some of the best OPLL FM compositions I've heard to date, if only
because it's just so intense. If you have speakers or headphones with good bass, be sure to use them when listening to this, because trust
me... you ain't heard nothin' like this from an 8-bit system before. This is some serious dance club nonsense right here! It is THUMPIN', yo!”

55 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Features - work in progress

From developer - N.I.

In early January 2020 I caught up with Caravan Boomer MSX game

coder / developer N.I. He provided a little more insight into what
could possibly be the best 8-bit game of 2020 (if it makes it to
release in 2020). When it is completed and released it will surely be a
graphical and musical space blast ‘em up experience like no other on
the MSX or any other 8-bit platform.

Thank you for your time N.I. Caravan Boomer’s graphics are
without a doubt stunning but what about the storyline? What is
the game about and who are the heroes and enemies?
N.I writes “Caravan Bommer is a story about beating the bad guy
called Mad Moon. He sends out all these different enemies over a
number of different levels to stop you. I don't have a more detailed
story for you right now though, I will need to ask Bo, the planner for
this as he has more details”.

With so many graphics and sprites on screen, Caravan Boomer

would take up quite a bit of memory space. How did you get
around this?
N.I writes “The MSX is limited in its memory capacity, so I had to
think objectively. I adopted various program ideas to reduce the
program size so we could fit it all in”.

In terms of coding, how much is left to do before the game is

released?
N.I. replies “I'm almost done coding. The rest is to incorporate
level data, graphics and music into the game. We have various
contributors who are completing these materials one after
another. I couldn’t give you an expected time of when the game
will finally be coded and ready to play though”.

Caravan Boomer looks like an R-Type style shooter, does it play

the same way or is it different? N.I says “I think R-Type is a game
where it is important to remember the waves and stages. Caravan
Boomer is different in that it is a game where the players will be enjoying the
exhilaration of shooting”.

Japanese gamers playing the Caravan Edition to see who

gets the higher scores.

@n_i15

56
 DIY Hardware

My Amstrad CPC
game pad project
I have tried playing some of
the games that I have for my
Amstrad CPC 464 using the
I had to place it in new holes as I removed
some copper pads accidentally. After the
new header pins were on, I soldered in all
by Alastair Gillespie
@Gee_k_net

joystick that I got with the the wires to the buttons with purple wire pin 1 up red-pin 2 down black-pin 3 left
first one that I bought. The as I only had the choice of black, red and grey-pin 4 right orange-pin 5 fire 3 brown
problem with this joystick is purple. It doesn't make any difference -pin 6 fire 2 green-pin 7 fire 1 white-pin 8
that the buttons sometimes to me as it's really easy to follow each gnd blue-pin 9 gnd yellow
don't register and the directions individual wire anyway.
sometimes don't work very well.
You can't blame it when it's over
30 years old!

With this as background, I'd thought I'd

make a joypad for my CPC. I didn't see any
others for sale but really, how hard could
it be? So began my joypad adventure. My
Joypad is going to be similar to an old
Nintendo NES or Sega Master System
control pad - rectangle and simple.

I ordered a few prototyping boards and

a few other items to make a start on my
Testing out where is best to place buttons and how to lay out the traces
Joypad. They arrived within a couple of
for the PCB.
days of ordering them. I started adding
all the buttons that I wanted first. For I then set about making the cable that I got all of these wires soldered onto the
this, I needed a soldering iron. I soldered connects to the joystick port of the relevant place on the header and made
the buttons in the place where I wanted Amstrad. It felt a bit of a shame to just sure the cable was attached in a way
them and I added some headers where I cut one end of the new cable, but that's that it wouldn't just rip out when I was
would connect the connecting wires and what I bought it for! I kept a little bit of moving about with it. Et Voila! I plugged
the cable that'll go to the Amstrad joystick cable sticking out of the part I cut off, just in the controller into my Amstrad CPC
port. I was going to make these compatible in case I wanted to make a joystick port and pressed the buttons. All the relevant
with the joystick port splitter so that two splitter in the future. Two player madness! related characters came up on screen
of them could be used at the same time. It I had no idea what colour of wire related to and when I put the game 1943 in and
would be great to see some games in the what pin of the 9 pin plug, so I got a bit of loaded it up, I played away with no hassle
future being able to use two of my Joypads wire, put it in the hole for pin one, put the whatsoever. Considering it was only my
at the same time ( I can only hope). other end of the wire into a breadboard second time, my scores were pretty good.
where I am making the Ben Eater computer I'm sure I could do better though!
When the Megadrive extension cable and then touched each coloured wire onto
arrived in the post I was able to set about the live cable to
wiring up the last bits of my prototype complete the
controller. The Megadrive cable is an circuit to my LED.
extension cable to allow the user to have When the light
a longer reach for their Sega Megadrive came on, I knew I
controllers. All I did was cut one end off had the wire
it so that I could connect the bare wires connected to the
to my pcb. I'm new to soldering, so there pin. I did this in turn
were a few screw ups on the way. I had for each of the
to remove the original header pins that I 9 pins until I had
soldered on as I had removed the plastic noted each one.
that holds them together and in place. I If anyone gets one
then had to re-solder them and the pins of these cheap
moved a lot as nothing was holding them Megadrive cables
My completed working prototype being tested while playing
there. I thought that the best idea would on eBay, the wires
1943.
be to remove them and put a new one on. are as follows:

57 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 DIY Hardware

Now I have the inners to a prototype, done. I made the buttons a bit bigger so put in. It worked great, but it was not very
allowing me to sort out making a case for that it feels a bit more comfortable and ergonomic. Now rather than redesign the
it. I'll need to get a 3d printer to get some a bit more natural. They're now 10mm whole thing, I made a surround for it to
cases made. instead of 8mm. I'm not sure why I went fall into so it would be more comfortable
with 8mm to begin with. There must've to hold. I drew it up pretty quick and then
I’ve made my prototype controller and been some reason for it. After posting in printed out a draft to see where I had
learned how to use some PCB designing a Facebook group asking for thoughts on made any errors. Thankfully, the errors I
software. Once the schematics were the original case, I had a comment that I did make were quite simple and easy to
made I then designed up some PCB's should think about changing the colour fix. So I set about making another one
and ordered them. I only ordered a small of the buttons. Maybe one green and one with the corrections. After this was all
amount as they themselves are the next blue. I agreed that the grey for everything done, I had a great controller! Even if I do
step in prototyping. I set about adding the was a bit dull and I ordered some blue say so myself. I realise that it's a bit small,
switches and wiring to them. I was really filament for the 3d printer. but it works well and is super easy to use.
happy with the way the boards looked and
felt. They soldered up really good too. When the filament arrived I changed it
Once all the switches were on, I plugged over from the grey and set about printing
it into one of my 464's and made sure it my controller case again but with the
worked as it should, which it did. So I'm modified button holes and larger buttons.
happy with that! I'll need to design a case The first print came out horrible and had
and buttons. This should then give me all I waverly lines all over the place. So that
need to work out all the things that need had to be scrapped. I checked the bed
altering before I decide to make more for height of the printer and re-leveled it just
selling purposes. I bought my 3d printer in case. Things started to look much better
recently, to make my controller cases. after that.
Over a few days I made some bits here and Finished top side of the gamepad case
there to test and try out. Then I printed Once the prints came out however, I soon with my PCB’s and cable.
all the buttons, the d-pad and then the realised that they were ever so slightly
back of the case. It's looking okay, but not oversized. The holes for the buttons were The first night after it was all put
excellent. I think the buttons need to be a tiny fraction too small and the buttons, together, my wife sat down and had
larger, the d-pad needs to be a bit better too large. The filament must print a game of Tetris with me. I'm looking
thought out and slightly re-designed. differently to the grey that I had used forward to sitting chilling with friends
The way the two halves of the case go before. I spoke briefly with a friend who and playing some retro games with it! I'd
together will also need to be changed has way more experience with 3d printing love for others to have a go at making
slightly, as currently you could press a than I, and he confirmed my suspicions. He their own surrounds and controllers. This
button and the case will split. This is the has a few settings for different filaments. is the first time I've delved into this kind
whole point in prototyping - test, of thing, So I'm no expert. There will be
test and test again until you get it correct! So! I went into my CAD drawings and flaws.
Anyway, I've attached some pictures of changed the sizing of a few parts here and
the progress. Measuring the top of the there, then printed them again. They came
gamepad casing on grid paper and the out much better, so I set about putting the
finished 3d printed product. controller together. Now the base wasn't
going on properly to the top and it broke
After much lost time due to other life when I tried to remove it. Naturally it was
things, I finally managed to get the case the part that took the longest to print
that broke. I wasted no time in setting
up another print and then I checked the
hole sizes of where the two parts join
together to see if that's what caused Now my gamepad is properly finished.
the problem. They were slightly off, so I It looks so much better visually - as I had
drilled the holes that were supposed to first expected it to be and is much more
be 4mm out with a 4mm drill bit. Once the comfortable to hold while playing games.
replacement part had printed, I put it all
together and it now looks great. I used To make your very own game pads at
blue colour for the whole lot and I'm quite home with a 3d printer all my info and STL
pleased with how it looks. Although it is files on this project can be found here:
still a lot of the one colour. After using
my completed controller, I realised pretty
tinyurl.com/cpcgamepad
This is the silkscreen or top side of the PCB’s I soon that it wasn't very comfortable to
designed and then had professionally made. use. How unfortunate after all the work I

58
 DIY Hardware

AMSTRAD CPC
® LIGHT & TURTLE project ° by Leone Filippo
translated by George Bachaelor

S
ince I was a young kid I've I discarded this part since the display unit The turtle project I made was inspired from
been dreaming of building a was used on a tv's circuit and when the CPC my online research. I just happened to be
mechanical robot. When I was would send an 0 it always showed a 1 so surfing the web, not really sure what I was
14 years old, I built a mechanical when the CPC was sending 1 it showed 2 looking for, I then came across a page on
arm using some tape player motors and so on, that was so annoying! the CPC WIKI with a schematic and some
and a screw and bolt mechanism to This last version has 8 leds showing the pictures of a commercial turtle robot sold
make it move. It used 3 motors (a 4th outcoming data from the CPC. It has some for the CPC by a German company called
motor was added since I wanted the ‘pnp’ and ‘npn’ power transistors, so it is Fischertechnik Computing in the 1980’s.
wrist rotation). Each motor rotated possible to make 2 H bridges, that is a sort You can learn more here at this link:
the "screw" (it was trimmed off a of electronic commutator that can switch
tuning circuit from an old tv). Each polarity to a DC motor so it can turn either tinyurl.com/cpcturtle
screw had a bolt going back or forth clockwise or counter clockwise. It turned (cpc wiki-Fischertechnik Computing
as the motor turned clockwise or out to be very useful in my CPC Turtle Experimental)
counter clockwise. I built the "hand Project.
using 3 pieces of metal and rubber
pipe from a car that would have been
used to connect a gasoline tank to
the carburetor, because it is made of
soft rubber. The frame was made of
aluminium (parts off an old window).
Parts can be anywhere you just need
to look around!

Then my father bought me an Amstrad CPC

464 so I dreamed of connecting that robotic
arm to the CPC but back then I didn't
know how to use the parallel port or how
it worked. Nowadays I am much older and
wiser (I hope) and have been doing some
tinkering.

For motors to be controlled by a

That is how Leone's robotic arm worked, moving clockwise or
microprocessor, it's not a new thing and counter clockwise.
I could not see why my ‘Arnold’ (Amstrad
CPC) could not do that, but it would need
some type of interface I thought, unless
using an H bridge for each motor, but
then you would need to keep track of the
movements by using a switch for example.
With H bridges you can set which motor
you want to move and the direction for 3
motors, or maybe 4 (not exactly sure) using
the parallel port on the CPC. After some
experimenting I decided to make a power
transistor board that can drive electric
motors or stepper motors, and this board is
controlled by the Amstrad CPC 464 itself.

This board is the remake of an earlier

version, that one had seven display
segments to show the value in decimal of Fischertechnik Computing Turtle from the 1980’s inspired Leone to
the first 4 bits from the printer port. build his very own Amstrad CPC Robotic Turtle.

59 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 DIY Hardware

° 1 mode 1
10 ink 0,0: ink 1,11: paper 0:pen 1:cls:border 0
290' ************Turtle***********
300 read order$,dist °
20 for n=1 to 4 310 if order$="END" then c=0:out &EF00,0:restore 600
30 read command$(n),value(n) 320 if order$="IDLE" then out &EF00,0: sound 1,300,5,7:for
40 next pa=1 to 1000:next:sound 1,500,5,7
50 locate 1,20:? chr$(7)+"Select [L]=lights or [T]=turtle 330 for n=1 to 4
60 A$=lower$(inkey$) 340 if order$=command$(n) then output=value(n):locate
70 if a$="" then goto 60 1,3:?command$(n)
80 if a$="t" then goto 200 350 next
90 if a$="l" then goto 300 360 if dist=0 then dist=1
100 goto 60 370 for r=1 to 6*dist
380 out &EF00,output
150' ************Lights********** 390 for pa=1 to 100:next
200 for n=1 to 14 400 out&EF00,0
210 if n<8 then p=p^n else p=p/2 410 for s=1 to 40:next
220 out &EF00,p 420 next
230 for pa=1 to 100: next 415 a$=lower$(inkey$)
240 next 418 if a$="m" then goto 50
250 a$=lower$(inkey$) 430 goto 300
260 if a$="t" then goto 300 450
270 goto 200 500 data FORWARD,165,RIGHT,150,LEFT,105,BACK,90
280' 510'
520' *****YOUR COMMANDS FOR THE TURTLE****
530'
600 data FORWARD,4,LEFT,2,FORWARD,4,RIGHT,6,
IDLE,,RIGHT,3,END,

My Amstrad CPC Turtle was built using some Meccano parts, the
wheels are made of plastic, the rear wheel is a pivoting one so it can
follow the two driving wheels, I used a wire 2 meters long as the
robot needs power from a power supply, I didn't use the CPC power
supply but a 12V power supply capable of a few amps in order to
give enough power to the motors. In the near future I will make it so
I can connect the CPC to the robot via a radio remote control.

I had to make a program in Amstrad CPC BASIC to make my turtle

move. Check the code at the top.
The keys to operate my Amstrad CPC turtle:
T = Select the turtle.
L = Select the lights program (the knight rider effect on 8 leds on
the expansion board).
M= Key to get back to the beginning of the program at the turtle.

The orders for the turtle and all data on data lines must be
uppercase otherways the program won't work. Remember to leave a
comma for those commands that does not require a distance as end
or idle. The motors on my robot are driven on a sort of pwm mode
This is my turtle that I created, just a couple of DC
to slow them down that’s why they are turned on and off from a
motors controlled by the Amstrad CPC through
specific part of the program.
the interface. Each motor moves one side of the
robot and a pivoting wheel in the back follow those
movements.

This little turtle robot from Fischertechnik Computing had appeared

to be connected to the Amstrad CPC's printer port allowing it to
move forwards, backwards, left or right. So I thought I could make
one myself, I studied the schematics and made the power
transistor board, the turtle itself had 2 DC motors one on each side,
this makes it easier to control the direction you want the turtle to
move.
° °°
60
 Hardware

.:::Get ready for Mega65:::. by Paul Gardener-Stephen

@ MEGA65Retro

Foreword by David Simmons present at the demo scene party where do I buy it? When will it be
called Syntax 2019 (Melbourne). mass-produced? Is that a real C65?

R ecently, Paul (mastermind

behind the MEGA65 project)
came to Sydney for a seminar.
At the event, the Mega65 was
set-up. Sitting beside it was a spare
So many questions!

But you probably have some

He brought with him his Mega65 laptop with the PDF of the user questions too right? What is a
prototype (serial 0000004). guide at hand (around 450 pages Mega65 anyway? What can it do?
I met him at the Sydney of very useful information). The Does it slice bread?
University and we had a dilemma: idea was to encourage people to
no VGA monitor! We could use sit down and have a play, get some
the HDMI upscaler to get the "hands on" and try do something!
Mega65 running on a screen, but And play they did. The machine was Enter: Paul Gardener-Stephen, the
we really wanted to use the VGA. surrounded the entire weekend creator and main drive behind the
We asked one of the workers at with passers-by who just wanted to project. I asked Paul to present
the University and she led us to a have a quick look and then those some high-level detail to tease this
large room. Okay, here we go... guys who wanted to really get into beast of a machine for your delight.
it (playing with the menu, making
So, we got the Mega65 plugged in some basic programs and running
and we powered on. BOOM! All of
a sudden, scrolling down from 8
various software available on
the SD card. People were asking: Ü
different sides, was an octagonal
cinema experience in a room that
looked like something from the
United Nations. The Mega65 was
projected on 8 cinema screens!
“Yes, we thought, this should do" :)

Paul personally demonstrated the

Mega65 as well as the portable
version called the Mega Phone.
Wow, this machine certainly
has everything I need. I can
switch between PAL and NTSC
modes, switch joystick ports via
software, expand the existing
text mode resolution (allowing
for some significant gains in pixel
exploratory). This thing was so
customisable; it is simply the thing
C64 enthusiasts are going to love.
By nature, we explore, push, hack
and move outside of any constraint
- the Mega65 has been designed
with this in mind. So, saying our
goodbyes at the airport, the
machine was entrusted to me to

61 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Hardware

MEGA65
The MEGA65 has its origins in an
idea I had back around 1996 to
make a C64 accelerator. I'd realised
that on the C64 (but not C128), it
is possible to pull the R/W line low
on the cartridge port whenever the
VIC-II is reading from RAM. Then the
accelerator on the cartridge port
could just feed the updated byte for
that location of RAM to the VIC-
II, while simultaneously updating
the byte of RAM. This would avoid
the need to pause the fast CPU
when writing to memory (with the
exception of IO registers, including
colour RAM).

My original plan was to just use

a fast 6502-compatible CPU and
implement the logic for this hack.
But then as I did my PhD I discovered
FPGAs and VHDL, and decided
that it was best implemented in an
FPGA. The trouble was that at the
time, FPGAs were still too small and
expensive (this was around when
the C-One was made, which also
suffered from the same problem). So
I bided my time until FPGAs became
big and fast enough for what I
wanted, and the prices came down
to something more reasonable.
But by that time, I had decided to
re-implement the C65, instead of
making a C64 accelerator. This was
because I used to own a C65, but had
sold it in the meantime to fund some
humanitarian work, as I figured I The MEGA65 is probably best such as 6502 illegal opcode mode
didn't have the facilities to look after thought of as both a recreation of (C65 CPU didn't support them, as all
it safely into the future. That was the C65, and an attempt to make opcodes are allocated), integrated
around 2014 or so. a next-generation of the C64/C65, 1541 in the FPGA, lots of VIC-IV
that fixed what I saw as some of the timing fixes etc. We have working
The time since then has been a short-comings in the C65, as well motherboards, beautiful mechanical
case of working on the MEGA65, as implementing a fast accelerator, keyboards and designs for the case.
sometimes slowly, sometimes since that was still always floating We have even built 25 pre-series
quickly, based on my free time. For around in my head. The main goals machines with the cases produced
the first couple of years, it was just were improving C64 compatibility accurately, but expensively. What we
myself working on it. But then the (which was quite bad on the C65, mostly need now to enable release
M.E.G.A. Museum of Electronic due to the RMW "bug" that stopped is to get injection moulding tools
Games and Art in Germany saw DEC $D019 etc. from clearing raster made, so that we can produce the
what I was doing, and since then, interrupts), and supporting SD card cases cheaply enough. This is a big
it has been a joint project. Without storage, Ethernet and VGA output. challenge, as the tooling could cost
their input, the MEGA65 would just up to around 65,000 Euros (about
run on an FPGA board, without the We are now at the point where the $106,000 Aussie dollars at the time
beautiful custom keyboard, case or overall architecture is more or less of writing).
motherboard. finished, but with lots of fine-tuning
and finishing off of various features,

62
 Hardware

We are actively trying to find ways

to raise the necessary funds. What
we are not planning to do, is run a
Kickstarter-style campaign, as this
requires a HUGE amount of time and
effort over several months, and as
a volunteer project, we just don't
have the resources to do this. We
have already raised about 10% of the
required amount, and are hopeful
to raise the remainder over coming
months.

In the meantime we are busy

working on fixing the remaining
major bug list, with things like
keyboard problems at 40MHz, VGA/
HDMI video output problems, 1541
and illegal opcode problems etc.
In the end, the feature list will be
something like:

- 40MHz 45GS02, dual-mode

6502/4510 CPU.
- VIC-IV Next-Generation video
controller with 720x576p50 /
720x480p60 output, 15-colour
sprites, 256-colour text mode VIC-
II/III compatibility.
- Stereo SIDs (possibly 4 or 8 in the
final release) plus stereo 16-bit
digital audio channels.
- Super-fast 100mbit Ethernet
controller.
- Built-in Freeze Cartridge.
- 384KB RAM. every video controller should. Also, MEGA65 will finally be finished and
- SD card controller with C65- there isn't enough RAM to have a ready for release, we feel that we
compatible 3.5" floppy controller full screen at the highest resolution are very much on the home-run now.
support. and colour combination. We want Even before we can get the injection
- Working 3.5" floppy drive. to keep enough challenges that the moulding tooling done, we are
machine remains fun to program, as looking at ways to release Dev Kits,
And lots more... well as also feeling familiar enough. with a crude case.
Everyone who has actually handled
One of the key things with the one of the pre-series is impressed In short, it's been a long slog since
MEGA65, is that we are making it all with how authentic the machine we started, but we are getting
open-source, so that the community feels, and how much fun it is to tantalisingly close to being able to
can sustain the ability to make C64- probe the new features, as well as to release the machine, complete with
compatible computers long after the run old software. printed user guide and packaging,
last original chips die. so that we can re-create the feeling
So we hope that we have found a of Christmas 1985, and hopefully
Also, while we have increased various good balance of enhancement and stimulate the scene for coming years
characteristics of the MEGA65 versus retaining limits where they should and decades.
the C65 and C64, we have tried very be. It's really important to us, that
hard to keep the 8-bit C64 feel to the we have this balance right. For more information, visit:
machine. So there is no frame-buffer,
and the video is still generated in So, while we have been bitten in the mega65.org Û
real-time racing the raster gun, like past when trying to predict when the

63 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Hardware

Welcome to the Next Level: by Eugene Myers

A Look at the Sega Genesis Mini @ecmyers

T he Sega Genesis Mini is

an adorable, diminutive
time machine. Fueled by sheer
their name, and it shows. Sega may once
again be following Nintendo’s lead, but
they have also taken it a step further.
And yet, I find the Genesis Mini utterly
charming because of the slavish
commitment of its developers to recreating
nostalgia (and a micro USB cable it, both outside and inside.
delivering 5V/1A of power), ::SPECS
this slim, portable console can While AtGames’ earlier attempts at
transport players to the halcyon At 9.8 inches wide and 3.9 inches tall, and emulating Genesis games were lacklustre,
days of the 1990s, reviving weighing under 2 pounds, the Genesis Mini Sega entrusted the Genesis Mini to M2,
bright memories of Saturday is a half-sized replica (55%) of the original developers famous for going above and
morning cartoons and sugary Genesis, known as the model 1 Genesis. beyond in both emulating and often
breakfast cereal, or creating While this is similar to the approach enhancing classic games for modern
new memories with some of the Nintendo took with their own mini audiences to fine-tune the 22 games
most beloved video games ever consoles, and they all seem to be at roughly included, which vary by region but feature
made. The “blast processing” the same scale side by side on the shelf, many of the heavy hitters you’d expect to
might be emulated in this modern the Genesis Mini scores extra points for see, including Altered Beast, Sonic the
rendition of the classic 16-bit having a functional cartridge slot door and Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, Earthworm
game system, but the experience volume slider, small touches that complete Jim, and Golden Axe. There are also a few
is genuine. the package. As I grew up a “Nintendo kid” unexpected gems that piqued the interest
(most kids of that generation were either of even the most jaded Sega fans and
::OVERVIEW Nintendo or Genesis players, which was collectors, like the rarely re released
determined by the whims of fate, their Castlevania: Bloodlines, Mega Man: The
Released on September 19, 2019, more parents, and budgets) this is actually my Wily Wars, Tetris, and a brand-new port
than 30 years after the original Sega very first Genesis. This toy has no nostalgic of the arcade classic Darius.
Genesis, the Genesis Mini is not only among hold over me, and in fact I only briefly
the latest entries in the retro gaming owned a Super NES back in the day myself,
arms race, but also, perhaps, the best yet. so my heart lies in the 8-bit generation.
In a microcosmic historic recreation of
the fabled “Console Wars,” Sega is taking
advantage of a market revitalized by their
once and future rival Nintendo. The high-
demand, low-supply NES Classic Edition
that dominated the 2016 holiday season,
followed by last year’s Super NES Classic
Edition, raised the profile for these mini
consoles, as well as the bar for what a good
one should look like.

Although Sega had been churning

out similar plug ‘n play devices for
years through their partnership with
manufacturer AtGames, those Sega
Genesis Flashback consoles were
notorious for poor quality, particularly in
reproducing Genesis audio. Sega has done
as much as they can to distance the Genesis
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini has excellent navigation of menus as well as
Mini from those previous blemishes on
save state functions all at the touch of a button from your game pad.

64
 Hardware

::GAMES & PERFORMANCE

The lineup is a major selling point for those

interested in actually playing the Genesis
Mini and not simply collecting it, including
me. The Genesis was always a gaping hole
in my gaming background, and as I’ve dived
back into the retro game hobby and learned
about some of Sega’s most popular games,
I’ve been interested in playing them myself.

Short of making a large financial

investment in hardware and cartridges,
that left me with the Sega Genesis Classics
collections, emulation on a Raspberry Pi,
or the aforementioned AtGames consoles,
none of which quite hit the mark in
delivering the legitimacy and authenticity I
wanted. So I was excited by the promise of
the Genesis Mini as the perfect entry point the package to the next level: By changing Heroes, Thunder Force 3, Streets of Rage
to this era of gaming, and for the most part the system language, you also unlock 2, and Strider. I played Castle of Illusion
it is everything I had hoped it would be, and international versions of the games. For back-to-back on a Retropie and the Genesis
a little bit more. example, when you select Japanese, the Mini, and the Genesis Mini seemed to have
box for Castlevania: Bloodlines changes to less input lag on the same TV. The music
There are many ways to play Genesis the Mega Drive artwork, and you can now and effects sounded good with no glaring
games, but this is certainly the easiest, in play Akumajou Dracula (Vampire Killer), problems, except for a slight sound delay
the most attractive and fun package. You which is slightly easier than the North which you may or may not notice. In fact,
just plug in the HDMI cable, the micro American release. My only nitpick with the the only game in which the delay was
USB power cord, and one of the two interface is that when navigating these obvious and slightly distracting was Strider,
included controllers, and you’re ready to screens, the controller is a bit too sensitive, most noticeably the clang of Hiro’s sword
play, though you may want to switch your so you’ll sometimes overshoot the game sounding after it swings but that game
TV to Game Mode, if that’s an option, to you want; fortunately, this oversensitivity has other issues that have nothing to do
minimize input latency (the time it takes for doesn’t affect gameplay at all. with the Genesis Mini. M2 has a solid track
the button pressed on your controller to record for accurately emulating classic
register as an action in the game). You will So how do the games play? Generally very video games, and while it seems this may
be greeted by a colorful screen filled with well. Although I’ve never played the games not be their best work, it is far superior
game box art, accompanied by cheerful and on original hardware, so I lack a point to the alternatives from AtGames (which
infectious background music arranged by of comparison, I detected no issues or continue to glut the market) and should
the legendary video game composer Yuzo glitches in the handful of games I’ve played satisfy all but hardcore Genesis purists, who
Koshiro, a veteran of numerous Sega at length so far, which cover a range of are more likely to opt for an Analogue SG,
games. genres: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey which costs four times the price.
Mouse, Sonic Spinball, Strider, Gunstar
The menu is extremely snappy and intuitive,
allowing you to sort games alphabetically,
by release date, by genre, or by number of
players. Game boxes are laid out in a grid,
two rows, six games across, but you can
switch to viewing them all spines out, so
you can see all 42 games on screen at once.
You also have two optional wallpapers
for games, can change the aspect ratio
to widescreen from its default of 4:3, and
can even add scanlines to simulate an
old-school CRT. Some criticize the scanline
filter for making games too dark, but I quite
like it; I find many games seem too bright
on an LCD television anyway, and I prefer
scanlines to naked, sharp pixels. Finally, the
Genesis Mini has an option that really takes Two controller / gamepads included with your Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini
for fun two player action.

65 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Hardware
Sega Genesis Mini

::CONTROLLERS by an appreciative player with a fond

memory or an open mind. And whether
Finally, there are the controllers. The North you grew up a Nintendo kid or a Sega kid,
American and European markets received if you’re looking to play Genesis games
pack-in replicas of the three-button today in high definition, at $79.99 MSRP
controllers that launched with the original (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price),
Genesis, while Japan Mega Drive Minis were the Genesis Mini offers a solid way to do
released with the six-button controllers so with minimal fuss or expense.
that came with the Model 2 Genesis.
This region distinction is perhaps the PROS P
most divisive feature of the Genesis Mini;
however, the only game that benefits from • Officially licensed by Sega.
a six-button controller is Street Fighter 2:
Special Championship Edition, and officially • Excellent emulation by M2.
licensed six-button controllers from Retro-
Bit are sold separately. As someone used • Two great USB controllers included.
to playing 8-Bit NES games on the famously
small, rectangular controllers, the Genesis • Great value with 22 games for just under $80, including some that are
controllers felt a bit too large and clunky in rare or were never before released.
my hands, somehow more toy like with the
gigantic buttons and DPad. CONS O

But after playing a few games, it began to • There’s a roughly 11-frame sound delay (according to Game Sack and
feel more natural and much more pleasant DF Retro), which is very noticeable in some games.
than I expected, and they helped provide
the complete, authentic experience I was • Three-button controller included instead of the six-button.
looking for. I imagine they will feel even
more right to those who grew up holding • Controller’s cords are longer than SNES Mini, but still too short for
these controllers. Here, too, Sega has modern living rooms.
one-upped Nintendo, as holding down the
Start button on the controller launches the • There are no rubber feet on bottom of console, and since it’s very
in-game menu for save states, whereas out light, it slides around easily.
of the box, Nintendo’s NES and SNES mini
consoles require you to press the Reset
button on the console itself. All that said,
most of the time I use a Bluetooth 8Bitdo
NES30 controller, which works very well
with the Genesis Mini once you configure
the USB dongle to work with it.

::CONCLUSION

When you pick up the console you might

be surprised at how light and empty it
feels; it’s practically an empty plastic shell.
Thinking back to the “Sega does what
Nintend don’t” days, there never was
much to Sega’s famed blast processing
either, it was just a marketing gimmick.
There have been three official iterations
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini really is mini in size but packs a huge amount
of the Genesis in North America, each with
of grunt and a large built in software catalogue.
their own graphical and audio nuances,
and with varying controller designs, but
the games themselves remained fun to
play across all of them and they’re still OVERALL

J 8/10
fun now. The hardware is only one part of
the equation, which can only be balanced

66
 Blast from the past

Halls of the Things ZX Spectrum 1983 score: 72%

Developer: Design Design

This is a fantasy arcade adventure game, with a ridiculous Reviewed by John Davies
number of playing keys, where you must find seven rings held
in the top seven maze-like levels of a tower, and a key in the
bottom dungeon level to escape.

You have a number of weapons to kill the things that inhabit the
tower. You can use magic to throw guided fireballs or bouncing
lightning bolts. Magic weapons will only fire if a thing is in your
line of sight. You can fire arrows at any time and you also have a
sword. Potions can be collected to refill your magic. You score
points for killing things and recovering the rings.

But beware, some things are very fast and they will attack you on
sight. They also possess the same weapons as you do. They can
collect potions and open doors just like you can and sometimes
even disguise themselves as treasure.

They are genuinely scary and cause panic every time they appear.
The nineteen keyboard controls have a bit of an odd layout. But
you can get away with using half of them. Graphics are functional
and sometimes amusing. Sound is non-existent. I enjoy playing this
game despite its many flaws because it has immense character
and a sense of being there when you play it. However, it is a bit
disappointing that what could have been a truly amazing game
is watered down to be only quite good, due to the poor control
layout, sheer number of controls and the lack of any audio.

Bionic Commando C64 1988 score: 92%

Developer: Software Creations / Go!

Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro

Whether the result of inexperienced programmers, or simply
asking too much from the limited hardware, the Commodore
64 has its fair share of abysmal arcade conversions. Follin is perhaps one of the few composers to rival legendary SID
composer Rob Hubbard in terms of technical and artistic expertise,
There are two versions of Bionic Commando for the Commodore and his compositions for Bionic Commando are among the best to
64. There's the US conversion, handled by Pacific Dataworks, which grace the C64.
is a complete travesty and one of the worst games in the C64
library. And then there's Software Creations' European conversion,
put together by programmer Stephen Ruddy and artist Andrew
Threlfall. In stark contrast, the EU version by Capcom is one of the
C64's finest run-and-gun arcade classics.

Not only did they manage to cram in all of the original levels,
enemies and content from the arcade, the game just feels right.
The iconic rope-swinging action, climbing and grappling mechanics
are implemented remarkably well, and the game runs at a decent
lick too, arguably better than Software Creations own (lacklustre)
Amiga conversion!

Sure, there are a couple of bugs with scenery collision in places,

but it’s shining example of an arcade conversion done right.

A special mention must go to composer Tim Follin’s incredible

music, which expands on the original arcade tunes to a
considerable extent.

67 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Blast from the past

Shadow of the beast C64 1990 score: 80%

Developer: DMA Design

Often regarded as one of the Amiga’s “killer apps”, the Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
gaming world was left aghast when Reflections unleashed its
technical tour de force on the gaming world in 1989.

DMA Design was given the unenviable task of porting the game
to the technically inferior, yet still-popular C64, and despite
appearing something of a fool’s errand, the Scotland-based
developer defied the odds to create something rather special.
Coder Richard Swinfen was able to reproduce much of the parallax
scrolling that had made its 16-bit cousin so revolutionary, and the
fidelity of Steve Hammond’s artwork, particularly the oversized
boss sprites - is genuinely impressive.

The devs also took the opportunity to tweak some of the

gameplay mechanics, boosting the player’s life energy from a
miserly 12 hit points to a more acceptable 25. A more liberal
distribution of restorative health potions throughout the game’s
various levels also helps to dull the pain of the game’s overbearing
difficulty, resulting in something that gamers actually had a
chance of completing!

The decision to release the game exclusively on cartridge also

played a significant role in the game’s success, providing near-
instantaneous loading times and easier data access. For C64
owners with pockets deep enough to afford the exorbitant £19.99
price tag (£45 after inflation), the game provided a brief glimpse
into a world long enjoyed by console owners.

Trashman ZX Spectrum 1984

Developer: Malcolm Evans score: 94%
The life of a dustman (aka Trashman), may not be as boring Reviewed by: John Davies
as you think. You've got dogs, usually reserved for posties,
biting your legs, cyclists on the pavements, people getting
tipsy after a visit to the pub whilst on the job, and being run
over by vehicles that are quite frankly ignoring the speed
limits for a built-up area.

Your job is to empty each street's bins before you run out of
time. You gain time by chatting to the homeowners after you
return their empties. Walking on grass loses time quicker and
homeowners ignore you. If you get crippled by a dog bite or a
cyclist you move even slower. The same can be said when you're
carrying a full dustbin on your back. This is back in the 80s where
there were no automated emptying machines on the back of the
dustcart.

The graphics of the houses and gardens are nicely detailed and the
'45 degree angle looking straight on' type of viewpoint works very
well. Audio is limited to the odd spot effect, although there's quite
a loud, startling noise when you're hit by a car.

It takes game design and programming genius to turn this

occupation into a fun video game. I believe the sequel didn't do so
well because it was not close enough to being an actual job.

Trashman is one of those games that you grow to love more as you
play it. I still play it now, 35 years later.

68
 Back to the Future

Kat Trap Amstrad CPC 1987 score: 79%

Developer: Jonathan Eggleton and Design Design

O ne cannot review Kat Trap without mentioning it was

the winning entry to issue 29 of Crash Magazine’s,
'Genesis: Birth of a game’ competition in 1986. Out of the
Reviewed by: George Spyropoulos

4000 entries received, a 14 year old, Jonathan Eggleton won

the Grand Prize of the game idea contest, receiving £1,000
in prize money, plus a 10 % royalty of games sold, a trip to
Crash Magazine HQ and visits to Domark HQ and discussion
sessions with the game coding team creating his game.

Design Design developed the game for all home computers and
released it through Domark's new label at the time, Streetwise.
The fictional story is set in the Future - the 24th Century to be
exact. However, two hundred years earlier humans abandoned
an uninhabitable Earth as a result of Solar Explosions. When they
return, to their surprise they not only find the Earth habitable
once more but inhabited and taken over by Cat Men. Humans send
in their MTED (Mulit Terrain Exploration Droid), a type of hard
armoured, egg shaped robot, with multiple weapon capabilities
to go behind the defence lines of the Cat Men, reach their main
battle computer and blast it to oblivion!

The beauty of Kat Trap is it is a unique portrayal of Jonathan

Eggleton’s imagination and ideas, coming to life more vibrantly
on the Amstrad CPC than on other versions of the game. Design
Design created a fantastic linear horizontal left to right scrolling
shoot ‘em up, boasting atmospheric background screens with
a delightful use of colours through a variety of different game
zones. While only four colours would normally be used in the
Amstrad CPC Mode 1, with the use of rasters, 8 different colours
were used in the CPC game, giving this version much more
sharpness and greater graphical detail of each of the environments base and completion of the game largely depends on the random
- its retro look still holding up quite well today. appearance of the enemies, remaining lives and the ammo left
available! It also has a bug where if you perform a jump incorrectly
Movement of the MTED is determined by each screen. The you get stuck.
MTED can move along quite speedily on flat surfaces or it may
be required to jump over obstacles and enemies. How does a Amstrad Action gave it a 'Rave' review, scoring it at 83% (AA
hard armoured MTED robot jump? Like a robot should - quite #17). Personally, I think it's a really fun and enjoyable game, if you
awkwardly - it is quite retro charming in its own way. Each enemy love shoot ‘em ups and blasting away at lots of enemies you will
sprite is original for each section of the game with the Cat Men love this game, but I would have given it a higher score if it was
appearing at almost every location. To defeat each enemy requires properly designed with enough ammo on the way back to the base
a certain type of weapon. For example a laser will kill off the to complete the game. A tip when playing: When in zones with Cat
white fish while a spear will kill off the angry black dog-like fish. Men, release your weapons bullets fire from the previous screen,
Some weapons can be used for multiple enemies too. There are six this way they will vanish, having no time to shoot at you!
different weapons plus grenades to collect to provide your MTED
with the necessary firepower to eradicate all of the enemies, but
be careful, because the ammo and lives are not infinite.

Kat Trap has a wonderful array of enemy sprites. The amount by

today’s standards is not huge but for the time this would have
been considered to be quite high. Each enemy character drawn fits
the style of the game, and their animation and movement has been
executed with great care. The game is considerably beatable up to
the point to reach the main battle computer of the Cat Men, where
you are required to deactivate the Death Grid by shorting fifteen
electrical pulses within a minute and thus destroy it!

With Kat Trap there is always something different on each location

like getting your timing right when moving through the ‘Scrap
Crusher’ machines or trying to navigate those dreaded rolling
boulders in the ‘Ruined City’. However the successful return to

69 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Blast from the past

Stonkers ZX Spectrum 1983 score: 82%

Developer: John Gibson / Imagine

Stonkers, by John Gibson, is one of the first RTS war games Reviewed by: John Davies
for the Spectrum, released in 1983, by Imagine.

You issue commands to your units and then watch them forge
ahead, across variable terrain, towards the computer-controlled
enemy. Units include infantry (men), artillery (cannons), armour
(tanks) and supplies (trucks). There is also a supply ship which
transits back and forth to your docks where you receive four more
supply units when the ship arrives. There are various stats for each
unit, supply, combat and mobility which show their strengths and
weaknesses.

You use a point, cursor drag and click (fire) method to move your
units. Fire also zooms in and out of the map. Terrain affect your
unit's movement. Water kills your units. Fog of war is used so the
enemy are only visible when close. Units must be re-supplied with
trucks.

Units can die through combat or lack of supplies. Victory is

achieved by occupying the enemy base or destroying all its units.

Graphics are quite colourful for the map and units are identifiable.
Sometimes there's a bit of colour clash, especially when units die
as a skull is left behind and doesn't disappear for a while. Sound is
limited to a zapping sound when you finish moving a unit and the
ticker tape ticking. I really enjoyed this back in the day. There was
nothing else like it and it was my introduction to RTS games.

Kwik Snax C64 1990 score: 88%

Developer: Jason Benham / Codemasters

Dizzy, the Oliver Twins’ boxing glove-wearing egg, had Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
become something of an unofficial mascot for 80s home
micros, and it wasn’t long before the Oliver Twins and the UK
publisher Codemasters began using the character for games
beyond the ovoid’s puzzle-solving adventures.

One such title would be Kwik Snax, a pick-up-and-play arcade

game for the ZX Spectrum, where players must grab bonus items
and crush enemies with sliding blocks. The addictive gameplay
and colourful visuals drew praise from magazines at the time, so it
would seem logical that the game’s inevitable ports should follow
suit.

Or so one would think! The C64 version bears no resemblance

to the other versions, with programmer Jason Benham creating
something closer in style to Pac-Man than Pengo, albeit one
where the pellets grow legs and take on a life of their own!

Set over 20 rounds, Dizzy must round up and rescue ‘Fluffles’ from
a series of mazes, all the while outwitting hungry enemies looking
to turn him into an impromptu omelette.

Fortunately, the bad guys can be zapped with a range of bombs,

fireballs and mallets (which is awfully satisfying), and the
combination of addictive gameplay and catchy SID rendition of
Joplin’s The Ragtime Dance make this something of a hidden gem
that C64 fans are sure to enjoy.

70
 Back to the Future

Usagi Yojimbo C64 1988 score: 95%

Developer: Beam Software / Firebird
Based on the Dark Horse comic-book character created by Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
Stan Sakai, Beam Software set out to create one of the most
ambitious games yet devised for the C64.
have looked like, the end result is still one of the most engrossing
Players would take control of Miyamoto Usagi, embarking on a action-adventure games seen on the C64, offering players a sense
journey that would see the rabbit ronin traversing the countryside of exploration and discovery in a world that, even today, still feels
and prefectures of feudal Japan in search of Lord Noriyuki’s remarkably alive.
kidnappers.

With an ambitious script by Paul Kidd, the original design for the
game would include multiple branching paths through the story,
a diverse cast of characters to interact with, not to mention a
combat system featuring multiple attack moves and stances.

This would all be underpinned by the ‘Karma’ system, a gameplay

mechanic that would award points to the player for performing
‘good’ actions, whilst subtracting points for engaging in
dishonourable behaviour. Players who forget to respect their
betters, or those who get a little too overzealous with their swords
will find themselves completely without honour, and Usagi is
forced to commit ritual seppuku in particularly grisly fashion.

Sadly, the limited hardware resources of the C64 and cassette-

based storage meant that much of the game’s content - and script
- would end up on the cutting room floor.

Although we can only wonder at what the original design might

Taito Chase HQ SMS/GAME GEAR 1991 score: 84%

Developer: Taito
Released into the arcades in 1988, Taito Corporation’s Chase Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
H.Q. was one of the most popular driving games, offering
the kind of high-octane thrills that only the coin-op could
provide. When it comes to choosing between the Master System and Game
Gear versions, the latter is the better of the two. The Master
Inspired by hit 80s cop show Miami Vice, players must put pedal System is optimised for PAL regions and is limited to a 50 Hz
to the metal and use their souped-up pursuit vehicle to hunt down refresh (and doesn’t work particularly well with NTSC hardware),
nefarious criminals, then batter them into submission until they whereas the Game Gear runs at 60 Hz, offering a smoother
eventually pull over. experience overall, as well as improved UI graphics.

The original arcade version of the game featured impressive sprite

scaling and a rock-solid 60 Hz refresh rate, with Taito’s Z hardware
platform delivering a frenetic racing experience every bit as
exhilarating as Sega’s OutRun.

The prospect of trying to distil a game designed for powerful,

custom arcade hardware onto 16-bit gaming consoles proved
difficult enough, so trying to create something that could run on
Sega’s ageing 8-bit consoles was a pretty big ask.

Surprisingly, Taito did a remarkably fine job. Their conversion

retained the core game mechanics from the arcade, and featured
a fast and fluid rolling road routine, with chunky- yet- detailed
graphics and responsive controls. There’s even an auto-part store
that allows players to upgrade their vehicle with extra turbos, a
reinforced bumper, or even a supercharger that helps close the
gap with those petrol-head perps even quicker.

71 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Blast from the past

Street Hassle C64 1987 score: 80%

Developer: Beam Soaftware / Melbourne House

If there’s a game in the C64’s vast library that refuses to take Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
itself seriously, it’s Street Hassle.

Developed by Beam Software (Way of the Exploding Fist), the

game thumbs its nose at political correctness, and tweaks its ears,
before putting it down with a skull-crushing headbutt.

Resplendent in his golden battle shorts and knee-high boots,

our hero takes to the streets to dispense urban justice to the
ne’er-do-wells, punks and general undesirables he encounters on
the sidewalk. The game is an unashamed cornucopia of cartoon
violence, and it’s all the better for it!

The cast of characters you’ll face on your adventures are surreal,

to say the least, including stick-wielding geriatrics, bulldogs,
and even handbag-wielding old ladies. Everything and everyone
becomes a target in your war on suburban life, and regular scuffles
with the game’s escaped gorillas are just downright bizarre!

While much of the game’s enjoyment comes from the roster of silly
fighting moves, much of the game’s humour and personality comes
from artist Russel Comte’s trademark visual style.

The oversized cartoon sprites give the game a genuinely unique

look, which sets it apart from most other C64 releases.

Ghostbusters C64 1984 score: 90%

Developer: David Crane / Activision

It is one of the greatest movies of all time, and one of the Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
greatest video games of all time. David Crane took Ivan
Reitman's action comedy and produced one of the 8-bit
generation’s most defining tie-ins.

With precious little time to develop something from scratch,

Crane re-purposed aspects from Car Wars, a game already in
development, adding the business management and ghost-
trapping mechanics to the pre-existing driving elements. The end
result is a simple yet brilliantly conceived mash-up of business
management and arcade gaming genres, with players operating
their very own Ghostbusters franchise.

Having equipped your car and stocked up on ghost traps, players

must earn as much cash as possible by busting the various spooks
and slimers haunting the residences and businesses of New York
City, all whilst keeping a watchful eye on the Big Apple’s ever-
increasing PKE level; let the levels get too high, and you’ll be
receiving a visit from Gozer the Gozerian before you know it!

Detractors might criticise the game for being repetitive, but

there’s something oddly compelling about the cycle of zapping
ghosts and boosting your bank account. Gameplay sessions
typically last between 30 to 45 minutes, and the arrival of the Stay
Puft Marshmallow man in the later stages is enough to keep you
on your toes. Reach the end of the game, and you’ll be rewarded
with a pass-code that allows you to carry over earnings to a new
game session, leading to a swankier car and better equipment.

72
 Back to the Future

Dragon Crystal SMS/GAME GEAR 1990 score: 87%

Developer: Sega
Although RPGs have been a cornerstone of gaming since I Reviewed by: Alec Foster. Twitter @Al82_Retro
can remember, video games involving the rolling of dice and
numerous character stats were typically found at home on
PCs and home computers during the late 80s and early 90s,
not consoles.

Games like Sega’s Dragon Crystal would challenge this perception,

introducing a broader section of gamers to the dark delights of
the rogue-like and similar dungeon crawling adventures. It’s a
remarkably refined experience, one that includes sufficient depth,
yet remains both engaging and accessible throughout.

Transported into a parallel dimension, the player must navigate a

series of randomly-generated levels, killing monsters and grabbing
loot along the way. Vanquishing foes reward the player with
experience points, with an increase in strength and life energy
awarded with each new level gained.

Confounding progress is the fact that each level is obscured by

‘fog of war’, with chambers and passageways only being revealed
by exploring the surrounding area. The sense of excitement
upon discovering a room full of treasure is tempered by those
moments where, blinded by greed, you stumble blindly into a band
of marauding slimes and shuriken-hurling ninja! It’s a double-
edged sword of risk-versus-reward that remains truly intoxicating
throughout the whole adventure, and certainly something that
gives the game considerable replay value.

Android 2 ZX Spectrum 1983 score: 91%

Developer: Costa Panayi / Vortex Software

This is the sequel to Android 1, a game by Vortex, which my Reviewed by: John Davies
dad bought me, along with Jetpac, from a computer show
at the Birmingham NEC back in 1983. Little did I know the
course of history and the impact on gaming both developers
would take over the following seven or eight years later.

In this game, you are Android 2. Your mission is to destroy five

'Millitoids’ by shooting their heads in each of three zones before
time runs out and your transporter capsule leaves. Each zone is
a complex wrap around maze viewed at a straight on, 45 degree
angle. As well as the five Millitoids it's filled with hoverdroids who
roam around wherever they want. One blast kills these.

There are also Bouncers which cannot be destroyed but are fairly
predictable in their movements. Finally, and much to your delight,
the zones are filled with landmines. Step on one and you're gone.
It's game over if Android 2 is hit five times or the transporter
leaves.

Graphics are functional, and interesting, with the odd 3D look,

complete with shadows, where things can be hidden by walls. It
doesn't make the game any less playable and is quite unique in
style. Audio consists of the clock work ticking when Android 2
runs, his pinging laser and explosions. Android 2 is an extremely
simple, playable, challenging and well crafted game, and is great
whether you've got 10 minutes or a couple of hours to spare. It
works well either way.

73 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

eEeEe

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 eEeEe

75 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

By: Igor Kromin @TheAtariGamer &

George Bachaelor @cpcgamingdemos

A tari Lynx turned 30 years young

in 2019! Long time Atari Lynx
addictive rearranging face parts tile game
Assembloids in second place (love this
All participants were given the opportunity
to have their game released as one of the
gamer and enthusiast, Aussie lad, game - Ed). Growing Ties came in 3rd place default ROMs on the Lynx SD cartridge.
Igor Kromin has been running the and shooter On Duty rounded out the top The dates of the contest were as follows:
Atari Gamer website (atarigamer. four. Game developers could work alone Game Registration closed on the 20th of
com) for the past two years. In or in teams to submit their entries. Of the July 2019.
that short time he has witnessed a 11 game entries received four were from
very quick rise in popularity of the multiple member teams with the remaining Final submissions closed on the 30th
website and of Atari Lynx gaming seven entries as single person entries. August 2019. All game ROMs were released
so he decided to hold an Atari to the public on the 1st of September
Lynx 30 year game dev contest Developers were allowed to enter 1 game 2019. Competition sponsors judged all
to celebrate this momentous per team / single entrant. Each game had submissions with all rankings and winners
milestone. to be an original not a port of another shown below: Winners were announced
Atari Lynx commercial game. Prizes for at the Mark / Space booth at the Portland
This Atari Gamer Programming Competition the winners included: A Lynx Programmer (U.S.) Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE) in
envisaged homebrew developers would Pi Hat from Atari Gamer (with one being October 2019.
bring a handful of new games to the Atari sponsored by Vince Marchand - thank you
Lynx for its 30th Birthday, instead a total for this generous donation). A Lynx SD
of 11 new Atari Lynx games were received, cartridge from RetroHQ. An AgaCart SD
much better than had been expected. Cartridge from Rafał Jankowski. The next
Shoot ‘em up adventure Lynx Quest two runner ups were awarded an Atari Lynx
took out top honours followed by the console stand from Gaming Displays.

76
 Contests

VOTING RESULTS AND SCORE CHARTS

Igor Kromin Vince Rafal James William Brian Atari Age Forum/Social Final Score Rank
Marchand Jankowski Boulton Thorup Hall Poll
4TTUDE 220 48 220 230 175 220 4 3 192.5 7
Assembloids 350 100 279 280 288 350 46 11 331.5 2
Find a way to
my heart 250 60 126 77 84 252 1 6 148.5 9
Growing Ties 330 66 175 297 306 400 45 10 317.3 3
Lynx Quest 116 232 351 288 168 380 68 9 332.8 1
Nutmeg 300 78 280 198 207 350 20 5 260.5 6
On Duty 340 80 340 78 147 380 66 4 297.5 4
Sky Raider 85 33 133 144 140 279 16 3 154.7 8
The Inside
World 45 57 7 39 30 135 5 1 58.2 10
Undergrounders 16 40 55 26 36 51 4 3 44.3 11
Ynxa 297 203 350 108 240 306 25 8 283.7 5

Lynx Quest 332.83 1

Assembloids 331.50 2
Growing Ties 317.33 3
On Duty 297.50 4
Ynxa 283.67 5
Nutmeg 260.50 6
4TTUDE 192.50 7
Sky Raider 154.67 8
Find a way to my heart 148.50 9
The Inside World 58.17 10
Undergrounders 44.33 11

CONTEST ENTRIES

1st Place Lynx Quest by: 'Laoo' (coding), 'Solo' (coding), 'Miker'
(music/sfx), 'FinalBossBlues' (graphics), 'Uilleag Godwin' (graphics),
'Alcopop' (graphics) and '0x72' (graphics)

Travel through four worlds, fighting enemies and eliminating the final
bosses. Can you find the treasure hidden on this island full of adventure?
This game was submitted as an entry into the Atari Lynx 30th Birthday
Programming Competition.

GFX: 4.5/5 SFX: 3.9/5 Music: 4.2/5 Controls : 4.2/5

Replay Value: 4/5

2nd Place Assembloids by: Martin 'enthusi' Wendt (coding), Oliver

'v3to' Lindau (graphics) and Kamil 'jammer' Wolnikowski (sound)

Assembloids is a fast-paced action puzzler that has seen it released on

other machines such as the C64 and C16 Plus/4 over recent years.
An addictive game of assembling faces by fitting the pieces together.
The more complete a face is, the more points you score. Clear the whole
board for an extra life.

GFX: 4.1/5 SFX: 4.1/5 Music: 4.3/5 Controls: 4.2/5

Replay Value: 4.2/5

77 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests
ATARI LYNX 30 YEARS CELEBRATION

3rd Place Growing Ties by: Dr. Ludos

Patrons want to get custom ties. You'll have to cut them into perfect-sized
ones! Growing Ties is a game requiring both an excellent eye and a good
hand dexterity. Press A to grow a tie. Press B to cut it. The tie will fall down,
and hopefully reach a patron. Be careful to cut right-sized ties! You'll get 10
points for a perfectly fitting tie, but less points if it's too long or too short.
A perfect sized tie matches the height of the patron's shirt exactly. As the
levels go along, you'll discover more mechanics explained in the game:
combo system, modifying tie colors, limited tie supply, limited time, etc.

GFX: 3.6/5 SFX: 3.3/5 Music: 3/5 Controls: 4.3/5

Replay Value: 4.2/5

4th Place ON DUTY by: Martial DAVIAUD (lead and graphics), Karri
KAKSONEN (coding and sounds), Leo KAKSONEN (playability and game
rules) and Walter LAUER (testing)

A freshman straight from the Academy. How cute. Get us some coffee with
doughnuts on your way back from the shooting range. An action packed
shooter, battle your way through fields of enemies, find ammo and power
ups. Make your way to the final boss! Mission objectives are shown on the
mission screen.

GFX: 4/5 SFX: 3.3/5 Music: 2.4/5 Controls: 2.4/5

Replay Value: 3.5/5

5th place YNXA by: Fadest (Frédéric Descharmes)

The goal of the game is to go through the pyramid. Each part of the game
is represented by a hub, which contains doors to levels. Your goal during
the prologue is to gain abilities and powers in order to be able to access
the main part. In the main part, you will have to follow the 8 paths of
perseverance in order to unlock the final level.

GFX: 4.3/5 SFX: 2.6/5 Music: 3.5/5 Controls: 3.2/5

Replay Value: 3.9/5

6th place Nutmeg by: Gisberto Rondinella (coding, design) and

Shahzad Sahaib (team lead, testing, design)

Nutmeg is a side scrolling run ‘n jump game. Rescue your buddies, fight the
evil kidnapper, collect stars, earn powers and avoid enemies at any cost. As
usual, a simple but yet slightly entertaining story. Power ups will make you
climb ropes and jump higher, which can be of advantage in later levels and
fighting the boss.

GFX: 4.3/5 SFX: 3.5/5 Music: 3.9/5 Controls: 3.2/5

Replay Value: 3.6/5

7th place 4Ttude by: Gisberto Rondinella, additional GFX by Marss

3D Tic-Tac-Toe is similar in concept to traditional tic-tac-toe but is played

in a cubical array of cells, usually 4x4x4. Players take turns placing their
markers in blank cells in the array. The first player to achieve four of their
own markers in a row wins. The winning row can be horizontal, vertical, or
diagonal on a single board as in regular tic-tac-toe, or vertically in a column,
or a diagonal line through four boards.

GFX: 3.1/5 SFX: 2.6/5 Music: 2.9/5 Controls: 3.1/5

Replay Value: 2.7/5

78
 Contests
ATARI LYNX 30 YEARS CELEBRATION

8th place Sky Raider by: James Higgs

Can you reach the elite ranking of "Sky Raider?" Destroy the military of the
evil Bungeling empire by launching a surprise attack up the Bungeling river.
Watch your fuel level on the gauge on the bottom-right of the screen. Keep
your plane refueled by running over the fuel canisters. Avoid crashing into
anything else. Shoot enemy ships, planes, helicopters and tanks for points.
Score and high score are shown at the top of the screen. When you finally
crash, the number of bridges you destroyed will be displayed, and you will
be given a ranking based on the number of bridges you passed - Cadet,
Rookie, Airman, Ace or Sky Raider!

GFX: 3.5/5 SFX: 3.3/5 Music: 3/5 Controls: 3.8/5

Replay Value: 3.6/5

9th place Find a way to my heart by: Karri KAKSONEN

The goal of the game is to clear a path between the left and the right side
of the screen by pressing the A button on the tiles.

GFX: 3.3/5 SFX: 3.6/5 Music: 2.9/5 Controls: 3.6/5

Replay Value: 3.6/5

10th place The Inside World by: LordKraken (Alexandre Genoud)

You wake up in a strange place, surrounded by weird electronic machines.

While trying to make sense of this new world, you're discovered and arrested
by the guards of the Emprocessor who send you into the silicon jail. Helped
by a single wandering bit, you escape the prison and find a laser gun. Now
corrupted PCB are on your way. Will you escape from The Inside World?

GFX: 4.3/5 SFX: 1.8/5 Music: 1.7/5 Controls: 3.3/5

Replay Value: 2.5/5

11th place Undergrounders by: Vladimir Repcak

Undergrounders is an action shooter from first-person perspective set

in a post-apocalyptic environment. There are RPG elements (experience,
levelling, stats, armor) and the game is spread across 25 levels. The enemies
are radioactive, they don't shoot but damage you the closer you get to them.

GFX: 2.4/5 SFX: 1.2/5 Music: 1/5 Controls: 2.2/5

Replay Value: 1.6/5

79 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

M
SXdev’18 celebrated it’s 15th
anniversary of 8-bit gaming empty boxes, you have to assemble four in awe of the sounds and artwork shown
contest existence, a truly different parts that will make a face. in the MSXdev18’ Freestyle category
remarkable effort by the organisers and You can see the colour of the next face winner, Dreams Puzzle by Mapax. Artwork
everyone involved in the MSX scene. The part and its position relevant to making for the game was made by artist Josephine
MSX is a fabulous machine, with many a face arriving in a box at the bottom Wall who granted her kind permission for
great games and developers still enjoying left of the grid, just as you would see the its use and the soothing music is provided
this 8-bit wonder more than 35 years next block in such games like Klax and by MSX chip tune veteran, Meits.
since it was launched. At the completion Tetris. In 2017 I played and reviewed the
of the MSXdev’18 contest on February very cool Assembloids on the C64. The Second place was awarded to Shoulder
14th 2019, another 15 MSX games had only difference between Quartet and Blade OVERDRIVE by prolific MSX game
been created by MSX game developers Assemboids is that unlike Assembloids, developer GW’s Workshop. A very cool
from around the world. Twelve entries Quartet has no timer counting down. futuristic Space Harrier shoot 'em up with
were received for the MSX Classic very large sprites, featuring cool enemies
category and three entries for the MSX Overall XRacing and Quartet were and end-of-level bosses to defeat.
Freestyle category awarded the Best Graphics by the
MSXdev18’ jury. The Best Gameplay award The game I was most looking forward to
MSXdev18’ CLASSIC CATEGORY had multiple winners - Virus-LPQ79, in the freestyle category was the 128kb,
Quartet, Bumper Ship Racing and PWND. MSX2, version of Barbarian: The Duel, from
My favourite game of the contest was Best music and FX were awarded to Bitvision Software. A wonderful update to
the eventual winner of the MSX CLASSIC XRacing and Virus-LPQ79. Most polished the original Barbarian hack ‘n slash game
category - XRacing. What a fabulous racing games award went to multiple winners - by Melbourne House back in the late 80’s.
simulation and management game. It is XRacing, Virus-LPQ79 and Buddhaghillie. Incredible looking huge sprites, cut scene
a very worthy winner, terrific coding by Judged Best Compatibility award was split story board, selecting from three different
Santiago Ontañón. Without doubt one of between multiple winners Buddhaguillie, fighters and inclusion of a female warrior
the very best 8-bit racing games I have Linez and Any Treasure Day. are just some of the extras of this old
seen on any 8-bit machine for a very long favourite. If you have an OPL4 cartridge
time. This game would have been a classic MSXdev18’ FREESTYLE CATEGORY you are able to hear voice samples during
back in the day receiving top magazine the game. The authors of Barbarian: The
awards I am sure of it. A fantastic game I'm not too fond of games where you Duel, entered the MSXdev18’ contest just
and must play by all retro gaming fans. slide blocks around to form an image for fun so they declined to accept any
on a grid, but you couldn't help but be awards or prize money.
In a very tight contest Virus LPQ-79 by
Pentacour received second place in the
CLASSIC category. It is a classic Gauntlet
style shoot everything and collect
everything maze adventure game. For a
48K game it has quite large sprites and
zombie enemies spawning from buildings
and trap doors. Your character must shoot
them all down, collect the freebies in the
way of coins and free lives and advance to
the next level exit. It moves very quickly
and even though it's meant to be a gory
setting, it has a very cute looking ‘Zelda’
graphic style.

Third place was awarded to Quartet by

Sebastian Lambinon and Ilkke. A fun
addictive block matching game that
couldn’t be any simpler to play. In four
Fantastic overhead gameplay. Keep an eye on your damage meter! XRacing is a
MSXdev '18 winner.

80
 Contests

In the Freestyle category Best Gameplay

Prize Money allocation Check out the full MSX DEV
was awarded to Shoulder Blade: Overdrive.
Best Graphics and Best Sound was awarded MSX Classic category: MSX Freestyle category: 2018 ranking, score and final
to Dreams Puzzle. Most Polished game results table below. For
was awarded to Shoulder Blade: Overdrive XRacing: €110 Dreams Puzzle: €110 more information about the
and Barbarian The Duel and finally, Best Virus LPQ-79: €66 Shoulder Blade: contest visit:
Compatibility was awarded to Shoulder Quartet: €44 Overdrive: €66 msxdev.org
Blade: Overdrive.

Quartet, 3rd place in MSXdev '18, Classic category. Buddhagillie, 4th place in MSXdev '18, Classic category.

COMPATIBILITY

TOTAL EXTRA
GAMEPLAY

GRAPHICS

AVERAGE
POLISH
SOUND
EXTRA

EXTRA

EXTRA

EXTRA

EXTRA

TOTAL
Watch out for those zombies about to attack you in Virus LPQ-79.
2nd place in MSXdev '18, Classic category.

MSX CLASSIC
1. XRacing 8 0 9 0.3 7 0 8 0.1 8 0.1 8 0.5 8.5

2. Virus LPQ-79 9 0 8 0 7 0.5 8 0 7 0 7.8 0.5 8.3

3. Quartet 9 0 9 0 5 0 7 0 8 0.1 7.6 0.1 7.7

4. Buddhagillie 8 0 7 0.1 5 0 8 0 9 0.1 7.4 0.2 7.6

5. GRAVITICA 8 0 6 0 6 0 5 0 8 0.1 6.6 0.1 6.7

6. Lines 8 0 7 0 2 0 6 0 9 0 6.4 0 6.4

7. Bumper Ship Racing 9 0 7 0 2 0 7 0 7 0 6.4 0 6.4

8. PWND3 9 0 7 0 1 0 5 0 7 0 5.8 0 5.8

9. Burn US 5 0 6 0 4 0 6 0 4 0 5 0 5
10. C.C.R. Anexo 1, El Algoritmo 3 0 5 0 6 0 5 0 5 0 4.8 0 4.8

11. Any Treasure Day 8 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 9 0 4.8 0 4.8

12. Goal 5 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 3
MSX FREESTYLE
1. Dreams Puzzle 8 0 8 0.1 7.5 0 7 0 8 0.1 7.7 0.2 7.9

2. Shoulder Blade: Overdrive 9 0 7 0 4 0 8 0.2 9 0 7.4 0.2 7.6

3. Barbarian The Duel 8 0 6 0 5.5 0 8 0.1 6 0 6.7 0.1 6.8

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 Contests

e MSX DEV 2018

Gravitica, 5th place in the MSXdev '18, Classic category. Dreams Puzzle, winner of the MSXdev '18 in Freestyle
category.

Linez, 6th place in the MSXdev '18, Classic category. Fighting huge enemy in Shoulder Blade: Overdrive. 2nd place,
Freestyle category at MSXdev '18.

Bumper Ship Racing, 7th place in MSXdev '18, Classic Handy with a sword is this female warrior, Barbarian: The
category. Duel for MSX2.

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ZX-DEV
M.I.A-REMAKES
E ach year many 8 bit gaming in the ZX DEV MIA REMAKES forums by George Bachaelor
contests are held. Popular before the end of the compo itself. @cpcgamingdemos
among the Spectrum community Participants are able to present any
is the annual ZX-DEV. The 2018 number of games without a limit but only from the original in the case of it being
edition evolved to be known as the finished ones will be judged. a remake game and (5) the overall score
ZX-DEV M.I.A. Remakes compo. For (which does not need to be an average of
the past three years Ivan Sanchez VOTING the other four criteria).
has been the organiser of this
wonderful game development Votes on games are taken from people Each category is ranked from 0% to
challenge. It first began as a solo who have supported the compo with a 100%. To find out the placing for each
project but Fede Jerez has been monetary donation, meaning this can be game, judges submit their scores for
assisting Ivan with running the anyone from anywhere in the world, they each game to organiser Ivan Sanchez
contest, particularly with the last do not have to be members of the ZX by the 15th of April, 2019 deadline. The
two events. DEV forums or wider Spectrum gaming submitted scores were then all added up
community. On behalf of Blast Annual to calculate the total amount of points
Ivan writes "The 2018 ZX-DEV MIA 2020, I submitted a 30 Euro donation accumulated deciding each games overall
REMAKES contest saw 22 games to the contest. Game developers who rank in the competition.
submitted, which is a little better than have entered a game(s) to the contest
2017, ZX DEV with 18 games submitted cannot vote or be a judge but may offer PRIZE MONEY
if I am not mistaken”. Actual number donations towards the game creation
of games judged was 21. Popeye wasn’t contest. Ivan writes “There were more Supporters of the contest donated a
presented in the end although the game than 35 judges donating money towards total of €1375 which was a fantastic
was finished. prizes for the 2018 version of the contest. effort. Prize pool monies were divided
Anyone who donates money for the up as: 1st place receiving 60% of the
The contest began on the 1st of June, compo automatically becomes a judge”. prize money, 2nd place receiving 23% of
2018 and was closed on the 1st March, prize monies, 3rd place 9% of the prize
2019. To enter, game developers were JUDGING CRITERIA monies, 4th place taking home 5% of
required to meet the competition's prize monies and 5th place the remaining
theme objectives which were: (1) To Game scores for the contest are 3% of the prize money.
enter a MIA game (Missing In Action) or attained by Judges voting on a number
(2) Enter a Remake game. Participants of different categories. (1) Graphics /
were able to create any Spectrum Visuals (2) Sound / Music (3) Playability
game based on a Spectrum title which / Addictiveness (4) Hype in the case of it
was MIA (meaning never released for being an MIA game / or improvement
the Spectrum), or they could remake
any existing Spectrum game. Game
developers could decide if they wanted
to use the same names as in the original
games or if they wanted to change them.
However, they must indicate the original
inspiration behind their game creations.

To ensure a game accurately fits the

contest theme, game developers were
recommended to use the World of
Spectrum or Spectrum Computing search
engines in order to get all the MIA titles
for the Spectrum.

Games must run on one of the ZX

Spectrum models (ZX81, Spectrum
16K, 48K, 128K, +2, +2A and/or +3) to
participate in the contest. Any tools or
languages can be used to create games,
and there are no restrictions regarding
this. All games entries must be registered 'ZX LARRY' (11306 points). Coming in at 11th place, it is a remake of
the famous 1987 PC game by Sierra, called "Leisure Suit Larry". Coded
by Rafal Miazga from Poland.

83 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

CONTEST ANALYSIS

In my humble opinion, the top ten games

were among some of the best Spectrum
games of 2018/19. I would have moved
up Elon Musk and Mister Kung Fu
to higher rankings as I thought they
deserved better overall placings. To me
they were more fun to play than some
of the other games above them. That’s
just a personal preference. But it's no
easy task to decide whether one game is
"better" than another. It's hard to decide
what game should take the number
one spot and, from the overall results,
many other judges had just as tough a
time deciding that too. To highlight how
close the contest was, only 460 points
separated first and fifth placings. It was
even closer between each placing. 62
points separated first and second place. 'Aliens Neoplasma' (13120 points), a winning entry coded by Sanchez
62 points separated second and third Crew. It is an original game concept, not based on any other game.
place. 149 points separated third and
fourth place and 187 points separated
between fourth and fifth place. Aliens Neoplasma (13120 points) was MIA back in the 80’s which we saw
the standout game of the contest. This demonstrated beautifully with Redshift,
Redshift (13058 points) which came in was not a remake or missing in action coded by Ariel Ruiz (Argentina) and
second place is a brilliant shoot 'em up. game. Instead it is an original game Richard Armijo. I am really thankful to
It's fast, it's manic and it's full of cool by the Russian based, Sanchez Crew, the Spectrum scene! Thanks to everyone
power-ups and awesome top-down flying who describe it as “showing our sci-fi who entered a game and those who
action. It oozes that authentic 1980’s fantasy of what could be a game for donated money for the prizes”.
arcade gaming feeling. Coded by Ariel this Alien setting. It is not a re-telling of
Ruiz (Argentina) and Richard Armijo of any of the Alien films, it is based on its 1-Aliens Neoplasma 13120 pts
World XXI Soft Inc, Argentina. The game own story”. As platform shoot ‘em ups
2-Redshift 13058 pts
is based on the same coder's M.I.A. game come, Aliens Neoplasma has to be one
Galaxian III from 1992 (not associated of the best if not the best I have played 3-Old Tower 12996 pts
with the Namco arcade Galaxian). on any 8 bit machine in recent years. It
really is that good. Music is so pulsating 4-Manic Pietro 12847 pts
Multi coloured, vertical scrolling atmospheric. The graphics and gameplay 5-Mister Kung Fu 12660 pts
platformer, Old Tower (12996 points) in are exceptional. The colours used depict
third place is as addictive as they come, an eerie, dangerous environment. Sprites 6-Booty The Remake 12210 pts
a great concept that plays wonderfully of your main character and enemy
aliens are detailed and huge. Speed 7-Ninjakul 2 11892 pts
well, a favourite of many ZX Speccy fans.
It is based on the 2016 iOS & Android and movement around the playing 8-Tiki Taca 11868 pts
game called Tomb Of The Mask from field is smooth all the way. It's a must
Playmagenta. Mister Kung Fu in fifth play for anyone. A wonderful technical 9-Sophia 2 11824 pts
place really deserved a higher ranking. achievement for the Spectrum and a
10-Maze Death Rally X 11549 pts
The remake of Kung Fu Master is very worthy winner of the ZX - DEV MIA
stunning. It puts the original 1986 arcade REMAKES contest. 11-ZX Larry 11306 pts
conversion from U.S. Gold to shame.
Quite hard on the difficulty so maybe Organiser, Ivan Sanchez writes "It was 12-Comeme El Chip 11270 pts
that's why it was ranked a little lower a very close contest, the judges must
13-Droid Buster 10750 pts
by the judges. Fourth placed platformer have had a very difficult task to decide
Manic Pietro features some great tunes on scores as all the games were great. I 14-Mini Explorer XXXI 10644 pts
along with 20 different brand new levels, think the quality of the ZX DEV games
has been rising up higher in every 15-Elon Musk 10569 pts
based on some popular 1980's, 8 bit
games such as Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, contest. We have had unbelievable 16-Dead Zone 10512 pts
Bruce Lee and Pac Man. It turned out games in this last one. We wanted to
to be a wonderful remake of Matthew be a bit loose with the rules as well, so 17-PTM 10332 pts
Smith’s 1983 masterpiece - Manic Miner. the most number of games could be
submitted. It is really awesome to see 18-Ninja Gardening 10159 pts
how some games were improved, like 19-Misifu 9813 pts
Elton Bird’s, Mister Kung Fu improving
upon Kung Fu Master, or the imagination 20-Witch 9300 pts
put in to create some games that were
21-Max Pickles 8831 pts

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ZX-DEV M.I.A-REMAKES

BLAST ANNUAL 2020 GAME

REVIEWER ASSESSMENT

Dougie Mcg writes of the contest

result: “There could really only be
one winner here. Aliens Neoplasma
stands head and shoulders above
the rest and we're talking about
some really good games entered
into this contest. If Aliens Neoplasma
had been released in the 80’s we'd
be referring to it as a classic. The
graphics and animation are fantastic
and for a homebrew game to impress
everyone like that and get people
talking on games pages and podcasts
is testament to the quality of the 'Witch' (9300 points), a remake of Cauldron ended up at
game. It has been a great year for 20th place.
homebrew and with new developers
getting involved all the time, the
future looks as bright and vibrant as
a Speccy game on a CRT!"

John Davies writes of the contest

result: "What a successful contest full
of quality games. It's great to see the
homebrew scene so alive and kicking.
I don't care if some of them are
scraping the barrel to be categorised
as MIA. The more the merrier. My
personal favourites and top five are
Redshift, Alien Neoplasma, Manic
Pietro, Mister Kung Fu and Ninjakul
2. I'm surprised Dead Zone finished
outside of the top ten as that's an 'Mister Kung Fu' ended up at 5th place (12660 points).
excellent game too. Looking forward Coded by Elton Bird, it is a remake of the 1986 U.S. Gold
to the next ZX Dev contest". arcade conversion of Kung Fu Master.

'Elon Musk With A Jet Pack', 15th place (10569points). 'Booty Remake' (12210 points), coded by Salva Kantero.
Coded by Rafael Vico Costa (Spain), ThEpOpE and It placed 6th and is a remake of Firebird’s 1984 game
Errazking. A remake of Ultimate’s 1983 game - Jet Pac. also called Booty.

85 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

by Andrew Fisher
@merman1974

R ichard Bayliss once again held a competition for game creation with Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit.
Here are the brief reviews of each entry and the full results.

NOTE: The opinions expressed here are those of the writer, Merman, and do not reflect those of the editor or the staff.

ARAIGNEE – THE SPIDER THIEF OVERALL: 5 / 10

Graphics, title picture and game design by Mo Dernart
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music by Richard Bayliss
Extras: Tape cover, title picture

As a spider thief runner, grab treasure from the lair of the mad spider queen
and escape with your lode. Make your way through an insane labyrinth of
terrors including such dastardly denizens as spiders (of course), giant deadly
dragonflies, woeful webs of eternal peril and flesh-eating flies!

Merman says: I felt this one was let down by the very bland graphics and
simplistic animation. The structure is odd, with its mixture of single-screen
and push-scrolling. There seems to be a collision issue, taking more than one
attempt to pick up a crystal. There was very little to draw me back.
Very simple.

FULGUR OVERALL: 8 / 10
Graphics and Game Design by Alf Yngve
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, expanded sprites and 2 players linked to one
control
Music: Richard Bayliss

SCENARIO

"Base calling Green Dragon and Blue Dragon... Come in, pilots! You are off
course. Explain!"
"This is Green Dragon. We are officially defecting. We declare political asylum."
"Base to Green Dragon. Treason will be punished! We will shoot you down
before you reach the border! Turn back now!"
"This is Blue Dragon. Shove it, Base. We're leaving."
"Base calling all military personnel! Code Fulgur! Green Dragon and Blue Dragon
must not leave the country. Stop them at all costs! Repeat, code Fulgur!"

GAMEPLAY

You control two fighter ships at once. The BLUE ship flies close to the ground, and may crash into tall ground obstacles. It fires forward only.
The GREEN ship flies at a higher altitude and cannot crash into ground obstacles. It can fire in all directions. At the start of the game, your
ships fly in a tight formation. Try to stay in tight formation, as this ensures double firepower.

Merman says: Alf has used this “two players controlled by one joystick” gimmick before, and it is fun to play here. The graphics are
great – the sprites are all very well drawn, and the backgrounds are excellent. (These use another SEUCK trick Alf discovered, to give
hi-resolution blocks). The difficulty here is quite high, and also repeats some sections to increase the game’s length. A very good
effort from Alf.

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 Contests

LAGRANGIAN POINT – THE MESSENGER FROM SPACE OVERALL: 5 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Recycled Arts
Sideways SEUCK, 1 or 2 Players, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss
Extras: Full instruction manual. It is also highly recommended that you read the
instructions first before playing this game.

This video game is the pilot episode of a series based upon astronomical discoveries
of asteroids (or space objects in general) in our solar system. In celestial mechanics,
the Lagrangian points are the points near two large bodies in orbit where a smaller
object will maintain its position relative to the large orbiting bodies.

SCENARIO

BZ509 (Ka'epaoka'awela) is a very unusual asteroid in the main belt co-orbiting with
Jupiter. The particularity is that BZ runs in the opposite direction of most other bodies in our solar system. A mission started from a secret
group of scientists banned from all space agencies of the planet is to investigate in a strange radio emission coming from this space object. As
BeeZee can be an interstellar asteroid captured some billions of years ago into our solar system the group speculates to discover here ancient
alien technologies. Scientists built a spaceship using recycled material stolen from old space missions and they threw it in space using a giant
slingshot. You are Jack Klaardastian, an improvised adventurer who was in the right place at the wrong time or vice-versa, the only one who
accepted to sail with this spaceship. Now you’re about to intercept the asteroid and discover what is hidden on it.

GAMEPLAY

On the bridge, at the control panel of the ship, your target is to find signs of alien civilization and continue the adventure without being
destroyed. After completing your mission, remember to visit the site to reveal the ending. This is prompted in the manual, also in the game as
well. Good luck!

Merman says: After reading the manual, I still found the concept very difficult to grasp – but it is strikingly original. The graphics
are ok but not outstanding, and it really needs two players (working different controls) to make the most of it. An interesting
experiment that feels too complex.

PAGODA WARRIOR II OVERALL: 8 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Stefano "Mc.Valdemar" Canali
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss
Extras: Full instruction manual. Separate intro and ending loads (ending requires
four letter codes from defeating the four levels).
NOTE: the .tap version only contains the game and not the additional intro and
ending.

Fight your way through four different Pagodas and take down a criminal cult
worshiping a flying snake. In this game you need to finally confront the criminal's god
in flesh (scales) and bones and vanquish this evil cult forever.

To get to this unearthly foe, you need to pass through the building garden, sneak
into the dungeons of the palace and then climb up through the offices and finally
reach the roof, where you'll face your long time enemy.

Throw unlimited ninja stars at anything in sight, and rescue the good spirits that need your help. Good luck warrior!

Merman says: Based on an earlier unfinished game, this has some great graphics and cute animation. The backgrounds are well
polished too. The platform style means it can be quite difficult climbing the ladders accurately, with the sprite “floating” on some
platforms. A couple of things make this quite tricky – certain enemies appear almost right on top of the player, and being able to
only shoot horizontally increases the toughness. The detail and presentation is great, but the difficulty needs a bit of tweaking.

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 Contests
SEUCK COMPO 2019

LEGION OF THE DAMNED 3 OVERALL: 9 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Eleanor Burns
Sideways SEUCK, 1 Player, Background animation, spell power ups, object
detection, sprites behind background
Music: Richard Bayliss
Extras: Game ending (complete main game successfully in order to obtain a
password for the ending)

Coed-Elyon is under threat from an evil spell, which is caused by a sacred

stone known as the Brex Rune. As Xandra, a fearless female fighting warrior,
you must locate and destroy the deadly Brex Rune, heavily guarded by an evil
demon. If you encounter the demon, you must find a way to destroy the stone.
That stone can be found at Yaxley Tower. If you are to get this far, you must
fight hard and rescue Faes to give you spells that will help you on your quest.
Good luck. The fate of Coed-Elyon depends on you.

Merman says: This has a great fantasy feel, with superb sprites and backgrounds creating the atmosphere. The extras that have been
added – sprites moving behind the background, the smart bomb spell and the ability to ride a dragon – put it head and shoulders
above the other games in the competition. It is a very tricky game though, and will take perseverance to get far into it. Another
great fantasy epic from Eleanor.

PROTOX-1 OVERALL: 6 / 10
Graphics and Game Design by VG VOX (Leonardo Vettori)
Standard SEUCK, 1 or 2 Players, no modifications
Music: VG VOX (Leonardo Vettori)
Extras: Old music version (freeze) and work file

It is the year 2325. The protagonist Captain John Rostar catapulted into a
parallel universe in a hostile world dominated by technology, strange aliens
and giant animals that resemble giant reptiles. The Captain must command a
fleet of spacecraft and defeat and rescue two important Androids to leave this
parallel universe. Find the two "friends-of-your-friends" and defeat the aliens
and monsters of the PROTOX1 planet.

Merman says: One thing I did like here was a choice of music – either
Leonardo’s original music or the file with added music by Richard Bayliss.
The background graphics are quite good but the sprites are not particularly noteworthy. It needed something extra in the design to
really make it stronger. The basic design ideas let down some interesting presentation.

DEMON STAR 2 – INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE OVERALL: 6 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Mo Dernart
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss

You are a highly skilled contract privateer in interstellar trade. You are
employed to traverse multiple star systems picking up cargo capsules to be
safely delivered back to your trade guild's star base. You must fulfill your quota
of cargo, supplemented by eliminating threats and foes such as star pirates
and killjoy extremists who either want to steal your wares or otherwise engage
in nefarious activities such as the slave trade that is rife across the galaxies.
Navigate your ship equipped with advanced interstellar overdrive warp engines
by using your star map / radar display. Make use of your laser cannons against
enemy craft threats and fleets in a struggle against overwhelming odds.

Merman says: The presentation of this is very good and the tiny sprites are an interesting design choice. It is all let down by the fact
that you only have one life. This makes it too frustrating to persevere for long spells, and stops the player seeing more of what the
game has to offer. High difficulty and one life is off-putting.

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 Contests

SNAKE EYES A.K.A ILLINOIS JONES OVERALL: 6 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Mo Dernart
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss

You are adventurer Illinois Jones. You were out on an adventure until you got lost.
You now have a simple but complex mission, which is to go through the dangerous
depths of the freaky jungle. Then you must make your way through the dangerous
temple of snakes. Knowing Illinois Jones, he likes to be quite greedy, and he decides
to try and make himself a rich man. Unfortunately if he is to find treasure, and gems,
he has to face a few challenges on the way. Luckily, he has his own secret weapon. He
can only shoot it upwards. Can you help Illinois return home and be awarded the rank
of Snake Eyes? Can you adventure on further and beat the mini game ‘Baby Snakes’ to
join the Snake Eyes Elite?

Merman says: What I did enjoy about this one was the presentation screens, including what looks like a one-armed bandit spinning. What
I found very odd was the “white boxes” around the sprites, which really detracted from the look of the levels. The diamond sprite also
reminded me heavily of Boulder Dash. Finding a safe path was also a real challenge at times. Needed more work to raise the standard.

NUCLEO-447 OVERALL: 7 / 10
Graphics and Game Design by Leonardo Vettori
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss
Amount of players: 1 Player only
Extras: Raw game file and work file

A message from outer space has just been decrypted by the Earth's scientists... and
it's not good news. "Warning: Asteroid containing the most potent warhead ever
created... on collision course for Earth." Its name: Nucleo-447. Your task: enter the
asteroid and find and destroy the weapon. It's your turn to succeed where others
have failed, and there are four worlds: Crystal World, Green World, Rock World and
the Technologic World. After completing a world, you will face a final boss, who must
be defeated in order to move on to the next zone.

Merman says: There are some nice presentation touches here – glinting crystals, sizzling electric fields – and the standard of the backgrounds is
good with a mixture of organic and metallic features. The sprite explosions are quite pleasing to look at. But there is not much variety or interest
in the gameplay, and it feels pretty ordinary. A solid and well-made presentation that needed a touch more originality.

STAR MIG OVERALL: 5 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by VG VOX (Leonardo Vettori)
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss

Typical space shooter set in a distant galaxy where the adventure of our hero takes
place that must fight for survival by fighting against the alien fleet formed by more
aggressive spaceships. Journey through the flying platforms in order to defeat the
Toder's alien fleet on the planet Toder in a galaxy unknown to us. You are armed with
your plasma ship cannon. Watch out for the obstacles you will find ahead - usually
marked by red lights on walls. You will have to be very careful not to slam into
anything otherwise you will lose a life. Have a good fight! Be careful, and try to avoid
the black barriers and red walls!

Merman says: As Leonardo admits, this is a fairly typical space shmup, but the
flashing lights in the background are a nice touch. But what spoilt the sprites for me was the heavy black outline used on some of
them. It looks too sharp compared to the drab colours of the background. A very average SEUCK game.

89 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests
SEUCK COMPO 2019

ROBO FORM X OVERALL: 6 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by VG VOX (Leonardo Vettori)
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, no modifications
Music: Richard Bayliss
Extras: Old music version (freeze) and work file

The story takes place on a planet unknown to us ten million light years from
Earth. The protagonist is an activated robot required to carry out a very
important role in his world formed and created from machines and robots.
It feels as if you are in an old pinball machine of the 80s, ''they go Tilt!" and
very crazy. A rebellion breaks out on the "Form-X" planet. It will be up to you
with your skill and your hand on your Joystick to guide your robot to stop the
revolution in the world of Form-X. You will come across small robots, flying
saucers, energy particles, energy barriers, explosive rockets to avoid and or
destroy. You will be required to destroy the "bonus" glass ampoules due to the
spread of the virus. Be careful with plasma cannons, dealing with 2/3 types of bosses and finally a final Boss to annihilate if you can.

Merman says: Like Leonardo’s other entries, the graphics here are reasonable with some neat interactive background elements.
Sound works fine too. There is little to make the game stand out in gameplay terms though. The muted palette suits a fairly drab
gameplay experience.

SQUIBBLIES 3 – REVENGE OF MUCUS OVERALL: 7 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by Richard Bayliss
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, high score, background animation, full enemy
explosions, level colour scheme code, fixed ending
Music: Richard Bayliss
Extras: Raw SEUCK build (Add .I to the 249 block file to load into the SEUCK
editor), original Squibblies 1 and 2 games

Squibblie's family has been captured by the evil monster ruler, Mucus, who
has ransacked the village of Mudsville. Squibblie's mission is to battle his way
through four different zones and fight against the evil monsters. He must also
avoid tricks and traps. Try to rescue the villagers, and collect gold coins as these
will result in a boost to your score. Every 10,000 points an extra Squibblie is
awarded. Can Squibblie rescue his family, villagers and defeat the evil Mucus
who is lurking in his slimy lair?

Merman says: This is a cute and well-presented platformer, as Richard has done before. The graphics are well made but the sound FX
needed more work. The difficulty level is quite high, especially as it is easy to get stuck in some of the platforms. Nice but nothing
original.

SUMMIT FEVER OVERALL: 7 / 10

Graphics and Game Design by PIEVSPIE
Standard SEUCK, 1 Player, Box Art, Loading picture, SEUCK All Data and
compacted RAW versions
Music: PIEVSPIE

Summit Fever is a game of skill and endurance in which you take control of the
world-renowned, mountaineering legend, ‘Ste Pilthis’! Your mission is to guide
Ste successfully to the summit of Mount Everest via the deadly southern route
from base camp in Nepal to the top of the world!

Merman says: This is a good example of an original idea, and I was quite
impressed by the atmosphere generated. I did feel that the graphics
needed a bit more work as some areas looked very samey and a few
sprites a little rough. But it was enjoyable to try and get further, and in my
view it should have scored higher in the competition. An innovative idea but flawed in its execution.

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 Contests

RESULTS:
RANK GAME SCORE

[ 1 ] Pagoda Warrior 2 by Stefano "McValdermar" Canali 163

[ 2 ] Legion of the Damned by Eleanor Burns 140
[ 3 ] Fulgur by Alf Yngve 135
[ 4 ] Squibblies 3 by TND Games 127
[ 5 ] Roboform X by Pinov Vox 123
[ 6 ] Nuclear 447 by Leonardo Vettori 121
[ 7 ] Protox-1 by Pinov Vox 119
[ 8 ] Star Mig by Pinov Vox 117
[ 9 ] Demon Star 2 by Mo Dernart 114
[10] Langrangian Point by Recycled Arts 107
[11] Summit Fever by PieVSPie 102
[12] Snake Eyes (They Call me Snake Eyes) by Mo Dernart 99
[13] Araignee by Mo Dernart 92

RELEASED OUTSIDE COMPETITION:

SEUCK Buster v2.0 – Richard Bayliss released an updated version of his utility for adding music to a SEUCK game. This
allows you to add music on the title screen or during the game, and to edit the colour bars on the standard SEUCK title
screen.

Soccer War – Commodore Spain released this earlier in the year, a clever sideways scrolling game based on soccer. As it
had been previously released it was not eligible for the competition.

Squibblies 3 (post-compo edition) – this is an updated version of the competition entry, created using Martin Piper’s
SEUCK Redux engine. The new front end includes a high score table, there is in-game music and power-ups that allow
Squibblies to shoot more than one slime ball at a time (but certain enemies remain indestructible).

Richard released the “Prize Pack” in August, with a special disk menu system and all the releases from inside and
outside the competition (on D64 and D81). The top three prize winners have had additional enhancements and new
front-ends added.

< tinyurl.com/seuck2019
FOR ALL THE DOWNLOADS & RESULTS, CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE AT:

91 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

by Andrew Fisher
@merman1974
RGCD 16K Cartridge Coding Competition

H ere is my review of the latest instalment of the RGCD 16K Cartridge Coding Competition. With a bumper crop
of twenty entries this time, each game is given a rating out of four in four areas – graphics, sound, gameplay
and originality – giving a maximum score of 16.

BLASTOPIA DX GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 8

The New Dimension

Game concept, programming, sound effects and music by Richard Bayliss
Graphics and level design by Saul Cross

As the name implies, this is an updated version of Richard’s horizontally-

scrolling shoot ‘em up from 2018, where the aim is to save the camels (by
shooting a complete wave of enemies and then catching the falling camel)
and destroy enemy planets. The sprites and backgrounds are quite good, but
the starfield effect looks poor. I enjoyed the music but the game mechanics
are very uninspired; the only real change seems to be having to land when
enough camels have been caught to complete the level. There is nothing new
or innovative here, the decrunch time is surprisingly long and the falling camels
mechanic is very frustrating.

LALA PROLOGUE GFX: 3 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 9

Digital Monastery
Programming by Eric Hilaire aka Majikeyric
Graphics by Nathan Asshantti aka Na_Th_An
Loading picture by David Vigh aka Grass
Sound by Michael Philip Bridgewater aka Mibri
Original game concept by The Mojon Twins

We have a fairly standard platform game here from the Mojon Twins stable,
although the player has an energy rating rather than a number of lives. The
Spectrum-style graphics have plenty of detail but not enough colour, and
the screen layouts are very challenging to avoid the enemies and collect the
potions.

LET’S INVADE 2 GFX: 2 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 1 ORIGINALITY: 1 OVERALL: 7

The New Dimension

Programming, graphics and music by Richard Bayliss

The gimmick of the original was its large pixelated Space Invaders, so the
option to choose the inferior multicolour sprites is a step backwards. The
game presents another 40 formations to conquer and the opportunity to
shoot certain enemies for power-ups. These are random, which adds to the
frustration. I liked the music and presentation in general, but this sequel is not
much improved over the original game.

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DOC COSMOS GFX: 4 SFX: 4 GAMEPLAY: 4 ORIGINALITY 4 OVERALL: 16

Shallan64
Programming, graphics and music by Simon Jameson

This is such a slick and well-designed game, from the presentation to the
in-game speech bubbles. Landing on an alien planet, the hero has to retrieve
an alien device and quickly finds it – only to be thrown back in time. The time-
changing alters not only the graphics but how Doc controls, and weaves some
interesting puzzles too. Switching zones might reveal a ladder or a hole in a
wall, and Doc also needs to keep his time-changing bracelet powered up. There
is some backtracking as the player finds coloured keys to unlock doors, and
occasionally an enemy is almost unavoidable if he's placed just inside a new
screen. But there is a huge game world to explore and the choice of adaptive
music (changing as the time period changes) sets the seal on an impressive
title that has a much-larger sequel in development.

ICE COLD BEER GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 8

Megastyle
Programming by Jamie Fuller
Graphics and music by Roy Widding

The inspiration is a 1980s mechanical arcade game from Taito, with some
suitably stylish Megastyle presentation. The player must lift the ball up the side
of a beer glass to reach a numbered hole, using a flexible “bar” controlled with
two joysticks – each stick moves one end of the bar, tilting it to roll the
ball along.

Overall, Ice Cold Beer takes some mastering, and there is only limited lastability,
unless you really like beating your own high score.

DEATH WEAPON GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 11

C64CD Laboratories
Programming, graphics and sound by Jason Kelk (TMR/Cosine)

This single-screen shooter has an interesting mix of mechanics based on classic

games Batalyx and Intensity. Holding fire and pressing a direction will shoot
in that direction, otherwise firing in one direction moves your ship in the
opposite direction.

Well-polished graphics and music are appreciated, but in the end it comes
down to shooting a set number of enemies to complete a level.

DICE SKATER GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 4 ORIGINALITY: 4 OVERALL: 14

Geir Straume
Game concept, design, programming and graphics by Geir Straume
Music, sound effects, Music/FX players and game design by Sean Connolly

This is a really enjoyable puzzle game, all based around the spots on a dice –
and that dice rotates as the player moves to the edge of each face. That is a
really nice graphic effect, and there is variety in the tasksyou must complete
to beat each level. Sometimes it’s about simply colouring all the spots,
other times you have to avoid a colour or dodge the enemies. Bonus levels
add more variety too. Although not the most graphically complex game in
the competition, it works well in context and the sounds are pleasant too.
Definitely a fun game that deserves to be replayed.

93 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

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RGCD 2019 CARTRIDGE CODING COMPO

NEUTRON GFX: 4 SFX: 4 GAMEPLAY: 4 ORIGINALITY: 4 OVERALL: 16

Protovision
Programming, graphics and sound by Sarah Jane Avory

This is a superb vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up that has drawn comparisons
with arcade classic Star Force. Cramming nine large levels and boss fights into
16K is impressive, with three background types and nicely-drawn enemies. The
music and sound are great too. What is also nice is the way you power-up your
craft (by shooting a particular enemy and collecting the P capsule) but only lose
one level of power when you die, rather than being dropped back to the least
powerful shot. An outstanding 16K game that is due to be followed up with a
much larger and enhanced version.

NONO PIXIE! GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 12

Space Moguls
Programming and graphics by Carl-Henrik Skarstedt
Music by Psych8580
Disk art and suggestions by Logiker

You wait ages for a Picross-style game on the C64 and suddenly two
come along at once – the other being RGCD’s commercial release GridPix.
What stands out here is the choice of control methods and the excellent
presentation. The actual puzzles soon become very challenging, particularly if
you are new to this sort of puzzle (where the numbers on the edge of the grid
are clues to where the pixels making up an image are placed).

OUT OF INK GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 10

Digital Monastery
Programming by Raffaele Formato
Graphics by Federico Sebler
Music & sound FX by Gaetano Chiummo

This is a game made for speedrunners, a single-screen platformer where the

aim is to kill all the enemies with your block by jumping on the enemy blocks’
heads. Hitting a spike or colliding with anything but the enemy’s head resets
the level to its starting position. Fortunately you have a double-jump (press
Fire while airborne to stay up longer) and the ability to wall-jump to help
make your way around the levels. Completing a screen shows you the time
taken and a list of the best scores achieved. Although the graphics might
appear quite simplistic, the music and sounds work well and the difficulty level
increases smoothly.

THE ROYAL HUNT GFX: 3 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 10

Bimbarlade

The back-story talks about a member of the Royal Family who suddenly
finds himself naked in the woods and under attack from wild boars carrying
shotguns! What follows is a randomly-generated sequence of 80 screens
to escape. A white arrow shows where you entered the screen and you
must find the exit. The boar(s) will appear in the bushes a short while later,
turning to aim at you. So you either get out of the line of fire, or move close
to the bush to make the boar drop into cover again. The graphics are neat
and the changing path between games makes it more fun, but long-term it is
repetitive.

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POCKET DUNGEON GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 8

Endurion
Programming, graphics and sound by Georg Rottensteiner
Graphics help by Emily Rottensteiner

This is a procedurally-generated dungeon crawler, with the game giving you a

series of single screens that gradually fill with enemies to fight and chests to
open. With a limited number of hit points to start, the player levels up by killing
enemies to earn XP. Chests give extra items, health, stronger weapons and
armour or (at random) a trap. Trapdoors open under the player and take him to
a new screen, with crystals to break and force fields appearing on some
screens. But it's tough going, with the player quickly dying if he's surrounded
by strong enemies and mistimed attacks (with attacks done by simply moving
towards an enemy). The graphics are cute though.

RELENTLESS GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 12

RGCD.DEV
Programming by Paul Kooistra
Graphics by Harris Kladis
Music & sound FX by Pierre Martin

Converted from an earlier Amstrad game, this horizontally-scrolling shoot ‘em

up has a choice of three difficulty levels and sound options (music, FX or both)
on the title screen. Turrets shoot at the player, while formations of enemies
fly in. Shooting a complete formation increases the bonus multiplier up to the
maximum 10x, but missing any enemies from a formation resets it back to 1x.
The backgrounds and sprites are well-drawn and it is quite difficult to make
progress at the higher settings, but it is very enjoyable.

ROBOTS RUMBLE GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 12

Digital Monastery
Programming by Eric Hilaire aka Majikeyric
Graphics and concept by Miguel Ángel Tejedor López aka Miguetelo
Sound by Esteban Palladino aka Uctumi
Test by Bela Erdos aka B3L4

This clever puzzle game sees you steering a robot through dangerous
platforms using two magnets at the sides of the screen. The magnets draw the
robot towards them when they are on the same level, so careful planning must
be used to avoid the obstacles. The hi-res graphics are nicely detailed and the
SID tune (a cover) is enjoyable. The major quibble is the difficulty level, with the
robot being sent back to the start of the current planet rather than the current
screen when it dies.

SPACE ORBS GFX: 3 SFX: 0 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 9

Space Moguls
Programming and graphics by Carl-Henrik Skarstedt
Directory art by Martin Roscher (Logiker)

Here is an interesting take on the match-3 puzzle game, but sadly the
competition deadline meant there was no time for music or sounds to be
added. An alien race is dropping toxic orbs into Earth’s atmosphere, and it’s up
to two spaceships to help clear them. These can be controlled independently
by two players or both by one player. Orbs can even be swapped from one ship
to the other to help clear the level. Blocks appear that can only be cleared by
making a match. There is nothing startlingly original about the game but it is
well presented.

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RGCD 2019 CARTRIDGE CODING COMPO

STERCORE XD GFX: 3 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 1 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 8

C64CD Studios
Programming, graphics and sound by Jason Kelk (TMR/Cosine)

This is a conversion of Jason’s Spectrum game Stercore, which used

impressive programming to move large blocks of colour around. On the C64
the effect has been enhanced from the original, meaning the player’s ship and
the enemy sprites appear to pass under parts of the background. The scrolling
message on the title page opines that no-one reads that sort of text to get the
back-story of a game, commenting that the enemy attack patterns are very
simple. And that is the main problem with this version. Although the graphical
effect is slick, the very basic enemy movements mean it is very much brain off
and trigger finger on – leaving very little to make the player come back again
and again.

SUPER GOATRON GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 4 OVERALL: 13

Misfit/TFW8B
Programming, graphics, music and sound FX by Mika "Misfit" Keränen

This single-screen shooter was inspired by bullet hell games and adds some
twists. The large enemies can take more than one hit to kill, before homing in
on the player when down to their last hit and exploding in dangerous shards
that damage the background and can kill the player. Certain background
blocks reflect bullets or shoot more at the player, while most screens feature
destructible platforms that can be whittled away with multiple shots.
Movement is left, right and jumping with up – but pressing down teleports the
player to the other side of the screen (working vertically and horizontally). The
presentation is in Misfit’s typical style, mixing some nice hi-res detail with a
muted palette. The nice presentation includes some funny level names, but
the difficulty curve is quite high.

VEGETABLES GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 2 OVERALL: 9

Mike Richmond
Programming, graphics and sound by Mike Richmond

This is Mike’s first game project, his attempt at a match-3 puzzle game with
vegetables. The last update improved the small graphics. Match three of a
vegetable and they disappear, match four to clear the row/column or match
five to make all of that type disappear (and earn an extra shuffle).

As more matches are made, stones appear – but these can be got rid of (by
clearing the row/column or by matching three or more; an interesting addition
to the formula). Run out of possible moves and the board is shuffled, unless you
have run out of chances. A choice of difficulty modes is welcomed, including the
Casual setting, and the hint mechanism (showing a possible move if you leave
the controls alone for a while) is neat. However, the biggest bugbear is the long
delay while checking for possible moves, which really slows the game down.

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SWARM 16K GFX: 3 SFX: 3 GAMEPLAY: 3 ORIGINALITY: 4 OVERALL: 13

Commocore
Design, programming, graphics and sound by Bartosz Zolynski aka Bago
Zonde

This impressive real-time strategy game is named after the ability to control
“swarms” of ships. In the randomly-generated galaxy, there are eight asteroids
and the player starts in control of one. It can be mined for its resources,
allowing the player to build more ships and a defensive shield (which can also
be repaired). Messages warn of approaching enemies, with keyboard shortcuts
allowing players to jump to the chosen asteroid or centre the screen on a ship
under control. Lose control of all your asteroids and it is game over. Entirely
keyboard controlled, it takes a few games to get up to speed and appreciate
the depth. Do you mine quickly for the cheap resource, or wait for the more
valuable one? Do you buy lots of cheap ships or fewer of the stronger type? Go
exploring to discover more asteroids or concentrate on protecting one. Good
presentation and sound adds to the atmosphere, but it is tricky to master.

TENEBRA MACABRE GFX: 2 SFX: 2 GAMEPLAY: 2 ORIGINALITY: 3 OVERALL: 9

Digital Monastery
Programming by Eric Hilaire aka Majikeyric
Graphics by Nathan Asshantti aka Na_Th_An
Sound by Michael Philip Bridgewater aka Mibri
Test by Bela Erdos aka B3L4
Original game concept by The Mojon Twins

After its initial release, version 1.1 fixed a bug with the map and added the
music on/off option. Exploring the flick-screen map, entering a new screen sees
it go dark – until you can find the hidden candle. Until then, you can only see in
the small circle of light around the hero, making it hard to avoid the enemies,
find the moving platforms and dodge the spikes that drain a life. This is another
one with detailed hi-res graphics and a nice tune, but the high difficulty is off-
putting. The candlelight mechanic is clever but not enough to make it stand out.

RELEASED OUTSIDE COMPETITION

WORMWOOD

Lemonspawn

This was an early alpha inspired by NetHack and Diablo, originally uploaded to
the itch.io competition page. A procedurally-generated dungeon map is created
based on the seed number, and the player’s worm must explore as deep as
possible – jumping across platforms, climbing ladders, finding upgrades and
shrines, avoiding traps and killing monsters.

Unfortunately it was not complete by the end of the competition, and the
version released has some notable bugs and was not properly balanced. It is
also unclear if the creator will be carrying on with the project.

Check out all the compo entries, available at:

< tinyurl.com/rgcdcompo
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 Contests

#CPC RETRODEV
GAME CREATION CONTEST
by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

O rganised by the Department

of Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence of the
University of Alicante (Spain)
and together with ByteRealms
and Cheesetea, this retro gaming
contest aims to encourage the
creation and discovery of talent releasing them on the
with technological and artistic CPC? Don’t spend too
qualities in the game development much time on the dark
world. To encourage competition side guys, let's hope we
at the highest level, this contest see all of you established
is open to the whole international CPC game developers
gaming community to produce a back for the 2020 contest!
64kb Amstrad CPC game either Miss Input game developers receiving their 1st place
as a sole developer or within a Blast Annual played a
certificate from Professor Francisco José Gallego Durán.
development team / group. small role by sponsoring
and judging the Opera Prima Award. This
Well done to those game developers on
Established in 2013, #CPCRetroDev is refers to the game which is judged the
their games.
the longest running and most rewarding best by a first time Amstrad CPC game
Amstrad CPC game creation contest there developer. The 2019 Opera Prima Award
However, the game I chose as the winner
is. At the close of submissions on the was a very hard decision to make because
of the Opera Prima award went to Bike
30th of October 2019, the 7th edition many of the games were very similar
Masters, developed by Alberto Benavent
of #CPCRetroDev received 35 entries to one another. There were quite a few
Ramón, Jose Vicente Tomás Pérez and
with a prize pool of €1850 awarded to avoidance type games, perhaps the reason
Eduardo Gómez Martínez of S.I.L.O.
contestants. While the number of entries for this is that students were inspired by
Industries game group.
remained quite high it was 6 down on the 77 Attempts which received 6th placing
2018 competition which had 41 different overall and Best Student game award in
Now to the overall winners. Enrique Vidal
games entered, but still it is great to 2018. Some of the games I enjoyed playing
Cayuela and Daniel Saura Martínez teamed
see the University students of Alicante when determining a winner for this year's
up to form the Chupi Games group. The
demonstrating what they have learnt Opera Prima award category included Hey
experience they gained being part of
and showing us what they are capable of Sailor, Jackstrad, League of Tanks, Miss
other groups in the 2018 contest proved
producing for the beloved Amstrad CPC Input and Ratones y Mazmorras.
invaluable.
464. I congratulate everyone who has
entered this contest and wish them well in
their future endeavours - hopefully making ALL AWARDS GIVEN
more CPC games! PRIZE
AWARD GAME GROUP
MONEY
One of the more surprising aspects that BEST GAME OVERALL MISS INPUT Chupi Games €300
occurred in the 2019 contest was the MOST ENTERTAINING GAME MISS INPUT Chupi Games €150
established CPC game developers the likes
of Toni Ramírez, Rafael Castillo and 4Mhz 2ND BEST GAME LUDIC BREAK THE LOOP Osmobit Games €220
group were missing. It was quite odd to 3RD BEST GAME EPIMETEO CNGSOFT €150
have a #CPCRetroDev contest without 4TH BEST GAME COBRA Carlos Perezgrin €100
them participating. As a result, I felt the
5TH BEST GAME HEY SAILOR Marine Devs €70
games of 2019 did not reach the very
high standards of previous winners of the OPERA PRIMA BIKE MASTERS Silo Industries €50
competition which included Operation BEST TECH & AI EPIMETEO CNGSOFT €150
Alexandra (2018), Baba’s Palace (2017),
Outlaws (2016) and Space Moves (2015).
BEST UA STUDENT GAME BIKE MASTERS Silo Industries €135
2ND BEST UA STUDENT
Perhaps these guys were just too busy this
GAME
SUPER TONGUE DINO Peanut Games €75
year? Or maybe they were play-testing new
BEST ARCADE GAME EPIMETEO CNGSOFT €150
Speccy games or releasing new games on
the NES when they should have been BEST SOUNDTRACK LUDIC BREAK THE LOOP Osmobit Games €150
BEST AI & TECH QUALITY MAN PAC Tellerium Dev €150

98
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#
W ith 373 points awarded by the judges they claimed
the first prize with a simple but very enjoyable avoidance
colours, full of playability, cool graphics, some cool sounds and
a heap of staying power with 99 levels to complete. In fourth
game called Miss Input. Your main objective is to jump along place with 323 points awarded by the judges was Cobra by Carlos
walls while avoiding the spikes to get to the exit. 35 points behind Perezgrin. An interesting game concept of rolling the dice on a
with 338 points awarded by the judges, Ludic: Break The Loop board and being the first one to achieve a set of objectives given
came in second place. I found the puzzle / avoidance game quite a to them by an Oracle. There are various mini-games to complete
strange-looking game as well a strange game to play. However, it along the way, determining your fate if you are able to successfully
is excellently presented and the PDF comic strip they made as part complete them or not. Reminds me of the mini games in Frankie
of the game entry is quite fun to read. Some rich colour palettes, Goes To Hollywood (Ocean, 1986). In fifth place on 290 points points
amazing graphics, an awesome soundtrack and various screen sizes Bike Masters rode away from the rest of the competition. In sixth
set this game apart from the rest. place, another wall jumping avoidance game Super Tongue Dino by
Carlos de la Fuente Torres, Antonio José Martínez García and Jose
In third place with 336 points awarded by the judges was Epimeteo Valdés Sirvent licked the competition receiving 245 points from
/ Epimetheus by regular contest participant CNGSOFT. This crazy the judges and in seventh place shoot ‘em up avoidance game Hey
shoot ‘em up was my favourite game of the contest. It's just so Sailor by Daniel Bravo, David Navas and Juan Manuel Ruíz sailed off
action packed with non stop trigger pumping action. Great looking to kill more pirates with 240 points awarded by the judges.

Reviews
A n explanation of the low scores the games received from me.
Firstly I am a huge supporter of the #CPCRETRODEV contest
high standards set by previous contest winners. This year you have
PuzCPC releasing his first ever CPC game outside of the contest - an
and will continue to be so. I fully understand the majority of the arcade conversion of Konami’s 1981 arcade smash hit Scramble. The
games are submitted by university students who have never seen an result is outstanding for a first time CPC game developer.
Amstrad CPC machine before let alone had a go at coding on it. Then there is Batman Group’s Pinball Dreams, which is probably
the best CPC game ever made. one of the best CPC games ever
That is an achievement in itself for these developers trying to made. So when you compare the CPC RETRO DEV games against
learn how to code for the first time on a machine that is older than these two other CPC releases of 2019 you can see why I have given
themselves. I have given an overall rating based mainly on how the low scores. Perhaps one idea organisers of the contest should
much fun I had while playing the game. The other aspects such as look at addressing is to give the students more time to create their
graphics, sounds, playability and lastability were also considered. games for the contest as a possibility of producing higher quality
Most games received low scores as they just didn’t demonstrate the games. It’s just a thought.

MISS INPUT Overall Score 80%

1st Place CPC RETRO DEV
Enrique Vidal Cayuela and Daniel Saura Martínez teamed
up to form the Chupi Games group. Daniel is a member of
Pixel Productions, the creators of Harvest Day (2018). Enrique
is a member of Nibble Games, the creators of Crimson Knight
Adventures (2018). Firstly, Miss Input is a cool "jump, avoid the
spikes and get to the exit" game, much like 77 Attempts that was
developed for the 2018 contest. It starts off easy as you expect.
Then it becomes much harder to reach the exit on each level without
dying. The addition of a red ghost enemy who tracks you down
(as you can see in the screenshot) makes a fun simple game, more
complex and challenging.

It’s quite a clever little game, one that you will enjoy a lot or be
frustrated a lot hahaha. I think they have nailed (bad pun) the
colours. Use of the colour scheme is an excellent portrayal of the
game's environment. The red blood when Miss Input is impaled on the spikes is quite gruesome without all the gore. There is also a nice
eerie tune playing throughout. Blast Annual game reviewer, Gordon King, writes about the visuals of the game “that Miss Input on the CPC
looks divine”. I would have to agree. It may only be a few colours but it just looks fabulous visually. Who would have thought that jumping
around without blasting anything would be such an addictive game? Congratulations on winning the contest and
well done guys for creating a very cool game!

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#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

Ludic: Break The Loop Overall Score 80%

2nd Place CPC RETRO DEV
Naad (@teopl), Branho (@brando464) and Lex got together
to form the Osmobit Games team. It is a must to read the comic
that comes with the game before you play to get a better
understanding of what has transpired. Artificial Intelligence and
Big Data are threatening the human race but Professor Ludic has
a plan to stop this from occurring. He goes deep inside a CPC 464,
Z80 processing chip to install new modifying software but rather
than stopping the A.I. in its tracks the A.I. has taken a hold of his
consciousness and the only way out is to obey the A.I. while beating
it at its own game.

When you play Ludic: Break The Loop the gameplay reminds you
of those reflex games where you slide and move until you hit a
barrier, then slide in another direction hitting more walls or barriers
or move an object around while working your way towards an exit
screen. It's become a popular gaming genre in recent times with games such as Ice Slider coming in 7th place in the 2016 contest (Ego
Trip 2016) and Baba’s Palace, placing first in the 2017 contest (Rafael Castillo and John McKlain, 2017). As a debut title, Ludic: Break The
Loop is quite a stunning visual effort. The innovation is shown with 16 levels of puzzle-busting gameplay that provides a generous amount
of variety. New characters and features such as collecting qubits are introduced throughout the missions; some requiring you to teleport
between the characters to solve the puzzle before you can make your way to the exit. Each puzzle gets progressively harder (perhaps a
little too hard), so the old grey matter, i.e. the left side of your brain will be getting a workout, but not to be forgotten the right side of your
brain gets a healthy workout too with the colourful banter between Professor Ludic and the A.I popping up on the screen during each level.
Can you help Professor Ludic solve the puzzles and still keep your mind in one piece? If you can't, you may need to call MacGuyer... but if
he isn't available then take a moment to listen to the thumping soundtrack. It will keep you more than happy! Ludic: Break The Loop also
received the Best Soundtrack award.

EPIMETHEUS Overall Score 85%

3rd Place CPC RETRO DEV
The Martians are coming! Once again the alien hordes start a new
space invasion and once again someone has to lend a hand to the
war effort and keep it at bay until the victory is proclaimed.

This is the story of Epimetheus. I am a big fan of César Nicolás

González (CNGSOFT) Amstrad CPC games. He always creates
interesting, fun games using big sprites and lots of colour - exactly
what the CPC is good at. Again, in the 2019 CPC RETRODEV
contest he doesn’t disappoint. The shoot-'em-up Epimetheus is
downright crazy. And by, crazy, I mean crazy good. Gameplay is
fast and frantic. You control a cool futuristic triangular-shaped
spaceship with one objective - blow up everything you see on
screen to smithereens! Enemy craft, meteors and ufos, the whole
lot, shoot them all down as fast as you can before they crash into
you.
That's it - simple! It's addictive as anything too. Graphics are excellent. Each enemy is huge, moving smoothly across the screen. You can
manoeuvre your fighter in any direction and this is a must as the enemy will hunt you down at speed. You’ve got to get out of the way as
fast as you can and shoot at will - to coin a phrase ‘shake ‘n roll’ baby! Three lives may not do the game justice, especially if your reaction
times on the old joystick / gamepad aren’t what they used to be. A bonus life is awarded every 10,000 points though. I did manage to reach
level 7 and I thought I was doing well, then I read the manual and I am informed there are 99 enemy waves to defeat…. Looks like I barely
touched the surface of this cool game. Speaking of coolness the music is a real joy. César mentions it is his own cover of the "Crazy Comets"
game soundtrack on the Commodore 64, originally written by Rob Hubbard. He also mentions the game was made in exactly 48 hours
because his original project for the contest became impossible to finish in time, so he had to scrap everything and restart from scratch...
precisely two days before the contest deadline. The game as a whole is inspired on "Asteroids" (1979 Atari). The concept is broadly similar
to suit noteworthy games as "Mad Planets" (1983 Gottlieb), "Crazy Comets" (1985 Martech) and "Mega Apocalypse" (1988 Martech)
whose gameplay rules it partially imitates. The difficulty is high in this game so be prepared for a lot of frustration. Having said that, well
done Cesar Nicolás González, on another cool game to play that is so much fun too. What are you waiting for? Get blasting those aliens!

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Bike Masters Overall Score 76%

4th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Alberto Benavent Ramón, Jose Vicente Tomás Pérez and
Eduardo Gómez Martínez teamed up to form the S.I.L.O.
Industries game group. Their game creation Bike Masters, is a
fast, fun, "first-to-the-finish-line" weaveabout game that has all the
hallmarks of a 1980’s Code Masters “simulator” release.

Racing as one of the fastest riders in the world you compete for
glory at the base of Mt Fuji in six different cups with each race
scaling up in difficulty as you progress. To operate your bike,
pressing the fire button gives you momentum / speed, pressing fire
button two performs a wheelie to avoid obstacles and pressing the
joystick up and down moves between the different lanes on each
track which there are four, also indicating the number of riders for
each race - the other three being computer-controlled. You can also
use the keyboard if you wish.

OBSTACLES:

* Puddles: They slow you down.

* Sandtraps: They slow you down and usually come in groups. Avoid by changing lanes.
* Speed Bumps: Avoid at all cost, these will make you fall off the bike losing ground on your competitors. Do a wheelie to not fall down.
* It: 'It' hunts riders - nobody knows what this is. Do a wheelie to avoid.
* Large Platforms: Will slow you down as you move up the slope. If at max speed you will drop on second tile otherwise you will not jump.
* Jump: Same as large platforms but make sure you are at top speed to get over them.
* Speed Booster: Green and yellow arrows release a burst of power onto your wheels and increase your speed. This will only work when
you are travelling at maximum speed before you ride over them. Use them as much as you can to defeat your competitors and be first to
the finish line.

There's no doubt about it, Bike Masters oozes that classic “sim” type of game from the 1980’s. The music is really enjoyable, the scrolling
almost ‘hair raising’ fast paced and smooth. The coding is executed admirably performing many functions such as speed up, slow down,
doing wheelies, falling down, moving from side to side with a great deal of care making it an enjoyable game to play - on the surface. My
dislikes are (1) You must finish first to enter the next race. (2) After the first three races on “THE BASICS” course, each race feels like hell
and that’s meant to be the last and hardest event of the game. As the game becomes really hard I think finishing second or above would be
quite an achievement to go on to the next race. Why is it hell? Well, after the first few easy tracks, there are just too many obstacles. The
speed bumps, for example, are placed at the bottom of platforms and jumps so, no matter what defensive action you attempt, you end up
coming a cropper when you land on them! And another thing, if you perform a wheelie, then you lose speed. If you lose speed on the harder
tracks it's harder to avoid the speed bumps and other obstacles. You find a lot of obstacles are packed together too. Overall, Bike Masters
looks and plays really well, but it’s just too difficult in many areas. A cool game by these coders for sure, but one that needs a little more
examination at track design to maintain the fun levels.

S.I.L.O. Industries showing their Best Student and Opera Prima

game awards for Bike Masters.

101 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

COBRA Overall Score 80%

5th Place CPC RETRO DEV
2018 Opera Prima award winner Carlos Perezgrin has teamed
up with Ricardo Oyon Rodriguez to create a very interesting turn-
based board game called Cobra.

1-3 players (human or computer) can play simultaneously.

Go to the Oracle between spaces numbers 8 and 9 on the board
to get your mission messages. Then pick up the weapons for each
mission, they’ll be scattered across the three worlds. Once you’re
equipped, go to the indicated location and complete both missions
to confront your final challenge and complete the game.

You have to complete one of the 9 random challenges to move

through the board. If you succeed, you can roll the dice (border will
change to green). If you fail, your turn is over (red border).
After two consecutive failed challenges you’ll roll the dice
automatically - As you advance in the game, the mini game challenges become harder. This is a very detailed game, one that has been coded
to a high standard. It features really impressive graphics throughout the whole game from the rolling of the dice animation to the game
board images and animations within each mini game. There is some nice music you can toggle on or off if you wish. What’s fascinating about
the game is its unique concept. With all the mini games to play, it reminds me of Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Ocean, 1986). The variety
with the mini games is what will keep you entertained, testing your reaction time, memory and avoidance skills.

Playability is really good and gameplay is easy to get into but getting the mission completed is quite a challenge. Computer-controller
players seem to complete missions quickly while you're still languishing trying to be able to complete the mini game challenges in order
to roll the dice. It's like the computer opponents get to roll the dice every time and you are at a disadvantage if you fail in any of the mini
games, which by the way are not all easy. Once a player completes a mission (usually a computer opponent) it is game over, making it seem
that the game is over far too quickly at times. A really interesting game concept. I just wished there was a little more to do to maintain the
staying power.

Super Tongue Dino Overall Score 66%

6th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Carlos de la Fuente Torres, Antonio José Martínez García and
Jose Valdés Sirvent teamed up to form Peanut Games group.
In Super Tongue Dino, it is 2030 and a hitherto unknown lethal
chemical has killed off the entire population. Our game takes place
after this fact. A small dinosaur escaped from an experimental lab.
It is trying to find its way over the strange mountains which don’t
let him see the sun. It has to run away from the wild animals that
have now conquered the planet.

So your task is to help the dinosaur to escape by using both his

chameleonic abilities and the strength of his tongue (one of the
side-effects of being recreated in a lab, presumably). You can jump
on the walls that you are licking. This will allow you to perform
a lot of jumps and stunts on the walls. However, spikes at some
levels will force the player to calculate and perform more accurate
jumps. While you are jumping, you need to avoid the flappy birds and yellow snails. When you die you will restart the level. A death counter
is shown at the end of the game and on the pause screen. If you want to reset the game you just have to go back to the main menu. When
you die at levels 10, 15 and 20 you will see how a plant eats the dinosaur - reference to the game “Astro Marine Corps”. Overall then, it's
another simple "get to the exit" avoidance game. Nicely executed with some interesting puzzle elements, but once again it's all too easy to
complete each level. A nice little tune with some nice graphics and map layouts, it is a highly playable game with no sign of any bugs, but
again another game limited in variety and fun value.

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HEY SAILOR Overall Score 70%

7th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Daniel Bravo, David Navas and Juan Manuel Ruíz have teamed
up to create a shoot ‘em up battle on the ‘green seas’ called
Hey Sailor. The game was inspired by multi direction scroller
Bosconian (Namco arcade, 1981). The story of Hey Sailor unfolds
- Ronaldo, an honest man, by day he was a fisherman who worked
hard every day to feed his poor family, but every night, to run away
from reality, he devoured books about the adventures of pirates.
So many stories he read that he decided on becoming Captain
Rumaldo, the fiercest pirate you've ever heard of, and you'll have
to help him clean the seven seas of sailors. Your aim of the game is
simple - destroy anything that moves or doesn’t move!

A good pirate never surrenders, the only way to progress is to kill

all the enemy boats and forts. You can move in four directions - up,
down, left and right.

The developers decided that as a ship cannot brake suddenly in real life, so, in this game your boat will never stop. Shooting bullets can only
be done in the 4 directions your boat moves, however enemy boats and forts can shoot at you in 8 directions.

Enemies consist of Normal Sailors: Basic enemy type who just follow you wherever you are. If they touch your boat, you both will die.
Shooter Sailors: This is an improved version of the Basic Sailor. Like the basic one, but they also have the ability to shoot you. Forts Sailors:
There are three types of forts and all of them have a number which will show you the amount of health (also number of hits required). They
will be destroyed when they reach zero. Spawn Fort: This type of fort will spawn basic sailors when you get close enough to them. Shooter
Fort: As the name implies, this fort will shoot at you. It will alternate two ways of shooting. Combo Fort: This fort is the stronger one, It
is a combination of the two other forts. It will shoot at you while spawning enemies. At the top of the screen, we can see the HUD of the
game, it contains your lives, an animated sprite of our main character Rumaldo, and the stage you are playing. Your lives are shown by three
bottles of rum. Hey sailor is quite an entertaining game. Movement of the ships on the greenish water moves smoothly, your controls are
responsive and the game is quite rapid. There isn’t much variety in the gameplay but it has a decent amount of playability that will keep you
coming back to play.

Ratones Y Mazmorras Overall Score 71%

8th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Javier Izquierdo Vicedo, Josao Navarro Pastor and Antonio
David Ortiz Peral teamed up to create key collector and avoidance
game Ratones Y Mazmorras. You are Alfred a magician, you
do magical things like magic (obviously - Ed). One day in your
favourite dungeon, a ghost called Goshy casted a spell on you that
transforms you into a mouse that could not use magic (I was really
hoping I could control a mouse who could perform magic, there’s a
game in that - Ed).

To be the wizard you were before you have to run away from the
dungeon which is inhabited by a host of ghosts. To escape the
dungeon and return to your normal self, you will have to move
through the rooms of the dungeon, these rooms will not have beds
to take a nap, they will always be full of alleys, doors and ghosts.

As you approach the surface the paths will be more convoluted and the ghosts more intelligent so you will have to improve your reflexes
and abilities to escape. All the rooms are sealed by a golden door. To exit a room you must collect all the keys in that room to open the exit
door and move to the next room. What I like about this game is its funky tunes. Even though its a simple avoidance game, the level design
provides a decent challenge of working out the patterns of your enemies movement. Good use of colours with each sprite both enemy
ghosts and mouse are easily identifiable with their own cute charm. Gameplay is enjoyable with both keyboard and joystick controls. There
are different difficulty levels and a few additions such as flying keys, different coloured doors and keys for teleporting through yellow rings.
A bit of frustration will creep in at later levels but that's quite alright this game has loads of fun.

103 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

MANPAC Overall Score 35%

9th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Sergio Conejero Vicente, Victor Manuel Belén Rivera, Sergio
Conejero Vicente and Roberto Carlos Espinosa Benavente
teamed up to form the TelleriumDev group. ManPac is the game
they entered into the contest. Our story begins with a nice little
devil named ManPac, banned from hell for not being evil enough.
Now ManPac spends his days at home, where he won't have to
show his fury anymore, so he decides to store his evil essence
in four orbs hidden in his food. However, Ferluci, Lord of Hell,
finds out that ManPac has taken his evil essence out of his body,
and decides to capture it. He sends hordes of hunting snakes to
ManPac's house to capture all of ManPac's food which contains the
much-desired evil essence.

ManPac must stop these snakes before they get all of his orbs if
he wants to finally rest peacefully. The game starts with one snake
and when you clear a level the next one has more snakes, becoming harder as you progress. However, when one of its orbs is captured by a
snake, ManPac suffers a momentary vulnerability that prevents it from continuing in combat. Your objective is to move ManPac around the
‘Pacman’ maze screen to kill the snakes. Think of it like Pacman in reverse - you are protecting the dots not eating them.

Its an interesting idea and concept but I just couldn’t get to grips with the gameplay and the playability felt quite poor. It's a shame because
Pacman-type games are cool but this one for me struggled in all areas - graphics, sounds, playability, staying power and most important of
all it lacked fun.

WOODS RESCUE Overall Score 50%

10th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Monica Ramperez Andres, Maria Sanchez Teni­as and Marti­n
Quirante Berna teamed up to create Woods Rescue. This is
another simple walk around a maze avoidance game with a bit
of shoot ‘em up thrown in. Thomas the raccoon is involved in an
important and thrilling mission: He has to rescue his lovely friends
from the clutches of some big bad wolves. For this reason, our
little hero will have to make his way through the woods avoiding
dangers and obstacles.

Enemies include: Trees: Despite seeming harmless, you will be

eaten by trees if you get too close to them. Chameleons: If one
of them sees you, it will dart at you without thinking twice. Birds:
Will not seek you, but you should not stand in their way. Wolf: It is
peacefully sleeping, but if you wake it up, it will start to hunt you
until you get away. The game is divided into four areas, and at the
end of each one of them you can find one of your friends. To get to them you will have to overcome fifteen rooms full of enemies in each
area. Graphically it's very colourful but sprites aren’t very detailed and the tiles look a bit blurry.

The enemy sprites look the best out of everything in the game. It's another one of those very simple games, nothing taxing on the brain.
You get to shoot at the enemies which is a bit different from most other avoidance games in this year's contest but once again there is little
variety and you are pretty much doing the same thing throughout. It's not really that difficult so I expect many will complete the game on
their first go.

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HAPPY MONTY Overall Score 56%

11th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Jose Javier Garcia Aranda (alias 8BP) created a Monty Mole
avoidance game using his 8BP BASIC library coding tools. In Happy
Monty your mission is to gather all the gold, avoiding several kinds
of monsters across the 25 different levels within the specified
time limit. When you collect all gold pieces, at the end of the game
the Princess will be waiting for you. After gathering eight pieces
of gold, Monty will gain an extra life. QAOP or joystick for the
controls.

Monty has two speeds: slow and fast: if you press one direction
Monty moves slowly, but if you keep tapping the direction Monty
will move a little faster. Not much faster though. Same behaviour
using joystick. At the base of the screen, you'll see your lives, your
score, the current high score and the music state (on/off).
The speed of the game in frames per second (FPS) is also shown at
the bottom right corner of the screen - I am not sure why it's relevant as you can observe quite easily how fast each enemy is moving as well
as yourself. I am a big fan of what Jose Javier Garcia Aranda has achieved with his 8BP programming tools since he started creating Amstrad
CPC games with it. Whilst Happy Monty does look nice graphically, unfortunately the gameplay is too slow and frustrating. 25 screens and
a decent amount of lives are enough to keep you busy for a while, but it just feels too slow for my liking - the original Monty on the Run
games I remember being more fast paced than this offering.

JACKSTRAD Overall Score 65%

12th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Ferran Perez Esteve, Daniel Martinez Andreu and Alejandro
Banuls Ordonez teamed up to form Bytecode Studios. Music for
Jackstrad was created by McKlain. Once upon a time in a world far,
far away, there was a very dangerous assassin called Jackstrad. He
commited 313 murders but finally he was jailed in a dungeon.

For ten years he prepared his revenge. And now, he has managed
to escape from his jail cell. Jackstrad has to collect four yellow
keys on each level. Within each level are a number of rooms where
enemies will prevent you from getting the keys by either shooting
at you or running into you.

Once you have collected all the keys, you will automatically start
a new level. On the final level, when you collect all the items,
you have helped Jackstrad escape from the prison and the game
finishes. Hearts can be collected to replenish your lives. You have a maximum of six lives at any one time. Jackstrad presents well in Mode
0. There is good use of colours, with large sprites. It plays well if a little on the slow side. The collision detection is not totally accurate and
when you get touched by an eyeball enemy you seem to lose too many hearts or lives than you really should do.

My main dislike is having to start the game all over from the beginning, especially after having made good progress. The music by McKlain is
the standout feature. It suits the game perfectly adding greater atmosphere.

105 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

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#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

SHINOBU Overall Score 45%

13th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Ruben Rubio Martinez, Judith Mula Molina and Jesus Mas
Carretero teamed up to form Infinity Entertainment. These are
dark times for ninjas. A terrible curse has invaded the capital and
citizens have turned into horrible evil monsters. A soldier of the
surviving emperor of the so-called Crimson Night, where everyone
was infected by a dark fog, has returned to fulfill a promise made
to his emperor: to save the kingdom and rescue his daughter. To do
this, you must enter the depths of the castle and destroy the evil
that ravages the kingdom concentrated in a jewel located on top of
the castle. The tower is divided into six different floors all on top of
the last one. The difficulty increases with each level, but trust me
after one attempt you should not find this a difficult game. There
are enemies along the way but they are easily avoided or killed with
your shuriken which replenish each time you complete a level.

Graphics of platform tiles, enemies and other hazards are simplistic but the use of colours makes them very pleasing on the eye. The
jump mechanic is quite entertaining but the game is all over too quickly. You can finish this game on your first attempt without too much
difficulty. Unfortunately, the game lacks staying power and any sense of real fun.

League of Tanks Overall Score 64%

14th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Emilio José Pérez Mariscal, Jesús Cuadra Tellez and F. Javier
García Fernández teamed up to form Nibble Games. Their
contribution is a tank blow ‘em up called League of Tanks. You
are TOH 219 (stands for Tank of Hope 21st September), a tank
in a C.I.A. laboratory hidden in a secret cave somewhere in the
United States. TOH 219 must destroy the rest of the tanks in the
laboratory in order to become the chosen tank which is going to
save the U.S.A. from any war in the future.

League of Tanks has been designed to be played in Single player

and Battle Royale modes. In single player, you play the story of
TOH 219 where you must kill the other three computer-guided
tanks, while in multiplayer, up to 4 players can fight in a battle
royale of 4 tanks where the winner is the last survivor of the
battle. As well as tank enemies to contend with, a tank killing plant
moves around the map so avoid hitting it as you are killed instantly - wait, I did read that correctly? A tank killing plant? Yup that is correct
(who knew plants could kill metal - Ed). As you can observe from the screenshot when a tank is destroyed the explosions are cool.

Each tank has its own colour and you can see for yourself just how large the sprites are for each tank. The controls are tricky. Movement is
based on the direction the tank is facing so you have to wait for it to rotate in the direction you want to go and then hold down fire button
1 and release it when you want to stop. Pressing Fire button 2 will shoot your cannon in the direction your tank is facing. The two different
game modes make it interesting. If you have a few friends around it would be great fun I am sure and as a single player game it's not too
bad at all either. If you like these tank types of games you will enjoy the smoothness and fast pace of the game but it may seem too easy or
you may find it lacking in variety.

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Dragon Egg Overall Score 30%

15th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Carlos Benito Santiago Portas, Francisco de Asís Prieto
Buendía and Jose Antonio Sansano Melero teamed up to create
an avoidance game called Dragon Egg. Your objective is to move
your grey coloured character from the left side of the screen to
the right side of the screen, collecting a dragon’s egg to advance
to the next level.

There are fifteen levels in total. Controls are QAOP or Joystick

(joystick will only work inside the game, menus will require
keyboard to be used). Gameplay is rather simple. You just avoid
the enemies in the form of green lizard men and pinkish eyeballs.
The Lizard Men will run at you and the pinkish eyeballs will follow
a certain pattern.

Don’t touch them and get the egg to progress. It really is that
simple. The enemies do offer a challenge but it's such a simple game that, using the Retry function when each game is over, you can
complete the 15 levels within a few short minutes.

Disc Respect Overall Score 30%

16th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Sergio Sebastiãn Aracil, Sergio Campos Garcia And Roque Bru
Navarro teamed up to create a pong-like game. Disc Respect is a
sport mixed between tennis and pong played with a frisbee. You
just happen to be the chosen one to participate in the biggest
tournament in the world, representing Spain. Will you be able to
defeat your rivals in a one-versus-one match in order to become
the champion?

Of course you can! Your objective is to throw the disc in order

to reach the other side of the field, without being grabbed by
the opponent. You will be able to throw straight or to the sides,
making the disc bounce off the walls. Each match has a point limit.

If you score three points, you will win that match and get to the
next round, playing against a more difficult rival. You will have
to win quarterfinals, semifinals and finals if you want to become the frisbee disc throwing champion, but if you lose any match, you will be
eliminated from the tournament. Play is via keyboard only. The game is a pretty simple affair. There is nothing new to add to the hundreds
of games like it. It has some nice tunes and graphics but its longevity is far too short.

107 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

UFO-Driver Overall Score 59%

17th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Jose David Gonzalez, Samuel Quesada Cambil and Vasil
Nikolaev Matakov teamed up to create another avoidance game
called Ufo Driver. 56.890 light years into outer space… You start
off as Michael Collins, an astronaut trying to find the missing
starships, which are scattered all over the universe. These contain
resources which belong to a specific planet filled with living beings
of a kind. They are in need of these resources in order to survive
and keep evolving. Be careful though, there are some evil beings
and obstacles throughout the map which will be deadly if you can’t
manage to avoid them.

The key is remembering you control the Astronaut.

To get into and out of the spacecraft, you select ‘Z’ or ‘I’ keys.
Once inside you must avoid the hazards and enemies and make it
to the planet at one side of the screen. The game features include:
Asteroids. Appear on the levels and are a constant obstacle. Evil beings: These will spawn on higher levels and will chase you as soon as
you find a starship stacked with resources. Don’t get caught by those. Starships with resources: Those are the objectives you are thriving
for. Gather and return them and you will rise as an honourable member of a specific faction.

Planets: Places you have to turn in the starships stacked with resources. There will be one kind of a planet for each starship. This game is
progressively difficult for each level. A different take on the avoidance genre with some added features. Once again a very simplistic game
but very playable nonetheless. There are some nice sprites for each character and planet and it's well worth having a go at.

Shadow Soul Overall Score 67%

18th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Julio Carmona Gonzalez, Juan Rubio Navarro and Miguel
Torregrosa Ãlvarez teamed up to form Forever Alone Games.
Their game Shadow Soul is another jump the obstacles, cling to
the walls avoidance game to reach an exit point. It is very much
in the same vein as 77 Attempts. The plot runs as follows: You, a
soul revered throughout the Keystroke Kingdom, have died. The
Kingdom chanted your name, praised you to high heaven for your
allegiance to all the Kings of all time, and buried you. But you were
never forgotten.

Now it's the present day and King Nargal XVII, a right nasty piece
of work, has stolen a mystical gem from the Kingdom's forest. His
act caused everything to crumble into dust... "the once fertile soil
became the sterile land" and awakened all sorts of ancient magic
powers too. And so you, the Shadow Soul, were raised from the
dead, charged with restoring the Keystroke Kingdom to its former glory by retrieving the stolen gem. Your only way to move through this
journey is by using your agility. You can walk along platforms but where you can’t you must jump and grab onto the walls by pressing ‘Space
Bar’ with a left or right direction by pressing keys ‘A’ or ‘D’. Some sections may require a special move that allows you to jump that extra bit
further which is done so by pressing the ‘SHIFT’ key.

Walls and platforms contain hazards, and some of these kill you instantly. Foes such as brown guard dogs along your path will need to
be avoided by jumping over them. Exploring 54 levels, you will travel through deserts, mountains and forests to complete this odyssey.
It features very basic graphics and sprites. However, there are more than enough levels to keep you entertained. Despite the fairly weird
plot, it's quite a decent game once you get into it. And if you do die, you don’t start all the way back at level one which is a bonus. Some nice
tunes are included as well.

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Invasion A Marte Overall Score 37%

19th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Antonio Maciá Lillo, Gina Esthela Abad Jiménez, Iván Martínez
Molina and Salvador Moreno Pardine teamed up to create
a vertical scrolling top down shoot ‘em up game they called
Invasion A Marte. Your main goal on this planet is to move
forward in each of the phases bypassing the different enemies.
To help you in your goal you will have two elements - one is a
weapon with unlimited ammo and the other is small gears. These
serve to charge your health / lives.

Enemies come in two forms - yellow or red. The yellow enemy is

the most common enemy and the weakest. It is usually grouped
together with other aliens of its kind. The red enemies move much
faster than yellow enemies and they also have two eyes to help
it shoot more effectively. Graphically the game looks quite good
and it plays ok too. Movement is fine no problems there with the
choice of two different key sets to choose from. Gameplay is too repetitive. You just shoot away and there's no real challenge as it's the
same scenery throughout. You'll get bored rather quickly, I'm afraid.

Fitzroy In The Dark Overall Score 41%

20th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Adrian Parker is the creator of turn based game, Fitzroy in the
Dark. Obviously you play as Fitzroy, who was enjoying a nap after
a hard day's work. But, when you awake, you find he's not only
been kidnapped, he's also been placed in a massive cave system. It
gets worse! If it is dark for too long the monsters will attack eating
Fitzroy alive! You must help Fitzroy find a light to make his way
through the caves, watching out for dangers lurking behind every
corner and with the ever-present fear of the light running out.

All movement is done one square at a time. You can choose one of
eight possible directions (including diagonals) for each move.
If a cell is blocked Fitzroy will stand right next to it. That said don’t
be discouraged from trying dark cells as you never know when a
secret might be found. Instead of being linear the game has a map
screen where you can choose which level you want to enter. There
are eleven cave entrances on the map. The first 10 must be completed (a tick will show once completed) before the final locked level will
be available. Complete all 11 levels to win the game. At the bottom of the screen there is a heads up display (HUD) that provides all the
necessary information about the current state of play. In order to see where you are going you need to equip a light. The light requires fuel
to function.

The light itself is displayed in the form of a light radius around the player. You will be able to see the visible cells and the dark cells will
remain black. Note: If you pick up fuel for an equipped item when you have no fuel you will have to unequip and requip the item before it
will function. There are lots of enemies that wander around. If an enemy can attack you with a move it will. Be careful of letting an enemy
attack you as you will always take damage. There are three difficulty levels available: Easy: Fuel does not deplete, more health, greatest
size light radius. Normal: Fuel depletes, medium size light radius, certain objectives more difficult. Hard: Smallest light radius, least health,
certain objectives more difficult. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into turn based games, I just find them all completely boring. A
great amount of work and effort has gone into this game which I appreciate, but if you don’t like turn based games it's not for you. On the
other hand if you love turn based games you just may enjoy this game.

109 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

Run Ninja Overall Score 58%

21st Place CPC RETRO DEV
Borja Pozo Wals, Mateo Linus Chan and Carlos Romero Murcia
teamed up to create Estudios game group. The game they created
is called Run Ninja. The world you knew is now infected. All the
sidewalks you walked on are now corrupted by the Brux. You must
pass your master’s tests avoiding the corruption and obtaining
energy through the orbs to stop the Brux’s Invasion.

You need to collect the orbs by jumping from side to side of each
building by pressing the fire button on the joystick or by using the
keyboard. In your way are shurikens you must avoid but while I was
playing it didn’t seem to matter, I was sure it was being registered
as the Ninja kit turned red. Under no circumstances are you to
touch the ground as you move through your Sensei’s (Master) tests.

An interesting concept, one that appeared on the surface to be

working well but the game would always stop intermittently at random as if plagued by bugs. Sometimes it would restart where you were,
other times it would restart all over again. I really like the oriental themes and Ninja presentation of the graphics. They are quite good.
The gameplay wasn’t so bad either. Overall though just hitting the fire button for long periods isn’t that enjoyable, and it didn’t appear to
me like anything was being achieved when collecting the orbs or that any damage was being made when hitting a shuriken. Some form of
progress indication was definitely required as well as fixing the bugs. It could have been a fun game for sure, but not in this time around. It
appears to be in an unfinished state.

Jack's Bubble Island Overall Score 53%

22nd Place CPC RETRO DEV
Ross Simpson created Jack's Bubble Island using Locomotive
BASIC 1.0 and Winape Assembler. Jack has been set the task to
get off the island by progressing through five screens of climbing
ladders and jumping over enemies. To proceed through the stages,
along the way Jack has to grab the fruit and vegetables placed
around each stage.

He can grab it in any order, however bonus points will be scored if

you collect the Tomato, Pumpkin, Lemon and Watermelon in that
order, which involves more risk. Once all the fruit and vegetables
have been collected an exit will appear at the top of the screen for
Jack to escape. The game can be played with either keyboard or
joystick. Jack can only jump over a bubble while moving towards
him. I think the game was screaming out for a jump diagonal up
and more levels. It's quite a decent game created in CPC BASIC,
but that waiting for the enemy bubble to approach before you could jump was a bit of a pain. It really needed a diagonal jump upwards to
give it some fun factor. Graphically cute and movement in all the other direction is fine and dandy.

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 Contests

PP SPACE MERCENARY Overall Score 28%

23rd Place CPC RETRO DEV
Alberto Andreas Rodes Garci­a, Miguel Campello Roman and
Alfonso Parraga Mora teamed up to form Team Botella group.
Prometheus Phil, mostly known as ‘PP’ due to his “weird” name,
was once a Space Marine for the United States Army. Those were
the good times, the times when he fought for his country with
honor and pride. However, times change, and PP started to worry
about money more than he worried about his country. That's when
PP became a Space Mercenary, always willing to do the dirty jobs if
they paid well.

With his training PP gained fame as a Space Mercenary in no time.

He was respected by many and feared by many more. ‘Enol Muks’,
one of the greatest Godfathers of the space mafia hired PP on
many an occasion, but finally decided PP knew too much to be
left alive. Enol ordered his subordinates to tell PP he had to do an
important mission on Mars and then leave him there alone with his spaceship destroyed. The only things he has left is a useless spaceship
and his trusty laser handgun.

Your objective as PP is to find the broken parts of your spaceship while surviving the attack of the fearsome aliens of Mars. When you find
all of the parts you’ll have to advance until you find your spaceship. That’s the only way of making it back alive and getting your revenge on
the evil Enol Muks! There is a nice depiction of the red planet and the aliens that live there with the sprites and background screens. But
it's yet another limited game in terms of variety and longevity, You just wander around the screens, about eight or so of them, collecting
the three required parts for your spaceship. When you have them you take them to the room where your damaged craft is to repair it, then
it’s game over. If you want to, you don’t even have to fire a shot at the aliens. Just avoid them and you can complete the game, it's that easy.

Combat Tendency Overall Score 11%

24th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Alfred Gomez Vicent and David Amaro teamed up to produce
this one-on-one beat-'em-up, Combat Tendency. Street Fighter II,
this is not. In fact it's quite a long way from that or any good beat
‘em up of note. You play as the Yellow Ninja, your only goal is to
defeat your biggest enemy the Green Ninja. In this 2D fighting
game you can play against the computer or against a friend in
2-player mode. Playing the game is not enjoyable - there are too
many keys to press for a heap of actions to perform. It's just too
many for my liking. Then there's the combat itself! It's uninspiring
and lacking any fun at all! Frankly, the combat aspect of the game
is awful.

The game seems to be bugged as your character disappears when

your opponent lands their kicks or punches. You generally lose
your fights but it appears you can win fights by simply repeating
the same move until your opponent's energy bar has been depleted.

111 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

PROJECT THING Overall Score 25%

25th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Daniel Gavotti, Sandra Amador Moreno And Germán Martínez
Martínez teamed up to create run ‘n jump avoidance game
Project Thing. On an expedition of Mariana Trench in the Pacific
Ocean, the research vessel named Hope found a strange object
near Challenger Deep. The object was brought aboard and all
hell broke loose. The creature devoured the scientist who was
analyzing it and escaped. If the creature reaches the bridge and
somehow takes control of the ship it will be the end of the human
race. You are the monster, and your objective is to escape the ship
by avoiding death at the hands of the sailors aboard.

To get to the bridge of the ship you must avoid the projectiles
shot by the sailors and any explosives they may throw your way.
Gameplay is a pretty dull affair. Just move the monster from left
to right of screen and reach a checkpoint. Once that is done you
level up and the task becomes harder as you have to jump and duck enemy attacks. It it similar to Crimson Knight Adventures (10th place,
2018 CPC RETRODEV contest) without as many details and no sword slashing. Music for this game is pretty bland. The fun factor is low too.
You will get bored of it quite easily. It feels more like a demo than a proper game.

Retro Tennis Overall Score 8%

26th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Mario Cámara Santacreu, Javier Martínez Segura and Moisés
Rodríguez Fortea teamed up to create Retro Tennis. They write
“In the beginning, we were not sure about what we wanted to do,
so we decided to check which games had won the competition over
the last few years. However, we did not want to do the same as
the others, so we thought that it would be a good idea to create
a sports game. Having chosen the topic, we were on the fence
between making a tennis or a football game, but tennis looked
more attractive to us than football”.

"Thanks to Youtube and a few websites which were dedicated to

old games, we could figure out if these games were popular for the
CPC, and indeed, they were. We discussed what kind of view and
style of game we wanted to have before starting the development.
Not only were we looking forward to doing something original,
but also to create something fun to play”. Yes definitely original, I don't recall there being a tennis game on the CPC with such a futuristic
setting, where the outcome determines who will rule the universe. Unfortunately the gameplay and just about every other aspect of the
game serves up a double fault.

No sounds, bugs aplenty like the computer opponent getting stuck at the net, your racquets not actually moving when hitting the ball,
being able to hit the ball when you aren't in line with it, only one game - the list of faults just goes on and on. I fully understand the students
who created this game and the contest in general have very limited to zero knowledge and experience with old machines like the Amstrad
CPC, but it's just not a fun game to play. This is very unfortunate as they seemed to have worked hard on this project.

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 Contests

Angry Kitten Overall Score 48%

27th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Created by a small group of media students at the University of
Alicante. Code: Irene Clemente Aracil, Araceli Lucía Rebollo
Domínguez and Jose Manuel Manresa Guirao. Graphics: Irene
Clemente Aracil. Map design: José Manuel Manresa Guirao.
Music: Araceli Lucía Rebollo Domínguez.

Using QAOP keys will move Angry kitten up, down, left and right.
Pressing SPACE BAR will shoot a hairball from Angry Kitten.
When Angry Kitten enters a new room, there are doors through
which a succession of enemies will appear. Only after killing all the
enemies, Angry Kitten can access the next room, it is impossible to
return to the previous room. Angry Kitten can move and shoot in 8
directions - the last movement of Angry Kitten will determine the
direction which shooting hairballs will travel across the screen.

Enemies: Dogs: They are orange in colour and will appear gradually from the doors of the room, be careful though as they may come from
behind you. They will try to kill Angry Kitten by moving towards it. Dogs can be eliminated by shooting a hairball at them, although some
may need to be killed with more than one hairball. Plant: This enemy is completely invisible. Angry Kitten can only collide with it once. A
series of messages will appear on screen when this happens. This is the game development teams reference to the game Astro Marine
Corps. When Angry Kitten is touched by the enemy one of the three lives are lost. The player can gain a life by touching a heart, but can
never have more than 3 lives.

Angry Kitten is displayed in Mode 0. Large sprites have been drawn for all game characters and objects. There is a fairly basic in game tune.
Gameplay is a simple premise of run, avoid and shoot enemies to get to an exit and do it all again in the next screen. Angry Kitten and
enemies move quite smoothly around each screen but being a joystick gamer, I found the game control mechanics quite tricky to get used
to, especially the shooting hairballs in the direction of Angry Kitten’s last move, this proved to be my main frustration of the game.

Area 51 Raid Overall Score 65%

28th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Have you ever wondered what they keep inside Area 51? What do
the government want us not to see? Enter the deepest levels of
Area 51 where they hide their biggest secrets and get the world
to see it with their own eyes - but don’t get caught! The facilities
are guarded by a multitude of soldiers, try to avoid each and every
soldier to discover the truth, good luck!

University of Alicante students Juan Carlos Lopez Gutierrez,

Antonio Aguirre Ivorra and Jorge Amil Perez Ponsoda teamed
up to create the game Area 51 Raid. I would imagine that the
coders were inspired by the "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All
of Us", American Facebook event that took place on September
20, 2019.

Using QAOP keys will move you up, down, left and right through
the Area 51 compound. Avoidance games in my opinion can become boring quickly, not so with Area 51 Raid. Map design within this game
is what keeps you intrigued as you move from one screen to the next. There is a bit of strategy involved (not a great deal mind you) to avoid
the guards to progress further in the game, with each screen offering a new and different challenge.

These can come in the form of avoiding guards or avoiding spikes and barbed wire that are found on the screen. I enjoyed the music it had a
nice rhythm to it. Your main character looks cool as it moves quite smoothly through each of the screens. Large Mode 0 sprites are used for
each character and object, with everything drawn rather well presenting a good depiction of the Area 51 compound. The only main dislike
I have is that the game is rather short with only 7 screens to find the hidden secret of Area 51, then escaping from the compound the same
way you came in.

113 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

Medieval Brawl Overall Score 20%

29th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Sid-Ali, Mario Nieto, Antonio Rubio Martínez and Jorge
Casasola Alepuz teamed up to create a run n‘ jump slasher called
Medieval Brawl. Run ‘n jump slasher sounds really cool doesn’t
it, but unfortunately I can't say the same for this game. It doesn’t
feel like a game more like a demo even though its a completed
game. Your play as Frederick, a formidable swordsman who grew
up improving his combat skills handed down from training with his
father. The king’s son, Arthur, was jealous about your sword skills
and has you exiled to the furthest village of the kingdom, where
you started a new life as a barman.

One day, expecting not too much of your workday, something

would change everything. You wake up early in the morning and
you sight a party of demons charging towards your village. You
don’t know what to do, when suddenly you remember you saved
your knight’s armour and sword since you moved here, and you see this as a perfect chance to unleash your rage. Nice story, the game fails
to live up to it though. It’s a nice enough game but it’s just too limited. Nice use of colours but that's the only thing going for it - wait

I forgot to mention the jump, that's pretty cool. You attack hordes - well no you don’t, you attack a single yellow demon who is killed by
extending a giant sword. The only way to die is if you touch him. Once defeated you play the same scenario again, the next time there is two
yellow demons on a platform you must kill off twice and the whole thing repeats again - there is no fun, no great battles, no excitement. I
think the best thing I like about the game was getting Frederick to climb up the wall - see if you can do that. J

Plant Attack Overall Score 13%

30th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Verónica Durá Sempere, Lola García Gómez and Jennifer
Boente Pereira teamed up to create Plant Attack. Once upon a
time a plant lived in peace with the animals and humans, but one
day some bugs appeared and started to eat the plant. These bugs
were different, they were red and yellow and came to destroy the
plant. However the plant had drank contaminated water which
mutated it, giving it spores to shoot at the bugs to kill them off.

You need to destroy 20 bugs by shooting your spores at them.

When you hit a bug, another will appear and so the process
continues until you kill all 20 bugs. Another one of these games
that are limited in what happens, feeling more like a demo than
a game. It's all over far too quickly and the game is way too easy -
just stand and shoot.

The pattern the bugs are flying you can’t miss them no matter when you time your shots.

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 Contests

CPC Rogue Overall Score 20%

31st Place CPC RETRO DEV
Andres Mata Breton created CPC Rogue. As far as turn based
games like these go, I am not the biggest fan of them. For me they
lack excitement and challenge as everything is based on chance.
But for many gamers out there, you love these types of games
and so rogue games continue to feature across many different
platforms.

CPCRogue is like other rogue games that have come before it

- where you explore multiple dungeon levels until you find your
goal, in this case it is called the Orutrix - only then, will you be able
to exit the dungeon and find your freedom. You move from tile
to tile by pressing QAOP. Other keys to press ‘S’ = Rest one turn
while restoring health, ‘G’ = Pick up the object below you, 'U' = Use
the last object from your inventory, ‘D’ = Drop the last object from
your inventory, ‘I’ = Inventory, showing the items you are holding
and pressing the Full Stop key (.) to go down stairs to the next dungeon level.

There are four main stats in CPC Rogue used to determine combat: STR (Strength), DEF (Defense), REF (Reflexes) and DEX (Dexterity).
Dexterity and Reflexes determine your hit rate while Strength and Defense determine how much hit damage points you deal or receive to
/ from your opponent. Your start the adventure at level 1 acquiring experience by killing monsters. When you get the required level points
you advance to the next level. Your stats (STR, DEF, REF, DEX) will also improve with your level progression.

Carefully choose your action plan, before engaging combat. Avoid being surrounded by enemies or it will surely mean your imminent death!
Sometimes it’s better to go back instead of aimlessly engaging combat. An attack is performed by pushing the enemy next to a specific tile.
Each combat turn your stats will be used against your opponent to determine your hit chance and the amount of hit points produced. When
the enemy hit points (HP) reaches 0 or lower it will die.

If an enemy hits you successfully it will decrease your hit points. When your hit points reach 0 or lower you will die. There are no checkpoints
or save options in CPC Rogue, when you die it’s over! This is known as permadeath. If your hero is getting a hard time while on combat, just
retreat by moving in the opposite direction. You recover health just by moving and not being hit. Also, you can rest by pressing ‘S’ key.

Along the adventure you will find different items that can help you in your quest. You can pick up an item by moving your hero over it and
pressing the ‘G’ key. The item will be added to your inventory, which you can examine at any time by pressing the ‘I’ key. You can drop an
object from your inventory by pressing ‘D’. To use an object press the ‘U’ key. You can only use the last item in your inventory, so make sure
you get the item you want to use ready at the top of your inventory. To achieve this, use or drop any items not needed.

Potions: Some potions are good, some portions are not, use them wisely. A potion is unknown until used for the first time. That means, it
will be shown in your inventory as an UNKNOWN POTION until used. After first use, you will know the effects of that particular potion for
the rest of the current gameplay, and it will show the correct name next time you pick it up. Gold is shown by a dollar sign and the Orutrix
is shown by a symbol - it is a unique object found in the last level of the dungeon that will allow you to escape to freedom. To successfully
finish the game you need to find the Orutrix, pick it up and use it. As I mentioned above I am not a fan of these type of games which reflects
in my overall score rating. Many people will enjoy this game, it does the basics of rogue games quite well, it's just not my type of game that I
enjoy playing.

115 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Contests

#CPC RETRO DEV GAMES ²²²

Ronin Revenge Overall Score 57%

32nd Place CPC RETRO DEV
Alejandro Mas Devesa, Ferran Ciscar Blasco and Daniel
Romero Martinez teamed up to create Ronin’s Revenge. The
year is 1568, Emperor Go-Tsuchimakado has been killed by his
cousin Ginkaku-ji and everyone blames you for not defending
him. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to sneak into
the Ginkaku-ji castle and steal it.

Once it is complete you will lose your Ronin’s statute and

recover the honor you lost after the death of the emperor to
demonstrate you are a real Samurai and not one without honor.
Another avoidance game this time avoid the fireball and other
objects as you jump your way through each level by reaching the
doors located on each screen. Not such a bad game, but very easy
that won’t be much of a challenge.

As you can see from the screenshot not much in the way of graphics and sprites but you would say it does the job for this game.
Not a great deal of longevity or staying power I am afraid.

Resignation Quest “Hell is office people” Overall Score 38%

33rd Place CPC RETRO DEV
Nikolai Pomares Jimenez, Jose Francisco Domenech Gomis
and Joel Romero Molla¡ teamed up to form Sofas Prohibidos
game studios who have created a turn based game. The setting
- Another Monday in 1984, 6:30AM, you wake up with the sound of
Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time playing on your alarm clock. After
spilling all the coffee on the kitchen floor you take your Chevrolet
Chevette and try to reach your job on time, again as every morning,
the usual 8:00AM traffic jam in Brentwood (Essex, England).

However, today is not a normal day, today you have to assist the
global release of the Amstrad CPC, the computer you have been
working hard on during the last few months. 8:25AM , finally you
can park your car - two miles away from Amstrad HQ. 8:55AM , you
finally reach your office, but running those two miles has not been
worth it, your chief Alan Sugar is waiting furiously for you in his
office, after the launch of the CPC you will be fired. 55 minutes of delay have been enough to forget months of hard work and hundreds of
extra hours.This is the end, your resignation letter will be signed with the fury of your kicks...

I don't know about kicks, looked more like a flame thrower to me but the actual in game object is a pencil (say that again - Ed). Yup true.
Anyway, your goal in the game is defeating the most enemies as you can, which range from office workers, managerials, to front and back
end programmers. To help you on your quest you can collect different office items that will enhance your stats. All the characters in the
game have 4 stats: Attack, Defense, Health and Speed which is self explanatory. When you have defeated your enemy an elevator allows
you to move to the next level. An interesting plot and concept, again not my favourite game genre being a turn based game but there is an
element of strategy required that will keep you motivated (or not) to clear each level. The sprites of enemies and pickable objects are quite
good but the colour and graphics used in the game board are underwhelming.

116
 Contests

DJD GAME Overall Score 7%

34th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Juan Sanz Moya, David Martinez Miranzo and Daniel Allhoff Finn
teamed up to create the shoot and avoid enemy game called DJD.
You are in the most dangerous dungeon in the galaxy
where few escape. You will have to move around the different
rooms and survive as much as you can.

So, yeah, that's all there is to the gameplay. It's not that interesting
unfortunately. The keys to control the game WASD and X to shoot
are just as unfortunate - a real pain in the neck.

A very poor game to say the least. Graphics, tunes, fun factor...
Everything is poor unfortunately.

Capital Quiz Overall Score 10%

35th Place CPC RETRO DEV
Kaffesakis Theodosios (Sakis), created his game Capital Quiz
using only CPC BASIC. It is a standard text only quiz game. You can
choose a 1 or 2 player mode. First you choose how many questions
you want to be asked between 1-100 (there are 100 questions in
the database). The sequence is random, no question appears for
a second time in each game. Questions refer to countries from all
over the world, Sakis tried to include questions of many countries
from all continents. In a 1 Player game, you can try to make a really
high score. In a 2 Player game, you try to beat your opponent. You
start with 1000 points. For each question you answer correctly,
you receive 100 points, but for every incorrect answer, you lose
100 points. Double bet means that you receive 200 points in case
of a correct answer but lose 200 points for an incorrect answer.
Double bet is activated every 5 questions (questions 5,10,15 etc).

Triple bets appear randomly and may appear in double bet questions as well. Triple bet means that you can get 300 points back or lose 300
points! On either double bet or triple bet, the game will delay the appearance of the question (kind of like a giving you a hint). If no answer
is given, both players lose. In 2 player mode, the player who presses first gets to answer the question. The other player sees no changes in
his score. When you select an answer, try to be accurate with your answers as you will lose points if you are wrong, but the other player's
score will not change.

If your answer is correct, you get a time bonus (1-49) depending on how fast you answered the question in the 10 seconds available to
provide an answer. There are some pretty tricky questions in there to give you a good test of your knowledge, providing a decent quiz test,
but not a great deal of fun if you aren’t into quiz games.

117 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

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119 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

Code: Stefan Mader (Mad)

GFX: Robert Kisnemeth (Kichy) &
Rainer Muehr (Nero)
SFX: Ronny Krueger (Starbuck) by John Davies
Platform: C16/Plus 4 @retrorekall

Y our people, constantly under attack

from hordes of evil war robots,
created by planet sized corporations
intent on interstellar domination, have
developed the Alpharay ship. It is hoped
this ship, piloted by you, can destroy
the threat to your people. In this side-
scrolling shooter, the future is in your
hands.

DEVELOPER: Bauknecht (BKN)

Bauknecht group (BKN) comprises Stefan

(Mad), D. András (bubis), KiCHY, Nero and
Starbuck. They are a very talented team of
coders, graphic artists and musicians who
have been creating astonishing games and
demos for Commodore machines. Alpharay
is their latest and greatest game. It is
of such a high standard that it has been
snapped up for commercial release by
Psytronik Software. It should be available At the start things look very R-Type indeed!
on tape (£6.99), disk (£13.99) and cartridge
(£39.99) by the time you read this.
a lesson via your blasting skills. For At no point in the game did I find losing
example, the first level is an omikron all my power-ups when dying meant that
GAMEPLAY
space station. The second level is a syntex from that point on the game was nigh
robot manufacturing base. Levels are on impossible which is something a lot
On the title screen you are given the
introduced with a bit of background about of shoot 'em ups seem to suffer from. I
option of selecting the game's difficulty
the corporation you are battling against. did find the title music a bit average on
level from Apprentice (infinite lives),
They even have their own logo. It's a nice the ears, a half decent tune but nothing
Normal (default), Hard or Ultra difficulty.
touch that builds up the atmosphere of the spectacular. However, the in-game music
The other option is to start the game. You
game. It quickly becomes apparent that was extremely catchy and synced perfectly
are then shown detailed pictures of an evil
this is not just some mindless, pointless, with the blasting action. The graphics
war robot, your ship and the pilots, along
shoot 'em up. The diversity of background varied from level to level based on the
with the plot of the game. After this you
effects and enemies is a delight to behold. pre-level introduction and most of the
are instructed, in Neo Geo arcade style,
Enemies all have their own recognisable numerous enemy sprites are well drawn
how to control your Alpharay and a couple
patterns, quirks and personalities. There's and different enough to be instantly
of the weapons at your disposal: triple
something new to see in several sections recognisable. There is quite a cleverly
shot and beam blast. You can use joystick
of each level. They give the game that designed big boss at the end of the first
or keyboard to move your ship and fire.
addictive "one more go" quality that'll level where pattern recognition and
You use the space bar to select your ship's
have you playing it constantly for weeks reactions were required. It died with a
current weapon.
and maybe even months on end. The suitably satisfying prolonged explosion. In
number of different weapon power- ups fact the spot effects throughout the game
Each level represents a different
and their strengths is also extremely are all very well done.
corporation who needs to be taught
impressive and well balanced.

120
 Reviews Commodore

The first big bad boss. It’s a pure joy watching it explode
to bits.

In many areas of the game not time but timing is of the

essence.
VERDICT

LIKES GFX -----> 94%

The variety of graphics used for the game's scenery, enemies and weapons are simply
amazing. The story and introductions for each level creates a dramatic atmosphere behind
your gameplay. Explosions light up the screen. It's such a visual delight along with the
SFX -----> 91%
glorious use of colour. Firepower blasting out of your spaceship makes this game feel like it's
being played on a real arcade machine.
FUN -----> 96%
DISLIKES
Checkpoints for restarts after death were a bit unforgiving, sometimes taking you way back
from where you died. The status bar at the bottom of the screen is extremely small and
sometimes this makes it difficult to actually see what it's showing.
OVERALL

94%
VERDICT
This game has pretty much everything you would expect from a decent side-scrolling
shooter including that elusive "just one more go" quality that plenty of games of this type
are sadly lacking. This oozes pure quality and so much shoot ‘em up fun it would be in with
a shout of top 5 shooters on almost any system, even those machines more powerful than
the Plus/4. Graphically exceptional with so much playability and space blow ‘em up action.

121 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

Code: Rikib80
GFX: Hend
Music - nm156
by Andrew Fisher
Bug-Fix - Cadaver (Covert Bitops)
@merman1974
Loader - Krill (Plush)

A rtist and cartoonist Dave Hughes first started programming

a ZX Spectrum game back in 2010, with 2010: A Philatelist’s
Odyssey, followed in 2011 by the “sequel” Stamp Quest. 2012 saw
time) and freeze (pauses enemies for a short while). There is a choice of
game modes. One player can play as either Moebius or Pucky, aiming to
complete all 15 levels (including the last level, where the Imp Guardian
the most polished game in the series yet – Endless Forms Most awaits). Two players can play cooperatively to complete the game.
Beautiful. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum, Alternatively the Two Player Vs. mode picks three levels at random, and
the game was remixed as The Lost Tapes Of Albion; completing the player who has collected the most imps after those three levels are
levels rewarded the player with fictional ZX Spectrum games over wins.
(complete with humorous descriptions). Blackjet created a remake
for the SAM Coupe, retitled The Lost Disks Of SAM, and then
released the Amiga adaptation under the name The Incredible
Adventures of Moebius Goatlizard (with an added “hyperspace”
mechanic). Over on the MSX the game was remade as Lizard Willy.
Locomalito (in association with RGCD) developed the PC remake
of EFMB in 2012 – and that inspired Rikib80 to create this C64
conversion.

DEVELOPER: Rikib80, nm156 and Cadaver

This is Rikib80’s first C64 game release as a programmer. Musician

nm156 is a relative newcomer too, having provided the many cover tunes
for Frantic Freddie II and music for IK+ Ultimate Competition Edition.
Cadaver helped fix a bug with the competitive two-player mode, as well LIKES
as creating Goattracker (used to compose the music) and helping with
the input/output code. Krill’s loader has been a staple of many demo The “endless forms” means the platform graphics, imp design and
scene releases and games, constantly updating with new code since colours are procedurally generated, adding a lot of variety to the game.
1996. The graphics are very stylish, with some cute but deadly enemies and
two well-animated heroes. A special mention must also go to Hend’s
GAMEPLAY beautiful loading screen. The music is great, featuring several cover
tunes and good sound effects (being able to choose one or both is
Imps exist all around us, stealing our socks from the washing machine appreciated). It definitely has that “just one more go” appeal, as you
and hiding the tops of our pens. Two clans of imp herders, named strive to improve your score or reach a higher level – and the final Imp
Moebius and Pucky, are in a battle to collect as many imps as possible. Guardian is a nice twist.
Before each level you will see the data on the type of imp you will be
harvesting (including the procedurally generated shape, name, habitat, DISLIKES
temper, what it eats and its status). Each level is then built from eight
layers of platforms, with a single enemy patrolling each level. Different The movement around the screen takes some getting used to, and it
enemies have different behaviours. Tanks shoot when you are on the will take a lot of practice to reach the end of the game with a high score.
When the Attribute Snake arrives, the game gets a lot harder, and the
same level, zombies speed up when you are on the same level while
random appearance of bombs and power-ups means luck play a part –
others may pause as they patrol. On later levels the Attribute Snake
perhaps a little too often.
winds its way up and down the screen to add complexity. Moebius and
Pucky can move between platforms in two ways. They can “teleport”
VERDICT
down a level by using the teleporter platforms (clearly shown by a
different character graphic). They can also move off the edge of the
Stylish and unusual, this is definitely worth playing.
platform. Going left will move the hero one level higher, reappearing
on the right. Moving right off a platform descends one level and VERDICT
reappears on the left. This also applies to the top and bottom layers.
Later levels add brick walls and spikes to complicate the layout. A GFX -----> 88%
bonus clock ticks down at the top of the screen. Collecting all the imps SFX -----> 81%
before it runs out adds that total to the score. Collecting some imps
turns them into a bomb, which explodes after a short time – killing any
FUN -----> 85%
enemy and hero on that level, with the enemy respawning a short while
later. Other bonuses include a bubble shield (invincibility), clock (add
OVERALL - 88%

122
 Reviews Commodore

by John Davies
@retrorekall
Code: Gaborc Varga (Skoro)
GFX: Robert Kisnemeth (KICHY), David
Vigh (Grass666)
SFX: Csaba Panhaczy (Csabo)
Platform: C16/Plus 4

You play Noah, a blob with There are also pass

spindly legs and bulbous through blocks, moving
eyes, whose girlfriend has platforms, bouncy
been captured in a spider's trampolines which let you
web. There are ninety nine jump higher, collapsing
diamonds scattered around an adventure blocks, fatal spiky
park which, once collected, can be used blocks and shimmering
in a trade to get your girlfriend back. I diamonds to collect.
assume the kidnappers are a gang of evil
arachnids but this is never stated. The jumping is pixel
perfect. You can change
Remember if it moves, and has eyes, avoid it at all
DEVELOPER: direction mid-jump and
costs.
Gaborc Varga (Skoro) also vary the height
jumped depending on could jump onto and I died a few times
Skoro has been a member of the Hungarian how long you press the jump button. trying just that. There's no record of your
based Assassins group (ASN) since 1991. Graphics are varied especially the levels high score.
He is an ex-member of Hard, an ex-member themselves. Sprites are mostly quite basic,
of Scorpions (SCN), an ex-member of some with a set of eyes in an attempt to VERDICT
Synergy (SYN), an ex-member of Core. In give them a bit of personality. Audio is quite
his earlier years, Skoro started out making mellow and makes for easy listening. Adventure Park packs a great deal of
trainers for games like Oliver Otthona adventuring, it is a solid platform that
(1988) and getting involved with cracks for LIKES doesn't offer much that is new but
games such as Safeguard (1989). looks and sounds gorgeous considering
I like how the developers have used a the limitations of the system. A great
GAMEPLAY large set of different blocks to build each deal of fun from start to finish.
screen. The colours used in each screen are
Adventure Park is a platform game where gorgeous, a real delight for your eyes.
you can control Noah on his quest using Each screen feels large, fresh and inviting.
cursor keys or joystick. Score, gems and Level design keeps things entertaining,
lives are shown in the status area at the it's not overly hard with plenty of lives
bottom of the screen. Each of the thirty for you to take on the challenge of VERDICT
four screens you traverse contain a nice finding your captive girlfriend.
variety of solid blocks. There are the usual
GFX -----> 90%
platformer horizontal and vertical patrolling DISLIKES SFX -----> 88%
enemies. I can't really describe here what FUN -----> 93%
the baddies on the second screen look like Initially the background red brick
other than they are definitely male. blocks looked like something you OVERALL - 92%

123 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

Code: Antonio Savona by Andrew Fisher

GFX: Steven Day @merman1974
Music: Saul Cross
SFX: Flemming Martins

DEVELOPERS: Antonio Savona & Steven Day

T his is the first of several Atari 2600 games that Steven Day
(STE’86) is interested in porting to the C64, teaming up with
programmer Antonio Savona. STE’86 is renowned for being a
C64 artist that went on to create artworks for Amiga games
Stormtrooper (1989) and Fireforce(1992) before making a notable
return to the C64 for the 2011 release of Prince of Persia.
Antonio Savona’s most recent C64 game releases include the
wonderful Planet Golf (2017) and L’Abbaye des Morts (2019).

GAMEPLAY

Bob Whitehead’s original drew heavily on Defender, as the player’s

helicopter defended a convoy of trucks. After the bitmap intro and
Enemy jets and choppers are on the attack!
credits screen, the game starts. The radar at the bottom of the
screen shows where the trucks are, and where the attacking enemy
helicopters and jets are. The player can fly left or right, blasting
away – but must be careful not to shoot the trucks themselves.
Once all the enemies are gone, a bonus is awarded based on the
trucks left, and the next stage starts.

LIKES

This is an impressive remake, capturing the look and feel of the

original, and adding a little extra polish. After the stunning bitmap
intro and cleverly nostalgic credits screen (based on old Activision
games), the game itself has a very pleasing “sunset” at the top of
the screen and subtle parallax effects. It is certainly fun for a quick
blast.

DISLIKES

Sadly, behind the technical sheen lies a very simplistic game. There
is very little variety, just an increasing difficulty as enemies fly Lost a truck already on level 1!
faster. Once you have completed a couple of levels there is nothing
else to see.

VERDICT
VERDICT
A fun conversion that will bring back many nostalgic gaming GFX -----> 80%
memories, however some may feel the long term appeal is
limited. It will be great to see how the other Atari 2600 ports
SFX -----> 74%
from this C64 development team turn out. FUN -----> 81%
OVERALL - 80%

124
 Reviews Commodore

Code: Antonio Savona

GFX: Steven Day by Andrew FIsher
Music: Saul Cross @merman1974

DEVELOPERS: Antonio Savona

& Steven Day his chase, so he should jump over
them instead. At higher levels a
This was the second Atari 2600 conversion toy biplane flies across the floors,
from the dream team – programmer and getting hit by it costs Kelly a
Antonio Savona, graphic artist Ste Day life. Should he catch Kelly, the time
and composer Saul Cross. Antonio has remaining is converted into bonus
made the source code available at github. points and the next level starts.
com/tonysavon/Keystone-Kapers-C64 and Kelly can also earn extra points
the game closely follows the timings and by picking up the moneybags
patterns of the original Atari 2600. scattered around the mall. But
hurry, time’s running out!
GAMEPLAY

Garry Kitchen’s Atari 2600 original was LIKES

inspired by the slapstick Keystone Cops
movies produced by Mack Sennett. The upgraded graphics of this C64 Jumping over an obstacle, Harry is in sight!
Officer Keystone Kelly has to guard the version do a really good job.
shopping mall, because Harry Hooligan is The intro bitmap looks great, and to tempt you to keep playing. But that is a
out to steal all the takings. Kelly starts at Kelly is a well-animated if rather portly criticism that can be levelled at the original
the bottom right of the mall, with Harry hero. What is clever is the way sprite too. Achim Volkers’ Rent-A-Cop has already
setting off from the centre of the first priority is used to make Kelly appear behind shown this game was possible on the C64,
floor. Harry’s aim is to escape across the some objects, adding depth to the screen. and there is little to choose between the
roof. Kelly can use the escalators at the The classic Activision “sunset” is also two.
end of each floor to move up, or he can replicated behind an effective skyline. The
use the elevator (lift) in the middle screen. radar display is very effective and useful. VERDICT
However, if he gets ahead of Harry, Harry The difficulty does a good job of increasing
will give him the slip and move down again. steadily; the option to restart at higher I was really looking forward to this, and
Kelly must avoid bouncing balls, shopping levels once reached (selected on the title it turned out great. Now where’s my big
carts and bundles of merchandise. Contact screen) is a welcome addition. The music is bag of money?
with these costs Kelly valuable time in superb, giving it a real ragtime flavour that
fits with the slapstick theme.

DISLIKES

There are a few flaws, most

notably the long wait for the
elevator (lift) that can make
or break a game. While it is
designed to be tactical, it
does feel rather awkward.
There are also cases where
objects appear too quickly
on your level, making it
almost too difficult to VERDICT
avoid being hit. After a
few levels, it does get GFX -----> 86%
repetitive and lacks that SFX -----> 87%
little extra depth it needs FUN -----> 84%
Officer Kelly steps out of the lift, one floor below
Harry.
OVERALL - 86%

125 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

by Andrew Fisher
Code: Antonio Savona @merman1974
GFX: Steven Day
Music: Saul Cross

DEVELOPERS: Antonio Savona & Steven Day

T he third of the C64's "Atari 2600 conversions" is Frostbite,

a game set in the frozen wastelands of the Arctic. Again,
Antonio Savona provides the code, Saul Cross the music and Ste
Day the graphics. The source code is also available for free from
github.com/tonysavon/Frostbite-C64

GAMEPLAY

Frostbite Bailey has to build an igloo before the Arctic

temperature drops from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to zero. He does
this by jumping on the moving ice floes. Each floe he jumps on
gives him one ice block of the fifteen needed towards the igloo,
Bailey has completed level 1’s igloo, with bonus fish swimming
which builds itself at the top of the screen. The floe turns blue
by.
when he jumps on it, until all four rows of floes are blue – then
they turn back to white again after a short pause. Green fish
swimming by can be collected for bonus points. Other wildlife is
not so friendly. Geese, clams and crabs will try to knock Bailey off
the ice floe into the water, costing him a life. At higher levels a
polar bear patrols the shore, and getting caught by it costs a life
too. Bailey can reverse the direction of a row of ice by pressing
fire, at the cost of one block from his igloo. Once the igloo is
complete, Bailey must enter it through the door to complete
the level; the bonus score is based on the level number and the
temperature remaining. There are twenty increasingly difficult
levels to conquer before the game restarts at level one.

LIKES

The game starts off well with a lovely Ste Day bitmap and the
nostalgic title screen, with the option to choose starting level.
More levels are unlocked once you have reached them once in a
session. The graphics in the game are gorgeous, representing an The giant clam has pushed Bailey off the floes!
upgrade from the 2600 but staying respectful to the original.
Of particular note is the skyline effect, almost recreating the
Northern Lights with clever use of raster splits. There are also day VERDICT
and night levels, with the sky turning black. Saul’s music is really
upbeat and cutely done, adding to the game’s appeal. Control is I love the Atari original, and this is a very cool
pretty good, although it can take a while to get used to the fire conversion. Stay frosty!
button reversing the direction of the ice floes. It’s great to finally
see this Activision classic on the C64, where it feels right at home.
VERDICT
DISLIKES GFX -----> 88%
There are only 20 levels to beat, but the difficulty level soon cranks
SFX -----> 86%
up after a few. The splitting ice floes are also difficult to cope with. FUN -----> 87%
Although new features are gradually added there is not a great deal
of variety in the later levels. OVERALL - 85%

126
 Reviews Commodore

Code & GFX: Robert Kisnemeth (Kichy)

SFX: Luca Carrafiello (Luca) by John Davies
Platform: C16/Plus 4 @retrorekall
Available at Psytronik.net
You are first treated to a Still, the game can
rather nice intro with cut be quite unforgiving
scenes about what looks like and has a fairly steep
an onion getting lost in a learning curve. But
forest and some time travel it doesn't push so
machine nonsense thrown in, and then it's far that frustration
platforming adventures in time and annoyance set
(interesting an Onion as a lead game in. Once you learn
character. Hmmm, I hope this game won't how to progress past
make gamers cry! Possibly a first I a specific point you
wonder? - Ed). won't forget it.

DEVELOPER: Enemy sprites

Robert Kisnemeth (Kichy) are nicely drawn
and are colourful.
Kichy is more noted for his graphic work Backgrounds are
than being a game developer. He has been blacked out when
a member of the Assassins (ASN) group you or an enemy
based in Hungary since 1991. He is an pass over them but Whatever colour it is, don’t touch the liquid!
ex-member of Mad Original Inhabitants this stops any colour
(MOI) and has a blog you can follow at clash from occurring whilst using the and perhaps the game was a smidgen
kichydesign.blogspot.com. He created Sgt. machine's full range of colours. simplistic.
Helmet Zero in 2013 and was the graphic
artist for PAC PAC in 2016. The scenery graphics and blocks are also VERDICT
excellent although I prefer the look of
GAMEPLAY the second two thirds of the game rather Adventures In Time is pretty amazing
than the minimalist appearance of the considering the hardware and the
This is as pure a platformer as there can initial third. The music is quite impressive fact it was released way back at the
be. There is nothing extraordinary about but a bit tinny for my ears. Pressing M beginning of the decade. True, it's no
the gameplay mechanics. Your onion can changes the music to random sound great shakes in the originality stakes
move left, right and jump. There are solid effects which were pretty cool, lent a lot but everything it does, it does well.
blocks to walk along or bump your onion to the atmosphere of the game and were
on and there are fatal acid pools. That's preferable to the music. Fantastic presentation, graphics and
it for stationary objects. Enemies patrol sound, which most people may have
left and right and flying enemies glide up LIKES thought nigh on impossible to squeeze
and down. There are also darker coloured out of a humble 8-bit computer like
background blocks just to give the place For this machine the graphics and sound are this, which is nowhere near as powerful
a bit more scenery. There's no conveyor classy. It's a simple platformer pretty well as its big brother.
belts, no crumbling blocks, no moving polished in all areas. The number of lives
blocks and nothing to collect. There's not feels suitable to allow you to progress. It's a
even any display showing your current game I think all ages will enjoy, one of those
score. Your ranking is given at the end games that will instantly appeal to many
based on how many screens you made it gamers and have them hooked on it.
through. You simply have to get from A to
B which is through over 40 rooms, laid out DISLIKES
in a fairly linear fashion. VERDICT
The game was a bit too difficult for
It's all about timing your jumps and testing me but that's not to say that others GFX -----> 88%
dexterity. Fortunately your blob (I thought will find this hard. I also preferred SFX -----> 80%
it was an Onion - Ed) can change direction the sound effects to the music. FUN -----> 92%
in mid air which is very handy indeed. It could be a bit laborious at first
OVERALL - 88%

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 Reviews Commodore

Code & GFX: Stefan Mader

SFX: Ronny Krueger (Starbuck), Luca by John Davies
Carrafiello (Luca) @retrorekall
Platform: C16/ Plus 4

K ate is back in this sequel to 2015's

Majesty of Sprites by Bauknecht. This
time she has been chosen to bring back
yourself. All this really helps the player
immerse themselves in the game.
are no teleports into or out of the place
like there are with the first game and its
smaller areas. This seamless transition
the last known spellstone of The Ancients The sequel now has the feel of a proper through different parts of the same huge
of Zador to the world of Azur. Kate does adventure game where you are given tasks area is much more appealing and again
nothing but think about Zador all day and to perform to progress through the game gives a sense of a proper adventure game.
night so she's well up for it. rather than just collecting hearts. Pulling There are various triggers, such as push
down on the joystick enables you to read buttons on the floor, which open up
GAMEPLAY

At the beginning of the game you are

given the option to enter a level code.
You're then asked to select the game's
skill level. Easy, medium or hard. So this
sequel is a lot like the first game. In fact
it's more like chapter two of the original.
The satisfying stomping on enemies' heads
mechanic makes a welcome return but
this time around everything in the world
looks a lot more colourful and varied
than before. You can also pull down on
the joystick to do a sliding move in the
direction you're facing.

Once you start moving you immediately

notice the push scrolling that has been
introduced. So none of the frustrating
disadvantages of the flick screen mechanic
from the first game rear their ugly heads.
This addition in itself makes the game
The only status shown on screen during the game are the rectangles
much more enjoyable to play. There is
showing your energy!
a minimal amount of info shown on the
screen in the status area, if it can be called
that. Energy is shown as tiny rectangles signs, receive messages and talk to people. different parts of the game. Eventually
in the bottom left hand corner and that's You can regain energy by collecting hearts. you find a stone which tells you the level
it. You start off with seven lives each Small hearts add one energy bar if you is complete. Then you get a bit more story
with five energy bars but you wouldn't don't have the full five. Large hearts can and a level code. Graphics in this game are
know it as lives are not shown anywhere be picked up to fill the energy level to the even better than the first. They're quite
unless you die and a message pops up. maximum. The play areas are now massive. similar but seem to be a lot more colourful.
Even when you're given three bullets near Usually when a task is completed what The spot effects are fine and the in-game
the beginning of the adventure this is not once was blocked becomes open and you tune is quite a decent one but it can feel a
shown anywhere. You have to keep track progress further through the area. There bit bothersome after a while.

128
 Reviews Commodore

The gap going down was opened by solving one of the many Graphics vary from area to area and are usually very
puzzles in the game. colourful.

Large hearts give you full energy. Unlike in Majesty Of A lot of the graphics are purely aesthetic and don’t involve
Sprites, the water doesn't ever kill you in this game. themselves in the game mechanics.

VERDICT
LIKES GFX -----> 96%
Push scrolling is a massive improvement over the flick screen mechanics of the first game.
Colour improvements to the graphics and the huge play areas are a big plus. The lack of
hardly any on screen status adds to the atmosphere of an already immersive game. A great SFX -----> 82%
soundtrack plays throughout reminiscent of some of the best platformer games ever made,
I can't recall where I have heard it before but it's oh so familiar. You move at quite a bit of
speed around the screens making the game high on playability. FUN -----> 95%
DISLIKES
After a while, the music can start to grate. And the less said about that loud 'blop' sound,
the better. The screen movement at times seemed to be a little out of sync especially if
you drop from a height and hit the ground the screen seemed a little bit behind at times.
OVERALL
Other than that there's nothing else to dislike.

94%
VERDICT
A fantastic platformer sequel which improves on the original with better graphics and
gameplay and completely eradicates the flaws that were apparent mainly due to the dodgy
flick screen mechanics of the first game. Another class game from Stefan Mader and
Bauknecht team.

129 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

Developer: ZeroPaige by Gordon King

@uvtkingy
Ah Mario, a flagship title for
Nintendo and one of the most
iconic gaming mascots; copied Kingdom, evade all
by many but perfected by of the evil minions
none. Nintendo is renowned and jump onto the
for vehemently defending its intellectual flagpole at the end of
property. Look at the last time we almost each level. Easier said
had a perfect clone for the Commodore: than done, as there
Great Giana Sisters caused such an uproar are many perils along
that Nintendo’s strong influence the way. Fortunately,
convinced the makers to withdraw the Mario has some tricks
game’s release as it broached upon up his sleeves. He is
copyright infringement. Fast forward a rather fond of the
few decades and the same thing potent mushrooms
happened when this port was released for in the land and, when
the C64. Luckily for us at Blast Towers, we consumed, they
got our little gaming mitts on it before double him in size
the Cease and Desist was issued. (acting as an extra life). There are also DISLIKES
plants scattered around the levels which
HISTORY give him the ability to shoot fireballs There is very little to dislike. Yes, it’s a
towards his numerous foes. The game is conversion and not something original.
Mario has had a long and illustrious career, broken into overground, underground and Some may ask what is the point in playing
starting with his origins in Donkey Kong castle sections, the latter having end of this on the C64 when the original is readily
and featuring in well over 100 games to level boss fights. The game is divided into available? I would normally be inclined
date (including cameos). This irrepressible eight worlds with four levels on each. They to agree, but this is exceptional and
plumber is going nowhere anytime soon. He progressively get harder and provide an worthy of playing. But that’s me erring
remains one of the most popular veterans excellent platforming challenge for the on positivity in a dislike section. The only
of Nintendo’s long video gaming history. willing player. thing I don’t like is when playing this on
Super Mario Bros, released in 1985 on real hardware - you are playing with the
the NES took the simple idea from the ’83 LIKES joystick and “up” for jump is one of my pet
arcade version and ran with it creating the hates. Clearly, there is nothing you can
foundations for which every main Mario Being a huge fan of the NES original, and do about that as that’s how the joystick is
game has followed since. This original a loyal fan since, I went into this version set up on the Commodore. The only other
version still proves to be both challenging skeptical. Oh my, how surprised I was – this thing I noticed was some slight slowdown
and charming to this day and it was with is one very faithful conversion and it plays at times, but this is minimal.
delight to see it being released for the like a dream. The controls are just as tight –
Commodore 64. it actually handles like a Mario game should. VERDICT
The graphics, although duller with the C64’s
GAMEPLAY chalky palette are outstanding – they pretty Absolute proof of the power of the C64.
much match the original. The music is great This is one marvelous conversion that really
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, too with the SID tune replicating the merry deserves to be played. It’s just a shame
this section will be like telling one’s melodies as best as the 3 channels allow. I Nintendo forced the withdrawal of it.
grandmother how to suck eggs. Just in half expected the game not to be full length
case anyone is a Mario virgin, here it is… either, but in discovery that it was the “full
package”, I can only acknowledge that this
Hard times have befallen The Mushroom is one hell of a triumph. It shows the
staying power of the C64 and in the
VERDICT
Kingdom. Black magic has cursed the land
and the only person who can thwart it is right hands, a programmer can do
GFX -----> 91%
some really miraculous stuff on this
Princess Toadstool. Sadly, she has been
kidnapped by King Bowser and this is aging system.
SFX -----> 83%
where Mario comes in to play – he must get FUN -----> 92%
through all the zones in the Mushroom
OVERALL - 94%

130
 Reviews Commodore

Code: Skoro
GFX: Kichy by John Davies
SFX: Csabo @retrorekall
Platform: C16/ Plus 4

T his is a Bomberman clone by the

renowned Assassins group (ASN). It
has twenty-four scenes split into four
zones. When you first load it up for the
first time it presents as a very cool-
looking game but does it have the staying
power to stay a very cool game? John
Davies sets more than a few exploding
bombs in his mission to find out.

DEVELOPER: Skoro

The Plus/4 is a machine without sprites,
yet developer Skoro was able to create
software sprites. Just how did he do this?
He made four real software sprites. The
game has a very fast soft sprite routine in it
which draws four (one player + 3 enemies)
sprites. The drawing of fourth enemy is
incomplete caused by drawing of the bomb extra bomb bonus, bomb explosion DISLIKES
explosion. radius bonus and speed up boots bonus,
but there are a few differences. Unlike Your character moves far too slowly. The
GAMEPLAY Bomberman your boosts don't carry over graphics aren't that colourful for a game of
to the next scene, there's no exit to find, this type. They just feel a little bland for me
The title screen, with it's wonderfully you just have to blow up all the bricks in a even though they do change with each new
bouncy tune cycles through credits, scene to finish it. The enemies are not quite zone you reach.
instructions and Hall of Champions. From as clever as those in Bomberman and they
the off it becomes immediately apparent don't get blocked by bombs either. The VERDICT
that this is a Dyna Blaster / Bomberman graphics do their job but not much more.
clone. You start the game by pressing space The scenes are not as colourful as I would A decent, fun-to-play Bomberman clone
or fire. You can enter a passcode to start at have expected. The colours seem so limited that retains most of what makes the
the point you've already reached as these that It could almost pass as a Spectrum original so good. Music and sound effects
are given each time you complete a scene. game. The in-game music is almost as jolly are so addictive they are a real standout
as the title screens. It matches the pace of feature of the game. Overall though I felt
The stages of the game are split into zones the gameplay quite well. it is a bit behind as far as player movement
which are themselves split into scenes. and colourful graphics are concerned. I
The first stage is Jungle Zone - Scene 1. LIKES have seen far worse so for the machine's
The status line at the bottom of the screen capabilities Xplode Man remains a very cool
shows score, lives and time remaining to The game retains most of the important game one that Bomberman gamer fans will
complete the current scene. When time elements in Bomberman and it's fun to play. certainly enjoy.
runs out it doesn't matter how many lives The tune and sound effects are just divine.
you have remaining it's game over. Once So much so you will have them in your head
the scene starts and you begin playing for many hours and weeks after you put
you'll probably notice that your little fella down the game. They are just so VERDICT
positively crawls along without any boosts addictive if not more so than the
and then suddenly he becomes The Flash wonderfully winning formula of the
GFX -----> 72%
overnight once he puts a sock on. gameplay. Explosions are just so cool - SFX -----> 85%
exactly how they should be for a game FUN -----> 85%
It seems to have all things Bomberman, like of this kind.
OVERALL - 80%

131 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

by Andrew Fisher
@merman1974

Developers: Alf Yngve, Martin Piper, Richard

Bayliss OVERALL: 77%

B ased on a horror novel by designer Alf Yngve, this spooky game

sees detective Innis Garris (Homicide Squad at Precinct 20)
investigating several weird events in the city.

Created using the Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK), the

enhancements by Martin Piper and Richard Bayliss allow this
horizontally-scrolling game to be non-linear with pathways shown
by arrows. Shops can be entered to upgrade the detective’s main
weapon (which starts as a torch with limited range). His remaining
energy is shown by a skull in the lower border that gradually gets
more bloody. Helping create the atmosphere are the well-drawn
graphics (including large character sprites) and moody music
composed by Richard Bayliss. Text screens at the start and end
of the game emphasise the story, with the game split into two
separately loaded parts; a password must be obtained from part 1
to unlock part 2 and the different endings. At first the game is very All in all a very unusual and well-designed game that breaks the
tough as you get used to the torch and the branching paths. The barriers of what is possible with SEUCK.
story is compelling and the atmosphere works really well to keep
you playing.

OVERALL: 33%

Developer: Ras Bolding

R as Bolding created this SEUCK game as a birthday present for

fellow Danish scener SIDWAVE. It is a very basic space-based
shoot ‘em up. The player’s small ship flies over space and then
platforms, fighting off attacking ships and tanks. There are many
better SEUCK games out there.

download:
csdb.dk/release/?id=180033

OVERALL: 40%

Developers: design by Commodore Spain, music by

Gregfeel

In this sideways SEUCK game, the player controls a Spanish road-

cleaning truck and must sweep the streets clean of rubbish.
Hazards include cyclists, bags of rubbish and oil spills. Trucks, rats
and birds will also attack the player. Picking up the cans of gas
earns bonus points, helping towards an extra life every 10,000
points. At the end of scrolling level is a boss-style encounter. The
chunky graphics (produced using expanded sprites) are quite good
but the difficulty level is set very high. The music and loading
screen are extra presentation touches, but the gameplay won’t
keep you captivated for long.

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 Reviews Commodore

by Andrew Fisher
Developer: Sarah Jane Avory @merman1974
Publisher: Protovision
Available for download at:
GAME DEVELOPER sarahjaneavory.itch.io/santron

Sarah Jane Avory entered her vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em up

Neutron into the RGCD 16K Cartridge Coding Competition (see
separate article) and has now made a new Christmas-themed version
available.

GAMEPLAY

Jack Frost is determined to ruin Christmas, so he has cast a

spell over various items associated with Christmas! Use the new
S.A.N.T.A.H.A.T.01 space fighter and put an end to Jack's mischief!
Be on the watch out for perilous peppermint swirls, killer snowmen,
kamikaze icicles, plasma spitting sugar mice, charging turkey legs,
and other assorted twisted adversaries. But help is on hand, so
lookout for useful floating presents, each with a power-up bauble Collect the 'P' bauble to power up.
inside. Only you can save Christmas, so strap in, and blast off! There
are nine different levels to conquer, with three different snowy
graphic themes and three different Christmas tunes. The gameplay
is the same as Neutron – blast the flying aliens, destroy ground
features and pick up power-ups. There are small mini-bosses and
a large end-of-level boss to defeat. The new graphics include a
present hiding the power-up bauble, enemies including Christmas
puddings, holly and flying crackers, and a boss that looks like a
Christmas wreath. One addition to the original’s gameplay is the
bonus count. Destroying the background blocks marked with a B or a
b awards bonus points, counted up at the end of the level.

LIKES

Neutron was one of my favourites in the 16K competition, so this

new version is very welcome. The graphics are great and really carry Fighting the first boss!
off the Christmas theme. The title screen has a bouncing title and a
nice snow/starfield behind it. The music is very good too. This is the
same Starforce-inspired game with a new coat of paint, and it plays
very well indeed.

DISLIKES

The only thing that has really changed is the presentation.

Otherwise this is the same game, with the attack waves appearing VERDICT
in the same places. The difficulty is still quite high, even with the
autofire option on. GFX -----> 88%
SFX -----> 85%
VERDICT FUN -----> 89%
Deck the holly, blast the boughs and shoot up the halls! OVERALL - 88%

133 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Commodore

OVERALL: 89%
Developer: Carl-Henrik Skårstedt, Stein Pedersen

S pace Orbs started life as an entry to the RGCD 16K coding

competition (see separate article) but was released without
sound or music. Carl-Henrik (who created strategy game Space
Moguls) continued to work on the game and Stein Pedersen
composed the music.

The story sees aliens attacking Earth with biological weapons

stored in coloured orbs, which will detonate if they reach critical
mass. The player controls a pair of spaceships, one on each side,
that can pick up and move the orbs to create horizontal lines of
three or more orbs of the same colour. Orbs can also be passed
from one spaceship to the other. When a line is cleared by making
a colour match, unsupported orbs above it will fall closer to the
Earth and periodically new groups of orbs drop from the top of The options help tailor the game, including whether the player can
the screen. A gauge shows how close to critical mass the orbs are, switch sides manually. A pleasing puzzle game that is best played
prevented by removing them quickly; clear enough of the orbs in short bursts.
and play moves on to the next level. The difficulty curve is well-
designed, with extra colours and greater numbers of starting orbs download:
appearing as the levels increase. The music adds a lot to the game sakrac.itch.io/space-orbs
and it is very nicely presented.

OVERALL: 51%

Developer: Jim64

T his is one of the games designed for use with the VR64, a set of
virtual reality goggles for use with the C64.

Jim has designed them with twin screens to give a pseudo-3D

effect. The game itself sees the player standing at a crossroads,
rotating their view along the diverging streets as they try to fend
off attacks from approaching enemies. Different weapons can
be selected with the function keys and each has a limited ammo
capacity.

When the enemies get close enough they start to attack the
player, reducing their health. An interesting addition to this download:
update was the ability to use the Atari Driving Controller 64jim64.blogspot.com/2017/09/vr64-virtual-
(effectively a type of paddle that can be rotated) to rotate the
player’s view. Without the goggles it looks odd, and the graphics
reality-goggles-for.html
are not very sophisticated.

Developer: TurtlePanda Games

T his cute one-button game was an entry into the Game Off 2019
game jam, developed during November 2019. TurtlePanda
Games is a husband and wife duo, and this is their first C64 game
The player controls a frog, starting out on a static lily pad. By
holding the fire button (port 1), the frog will make a longer jump
to try and reach the next moving lily pad – a rising tone tells you
– inspired by Robin Harbron’s 8-Bit Show & Tell YouTube channel. how far the frog will attempt to jump.

134
 Reviews Commodore

OVERALL: 68%
The longer the successful jump, the more points scored. The frog
is well animated and the scrolling background is very nicely drawn.
There is also a pleasant tune playing in the background. It takes
a few goes to get used to the controls so you will be seeing the
splash animation a lot. But once you get the hang of jumping it is a
fun little diversion.

download:
turtlepanda.itch.io/lily-lander (pay what you
want)

Developer: Skleptoid
OVERALL: 64%

T he story behind this game is fascinating, with the creator

having started work on it using Garry Kitchen’s Game Maker
utility back in 1988 and finally releasing it this year.

The well-drawn title screen allows the player to select one of three
difficulty levels. Then the action starts with the large heroine
shooting down the alien bugs. A counter bottom-right shows the
current energy, reduced by any contact with the enemy. Stepping
on the flashing squares pushes the player back, but shooting them
will increase the player’s energy. When the energy runs out the
player dies and the spaceship is overrun by the alien swarm.
If the player eliminates all the smaller bugs, a large boss alien
attacks. The graphics are good and it looks complex for something
made with this particular “creation” tool. What is not clear is
how long the player will keep playing, with the smaller enemies
difficult to hit. Fair play for sticking with the idea, but it needed download:
more depth and variety. csdb.dk/release/?id=182036

OVERALL: 89%
Developers: Elysium – Brush, Digger, psych8580,
Shogoon plus Carrion/Bonzai and Copyfault

T his classic isometric adventure from Ocean – inspired by but

not licensed from the film of the same name – was notoriously
slow on the C64 as it was based on the Spectrum code.

The aim of the game is to escape a German prisoner of war camp,

with Red Cross parcels arriving to provide help. The unique thing
was that, if left alone, the player’s character would “follow” the
camp routine to avoid suspicion, only breaking away under player
control but in danger of being caught by the guards in the wrong
place. Brush and Digger of Elysium set about optimising the
game’s code to increase the speed, resulting in a 15 times speed
increase. This 115% version also benefits from a new title screen
by Carrion (based on the original game’s artwork) and a nice title
tune by Shogoon. playing guide to help you get used to the game.

All in all it is worth playing this updated version if you were a fan download:
of the original, but for everyone else it is best to consult a map/ csdb.dk/release/?id=178037

135 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Spectrum

ALIENS: NEOPLASMA
Developer: SaNchez Group - Aleksander
Udotov, Nik-O and Eugene Rogulin
Platform: ZXSpectrum 128K by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

If you have ever seen the GAMEPLAY

1986 movie, Aliens, by
Director James Cameron You play a Lieutenant known
and starring Sigourney Weaver, then as Ashley Smith on board
Aliens Neoplasma will be instantly the spaceship Achilles.
recognizable to you. It brings together As you progress through your
the best qualities of the Aliens movie spaceship, there are
into an extraordinary 128kb game. This computer terminals to
one player sci-fi shoot 'em up, adventure, interact with that give you
is one of the best games you will play on messages from the on-board
any 8-bit platform in 2019. navigation system that
generally help you find your
HISTORY way around the spacecraft.
However it is solely up to you
Aliens Neoplasma was developed by the to rid the giant aliens and
SaNchez coding team especially for entry their annoying face hugger
into the 2018 ZX-DEV M.I.A Remakes siblings from the decks of the Achilles,
competition. Receiving 13,120 points by allowing you to escape safely. You do so The game resembles Alien³ by Acclaim
the judges, it took home first place to beat by running, jumping, crawling and climbing which was released for 16-bit consoles
all the other 20 entries in this fantastic ZX through each of the flip screens that you in 1993. There are two different endings
Speccy game development contest. uncover. It's shoot (to kill) first and ask - a good ending and a bad ending. If you
questions later in this gripping platform- have seen the Aliens movie and are an
DEVELOPER: based run and gun survival game. avid multi platform gamer, you will feel
SaNchez Group instantly aware of the plot and gameplay
Collecting health packs is essential to of Aliens: Neoplasma. It has many
In 2018, the SaNchez coding team won 1st escaping and so too is collecting lots of similarities with a few minor changes.
place in the ZX DEV conversions contest ammo to load up your rifle. There are ammo
with the entry of Mighty Final Fight. They stations scattered around the decks of the
have been profilic game developers for ship allowing you to load up and go gun
the ZX Spectrum since 2012. Other games crazy when you encounter an alien. You
SaNchez group are credited with for the can also throw grenades at aliens before
Spectrum include: Asteroid 512 (2012), they get near, sending your enemies to a
Survivisection (2012), Castlevania: gruesome death.
Spectral Interlude (2015) and Vradark's
Sphere (2018). The games they have made
have seen them establish and build a very
good reputation.

Thank goodness that huge alien can’t climb up like

they do in the movie!

136
 Reviews Spectrum

One on one combat - shoot to kill first then ask Heading to the medi station to replenish energy
questions later! reserves.

Access to computer terminal in the centre of the Look alive, Lieutenant Ashley Smith, a facehugger
screen, reload your ammo station behind that door. is about to jump you!

LIKES
The atmosphere is brilliant. The eerie sounds are really frightening. In fact, they're scary!
The pulsating soundtrack brings with it a sense of urgency and adrenalin. The graphics
are incredible. Animation and sprite movement is just so smooth. The playing area looks VERDICT
fantastic. It’s a great simulation of running, crawling and climbing inside a spaceship. The

GFX -----> 97%

colours used work well, adding a great feel to playing the game. The size of the sprites in
particular, your character and the Aliens are huge. I like the way it heightens all your senses,
in particular the feeling of danger signals going off in your brain. A multitude of various
weapons and blowing up aliens looks so damn fantastic! and the opening and closing of the
doors adds more to the strategy of the gameplay than you realize.
SFX -----> 98%
DISLIKES
The game has a high degree of difficulty for beginners but I feel that more experienced
gamers will feel right at home with the difficulty level. Beginners may feel like they are
FUN -----> 90%
going around in circles at times, I certainly felt like that when I began playing.
Some may feel the background colours and your character sprite clash
making it hard to see your character at times, but really there isn’t a
whole lot to dislike. The facehugger attacks are probably the biggest
annoyance of the game.
OVERALL

97%
VERDICT
Aliens: Neoplasma is a very worthy winner of the 2018 ZX-DEV M.I.A Remakes competition.
A wonderfully atmospheric, pulse pumping run and gun adventure, ticking all the right
boxes to be one of the best games of 2019. With brilliant graphics and tunes, this is a sci-fi
adventure gaming classic of its time.

137 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Spectrum

Developer: Tom Dalby by Gordon King

Platform: ZX Spectrum 128/48k @uvtkingy

G amers as old as myself will recall PSS’s Maze Death Race

for the 16k variant of the Spectrum. It was a bland affair,
but I stuck with it back in the early 80’s as that’s all there was
as a substitute for the arcade classic Rally X. Some argue that
Ultimate’s Trans Am was far more arcade-like and certainly more
fun. But for me, although brilliant, the house of Sabreman played
too loosely with the concept and delivered a much different
experience. Gone were the confines of the maze and the player
was racing across the American continent, as suggested by the
title. Surprisingly, it has taken all these years for a good rendition
of this classic to come out on our beloved home computer. Is it too
little too late? Or does it fill the void which remains unfilled?

HISTORY

Way back in 1980, Namco continued on with their success of

Pacman, and by using the same arcade board, they created a LIKES
similar concept of a maze game. Gone were the ghosts and
power pills, gone was the static single screen maze, instead Although there are differences, when compared like for like
they replaced it with cars, clouds of dust and a scrolling against the arcade version, this wonderful Speccy version
playfield. Although not as successful as the aforementioned is convincing enough to make you believe you are playing
Pacman, arcade lovers look fondly upon this title as one that is the real McCoy. With its vivid colours, fast scrolling screen
iconic of its era. and addictive gameplay, the spirit of the arcade is captured
perfectly. It’s very responsive to play and keeps you coming
DEVELOPER: Tom Dalby back for more. Obviously, this version takes ideas from both
the 1980 original and the redux 1981 version called “New
Game developer Tom Dalby has been dabbling in game Rally X”, which on the 128k version, you get to hear the AY
development on the ZX Spectrum since 2011. He has entered rendition of the chirpy tune. The sound effects are good too,
mini game comps as well as creating full games before without distracting from the background music.
the release of Death Rally-X. He has been credited with a
number of game titles including: 2k RGB Challenge (2011), DISLIKES
4k Tap-N-Join (2011), Catch The Cash (2011), DNA 1k
(2012), Drag'njoin4k (2012), Fadv: Flynn's Adventure (Never It is a dated style of game in comparison to what has been
Released), Flynn's Adventure In Bombland (2011), Lost In released on the Spectrum in recent years. What I mean by that
Maze (2011) and The Order Of Mazes (2015). is, it's not attempting to be a technical marvel.

GAMEPLAY VERDICT

The premise is very simple in this title. As the driver of a rally The single best thing this remake does is convince the player
car you must locate all the flags hidden within the 4-way that it is a title that could have easily have been released back
scrolling maze and avoid the enemy cars that give pursuit. To in the day, rather than be a modern homebrew title. It shows
aid you in your search for the flags, the right hand side of the what was capable of the Speccy in a way that was possible
screen displays a scanner showing the location of each flag. It back then.
doesn’t show you the maze pattern, but it is a good indicator
of “as the crow flies” how to get to them.

That may sound like an easy task, but there are many dead
ends to the maze and perilous rockfalls also block the way. If
that wasn’t enough, you have to remember that there will be
cars tailgating you and you need to use the scanner wisely to VERDICT
evade them as they are indicated on it too.
GFX -----> 79%
However, there is a handy, limited smokescreen that you can SFX -----> 85%
fire upon the enemy allowing you to stun them for you to
escape their grasp. Once all the flags are collected, it’s on FUN -----> 88%
to the next level where there are more cars than there was
before. The landscape and maze also changes as you progress. OVERALL - 86%

138
 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall
Code: Cristián González, Alvin Albrecht, Einar Saukas
GFX: Cristián González, Igor Errazking
SFX: Sergio Vaquer "Beykersoft", Davos

S o what happens when you do a mashup of Manic Miner and

Pietro, a guy who bears a startling resemblance to someone a lot
more famous than Miner Willy? Manic Pietro of course. I'm surprised
the video games giant Nintendo didn't rain down on these guys like
a ton of bricks and then some to be honest, as they're notoriously
quick at shutting down anything that infringes on their IP.

DEVELOPERS

Cristián González, Alvin Albrecht and Einar Saukas previously

released the ZX Spectrum games Gandalf (2018) and Pietro Bros
(2016). Gandalf received an overall score of 82% by reviewer
Dougie Mcg in 8-Bit Annual 2019 publication. Residing in Spain, Igor
Errazking is well known in the 8-bit scene, he attends many retro You'll quickly notice that each is based on another quite famous
events annually. He is currently a member of Hokuto Force and ex game, and not always a Spectrum game, ranging from Donkey Kong
member of Sputnik World and creates many games with the Shoot to Dr. You Know Who to.... Well I don't want to spoil it all for you,
‘Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK) for the C64. His game The Hunter, suffice to say there's plenty from the Spectrum library and more
received 1st place at SEUCK Game Creation Compo 2016. stuff from The Big Japanese 'N'.

GAMEPLAY The graphics are impressive and colourful. You could probably
tell which game most screens were about without knowing the
This is basically Manic Miner with bells and whistles in a familiar giveaway title. The audio for the game is pretty good too. The
style to the plumber's games, and many others. It even has a cut in-game music is a version of The Blue Danube which was the title
scene story at the start where Pietro isn't even thinly disguised as screen music in the original Manic Miner. The tune does change
somebody other than the famous Italian game character. Controls on certain screens as well. Each introductory screen comes with a
are identical in style and functionality to Manic Miner as are the brief William Tell overture jingle. The spot effects for jumping and
block types, objects and exits. Even the familiar Monty Python style collecting things are also quite colourful. Last but not least there’s
boot stomping makes its usual appearance at Game Over. the bonus of the original Manic Miner levels, which can be unlocked
once you complete the main game.
This game is just as much fun as Manic Miner, maybe more so as it's
fresher and has content more familiar to most people around the LIKES
globe. I feel it's a bit easier than Manic Miner as the level design
seems less devious and the routes to take are more straightforward. I love the idea that each screen ties into a famous game from the
The level names are shown in the nice little intro to each screen as past. I know it's been done before but this game does it particularly
well as on the play screens themselves. well.

DISLIKES

The movement of Pietro is not quite as smooth as say Miner Willy.

The control is fine. It just doesn't look as nice as it could have.

VERDICT

If you're a Spectrum or Nintendo fan, and you like platform

games, you'll probably love this one.

VERDICT
GFX -----> 86%
SFX -----> 85%
FUN -----> 88%
OVERALL - 87%

139 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Spectrum

Code & GFX: Salva Kantero by Dougie Mcg

Music: Davidian @Dougie9mcg
Tape Cover: Masterklown

B ooty was originally released to critical acclaim

way back in 1984. Personal Computer News
magazine, number 82 (page 48, 13/10/1984) gave
Booty an 8 out of 10. For their entry to the 2018
ZX DEV MIA Remakes contest, Salva Kantero and
Davidian decided to re-imagine this classic ZX Spectrum game.
It received 6th place overall, scoring 12,210 points from the
judges. Dougie Mcg finds out if their remake has turned out as
a good or bad tribute to the classic game.

DEVELOPERS: Salva Kantero & Davidian

Salva Kantero (Salvador Cantero) has been tinkering away at

The game features some wonderful platforming elements with
creating 8-bit games for quite a few years now. In 2016, he teamed
disappearing floors and floating platforms to traverse. Every level
up with musician Davidian, releasing the very impressive Car Wars comes with its own tune, all of which capture the atmosphere
on the Spectrum and in 2017 he released Robbie Strikes Back, a perfectly. The music by Davidian is outstanding throughout and will
tribute to the original Spectrum game Pssst!, on the Amstrad CPC. be stuck in your head for weeks afterwards.

GAMEPLAY The levels become progressively more difficult and often require
entering and exiting via different doors in order to unlock the
The plot of the game is set out as follows: Jim the cabin boy wants gates and claim the treasure from places previously impossible
to take advantage of the stay of his boat in Port Royal to fulfil to reach. The problem-solving element adds significantly to the
his own plans in the future. As bold as brass, he is ready to keep gameplay and will sometimes have you scratching your head over
the 125 pieces of treasure which are distributed by the galleon the best path to take.
warehouse and flee as far away as possible. So in a break from
tradition you are playing the bad guy who is solely out for personal This never seems laborious though and the game is fun to play from
gain encompassing the true spirit of being a pirate! start to finish. There are now 2 versions of Booty (The Remake)
to play. The first has various colourful backgrounds and the second
Booty was originally coded by John F. Cain and released by Firebird uses black for every screen. This cuts down on the clutter but loses
on the 13th October 1984. It was an instant hit, receiving rave some of the charm in doing so.
reviews including a 93% 'Crash Smash'. This was British Telecom’s
first arcade game and they certainly did not fail to deliver the
goods. Fast forward around 35 years and we have a remake of
the original formula. Salva Kantero brings a fresh approach to the
classic formula with new graphics and level designs. This is not so
much of a remake as a completely new game and it is all the better
for it.

The basic gameplay remains the same with the gradual process
of unlocking numbered doors with numbered keys to collect the
125 items of treasure. As in the original, there are twenty separate
interconnected rooms to tackle on the way to escaping with your
fortune. Along the way there are pirates, rats and parrots to avoid
and doing so can often be tricky, requiring expert timing.

140
 Reviews Spectrum

A lot of work is required to get to the exit screen.

VERDICT
Doing well, but it’s getting tougher now that I'm
on level 6.
GFX -----> 88%
SFX -----> 98%
LIKES
This is a wonderful tribute to the original game. The gameplay seems fresh yet familiar FUN -----> 93%
at the same time and the puzzle elements of the game strike the perfect balance
between challenge and enjoyment. The music is different for every screen and engaging

OVERALL
throughout.

DISLIKES

As is the case with so many games like this, the ladders mechanic can often result in cheap

92%
deaths where the slightest misjudgement can be extremely frustrating. This could also be
seen as part of the challenge though and is in no way game breaking.

VERDICT
Booty (The Remake) is a perfect example of how to pay homage to an old classic. It
captures the spirit of the original while offering a brand new challenge. The level design is
excellent throughout and the game is a truly enjoyable experience.

141 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Developer: Narwhal / Shiru

P .T.M is an AGDx driven remake of Licence to Kill developed

by Narwhal for the 2018, ZX Dev MIA Remakes contest. It
received 17th place (10,332 points). You are Agent 98 on the verge
effects. I appreciate the tight deadline for the contest and it's an
ambitious effort with nice ideas. But the game is let down by a
large number of flaws which unfortunately turn good into average.
of retirement when your arch enemy Leche Lacto suddenly turns
up. You need to sort him out before you can retire. The game
alternates between Operation Wolf-style shooter and a platform
shooter.

Unfortunately the controls are a bit sluggish and unresponsive.

Sometimes you shoot enemies but they don't die. You cannot
jump and shoot at the same time. Ladders are also a bit dodgy,
sometimes unfairly killing you off with an unwanted jump at the
top. There's no count of the objects collected to open the exit and
no clue as to how many objects you need to collect.
The final stage has you chasing the bad guys' boat which you
shoot a few times until it explodes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. An
average player, yours truly, finished the game on the first attempt.
Graphics are animated well, but the screen scenery and platforms
are a bit run-of-the-mill and there's a severe lack of colour. Much VERDICT
of the screen area is usually black on white and some platforms are
literally black blocks. ZX81 version coming soon.
OVERALL - 69%
Audio is a half decent action-type tune and some basic beeper spot

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Developer: Madaxe (José Mário Machado) and Fred

W ith a name like Sardonic, which means grimly mocking or

cynical, and developed by Penisoft from Portugal, I wasn't
expecting very much and this game lived up to my expectations.
It’s a shame because it’s presented well and you can see the
potential. A missed opportunity for what could have been a very
good game.

This is a Spectrum version of the PC game released in 2003 by the

same guy, MadAxe (Aka. José Mário Machado from Portugal),
who seems to be a one man band. In this vertical shooter you must
destroy all the enemies that come straight down the screen on
each level to get to the boss. There are five very similar levels with
no backgrounds and a bunch of randomly dropped power-ups you
can collect for extra fire, points, smart bombs and lives. Enemy
ships are Blue going straight down the screen, with single bullets
going straight down the screen.

Green going straight down the screen, with double bullets going
straight down the screen. White going very fast straight down
the screen, without bullets and Red also going straight down the
screen requiring a couple of hits to destroy. End of level bosses.
Going straight down the screen? Nope, from side to side like
VERDICT
a giant, demented Space Invader firing lots of bullets that go
straight down the screen. The almost complete lack of variation
means it’s a tedious plod of a game that an average six year old
could complete on the first attempt.
OVERALL - 65%

142
 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Developer: IADVD

T his is a multi screen platform game by IADVD using the Mojon

Twins La Churrera engine MK1. The theme is unsurprisingly
based around Blade Runner. You play Weon who's been told by
Unfortunately It's just your average platform game and nothing
more.

Rytell Corp that he's a Lepricant. They stole his photos before he
could escape. He plans to get all seventeen of them back from the
Rytell Junk Recycling Facility, destroy all eighty Rade Blunners and
Octobots in his way and escape from the city by returning to the
facility entrance.

Areas are made of the usual pass through blocks, impassable wall
blocks and fatal blocks (Koight-Vampff machines deplete your
energy). There are also lifts. The enemies move left and right or
up and down and can be killed by jumping on their heads. Access
cards can be found and used to open doors. Paper cranes give you
energy and the photos you need to collect are strewn around the
whole area.

This is a typical La Churrera game. You can move left, right and
jump around. There's nothing really wrong with it but it's like VERDICT
most other games of this type, created with this engine. It has
nothing really new to offer at all. Everything about it screams
generic platformer. So it's not as fun or exciting as it might have
OVERALL - 72%
been if a few new mechanics or ideas were thrown into the mix.

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Developer: Luca Bordoni

A tlantis ZX is a Spectrum version of the Atari VCS game

developed by Luca Bordoni using AGDx.
It's well fashioned and a fair remake but it's a bit basic for a
Spectrum game. Good for a blast if you're short on time. A casual
game you might call it.
The opening menu allows you to play with keyboard or Kempston
joystick, or define the keys before you start. Unfortunately there
is no Patrick Duffy option which I'm sure would have livened up
proceedings. You have three turrets, left, right and centre of
the screen used to defend the underwater city of Atlantis from
invading enemy spacecraft.

They fly across the sky at varying speeds getting lower and lower
until they are just above sea level. At this point they fire down a
laser beam from their undercarriage that destroys the buildings, or
turrets, below.

You have to use your three turrets to destroy the enemy before
they can get low enough to strike. Your turrets have unlimited
bullets so that's one less thing to think about. If you're playing
with the keyboard you just press one of three keys for each turret.
VERDICT
There's no skill levels or stages. You just keep going until all of
Atlantis has been destroyed. Shame on you Duffy! The graphics
are colourful and detailed and although there's no music there are
some half decent spot effects.
OVERALL - 78%

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 Reviews Spectrum

Code: Denis Grachev

GFX: Denis Grachev, Ivan Seleznev (loading screen) by John Davies
SFX: Oleg Nikitin (music) @retrorekall

F rom the same team who brought you Gluf - Tesla

Frog comes Yazzie. In this game you must guide
your guy around a maze of platforms, ladders and
around arrows. They don't set off bombs but fire pits are also
fatal to them too.
bricks. Collect all the gold bars on each level to
progress to the next, and avoid the other little guys that are Your guy or Yazzie has unlimited lives so there's no game over
roaming about. even if you get set on fire a thousand times. The game doesn't
end until you complete its twenty levels. Levels are well designed
DEVELOPER: Retro Souls and quite varied in layout but not appearance. You can press R to
restart a level if you get stuck or just want to abort the attempt.
Retro Souls has been around for a long time in this retro gaming Graphics are cute 8x8 efforts that seem to make use of the bifrost
caper “keeping da Speccy alive” from as far back as 2011. Some engine which allows more than two colours per character square.
of the games you may know them from include Alter Ego (2011), Very pretty indeed. The music is soothing, with some pleasant
Gravibots (2014) and Lirus (2015). Based in Novosibirsk, Russia, enough spot effects. Neither distracts you from the game.
Retro Souls is a small team who have had a pretty busy 2019
making games not only for the Spectrum but also for the Sega
Mega Drive / Genesis and the MSX platforms.

GAMEPLAY

It's business as usual for a platformer. Climbing ladders and

traversing platforms. You can also drop down through platforms
and dig holes in the brick work if you have a pickaxe. There are
arrows that cause bridges to appear and others that cause a wrap
around effect sending you from the bottom to the top of the
screen. There's also fires all over the place that are fatal to touch.
Timed floor mines which explode a few seconds after you walk
over them leave big holes in the bricks. If you're standing on them
you die but if you stand one square either side of them you don't.
The enemies are able to create bridges too and use the wrap

144
 Reviews Spectrum

On later levels bridges are introduced. Your enemies can also Usually everything on a screen needs to be used to complete
create them using the arrows. the level.

There’s no time limit so if you can find a safe spot you can plot
your route to success.
VERDICT

GFX -----> 88%

SFX -----> 82%
LIKES FUN -----> 90%
The simple Lode Runner-esque gameplay, the professional presentation, graphics, music
and spot effects. Good use and understanding of the colour palette. Large playing area,

OVERALL
20 distinctive levels. Unlimited lives, the sheer fun of it, totally retro, totally cool.

DISLIKES
It's too easy and over all too soon. Only two out of the twenty screens made me think

88%
for longer than a minute. Most screens were completed in a couple of minutes, and I'm
no video game wizard.

VERDICT
It's a wonderful, polished and well presented game. A lot of fun to play but far too easy,
even for the average player.

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 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall
Developer: Matt Jackson

I remember Astro Blaster in the arcades back in

the early eighties and I also remember Astro
Blaster on the ZX Spectrum by Quicksilva. Whilst
original must have been a mammoth task, which I'm glad was
attempted and completed. The audio is almost a carbon copy
of the arcade version in the familiar AY style.
it was a decent enough game, it was absolutely
nothing like its arcade counterpart and I was
extremely disappointed.

Fast forward nearly 40 years later to 2019 and a lovely person

by the name of Matt Jackson has released a real arcade port
version of Astro Blaster for his first ever game. I am extremely
excited.

GAMEPLAY

This is the version of Astro Blaster I wanted to see as a

teenager. It's a nigh on perfect port for the Spectrum.
The graphics are the same as the arcade version bar
the differences in colour due to the Spectrum's colour
limitations, but these differences are not that noticeable.
The enemy attack patterns are exactly as I remember them
from the arcade.
I always had to use the warp on this wave in the arcade
The game is unbelievably close to the arcade original. game and it’s the same in this version too.
At every stage of the game the enemies look and move
exactly as I remember them. Your ship looks the same in
every detail, even down to the way your ship disintegrates
when it's hit. The overheating lazer mechanic is in play and
of course your fuel gauge too.

When meteor storms occur, the graphics are the same as the
original and fuel pickups also occur, although they do seem
to be a bit more frequent in this version. When the docking
ship appears it looks exactly the same as the one in the
arcades.

Even the sound FX are as close to the original arcade game

audio as it possibly could be with the Speccy's AY chip. You
can see it for yourself by playing the arcade original in an
emulator such as MAME and then playing this. This port
has it nailed. Right down to the little things like the game
instructions, the intro screen and the high score entry
mechanism.
A chance to stock up on fuel during the meteor storm.
The graphics are really impressive. The amount of research
required to get them looking and moving just like the arcade

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 Reviews Spectrum

I’ll never forget this first wave of enemies!

Time to dock and collect bonuses after the meteor storm

has passed. VERDICT

GFX -----> 94%

SFX -----> 93%
LIKES
I pretty much liked everything about this game. Gameplay, graphics and sound are all on FUN -----> 99%
point in comparison to the original arcade game.

DISLIKES

There wasn't anything I didn't like. To be honest, I'm still in a state of ecstasy.
OVERALL

96%
VERDICT
A huge wave of nostalgia will flow through anyone who plays this and is aware of the
arcade original. It's almost like having the cabinet in your own home. This is what the
Quicksilva game of the same name released back in 1983 should have been. I quite enjoyed
that game after the initial disappointment of it being nothing like the arcade version but
this just blows it out of the water. It's difficult to believe that this is Matt Jackson's first
game. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

147 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Spectrum

Developer: Rafaele Vico by Gordon King

Platform: ZX Spectrum 128k @uvtkingy

I t’s brave enough to replicate the style of an Ultimate Play The

Game title. To replicate one of the finest arcade experiences
ever to grace the ZX Spectrum, you must have kahunas the size of
I love how the author has taken all the original aliens and
spruced them up. The more varied platforms give the game a
Everest. When Jetpac appeared on our Speccies way back in 1983, less repetitious look to it.
it was the talk-of-the-town. With its slick gameplay and highly
addictive qualities it was considered by many to be game of the
year. DISLIKES

It simply isn’t as fluid to play as the original and has less of an

As the decades moved on by, the popularity of this title never
arcade feel. It feels like an AGD game trying to be Jetpac as
waned; it continued to be in players’ top tens. Jetpac had staying
it’s nigh on impossible to mask the engine’s core mechanics.
power, Jetpac had legacy. Very few came close to capturing the I found the spawning points of the aliens very frustrating as it
magical space dust that this game emitted from our portable TV’s. seemed very limited to where they were coming from at the
Very few considered attempting it. Now after all these years, and sides of the screen. My biggest gripe in the game is the music -
utilising the power given by AGD, can this ultimate homage deliver it grates, it's almost tuneless and it doesn't suit the vibe.
a similar experience to gamers in 2019?

VERDICT
GAMEPLAY
Overall, a very noteworthy attempt but limited within the
Just as with Jetpac, the game is based around single screen constraints of the AGD engine. Fans of the original will
levels in which the player controls a spaceman who has to certainly play this, but will soon drop it in favour of the better
assemble his fragmented spacecraft and then refuel it from version. Perhaps there just isn't room for two Jetpacs in this
the random drops that happen. "Oh, that’s rather easy", I hear world.
you say. That would be all well and good if it wasn’t for the
pesky indiginous aliens that flutter about the world when
you're trying to do your day job. Fortunately, and armed with
a laser blaster with a depleting charge, the vermin can be shot
out of the sky.

But like any videogame foe, they just love to respawn and
cause the player more distress. There are also various floating
platforms on each of the levels. These serve, primarily, as
landing points for the dropzones but are also strategically
placed to cause the player hindrance in trying to manoeuvre
around the screen. On successfully fuelling the spacecraft, the
player hops on board and launches off which provides a segue
to the next level.

Each of the levels/worlds are varied and have their own type
of alien, all of which being modern interpretations of those
in the original game. On every seventh level, the player finds
himself having to construct a newer spacecraft which is more
advanced looking than the one prior. This provides a bit more
variety in the game.

LIKES
VERDICT
This game delivers what it says on the tin. It doesn’t pretend
to be anything other than a respectful homage to the greatest
GFX -----> 84%
shooter the Spectrum ever had. SFX -----> 58%
FUN -----> 72%
The graphics are detailed, varied and colourful. It plays
reasonably well, but in a different way from the original. OVERALL - 79%

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 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Code: Antonio J Perez

GFX: Igor Errazking
SFX: Antonio J Perez

A nother ZX Dev MIA remake developed using the

Mojon Twins MK2 engine with a script by the
Pat Morita Team. Well, it was in the contest, inspired
by Last Ninja II, but I'm not exactly sure what it's a
remake of as it's certainly inspired by pretty much
every Ninja game you can think of! Ninjakul 2 came in at 7th place
with 11,892 points, in the 2018, ZX DEV MIA Remakes contest.

DEVELOPER: Pat Morita Team

Already with two other ZX Spectrum games under their belts -

Fantasy Zone - Escape From the Pyramid (2016) and Gimmick! Being a nuisance in a Hong Kong Park.
Yumetaro Odyssey (2018), Antonio J Perez and Igor Errazking have
teamed up once more to release Ninjakul 2 under the Pat Morita Player energy is top left. Enemy Boss energy is underneath it.
Team publishing label. Igor did the graphics and Antonio created the Bottom left shows your selected weapon. Along your journey
code and sounds. you will encounter many foes who will succumb to your weapons
including Ninja's, Crows, Ghosts, Zombies and Tie Fighters (WTF?).
GAMEPLAY You'll also find shuriken and extra lives in the form of hearts.

After his brother's death, Akul, The Last Ninja of his clan, will claim Location ‘A’ is Hong Kong Park. On this level you navigate your way
his revenge by defeating the Opium Mafia: The Gunshi Clan. along a path and then make your way through the treetops onto a
Controls are left, right, up, down, jump, use weapon, change weapon building. Then back to a path where good use of the fence comes
(toggle sword or shuriken). Keys can be redefined, no joystick in handy when avoiding spikes. Location ‘B’ is Happy Valley. This
options though. There are three difficulty levels to choose from: is quite a small stage and requires you to have the Double Jump
Easy, Normal and Hard. The game has a playable introduction where power. Ghosts and Zombies hang out here.
you play as Akul's brother running along the top of train coaches and
finally falling victim to the trap laid by The Gunshi Clan.

After some cut-scenes, you are presented with a map of Hong Kong
with five points located on it labeled ‘A to D’ and the fifth labeled
with a '?'. You can visit the lettered points in any order you wish.

Each location contains a sacred scroll. Once you have collected a

sacred scroll ('Loo rolls' I call them as that's what they look like to
me) and completed the stage via its exit you get to select one of
four powers; Double Jump, Super Speed, Spectral Vision and The
Super Sword. When all four scrolls have been collected you will be
able to select the final location marked as '?' on the map where you
will face Paco Romita, the big boss. Lives are shown top right. You
start off with six of them.

Take a walk on the wild rope.

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 Reviews Spectrum

THE LAST NINJA - NINJAKUL 2

Location ‘C’ is The Harbour, You must run along the harbour quay
and enter a large submarine populated with mini tie-fighters (again
WTF?). Location ‘D’ is The Market. You must navigate through
the market by climbing as high as you can and jumping from one
skyscraper to another. There's a smelly boss waiting for you at the
end of this. The level design is fairly impressive and sneaky with
quite a few surprises.

The graphics are gorgeous and completely different depending on

which stage you are playing. Audio is fabulous. The title screen tune
is typical far eastern fare. The cut-scene music, map tune and in-
game tracks are all excellent and there are high quality spot effects
throughout the game for almost everything you do.

LIKES
Time for the tour. I think a visit to Hong Kong Park
I was impressed with the fact that dispatched enemies did not is first on the agenda.
simply reappear when you returned to the same screen. They only
came back if you died. The different styles and sprites for each
location are great. Being able to play each location in any order
enhances your enjoyment. Although some do need you to have
certain powers, like double jumping before you can complete them.
The scale of the game is also impressive. It feels massive.

Somehow we need to get out of this market and

onto those rooftops.

VERDICT
Almost feels like we’re in Hong Kong!

GFX -----> 87%

DISLIKES

The lack of checkpoints, especially for the Hong Kong Park level. It's
SFX -----> 90%
a bit irritating to get through over a dozen screens and then die and
be taken right back to the start of the stage. I also wasn't keen on
the fact that blocks you couldn't throw your shuriken through didn't FUN -----> 91%
have the same effect on the enemies shuriken. They could throw
theirs right through them.

VERDICT
OVERALL
This is a solid, quality game that ticks most of the boxes. The
presentation is second-to-none, from the start menu, to the

88%
cut-scenes, to the game itself. I’ll still be playing it long after
you’ve finished reading this.

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 Reviews Spectrum

by John Davies
@retrorekall

Developer: IADVD

M oon's Fandom Festival is a graphical adventure game

developed by IADVD using his own Mini Graphical Adventure
engine (MGA) and The Mojon Twins MK1 engine (La Churrera).

DEVELOPER: IADVD

ADVD had a busy 2019! In addition to this game, he also created

Birdy Cantabile, Rade Blunner and Rade Blunner Episode 2:
Cannibal Wheh's Little Shop.

GAMEPLAY

You play Moon, the Queen of ZX Spectrum homebrew games, who

has been invited to a retro festival to show off her brand new game. Once an icon object is with its correct owner, his face will replace
Unfortunately the Queen of games is a bit lacking in the memory one of the question marks that appear when you move over the
department, 16k max, and has forgotten the digital password to lockers where your stuff is kept. After the icon objects are all in
get into her locker where her Spectrum and new game are stashed. the right place you can recover your Spectrum and game from the
Luckily the other stand owners will help if she can gain their trust. lockers, set it up on your stand and start showing off your software
to your fans. Graphics are quite detailed and have some nice little
You need to walk around the festival, in which there are six other touchessuch as the opening and closing mouths during conversation.
stands, a burger restaurant and a restroom. Your objective is to Audio is limited to spot effects for walking, selecting and the
complete various tasks by interacting with the other people and typewriter-style clicking noise when text appears letter by letter.
objects you find. The owners of the other six stands have their
own personalities and favourite things. Bob is a ‘Pwin Teaks’ fan LIKES
and unsurprisingly a bit of a weirdo. Germione is a ‘Parry Hotter’
fan who wears a cat as a hat and wants to become a sorcerer. Koji At first the game is quite intriguing, amusing and nostalgic.
Bakuto is a ‘Zazinger-M’ fan who loves Japanese style mech robots.
Dick Reckard is a ‘RadeBlunner’ fan who won't be your friend until DISLIKES
he knows you are truly human. Zork is an X-Files fan who is green
and hates plastic. John Doe is a ‘Nuck Chorris’ fan who knows all the The initial fun slowly shifts over to being laborious. There's no sense
facts about the martial arts legend and even looks like him. Once of urgency, it's very difficult to die and there’s too many random
all the necessary tasks for an owner have been completed they will elements, so things become reliant on luck rather than puzzle
allow you to take the icon object from their stall which you must solving skills.
give to another owner.
VERDICT

I really wanted to like this game more as it's a bit different to most
games and the concept is entertaining, on paper at least, with its use
of pop culture references. But after a while it's not as fun as it might
have been. I hope the developer uses his engine again to make a
sequel which addresses these issues.

VERDICT
GFX -----> 83%
SFX -----> 70%
FUN -----> 77%
OVERALL - 76%

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 Reviews Spectrum

Code: Elton Bird

GFX: Andrew McDonnell, Elton Bird by Dougie Mcg
Audio: Elton Bird @Dougie9mcg
Additional Graphics: Tony Pastor
All the evil henchmen are present and accounted for with

E veryone in their mid to late 30s and older will be familiar

with Kung Fu Master from the arcades and from the array
of 8 bit home computer and console versions released. Almost
their original attack patterns so those skills you have honed
over the decades can be applied seamlessly. The essential
ingredients here are fast and frantic gameplay, tight
every system had their own conversion and most of them did controls, a wide variety of enemies, excellent collision
a pretty good job of bringing the arcade classic to your home. detection, detailed graphics, original and intriguing boss
I say most as lurking in the background, afraid to show its ugly characters, smooth scrolling and a classic soundtrack
complete with the vital kung fu movie sound effects! Mister
face, is the horrendous ZX Spectrum version. With the 8 bit
Kung Fu not only ticks every single box, it smashes all
wars raging away in every playground across the U.K, the last
expectations out of the stadium.
thing Speccy owners needed was this sub-standard, poorly
coded mess ruining their arguments. With a bitter taste left in It may be 35 years late, but this is the finest home computer
the mouth lasting for 35 years, Uprising Games decided to take version of Kung Fu Master currently in existence. For those
matters into their own hands and right this wrong, not just for teased by their classmates all those years ago, it’s time for
themselves but for all of the children who had been cheated some social media stalking and some friend requests. Track
out of their pocket money and subjected to ridicule by their them down and shove this in their face! Mister Kung Fu not
C64 and Amstrad owning classmates. only matches its arcade source material but exceeds it in many
ways.
DEVELOPER: Uprising Games
Although the graphics and colours are restricted by the
Uprising Games have made their name making games for Apple Spectrum’s limitations they are still well drawn and capture
iOS mobile phones and tablets. They are pretty good at it too, the feel of the game perfectly. However, what really matters
and it's well worth checking out their mobile games Super is the gameplay and this is where Mister Kung Fu shines ever
Soccer Champs 2018, 2019, Tennis Champs 3 and Mixt. Mister so brightly. The controls are lightning fast and you can pull
Kung Fu though, is the first ZX Spectrum game from Uprising off a quick couple of punches in both directions in a fraction
Games, receiving fifth place with 12,660 points in the 2018, of a second, thus reducing the frustrating joystick waggle
ZX-Dev M.I.A / Remakes competition. If you go to their website when opponents grab you. There are less bugs and glitches
at: uprising-games.com/home/mister-kung-fu you are able than the arcade version too and the boss fights are smoother.
to download Mister Kung Fu for play as a mobile game too. The palette used is very appropriate and colour clash is kept
to a minimum.
GAMEPLAY

It is well known that the Bruce Lee movie Game of Death was
a major influence on Kung Fu Master. The classic martial arts
movie saw Bruce Lee face off against a wide variety of foes,
each with their own skill sets and weaknesses on his journey
to overthrow the evil tyrant. The plot was perfect material
for a video game and Kung Fu Master captured the sentiment
perfectly. The storyline remains the same as the original
Kung Fu Master with poor old Silvia kidnapped and being held
captive in the Devil’s Temple where the five sons of the devil
wait to entertain you. This of course refers to the five bosses
that you must face. One on each floor as you make your way
to the summit for the final showdown with one of the most
frustrating final bosses in history.

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 Reviews Spectrum

Large sprites and a great colour scheme to cut down on

colour clash.

VERDICT

Being entertained by the sons of the devil. What could

possibly go wrong?
GFX -----> 95%
SFX -----> 90%
LIKES

The controls are tight and responsive so death is at the hands of your own timing and
FUN -----> 95%
reflexes as it is in all great games. The graphics capture the spirit of the original perfectly.
There has been a great deal of care given to making every aspect of this right for the

OVERALL
player and finally giving the Speccy the conversion it deserves.

DISLIKES

93%
The fact that I’m not as good at this as I used to be!

VERDICT
This is the conversion of Kung Fu Master that the ZX Spectrum deserved. If you are a fan of
the original game there’s a great deal of enjoyment to be gained from playing this. Even if
you’re not a fan it’s worth playing just to appreciate how good a job Elton Bird has done in
coding it. What are you waiting for? Silvia is not going to rescue herself!

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 Reviews Amstrad

by Gordon King
Code , levels, design & story: @uvtkingy
Naad (@teopl)
GFX, music, story, comic "Detective collect up the Qubits and find a path to the
Gvido - Ludic's Disk": competition for the Amstrad and, as per exit.
Branho (@brando464) usual, many excellent coders came rising to
english translation for comic: the challenge. Ludic was one of the many This is easier said than done. Each of the
Lex entrants and it performed very well - in fact, 16 levels provide a unique challenge where
it came in second out of 35 entrants. A very the player must move the professor around
high honour. This was against its own peers in a sequential and logical fashion. He will
I love nothing better than a within the Amstrad community. Does the only stop when colliding with an object
little game dev competition, game cut it in an annual publication that’s and it is up to the player to fashion out the
it gets the creative bunch played many games on many other systems? correct path. Some objects will vapourise
out of the woodwork, but for many of I am keen to play to find out just how good our hero, some will bounce him back in the
the Amstrad CPC RETRO DEV contest it it may be. opposite direction and others will stop him
forms part of the university curriculum. in his tracks but disintegrate upon collision.
From past experiences I have found that GAMEPLAY This makes for a taxing puzzle game where
these competitions are a hub of insane the solution isn't clearly obvious from
creativity in such a short timespan. The AI has taken over, or is about to. the outset. Later levels feature a spooky
Does Ludic: Break The Loop fall into this Professor Ludic has quickly typed up some doppelganger professor, which the player
category? I'm even more curious than the code on his Amstrad to try and thwart this can also control. This creates a more taxing
proverbial cat because I’ve been more a malevolent force. Sadly, the AI's gone all symbiotic relationship with the two binary
Speccy / Commodore gamer and it's great "Tron-like" on the poor professor and he’s partners in order to suss out the correct
to explore and discover what other retro gotten 'transportified' (yes, I know that’s a path to the exit (I agree. Later levels are
gaming communities are doing. made up word) into the cyber realm. Now, strange and very complex! - Ed). Luckily,
in a battle of wits, the professor must there are level codes provided for the
HISTORY outwit his digital opponent in a twisted weary traveller; these can be used on the
cyber battle of Sokoban. Viewed in a top title screen in order to skip levels that have
The University of Alicante holds an annual down perspective, our protagonist must already been completed.

154
 Reviews Amstrad

Hmmmm how do I unlock that key inside a wall …

Perseverance is the key they say!

Ludic: Break the Loop makes great use of the CPC's

four-colour, Mode 1 graphics while bathing in Purple Pain
gameplay.

LIKES
The whole presentation oozes high end quality. Rather than the game being simply level
by level with no other content, there is an excellent dialogue and banter between the
professor and AI. This is done in comic book style form, with their heads appearing and
the chat text popping up beside them. This gives a living, breathing feel to the game and
fattens it out greatly. The graphics, in their varying monochromatic hues, are lush. They
are small and petite, but exceptional. The aforementioned sprites for the avatars of the
characters when chatting really add a level of charm seldom seen in 8-bit games. The music VERDICT
is like an earworm and remains in the player's head, long after playing the game. What

GFX -----> 88%

stands out most though is the variety in each of the levels. None of them are repetitive
and bring a completely new challenge for the player as they progress. There may be only 16
levels, but my goodness, they are taxing and it will take the average person many sittings

SFX -----> 89%

to complete this. The game also comes with a prequel accompanying comic - it’s a must
read, excellently presented again so read this first!

DISLIKES

Although it has a kind of longevity, it is over before you know it and that’s the puzzles all
FUN -----> 90%
solved. I’d have liked larger playfields as most of them were very small (I found them hard
to see at times too - Ed). Imagine how long it would have taken to complete a level that
was full screen!!! Some of the English translations are a bit ropey, but I’m not complaining
about that, I remember how bad I was at my O Levels in languages. OVERALL
VERDICT

91%
Lucid: Break The Loop is one of the best presented games I have seen in a very long
time. Graphically, it is limited to the CPC’s four colour mode 1 resolution but the use
of colour is so visually impressive. Music is outstanding, a must listen to for any retro
gaming freaks. It goes to show that a little more polish can make a run-of-the-mill tried
and tested game format seem a lot more exceptional. Hats off to the developers Naad,
Brando and Lex of Osmobit Games for their insane creativity in such a short time frame to
develop such a highly presented and very playable Amstrad CPC game.

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 Reviews Amstrad

PINBALL DREAMS
Code & GFX: Rhino by George Bachaelor
GFX: Toni Galvez @cpcgamingdemos
GFX: MAC_BG Gameplay section by
Music: McKlain Louie Dimovski
Music: SuTeKH @RetroGamerNatn
Music & SFX: Raft
Platform: CPC (128K) ‘Old West’ era and steps things up a bit
with broader use of the colour palette
powerful. At that time there was a broad and the addition of features such as two
The much anticipated consensus that the Commodore 64 seemed large ramps, ball traps, rollovers and three
Amstrad CPC release of like the most complete platform, but Rhino bumpers. As a result, the pinball experience
Pinball Dreams by Batman disagreed and started doing routines on is far more entertaining.
Group (BG Games) finally happened his beloved Amstrad CPC, the computer
on October 1st, 2019 and it was FREE! he started programming in his childhood - The third table titled ‘Beat Box’, carrying a
Initially, BG had hoped the game motivated primarily to win the argument of music industry theme, is the most feature
would see a physical release, but after which old computer is the best. Since then rich of the four tables with its inclusion of
almost a year trying to get the license, Amstrad fans have witnessed CPC greatness large ramps, a second level, rollovers, ball
circumstances made it impossible. So, a with the Batman Forever demo in 2011 and traps, bumpers and plenty of targets. The
free unofficial version (not allowed to be now with Pinball Dreams. main objective is to reach the number 1
sold) digital file was made available for spot in the USA or European music charts to
the sole purpose of honoring this Amiga GAMEPLAY collect a big points bonus.
gaming classic and its original authors.
Pinball Dreams was first released on The Amstrad CPC version of Pinball Dreams The final table on offer is ‘Nightmare’,
the Amiga in 1992 by 21st Century contains all four tables found in the original themed around a graveyard, ghosts and
Entertainment, receiving critical acclaim Amiga version. The first table, ‘Ignition’, is ghouls, portraying a darker aesthetic.
and recognition from game reviewers and themed around space exploration. The main Containing the greatest number of
game players everywhere. The word of objectives of this table is to light up all of pinball features, ‘Nightmare’ is the most
mouth about the game was so widespread the IGNITION letters by hitting the three challenging of the four tables with a very
in a recent post on twitter by @ red targets in the middle to obtain a letter. well designed table layout which is sure
HewsonJoystick it showed that the Amiga The table contains a saucer, a couple of to test the most ardent pinball wizard.
Power Gallup game sales charts from bumpers and slingshots but very little else, Controls are strictly a keyboard affair while
1992, Pinball Dreams had moved from 99 making it the easiest but least interesting Pinball Dreams also features multiplayer
up to number 5 with big orders coming in table to play out of the four on offer. ‘Steel mode of up to eight players and a high
from Australia, when 21st Century had Wheel’ is the second table containing a score table.
not even marketed the game there. The theme around steam trains from the
game has since been ported onto eleven
other systems.

DEVELOPER

What is there to say about Batman Group

that hasn’t already been said? If you don’t
know who they are by now then here is
a quick recap. BG are a group of friends
mainly from the south of Spain. They
formed in the early 1990’s first creating
demos, such as “The Killing Joke”, an
Amiga OCS demo which received third place
at a Spanish demo party in 1993. It was not
until 2009 that they found the motivation
to develop games for old platforms which
came about from internal debates about
which 8-bit computer was the most
Comparison of the Amstrad CPC version (left) Vs the Amiga version (right).

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|
||| TECHNICAL FEATURES OF
AMSTRAD CPC VERSION WHY IS THERE NO PHYSICAL RELEASE?

In a series of tweets on October 3, 2019, BG explains what

MORE REALISTIC PHYSICS & IMPROVED GAMEPLAY.
happened regarding the physical release. “At first everything
was going well, they sent us the Rebellion logo and a copyright
IRC TECHNOLOGY (INSTANT RESPONSE CONTROLS). message to put in the intro, but it got complicated when Philip
left Rebellion, even so he kept in touch with people from inside
50HZ AT ALL TIMES (HALF FRAME IN GAME). and everything went on… but those contacts also left Rebellion
and finally we only had an email to talk to them directly, and they
SMOOTHEST PIXEL PRECISE MULTI SPEED SCROLL. never answered us, so after almost a year of waiting, we were in
the starting box and we decided to resign...we never got no as an
FASTEST HI-PRECISION MATHS IN A Z80 GAME. answer, quite the opposite, but it's a matter that doesn't interest
them at all and for that very reason I hope we don't have any
problems”.
UFD TECHNOLOGY (ULTRA FAST DRAWING).
MACHINE COMPARISON - IT SHOULDN’T BE POSSIBLE ON AN
FT INVISIBLE VERTICAL SPLIT IN A GAME. AMSTRAD CPC

INTERACTIVE SOUND SYSTEM BASED ON ARKOS. Amstrad CPC. Z80, 128kb at 3.3Mhz
Commodore Amiga. 1MB at 7.1Mhz
350KB OF FULL COLOUR GRAPHICS. Atari Falcon. 4MB at 16 / 32Mhz
PC MS DOS. FAST VGA upto 4GB at 33Mhz
30 MINS OF FULL OST IN 62KB. Super Nintendo. 32MB ROM
Sega Game Gear. 1Mb ROM
Nintendo Game Boy. 40 Hardware Sprites,
1MB ROM
LIKES
Being able to play the game for free is a wonderful gesture by the developers. The
download file includes a pretty fabulous manual too, in PDF format. Reading it made me
feel as though I had a physical release of the game. What’s not to like? Everything is just
a dream: Scrolling is fabulous, so smooth even when playing the game via emulation. The
ball movement around the playing screen is fast and accurately captures a true pinball
machine, while the flipper reaction speed makes the game wonderfully
playable. Graphics and tunes blow your mind every time you play a game on any of the
four tables. Every tune and sound is amazing. Every aspect of the game is in a class of its
own. The fun factor though, is what I liked most about the game. Pinball games on 8 bit
machines from the 1980’s generally were dull to play, Pinball Dreams on the other hand
is pure joy, it’s just so much fun to play. Multiplayer aspect of up to eight players and the
inclusion of a high score table for each of the four pinball tables are also cool features. VERDICT
DISLIKES

When asked to add my name to the high score table I did not see it register in the table.
GFX ----> 100%
Not sure whether this is a bug or not? For me though, what's not to dislike! However,
Louie Dimovski mentions that one thing he misses about the Amstrad port is the
exclusion of the synthesized speech found in the original Amiga version. Not only does SFX ----> 100%
the speech add to the overall ambience but it was quite handy in letting you know what
objective has been triggered, especially with the ‘Beat Box’ table, without having to try
and catch the message displayed in the LED display. FUN ----> 100%
VERDICT

OVERALL
On October 12th, 2019 Batman Group tweeted they had recorded 8000 downloads of
Pinball Dreams in just 10 days. I would think this is a record for a CPC game. There is just
so much love for this outstanding game, and the reception from gamers worldwide has
been incredible. Social media posts about the game have gone viral. All the doubters
who said it couldn’t be done, all those people who doubted what Batman Group could

100%
do have been proven wrong - I never had any doubts. Batman Group have exceeded all
expectations. A cracking game, stunningly gorgeous, a dream to play, with tunes to make
your ears sing. A marvellous achievement, an instant Amstrad CPC classic to be loved
for years to come. One can only dream of the possibilities of Amstrad CPC games had it
been released back in the 1980’s. There can only be one overall rating to give - 100%. I can
already sense people disagreeing with me about the rating I have given, but for me, as a
CPC freak from the 1980’s, it's well worthy of it. Pinball Dreams you are now legendary on
the CPC!

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PINBALL DREAMS

Magazine Reception of the Amiga version from 1992

RATING MAGAZINE

98% Datormagazin Vol 1992 No 6 (Mar 1992)

96.2% Amiga Mania (Apr 1992)

89% The One for Amiga Games 43 (Apr 1992)

87% Amiga Power 12 (Apr 1992)

87% Amiga Action 31 (Apr 1992)

FROM THE DEVELOPER:

Rhino (Alejandro del Campo)

"At Batman Group, we

were looking to make
a game that would be
a technical challenge
for us. Bringing Pinball
Dreams to the 8-bit CPC
was very interesting as
well as a big challenge
we wanted to achieve.
Every aspect of porting
Pinball Dreams was All four of the Pinball Dreams game tables - Ignition, Steel Wheel, Beat
a big challenge. The Box & Nightmare.
quality and detail of
the original graphics,
made in the Amiga's
unknown 64-color
Extra Half-Brite mode, is something that not
many 8-bit computers can afford and, looking at
the SNES version graphics, it even seems hard
to achieve on other 16-bit machines. The sound
aspect was also a great challenge, not only for the
quality and quantity of music, sfx’s and jingles, but
for the dynamism and synchronization with which
everything sounds in the original Amiga game.

But the biggest challenge was to make the physics

Ignition has a cool space background and lots of points to rack up.
as close to the original version as we could, which
was essential if we wanted to keep the essence of
the original game. It involves doing it at 50 FPS all
the time and with an instant keyboard response
for good control and gameplay experience. These
features are only really good on real hardware and
that's why we encourage everyone to play it that
way. I think, in part, the good reception we've seen
from users is due to the use of unusual CPC features
in games, such as pixel-accurate hardware scrolling
or ultra-fast graphics drawing techniques that allow
uncommon motion smoothness. Demonstrating
that the CPC can make complex and smooth games
was one of the goals we set ourselves and we are
happy with the result."
For an 8-bit machine Pinball dreams is really impressive graphically and
so is the gameplay!

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Code & SFX: Santiago Ontanon

GFX: Jordi Sureda by George Bachaelor
Publisher: Matra Computer Automations @cpcgamingdemos

You play Phantomas a vigilante android, Phantomas 2.0 is a fantastic looking game. The visuals showcase
who must destroy evil Count Dracula in his the awesome CPC colour palette with cool platform action.
vast castle of 95 rooms. Within the castle Overall, it’s a great tribute and remake that perhaps could have
are three objects you must collect to have been improved ever so slightly in a few areas.
any chance of defeating Count Dracula.
These are a cross, a stake and a hammer. Not only will
you need these objects but you must also
open six windows within the castle, allowing
sunlight to shine through weakening the
Count’s strength.

There are five keys to find allowing you access to

areas you may think are blocked off. In essence this is
another one of those avoidance type games, with only
left, right and up for jump as your controls.
I found the lack of a crouch function, or the ability to
crack a whip (a la Castlevania) or chuck some knives,
quite limiting. Gamers like me love to press the trigger
button!

Game developers Santiago Ontanon and Jordi Sureda

got together to create their first CPC game as 1) a
remake to the original game Vampire (republished by
Codemasters, 1986) otherwise known as Phantomas
2 in Spanish (published by Dinamic) and 2) pay tribute
to the original coder Emilio Salgueiro who was
tragically killed in a road accident in 1996. They also
had the game released on a physical tape which looks
awesome.

Phantomas 2.0 oozes CPC colour, so much so that

you would not think that the game is based on an
original 4-colour Spectrum port. To be more accurate
the original CPC version with the use of rasters
had 6 colours but it still looked like a Speccy port
unfortunately. Other differences between this remake
and the original is the inclusion of music, which does
wonders for the atmosphere of the game. The jumping
aspect of the game is a great deal more intuitive
than its predecessor but the game is still as hard as
they come, just like the Spanish guys like it. My major
criticism of Phantomas 2.0 however, is that the lives system of the
original game has been altered. VERDICT

In this new version, you just don't get enough life energy. I think
GFX -----> 92%
the original system should have been retained as it makes the SFX -----> 80%
game more fun and gives it greater staying power. FUN -----> 75%
OVERALL - 78%

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Developer: Santiago Ontañón by George Bachaelor

Game Size / RAM requirements: 48KB ROM / 16KB RAM @cpcgamingdemos

R acing computer games are a real favourite of mine.

I really enjoy the competitive challenge of beating your
opponents across the chequered flag. XRacing! is one of
those wonderful racing games that gives you that competitive
racing experience. It’s more than just racing around tracks. It
combines element of managing a racing season to give a much
more involved and enjoyable gaming experience.

HISTORY

XRacing! received first place in the ‘MSX Classic Category’, at

MSXDev 2018 game contest. The gap between first and second
place was only separated by a by a margin of 0.2 points. The
game is a 48Kb rom file, that will run on an MSX1, with 16KB of In last place, in low gear and going zero speed you
ram. Along with the first place, XRacing! was jointly awarded can’t win races like that.
‘Best Graphics’ honors by the MSXDev, 2018, judges.

DEVELOPER:
Santiago Ontañón

The inspiration for XRacing! being created was brought about

by classic games that Santiago Ontañón had loved when he was
growing up - games such as Super Cars and F-1 Spirit.

GAMEPLAY

You start the game from the “Stock Car” category. When you
press space bar or fire button, an options menu will open. Here
you can start a race by selecting one of the tracks available in
your current car category. There is a fee to pay to race each track
Your agent, Skid Vicious, giving you instructions and
so make sure you have enough funds to compete in each one. motivation.

Before heading to the track, there are other options that will
allow you to change the music, change your car from auto to
manual driving, check on your standings (and other drivers) in the
category, scout the car market for a faster car and receive the all-
important news from Skid Vicious, your brutal-talking agent.

This main title screen flag is waving and looks very cool.

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Hitting the race track, you You don’t have to win every race. You just turning corners you press left or right
compete against three need to come first at the end of the season. on the joystick. Pressing fire button for
computer-controlled Your next challenge is the Endurance Car breaking around corners will stop you
opponents. You have four category. Here the cars change and so do skidding into walls and will also be your
laps to reach the finish line in first, second the tracks - finishing in first place after window of opportunity to pass other cars.
or third place. You don’t want to come last. competing in the four different tracks in the
Not because the embarrassment of losing overall standings will see you progress to
will see your computer opponents laughing the final championship
at you online in social media forums. No. challenge - the Formula One
It's because your agent, Skid Vicious will category. This time you are
sack you on the spot. Talk about kicking you competing against F1 cars and
while you're down. I'm not sure I'd want this you must finish first in the
guy in my pit lane in real life! overallstandings after
competing in seven races.
It’s all in good fun though, and gives the With each progression, the
game a positive point of difference from cars have faster top speeds.
many other similar racing games like it.
Controlling your car in the
To become the champion of the Stock race is done so by following
Car category you must place first in the the path of each track.
overall standings after completing the four Your car accelerates by
different tracks. pressing forwards or up on Racing on the horseshoe track in the Endurance
your joystick and when category.

In simple racing terms - the gameplay is

LIKES all about putting the pedal to the metal,
driving as fast as you can while staying
You get a lot of bang for your buck here. A stack of in-game features combined with a
on the track, for you to earn monetary
fantastic racing challenge give this game much ‘V8’ power. The waving checkered flag is
rewards at the end of each race. This will
so cool at the start and end of the game. The options screen is cleverly designed. I love
provide you with the opportunity to buy
the feature of talking to your agent and receiving those pep talks of encouragement.
faster cars. Hopefully, you won’t come
Navigating the options all works rather smoothly and neatly. Selecting your tracks or
last in your quest to become racing car
choosing to turn sounds on or off or to make the selection to drive a manual racing car is
driver champion of the three different
all so easy. The racing itself stays true and honest with just a little bit of sneaking around
categories.
the corners giving you that glimpse of finding an opening and a chance to catch up and
hopefully pass your opponents. Even with the slower car you can find a way to pass the
faster cars, but you will require much practice and understanding of the tracks. While track
design may appear simplistic, it is not boring at all. There is enough in each track to give
you a good solid challenge. The car sprites and look of each track are impressive and so is
the scrolling of the game as you burn rubber around track after track. Cool sounding tunes,
VERDICT
very pleasing to the eye graphics with a great deal of playability can be found in XRacing! I
enjoyed seeing the fastest lap time appear on the screen as you cross the start / finish line
and the start lights turning from red to green gives the game an authentic racing feel. It is GFX -----> 89%
very well presented in all aspects.

DISLIKES SFX -----> 88%

Manual gear operation was quite frustrating for me. A practice feature would have been
great to include before you set off to race. Not being able to continue playing if you
didn't place third or better in a race became quite frustrating too. Hitting other cars
FUN -----> 90%
usually meant for me that you were forced back behind the rest of the pack while you
were trying to manoeuvre ahead of them. You are always placed last on the starting

OVERALL
grid even if you have won the previous race, which seemed a little unfair. When you hit a
hazard off the track it can be very tough to catch up to the other racers, that's why the
game should have more than one life.

VERDICT

90%
Despite the negatives I have about the game, XRacing! is a worthy winner of the 2018
MSX DEV contest. There is so much to like about this racing game. Interesting techniques
have been used in the coding to make it an entertaining and very likable car racing sim /
management game. The racing is fast, getting your adrenaline pumping. It is beautifully
presented graphically, with the tunes enhancing the experience and the management
style options keep the player interested to want to buy the better cars, constantly
striving to be on top of the podium at the end of each racing season. Cool fun is XRacing!

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by Richard Yaxley
Developer: GW’s Workshop (Nobuaki Washio) @retroric79

W hat do you get if you cross Buddhism, Ninja Spirit,

Galaga and Arkanoid? The answer might be GW's-
Workshop’s crazed trip-out Buddhagillie. Upon booting the
game’s mechanics out of the way. Each stage represents one
of the six realms of rebirth and existence featured in Buddhist
cosmology.
game first time I was immediately smacked in the chops
by a wave of nostalgia. In my early gaming experiences on Stage 1 is called “Hell” and there’s only a few enemies to face
the Atari 800XL I was always into fighting games, Bruce before a fiery demon boss appears. This boss is very easy to
Lee and anything with Ninjas. This Eastern feeling seeps dispatch as it invitingly fires bullets in your direction. Absorb
through Buddhagillie immediately and its spirit feels very these quickly and hit it with a blast and it’s all over very quickly.
reminiscent of those seminal titles from my early gaming
history. Stage 2 is called “Hunger” and the enemies here are just a
slight variation on the patterns you face in stage 1.
GAMEPLAY

The idea of the game is to take our sword-wielding would-be

Buddha through six short but taxing horizontal shoot ‘em up
stages each containing dastardly patterns of enemies moving
in Galaga-type formations, capped off in style with epic, and
sometimes twitchy, boss battles.

The regular Galaga style enemies look like ghostly, ghoulish

faces, and sometimes fire bullets at you (some bosses bombard
you with bullets also). These shots can be deflected away
harmlessly with a swing of your sword which can be activated
by tapping the fire button. However the stand out mechanic
is the ability to return fire and this is essential to progress
through the stages.
The boss on this stage looks like some kind of dragon and
If you hold the fire button you will take up a blocking stance is slightly harder than the stage 1 boss. This is where the
allowing you to absorb enemy bullets. You can store up to six “Hunger” comes in, as this dragon will take a really deep breath
shots as energy, represented by Kanji style characters orbiting and suck in any small enemies on screen. These enemies now
your avatar. Obviously the more bullets you absorb, the more become more dangerous as they get pulled towards the hungry
devastating your shot will be but the tricky thing is, in order to dragon into fast wide sweeping arcs that can sometimes catch
fire your shot you have to perform a three-hit sword swing by you out. It’s also doubly effective as the dragon reduces your
tapping fire three times. Not only does this require timing and own mobility during this.
patience but it also leaves you immobile for a brief moment.
Once you use your shot you have to absorb bullets again as all “Animal” is Stage 3 and this is where things start to become a
stored energy is used each time you use your shot. little tricky. The Boss is a charging bull and never fires a single
shot. This means you have to dodge him whilst trying to absorb
The play area is divided into two areas. The left side of the enough energy from small enemies to deal a killer blow.
screen is where your avatar can fly around and is about 60%
of the screen real estate. The remaining 30% on the right Stage 4 is “Asuras” and the boss on this stage looks like a
hand side is where enemies rest when they are in formation variant of the six-arm entities of Indian mythology. This boss
and also where most of the bosses remain. This puts them fires shots you cannot absorb and blocking them will only send
out of the reach of your sword and this is why you must use them away briefly. You have to slash at them with your sword
the shooting mechanic to defeat them. So let's delve into the to repel them off the screen and you need to collect shots from
stages now we’ve got the slightly detailed requirements of the the small enemies to dispatch this boss.

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 Reviews MSX

“Human” is Stage 5 and is one of the

trickiest levels of the game. The human
boss has four small enemies orbiting him
whilst devious patterns of small enemies
come on and off the screen. You have to
take out the small enemies around the
human to finish the stage but if you kill
the human you get sent all the way back
to Stage 1 to start again.

Stage 6 “Gods” is the final stage and the

winged god boss cannot be hit when he
wraps his wings around himself. He also
fires shots at you that can be neither
blocked nor repelled. The final kicker is
that these home-in on you somewhat so
it’s a real task to dodge these shots whilst
simultaneously dodging the waves of
smaller enemies and collecting power for
your own shot.

Stage 7 “Nirvana” is the final stage

of the journey but only acts like a
congratulations screen. This is where
you attain your own state of Nirvana
and become a Buddha before being
reincarnated in “Hell” for the next loop of
the game with increased difficulty.

VERDICT
LIKES
The creative way the religion of Buddhism is used as an overarching narrative for the
game with the meta elements really tying it all together into a great piece of shoot ‘em up GFX -----> 75%
gaming. The interesting blend of mechanics initially gave me a similar vibe to that of Irem’s
Ninja Spirit but once you get deeper, the game's own unique identity shines through.
The AY chip music really works with a few cool tunes that have variations for different SFX -----> 85%
stages. The music also changes when the bosses arrive on the screen helping to add to the

FUN -----> 91%

arcade feeling of intensity.

DISLIKES
The graphics are a little basic but I understand this is due to the limitations of the system
and the type of game we’re talking about here. Most sprites are small and contain no
more than two colours but with bigger and more complex sprites I think the flickering
would make the game unplayable when the screen gets busy. The last couple of issues
OVERALL
for me is that your sprite’s hit box seems a little on the harsh side as you cannot shoot at

88%
those enemies who circle behind you. Secondary to this you can't control your blocking
direction independently from the direction you’re moving in. This was one nuance of the
game that got me killed most when I need to move quickly or unexpectedly.

VERDICT
Overall Buddhagillie is a masterful piece of old school arcade shoot ‘em up joy and could
have sat next to the big arcade shooters of the day holding its own. If you love shooters,
you’ll love Buddhagillie. Play it now!

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Developer Group: Oniric Factor

Code and GFX: Jorge Romero by Frank Romero
FM Music: Bitcaffe (Gabriel Caffarena) @entebras
Box Art: S. Cabanillas
Hardware: Rafael Bollero
Test and Support: A total of 8 collaborators, like Imanok
and Pablibris

T he story of The Awakening adventure

game begins in a dystopian future. The
main character - an anthropomorphic animal
soldier called "Feroz" ("Big Bad Wolf" in
English) sets out to pulverize mutants with a
shotgun. Your mission is to find the precise
terminals to activate the "Icarus protocol". Once this is done,
the outcome of the story will be shown. The game is a 2Mb
cartridge, only available for MSX2 computers with 128 KB of
RAM and FMPAC sound. At the beginning of the game, you
are able to choose some options like changing the frequency
between MSX Japanese and Western models.
Fighting a bunch of enemies...
GAMEPLAY

You start the game in Zone 136, exploring a huge map of more
than 200 screens. Traversing over a land surrounded by metal
and concrete in a world that belongs to mutants. It is an action-
packed game with the killing of many zombies in the process
while avoiding zones full of radiation. You will have to pay
attention to the alarms of the Geiger counter and move fast,
because most areas are toxic.

Playing The Awakening, my first thoughts of this top-down run

‘n gun, shoot ‘em up feels very much like a Zelda type of game.
However, it has so much action and very few strategic items, that
I would define it as a hybrid of action and RPG. Enemies appear
on land as well as in the air and can provide quite a challenge.
There are several details that make this game much better than
one can expect at first impression, like the blinking red colour Menu Screen, Awakening for MSX, 2019.
mass which appears flashing on the screen border when colliding
with an enemy, or the speed of movement between the screens,
it's as if this flip screen game is scrolling - almost! manage our way through the screens - sentences like "I can't
cross the river, the water is contaminated" will appear on the
Is The Awakening gameplay difficult? No I don’t think so, it's screen to inform you, and this provides just that little extra
quite easy to get into from the beginning. When I analyze scope within the gameplay.
it though, one phrase comes to mind to best describe it
“passage of time”. At first, shooting the undead is quite The gameplay and background story may seem kind of
simple, but as time goes by, the difficulty increases and losing "cliché", but I have to inform readers that it works fine for
lives becomes much more regular. If you repeatedly touch the me.
enemies, your shield level will decrease and you'll be exposed
to the dangers much more quickly. The game features a
messaging system to control the way we can

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 Reviews MSX

In some areas, the natural elements will block your

way.

The Metal Stages add a tech factor to the game.

LIKES
The presentation is excellent and the screens look fabulous. The HUD showing score,
shield and geiger modules is very polished, and is surrounded by what looks like a mottled
ornament. Very nice indeed. The huge sprites are also very pleasing, as is the speed of
movement between screens - a testament to the coding skills on display. I enjoyed the
constant colour changes of the screens, and the colours depict the radiated environment
quite well. As is usual with Oniric Factor games, we can see in every graphic aspect of the
game a well balanced use of the colour, avoiding strident tones and showing nice chromatic
combination results. The use of the MSX2 colour palette is streets ahead of the games
VERDICT
from the original 8-bit commercial era. Bullets fired from your shotgun travel the length
of the screen offering the opportunity to shoot long range at your enemy. The physical
edition, has a very impressive cover. It catches the spirit of the feeling experienced by the GFX -----> 87%
player within the gameplay.

DISLIKES SFX -----> 70%

FUN -----> 85%
The game is accompanied by some piano-based melodies. Although these are nice, I
didn't think they fitted the game very well. The Awakening demands much shooting
and advancing immediately through the screens to kill enemies. This can be tricky as
enemies may appear right on top of you when you have flipped to the next screen. Enemy
characters seem to be the odd sprites out. Perhaps they could have been improved
slightly by being larger sprites.

VERDICT
OVERALL
The Awakening is an enjoyable game, technically impeccable, but with some aspects that

85%
I feel don't fit quite right, maybe because I feel that it is a hybrid RPG game and not a full
RPG gaming experience. Once again though, Oniric Factor have developed yet another
cool physical released cart game for the MSX platform. The game has been coded well,
I had very few dislikes while playing the game. It's a well planned out game concept,
possibly a little too simplistic but one that you will no doubt enjoy playing. With 200
screens, the staying power is strong and the gameplay fast and entertaining. The graphics
are detailed and colourful in their own way, each background screen provides a lovely
visual experience from start to finish of this dystopian futuristic world.

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Developer: Wim Dewijngaert by Richard Yaxley

@retroric79

B ased on Numberlink logic puzzles, MSX veteran

Wim Dewijngaert entered Linez in the MSX Classic
category for the 2018 MSX DEV contest. Here, you
have to connect faces of the same colours and avoid
making them cross trails with each other. I found Linez
to be a cute little puzzle game which showed great
promise.

The player starts with a 5 x 5 grid of squares with five pairs of

different coloured smiley faced squares placed around the grid.
The idea is to make connected lines between the five different
coloured pairs of smiley faced squares. The challenge is to
connect these heads without your lines crossing over each other
and as you progress through the levels, the grid enlarges to a 7 x
7 matrix which makes the game a little more difficult.

Although Linez is a nicely polished puzzler on the MSX, the

problem is the game is far too easy. I managed to breeze
through the entire 60 levels on my first go and I only found
myself getting a little stuck on two or three of the last 20 levels
in the game. The time limit on each level is ample and I found
myself completing each level in about 10-20 seconds.

This is a great little entry level puzzler for younger audiences but
as an adult there just isn’t enough of a challenge here to keep
you interested. If the game started with the 7 x 7 square grid,
reduced the time limit, and increased the amount of connections
that needed to be made, then Linez could be a great puzzler for
an older audience.

VERDICT

OVERALL - 64%

166
 Reviews MSX

by George Bachaelor
Developer: Retro Souls @cpcgamingdemos

B ack in 2017 Retro Souls released a

128Kb only version of Twinlight to
much acclaim from the ZX Spectrum
that can't be touched will be scattered
throughout the area, making your task that
more difficult. Red unmoveable deflectors
DISLIKES

Twinlight's gameplay is really admirable,

community - they loved this twenty- / mirrors in the corners will need to be so there's not a lot to dislike. I suppose
level puzzler and rightly so. I had not used to complete tasks and there may be it would be nice if Retro Souls would run
played the Speccy game before - I am more than one laser beam that must reach with the idea, and release a 128K version
two years late to the party. Now these a receiver to complete a stage. Then there with more levels and a whizzy soundtrack.
cool Russian developers have released a is the important rule that the light can Perhaps with a time limit to ramp up
32Kb rom for the MSX community. I am not touch itself while travelling between the tension, or a co-operative mode to
playing the game blind with no previous mirrors and cannot deflect into another challenge a friend? These would make a
comparisons to its original Spectrum beam or its game over, and you must great game ever better!
release. restart that level again. Each level provides
you with the necessary amount of mirrors VERDICT
GAMEPLAY you need to complete the tasks. The shape
of the mirror will determine the direction A very entertaining and enjoyable puzzle
Puzzlers rise or fall based on their the light will be deflected. It's up to you game that will keep your interest in
perceived simplicity. This game is no to figure out which direction the light will completing all the levels to the very end.
exception. You don’t need a manual to be deflected through a
understand how to play this game even bit of trial and error then
if you think you might, it really is that memorizing which way
straightforward. Inside a playing grid is a will turn the light because
laser beam. You have to direct the light on the harder levels this
of the laser beam from point ‘A’ to point is crucial.
‘B’. That's basically the first level. To do
so you need to manoeuvre your white LIKES
square cursor over a light blue mirror and
click on it so you can pick it up and move Simplicity of getting
it around the screen. When you think you straight into the
have an idea of where to place the mirror gameplay is a winner.
click it again on the yellow light so that The challenges aren’t
it will deflect the laser beam in a certain overly hard but still
direction. The direction you need to turn challenging enough for
the light depends on your objective for you to think about what you need to do Not a graphical masterpiece, not a blast-
that particular level. to complete each level. You're probably your-ears-off in the sound department
going to breeze through the first seven or either. But who needs it when your brain
At the start of each level you are given a so levels then require some time to think thinks the level is easy to complete, then
brief description of what is required for about how to deflect the light to get the soon realizes that screens can open up,
successful completion. It all starts off very laser beams into the receivers. Graphically forcing you to work out how to get the
easy with the first screen asking you to it's nothing outstanding but it doesn’t light beam to the other side without
guide a beam to a receiver. The receiver is need to be. What you see in this game is failing. That's the sort of gameplay that
found on the wall of the screen coloured good use of the colour palette to suit the makes a great game ever better!
yellow, red and blue. It's the exit to reach game style. Presentation of each screen is
the next screen without actually telling well executed and I enjoyed the briefing of
you it's an exit. Once you get the ‘Clear’ your objectives before each stage,
message you have completed the screen, informing you what was required.
and will move on to the next level and VERDICT
mission to complete. Later levels introduce
pods and additional mirrors to help you
Musically, there's nothing outstanding
but it doesn’t need to be as the blips and
GFX -----> 75%
destroy the pods and exit the screen. As blops are just fine. I prefer the restart SFX -----> 70%
you progress, the screens get harder. As the level again than having to restart FUN -----> 89%
the playing area expands, teleportation from the beginning. Well done on this
of the beam(s) will be required. Red mines feature. OVERALL - 88%

167 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews MSX

by Gordon King
Developer: Juan J. Matrinez @uvtkingy

8 -Bit Coding wizard Juan J. Martinez returns with his

second MSX game of 2019, Uchusen Gamma, a seriously
gorgeous-looking shoot 'em up. If you know your MSX
hindrance (and this is the only way to rack up combos). There is a
great variety of enemies throughout all five of the levels. There
are mini bosses which are a pain in the arse and brilliant main
you will be aware there is already a very high pedigree of boss fights at the end of each level. The latter require dexterity
great shooters on the MSX. Will this latest addition hold and quick thinking. Each successive level provides a harder
its own against them? challenge and some tougher enemies to combat with (don’t I
know it! But it's great fun too - Ed).
HISTORY

Juan is a bit of an 8 bit coding expert; not only does he program

for the MSX, but he’s already released games for the ZX
Spectrum, Commodore 64 and the Amstrad CPC! Surely with this
kind of flexibility, he must be a jack of all trades and a master
of none? Not by a longshot! This man is a bona fide genius and
you only need to look at his back catalogue to see quality title
after quality title. Rescuing Orc (C64, 2018) and Night Knight
(MSX, 2019) are but two recent examples of his high quality
productions. His latest release has the player taking part as a
pilot in a solo spacecraft called the Gamma. This fighter, alone,
must save the fading empire from the clutches of the evil
cyborgs. Easier said than done, and it's one tough game too!

GAMEPLAY
The first level is such a joy, just blast everything on
The game is based around the classic vertical scrolling shoot- screen.
'em up design. The player’s craft begins at the bottom and the
landscape (spacescape?) and the play area moves down towards
the ship giving illusion of movement. The craft itself can be
moved around the entire playfield, but this doesn’t alter the
speed of the scrolling. The player is presented with wave after
wave of vicious enemies that they must destroy. This is where
Juan’s gaming passion comes into play; he always comes up with
neat twists that add a new layer to a traditional style game. Here
the player has to shoot nine enemies in combo fashion in order
to gain power-ups.

There is a time limit between each kill and if that threshold is

crossed, then the combo resets to zero. The aforementioned
power-ups can range from extra smart bombs to better laser
cannons – all of which are vital for the onslaught ahead. It is,
therefore, prudent to memorise the wave patterns and know
which enemies will be entering the screen and where, so the Second level and the graphics look so sexy. The
player is on them before they’ve had a chance to become a enemies change, so do their wave attacks!

168
 Reviews MSX

End of level boss ships can be tricky opponents watch out

for their spraying bullets.

LIKES
There is so much to love about this game. Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge the MSX’s
gorgeous colour palette; perhaps I don’t play enough MSX games to have got used to them, VERDICT
but every time I launch a game on this great system, I am spoken to, in very sexy ways,
by its soft hues (be careful Gordon you could be falling in love with a machine - Ed) . The
variety of sprites guarantees that each level feels different from the last and you don’t
feel that you are playing the same level over and over. Not only can this guy code - he is
GFX -----> 90%
a talented chiptune artist. The music is just as exceptional as the game itself and there is
a different tune per level (that first level tune is so addictive - Ed). We are really spoiled
here. The movement of craft, the clever placement of the alien waves and the beautifully SFX -----> 94%
crafted levels have ensure the player of a true arcade experience in his own home.
Although it is difficult, the game does only return you to the start of the current level if
you lose all your lives. Good, because I'd likely have smashed my monitor if this wasn’t the FUN -----> 90%
case.

DISLIKES
There is very little to dislike to be fair. As I ran this on an emulator, I found the scrolling
slightly jerky, but that may be rectified by tweaking. I didn’t have real hardware to
OVERALL
compare this to. I didn’t like the fact that the stars were stationary, I’m so used to them

92%
moving in this genre of game - but that’s just me being a pedant.

VERDICT
This is one of the best games on the MSX period. Juan should be proud of his work
on this creation and it raises the profile of a very cool but lesser spoken about 8-bit
micro. Play it now, you will be smiling for weeks. Those who wanted a Last Starfighter
experience, look no further - this is it. Shame there is no Death Blossom weapon though -
a missed opportunity?

169 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews Amiga

Developer: Graeme Cowie by Louie Dimovski

System: Amiga 1200/4000, PAL Display @RetroGamerNatn

A rcade quality ports for the Amiga are all the

rage at the moment as current day developers
use modern methods to improve some of the tepid
offer is a bit bland and repetitive. What starts off as being a bit of
fun as you eliminate wave after wave of enemies quickly becomes
monotonous and your motivation to play this game through for long
arcade conversions that the Amiga received back periods wanes quickly. As a port, Rygar AGA is top notch and fans of
in the 1980’s. Having just completed his great port the original arcade game are sure to enjoy what is available but for
of Bombjack in 2018, Graeme Gowie shifted his sights to everyone else what we have here is an excellent conversion of a very
one of Tecmo’s 1986 arcade releases - Rygar, a game never average game.
previously released on the Amiga platform.

Rygar is a side scrolling platform game that sees you take control of
a dead warrior who has risen from his grave to rid the land of Argool
from the evil King Ligar. To achieve his objective, Rygar will have to
navigate through various landscapes battling 22 different types of
enemies using his long chain with a shield attached to the end of it.

Along the way, you will collect various power-ups that enhance
your attacking capabilities and ramp up your points score to obtain
valuable extra lives. Jumping into the game, Rygar AGA looks and
feels far more like an arcade game rather than an Amiga title.
The game provides a near perfect arcade experience as it utilises
graphics ripped from the original arcade sprites while providing an
option to take advantage of two button controllers for those who
prefer to use a button to jump. Offering something a little different,
Rygar AGA includes three new additional levels while three of the
original levels have had their backdrop environment changed to
moonlight settings. In addition, the game utilises a password system
to allow you start your games from later levels and includes two
difficulty settings. While there is no doubt about the quality of
the conversion on offer with Rygar AGA, the actual gameplay on

VERDICT
GFX -----> 80%
SFX -----> 75%
FUN -----> 70%
OVERALL - 75%

170
 Reviews Amiga

Developer: Richard Lowenstein

System: Amiga 1200/4000/CD32, PAL Display. 2MB
of CHIP/FAST RAM recommended
Publisher: Amigashop.org by Louie Dimovski
tinyurl.com/tbqcka2 @RetroGamerNatn

W hen asked to come up with a list of arcade

quality shoot ’em ups on the Amiga, most
will struggle to cite any games beyond Xenon,
Unfortunately, the game's most notable failing is its entry price
point. The digital release of Reshoot R is priced at just under 30
Hybris and perhaps Project X. Well, Richard Euros. While the game is undoubtedly a very good release, the
Lowenstein from Spieleschreiber has made a gaming experience on offer falls short at this price point and that
strong case to have his latest creation, Reshoot R added to will likely dissuade many from giving it a go. That’s a pity because it's
this list. a game that deserves a broader audience.

Reshoot R plays as a horizontal shooter that looks and feels like

a commercial grade game with its high production values. The
graphics are quite attractive, the pumping music soundtrack
and sound effects are pleasurable to the ears and there is a
sophistication with the way the game moves. For the most part, a
steady mind is just as necessary as fast reflexes when it comes to
progressing through this game. You only have one life, but as you
collect speed and weapon power-ups, not only do these enhance
your ship's capabilities, but you can also take multiple hits. The
more power ups collected, the more hits you can sustain as each hit
decrementally knocks down your power up counter. This works quite
well and ensures that you feel like you are playing something more
than an endless shooter.

The shooting mechanism feels very good. Shooting complete attack

waves will result in a bonus and blasting a large asteroid is quite
satisfying. Despite the fun arcade experience on offer, the first
couple of levels feel a little repetitive when it comes to enemy
waves. What is offered is good but you are kind of left wanting to
see a little bit more after progressing through the first few minutes
of the game rather than seeing the same enemies attack you time
after time. As you move into the third level, the game kicks it up
a notch on all levels. It starts to feel fresh and it's hard not to be
impressed with all the colours available on screen.

VERDICT
GFX -----> 90 %
SFX -----> 96 %
FUN -----> 82 %
OVERALL - 89%

171 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews ZX Spectrum NEXT

Code: Michael 'Flash' Ware, Jim Bagley by John Davies

GFX: Michael 'Flash' Ware @retrorekall
SFX: Alan Ishøj Bostrup-Sørensen (Space Fractal)

So you're a young lady, at the start of a new game you can opt to from Rusty Pixels. It's not quite as fun as
judging by the cover art, start at any level you've previously reached. Warhawk or Baggers in Space but it still
checking out an area called In comparison Tranversion has eight arenas feels amazing that finally playing a game
Lavey which has a bunch of and four of those were bonus arenas that on literally the Next revision of the ZX
valuable resources laying were all the same. Solar Fox has at least 60 Spectrum is exactly like playing a game in
around for you to collect. Apparently racks with an additional fifteen bonus racks the arcades of the eighties, and sometimes
your girly thief needs the skills of an which are all different. Tyvarian is much even better. Can't help but get warm fuzzy
artisan though, so if you don't bake your more like Solar Fox. Even the timer pays feelings about that fact.
own bread or brew local ale get the homage to it.
‘bleep’ outta here!
LIKES
GAMEPLAY
The Tyvarian
The title screen treats you to a rogue's gameplay is fun,
gallery of what you'll find in the game. simple and very
Mostly the relentless type which are out close to Solar Fox.
for blood along with teleports and blocks Everything moves;
that require keys to open. You can press 'O' nothing stays still.
for options, to redefine keys, etc, or press The game has
fire to start the game. As soon as it started, wonderfully crisp
the game reminded me of an arcade game graphics which
called Solar Fox by Bally Midway from 1981, you'd expect from
which I played using M.A.M.E. a few years this well renowned
ago, and also Tranversion on the Spectrum development
by Ocean Software back in 1984. Your main team, with sound Another element introduced later is the deadly Tron-like trail
aim is having to collect all the gems in an effects that match your ship leaves behind.
arena before the timer runs out. Any time the game style,
remaining is a bonus added to your score. including some rather jolly upbeat music.
I was pleasantly surprised with the silky
Controls are directional along with fire smooth movement of your character, which
which also turns into turbo speed if you makes for wonderful playability.
hold it down. The initial enemies are
moving turrets which glide along the DISLIKES
edges of the arena. These can be shot to
stun them momentarily. Further enemies The arena backgrounds are a bit sparse.
and elements from the rogue's gallery However, I would imagine detailed
are introduced as the game progresses. backgrounds would actually negatively
Very little is static in the game. The arena affect the gameplay, as it would then be
edge pulsates with colour, as does the difficult to see collectibles and
VERDICT
background grid pattern (To be honest, enemies. So, no dislikes really.
the ZX Next colours look amazing! - Ed). GFX -----> 92 %
All the enemies move around smoothly. VERDICT
Controls react well to your inputs and
SFX -----> 90 %
collision detection is not the unfair, nasty Tyvarian is a very good game. It is FUN -----> 94 %
type. Tyvarian has eight arenas per level and yet another highly polished product
OVERALL - 92%

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 Reviews ZX Spectrum NEXT

GOR D O N I N S P A C E
wit h J I M B A G L E Y
-
e feature
-Baggers in spac

by Gordon King
@uvtkingy

I
popped in to see Jim Bagley at the Arcade Club in 2018; he was The wimp went for the joypad (tsk tsk) and I loved seeing his
setting up his Spectrum Next prototype board amidst all the reaction as it paralleled my own when I first played it. I shoved
arcade goodness of Bury’s premier retro hotspot. I had already him off the chair rather prematurely as I was dead keen to play
seen the ZX NEXT system beforehand at one of the Expo events this on the full blown Next. What a difference a year had made.
in the country, but it still excited me to see this new machine of Many revisions to the game had happened and the visuals were
technical beauty. There was a much bigger buzz for me though – more refined than before. I still couldn’t hear any sound as the
there was a game going to be demonstrated on it. This was none venue was far too noisy, but even in its silence the game shone
other than his self-titled Baggers in Space. A gaming system is as like a beacon and the observant Jim was still appreciating the
only good as the products for it, so I had high hopes for this. reaction of players.

As I hopped onboard, with the joypad in my hands, I noticed in As for the keyboard – I was blown away. It exceeded my
the corner of my eye, an expectant Jim Bagley. He was just as expectations of how it felt and how responsive it was. I know it
excited, he wanted to see the reaction of the Spectrum fans. This has caused many delays in the project, but when backers get to
demo version presented me with the game’s now second level, use this, they will appreciate the finesse.
'Tootanky'. It didn’t have this name then, but the visuals were so
vivid and colourful that this could be none other than an Egyptian Now with a gorgeous review copy, I can play the
themed world. My jaw hit the ground and then formed a huge game in its entirety and with its amazing musical
grin throughout my play session. Jim smiled in tandem – this was soundtrack. What brilliant AY compositions! We have
clearly the reaction he was hoping for. I was instantly hooked; one solid game with superlative sprites and which is
the game had captured the spirit and essence of the original also an aural delight. It doesn’t get much better than
Spectrum titles. It may have had slightly modern aesthetics, but this.
at its core, it was a Spectrum game with all the integrity of the
beloved 8-bit system.

Sadly, due to the VGA monitor having no speakers, I wasn’t able

to experience the audio, but I’m convinced I heard my own AY
renditions going round in my brain. I had a nice chat with Jim
after I begrudgingly let someone else on. Jim was genuinely
appreciative of being told that “he had nailed it” with Baggers in
Space.

Fast forward a year, and it was on my return to Play Expo

Glasgow when fellow reviewer Dougie McGregor and I caught
up with Jim. This time round, the full prototype Next casing was
there in all its glory. This was the moment I was waiting for – to
try the game on keyboard (my preferred weapon of choice). I
graciously gave Dougie first play as he was a virgin to the game.

173 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews ZX Spectrum NEXT

BAG G E R S I N S P A C E

Code: Michael 'Flash' Ware, Jim Bagley

GFX: Lobo by John Davies
Music: Alan Ishøj Bostrup-Sørensen (Space Fractal) @retrorekall
SFX: SpaceFractal & Michael 'Flash' Ware

Jim Bagley (Aka. Baggers) is a Space or redefine keys by pressing ‘R’, or paper and pencil to map it out but you still
fabulous programmer. It was use a joystick. need to commit it to memory to discover
he who crammed Dragon’s the quickest route in getting the fuel and
Lair into a ZX81 don’t you After an initial cut-scene showing Baggers departing the planet. The map is also wrap
know - getting a Guiness in an unfortunate collision, the first around which can be useful. There are
World Record for his efforts too! Alas, it playable screen treats you to the biggest treasures, air cylinders and health packs
seems he’s not quite as adept at piloting homage to Jetpac ever
space rockets though. If there's a single seen. Complete with
random lump of space debris orbiting a little meteors, rocket
planet he'll inevitably crash into it and rip parts to build, floating
his rocket apart into three equal pieces. platforms and falling
He's also a bit of a survivalist and has a treasures. Then after
100% survival rate for all the crashes he's you've pieced your
ever been involved in. Quite handy as this rocket together a box
gives him the opportunity to rebuild and of TNT drops down
refuel his rocket and carry on flying instead of the usual
through space towards his next collision. fuel and the game
goes into H.E.R.O.
DEVELOPER: Rusty Pixels mode.

Rusty Pixels comprises team members On the first stage,

Michael Ware and Jim Bagley - the wizards a flashing arrow
of writing the code. Lobo is working his indicates where you must drop the TNT. to collect. If you recover an idol you'll get
magic on graphics and Space Fractal is After you do, and it explodes, part of the something special like Points, Slime or
making awesome sounds and tunes. As well ground gives way and you can venture Speed.
as Baggers In Space, Rusty Pixels have also beneath the planet's surface.
been working on another five Spectrum At the end of each stage you receive
Next titles - Tyvarian, Crowley World Tour, Here is the planet's underground facility bonus points for health and air remaining
Revival Survival, Scramble and Warhawk, containing all manner of enemies and and then it's on to the next random rock
so look out for these on your travels obstacles such as robots, aliens, lasers, collision disaster with a different looking
through cyberspace! With Warhawk and rockets, bullets, fireballs and spikes, lump for each planet you encounter
Tyvarian, you won't have to look far, as they which all reduce your health bar. The ranging from a well known 'Speccy'
are reviewed in Blast Annual 2020 too! reason you're down here is to find the all mascot encased in ice to the Doctor's
important fuel for your rocket. Three fuel time-travelling phone box. Your health
GAMEPLAY packs are required to fill your vessel and and air are back to the max for the start
take off. But you need to work fast before of the next mission. Every planet has its
At the title screen, you're given a few your air supply runs out. own name, colour, rock collision intro,
pointers and the control options whilst surface and facility layout, music, graphics,
Baggers waits patiently, floating around The network of underground chambers enemies, obstacles and difficulty.
outside his rocket. You can use QAOP and and passages is not so big that you need

174
 Reviews ZX Spectrum NEXT

So it's quite exciting to complete the escape from a planet to see

what's offered up on the next. The planets I discovered ranged from
Egyptian looking, on ‘Tootanky’, to pink ice, on ‘Hielos’, to steampunk,
on ‘Bangho’.

If you run out of air or health you die. When this happens Baggers
unsurprisingly goes directly to heaven on his angel wings. Let's face it,
nobody who is as friendly as this is going anywhere else. And that's not
the end of it. There's a continue option which allows you to replay the
game from the last planet you visited, with your score, quite rightly,
set back to zero. Graphics are extremely smooth, well animated with
nice touches like the particles firing out of Jim's rocket pack. Scenery
for each facility has a wonderful amount of detail and backgrounds are
never sparse.
Snakes… why’d it have to be snakes?
Sound consists of a bunch of excellent tunes for the start of the game,
the end of the game, the high score table entry and a different tune
for every planet you visit. Spot effects are also of a high calibre most
of the time.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, no sleep for

Baggers tonight!

VERDICT
Treasures and alien artifacts can be found beneath
the planets surface.
GFX -----> 96%
LIKES
SFX -----> 94%
The difficulty curve is spot on. I completed the first planet on my first attempt. The more
planets I completed the more attempts were required to complete the next. Getting a high
score is nice but my addiction was more about reaching the next planet to see what treats
were in store. This is the oldest trick in the video game book and this game ramps it up to
FUN -----> 98%
an unbelievable level.

DISLIKES OVERALL
The sound of the laser was a bit too noisy. The planets with duplicate maze type screens

98%
seemed unnecessary to me.

VERDICT
Overall, Baggers In Space is basically Activision's H.E.R.O. in space, with a bit of Jetpac
thrown in. You might not think that's highly original but the game is so perfectly polished
and well balanced that you're past caring once you start playing. It's one of the best
games I've ever played and right up there with Warhawk on the Next.

175 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Reviews SEGA

Developers: Bitmap Bureau

GFX: Henk Nieborg, Catherine Menabde
by Senad Palic
Music: Savaged Regime
@retrokram
System: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive

Y ou don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time

you make a new game. You can just take existing
game mechanics and make something great from
chance to master the game controls. Your pixelated soldier moves
in eight directions, and he can shoot, throw grenades and roll to
avoid the enemies' attacks - three actions with three buttons.
previous games. If we are honest with ourselves, most
Now the cool part: You can use a 6-Button Controller. The extra
games we play are based on old ideas, Xeno Crisis is
buttons allow you to shoot up, down, left, right, throw grenades
just that. If you see Xeno Crisis for the first time, you will and roll. That makes your life in the killing rooms much easier.
recognize its predecessors - Berzerk (1980), Robotron:2084 Speaking of lives, you only have one! (that will make this game
(1982), but, more specifically, this top-down arena arcade- tough as a kevlar jacket - Ed) You have to go all the way through six
style blaster draws inspiration from such classic games as areas, filled with many, many enemies to destroy and take on some
Smash T.V. (Williams, 1990) and Contra (Konami, 1987). Xeno really big bosses with only one life, a small energy bar of five hearts
Crisis is a one or two player shoot and bomb romp with a and three credits. More credits can be acquired during the game.
To be fair, sometimes the killed aliens drop dog tags (bonuses). At
huge number of enemies to take down. You fight your way
the end of a level, after the boss fight, you can exchange dog tags
from room to room till you find the level boss - a tried-and- for upgrades including more health, more gun power, speed, ammo,
tested game design that has generally worked successfully grenades and grenade power. So you better be good at running
over the years and is featuring even more so in recent times and shooting to pick up those dog tags, because each successive
with games such as Geometry Wars (XBOX, 2003, 2005, 2007, room is harder than the one before. More enemies, harder enemies
2008, 2010, 2014), Enter The Gungeon (XBOX, PS4, Nintendo and even more harder enemies (we get the picture, it gets hard but
Switch, 2016, 2017) and The Binding Of Isaac (Windows, Mac, sounds very cool too - Ed). True to arcade style gaming you do get
Linus, 2011). the option of continuing the game when your health runs out.

The next cool part: Every time you play Xeno Crisis, the levels will
DEVELOPER: Bitmap Bureau
look different because of the procedurally generated maps and
rooms. Doors, holes in walls and holes in the ground will always
Gaming industry veterans Mike Tucker and Matt Cope founded
be randomized. So too the aliens, they never appear in the same
Bitmap Bureau, based in the UK, in 2016. Before their Xeno Crisis
spot. So there is no real tactic or memorizing wave patterns, except
Kickstarter campaign, Bitmap Bureau released Ninja Shodown and
knowing the weakness and the speed of your enemies. Speaking
88 Heroes for PS4, Switch, PC, MAC and Linux. Xeno Crisis is their
of enemies, you have to fight about 40 of them, in six areas with
first game as an independent game studio for old consoles such
an arsenal of nine different weapons. You will certainly need these
as the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Dreamcast and Neo Geo but they
weapons but make sure they are stocked up with ammo as ammo
have also developed versions for Switch, PS4, XBOX1, PC, MAC and
for each weapon comes in short supply. Xeno Crisis gameplay oozes
Linux - these guys are busy! The Xeno Crisis Kickstarter campaign
huge sprites with lots of blasting with a great selection of weapons
ran from 12th November 2017 until 1st October 2018, receiving
to fire at will causing non stop carnage!
1289 backers who blasted through the target goal of £20,000
by a staggering 363% with a total amount of funds raised
equaling £72,569. The game was finally completed and
physically released on October 29th, 2019.

GAMEPLAY

As I mentioned above, Xeno Crisis is nothing new to the

retrogaming audience. But the implementation of the old
concept “1 vs. rest of the world” has been made to a very
good standard which is really pleasing to see for a newly
released commercial game of this kind. You start the game
choosing one of eight languages (I always love this feature in
games, it's the little things that make a big difference), watch
the intro, select your level of difficulty - ‘Easy’ or ‘Hard’ mode
and choose between a female or male character. The only
difference is the look of your avatar - both characters possess
the same abilities and use the same weapons. A spaceship
drops you on outpost 88 and you enter the first room. In Area
1, only a few bubblegum-spiders attack you while you have a

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 Reviews SEGA

Got your work cut out for you…. Get ready to die - Area 1 End of level boss successful completion.
boss ”Shima” covers half the screen!

LIKES
When I first saw the boss at the end of area one, I was totally blown away, because he was
half the size of the screen. All the graphics are totally on point, executed wonderfully
well for this game style, in my opinion, so really cool visually. The rooms never look the
same - you fight in woods, laboratories, on sand (with sandworms etc) and much more. The
different enemy types add much more appeal to the gameplay. There are six different
areas or arenas with plenty of rooms to blast away at many, many alien hordes - it's so fast
paced and includes a really awesome soundtrack with different voice samples these are
the things I really enjoyed about this game. You don’t see any energy bars or anything else
like that - it's like a ‘clean screen’ giving you a much bigger playing area effect. Everytime
you pick up a dog tag, your small avatar will get a number above their head indicating the
amount received / available. Ammo and health are shown the same way. If you get hit by
a bullet or a monster, you lose one energy heart then you see how much hearts are left.
I like that. By the way, you can have more fun together - yes, the co-op feature enhances
the game even more. How good is the playability! The run ‘n gun it gameplay is excellent. VERDICT
Rolling your marine to avoid enemy fire as a defensive feature works wonderfully well. It's

GFX -----> 95%

like an action scene from a Rambo movie!

DISLIKES

SFX -----> 90%

After having played Xeno Crisis it's just my type of game, I didn’t find any major dislikes
to the gameplay or its playability, but that's just a personal opinion. If there is something
I dislike, maybe it’s that the first boss was huge - half of the screen and I thought “OMG,

FUN -----> 93%

how big will the next one be?” Turns out the next boss was much, much, smaller, so that
was a bit of a disappointment.

VERDICT
Xeno Crisis is a very challenging game. It's graphically awesome, and much better than I
expected. I was totally absorbed by the fast, intense gameplay. The soundtrack is really
good too, just what you need for a game like this, pump the volume up as loud as you can
for that insane gaming experience. As far as shoot ‘em ups go, Xeno Crisis blew me out of
OVERALL
my skin. It is a really addictive shooter with a fantastic array of enemies to blast your way

92%
through. With an arsenal of nine different weapons to shower the enemy with, it's hard
not to like what you see. Especially with touches such as grenades shaking the screen as
they wipe out everything and the hot trail of yellow and red fire power extending out
the end of your rapid fire pulse rifle as you blast away at everything without a second
thought. For me this is one of the best Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games I have played.
Bitmap Bureau have got the difficulty and challenge settings for Xeno Crisis just right.
Grab a friend and play together for maximum blast ‘em up carnage. You are going to love
this game!

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 Reviews NES

Code, SFX, Game Idea and Level Design : Donny

Phillips.
GFX, Level Design and turned the game idea into a by George Bachaelor
fully fleshed out world: Ellen Larsson. @cpcgamingdemos

Intermittent red lasers, conveyor belts, spikes and hazardous liquid

HISTORY waste are other items within the Omni Corp facilities stopping you
from winning your freedom. At certain points of the game you are
Initially a bright cartoon-like idea, about a boy required to unlock yellow lasers that will allow you safe passage
saving Pixel City from an undefined evil named through a checkpoint. These screens usually have a white item to
Omni Corp, Project Blue evolved into a dark and walk over allowing you to pass through. Collecting 100 Neo Cents (a
gritty cyberpunk storyline. Physical cartridges are being made C with a line through it), will add an extra life to the three lives you
thanks to 744 backers pledging US$42,592 on Kickstarter. start with. Small heart-shaped crystals can be found in some rooms
adding to your health bar.
DEVELOPERS
LIKES
Ellen Larsson (Frakengraphics) lives in Sweden and Donny Phillips
(Toggle Switch) lives in the USA - they have never met in real life. No matter which path you take, you'll end up making progress. This
This is their first NES commercial game release together. level design keeps the gameplay fun and interesting. Run ‘n jump
physics work without a hitch allowing you to speed up or hit the
GAMEPLAY
brakes. If you’re thinking it's all platformer, well it predominantly
Alert! Alert! Code RED! Subject B has escaped! Evacuation in is, but the variety between levels is engrossing and be prepared
progress…256 screens of post apocalyptic platforming run ‘n to encounter different boss battles. Have you ever seen or heard
gun shmup greatness awaits - depicted in four distinctive themes a better combination of graphics and sounds to portray a post-
revolving around a war-ravaged Neo Hong Kong. apocalyptic war ravaged worldscape? It's mesmerising right from the
start. Every single element of the game is a masterpiece. And the
Your task: Escape your evil captors Omni Corp where they turn kids action is accompanied by truly era-defining music and sound effects.
into experimental weapons. Platform freedom begins inside the
It makes all your gaming worries (and some real life ones) disappear.
military research laboratory called Theta Lab. It sets the scene of
an often dark environment, with many evil enemies on each screen.
The basic enemy - two types of killer drones (one can be destroyed,
the other can’t be), jumping green slime and
weaponized turrets (stationary and mobile)
are found here.

As you progress through your escape route

many of the same evil enemies appear as
you enter other levels, and new enemies
are introduced. Dezone: A rooftop battle
with a war ravaged city scape backdrop. A
brighter environment but still maintaining
that gritty apocalyptic feeling with whirring
saw blades, electricity and a homing style
enemy featured. Underground: Mixes
water gameplay with platform gaming,
the subtle changes in block colours give
this environment its own uniqueness. The
final battle inside Omni Headquarters is a
futuristic setting but cleverly depicts the
evil within.

Each level has specific interactable objects.

These include: Breakable blocks, Wind
Stream, Parachute, Trampoline, Propeller,
Elevator Platforms and Toggle Switches. Watch out for the shooting turret as you collect those Neo coins on the
Ladders are scattered throughout most platform above.
screens aiding your quest to survive.

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 Reviews NES

Flip screen instead of scrolling works where the music changed last. Project Blue
wonders as you organically figure out how doesn't have a clearcut concept of separate
to play to accomplish each screen which is stages - music is your main indicator. Every
matched by playability so spot on, it's very second boss, you travel to a new zone with
hard to put down once you start playing. The a different theme. The distinction isn't
dark story plot captivates your imagination, entirely clear, but I'd like to think of it as four
building your adrenalin as you encounter zones (or maps), 16 stages. The stages just
each new screen. Climbing ladders is Words from one of the Developers: go seamlessly into one another, except that
brilliant; you aren’t consumed with getting Ellen Larsson (Frankengraphics). the music changes. That's when you know
it pixel perfect. All the different enemies, all you've reached a "big" checkpoint. There
the little puzzles you need to solve, all the We (Donny and I) started working on Project are eight boss fights in total. You get a main
features to help you on your quest - it's just Blue a few years ago but put together a KS shooting weapon that fires two bullets across
superb. Boss battles make your journey all campaign in November 2019 to fund the the screen. And then we included a weapon
that more rewarding. reproduction onto physical cartridges. As it power-up for twenty shots that make your
turned out we still had quite a bit left of the attacks doubly powerful.
DISLIKES game to polish.
The game itself is semi-linear. Very little back
If I have any gripes about the game, it's We thought we were done but we've tracing is required. If you do, then it may be
the restart and checkpoints - it seems to probably squashed some 50 level design bugs because you need to restart the screen. This
be unclear. They are indicated via audio since to make it a lot more polished than your might occur when trying to beat an enemy
but greater clarity would make for a better average NES game in that regard. to explode a block allowing you to travel
gaming experience. Ellen Larsson explains onwards to the next screen. Sometimes,
this in more detail. Please read her section Donny Phillips goes by the name Toggle you'll run into a room which have several
in this review. Switch, our illustrator / manual designer exits. All those routes will funnel you to a
prefers to go by his pen name, M-Tee. Other point where they come together and there's
VERDICT people that have been greatly involved are only one way forward again. Digital versions
Frank Westphal (handles printing in the US), are out now and physicals are being printed.
Wow! Four fantastic levels, with so much Joey "memblers" Parsell (circuit board design You can purchase digital versions here:
going on throughout. How did they cram it and shells in the US). Antoine Gobin of Broke
all in?! Outstanding platform gaming at its Studio (the whole manufacturing process
toggleswitch.itch.io/projectblue
very best. Project Blue is an original, fun and PCB design in the EU, which is how I recommend checking some of our KS
game that blows my mind with its gritty, international backers and buyers get their updates where we've detailed some of the
dark, post-apocalyptic plot, fantastic physical copies). creative process, link is here:
gameplay, numerous boss battles, smooth
controls, exceptional graphics, incredible Regarding the checkpoints and restarts. kickstarter.com/projects/
sounds and many in-game wonders to There are two kinds of restart checkpoints. nesgame/project-blue
discover. It's what great platform games One is completely silent and lets you restart
are all about! a few rooms back in general. If you are at the
game over screen though, you restart back at VERDICT

GFX ----> 100%

SFX ----> 100%
FUN -----> 97%

OVERALL

The first boss battle, avoid the green bullets and shoot at the glass.
I didn’t have enough lives or health to last the battle!
98%
179 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK
 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Champ Games

System: A2600

C hamp Games has done it again! After bringing us

Mappy, Super Cobra Arcade, Scramble, Lady Bug,
and Conquest of Mars, they return with the biggest
surprise for the Atari VCS / 2600….. Galaga - er, I
mean, Galagon!

John Champeau and his team of expert programmers have given

gamers a video game port that no one would have expected to see
possible on the 2600. Back in 1997, John ported a PC version of
Galaga that he called “Galagon”, and has reused the name for this
game. Galagon is a one or two player game that uses the joystick
controllers. Use the joystick to move your ship left and right to
avoid incoming fire and to line up your shots to destroy the enemy.
Press the fire button to fire up to two missiles (or four missiles
when your ship is doubled). Destroy all of the enemies to advance
to the next stage. There are 99 levels to complete.

John has added Novice, Standard, Advanced and Challenge levels

of gameplay which are chosen on the title screen. Novice starts
with double ships, and is intended for beginners. The arcade did
not have this; Standard or Advanced are meant to be more like the
arcade. The Challenge mode skill level is where you try to clear as
many challenge stages as possible. This is intended to be used as a
practice mode for the challenge stages. There are the typical one
and two player game options as in the original arcade game, but
Champ Games has added a two player co-op option to Galagon!
Two ships at one time on the screen gives this game a whole new
twist!

All of the enemies from the original arcade game are in this port.
Bees (blue), Butterflies (red), Split enemies (multiple), and
Flagships (cyan / blue) are all represented in this game. Even
down to the tractor beam capturing your ship and having the
ability to get double ships. The challenge stages are included,
starting on level 3 and every 4th level after that. The object is still
to shoot as many ships as possible (up to 40) to increase your score
with a bonus. Shooting all 40 will result in a 10,000 point bonus.

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 Reviews Atari 2600

Features of Galagon include:

Novice, Standard, Advanced, and Challenge Modes. Galagon is an amazing port of a game that is as timeless as
One and Two Player support (including two-player co-op modes). the Atari VCS itself.
Use Difficulty Switches to Enable/Disable Auto-fire for each
player. While Galaga has been one of the most popular video games of all
Built-in Pause Feature using Color/BW Switch on the 2600. time setting the standard for every shoot ‘em up game from the
Supports QuadTari Adapter for simultaneous two-player. 80’s to follow, gamers can really appreciate what's gone into this
Supports AtariVox. conversion. Beautiful graphics, colors, animation, sound effects,
High-Score Tables stored using AtariVox or SaveKey (if present). background sounds, bonus stages, animated star field, double-
fighters, frantic gameplay - all of the arcade original game can be
The game will also work in Stellarator, Stella emulator (v6.0.1 played right here on the 2600 (it's world class coding by Champ
or higher) and on real hardware with the Harmony or Harmony Games to produce such an outstanding game for the 2600 - Ed).
Encore. Galagon is available for purchase from the AtariAge
store. There are two different cartridge label designs for Galagon, If you're not bothered by the enemies' spacing (a true limitation
featuring Dave Dries' artwork. "Style A" is the artwork on the front of the VCS that can't be helped) than yes - Galagon is damn near
of the box, and "Style B" is the artwork featured on the back of the arcade 'perfect'. Another top notch release from Champ Games
box. It is also available in both NTSC and PAL60 television formats. that will blow your minds. This *is* the leading candidate for the
It is an incredible feat that this game was developed in just over “Best Homebrew Game” award from the “Atari Awards 2019”
six weeks by Nathan Strum (graphics, game design), Ross Keenum award show!
(music and sound) and John Champeau (design and programming).

VERDICT

OVERALL - 100%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Edward A. Smith

System: A2600

L arry Kaplan's Bowling game for the Atari VCS in

1979 was good for the time, but this new 2019
release will really bowl you over!

Edward set out to program a better bowling game

(this time) for the Atari 2600. The final product is Edward’s
third installment in his “2600 Sports Series” called Pro Bowling!
The label and manual were designed and created by Michael
Thomasson of Good Deal Games. All cartridges are manufactured
and currently sold by Good Deal Games: Homebrew Heaven. This
title is currently sold for $24.75 (cartridge only). A version of Pro
Bowling has been made to work on the Atari Flashback Portable
too.

The bowler has the option of a male or female player on the screen
with the use of the TV Type switch. Move the joystick to position
the bowler where desired on the alley, then push up to start
the approach. Press the fire button to release the ball down the
alley. Depending where the meter is when you press the button,
determines the shot.

The meter, along the bottom of the screen, grows in color yellow
first and then in green. Yellow is spin to the right and green is spin
to the left. The weaker or stronger is based on how much of the
color is shown on the meter when the button is pressed.

VERDICT

OVERALL - 90%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Edward A. Smith

System: A2600

I n the spirit of the Atari 7800 game One-on-

One Basketball with Larry Bird vs Julius “Dr. J”
Erving, programmer Edward A. Smith set out to
program a better basketball game for the Atari
2600.

The final product is 1vs1: Three-Point Play (aka 1vs1 Basketball)

with three games built in! The label and manual were designed
and created by Michael Thomasson of Good Deal Games. All
cartridges are manufactured and currently sold by Good Deal
Games: Homebrew Heaven. This title was officially released at the
2019 Portland Retro Gaming Expo and is sold for $24.75 (cartridge
only) with only 25 copies ever made. The three games that are
available in 1vs1 Three-Point Play are:

One Vs. One Basketball

Score 2 points or 3 points for baskets and 1 point for being fouled
after the second time. The game will end when the first player
scores 21 points.

Horse

The first player shoots from any spot. If a shot is made, the second
player must make the same shot or earn “H”. As long as player one
continues to make shots, player two must follow suit or else earn
additional letters O,R,S,E. Once player 1 misses a shot, then player
2 has control until he or she misses, and player 1 must make the
shot made by player 2 or else earn letters. Players must self-police
shots and move to correct positions and keep track of who has
control and whose shot it is.

Around the World

This game is self-policing. Players must keep track of their shots,

move to correct positions, and remember whose turn it is!
This game is packed with far more than what would have ever
been thought possible on the Atari 2600. Compare the new 1vs1
to Atari's own 1978 original Basketball, and be blown away by the
difference. This new rendition is programmed from the ground up
and utilizes 16k to bring you a realistic basketball experience and
should be considered as Atari’s “RealSports Basketball”! VERDICT

OVERALL - 85%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Champ Games

System: A2600

T here is an ancient legend passed down by deep

space travelers. The legend of the Wizard of Wor.
It tells of an evil wizard who studied in the sciences of
dimensional travel and teleportation.

It is said that the Wizard possesses the ability to entrap travelers

at any point in space and teleport them to his labyrinthian planet.
A planet populated by an array of malevolent creatures, all
teleported there against their will. The wizard entertains himself
by watching these creatures battle each other in a struggle for
survival in the land of Wor.

At the beginning of each dungeon, the ‘Worriors’ (no that’s not a

typo they are called Worriors in this game - Ed) are located in the
start area. To enter the maze, press up on the joystick. A Worrior
cannot be harmed while in the start area, but only has 10 seconds
before being forced into the maze. Once in the maze, use the
joystick to guide the Worrior through the maze and attack the
monsters. Guide your Worrior to the red tunnel to warp from one
side to the other. The red tunnel can only be used when it is open
(it will show a red arrow) and closes for a few seconds once it is
used. The enemies can also use the tunnel so be on the lookout!

Champ Games has created 99 devious dungeons that the Wizard

dares you to enter! There are many types of dungeons that your
Worriors will need to master to move on to the next and continue
your battle with the Wizard! This port of Bally / Midway’s 1981
arcade game and the CBS Atari 2600 game release has been
amazingly redone. All of the excitement, atmosphere and speech
from the original has been translated beautifully to this cartridge,
you'll hardly believe you're playing an Atari 2600 game.

Wizard of Wor Arcade is available for purchase from the

AtariAge store in your choice of either NTSC and PAL60
television formats.

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 Reviews Atari 2600

VERDICT

OVERALL - 100%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Anthony Quinlan

System: A2600

B ass Fishing Tournament is fairly straightforward.

You just need to catch as many fish as you can in
the provided time given before weigh in.

The deeper you snag a fish, the more they are worth in weight.
However, bigger fish are stronger and more forceful making it no
easy task to land them in your boat. You must land the fish into
your boat in order to receive the weight points. There is an audio
notification of three beeps when you have 20 seconds left in the
round. Achieving a score of 1,800 or greater will allow access to
level two, while a score of 3,600 or greater will grant access to
level three.

Level four requires 5,400 - Level five requires 7,200 and Level six
requires 10,800. Your time will replenish for another 4 minutes per
round, when achieving these scores. If you have a fish hooked and
it hits the edge of the screen, he will escape off of the hook. There
are rumours of a big ol' lunker lurking around the depths, but he
very rarely pops his head out. If you see him and have the chance
to snag him, go for it, he's worth his weight. Although he will put
up a decent fight, so be prepared, it will not be easy.

The fire button reels in the hook, lure, and if there is a fish caught.
The joystick controls the direction of the rod and reel, along with
the line and hook underwater. In the lower right is the timer per
round and the force / tension is displayed in the lower left corner.
Anthony has posted the final version of Bass Fishing Tournament
in the AtariAge forums for all to enjoy. Bass on! VERDICT

OVERALL - 88%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Dion Olsthoorn

System: A2600

A moeba Jump is a vertical jumping game

where your objective is to guide the amoeba
up a never-ending series of platforms without
falling. The higher you get, the higher your score
will be. There are three different platform types:

Yellow - these are the basic, stable platforms.

White - these are unstable platforms that disappear after
you bounce off them once.
Blue - these platforms are harder to hit because they move
back and forth.

Jumping on red or green mushroom push-buttons will give you a

short boost and some bonus points, but best of all it makes the
little amoeba rejoice! When your score gets beyond 1,000 points,
little white oval-shaped bacteria start appearing on the platforms,
which can be eaten by the amoeba. Each bacteria holds one of the
six letters of the word A-M-O-E-B-A.

Collect all six and the single next time you jump on a spring, you
will get a super boost. The screen wraps around, which means
that the amoeba can leave one side of the screen and immediately
reappear on the opposite side. You’re going to need this to reach
some platforms! Amoeba Jump is available from the AtariAge
store on cartridge, along with a full-color, 4-page manual, and
professionally printed box, and is available in NTSC or PAL
television formats.
VERDICT

OVERALL - 90%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Todd Furmanski

System: A2600

L egends speak of a labyrinth created by the mind of

a dreaming elder dragon. This maze is filled with
the promise of wealth, power and danger. Discover
an endless length of corridors with spectres and
monsters appearing out of thin air, and strange happenings
occurring the deeper one travels and survives.

You play as a young dragon, perhaps trapped here, perhaps

tempted by the wealth and power that drives your kind.
Regardless, you have little choice but to find your way through the
corridors and chambers of the labyrinth, finding glory, or perhaps
escape. Direct your dragon through a sprawling labyrinth, hunting
for treasure, power, and danger!

There are thousands of possible maps to explore, either randomly

selected or predetermined, along with eight different types
of enemies, one mid boss, one final boss, and one hidden boss.
There are power-ups to increase firepower or health as you delve
deeper into the labyrinth and an easter egg or two, of course! This
game is, among other things, an experiment in procedural maze
generation for the Atari 2600.

Dragon’s Descent is available from the AtariAge store

on cartridge, along with a full-color, 12-page manual, and
professionally printed box, and is an NTSC-only game. VERDICT

OVERALL - 90%

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 Reviews Atari 2600

by Brian Matherne

Developer: Natanael Vasconcelos Leitão and

Nomad GameDev
System: A2600

F or many years, Arbrom was faithful to his

mentor, sometimes playing the role of
messenger and sometimes the executioner.

He did not question his own acts, only obeyed the orders even
though they were grotesque and immoral. However, there was
a day when something was left behind, a piece of his heart. The
beast witnessed an event that not only broke his heart, but left
him vowing vengeance on his master. His old village along with his
old friends and family were decimated, precisely by the one that
Arbrom served for so many years.

The reasons were unclear, but nothing else matters now…. He is

seeking his revenge! Cross all scenarios until you reach the interior
of your former mentor's castle. Be careful of the onslaught of
stones, bats, insects, snakes and mystical eyes along the way. To
avoid being hit, you must attack some and deflect others.
Beast is available from Dablio Games (Brazil) on cartridge, along
with a full-color manual and professionally printed overlay in an
old school VHS plastic clamshell case. VERDICT

OVERALL - 70%

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eEeEe

190
 eEeEe

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 Interviews

Written by: Todd Friedman, John Champeau and George Bachaelor

J ohn Champeau needs no

introduction to Atari 2600
gamers. For the rest of us
favorite childhood gift a few months
later at Christmas.

BA: What games have you created for

who don't know John, he is
the Atari 2600?
the current Atari 2600 game
developer Champion. Ok, ok, I
JC: Currently there are five released
hear you moaning at my awful
games from Champ Games for the
one liners, in all seriousness
2600:
though, John first dreamed
of creating Atari 2600 games
2006: Conquest of Mars and Lady Bug
as a 12 year old (I think many
retro gamers would have had
2016: Scramble
that dream too - Ed) and has
now gone on to produce some
2017: Super Cobra Arcade
absolutely cracking Atari 2600
games in recent times. I asked
2018: Mappy
Todd Friedman to catch up with
John Champeau and have a chat
2019: Wizard of Wor Arcade and
about the release of Galagon -
Galagon (aka Galaga)
his version of recreating the all
time classic arcade game shoot
BA: GALAGA on the Atari 2600 are
'em up - Galaga.
you serious! Just how is that even
Blast Annual (BA): When did Champ conceivable?
The Atari 2600 Champion game
Games officially start making games and
developer, John Champeau.
what was involved in the process? JC: Galaga has always been one of my
favorites and over the years I had often BA: Simply amazing! How accurate to the
John Champeau (JC): Champ Games in thought about how a decent 2600 version arcade original is it?
its current incarnation is just a hobby for could be accomplished. In March of this
me and whoever is available for a specific year I was digging through some old files JC: It’s fairly close, but we do not reverse
project, although it should be noted on a backup drive when I came across the engineer any original code when we create
that Nathan Strum has been involved in source code for a PC conversion of Galaga a ‘Champ’ version of a game, so although
all of my games in one way or another. I that I had done back in the mid-90’s called it plays like the original, there are a few
previously had an official business on the “CHAMP Galagon”. This inspired me to differences. Notably, Galagon has to work
side back in the mid 1990’s which also used revisit some of my ideas about porting within the limits of the 2600's different
the Champ Games name producing DOS Galaga over to the 2600 and start on screen aspect ratio, and it needs to be
arcade conversions for the PC. an official “proof of concept” (POC). I more accessible as a home version than
started by reverse-engineering the very an arcade version. However, details like
BA: Do you remember the first Atari clever trick used in Atari’s 2600 version the patterns, number of enemies, scoring,
2600 game you played and what do you of Galaxian (released in 1983) that allows level progression, etc. are fairly close to
remember about it? you to display up to 8 sprites in a row the original arcade version.
without any flicker using just one of the
JC: The first Atari game I played was Atari’s player sprites. Once I was able to BA: Please elaborate in more detail what
Combat at a local department store get this working (using Galaga sprites would you say are the main differences
called Barker’s in Dayville, CT, circa fall provided by Nathan Strum), I went about between Champ Games 2600 vs. the
of 1978. I played against my brother and reacquainting myself with the source code arcade version?
I recall being totally immersed in the from my PC version and converting it to
game and not wanting to stop playing. code that would work on the 2600. Nathan JC: As mentioned above, the aspect ratio
As it turns out, as we were playing, my finished the graphics and the sounds of the Atari screen (160x200) vs the
mom secretly bought the VCS (as it was were provided by Ross Keenum (who had arcade (256x244) means that the game
named back then) and had it loaded in our previously created all the sound effects itself needs to play on a much shorter
car unbeknownst to us, and it became my and music for the 2600 back in 2013). screen, so all the patterns needed to be
adjusted to accommodate this.

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Additionally, the hardware trick used to which is an advanced driver that also
display 8 sprites in a row meant that the has an additional 4K of display RAM and
bottom rows would have 8 enemies instead an additional 2K of RAM for code. The
of 10 like the arcade (the additional 4 game also takes advantage of a 70 MHz
enemies are placed in a separate row). In ARM processor that is used for game
the arcade original version the enemies calculations and preparing the graphics.
in formation move in a breathing motion Although the main portion of Galagon
where they move up and down and closer/ would be possible without the advanced
farther apart. Since a limitation of the tools (the 8 sprites per row without
8-sprite trick is that the spacing between flicker and the enemies in flight), having
them is fixed, the enemies do not get the extra RAM and processing power
closer or farther apart horizontally when of the ARM makes it possible for the
they breathe like they do in the arcade. game to play much more like the arcade
Instead, we have the entire row shifting (smoother gameplay, better graphics, etc.)
left/right to simulate this behavior.
and include more bells and whistles that
Graphically, the main difference is that
wouldn’t be possible without the ARM
the enemies are single color when they
processor (such as the scrolling starfield, that I’ve done for the 2600 and 2) this
are in-flight vs. multi-color like the arcade.
the overlaid text messages, etc.). was the first game that was actually a
This is because the 2600 only allows one
port of a game I had already ported to
color change per line which does not work
BA: Are the arcade cheats included in another system (Champ Galagon for the
well with rotated sprites. We are able to
your 2600 version? PC) so I already had a good portion of
use multi-colored sprites for the enemies
the game logic already written and was
in formation since they are not rotated, as
JC: I don’t believe so. There was one able to reference it during development.
well as other objects like your ship.
‘cheat’ or Easter egg that someone had Having access to the pattern data for the
mentioned where the ships would stop enemy flight patterns was most helpful
BA: How does it compare to other home
firing if a certain sequence of events and sped up development considerably.
computer and console versions with
happened, but unfortunately we were not Unlike my other games which usually
greater memory than the Atari 2600?
able to include this in the 2600 version. take about 6 months before they are
We did, however, include a couple of our demo-ready, Galagon was 90% done and
JC: The only other console version of
own ‘cheats’ and Easter eggs! feature complete in 6 weeks (although an
Galaga that I have played is the 7800
additional 4 months of development was
version. In my opinion, I think the 2600
BA: What has been the main difference done to polish up the game play and add
version compares very favourably to it’s
between coding Galagon and coding your in additional play modes, skill levels, bells
7800 counterpart, mostly because the
other games for the 2600? & whistles, etc.).
pattern movement is much smoother
on the 2600. The 2600 version also has a
JC: The big difference between coding
scoring screen, top 5 scores and a couple
Galagon vs. my other games for the 2600
extra play modes like co-op and challenge
are 1) this is the first top-down shooter
mode. Galagon is 32K of ROM (30K
available for the game). About 2K is used
for graphics data (the shapes and colors
of the sprites) and an additional 3K for
the game kernels that render the graphics
directly to the Atari’s TIA chip.

BA: What would be the break up in

memory between graphics, music and
game code?

JC: Out of the 32K:

2K is used by the CDFJ driver

26K is game code (22K of C code and
4K of assembly code)
2K is graphics data
2K is sound data

BA: Have any special coding tools or

techniques been used to make Galagon
2600 possible?

JC: Galagon 2600 uses the CDFJ driver,

193 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

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in C vs. assembly JC: I would have liked to have seen a co-

which, being a more op mode where both players could play
high-level language, simultaneously. As it turns out, I added
allows for game logic this mode to my version of Galaga for the
to be written much 2600.
more quickly.
BA: What is the next game you are going
BA: Why do you to create as a Homebrew on the Atari
think Galaga arcade 2600?
is so loved still
to this day? Do JC: Besides Wizard of Wor Arcade and
you think it has Galagon, we are also demoing 3 other
something to do games at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo
with the double which will most likely be released in 2019:
ships?
Avalanche: Code-complete, waiting to
JC: Yes, this is the finish manual/box/label.
defining feature of
BA: What is the frame rate comparison
Galaga and what makes it different from Lunar Lander: 80% complete,
between the arcade version and the
its predecessor Galaxian. Without the additional features to be added.
Champ Games Atari 2600 version?
capture/rescue double-shot it would just
be another generic shoot 'em up. Zoo Keeper: 25% complete. Still a lot
JC: I believe both are 60FPS. The frame
of work to do on this one, but we plan
rate of the 2600 version never drops below
BA: How long did it take to create the on having a playable demo for the 2019
60FPS; I don’t believe the arcade version
final version of Galagon on the Atari PRGE.
drops below 60FPS either.
2600?
We will be exploring the development of
BA: What was used to code the Atari 2600
JC: Galaga development started at the our first sports game and original title,
game? Are there any special techniques
end of March 2019 and a 90% playable tentatively called “Champ Sports Hockey”
or tools used?
version was demoed on the Zero Page which we started way back in 2003. If it is
Homebrew Twitch stream on May 15th, well received, we hope to have an entire
JC: I use Textpad to do my development,
so 6 weeks for a majority of the game. We series of Champ Sports titles (baseball,
which in turn can execute DASM (the 6502
have worked on finishing up the game off football, basketball, volleyball, bowling,
assembler) and the ARM compiler to build
and on for the 4 months for its release in etc). We have also started work on Gorf
a ROM in a few seconds. Nathan Strum
October at the Portland Game Expo. Arcade for the 2600, which as of December
did all the graphics (I’m not sure what
1st, 2019, is about 50% complete. It will
tools he uses although I think it’s Adobe
BA: How many people are involved in the include all 5 stages from the arcade plus
Photoshop). Ross Keenum produced all the
whole process of creating Homebrew enhanced graphics, sounds and additional
music and sounds which are played using
games? features like Save key support for high
the Atari’s TIA 2-channel sound chip. Over
scores and will also include 30+ speech
the years I have developed several tools in
JC: For Galaga, there were 3 main phrases using the AtariVox.
Java that I use to import the graphics that
contributors to the development of the
Nathan provides from .bmp files to usable
game: myself for design and programming, BA: What is your favourite Atari 2600
6502 code and have also developed tools
Nathan Strum for graphics and design, game and why?
to import sound data provided by Ross and
and Ross Keenum for music and sound
compress data if needed to save on ROM.
fx. For the final release we have Dave JC: This is a difficult question because
Dries doing the artwork and packaging what is my favourite game is usually
BA: Does it differ from how coding a 2600
and Albert @ Atari Age for distribution. dependent on what kind of mood I’m in.
game was done back in the day?
We also rely heavily on the community Some of the original games that I still
for game testing and feedback. For enjoy playing today are Kaboom!, Space
JC: Yes, it differs greatly from how coding
Galaga, there were three game testers Invaders, Asteroids, Missile Command,
was done back in the day, mostly because
that spent a large amount of time playing and Adventure.
the tools today allow a developer to
the game and providing feedback: James
quickly compile and test a game in seconds
O’Brien (and his team) over @ Zero Page
vs. back in the day where compiling could
Homebrew, Steve Ramirez and Glenn (aka
take up to 20 minutes, resources were
GRay Defender).
‘shared’ among many developers, etc.
Additionally, being able to use the ARM
BA: If you could change a few things on
compiler for game logic not only allows
the original Galaga arcade game, what
for much more advanced and robust
would they be?
games, it also allows you to write code

194
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If I had to choose one as my favorite that It is very much appreciated. To get

I also have the most fond memories of, it your copy of one of his Atari 2600
would have to be - Adventure. games - all of the Champ Games are
sold exclusively through the Atari Age
BA: Do you prefer the original games by store and can be found at the website
Atari or the new Homebrew ones out below:
there and why?
tinyurl.com/atariagestore
JC: I find myself playing the originals more
than the homebrews (including my own),
most likely because they have the benefit
of nostalgia that the homebrews do not
have. I own about 30 homebrews which I
play when I get a chance.

BA: Where do you see Homebrew games

in the next 10 years?

JC: I believe 2600 games will continue to

evolve as more technical resources are
implemented and discovered. For me,
personally, I hope to venture out into
different platforms besides the 2600
(5200/8-bit, mobile gaming, etc.) and
continue to develop homebrew games.

BA: What does it take to be a Homebrew

game creator?

JC: Patience, creativity, the ability to think

outside-the box, and technical know-
how are the most important traits in my
opinion.

BA: Other than Atari, what are some

other systems you would think about
making games for?

JC: I have always had an affinity for the

Atari 5200 and 800 home computer (my
first attempts at video games were in
BASIC and on the Atari 800) and would
love to get back into developing games for
those systems at some point.

BA: If you were to design an original

game, what would it be about and who
would be the main character?

JC: In 1982 a friend and I designed a game

for the 2600 called Mountain Raider which
I hope to complete someday. It can best be
described as a mix of Scramble, Defender,
Berzerk and H.E.R.O. It’s most likely too
ambitious in its current design so I will
most likely have to scale it back, which is
most likely why Atari rejected our idea
when we sent it in for their consideration.

I would like to thank John Champeau

for his time to do this interview for
Blast Annual 2020.

195 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Interviews

Jorge Romero González

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

J orge Romero Gonzalez' first

game for the MSX appeared
in 2012. Although it was quite a
simple game, it had him hooked
completely with 8-bit game
development. Since then he has
not stopped making MSX games.
His latest game, The Awakening
is a real classic 8-bit shoot 'em
up adventure, so we have a chat
with Jorge and find out a little
more about him and how he got
into MSX game development.

BLAST ANNUAL (BA): What is the Jorge

Romero Gonzalez 8-Bit story? Where did
8-Bit gaming start for you?

Jorge Romero Gonzalez (JRG): My first One day I discovered “DIV Games Studio”, a During Christmas 2011, my wife gave
approach to microcomputers was thanks to programming suite to create video games, me a Philips NMS8235, MSX2. It was the
my older brother. I remember that at the and I thought "this is much better than computer I always wanted to have during
end of the EGB (basic general education) drawing comics. I can bring my characters my childhood! I remember thinking "Right
my parents bought him a MSX Dynadata to life and even interact with them". So I now I do not know how, but I need to
DPC200 with a green screen monochrome started creating my first videogame back develop a game for this machine!".
monitor. By then, I was about 9 years in 2002. My first finished video game
old and I didn't have much idea about was "Hijos del Eter", in 2003. Since then, My first game for MSX appeared in
programming, but I remember spending I continued creating games for modern 2012 and although it was quite simple,
the evenings dictating basic codes from platforms, at a rate of about one title per it had me hooked completely with the
the MSX magazines to my brother. Of year. During those years, I also remember microcomputer development. Since then,
course, we also played a lot, but due to having made some small hacks for the I have not stopped making games for the
the DPC200 having a somewhat peculiar NES, but it was not until 2012 that I began MSX. Sometimes I even launch up to 2
RAM configuration, most of the cassette creating games for the 8-bit machines. titles in the same year.
games either didn't load on it, or froze
it completely when they tried to access
a RAM area that it didn't have. Luckily,
we could play some pretty good cassette
titles and even some cartridges, which we
greatly enjoyed. I also have fond memories
of playing with my friends on other
platforms, such as Amstrad or Spectrum.

BA: How did you get into 8-Bit game

development? What was your first coding
experience and which machine did you
start coding on?

JRG: Well, it's a somewhat complex story.

I have always been very fond of creating
stories and drawing, but drawing comics
did not satisfy me (perhaps because I'm
not good at drawing as I would like).

Alien Panic (2014), Kung Fu (2018), The Awakening (2019) & Lost Wind (2018)

196
 Interviews

limitations, I would say that the graphic

BA: Which of the above limitations can be another challenge,
games are your favourite especially when you work with the graphic
and why? patterns modes. Another “bottle-neck” is
the VRAM access speed. You can do a lot
JRG: My favourites of “magic”, with bitmap modes, but this
ones are Spring Warrior, speed can be seriously limiting if you don't
Dribol, Grey Wolf and The make a good game design.
Awakening. Grey Wolf and
The Awakening, have a very BA: Your games look professional all the
particular atmosphere, on time, It makes me wonder if there are any
the other hand I think that special mechanics or techniques being
technically and graphically used in your code ?
Grey Wolf - in game screenshot, 512kb, MSX, 2017. they are my two best
games. I love Dribol, because JRG: Thanks! To hear that makes me
The truth is that there is something in the although it is a very simple game, it has very happy. Mmmm... Personally I like to
limitations of these machines and in the a very peculiar game mechanic that I plan a lot on paper first. On each game I
relationship with their users which makes like a lot and that someday I would like start detecting what I call the “greatest
developing games for microcomputers to continue exploring. Regarding Spring technical challenge” of the project. This
a completely different and infinitely Warrior, I'm convinced that it's the most challenge will determine the development
more satisfying experience than modern frenetic and fun game I've done so far. complexity. I'm used to drawing a general
platforms. To this day, I can say that I have design of the game map, so to calculate
made more friends than “customers”. BA: How long does it take to develop and the number of sprites needed... all
release an MSX game? the things that allows me to precisely
BA: What are the full release games you delineate the magnitude of the project
have developed? JRG: Personally I like to face the game before I even begin the coding. This allows
developments in the most professional me to decide if I will need to create new
JRG: If we talk about modern platforms: way possible. Therefore, when I design tools too. One thing that I have learned
Hijos del Eter, Chuflibolas, Acuaride's a videogame I try to never take more making microcomputer games, is that the
Rage, Bio Guardian, Demon Hunter, Jet than 6 months. Obviously, sometimes the planning is much more important than in
Cat Adventure, several of these are estimated times can vary, but I always modern systems. One bad move during the
multi-platform, and I have even made a work with those red lines in mind. design stage can ruin the entire project.
board game! For microcomputers (MSX)
I have released Ninja Love, Alien Panic, BA: What sort of problems do you BA: Do you do all of the coding or do you
Dribol, Spring Warrior, Oniric KunFu, Grey encounter when developing an MSX game have a team and if so what do other team
Wolf, Lost Wind and the most recent, The that you may not find when coding on members create in your games ?
Awakening. other 8-Bit machines ?
JRG: When it comes to actual systems, my
BA: What made you become an MSX game JRG: There are two problems. Firstly, there friend Aldo Pucheta helps me with the
developer? What is it about the MSX that is a lack of tools for MSX development. code, but when it comes to old systems I
makes you love to create games for it? Secondly, there are lots of different MSX make the game design, the graphics and
machines! The MSX is not a closed system coding. Sometimes I work on the music
JRG: I think that it's because the MSX is the as Spectrum or C64. MSX was a compatible too, but usually I look for help with music
computer I grew up with. I always enjoyed standard, that could be built by very composition because my music skills are
that particular style of games, it has that different companies, as long as they meet very limited.
1990's Japanese games. It has that cult some compatibility requirements. This
1990 library of Japanese games that I love means that you need to test your game in BA: What ideas and projects are you
and it's the system that evokes so many a lot of real machines, due to emulation thinking of doing in the future ? Will it be
fond memories. However, I have to say that not always being a perfect thing. About more MSX games or will you have a go at
it is not the only one. I really love playing the tools. There are some good ones, but making games on another 8-Bit system ?
homebrew software from other systems a lot of times I have needed to create my
(more than the classic ones). On the other own ones, because I don't find a tool that JRG: I have a lot of ideas! I think that I
hand, I have to say that I enjoy playing satisfies my needs. would need two lives to make all of them
games on the Nintendo GameBoy and NES, to be true. My more immediate projects
since I also had both consoles. So much BA: What do you find are the most difficult in mind are an action game for Gameboy,
so, that I already have a couple of pending parts of game development to overcome where you play as an armoured medieval
projects for both platforms. other than the limited amount of memory? knight, a NES conversion of The Awakening
and a Transformers tribute game for
JRG: Well, I will leave aside the memory MSX2.

197 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Interviews

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

BATMAN
GROUP
INTERVIEW
BLAST ANNUAL (BA): Who are BATMAN
GROUP and when did you guys start out ?

BATMAN GROUP (BG): BG is a group of

friends from the south of Spain. Since the
early 90's we like to do demos and games
for retro platforms like Amiga, Amstrad
CPC or ZX Spectrum.
(BG): Our first creations were small demos
Over time the group has had 2 stages, called intros. Many of them were not
at first we formed a very large group: released. Our first demo was "The Killing
Batman (swapper & organizer), Beefeater Joke", an Amiga OCS demo released at the
(support), Davín (support), Dj Uno Southern Party in 1993. We got third place
(music), Dredd (code), Frank (swapper), in the demo contest with that.
Headbanger (music), Johnny Centronics
(math), Killing (support), Mac (gfx), (BA): I think many will be surprised to learn
Migue (support), Peruano (support), Batman Group has been coding on different
Rauling/Winden (code), Rhino (code), RPC machines for over 28 years. What have
(support), Shubby (code, gfxs, music), you found most satisfying to work on, and
T-1000 (support), The Punisher (gfx), for which machine? Are there any projects
Vecchia (support) and Xonor (support). you're particularly proud of?

At that time we were a group from the (BG): In the old days, no doubt our most In more recent times, the Amstrad's
Amiga demoscene. The second stage popular production was Batman Vuelve, Batman Forever demo won several Scene
begins at the beginning of 2010. Some a demo for Amiga OCS released at the Awards in 2011. So far our portfolio
former members decided to code the Posadas Amiga Party in 1995. consists mainly of scene demos, and this
Batman Forever demo for Amstrad CPC. is why we are most motivated to create
In this second stage we are Batman, games now. Games are just as much fun
Dredd, Frank, JDC (Music), Mac, Rhino, The to create and have a larger potential
Brothers (organizer), Toni Galvez (gfx, he audience. We are complete strangers in
was invited to BG by Batman in 1995, but the homebrew scene, so there are many
Toni entered the group officially in 2011) reasons to take the leap.
and Winden.

(BA): What was the first project the

BATMAN GROUP worked on or released?

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 Interviews

(BA): In 2016 BATMAN GROUP released (BG) It wasn't easy, but we like challenges!
Perfect Pix. It is a stunning artwork tool We've heard a lot of people say that
to enhance the Amstrad CPC graphics CPC can't make smooth scrolling and we
modes. Is this the tool you are using for all wanted to make a game that not only
your Amstrad CPC works ? Is it a tool any shows that CPC can do it, but can go a
game developer can use in their own game little further than other 8-bit platforms.
creations ? That, coupled with the fact that this game
couldn't be programmed for a C64, was the
(BG): Yes, we released that tool so that perfect motivation to program it on the
anyone could use it, although there don't Amstrad CPC.
seem to be many developers who have
decided to do it *laughter*. First we had to analyse if the project was
possible to do it on CPC at 50 FPS and
with game physics at least as good as
the original, because if you don't achieve
this the game wouldn't be fun. First we
made the physics on PC and then we
made the maths library for Z80. This was
important because we needed to know if
(BA): Your Amstrad CPC Batman Forever all calculations could be run at 50 FPS on
demo, released in 2011, still ranks as the the CPC.
number one demo of all time on pouet.
net. How were you able to create such The scroll routines were adapted from a
a masterpiece? Was it all done on the The idea of releasing the tool arose during hardware routine we'd collaborated on
Amstrad CPC? the development of Pinball Dreams, previously with a different team.
because we realized that we needed these
(BG): Thank you! Although Rhino had left modes to provide a
the demoscene in 1995, he and other better result in the
members of the group such as Mac or Toni introduction screens and
continued to be linked to the world of we thought that other
creation throughout those years, which developers might also
was an advantage when it was decided to have this need.
make a demo again. On the other hand, We always try to include
in the late 2000's, with the release of the at least some screens in
best C64 demos such as Edge of Disgrace, these enhanced video
Batman motivated Rhino to make a demo modes. However, the
on CPC under the provocation that it higher speed and
couldn't be as good as the C64 demos memory requirements
and that was the beginning of Batman make it difficult to make
Forever. Rhino learned how to program whole games in these
with an Amstrad CPC and knew it had a lot modes.
of hidden potential, but the realization
of this demo was like discovering a rough (BA): Late 2016 BATMAN GROUP sent Adjusting the gameplay so that the game
diamond covered with straw so it wouldn't Amstrad Gamers a bit 'loopy' with the first experience would be similar to Amiga's
shine. playable table, Pinball Dreams demo video. was also hard, we knew how the table
In 2019 BG released a full FREE version rules work through the manual, but there
of Pinball Dreams. is a lot of information about scoring and
Everyone who has bonus that is hidden in the manual, so we
seen and played it has started doing reverse engineering for this,
been full of praise. but soon we realized that it was better to
How difficult was it to adjust these parameters according to our
port this Amiga and own gameplay and finally we gathered a
PC gaming legend to a big group of testers that helped us a lot!
128KB Amstrad CPC and
have it not only looked
good but play so well
too?

199 BLAST ~ ANNUAL RETRO GAMING BOOK

 Interviews

BATMAN GROUP INTERVIEW

(BA): In 2017 BATMAN GROUP wowed (BG): We want to launch it next year, but at (BG): It's hard to know when a technique is
us with an Amstrad CPC scrolling engine the moment it's only an estimate. "discovered" or implemented for the first
using Mario Bros as the example. Again an time because no one has examined all the
incredible 8-bit achievement for a machine (BA): In the Vespertino teaser video you software available to be 100% sure, so
that is known for its scrolling issues. How mentioned "in recent macabre events, in those statements there's a little bit of
was this performed and have you used this new glimpses of hidden power have been marketing...
engine in any of your CPC projects? revealed to the dark knight". Just how did
you find this hidden power and what is this
While we were making Pinball Dreams, hidden power you have uncovered in the
the Spanish team 4Mhz asked us for a Amstrad CPC?
horizontal scroll engine to be used in their
next games. Pinball Dreams has vertical
scrolling so critics could still argue that
the CPC can't scroll horizontally pixel by
pixel in both ways at 50 FPS, so we decided
to take a short break to develop it. It has
never been our intention to make such a
game, but we have posted the source code
of the engine on CPCWiki for anyone to
use. Pinball Dreams is a game technically
superior to Super Mario Bros and we are
trying to do more and more challenges, so
right now we're not motivated enough to
do a Mario-like game.

(BA): In May 2019, Batman Group released

a short teaser video of a new racing
game, Vespertino. It went viral amongst
Amstrad owners and retro gaming freaks
everywhere. All with haws dropped,
marvelling at what you'd achieved on an
Amstrad CPC. How is it possible to have
a 16/32 bit-looking game on this 8-bit
machine?

(BG): Really a game like Vespertino, with

the amount of content and graphics we
want to include will be possible thanks to
the cartridge support for CPC. Although
we also want to release a reduced version
of the game on disk, this won't have all the
details and content of the full version.

With this game we want to do something

similar to what can be done on the best
16-bit platforms, and doing so requires an
amount of memory of the same magnitude
to show that, with cartridge support, the
CPC may look like a 16-bit machine.

(BA): I realize much still to do and coding

will take some time but what sort of
estimated release is there for Vespertino on
the Amstrad CPC?

200
 Interviews

but we can say that we've always tried only referring to the documentation that than a 16-bit machine? How is this even
to question the supposed limits of can be found today about chips like the possible?
the platform and I think that's the key Gate Array or the CRTC, but to specific
to the matter. When someone starts documents that explain how these chips (BG): Thank you! Although there are great
programming on a platform as limited as can be used to do concrete things at a 16-bit racing games that I doubt we can
the CPC and begins to find information higher level of abstraction. For many beat, there are several reasons behind
that such a thing cannot be done, or programmers the current documentation that, one of them are the possibilities that
that such a technique is the best and he about these chips is like the periodic table give the capacity of cartridges on CPC, but
takes it for granted without questioning with its 118 elements, you can learn them perhaps the most important is to know
anything, he is giving up the possibility by heart but it is not going to serve you how to hide the limitations so that they are
of discovering new techniques. So if the to do a lot of practical things without hardly perceived, it is something similar to
programmer can achieve his goal within additional info. magic tricks when the magician distracts
those limits that were set by third parties, our attention so that we do not realize the
great, but if your goal is to achieve (BA): Would this hidden power you have trick and giving the sensation that anything
something else you have to question discovered be possible on other 8-bit is possible.
everything and invest time in exploring machines - ZX Spectrum, C64, MSX, BBC,
new paths without any guarantee of NES, SEGA?
success.

The process usually requires a fairly

precise knowledge of the hardware which
allows you to first elaborate theories of
what would be possible, but by putting
them into practice you often discover that
they are not possible for some reason and
then you discover a new peculiarity of the
hardware. But when you are successful,
the satisfaction is twofold because that
discovery transcends your project and
will be used by many more projects
in the future to do better and better
things. I think today's developers owe a
lot to early explorers like Paul Shirley,
Overflow, or Longshot, because they laid
the groundwork for how to approach
CPC programming to achieve incredible
things. About the techniques we will use
in Vespertino, some of them are named Batman Group - the early years. Image taken at Southern Party 2 in
in the teaser itself, but at the moment we Cadiz, Spain in 1994.
do not want to say much more since some
are still in experimentation. After the
game release, we may make a technical (BG): We're not great experts on all (BA): One final question. How would
document if we see that there is interest. those platforms you mention, but it is coding Vespertino differ from a
not always possible to extrapolate the commercial game of the 1980's / 1990's.
(BA): Why do you think this power has same techniques between different Games such as WEC LE MANS, Lotus Turbo
been hidden for so long ? Could it not have retro platforms due to the peculiarities Esprit, Powerdrift, Burnin' Rubber, Chase
been possible for serious full time coders of the hardware of each one, though I'd HQ and Continental Circus?
and software companies to realize this say they have many hidden potential too.
during the 80's and 90's? Maybe the C64 is the one that has been (BG): First of all, we have a lot of respect for
best exploited so far, due to the great those games, since most of them must work
(BG): Well, as we mentioned before, in penetration that the demoscene has in with only 64Kb, and we haven't examined
the 80s and early 90s there were already that platform. We must remember that it them in depth but we would say that the
a few programmers who discovered part is generally in the demos where more and key is in the use of CPC-specific hardware
of the CPC potential, but it is true that better the machines are usually exploited. and the greater memory requirements.
they were only exceptions to the general
rule. I think there may be business reasons (BA): It was only 8 seconds worth of actual
behind it, but the main reason is that video yet Vespertino has stunned everyone
Amstrad did not publish all the necessary who has seen it. How is an 8 - bit game
documentation at the time, and I am not looking even as good if not arguably better

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Chris Abbott Chris Abbott, the organizer of

by George Bachaelor
@cpcgamingdemos

Interview the 8 Bit Symphony.

On the 15th
June, 2019, 8 Bit
Symphony wowed
the ears off a
packed audience.
Presented by
the Hull College Group, Hull
Philharmonic Orchestra, Dr
Rob Hubbard and C64Audio.
com, Hull City Hall in the United
Kingdom was the location for
this brilliant musical event.

For the unaware, 8 Bit

Symphony premiered a world
first concert of 8-bit music.
Arrangements of 8-bit game
music and soundtracks were
played by a live orchestra in the Part of the 8-Bit Symphony Hull Team (L-R) Robin Tait (Conductor), Andrew Penny
massive Hull Hall auditorium, MBE (HPO Musical Director), Chris Abbott (Producer and arranger), Dr. Rob Hubbard
to the backdrop of immersive (Composer, Arranger and Musical Director), Michelle Swithenbank (CEO Hull
8-bit visuals and computer game College).
footage! Patrons who attended
Hull Hall witnessed a fantastic BLAST ANNUAL (BA): Greetings Chris mind was ZZap!64’s “Thing on a Spring “
night of sound and 8-bit gaming Abbott. 8 Bit Symphony was a huge review. (“Maybe the London Symphony
with music direction provided success. Were you surprised by the turn Orchestra could just do better”). But
by none other than Hull local, out? wanting to hear things like Trap, Kentilla,
and C64 music legend, Dr Rob Forbidden Forest and Aztec Challenge
Hubbard. Chris Abbott (CA): I'd say I was more done with a huge orchestra was a no-
relieved about the turnout. You never brainer, since that’s how they were
The posts I have read on social know how things will turn out so I was a bit written. There were even elements of
media describes just how fondly nervous as well as anxious before it all. But orchestra in Back in Time 1 (Auf Monty
it has been remembered by all on the night it proved very successful and for instance). After many false starts
who attended. The one-off show obviously proved enough that the show where it always ran into the barrier of
was a roaring success. One 8 bit was viable to take it forward. “no money, no staff”, it kicked off in 2014
music fan, Max Hall describes when a French chap Guy Mille asked me for
his 8 Bit Symphony experience BA: How did the 8 Bit Symphony event scores, since the orchestra in his town had
as "amazingly captivating, both idea come about? How did it actually get expressed an interest in playing them.
moving and euphoric at the started and become a reality?
same time". To find out more
about this incredible musical CA: I guess the first time anyone
event, we have a chat with connected big orchestras and Sid in my

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 Interviews

that down to 90-95 minutes was a big

challenge. The end choices were a mixture
of what was the most finished, what
absolutely needed to be in the show, what
wouldn’t kill the orchestra, what people
might have heard of and which composers
were coming and needed to be honoured.
Of course, since Rob Hubbard was so
hands-on with the concert and his scores
were so detailed and complete, leaving any
of them out would have been unthinkable;
though they did challenge the orchestra a
fair amount! So, it was generally a dialogue
based on my initial choices.
A great place to hold the 8 Bit Symphony, the impressive Hull City Hall.
Image supplied by David Youd.
BA: Other than Dr Rob Hubbard were
It grew from there. Hull College were CA: From my perspective that is not there any other well known 8-bit music
keen to support arts in the community and always true: some of the most iconic developers who attended and if so who
promote their video games courses, so it games didn’t have music to speak of, for were they?
was a win-win for them. example Impossible Mission, Paradroid
and Mercenary, but your question is CA: Easy to forget some, but Paul Norman,
BA: Logistically this must have been a mostly true. It’s true that many games Matt Gray, Graham Jarvis (Wizardry,
massive task to undertake. Just how on are remembered far more fondly for their Fairlight), Adam Gilmore and Matt Cannon
earth were you able to pull it off with so music than the quality of the game. The spring to mind. There were a fair few
many people involved? night was about the music rather than the Amiga composers as well.
games, and the tunes had to be suited for
CA: Luckily I had help with the organising, orchestration, and be memorable.
so I only had to worry about the creative,
PR and guest-list stuff. The orchestra had BA: Who decided on what 8-bit music
challenges (hiring of external players to should be played? Was it you, the
bump up the orchestra, etc), Hull City Hall Orchestra or Dr Rob Hubbard?
had their job, doing it all myself would
have been overwhelming. In the end, I CA: It was an ongoing process. The initial
arranged 40-50% of the concert, wrote track pool was established by the ‘Back in
the script and commissioned the videos. Time Symphonic’ Kickstarter (which will
Everyone was so generous with their deliver everything eventually). Narrowing
time because they wanted the concert
to succeed, and there was a real spirit of
adventure despite the odd setback. It did
require a lot of project management skills
though!

BA: I have seen the videos of the event.

It looks incredible. How many people
were involved? How many people were in
the Orchestra and how many instruments
were they playing?

CA: The orchestra was about 75 people:

was supposed to have been over 80, but
there was a shortage of string players.
Since the credits list was four minutes
long, I’ll say there were four minutes of
people!

BA: Playing 8 bit games back in the day,

for a game to be great to me it had to
David Youd (right) meeting and chatting with C64 game composer Paul Norman
have great music. Was this what you had
(left).
in mind with the music that was played
on the night?

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Chris Abbott Interview

it, come to think of it. The Commando high
BA: The music scores came from Barbarian 2 – was too difficult for the score segment was an upgraded version
games such as Comic Bakery, orchestra to play, and had to be punted of Rob’s “C64 Orchestra” version. He loves
Rambo, Green Beret, Forbidden to the end credits as a render, but an both tunes.
Forest and Beyond, Kentilla, amazing arrangement if I do say so myself.
Ghosts 'n Goblins, Flash Gordon, Will make a great track at another concert Firelord – not in the first pass of the track
Barbarian 2, International where the orchestra has more time to listing because it was less ready than
Karate, Aztec Challenge, Last rehearse. the other tunes, but when Ben left us I
Ninja Wastelands (remix), Monty thought it was suitable: it’s one of my
on the Run, Firelord, Trap and International Karate – this score started favourite C64 remixes – it’s actually a co-
Stifflip and Co. Was there any in 2005 with the GDC in Leipzig, and was composition between Glyn and Ben. I think
specific reason for this? Did improved for this. IK is not a natural choice it also represents remixing in general.
those games have music that for orchestration, so Rob had to work very
pushed 8-bit gaming limits when hard with it. Trap – was always orchestral. Ben
it came to tunes or were they desperately wanted it, and worked with
chosen for another reason? Aztec Challenge – same story as Forbidden me (and Boz) on all the versions. He would
Forest. No-brainer. have conducted it.

CA: Imagine Ocean (Comic Bakery/Ocean

Loader/Rambo): Comic Bakery is there
because we needed to start gently with
a bassoon solo (long story). Ocean and
Rambo because the first tune in the show
should be a loading tune: and they don’t
come much more iconic or recognisable
than Martin’s.

Green Beret - because it’s just so filmic.

It’s based on the version/file that Allister
Brimble did on his CD “The Galway Works”
but heavily adapted for live playing. I
added the Green Beret loader bits round
the edge. It’s there to represent war
games.

Forbidden Forest - this was a no-brainer,

David Youd (right) meeting prolific multi platform game musician Jeroen Tel (left).
it’s always been orchestral. The version
His C64 Music credits include Robocop 3 (1992), Outrun Europe (1991), Smash TV
Peter Connelly did in 1999 for Back in
(1991), Supremacy (1991), Dan Dare III (1990), Golden Axe (1990), Iron Lord (1990)
Time 2 started that process off for the
C64 and (1989) for Amiga, Afterburner (USA version 1989), Myth: History in the
second waltzy bit, and Jarle H. Olsen’s
Making (1989), Cybernoid (1987) and Cybernoid II (1988) and so much more.
arrangement for Fastloaders’ “Progressive
64” was the starting point for the other
bits. People should really buy that album. Wastelands Loader/Wastelands – Monty on the Run – despite much of the
Wastelands loader is beautiful and middle of the tune not being orchestral
Kentilla - was first scored in 1998 and is my we really needed to pay tribute to at all, it’s been orchestrated before. This
favourite SID. It was always orchestral in Ben. Wastelands itself is not a natural one started off as “Sabre Dance” with a
my mind, so another no-brainer (especially orchestral tune; it’s slightly “rinky dink”. bit of “William Tell Overture” because Rob
with Rob re-arranging it). It had to be made more “epic journey over took my version and basically replaced
the mountains-y” in order to convey the everything until there was nothing left.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins – Mark Cooksey did an emotion it needed to. We’re left with a much better experience,
arrangement of it, and it’s got a catchy which he had to put quite a lot of new
tune and good name recognition. It Monty on the Run High score – not an material in to replace the rock guitar solo
required a lot of work from everyone to obvious choice for orchestration, but a that was taken out. Some of it was very
make it properly orchestral though. gorgeous melody. This one came about John Williams!
because I was in the car and I mentally
Flash Gordon – again, Rob had orchestral superimposed the Monty melody onto Stifflip and Co – not a well-known tune
in mind for most of it (once you’re past the “Leia’s Theme”. Rob liked the idea, and but a fantastic one and a fitting tribute
funny bit at the beginning), and me and took my first pass and made it into a to Richard. Also a great comic piece to
Alistair “Boz” Bowness did the groundwork sweeping romantic piece. It’s lovely. Even round off quite an emotional event. I want
in 2001. Rob supercharged it though. the original had a slight melancholy about audience clapping the next time though!

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BA: The music was predominantly from

games found on the C64. Was there a
specific reason for this? Were there any
music or tunes from other computer
systems played on the night?

CA: I really did my best to include music

that also appeared on the other 8-bit
titles, but even when the games existed on
Speccy and Amstrad, the tunes didn’t. But
enough did to justify the title (for instance,
the IK tune was on the Atari as well as C64,
and Monty on the Run on the Amstrad had
the same theme). There may be BBC-only
and Spectrum-only medleys for future David Youd (left) meeting Dr Rob Hubbard (right).
concerts.

BA: What now for 8 Bit Symphony? Where

is it heading next? Will there be more
8 Bit Symphonies around the United
Kingdom / Europe / rest of the world and
if so when?

CA: Kickstart a journey into the studio

to record professionally played versions
of these tunes in Prague. I’ve already
had interest from orchestras in the UK,
Sweden, the US and France, so let’s see
where that goes. The ultimate goal will
always be The Albert Hall. All it takes is
3000 fans and we’re there. We got 800
for the Hull City Hall event so It’s not
unthinkable, is it? But it does require us
to grow the fanbase organically from
what we have over the next year or two. 8 bit Symphony orchestra playing against the big screen backdrop.
Hopefully live orchestras are addictive
enough to keep people coming back
and to attract new fans. It’s great family
entertainment: asking around at the
concert, there were small children and
elderly ladies enjoying it just as much as
the Gen-Xers it was targeted at. There was
even a baby grooving to IK in rehearsals, it
was very funny.

8-BIT SYMPHONY OPINION

by Merman

Just a week after I got married, I took my wife Alison to Hull and back… for the 8-Bit Symphony concert. The
VIP reception beforehand was great fun, mingling with many “scene” friends and getting to meet the legendary
Paul Norman. The actual concert was breath-taking and exceeded my high expectations. From our VIP seats on
the balcony we had a great view of the Hull Symphony Orchestra performing under the leadership of conductor
Robin Tait. Chris Abbott and Graham Raddings made an interesting double-act introducing each piece, with
brilliantly-created video footage (using games and bitmaps) showing on the projector screen – and special
mention must go to Steph Abbott’s lovely illustrations for each piece. The tribute video to Ben Daglish (by Lee
Bolton of Zoetrope Films) was also rather special. The music was spectacular, from the clever introduction using
loading screens and Ocean Loader themes, to space epic Trap and the frantic Monty on the Run. It was a truly
memorable evening. I can’t wait for the 8-Bit Symphony Pro recordings – and the prospect of future concerts.

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