TABLE OF CONTENTS

The problem of the fourth player at poker ◊ Laben 70: a forgotten Italian excellence Pag. 3
◊ Hardware review: the TRS-80 Pag. 8
What is a chess player's worst nightmare? It's obvious, isn't it?
Not having anyone to play against. And that of three friends ◊ Next Launcher & ZX Retro Wireless Pag. 12
around the green poker table? Also simple. The fourth player is ◊ Miyamoto, Nintendo's creative mind Pag. 14
missing to start a nice evening with chips, cards and the
◊ Plotting graphic functions in Visual Pag. 16
inevitable glass of whiskey. And finally, what is the worst time for Basic for DOS
a programmer? Easy. Not having a project or a problem to solve.
◊ PI, Monte Carlo and random numbers Pag. 20
Who hasn't ever had that feeling of not having an idea to weigh
up, a fault to solve or a goal to achieve? In short, nothing to sink ◊ Sorry for the interrupt, dear 6510... - Pag. 22
your hands into or to devote your coding skills to. Because, after part 1
all, when it is not a matter of your job, then it is about a new ◊ An introduction to Acorn Electron Pag. 24
challenge with yourself, undertaken to deepen the use of a ◊ Norma Lijtmaer, the lioness of Pag. 26
programming language or experiment with code to force a Computing
machine to do what you want, perhaps even despite its hardware
◊ Japan - 17th episode Pag. 28
limitations.
One of the most fun and exciting things about owning a home ◊ EnigmA Story: the bar clerk Pag. 31
computer in the 1980s was learning how to program it, often ◊ Videogames? They sound good! Pag. 32
starting with BASIC and then moving on to machine code or
◊ Demon Crystal & Knither Special Pag. 36
assembly. You remember the scene, don’t you? The computer is
turned on on your desk and the flashing cursor on the full- ◊ ListAmiga: The best of the best (or Pag. 38
worst) to play on our beloved Amiga
screen editor intermittently illuminates the reflection on the desk
lamp. Sitting there in front of it, you look at your trusty cassette ◊ Shinobi, the art of being a Ninja Pag. 42
recorder (or for the lucky ones, the disk drive) ready to start ◊ Impossible Mission Pag. 46
loading the latest game out on the market, then you pick up the
◊ Lady Pac (C64) Pag. 50
magazine you just bought at the newsstand and start thinking
about the best way to spend the afternoon: setting the new ◊ Dune II (ZX 128K) Pag. 52
high-score of the game of the moment to brag about to our ◊ The Astyanax (Arcade) Pag. 54
friends the next day at school, or looking through the pages of
◊ Pocket Wonder Sport 10 in 1 (PC/ Pag. 55
the magazine for a new idea to measure yourself with, creating a PSVita)
program or a faster algorithm to solve a whole class of similar
◊ Xenocider (Dreamcast) Pag. 56
problems.
Let's be honest: we all (or almost all) bought our first home ◊ Flob (Atari XL/XE) Pag. 58
computer to play games, play more games and then play even ◊ Travel through Time vol. 1 Northern Pag. 59
more games. But then a number of us became interested in lights (ZX 128K)
programming, probably to create new games. And after reading ◊ Metal Gear (MSX2/NES/C64) Pag. 60
books and magazines, typing in lots of listings, copying and
◊ Spacegulls (NES) Pag. 61
perhaps modifying them, here we are, after a bit of practice, at
the inexorable moment when we have no other things to try, but ◊ Chickin Chase (C64)
Pag. 62
our cultural baggage as programmers remains unused and ◊ Modena Nerd 2021
Pag. 63
frankly disappointed. What to do now? What new topic to tackle? ◊ Interview with Pierluigi Fresia AKA
Now that many of us retrocomputing fans have restarted writing Pieroft Pag. 64
code and programming on our beloved childhood home
computers, the same problem of desperately finding someone to People involved in the preparation of this issue
pose us a problem, a challenge or a project to do comes up of RetroMagazine World (in no particular order):
again... Nowadays we have the whole Net, infinite documentary
resources at hand, entire archives of program listings and • Alberto Apostolo • Christian Miglio
examples (like our RetroLIPS), forums and dedicated groups on • Marco Pistorio • Ermanno Betori
social networks, instant messaging applications to contact • Antonio Savona • Roberto Del Mar Pirazzini
friends and fellow adventurers to submit doubts and ideas. And • Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini • Michele Ugolini
then there is RetroMagazine World, always there to provide you • Daniele Brahimi • Michele Iurillo
with hints, ideas and projects to build up with our beloved • Mic the Biker Novarina • Flavio Soldani
retrocomputers. So step up, all you brave coders tinkering with • Francesco Fiorentini • Querino Ialongo
registers and indexed addresses. Send us your hard-earned • Takahiro Yoshioka • Francesco Bizzini
(digital) papers and we'll keep your and our passion alive
• David La Monaca • Gianluca Girelli
• Attilio Capuozzo • Giorgio Balestrieri
David La Monaca
• Leonardo Miliani • Cover by: Flavio Soldani
• Giuseppe Rinella

Page 2 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 HARDWARE

Laben 70: a forgotten Italian excellence

(author's cut)
by Alberto Apostolo
After more than 2 years from the first publication on RM 07-IT, we propose again (with some revisions) the
article on Laben 70. Who has documentation on this computer (manuals, wiring diagrams, etc..) is kindly
requested to digitize the material and send it to [email protected]
(the Editors will make it available with a link on their site)
Thanks from the Editorial Staff

Prologue Eng. Giancarlo Magnaghi (whom I thank publicly) that

Were the legendary eighties when I first saw a Laben 70. took place in September 2014. Ing. Magnaghi took care
At the time I was a boy who specialized in Computer of the Laben 70 immediately after graduating in Electronic
Science at the I.T.I.S. in Foligno (PG), today called I.T.T. Engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan, from April 1971.
Leonardo Da Vinci. He spent three years in Laben with technical and commercial
The computer was in the school's computer lab, and I duties. At that time, the application software, the connection
always wondered how it got into his possession. Compared of non-standard peripherals and customer training were
to the Commodore VIC 20 available in the same classroom, carried out directly by the technical-commercial staff.
it looked like something cumbersome and hopelessly In the Appendix there is an example of a program in Basic
outdated. (according to the version loaded on Laben 70 of the
The power on of the Laben 70 seemed a kind of priesthood School) and the procedure to activate the bootstrap loader
ritual. (some pages of the manuals were photocopied and
Laboratory assistants (a couple of graduates a little older distributed to students).
than us students) turned the switches on and off on the Very interesting is an extensive brochure (written in
front panel of the computer, to insert the octal numbers Italian) where the main characteristics of the computer
that formed the machine language instructions of the and the instructions in machine language are described
bootstrap loader. (the link can be found at the bottom of the article).
Then they took a gray perforated tape, about a meter
long, and placed it on the optical reader so that it could A 16 (sixteen) bit mini-computer
load the real bootstrap program (also in machine language) Laben (Laboratori Elettronici e Nucleari), was part of the
necessary to activate the tape unit that housed a large Montedel group (Montedison Elettronica), to which the
reel containing the M.T.O.S. Operating System and the EMI (business calculators) , OTE (medical), CS Italia
Basic Interpreter. (printed circuits) and other companies also belonged.
With Basic finally residing in memory, you could type a The headquarters were located in Milan (Figure 2) and
small program (about 20-30 lines) from the console, had three divisions: mini-computer, nuclear instrumentation
consisting of a green phosphor monitor and a sturdy and space telemetry on board and ground.
keyboard. The program list and its output were obtained In 1968 the design of the Laben 70, a mini-computer for
from a small 80-column dot-matrix printer located next scientific and industrial applications, was undertaken,
to the monitor (on the same table).
The great fun was to save the program to perforated tape
using the direct PUNCH command. The drill emitted a
deafening noise and a long gray snake made of perforated
paper waved through the air as if it were really alive.
Once the drilling was finished, the perforated tape was
torn off to be conscientiously rolled up into a small
cylindrical transparent plastic box, which had previously
contained the cheeses of a well-known brand (Figure 1).
After many years, the curiosity to know more about that
computer has returned and I started looking for information
and manuals on the Net (finding unfortunately little news).
Much of the material was found on the website
www.computerhistory.it [Ser20] with additions obtained
from the courteous exchange of e-mail messages with
Fig.1 (the reel contains multiple BASIC programs)
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 3 of 70
 HARDWARE

then presented in 1970 (Figs. 3 and 4). The cost of a

system with 4K memory was $12220. Already during the
design phase of the computer began the software
development of the operating system, the languages
Assembler and Fortran). To remedy the lack of the machine,
the Univac computer of the Polytechnic of Milan was used,
on which a virtual Laben 70 was implemented. The virtual
Laben 70 was made through an emulator in Fortran V
that ran in time-sharing on the Univac 1108 computer
of the Polytechnic of Milan. The basic software was
designed in parallel to the hardware by means of the
emulator.

The software area was led by Prof. Galimberti (future

founder of Etnoteam) and was divided into groups. The Fig.2: LABEN headquarters in Milan in 1969
SO group (directed by Norma Lijtmaer and Agostino Belli), (www.lombardiabeniculturali.it)
the Languages Group (Giovanni Rosci) and the Applications MINI-COMPUTER
Group (Alessandro Osnaghi). The term mini-computer is usually applied to
Alessandro Osnaghi later became a designer of the medium-sized, medium-capacity computers. The
operating systems of some Olivetti computer lines and processing and memory circuits are encapsulated in
a single unit [CC87].
architect of the first RUPA (Rete Unificata Pubblica
Amministrazione = Unified Public Administration Network).
The machine was inspired by some of the best 12-bit and
16-bit machines of the time, such as the mini Varian, the
HP 21100, the IBM 1800 and the DEC PDP8. In fact it
was conceived for real time with interrupts , etc.. The CPU
was 16-bit with 4 accumulators, memory from 8 to 64
Kbytes, MSI TTL technology (chip with 6 NAND ports,
UART for serial interfaces, etc.). The first memories were
still with magnetic cores (hand-punched by the workers).
The initial system provided for control through an Olivetti
TE300 telewriter. The telewriter reader and band-piercer
was used as a storage device. A parallel printer, magnetic
Fig.3: Laben 70 and peripherals [Ser20].
tape drives and disk could be connected to the computer.
Then other supported devices were added: Teletype ASR
3 and Olivetti TE318 I/O telewriters, paper tape readers,
punch paper tapes, card readers,magnetic tapes 800 and
1600 Bpi, Centronics needle printers and line printers
Data Product 300 bpm, Calcomp drum plotters and
analogue XY plotters, process devices (A/D and D/A
converters, digital and analogue multiplexers, registers
with relays).

The main features of the Laben 70 were:

1) Word length: 16 bits,
2) Ferrite core memory from 4096 to 32,768 words,
3) Machine cycle: 1.35 microseconds, Fig.4: front panel [Ser20].
4) 8 ways of addressing and long addressing, 2) Direct access channels in memory (up to a maximum
5) Extensive range of instructions, of 32),
6) Special instructions for the rapid transfer of program 3) Memory protection system,
interrupted data, from standard peripheral units, analogue- 4) Protection system for lack of network,
to-digital converters, etc . 5) Real time clock.
As an option it was possible to obtain: The operating systems available were:
1) Multiplication and wired division, 1) POS (Paper Tape Operating System),

Page 4 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 HARDWARE

2) MTOS (Magnetic Tape Operating System),

3) SOTER (Real-Time Operating System).
The expected programming languages:
1) Assembler,
2) Macro Assembler,
3) Basic,
4) Fortran IV.
The first operating system was the P.O.S. (Paper O.S.)
and the Assembler, the libraries (mathematics, etc.) and
the Binary Loader that produced directly executable object
programs were available on the 4K word unit. The
MacroAssembler, the Fortran compiler and the Basic
interpreter were available with 8K word units. Subsequently, Fig.5
the M.T.O.S. (Magnetic Tape O.S.) was developed, which
In the early seventies the Laben 70 was adopted in a
included all the basic software and allowed applications
search for the construction in Europe of a
to queue the data of interest. Finally, the D.O.S. (Disc O.S.)
telecommunications network similar to ARPA, the network
was developed.
that will generate the current Internet. The use of the
Some Laben 70 applications
Laben 70 was recommended by Luigi Dadda, who
The main applications were in the field of research and
participated in the European project.
process control (data acquisition from gas chromatographs,
medical and nuclear equipment, research laboratories of
Conclusions
pharmaceutical companies, control of rolling mills and
In 1974, Laben discontinued its activity as a computer
furnaces for aluminium refining, etc.). Among the main
manufacturer, as part of a restructuring that also resulted
customers were Euratom in Ispra, CNEN (now Enea),
in the cutting of the industrial automation sector, as well
CNR, Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital (by electro-
as 160 of the 360 employees.
encephalography).
With the dismantling of Laben's mini-computer branch,
The first customer of Laben 70 was the CNR of Fiascherino
many technicians (Galimberti, Belli, Rosci and others)
(La Spezia, Italy) who intended to use it for maritime and
went to Italtel where they developed with others the
oceanographic processing. It was a very critical installation
Leone, a 24-bit word computer, with its "double" to
because not enough consideration was given to the marine
increase its reliability and resident memory for quick
environment that led to the corrosion of the feet of
answers: it was intended for transit telephone exchanges
transistors and other components with their detachment
(tele-selection and data).
to manual contact. The treatment with protective paint
Osnaghi and others moved to Olivetti and subsidiaries
solved the problem but the problem of overheating arose.
while Lijtmaer and his colleagues at the University of Pisa
In the end the solution was found and the Laben 70 did its job.
(to deal with Unix and more).
The Polytechnic of Milan used the Laben 70 for the real-
time control of SUPERSIGMA, an assembly robot developed
Laben continued its activity in the field of nuclear and
by the Polytechnic on the basis of Olivetti's SIGMA robot.
scientific instrumentation and in the aerospace sector
The application of the Laben 70 was designed by Prof.
from the 1980s until the merger in 2004 with Alenia
Riccardo Cassinis.
Spazio (the latter acquired by the Finmeccanica holding
In addition, the Polytechnic was engaged in the development
company). Subsequently it was integrated as a Milanese
of a television signal compression system and from 1975
headquarters in the Franco-Italian joint venture of the
made use of a Laben 70 (Figure 5, [Fal11]).
space sector Alcatel Alenia Space (67% Alcatel, 33%
At the University of Pavia it was used by Virginio Cantoni
Finmeccanica). From 2006 he became Thales Alenia
for image processing functions.
The mysterious CCCP track
On the development of the D.O.S. Laben there is also a curious anecdote: the working group for the
specifications produced a document that at one point raised concerns. The fact dates back to 1971 (in the
middle of the Cold War). In the document, the remaining part of a disc track that was not used was indicated
with the abbreviation CCCP without giving any explanation (ending in the pile of "available"). More than one
and the leadership feared an attempt at politicization ( CCCP in Cyrillic is equivalent to the acronym USSR,
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). Some time later, it turned out that there was an animated discussion in
the working group on how to identify that part of the track and that in the end someone exclaimed:-"Let's
call it CCCP (Come Ca**o Ci Pare = As the He** We Like) but let's move on".

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 5 of 70

 HARDWARE

Space with the acquisition of the Alcatel share by the

French defence and electronics group Thales. 10 DIM A(3,3),B(3,1),C(3,3),X(3,1)
20 MAT READ A
30 MAT C = INV(A)
Appendix 40 MAT READ B
50 MAT X = C * B
60 MAT PRINT X
The version of the Basic loaded on the LABEN 70 supplied
with the I.T.I.S. of Foligno, did not have string variable 70 END
management. However, he had the management of matrix 81 DATA 3,­1,1
82 DATA 0,1,1
algebra. 83 DATA 1,0,­1
The program in Listing 1 solves the linear system of 3 91 DATA 3,2,0
equations and 3 unknowns in Figure 6.
Fig. 7 and 8 show the procedure for bootstrapping Laben Fig.6
70 (sorry, they are written in Italian).
List 1

Fig.7

Page 6 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 HARDWARE

Fig.8
Useful Links

Digital Processor LABEN 70 (short brochure) https://www.sba.unipi.it/sites/default/files/22_0.pdf

Digital Processor LABEN 70 (extensive brochure) https://www.sba.unipi.it/sites/default/files/31.pdf
Bibliography
[CC87] R. Curnow, S. Curran, Il primo libro di Informatica, Boringhieri, 1987.
[Fal11] G. Falciasecca, Storia delle telecomunicazioni, vol. 1, Firenze University Press, 2011.
[Ser20] L. Serrantoni, LABEN 70, www.computerhistory.it, last consultation: 14/08/2020.
[Wik20] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/LABEN, last consultation: 14/08/2020.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 7 of 70

 HARDWARE

The TRS-80
by Leonardo Miliani

The acronym TRS perhaps does not say much to most. sold, possibly, to Tandy herself. He therefore made a
We are talking about a computer that has more than 40 prototype that he presented to John Roach, vice-president
years behind itself and that has had a lot of its notoriety of the production sector of the company: Roach, however,
especially in its country of origin, the United States of was not very impressed by that prototype but was, however,
America: and it is not only one of the many systems based enticed by the idea of French. The microcomputer market
on the Zilog Z80 processor, it is much more important. was expanding and that type of product could represent
In this article we will therefore get to know more closely the novelty to raise the fortunes of the Radio Shack store
a computer born in the second half of the 70s of the last chain. The two therefore began to think about the possibility
century and sold, in its evolutions, for about a dozen of making a computer in the company but they realized
years. That has opened, along with other models, the that they did not have the human or technological resources
roads of mass computerization. Welcome to the TRS-80. to carry out this project.

The birth They therefore began a tour among the various component
We are in the early 70s and, in the United States, CB manufacturers to get a better idea of what it might take
radios are spreading (the acronym for "Citizen Band"), to make a computer. Among the first semiconductor
that is a small/medium range radio communication system manufacturers they visited was the National Semiconductor
on a frequency band reserved for private use with devices because Roach and French had thought about using their
that, for prices and size of the same, are within the reach SC/MP CPU. The engineer who welcomed them and guided
of many and therefore spread on a large scale. Radio them during their visit was Steve Leininger: Tandy's men
Shack, a famous chain of shops that counted about 3,000 were so impressed by his skills that they asked National
stores in the USA alone, had already become between Semiconductor to have his contacts to offer him a job as
the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, the a consultant but the top management refused.
reference point for hobbyists and electronics enthusiasts.
When the boom of CB devices broke out, these devices The next stop on their journey was Paul Terrel's “Byte
became so important for Radio Shack that they represented Shop”, where Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs' Apple I had
about 30% of all its sales, so much so that Tandy been sold the year before. Surprisingly, during the evening
Corporation, the company that owned this chain, sold shift they found Leininger in the shop, who worked as a
almost all the other business branches in 1975. Like a salesman to round off his salary, to whom they immediately
flash in the pan, the CB market suffered an unexpected offered a contract as a consultant. After a few weeks
and rapid contraction, so much so that at the beginning
of 1977 Tandy was forced to find other types of products
to sell to fill the hole left by radio equipment.

At that time microcomputers were gaining ground, thanks

to the introduction of machines in kits or already assembled
at affordable prices, transforming computing from
something reserved for companies or, in any case, for
those who had room and money to invest in large mainframes
that occupied several square meters, in devices that could
be housed on the desk of their office. Several Tandy
employees bought the Altair 8800, one of the most popular
microcomputers, sold in kits for about $500. Among the
buyers of the Altair 8800 was also Don French, who was
then responsible for the company's purchases. French Fig. 1 - The TRS-80 in its earliest adoption, called "Model
came up with the idea of making his own computer to be I," with keyboard equipped with the numeric keypad (photo
by Dave Jones, source Wikimedia Commons)
Page 8 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 HARDWARE

was sold with a few hundred bytes of RAM as standard,

while the computer that Leininger was developing was
initially equipped with 1 KB of RAM. On the software side,
the choice was mandatory: the BASIC language was
establishing itself as a real standard among hobbyists
and beyond, so it was decided to adopt the Tiny BASIC
High Pole developed by Li-Chen Wang, a version of the
BASIC whose interpreter occupied only 1.77 KB of space.
In this way it was possible to use only one 2 KB ROM chip
where, in the few remaining bytes, enter the code to
Fig. 2 - The motherboard of the first version of the TRS-80 - manage the display of the images on the screen.
the large chip on the right is the Zilog Z80 (photo by
Binarysequence, source Wikimedia Commons)
Regarding the video section, the computer did not use a
Leininger was invited to visit the headquarters of Tandy dedicated chip but generated the image independently.
in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was proposed to become It was capable of handling 16 lines of 64 characters each
responsible for the development of the computer: Leininger, or a 128x64 pixel graphics mode. The firmware handled
also pushed by his wife who wanted a better job and a only 128 characters (because only 7 lines of data were
better salary for her husband than he had at the time, used for Video RAM, so 2^7=128 addressable bytes): the
accepted. first 64 were the standard ASCII characters while the
other 64 were special semi-graphical characters (figure
The development 3) to be used for games or graphics. The text and graphics
After accepting the assignment, several weeks passed could be combined without limitation. Tandy's management
before Tandy's management decided to really start would also stop here because he had in mind a Altair
developing the computer because Tandy did not think 8800-style kit product to sell on $200 but Leininger
that the price of this type of product was in line with that insisted that a different product be developed, already
of the items for sale in Radio Shack stores, which averaged ready for use: thanks to the work experience at the Byte
around 30 dollars. Only with the continuous fall in sales Shop he had realized that many computer enthusiasts
of CB radios was it decided to start the development of did not know how to weld or preferred a computer already
the computer. Leininger, when he took the project into assembled.
his own hands, realized that the prototype developed
until then by Tandy was little more than a board capable Leininger was able to convince his managers to change
of turning on some LEDs. their plans, and it was therefore decided to build a ready-
to-use computer. A 53-key keyboard was added for the
He therefore began to review everything, keeping in mind input in which to "hide" the motherboard of the machine,
the first priority received by the Tandy management: to and a common black and white TV produced by RCA and
contain the costs. This was because the final price had deprived of all the superfluous (audio section and tuning
to be as low as possible, since Radio Shack was known of the television signal). The prototype thus made was
to sell cheap products and it could not be predicted shown to Charles Tandy, Tandy's elderly owner, with
whether or not an object like a computer would have a financial software loaded for the occasion. When Tandy
good reception from the point of view of sales. The first entered his salary of $150,000 a year, the program
step was the choice of memories: it was chosen to use crashed, because the BASIC used was only able to handle
DRAMs (dynamic RAMs) instead of SRAMs (static RAMs) 16-bit integers (positive 16-bit signed integers only reach
because, despite the latter consuming less electricity, up to +32,767). The BASIC interpreter was therefore
compared to the former they were much more expensive. taken over and heavily modified to include the handling
When it was the turn of the CPU, among the options
available on the market at the time, it was decided to
choose the Zilog Z80 because this processor incorporated
the circuitry for the refresh of DRAMs (continuous read
accesses necessary to store data in this type of memory),
Fig. 3 - The alphanumeric and semi-graphical characters of
thus allowing to save the mandatory external components
the TRS-80 set (processed from a photo by Kevin Savetz,
with other CPUs. Speaking of memory, the Altair 8800 source Wikimedia Commons)

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 9 of 70

 HARDWARE

of floating-point numbers, rewriting 60% of the code.

With this change and the preloaded character map the
ROM rose to 4 KB. The RAM was also raised to 4 KB, to
make the computer really usable (figure 2).

Listing
The cost of developing the computer in its final version
had risen a lot, reaching 150,000 dollars and it was
estimated that, to return the investments made, the
machine would have to have a sales price of about 600
dollars. This raised a lot of concern in the Tandy management
because nothing so expensive had ever been sold in Radio
Shack stores: the most expensive item ever sold until
then had been a $500 hi-fi system. The marketers thought,
contrary to Leininger's feeling, that no more than 1,000
units would be sold per year, at best. Fearing that the
computer would not be as successful as expected, it was
decided to initially produce only 3,000 units, the same
number of Radio Shack stores: in this way, even if it
remained unsold, each store could still use it to manage
the warehouse and inventory. The computer was introduced
in New York on August 3, 1977 with the final name of Fig.4 - A TRS-80 Level I (note the keyboard without the
numeric keypad) with Expansion Interface (the additional
TRS-80, where TRS stood for "Tandy Radio Shack", and case placed under the monitor) (photo by Flominator,
80 for the "Zilog Z80" used as a CPU, and was put on source Wikimedia Commons)
sale at $599 which included, in addition to the machine you wanted to use floppy drives because it allowed dialogue
body, the 12"monitor and a cassette recorder for loading with the expansion bus of the Expansion Interface that
and saving programs. In case the user wanted to use his contained, as mentioned, the controller of the disks
own TV, he could only buy the car body for $399. This themselves.
version of the computer was called “Level I” by the simple
modified Tiny BASIC built into the ROM. The RAM, as Commercial success
mentioned, was 4 KB but expandable to 16 KB (figure 1). The computer was immediately a huge success. In the
weeks following the presentation, Tandy's switchboard
At the beginning of 1978 a version called "Level II" was literally went into tilt for calls asking for information about
proposed because of a version of the BASIC language the computer, as well as for the same reason several bags
called "Level II BASIC": the latter was developed by of letters arrived on site every day. In the Radio Shack
Microsoft itself, deriving it from its Extended BASIC already stores, pre-sales were non-stop and the delivery times
released for other machines based on the Z80 (for example of the computers rose, at the end of 1997, up to 2 months.
the Spectravideo 328) and introduced many more In the first months of marketing, 50,000 units were sold,
commands and functions, for a total of 12 KB of code. selling much more than the other two microcomputers
The new "Level II" computers could be purchased with that were part of the so-called "trinity of 1977", namely
16 KB of RAM and were equipped with a new keyboard the Commodore pet and the Apple II, also presented in
with an additional numeric keypad (figure 5). The new that year.
BASIC was also sold as a ROM kit for the upgrade of
machines with the firmware "Level I" until then sold. In At the end of its marketing, which took place in 1981 due
mid-1978, the Expansion Interface, an additional unit to the fact that it no longer complied with the new
containing space for 2 additional banks of RAM, the RS- regulations on electromagnetic interference imposed by
232 port, a controller to connect a disk drive and circuitry the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it
to drive 2 cassette players, as well as integrating the recorded a remarkable figure of 250,000 units sold in
power supply, was put on sale. The container was designed total. This was due not only to the competitive selling
to be placed under the official computer monitor (Figures price but also to the fact that Tandy could count on 3,000
4 and 5). The Level II BASIC was a mandatory update if points of sale scattered throughout the territory of the
Page 10 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 HARDWARE

United States of America as well as another 500 scattered was improved and the computer was made with a single-
across various nations of the globe, thus having a much block body that also included the monitor and the housings
more widespread spread of its computer than other for the disk drives. This computer was replaced in 1983
manufacturers. It should not be forgotten, in fact, that in by the TRS-80 Model 4, initially sold with a Z80 at 4 MHz
those years computing was a niche sector and there were and with up to 64 KB of RAM and the ability to display
no, if not very rare cases such as that of the Byte Shop, 40/80 columns for 24 lines of text. Other models of the
shops dedicated exclusively to the sale of computers. TRS-80 were introduced over the years, including some
portable models and some compact calculators, but no
The success of the TRS-80 can also be measured by the one was very lucky. The TRS-80 was, along with the Apple
numerous clones, more or less compatible with the original II, one of the computers with the longest commercial life,
machine, which spread not only in North America but also remaining, with the desktop version of the Model 4, on
around the world. Many of these clones were actually the market until 1991.
based on a single computer produced by a Hong Kong
company called EACA that sold them to several other Conclusions
companies. Thus the TRZ-80 in South Africa, the Video- The machine itself would have had a greater potential
Genie in England and Western Europe, the PMC-80 in but could not fully express it. What limited the spread of
North America, the Dick Smith System 80 in Australia the computer was the reputation of the economic product
and New Zealand were basically the same machine that accompanied it, as well as the reputation of everything
produced by EACA but sold under different names. With that was sold by Radio Shack. And the TRS-80 did not
small interventions on the electronic part, almost all the escape this condemnation, being appealed (even by its
incompatibilities related to the hardware differences own owners!) with the nickname of "Trash-80". It must
between these clones and the original TRS-80 could then be said, however, that this was not entirely unjustified.
be solved. For example, the TRS-80 Level II had a bug in the firmware
so typing led to incorrect readings of keys with unwanted
The next versions character repeats: and the problem even increased as
Noting that the computer was mostly used in the home, the keyboard picked up dirt under the keys. Despite the
Tandy, at the end of 1979, presented a new computer attempts made, the computer was not able to impose
intended for professional use, calling it TRS-80 Model II, itself even in professional use as it was in Tandy's plans,
and calling the first "Model I" to differentiate it from the remaining relegated to use in the home and school
newcomer. Despite the similar name, these machines had environment: in the latter sector, however, it was a good
nothing to share with each other, being completely different success, because it was a valid computer to be purchased
in terms of hardware and therefore completely incompatible by schools, since at a price lower than that of competitive
with each other: the Model II used a Motorola 6809. The offers, a complete system was available and ready to use.
real successor to the first model was the TRS-80 Model
III, introduced on July 26, 1980. Compared to the Model All in all, the TRS-80 was one of the most important
I, the CPU was increased from 1.78 to 2 MHz, the keyboard systems of the late 1970s, being part of that first train
of machines with compact dimensions, affordable prices
and more than discrete performance that brought
computers out of that niche of "nerdy" and "geeky"
products, pushing them to spread in the homes of ordinary
people.

Fig. 5 - A TRS-80 Level II with the Expansion Interface

(photo Rama & Musèe Bolo, source Wikimedia Commons)

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 11 of 70

 HARDWARE

New products for ZX Spectrum: Next Launcher & ZX Retro Wireless

by David La Monaca

Two great new products for the old and new fans of the of 300 customizable options to categorize games,
ZX Spectrum world come from Richard Szerman, a application utilities and documents. The launcher supports
Londoner, retrostuff-lover, IT system engineer and creator several extensions including TAP, NEX, BAS, SNA, Z80,
of a software utility called Next Launcher and a hardware SNX, TZX, DOC, ASM, etc. Each page can have its own
device named ZX Retro Wireless. The first is a software name, a graphic background, a colour scheme and a font
tool specifically designed for the Spectrum Next (the new that can be selected from the dozens of those compatible.
ZX Spectrum clone based on FPGA technology), which is There are already preloaded backgrounds to choose from,
able to present at its launch a convenient and simple in order to customize the launch pages of the games and
interface to start applications and games. The other is a programs according to their nature: Space, Music, Games,
new hardware device for all the ZX Spectrum models, Fractal, Cars, Robots, etc. The navigation of the menu
both the original and the Next. ZX Retro Wireless allows and options pages is as simple as it appears. Just use the
you to load the entire software catalogue of the PlayZX arrow keys or the 5, 6, 7, 8 keys or a joystick (Kempston
and ZXTape apps or from PC via wireless interface. It also mode) and Fire button or Enter key to start a game or
connects your machine to a Bluetooth sound box that application. More features available include turning WIFI
can play game sounds, music, and sound effects in a on and off, adding a quick link to another page, changing
higher quality than the computer speaker. But let's proceed a slot, changing the launch speed, changing the background,
gradually and see in detail the specifications and the font, and colours.
features of the two products. The installation is also simple and fast and a special guide
makes it almost immediate. The package to download (a
total of 46MB) includes the Next Launcher program, well-
made and easy-to-follow manuals and many utilities for
those who like to manage the image files of games and
applications for the Spectrum Next.

Next Launcher
This program was designed by Richard specifically for
the Next and works as a programmable software interface
to launch applications and games previously loaded on
the microSD card of the computer in the classic compatible
formats. You can think of Next Launcher as a desktop
front-end that includes additional settings and features
to save you time in normal game launching and loading
operations. The menu of commands and functions made
available by Next Launcher will radically change your
retrogaming experience, quickly forgetting the long
process to find your favourite games or apps you love the
most on Next.
Version 9.0 is the latest available and allows the use of
20 pages of programs, with 15 slots per page, for a total

Page 12 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 HARDWARE

ZX Retro Wireless only caution when using Bluetooth wireless is to reset

As it often happens with modern devices designed for the volume of other audio sources because this could
our beloved old back machines, everything is made very cause some delay during playback.
easy for the end user. And ZX Retro Wireless is no exception.
Simply connect the device to the ZX Spectrum to make Conclusions
it automatically active and available with its many functions, Last but not least, Richard's two nice projects are offered
including providing a power button to the computer itself. on the market with a peculiarity: part of the proceeds go
The power supply of your ZX Spectrum 48K must be to donations (in particular to a charity dedicated to
connected to ZX Retro Wireless and from this you go with research on Parkinson's disease). We at RMW are always
the power cable that must be connected to the computer. curious to review modern devices that combine old
A convenient button on the device will allow you to turn machines with current technology and Richard Szerman's
the Spectrum on and off. The other two cables of the retro-projects are really interesting, surely worth considering
device must be connected to the AUX socket and the MIC/ and above all, well made. We therefore thank Richard for
EAR socket respectively. having contacted us and for having submitted his works
The device keeps being updated by Richard and it is to us. They shine with great passion and commitment.
currently available in two versions, one for the original Well done, Richard!
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K and the other for the Next. The
main functions made available by ZX Retro Wireless, in
addition to turning ON/OFF the computer, are loading
programs in wireless mode and playing sounds through
the Bluetooth speaker.
When it comes to loading games and programs, it currently
supports the Android ZX Tape Player and PlayZX apps,
the iOS ZX Tape via Testflight app, and PC apps called
Tapir and Otla. Combined with these applications, ZX
Retro Wireless basically converts itself into a convenient
cassette player, even if only virtual. The ZX Tape and
PlayZX apps also allow cassette files to be loaded at higher
speeds than a regular recorder. The version for Next also
supports the new release of Next Launcher and also allows
the use of fast loading.
To use ZX Retro Wireless as a Bluetooth sound box, simply
turn on the device and pair it with a laptop, smartphone References
or tablet. Once this is done, the device will turn the audio
Facebook group:
output to the ZX Retro Wireless speaker. Better make sure
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nextlauncher
that the Bluetooth volume is at maximum to start using
the apps mentioned above. From then on the Spectrum Android - ZX Tape player:
will see the ZX Retro Wireless interface as a cassette https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
recorder and all related commands will run smoothly. The id=com.tekdeq.zxtapeplayer
IOS - ZX Tape player via TestFlight:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/SaoGn65t
Android - PlayZX:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.baltazarstudios.playzxtapes
PC Windows - Tapir, Otla:
https://markfixesstuff.co.uk/sinclair-spectrum/
load-software-into-a-real-spectrum-super-fastfrom-
mp3-players-iphone-etc-using-otla

ZX Retro Wireless quick demo/review:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?
v=mWDAiltOmk4&t=323s

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 13 of 70

 RETROINTERVIEW

The creative mind of Nintendo

by Takahiro Yoshioka and Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

This time Takahiro managed to find him!

He managed to have a couple of minutes to ask some

questions to the designer/genius/mind of Nintendo, the
father of Super Mario, the saga of Zelda, Donkey Kong
and a ton of other Nintendo brands.
Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto proved to be affable and kind and
answered our friend's questions during a developer
introduction call.
It is not impossible to interview him, but he’s full of work
simple graphics.
and overloaded with commitments and therefore speed
This becomes a bit of a conceptual discourse, but I think
becomes essential.
what's really important is that there's a core (in the game).
We thank our collaborator, Nintendo and Mr. Miyamoto
And, based on this core, we use technology to develop the
for their time.
final product. This core can be a concept, a spark, and it's
around this that we create. For me, developing video games
TAKAHIRO: Thank you very much Master Miyamoto for
is no different now from the past. Like when I developed
this short interview, thank you for the time you dedicate
the story behind Donkey Kong! In those years I had in
to our magazine.
mind a core on which to build the game. In 2021 I do the
same thing.
Miyamoto: Thank you. Greetings to Italy. Congratulations
on the trophy! (Refers to the newly won European
T. – When I think about what distinguishes a Nintendo
Championship, the interview was released on July 12. N/A).
game, often the feeling I get is in the simplicity of the
controls. This is how Mario jumps in Super Mario 64 or
T. - What does it mean to make a Nintendo game special?
in the simplicity of the gameplay of the Zelda series. I
How do you know when a game is good?
feel a simplicity and intuitiveness that I can hardly find
in other products. I suppose you can hear that, too.
Shigeru Miyamoto: The trick is to entertain people with
How important are in-game controls and how hard is it
the game, but the real barometer and the initial indicator
to make them feel good to the end user?
are whether or not I enjoy myself. Another thing is if "the
difference", the uniqueness is maintained in the game
Miyamoto: You know, programming is all about numbers.
Nintendo, compared to other products of other companies
The challenge is to get something from these numbers
that is immediate and that can give the player a "feeling".
T. – What do you mean by uniqueness? What distinguishes
So there's a lot of work for a programmer. It must go deep
a great game from others?
into the game and descend back and forth into the
mechanics. He must, in short, have fun as the end user.
Miyamoto: There could be several factors. The way you
That's why in many of our games you won't find any
play rather than the techniques or technologies used.
difference in the intuitive controls. If you play the old titles
There's always a limited amount of things we can use, so
for Nes it will be all intuitive in the same way as the new
it's how we use them and what combination to make the
titles for Switch. Even if you have implemented many more
difference. Create and innovate instead of stunning with
keys!!! AHAHAHAHAH!!!

It actually goes back to the way we designed the original

Super Mario Bros.
Originally, there was neither Mario nor a person. It was
just a block. And you pressed the button and watched the
block move. There's actually a word in Japanese that
describes what I'm talking about - the feeling - that there's
not a word in English for. In Japanese, it's called tegotae.
Tegotae is the word that describes when you talk about
Page 14 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROINTERVIEW

and an infinite series of movies. Look for that primary

“core” on which the game is built. He often does it out of
nostalgia and often because that is his way of conceiving
and playing the game.
We at Nintendo care about this type of research and in
our products (but also overseeing third-party products)
we still put the push to build on the game.

T. – What non-Nintendo games would you like to create?

Miyamoto: I admired every product game where I saw

people working to give the final player a long-lasting
product that would bring fun. A lot of admiration for the
Sonic Team, for Master Fukio Mitsuji who taught us all so
much. I cannot fail to mention Master Iwatani, absolute
pioneer in this world. I would also like to quote Master
Gunpei Yokoi. Absolute innovator for Nintendo. An
unforgettable person. He was my supervisor in the
development of Donkey Kong and urged me to look more
that feeling of a Nintendo game and returns to the focus and more when I was developing with him. I owe him a lot.
on the idea of pressing a button and what happens on the
screen and how you feel. T. – Thank you Maestro for the time given to Retromagazine
This applies to the game system, the graphics on the for the interview. Thank you also for all the hours of play
screen and the music. Everything has to bring you back that has given us in these 40 years of development.
to a feeling. We play games like this.
Miyamoto: Thank you for accepting me in your pages. On
T. – This feeling ties us very much to the theme of the other hand, I thank every single enthusiast for the
retrogaming. A phenomenon that grows a lot all over hours spent on the products we have created. We are grateful.
the world. Retro players often look for the sensation
and not the graphics. Master, what do you think?

Miyamoto: Retrogaming isn't really retro and doesn't exist

for me. Let me get this straight.
For us Japanese, playing video games is not sectoral in
times. If a game gives me "Tegotae" it doesn't matter if
it's 1980 or 2021. That's why we still love our old products
and for example you can find a ton of NES and SUPER
FAMICOM titles on the Switch store. The game is not retro
but it is a game that brings emotions, regardless of its
era. I follow very closely the independent developers and
those who try with great capacity on systems of the 80s
or 90s. They are people who have understood the
phenomenon of sensation and who develop out of love
and play. Bravo!
I think the retrogamer really looks for that feeling of
immersion in the game and not only in a beautiful graphics

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 15 of 70

 SOFTWARE

Graphs of functions in Visual Basic for DOS

by Francesco Fiorentini
A couple of numbers ago we tested the latest version of 190 LINE ­(SX,SY):NEXT X:NEXT Y 

DOSBox, with the promise that we would deal more with 200 REM parallels 

DOS software in the future. The occasion was presented 210 FOR X=­20 TO 20 STEP S :FL=0:FOR Y=­20 TO 20 

by scrolling through the magazines of MC Micro and STEP S

Personal Computer (very well known italian magazine) 220 ON Q GOSUB 

that you can find at this address: 340,350,360,370,380,390,400,410,420,430 

http://www.mc-online.it/. 230 GOSUB 270:IF FL=0 THEN FL=1:PSET (SX,SY) 
240 LINE ­(SX,SY):NEXT Y:NEXT X:NEXT Q

Unfortunately, since a few days it is no longer possible 250 GOSUB 440:END 

to access the scanning of entire magazines, but it is always 260 REM­routine 

possible to view the scans of the articles whose authors 270 REM da tridim. a bidim. 

have kindly granted the release, which fortunately are many. 280 SX=X1*C1­Y1*C2:SY=X1*S1+Y1*S2+Z1:RETURN 
290 REM pulizia schermo e tracciamento riferimenti 

Scrolling through the index looking for an inspiration for 300 PRINT CHR$(7) 

my next contribution to RetroMagazine World, I came 310 I$=INKEY$:IF I$="" THEN 310 

across an article by Francesco Petroni published on page 320 CLS:WINDOW(­10,­6)­(10,6):LINE (­10,­6)­

83 of issue 37, entitled "Graphics without ... input": (10,6),2,BF 

http://www.digitanto.it/mc-online/PDF/Articoli/ 322 LOCATE 2,2:PRINT Q:RETURN 

037_083_088_0.pdf 330 REM funzioni 
340 X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­COS(X1))*(1­COS(Y1))­

The article, like all those published in MC, is very interesting 3:RETURN 

and deserves to be read in depth, so I recommend you 350  X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.4*COS(X1*X1+Y1*Y1):RETURN

retrieve it as soon as possible. 360 X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=EXP(.02*(X1*X1+Y1*Y1))­

In the article there are several lists, but one that immediately 3:RETURN 

attracts my attention is that of figure 6 on page 85, entitled 370 X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)­

Sampling of surfaces in Space. Being a listing for IBM PC, (Y1*X1*X1)):RETURN

I have the idea to try it with DOSBox and GW-BASIC. 380 X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)+

Despite the relative brevity of the code, I opt for character (Y1*X1*X1)):RETURN 

recognition and subsequent corrections instead of typing 390 X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=3*SIN(X1/2)*SIN(Y1/3):RETURN

everything directly. 400 X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:K=(1­X1*X1/5­

Y1*Y1/7):Z1=SQR(2*K*(SGN(K)+1)):RETURN 

I enclose here the code in copyable format, to facilitate 410 X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.02*SQR(X*X*Y*Y/2)­3:RETURN

anyone who wants to reproduce the result on their PC: 420 X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­SIN(1.8*X1))*(1­

100 REM Campionario di Superfici nello Spazio  COS(1.2*Y1))­2:RETURN 

110 GOSUB 470:SCREEN 1:COLOR 1,0:CLS:S=2 
120 TH=.3:S1=SIN(TH):C1=COS(TH):PH=.
4:S2=SIN(PH):C2=COS(PH) 
130 REM loop principale 
140 FOR Q=1 TO 10:GOSUB 290 
150 REM meridiant 
160 FOR Y=­20 TO 20 STEP S:FL=0:FOR X=­20 TO 20 
STEP S 
170 ON Q GOSUB 
340,350,360,370,380,390,400,410,420,430 
180 GOSUB 270:IF FL=0 THEN FL=1:PSET (SX,SY) 
Fig. 1 - GW-BASIC environment

Page 16 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 SOFTWARE

to load the file in memory.

To see the list, just type the LIST command and to run it,
a simple RUN.
The program quickly draws graphics and it is a pleasure
to see how a few lines of code can transform complex
functions into similar three-dimensional images. See
Figures 2 and 3.

At this point, however, curiosity has taken over and,

remembering that in another previous article I had talked
about Visual Basic for DOS, I wondered: will I be able to
convert this short program and run it in that environment?
There was only one way to find out. Find the VB DOS,
install it and adapt this code... I had my article! :-)

Let’s download Visual Basic for DOS, also available on

winworldpc:
https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-visual-bas/
10-for-dos

As with GW-Basic, just copy the contents of the two disk

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 - The program running with two of the images contained in the compressed file, in a folder
functions drawn accessible from the DOSBox, but unlike the older ancestor,
in this case we also need to install the software.
430 X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:K=X1*X1+Y1*Y1:Z1=.
3*(1+COS(K))*(SGN(9.87­K)+1.):RETURN
The procedure is relatively simple and there is no need
440 REM switch to mono 
to describe it step by step. I still enclose a couple of
450 DEF SEG=0:POKE &H410,(PEEK(&H410) OR &H30) 
sample screens to point you in the right direction.
460 SCREEN 0:WIDTH 40:WIDTH 80:RETURN 
470 REM switch. to color 
480  DEF  SEG=0:POKE  &H410,(PEEK(&H410)  AND  &HCF) 
OR &H10 
490 SCREEN 0:WIDTH 40:SCREEN 1,0,0,0:RETURN 

Ah, of course you will need the GW-Basic that is not

included in DOSBox, but can be easily downloaded
from:*https://winworldpc.com/product/gw-basic/3x

Once downloaded, unpack the file with 7Zip and open

the .img file contained therein, always with 7Zip. GW-
Basic consists of only one executable file, so you can copy
it wherever you want in a directory accessible from the
DOSBox and then just run it to enter its development
environment.
Likewise, save the code attached above in a text file, with
extension .BAS, and put it in the same directory as the
GW-Basic.

At this point, from the GW-Basic environment, run the

command:
Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 - The installation procedure is simple, we
LOAD "filename.BAS
just have to choose the directories to use.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 17 of 70

 SOFTWARE

Once the installation is complete, a tutorial automatically the code contained in the Quit_Click() procedure. Quit
starts, explaining how to navigate Visual Basic menus. is the name of the button, Click is the event that invokes
The tutorial is very well done, but I would not have expected the code.
anything different; on the other hand, the Microsoft
products of the 90s were accompanied by good quality The other button is the real heart of the program. Obviously
tutorials and manuals. I suggest you take a look at it, the logic has remained the same of the original program,
especially if you have no idea how to get around with VB. but everything has been adapted to draw only one function
at a time, that is, the one selected from the listbox:
GrList.Listindex returns the line number of the selected
listbox (starting from 0).

Note the call to the screen.HIDE function, this is used to

hide the forms of the running VB and redirect the output
of the screen to the SCREEN version set (in my case
SCREEN 2). Once the program is finished, to display the
VB form again and proceed with the selection of a new
graph, simply invoke the screen.SHOW function. Logic
would tell me to use these functions in the completely
Fig.6 - VBDOS splash screen reverse way, but I didn't program VB...

Now let's move into the directory where we installed our At this point our program is almost ready, only the routine
version of Visual Basic and run the VBDOS command to to load the functions in the listbox is missing. Obviously
start the Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment this must be completed before the Form appears to the user.
that will allow us to edit our programs. The event that allows us to fulfill this task is obviously
the Load event of the Form. See form_load() code.
The function to populate the list is: GrList.ADDITEM.

Here is the full VB code:

SUB Form_Load ()
GrList.ADDITEM  "X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­COS(X1))*(1­
COS(Y1))­3"
GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.
4*COS(X1*X1+Y1*Y1)"
GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=EXP(.
02*(X1*X1+Y1*Y1))­3"
Fig.7 - How our Form looks like and how, if you want, you GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)­
could draw it to reproduce the example
(Y1*X1*X1))"
Personally it was the first time I saw Visual Basic for DOS, GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)+
but if, like me, you are familiar with any later version of (Y1*X1*X1))"
this development environment, you will not find it difficult GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/4:Y1=Y/
to navigate through the various menus and start 4:Z1=3*SIN(X1/2)*SIN(Y1/3)"
programming rather quickly. GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:K=(1­X1*X1/5­
The idea I had in mind was to create a simple Form, with Y1*Y1/7):Z1=SQR(2*K*(SGN(K)+1))"
a Listbox that contains all the functions proposed by the GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.02*SQR(X*X*Y*Y/
original program and, once pressed the execution button, 2)­3"
draw the chosen function. GrList.ADDITEM "X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­
I then created a form, with a listbox in the center, a label SIN(1.8*X1))*(1­COS(1.2*Y1))­2"
(containing only the on-screen instructions) and two GrList.ADDITEM  "X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:K=X1*X1+Y1*Y1:Z1=.
buttons (commandbox), see Fig. 7. 3*(1+COS(K))*(SGN(9.87­K)+1!)"
One of the two buttons is used to end the program; see END SUB

Page 18 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 SOFTWARE

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CASE 9
SUB Execute_Click ()     X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:K=X1*X1+Y1*Y1:Z1=.
'Hide the form 3*(1+COS(K))*(SGN(9.87­K)+1!)
screen.HIDE CASE ELSE
    X1=5:Y1=Y+X:K=X1*Y1
'Draw the selected function END SELECT
SCREEN 2: CLS : S = 1.5 SX=X1*C1­Y1*C2:SY=X1*S1+Y1*S2+Z1
GOSUB Screen_setting RETURN

TH = .3: S1 = SIN(TH): C1 = COS(TH): PH = .4: S2  Screen_setting:
= SIN(PH): C2 = COS(PH) CLS : WINDOW (­10, ­6)­(10, 6)
FOR Y = ­20 TO 20 STEP S: FL = 0: FOR X = ­20 TO  LOCATE 2, 2: RETURN
20 STEP S END SUB
    GOSUB DrawGraph
    IF FL = 0 THEN FL = 1: PSET (SX, SY) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
    LINE ­(SX, SY): NEXT X: NEXT Y
SUB Quit_Click ()
FOR X = ­20 TO 20 STEP S: FL = 0: FOR Y = ­20 TO  END
20 STEP S END SUB
    GOSUB DrawGraph
    IF FL = 0 THEN FL = 1: PSET (SX, SY) A simple program, but that is useful to understand what
    LINE ­(SX, SY): NEXT Y: NEXT X were the potentialities of the VBDOS. At least from the
point of view of development of graphical interfaces within
'Return to the Form the DOS environment.
SCREEN 0
WIDTH 80, 25 See you, then, in the next issue of RMW.
screen.SHOW
EXIT SUB

DrawGraph:
SELECT CASE GrList.Listindex
CASE 0
    X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­COS(X1))*(1­COS(Y1))­3
CASE 1
    X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.4*COS(X1*X1+Y1*Y1)
CASE 2
    X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=EXP(.02*(X1*X1+Y1*Y1))­3
CASE 3
    X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)­(Y1*X1*X1))
CASE 4
    X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=.02*((X1*Y1*Y1)+(Y1*X1*X1))
CASE 5
    X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:Z1=3*SIN(X1/2)*SIN(Y1/3)
CASE 6
    X1=X/4:Y1=Y/4:K=(1­X1*X1/5­
Y1*Y1/7):Z1=SQR(2*K*(SGN(K)+1))
CASE 7
    X1=X/6:Y1=Y/6:Z1=.02*SQR(X*X*Y*Y/2)­3
CASE 8
    X1=X/5:Y1=Y/5:Z1=(1­SIN(1.8*X1))*(1­
COS(1.2*Y1))­2 Fig.8 - Examples of graphs drawn by VBDOS

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 19 of 70

 SOFTWARE

PI, MONTE CARLO AND RANDOM NUMBERS

by Marco Pistorio

INTRODUCTION dimensions of the latter are immediately determinable.

Hello, everyone. I finally am back to writing a few pages, This is called the "Monte Carlo Method" and it proves to
dear friends/retro-fan readers :) be a robust technique that can be applied in many problems.
All of you will surely know Pi, the number that expresses
the relationship between the perimeter of a circle and its For those who want to learn more about it, here is the
diameter, also a number which humanity always talked link to its Wikipedia page:
about since the ancient times. Among its properties, Pi
is an irrational number, that is, it cannot be written as a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method
quotient of two integers. It's also a transcendent number,
that is, it is not an algebraic number. It is therefore APPLICATION OF THE MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR THE
impossible to express Pi using a finite number of integers, CALCULATION OF PI
fractions and their roots. Let's imagine that our square has a unit size, i.e. 1.
Inside, we draw NOT a complete circle, but a quarter of
For those who would like to learn more, here is a link to a circle, whose radius will coincide with the side of the
start with: square, so its measure is also 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi Now, we know that the area of a circle is calculated as:

Radius x Radius x Pi.
Pi is already available as a reserved constant in every
Commodore BASIC. However, today I will talk about an Let us remember, however, that within the square we have
interesting and simple method to be able to calculate it, drawn only a quarter of a circle.
with good approximation, using a few lines of Commodore Its area will therefore be:
BASIC V2 code. Radius x Radius x Pi / 4

Suppose you want to determine the surface area of a circle. The area of the square is, of course: Side x Side.
We draw a square on a sheet of paper and calculate the
side with a ruler. Using the "Monte Carlo Method", we will obtain an estimate
We determine the area of this square, multiplying the of the value of the area of this quarter of a circle compared
measure of its side by itself. to that of the total area of the square.
Then, inside this square, we draw a circle. I mean, an estimate of the ratio:
After that, let's fill the whole area of this square with a (Radius x Radius x Pi / 4) / (Side x Side)
certain number of points, completely arbitrarily, at random.
Many of these points will fall inside the circle. Of course, But radius, in our drawing, equals the size of a square
other points will be outside the circle. side. The ratio then becomes:
We can calculate the ratio of the number of points that ( Side x Side x PI / 4) / (Side x Side)
fell inside the circle compared to the total number of
points that were plotted. Simplifying, whatever the value of side is, the relationship
Then we multiply that ratio by the area of the square. between the two areas will simply become:
The result we get will be approximately equal to the actual PI / 4
area of the circle.
This estimate will be closer to the exact value of the circle So let's summarize the above steps.
are if we increase the number of points plotted inside the
square. • We draw a square of unitary size
Similarly to the above, we could determine, with good • Inside this square we draw a quarter of a circle. The
approximation, the area of the surface of a nation, say radius of this quarter circle will coincide with the side of
Italy, reproduced within a geographical map, whose the square.

Page 20 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 SOFTWARE

• We determine the relationship between the two areas, If a point of coordinates (X,Y) then lies on our segment
that is, the relationship between the area of the quarter of circumference, its coordinates (X,Y) MUST respect the
circle and the area of the square that contains it, using equation just stated.
the "Monte Carlo Method".
• As the number of points considered increases, the ratio By fixing one of the two coordinates, Y for example, and
we will obtain will be closer to the PI/4 value. replacing X and Y with XP and YP (i.e. the coordinates of
our random point), and keeping in mind our construction,
CODE AT A GLANCE which avoids us from also taking negative sign coordinates
How do you get a random point, with coordinates (X,Y) into consideration, we can say that:
whose value of each coordinate is between 0 and 1? • if XP > sqr(1-YP ^2) the point lies outside the
In BASIC V2 here's how you do it: circumference arc;
• if XP = sqr(1-YP^2) the point lies exactly on our
10 XP=rnd(1) circumference arc;
20 YP=Rnd(1) • if XP < sqr(1-YP ^2) the point lies within the circumference
arc.
How can we tell if this point is inside or outside our quarter
circle? Dear readers, greetings to you all. See you next time!
It is demonstrated that all points with coordinates (X,Y)
lying on a circumference must satisfy the following equation: LISTING IN BASIC V2 ‐ NO GRAPHICS

10 ci=0:rem contatore punti interni
(X-Xc)^2 + (Y-Yc)^2 = r^2 20 nm=1000: rem numero punti totali
30 for pp=0 to nm
where Xc and Yc are the coordinates of the center of the 40 xp=rnd(1)
50 yp=rnd(1)
circle and r is its radius. 60 if xp<=sqr(1­yp*yp) then ci=ci+1
70 next
Keeping in mind our construction, we match the center 80 print "pigreco (approssimato)="; 
of the circle with the point of coordinates (0,0) and, since (4*ci/pp)
90 end
the radius is 1, the formula becomes simply:

LISTING IN SIMON'S BASIC ‐ WITH GRAPHICS
X^2+Y^2=1
110 colour0,0:poke646,11
or: 120 ra=60:cx=160:cy=100
130 def fn x1(y)=sqr(ra*ra­y*y)
X^2=1-Y^2 140 :
150 hires1,0
160 rec cx,cy­ra,ra,ra,1
which can also be written as: 170 :
X=sqr(1-Y^2) 180 for y=0 to ra step .1
190 plot cx+fn x1(y),cy­y,1
200 next
210 :
220 x=ra*rnd(1)
230 y=ra*rnd(1)
240 plot x+cx,cy­y,1
250 x1=fn x1(y)
260 if x<=x1 then c1=c1+1
270 c2=c2+1
275 pg=4*(c1/c2)
280 text 30,30,"pi:"+str$(pg),1,1,8
290 for dl=0 to 1000:next dl
300 text 30,30,"pi:"+str$(pg),0,1,8
310 goto 220
The "Monte Carlo Method" at work (Simons' Basic)

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 21 of 70

 SOFTWARE

APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPT DEAR 6510... - part 1

by Attilio Capuozzo – Founder of “RetroProgramming Italia – RP Italia”
and Antonio Savona – GameCoder & DemoCoder C64
We begin our journey in the Interrupt of the C64, a world  At the request of Interrupt, the 6510 responds by concluding 
that is both complex and fascinating, whose control allows  the instruction in Machine Code that it is executing at that 
us  to  implement  interesting  programming  techniques  for  precise  moment  to  then  process  a  predefined  task  that 
the  graphic  and  sound  skills  of  the  "commie",  provided  serves  to  appropriately  manage  the  aforementioned 
that we use the Assembly language. Interrupt Request.
At the end of the so­called Interrupt Service Routine, the 
In  the  8­bit  Commodore,  the  Interrupt  is  essentially  an  CPU will once again execute the instruction in ML (Machine 
Interrupt  request  addressed  to  the  CPU,  the  6510  Language or Machine Code) following the one processed 
microprocessor. at the time the Interrupt occurred.
The Task performed from 6510 against an Interrupt Request, 
The  Interrupt  request  can  be  of  the  Hardware  type,  that  varies  fundamentally  depending  on  the  type  of  Interrupt, 
is,  through  an  electrical  signal  sent  to  the  CPU  or  of  the  IRQ or NMI.
Software type as generated by an Assembly statement.
We will see later how to create our Routines in Assembly 
The  2  types  of  Interrupt  Hardware  are  the  IRQ,  acronym  that  can  be  called  upon  the  occurrence  of  an  Interrupt 
for  Interrupt  Request,  and  NMI  which  stands  for  Non  Request; these Routines represent the true strength of a 
Maskable Interrupt. Programmer.
The  Interrupt  Software  is  the  BRK  Interrupt  produced  by 
the Assembly instruction of the same name. In Fig. 1 we report the Sources that in the C64 can generate 

Fig. 1 - Sources of Hardware Interrupt Requests to the 6510 CPU in the Commodore 64

Page 22 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 SOFTWARE

Fig. 2 - Detail of possible Sources of the 2 CIA chips

Interrupt Hardware Requests to the 6510 CPU. The Interrupt Request of the Timer A triggers an Interrupt 
  IRQ thanks to which ­ for 60 times per second ­ a Routine 
From the diagram in Fig. 1 it is highlighted that Requests  fundamental for the proper functioning of the C64 Operating 
for an Interrupted IRQ can generally come from: System is performed.
A) From one of the 4 GPU Sources of the C64 i.e. the VIC 
– II Graphic Chip (or more simply VIC) This Routine also deals with:
B) From one of the 5 CIA Sources 1 acronym for Complex  A) Scan the Keyboard
Interface Adapter B) Update the Jiffy Clock, that is the C64 Software Clock 
The NMI Interrupt Request can instead come from: (Zero Page Locations from $A0 to $A2) on which the 
A) From one of the 5 CIA Sources 2 Reserved Variables (of the BASIC V2) TI and TI$are based
B) From the RESTORE button C) Manage Cursor Blinking
C) From a ROM Cartridge inserted in the Expansion Port 
Let's  remember  briefly  that  the  Jiffy  Clock  counts  the 
We report in Fig.2 the detail of the possible Sources of the  number of Jiffies (i.e. sixty­second) that have passed since 
2 CIA chips bearing in mind that the aforementioned Chips  the power on of the C64.
­  assigned  to  the  interview  with  the  I/O  devices  ­  differ  Next  time  we  will  analyze  the  sequence  of  operations 
substantially  for  the  Interrupt  Line  to  which  they  are  performed  upon  the  occurrence  of  both  an  IRQ  and  an 
connected: the CIA 1 to the IRQ Line and the CIA 2 to the  Interrupt NMI.
NMI Line.
  That's all folks!
The  2  Timers  (Timer A  and  Timer  B)  are  16­bit  (2­byte) 
counters  that  count  down  from  a  starting  value,  called  a 
LATCH VALUE, to 0.
You can reach the group
When they count to 0 (or rather, when an underflow condition  RetroProgramming Italia - RP Italia:
occurs, that is, when a value less than 0 is reached), the  https://www.facebook.com/groups/retroprogramming/
Timers generate an Interrupt Request.
CIA  1 Timer A,  in  particular,  is  set  by  default  to  generate 
every 1/60 according to an Interrupt Request.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 23 of 70

 SOFTWARE

An introduction to Acorn Electron

by Gianluca Girelli
As readers will already know, there are basically two
machines that I love: the first, and most important for
what it was for me in the 1980s, is the Commodore C128;
the second, for what it allowed me to do later, is the Amiga
2000.

Although in the last twelve or thirteen years my world

has revolved around the Amiga systems called "next- Not yet having, as mentioned at the beginning, a physical
gen" (mainly AmigaOS4.1, but also MorphOS and AROS), machine, I went looking for an emulator on which to move
my heart continues to beat at 8 bits, which is why, more the first steps. I found two: the first is "Elkulator", a terrible
and more, I am returning to the old processors: among name that brings to mind the exploits of a popular Italian
all, the 6502 and its derivatives. movie star... alternative; the second is "Electrem", a
persuasive title that tastes of serene afternoons of the
I've been trying to get my hands on an old Acorn Electron 80s based on watching on TV Japanese cartoons and
for a long time. This wonderful machine, probably a bit eating chocolate spreads.
snubbed in its time in Southern Europe despite being the
third most widespread in Great Britain, continues to give Easy irony aside, the two emulators are as spartan as
great satisfaction to its fans: its "simple" architecture, they are easy to use: they do not require any particular
thanks to the abundant availability of documentation, is set-up and, after having downloaded and unpacked them,
also within the reach of the novice; the capabilities of its it is enough to double click on the executable to enter
graphics instead, although apparently less powerful than directly into the emulated environment. Forget complex
that of the competition, still manage to create truly (though very powerful) suites like those for the development
spectacular effects, as we will see in this first article. on the C64 (we talked about it on the first issues of RMW):
here we start immediately with a black screen and a
command prompt.

We will analyze in the near future the options provided

by these two emulators as well as the basic characteristics
of Electron; for this first article we will simply see an
example of graphic programming. To execute it, simply
type the text in the emulator and, at the end, impart the

Unlike Commodore systems, for example, which have a

maximum resolution of 320x200 pixels (or 160x200, in
Hi-Res mode) in graphic mode and, usually, a text mode
of 40 columns by 25 rows, the Acorn has 7 different modes
that arrive for text up to a maximum of 80 columns by 32
rows, and up to 640x256 pixels for the graphic screen.
Although the number of colors available is always very
limited (only 2 in the case of maximum resolution), the
way they are handled allows you to achieve wonderful
visual effects.

Page 24 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 SOFTWARE

traditional "RUN". blend with each other to create very pleasant textures,
as can be seen in the photos attached to the article.
As a first example, I chose a program shown in the user
manual. This algorithm, called "Persian", creates a colorful Below is the full text of the program. I advise you to "play"
pattern reminiscent of a rug. I chose this small program a little with it, changing the value of the variable "D%" in
to highlight the difference in approach between Commodore line 30. We will explore the individual commands in the
and Acorn. near future, with particular reference to the "VDU" directive
Released in 1983 and therefore the same time as the C64, which has a very similar behavior to the "PRINT CHR$"
Electron could boast a BASIC much more advanced than sequences of Commodore systems.
the competitor from the point of view of primitive graphics
and, although in fact it had only 8 colors (plus another 8 10 REM PERSIAN 
in "flashing" mode), it could manage four different at the 20 MODE 1
same time in 320x256 pixels mode, instead of the 3 (plus 30 D%=4
the background) of the C64/C128 which in hi-res mode 40 VDU 19,3,RND(3)+1,0,0,0
were however limited to a resolution of only 160 x 200 50 VDU 19,3,RND(3)+4,0,0,0
pixels, as we have already seen in previous tutorials (see 60 VDU 29,640;512;
RMW nos. 21 and 30). 70 J1%=0
80 FOR K%=500 TO 380 STEP ­40
"Persian" draws hundreds of lines that, starting from the 90 REPEAT J2%=RND(3): UNTIL J2%<>J1%
center, reach the edges of the screen. After it is completely 100 J1%=J2%
saturated, the color is changed and the lines are drawn again. 110 GCOL 3,J1%
This alternation composes a texture where the colors 120 FOR I%=­K% TO K% STEP D%
130 MOVE K%,I%
140 DRAW ­K%,­I%
150 MOVE I%,­K%
160 DRAW ­I%,K%
170 NEXT
180 NEXT 

In the next paper we will go into more detail of this

wonderful machine retracing a little history, analyzing
the memory maps and the ease of use as well as some of
the most significant graphic features.

See you, then, in the next issue of RMW.

Useful links:

http://elkulator.acornelectron.co.uk/index.html
http://electrem.emuunlim.com/index.html
http://www.stairwaytohell.com/
http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 25 of 70

 RETROHISTORY

Norma Lijtmaer, the lioness of Computing

by Alberto Apostolo

Argentina is not only home to great sports champions

such as Diego Armando Maradona.
On the pages of RetromagazineWorld we have the privilege
of remembering Norma Lijtmaer (Fig.1) who was a pioneer
of computer science in Argentina and Latin America, a
researcher and university professor in Italy (in Pisa).
In 1985 she contributed to the creation of the Escuela
Superior Latinoamericana de Informática (ESLAI), an
institute created to train high-level researchers in the IT
sector.
Norma Lijtmaer was born on August 2, 1937. Her family
had various origins: Lithuania, Russia, Switzerland and
Netherlands.
At the end of the 1950s, she began his studies in Electronic
Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University
of Buenos Aires (UBA). She was one of the 2 or 3 girls
enrolled in Engineering and one of the few people who
knew how to program. During this period she was a
member of the Communist Youth Federation.
Later, in the 1960s, she began to devote himself to
Fig.1 [Sil19]
programming at the Instituto Nacional de Reaseguros.
She had previously completed a course at IBM that had
given her her first knowledge in the field.
Thus in 1964, she decided to leave Engineering to devote
himself fully to the study of programming.
Manuel Imaz (classmate at the Facultad de Ciencias
Exactas y Naturales in Buenos Aires) remembers her as
a very active, enthusiastic, dynamic woman who wanted
to be a protagonist in everything she did.
At that time in Argentina there were only four computers
installed (one IBM, one Type and two Univac). In 1959,
the mathematician Manuel Sadosky (1914-2005, Fig.2)
bought the "Clementina" (a version of the British computer
Ferranti Mercury, Fig.3) in order to establish the foundations
of computer science in Argentina. In 1962 the Instituto
Fig.2 Manuel Sadosky with his wife Cora Eloisa and daughter
de Cálculo (of which Sadosky was director) was created.
Cora Susana (1940-2010), who in turn became a
The first university courses of Calculation were born (until mathematician and university professor (Google)
then taught by computer manufacturers).
General Onganía. Although academic autonomy was
In 1966 Norma Lijtmaer became an IBM systems analyst.
regulated by a 1918 reform, on July 29, 1966 ("Noche
She deepened his knowledge of Operating Systems and
de los Bastones Largos") the Argentine Federal Police
programming languages, working with IBM/360 and IBM
raided several university faculties in Buenos Aires, beating
1401 computers. She also studied the GPSs (General
several Argentine and foreign professors.
Purpose Simulation System) language, which provided
As a protest, thousands of professors resigned. Norma
the basis for her future courses in Italy.
Lijtmaer also resigned from her university position.
On June 28, 1966, Argentina suffered the coup d 'état of
IBM, being aligned with the new regime, fired Norma
Page 26 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROHISTORY

Lijtmaer. However, it offered her a good liquidation and a

job in any other Latin American country.
Norma Lijtmaer chose to take refuge in Italy and, with a
letter of recommendation written by Manuel Sadosky,
obtained a scholarship at the University of Pisa, starting
to work at the CNUCE (Centro Nazionale Universitario di
Calcolo Elettronico = National University Centre for
Electronic Computing).
Later she worked at the CNR in Pisa and then at the Laben
in Milan (collaborating in the realization of the Laben 70
computer operating system under the direction of Roberto Fig.3 (Google)
Galimberti).
In 1968 he met Ugo Montanari (born 1943, researcher
and then professor at the University of Pisa, Fig.4) whom
she married in 1972.
Having changed the political conditions in Argentina,
Norma Lijtmaer returned on 14 December 1983. On
Christmas 1983 he met Manuel Sadosky again.
A decree of President Alfonsín in April 1984 started the
Fig.4 (Google)
creation of the Comisión Nacional de Informática to rebuild
the IT sector. Sadosky became Secretary of Science and
Technique of this commission.
Under these auspices, Escuela Superior Latinoamericana
de Informática (ESLAI) was established in 1985 .
The school was located in the main house of Parque
Pereira Iraola about forty kilometers from Buenos Aires
(Fig.5). In the admission competition for the thirty places
assigned each year, a thousand students from all over
Latin America participated. It was a great effort by Norma
Lijtmaer (helped by her husband) to plan and organize
the structure. She defined it as "la niña de sus desvelos" (the
light of her sleepless nights). ESLAI remained active from
1986 to 1990 (when it was closed by the Menem
Fig.5 (Google)
government). During this period, many high-level
researchers and professionals were trained. of Information Processing) and the University of Pisa.
Another important assignment for Norma Lijtmaer was, After a long and painful illness, Norma Lijtmaer died in
from 1979 to 1985, the Cnet Project Management (Campus Pisa on August 5, 2004.
Net) as part of a larger project of the CNR for the Her unattainable career demonstrates what she has
development of local networks in collaboration with Olivetti. always been: a fighter in her values as a person and a
Until reaching retirement in 2002, he continued his work worker, with a mentality and a team sense that has changed
at IEI (Istituto di Elaborazione dell'Informazione = Institute her life for all the people she has met and crossed [Sil19].

Bibliography
[Ima18] M.Imaz, "Homenaje a una referente de la computación" , 25 Oct 2018,
(retrieved in 2021/04/06),
https://www.dc.uba.ar/homenaje-a-una-referente-de-la-computacion/
[Mon07] U.Montanari, "Idee per diventare informatico. Dalle schede perforate al futuro di internet",
Volume 9 di "I mestieri della scienza", Zanichelli Editore IT, 2007.
[Sil19] M.A.Silvestro, "Mujeres en STEAM: ¿Quién fue Norma Lijtmaer?", 8 Oct 2019,
(retrieved in 2021/04/06),
https://medium.com/lasdesistemas/mujeres-en-steam-qui%C3%A9n-fue-norma-lijtmaer-2244192a7c15
[Wik21] AA.VV. "Clementina (computadora)" (retrieved in 2021/04/06),
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementina_(computadora)

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 27 of 70

 RETROHISTORY

Japan 17th episode: Nintendo G&W against everyone

by Michele Ugolini

Is Nintendo such a powerful company that it can Inside this collector's item we will find: the first The
declare war at the same time on all its competitors? Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: the Adventure of Link and
Is the big "N" declaring war on all the Clouds The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening for GameBoy.
scattered around the world that host its pirated In addition, in a similar way to the juggler Super
ROMS? Mario, we will find Link as the subject of this fun
A company that has had humble origins, producing remake of G&W: Ball.
playing cards of the famous Hanafuda, can really There will also be some easter eggs that we will
scream loudly and be heard throughout the probably be able to observe in some function related
terrestrial video game universe? to the watch.
Can a tiny object like a G&W, climb to the top of It seems that this jewel has already been
sales, surpassing its own clones, emulators, programmed and produced, at least in limited
simulators, including the new Gig Tiger and close quantities for Nintendo company staff. In fact, Eiji
relatives, up to the new mini and micro arcade Aonuma, in the 2021 E3 Nintendo Direct, before
cabins? showing the public the gameplay of Zelda's sequel
Obviously there is no unambiguous answer. We will Breath of the Wild, showed everyone this Zelda G&W,
discuss the situation along the endless path of a taking it out of his "magical pocket".
company that in the West, unfortunately, we
appreciate incredibly less than a giant like Remember that the G&Ws were born just to get out
PlayStation. Is anyone going to win? Obviously, of the pocket of a typical Japanese businessman's
victory in Japan is the result of intrinsic shirt. These toys had above all to be perfectly
mechanisms, where national glory is the point of camouflageable: the company willingly accepted a
arrival for any sector with competition within that calculator in the pocket of a rampant business man,
environment. From them the single never wins: in but did not accept a toy! It can be camouflaged in
Japan Japan must win. your hands , on the street and especially on the
Are we all ready for big news? metro, or by train, when returning from work. It had
Did you like Super Mario's G&W? to be easily reinserted into the famous pocket just to
Are you a Zelda fan? be hidden by the hypothetical visual arrow (of
outrage) during the passage of the ticket controller.
Well, recently Nintendo announced that, to "Pfui! A businessman who uses a toy!
celebrate the 35th anniversary of the birth of Unacceptable!", the official would have thought,
Zelda's wonderful saga, it will produce a G&W in expressing a mocking smile over the head of the
her honor! businessman.

Figura 1
Page 28 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROHISTORY

That explains why, even this G&W, came out of the Do you remember the NeoGeoMini phenomenon in
famous pocket. The Japanese follow very precise the past?
rituals, so the G&W have now become a far-sighted Do you remember the recent Sega Astro City Mini
fashion of a revered and glorious past: all in line with phenomenon that sold discreetly in Japan and that
their philosophical thinking. did not arrive at all, officially, in the West?
The release is scheduled for November 12, the price
is yet to be revealed, but it is supposed to be similar The following were present in this mini cabinet:
to the recent G&W of Super Mario, around €50. 36 classic Sega titles, belonging to the company's
We hope that in this version the battery will be arcade catalogue:
removable, otherwise we will have to seriously
prepare to compromise seals and internal Announced on 3 September:
components, to save these small jewels from the Alex Kidd with Stella: The Lost Stars , Arabian Fight ,
future functional exhaustion of the battery. Flicky , My Hero , Puyo Puyo Tsu , Quartet 2 , Rad
Mobile , Scramble Spirits , Sega Ninja , Sonic Boom ,
In addition to this fantastic news, here is another Space Harrier , Stack Columns , Thunder Force AC.
one of great importance: the success of the return of
R-Type. Announced August 20: Bonanza Bros. , Columns ,
Nizakashii, as a good independent developer, has Cotton , Crack Down , Cyber Police ESWAT , Puyo
recreated with the peculiarities of G&W, the iconic R- Puyo , Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R, Gain Ground ,
Type, precisely the scene of the clash with the first Shadow Dancer , Shinobi , Wonder Boy , Wonder Boy
famous alien enemy. in Monster Land , Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair.
This porting, if you will, was named R&WATCH
DOBTOPUS. Announced July 7: Alien Syndrome , Alien Storm ,
https://nizakashii.itch.io/rwatch Altered Beast , Columns II: The Voyage Through
Obviously there is no physical version of this Time , Dark Edge , Fantasy Zone , Golden Axe ,
unofficial IREM R-Type. We can only play via the link Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder , Puzzle &
via browser. Action: Tant-R , Virtua Fighter.
The good news is that the game is free and is
enjoying great success. A remarkable praise to the This time it's Taito's turn.
everlasting R-Type that saw the recent release of R- A new mini cabinet is really coming and it will be
Type Final 2 on several platforms, including the Ps4. called Egret 2. It will contain 40 games and will be
equipped with trackball, spinners, several buttons
We talked about Nintendo, Sony Playstation, G&W, and a joystick with a structure finally related to a
Super Mario, Zelda, it seems incredible but the promising use.
Japanese are a population of inventiveness (and The Egret II Mini is a precise reproduction of Taito's
reinvention) both fluid and fluent. He did not sit and arcade coin-op.
watch even the staff of NeoGeo or Sega, much less The machine in question was originally launched in
Taito! 1996 by Taito, as a standard device able to

Figura 2
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 29 of 70
 RETROHISTORY

accommodate the various classic titles of the The connectivity of Egret II Mini also defends itself
company's catalog: from the origins as Space well: it is equipped with a USB-C port, two USB-A
Invaders of 1978 to arcade games of the 90s. ports, an SD slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, an
A selection of these will be featured in the Egret II HDMI socket so you can connect it to a TV or an
Mini with 40 games, an additional 10 will be sold external monitor.
separately for a total of 50. Let's imagine that there Taito will also sell three optional controllers that we
will be machine upgrades. Among the peculiar all loved in the games of the 80s: a potentiometer
features of the Egret II Mini there is the possibility to and a trackball.
physically rotate the screen to position it vertically,
so we can fully enjoy the gameplay of different titles This little jewel was announced nine months in
such as Space Invaders and other shooters. There advance and the prices are commensurate with the
will be an additional dashboard equipped with nostalgia effect as well as the size of the
trackball and, drum roller, a beloved potentiometer, components, this time there seems to be a good
which can be used on other classic games developed dose of plastic (hopefully also of electronics). Egret
through this type of control, for example Cametry II Mini will be launched in Japan on March 2, 2022
and Arkanoid. will cost the European equivalent of 140 euros, while
the controllers will cost approximately 90 (trackball),
At the moment, the first part of the revealed games 65 (arcade stick) and 24 euros (classic pad).
is listed in the following list: Studies of Japanese marketing have probably
Space Invaders , Lunar Rescue , Qix , Elevator already foreseen limited series, deluxe, exclusive,
Action , Chack'n Pop , Bubble Bobble , Rastan Saga , bundle, etc.
Rainbow Islands Extra , New Zealand Story , Don
Doko Don , Violence Fight , Cadash , Liquid Kids , At the moment it is known that you can buy a bundle
Metal Black , Kaiser Knuckle. that includes everything and also includes some
extras such as CDs with the soundtracks of the
Other specific games will be added that will use games for the modest amount of 32,978 yen
paddles and trackballs, probably included in an SD (246€).
Card bundled with the additional controller: Strike
Bowling , Arkanoid , Plump Pop , Syvalion , We do not know the European fate of this mini-
Cameltry , Arkanoid Returns. cabinet. Is there a sale in the West? Will only the
greedy and voracious domestic demand for these
We are in a historical moment where nostalgia niche products be satisfied? Let us remember that
frequently influences the decisions of our lives: we the Japanese often and willingly have little interest in
live in a situation of historical uncertainty and the satisfying us Western collectors: they just need the
memory of a more serene past gives us an illusory internal market, faithful, cadenced, imperishable,
daily peace. That's why we're seeing remakes of curious and slave to this system as I have explained
titles from just 5 or 10 years ago, and then several times in the past articles.
remastered remakes and who knows what we'll see
later! This is all dear readers, at least until the next article.
We will collect new data and analysis about this
We also remember that, in Japan, the social element delicate battlefield where it seems there are no rules
of cabinets enjoys a deep and intimate sphere within and the motive of such actions is obviously animated
daily life. In the rest of the world, however, the by evil nostalgia. See you soon!
romantic passion of the cabins has gradually
disappeared, kept alive in our garages and in some
game rooms resistant to the modern blows inflicted
by slot machines.
This explains the birth, indeed the rebirth of Egret2.
A small memory of a great object related to a recent
and glorious past. A miniature cabinet that faithfully
resembles the original, marketed in the 1990s,
including the ability of the screen to rotate a 5-inch
LCD display.
A minicab with 40 great integrated games.
Significantly improved dashboard proportions
compared to other ridiculous mini-micro-nano
consoles badly emulated in the past.

Page 30 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 RETROHISTORY

EnigmA Story: the bar boy

by Michele Iurillo

When I see an Amiga, even today there is a contrast of the cappuccino and the juice, which makes me disgusted
emotions: nostalgia, pride, the memory of the first steps even today. But it was his badge. I had just returned from
(The famous book published by our publishing house the military and the only girls I saw were the one at
“Amiga Primi Passi'' has been lost in one of the movings). Centerfold Strip Poker, not that I was a wanker but I spent
a lot of time at home programming and reading MC
Everything comes from the chance as the most beautiful Microcomputers, copying listings... Things we all did.
stories, from a schoolmate who convinces me to go to Then one day my father heard the American and another
the Newel of MacMahon (that of Rho will arrive years gentleman talking about computers and trying to do a
later) (Newel Newell was a computer and video game favor and place his son... he said the famous phrase..
store in a city near Milan, ndN) and take home a beautiful "even my son has a computer... I think AMIGO…” After
Amiga 1000. I had hastily sold my PC 286 with two 5- about two hours I entered the EnigmA editorial office with
inch floppies used to make compilations in Ansi Cobol for a tray, two cappuccinos and two coffees. The FTE office
school, and turning on the Amiga was like entering another was in via Sassoferrato 2 150 meters from our BAR.
dimension. From there began a wonderful story of over 10 years in
I still remember my father approaching me and saying, which I covered all the roles of a delivery man with 6000
"but this is smaller and costs more..." and reassuring him diskettes on my panda, bagger of 5" floppy for the magazine
with the colors, the juggler and especially the command PC Library, scribbler, photographer, subscription officer,
SAY "Meekele". In those days the world was pure piracy, handyman boy, editor, deputy editor, editor-in-chief,
there were no games even to search them, at most some editor-in-chief, editorial director...
compilers like Lattice "C" and everything was done in In short, a classic career case that if you have the pleasure
AmigaBasic. of following in the next episodes will reveal a lot of other
We used to own a bar with my parents in Viale Montenero, things...
and among the customers of the morning there was always
a strange American guy: Maverick Greissing who was There will be plenty of vintage photos: authentic heirlooms...
the first editor and director of the magazine. He was taking Which I still keep jealously.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 31 of 70

 RETROHISTORY

VIDEOGAMES? THEY SOUND GOOD!

by Mic The Biker Novarina
The editorial in issue 29 of Retromagazine World (RMW# AYs brought performance to unthinkable levels until a
07-EN) gave me a lot of thought. short time before making it possible to play up to eight
We often limit ourselves to giving more emphasis to the channels together. Unknown figures are beginning to be
graphics sector than to other less obvious aspects of a born, namely the people dedicated to audio programming,
game, we relay the other senses, which are involved in a the wizards of chip music.
game session, in the background. But there is one that
in my opinion is fundamental but that we often do not One of the pioneers of the genre was the Japanese (yes,
take into account. Imagine for a moment your favorite she was a woman, which was unthinkable here at the
video game. Now turn off the audio. Do you realize how time) Yuriko Keino. In 1982 he did something for the game
important that is? Now let's go back a little bit to the early Dig Dug never heard: a soundtrack that stopped when
1970s. From here we will leave for our curious journey the player stopped digging. At the same time, the use of
to discover "chip music". sampled sounds was increasing and even more important
was the introduction of FM synthesis, pulled out of the
cylinder by Yamaha with the successful FM chipset series.
To sum up in a few words what they could do is not simple.
Let's say that while before a type of sound generated was
closely linked to the chip that produced it, with the FM
series the tones could be manipulated so as to create
different sound characteristics with the same chip. Two
real composers of soundtracks were pioneers in the field:
Miki Higashino and Horoshi Kawaguchi.

In 1972, Atari released Pong: the history of video games Konami sensed the abilities of the first in the mid-1980s
officially begins. Primitive graphics and sound that, when and from his mind came the music of giants such as
present, was limited to a buzz here and there. However, Gradius, Ye ar Kung fu and Salamander. Hiroshi Kawaguchi,
you have to wait until 1975 to have the first jingle: the on the other hand, was hired by Sega in 1984 and is still
game Gun Fight is released and it is the first to present one of the oldest still active chip music composers. He
itself with opening music obtained from a specific chip. was perhaps the first to realize that audio and gameplay
The author is Tomohiro Nishikado and thanks to him, in must go hand in hand and in fact he worked closely with
1978, we have the first soundtrack in game: we are talking game designers to literally sew the music in to the game.
about Space Invaders, which presented a line composed The result is history: he signed the soundtracks for Hang
of four bass tones repeated in loops that increased in On, Space Harrier, Enduro Racer, After Burner, Dinamyte
intensity according to the approach of the enemies. Dux and Power Drift. Lastly, I leave the trio of the best
known songs, namely those of Out Run, still today the
In 1980 two historical titles for the audio evolution in subject of remakes and remixes of all kinds.
game made their appearance: Namco's Rally-X, which
presents a real melodic soundtrack in game, and Sunsoft's At the same time, obviously with the right proportions,
Stratovox, which was the first game to present a vocal domestic systems also grew rapidly. The Colecovision, in
synthesis. At this point I make a proper clarification: in 1982, had gone on the four channels but it was in 1983
those years the audio programming capabilities were that a leap of historical importance was made with the
often limited, not all programmers had notions or musical arrival of the Famicom, acronym of Family Computer, here
rudiments. The same gaming machines were almost known as Nintendo Entertainment System. This machine
ridiculous: just think that an Atari 2600, the most common was equipped with five channels: four classics and one
system at the time, could play at most two notes at a time! dedicated to basic pulse code modulation, or PCM. As we
But a new generation of microchips was coming on both are now noticing, the audio section is of great importance.
home gaming machines and arcade booths. The Yamaha Take for example an arcade: Bubble Bobble from 1986.
with the YM series and the General Instrument with its An absolute masterpiece of its kind. In fact, a game that
Page 32 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROHISTORY

market, machines that at a lower cost promised better

graphics and better sound. Among these home machines
there was one that stood out (and split) more than the
others. It was the Commodore 64. Equipped with exceptional
overall qualities it was the only device capable of creating
effects and audio filters, different types of waveforms and
the bizarre ability to have on a fourth "dummy" channel
the ability to reproduce 4-bit samples. And all this thanks
to a dedicated chip that is still used to create music: the SID.

Ladies and gentlemen, the SID

Three channels could be synthesized, eight octaves and
four waveforms could be reproduced for each channel,
all from 16 to 4000 Hz. There were already fully
programmable filters: high pass, low pass, band pass and
notch. And one of his defects was exploited to have a kind
of fourth channel. In the original chip set, the 6581, the
Fig. 1 - FM Sinth
volume change on one of the channels creates a noise
has created a standard! Well, practically everyone is now called "pop".
imagining the two dragons descending into the first
painting. Meanwhile in your head has also started the The brilliant idea was to use this to create percussion
historical music, perfectly functional to the game. It is a sounds and synthesize the human voice. Now try to put
serene music, it could not better accompany the continuation yourself in the shoes, my included, of who uploaded
of the levels. But beware: if time presses the music Impossible Mission and found himself listening to the
accelerates, putting on you anxiety, haste, a sense of computer talk! If the game itself was already beautiful,
urgency. the vocal parts made it literally immortal. This chipset
saw the consecration of true masters in the creation of
Immediately understand that the difference between a eight-bit music.
beautiful game and a masterpiece is here. Music changes
your strategy, your approach. The
various music are then combined with
the sound effects, just to give a greater
immersion to the player. The effects now
help to create the virtual scene we are
playing, trying to replicate a certain
natural sound. A set of good FX sounds
throws the player into the action, it can
increase the heartbeat as it can even
alienate him from the reality around
him.

Arcade games and consoles were

expanding globally, everyone wanted
video games but this craving in some
countries had a name: Atari shock. In
1983 a historic recession began due to
the saturation of the market of the time;
we also add a rather low average level of
outgoing securities and the omelette is
made. This fact was, however, the
Fig. 2 - SID 6581 Datasheet
propellant for the home computer
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 33 of 70
 RETROHISTORY

Perhaps the greatest exponent was Rob Hubbard, British to video game music. The list of his compositions is truly
composer and author of a multitude of songs, among immense, crossing the entire golden period eight and
which stand out those of Commando, Delta, Ik+ (the state sixteen bits, touching Atari St, Amstrad CPC and Amiga.
of the art in making percussion emulate sid), Monty on
the run and we remember with pleasure also Samantha The Commodore 64 remains a revolutionary machine and
Fox strip poker! if still today a hard core of chip music travels on the SID
it is because of its uniqueness. I remember that in those
Another sacred monster is Martin Galway: he was the years I had modified the plug that carried the signal from
first to use samples on the c64 in the game Arkanoid. the c64 to the TV so that I could connect the audio to a
From his mind came other masterpieces of chip music "radiolone". In this way I pumped the music of the games
such as Rambo's soundtrack, Wizball, Yie ar Kung Fu, and the masterful demos, but above all I recorded audio
which sees the masterful performance of the piece Les cassettes with my favorite music chips to listen to during
Chants Magnetiques by Jean Michelle Jarre. the day.

I cannot fail to mention David Whittaker: he directly The advent of 16 bits

programmed the music into machine code and then The world was racing and with it a new generation of
assembled everything with programs he had prepared. machines was being born: the era of 16 bits was beginning.
Commodore launched the Amiga 1000 in the mid-1980s.
Jeroen Tel from the Netherlands was a real prodigy in the Aesthetically it was very professional: flat desktop cases,
industry: during a chat on her YouTube channel I found keyboard and mouse. No monitor was provided as it could
out that when she wrote the fantastic Cybernoid song be connected to the TV. It was a computer with advanced
she was only 16 years old. For those who want to understand features, far ahead of the competition: it had an operating
what phenomenon is advised to listen to the soundtrack system, a window system and was multitasking. Graphics
of Robocop 3. and sound were almost futuristic. The times were not yet
Last but not least, Ben Daglish, talented composer of the ripe for the bang but the car made a lot of talk about itself
C64 era, died prematurely at the age of 52. His talent and because a star like Andy Warhol used it a lot to create
creativity with the Commodore 64 SID chip have earned graphics. It will take a few years to see the explosion of
him the reputation of one of the best composers of 16 bit machines thanks to the launch of the new generation
soundtracks, music and video game jingles of our time, of consoles and the large-scale Commodore evolution
as well as participating in numerous live concerts dedicated with the Amiga 500.

Sega launched the MegaDrive,

which, especially in its model 1
version, was very powerful: 6
FM stereo channels, plus two
units for various backwards
compatibilities, namely a 4-
channel SN76489 programmable
generator and a Z80. This
hardware allowed him to go so
far in audio quality that he could
compose songs almost like
House or Techno. The greatest
exponent was surely Yuzo
Koshiro who with his work in
the Streets of Rage saga
managed to enter the gotha of
chip music. Today it still runs
the most prestigious clubs in
the world with its Digging in the
Fig. 3 - Amiga Soundtracker Carts evenings, born a web series
Page 34 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROHISTORY

on the Red Bull Music channels. Six episodes that since The 3DO, although not very successful, was the first NeXT
2014 have wanted to pay homage to Japan, celebrating level machine produced and could count on an audio
the pioneers of digital music. Hence the idea of a Dj set never heard before, including dolby surround. Commodore
all based on music that made the history of video games. was no longer in good water and tried the CD32' move
to enter the console market. Unfortunately the machine
Nintendo did not stand by and launched the Super Famicom was already obsolete, it was mostly a 1200 Amiga with
(here called Super Nintendo). Wonderful console that CD player and died shortly thereafter.
focused everything on graphics and speed at the expense
of the audio section, for which an eight-bit and eight- Atari also tried this step, a return to the glories of the
channel Sony chip was used: however, we must note the past with the Jaguar but it was a total failure. The real
name of this giant for the near future, we will see the reason. challenge glove was thrown by Sega with the Saturn, a
machine as powerful as it was too difficult to program. It
The glorification of the 16-bit music chips was achieved guaranteed a respectable audio section with 22 stereo
thanks to the Amiga 500 and Atari ST. Thelatter, despite channels. In the beginning the machine worked well in
being generally inferior and above all with an audio almost sales but Sony (right, the one that had supplied the audio
equivalent to that of a c64, had a convenient midi interface chips for the SNES to Nintendo) decided to go out with
that made it very popular. In fact, it was the most used the machine that is unanimously recognized as the creator
machine for the production of music through Sequencer of the death of the Arcade systems, that is the PlayStation.
and the support of excellent software. It is, in addition to the console that everyone knows, also
a CD player, which made it more than just a game. It goes
The Commodore machine was more "friendly" than the without saying that the audio quality was at the top: the
1000 model. Thanks to the chipsets the CPU was free to games began to have as soundtrack the hits of famous
do its calculations without having the weight to handle bands. Take, for example, the first great tourism of 1998:
the additional information, and such chipsets by the pieces remixed by the Chemical Brothers, a song by
female names were in turn dedicated. The audio part was Garbage and pieces by Cubanate just to name a few. The
managed by Paula and provided 4 stereo channels divided soundtracks more than samples and Synth now contained
into two channels on the right and two on the left. Each orchestral pieces, real bands that signed the audio part.
channel was 8-bit PCM and had a volume of 6 bits. Various
channels could be modulated in many ways and audio The music played by our microchip friends over the years
samples could be given either via DMA or via CPU. The has never lost its charm. We come to our times, where
possible frequency with a DMA sample is about 29kHz everything runs and is swallowed up in a very short time:
and the audio output was incredible: Amiga had managed today it is difficult to invent something new in this field,
to take the concept of chip music to a higher level. Almost it is increasingly easier to find yourself facing a recovery,
every user sooner or later found himself loading one of a recycling of ideas. But chip music and its tunes live and
the many trackers around. continue to be composed. You can listen peacefully with
dedicated emulators or players, including Apps on
Whether it was the historic Soundtracker or the lesser- smartphones.
known Oktalyzer, sooner or later everyone started making
music with Amiga. It was possible to sequence music There is a world that continues to grow, to be super
without knowing a single musical note and this thanks to creative and this is it! You never have to stop making your
the infinite number of samples available. own chip music compilations and shooting them in the
car: passion never dies.
In the arcade the situation was stabilized at very high
levels. Almost all of them used the Yamaha YM2610 chip,
capable of 15 channels: 7 digital, 4 synthesized FM, 3
free and programmable and one noise. You were living
the golden age of video games that today are part of the
category "retro". But progress knows no limits, while we
were dreaming it was about to land a new generation of
machines with almost unimaginable performance.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 35 of 70

 GAME TESTING

DEMON CRYSTAL and KNITHER SPECIAL

by Ermanno Betori
When we talk about MSX1 and especially when we talk
about RPG games created in Japan that made the most
of the computer or that had an innovative storyboard, we
can say that they can be counted on the fingertips... If
we then speak specifically of games created from 1984
to 1990, the fingers become those of a hand. In fact, we
have famous titles that will inspire sagas such as Hydlide,
Dragonslayer, YS, Metal Gear and an unknown "Borfesu
and Five Evil Spirits" that deserves a separate article.

But in addition to these sacred monsters there is a game

DEMON CRYSTAL that stood out as it can be said that
created a new kind of game... The Action-Puzzle-pseudo RPG.

movies could be a great conversion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbI-6R-v2NM

To program DEMON CRYSTAL were two programmers:

TOSHIO TABETA co-producer or special programmer, of
over 200 games created almost all for computers NEC,
MSX, X68000, PC88 etc. including good arcade conversions
such as Darius Alfa and Afterburner (PCE) , Dragon Knight2
(MSX2), Outrun, Thunderblade, Altered Beast, Forgotten
World, Rainbow Island. The other programmer was GAME
ROMAN pseudonym of MASAMI NAKAMURA, a genius
medium that will later give birth to famous games such
It was made in 1986 by a Japanese company with the as Sofia, Battle City, Demon Crystal2, Grobda (it is a
bizarre name YMCAT (or Dempa Micomsoft Co., LTD), spinoff of Xevious based on an enemy character in the
which literally translates to "Yonago Micom Club Amusement shape of a tank).
Team". Barely 5 titles of this Japanese Software house
have arrived in the West, but in Japan they have made DEMON CRYSTAL, as already mentioned, was among the
more than 1000 since 1982 and have been very active first action/puzzle that computer history remembers,
since their last known work dates back to 2005. They with a plot that was presented to the player in RPG style.
started on 8-bit computers such as the Fujitsu FM-7/8, In fact, the description was more or less the following:
NEC PC88, Sharp X1/MZ1500, MSX 1&2 systems, and there was once a demon named Sharudo who suddenly
another dozen machines that never arrived in the West, appeared in Fairyland. He built a monstrous city on top
while on the ARCADE booths they did only work on of a mountain and dwelt there, dominating the land below.
commission, mainly requested by the companies SEGA One day Sharudo fell in love with Princess Chris and
and SNK. kidnapped her, taking her to his den of monsters. Now
it's up to Ares, a brave soldier serving the fairies, to save
Demon Crystal was the first game for the MSX computer Chris.
to be created by YMCAT in 1985/86, then followed by:
Knither special, Sophia, Gate Labyrinth (another very Both games were absolute masterpieces of programming
nice RPG), and porting of famous arcade games essentially as they combined high gameplay with an easy but not
for the Japanese market such as Moon Patrol, Burger obvious sequence of house choices to be cleaned before
Time, Revival of Ishtar (MSX2). They also created Dragon each level. In fact the purpose is quite simple, you have
Spirit (MSX2 ) without finishing it, which watching the to enter a house of your choice armed with a handful of
Page 36 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

incendiary bombs, make a clean square and find the exit

key, there are 30 houses to take before finishing it.
KNITHER SPECIAL is the sequel to THE DEMON CRYSTAL
in Megarom with remarkable graphic adjustments,
extremely rare to find. The programmers were the same
as DEMON CRYSTAL with the only help for the soundtracks
of a stranger TADASHI FUJIOKA who seems to have done
the conversion for Xevious's SHARP X1 on his own for
Dempa. (Here we are at the level of metropolitan legend

X1. I highly recommend playing with the X1 emulator and

you will discover a small masterpiece.
Fun fact: THE DEMON CRYSTAL has also been released
for nintendo SWITCH.

because of the enormous scarcity of certain information).

The gameplay is similar to that of Demon Crystal. In Japan this saga has been one of the most appreciated
If you just collected the keys to open the locked areas, ever thanks to the simple fusion of RPG elements with
find the big key and then exit, now you also have to collect MAPPY-style puzzles and a serious fire dusting to the
3 passwords per world, otherwise you can't advance to bomberman. The game as it is could safely come out in
the next world. As weapons in addition to the fireball, we Arcade version and would be a real must.
have an electric sword, a wave of fire, a cracker and a
sparkle that kills all enemies on the screen. The game
features 5 worlds with 10 levels each, plus the last level
where you fight the witch, for a total of 51 levels.

DEMON CRYSTAL 3 was also released in 1987, a Final

Fantasy style RPG very well made by the title DARK STORM
that unfortunately was never converted for MSX , it only
came out for the Sharp MZ-80K / 700/800/1500 and

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 37 of 70

 GAME TESTING

ListAmiga - The best of the best (or worse) to play on

our beloved Amiga
by Giuseppe Rinella
Welcome back dear friends, we continue to talk about How many games allow you to scout in the Indian
the games that we lived ("played" only would be too championship?
reductive) thanks to our beloved Amiga, the computer Sensible Soccer is still in excellent health today, 25 years
that we all love a lot. after its release (considering version 96/97), thanks to
This month I want to inaugurate a new "format" that I the community of sensiblesoccer.de, which every year
will alternate with my long discussions on a single title, continues to update the database of players but not only,
like the one in the last issue of RetroMagazine about introducing graphic and sound improvements, in addition
Another World. to the ability to play online. This is going to mean something.
Indispensable.
I will present lists (not rankings) of the best games grouped
by themes. Obviously those lists are absolutely subjective.
Nothing so original at the end, but besides being a great
way to speak about several games at once, I've always
loved lists!

I invite you right now to come and visit us on our website

and on our social channels to tell me how wrong I was
and what you think is the best list!
I will not go into every game too much or I would risk
going too long, you have the task to (re)do it!
There is a lot to say and so we start rocketing with:

TOP 10 GAMES ON AMIGA

To compile this list I imagined a hypothetical dialogue
with my nephew, a great videogame player, class of 2004. The great alternative: Kick Off 2. Anything else you need
As far as I know, he's never played anything on Amiga to to say?
this day. I'm not even sure he knows it ever existed.
Well, if one day the aforementioned nephew came to me SHADOW FIGHTER
and asked me which are the titles to play absolutely on Just the best beat'em up on Amiga, that's all.
Amiga, it is with this list that I would answer. A programming miracle, a large number of selectable
Small clarification: the titles are ten, very few compared fighters, each one of them with very different fighting styles.
to the amount of excellent Amiga games, so for each I Graphically exceptional and a gameplay never seen before
decided to mention another of the same kind, as an in a title of this kind, despite Amiga's historic limit of the
excellent alternative, albeit in some cases very different. single button. Limit that up to that moment made us think
of the impossibility of making a beat'em up almost decent.
SENSIBLE WORLD OF SOCCER 96/97 But instead...
One of the two titles that perhaps more than any other Tons of highly spectacular special moves. Perfectly
have created two well divided factions: Kick Off or Sensible animated characters and scenarios, flawless sound thanks
Soccer? to the excellent music and the sampled voices of the
Having chosen the latter, I think it is clear which faction wrestlers.
I belong to, despite considering Kick Off 2 the great game it is. So finally on Amiga came what was Street Fighter 2 on Snes.
SWOS is simply the best football game on Amiga (I can Needless to say, playing with friends gives you the best
hear it, the screaming crowd that wants to lynch me!), a of yourself.
gameplay as simple as complex to master, graphically We then add a little Italian pride, being Shadow Fighter
more than essential but absolutely perfect. made by NAPs Team, these two guys from the wonderful
An exceptional career mode, management of the football land of Sicily, gave programming lessons to many.
market, a database of championships/teams/players Absolute masterpiece.
simply epochal for the times and that still makes its great The excellent alternative: Mortal Kombat 2. A conversion
figure today. that borders on perfection.
Page 38 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

As happens in SEGA's Out Run (on Amiga one of the worst

conversions ever seen) there is no ranking and placements,
it only counts on arriving in time to the next checkpoint,
then to the next and so on until the end of the track.
Our only opponent is the stopwatch.
Once started you never lift your foot off the pedal and the
sense of speed almost instilled awe, thanks to a graphic
realization simply flawless, as well as the sound, with the
roar of the engine that invites us to push harder and
harder on the accelerator.
Eight tracks in which to run like crazy, each one with its
own setting that well differentiate them from each other,
both aesthetically and at the level of gameplay.
In co-op, as often happens, it becomes practically infinite
LEANDER as well as fun as few.
Amiga has received a considerable amount of excellent Pure adrenaline.
platforms.
Leander, adding a good dose of adventure, is in my opinion
among the best ever.
The most classic of the unblemished knights who must
save the equally classic princess.
Wonderful fantasy setting, orcs, dragons, giant monsters
of all kinds.
Graphics and sound are practically perfect (although it
was not possible to listen to music and effects at the same
time).
Top-level playability, if we then add the possibility of
buying ever more powerful armor and weapons in the
shops scattered in the levels (which was very reminiscent The great alternative: Jaguar XJ220. For many it is superior,
of Wonderboy in Monsterland, among my favorite ever), for me it is different but equally amazing.
special shots and magic, in short it is easy to understand
that we are in front of one of the best titles on Amiga, and SUPERFROG
not only in its genre. It can safely be considered what Super Mario World was
for Snes and Sonic for the Megadrive.
Except for the same type of game, none of them has
anything in common with Superfrog that does nothing to
imitate them! What these titles have in common, in my
opinion, is the importance they have had for the respective
platforms on which they were released, thanks to a quality
that no other title has ever reached. Superfrog is a marvel

I loved it madly and playing it still today brings true

enjoyment.
The excellent alternative: Lionheart. Different interpretation
of the same genre, with a fantasy setting never so
spectacular.

LOTUS TURBO CHALLENGE 2

The second chapter of a series that will run until the third
episode, in my opinion Lotus 2 is superior to both its
predecessor and its follower.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 39 of 70

 GAME TESTING

from every point of view, starting from the animated MOONSTONE

presentation onwards. What a great game!
Graphically, it is a colorful delight and everything moves Exploration, strategy, real-time fighting where rivers of
with impeccable fluidity, very good sound effects and blood flow, which in comparison Mortal Kombat is
music by the great Allister Brimble, and there is nothing kindergarten stuff.
else to add. Graphically spectacular, the monsters we will have to face
Playability is as simple as it is perfect, and the difficulty along the way are divinely made, some of them literally
level is perhaps a little less Team 17-like than other titles jumping into the chair for fear.
made by the same studio, which in my opinion is a good thing. Played with three other friends, each impersonating his
The level "Project-F" then, in which the developers quote own knight (otherwise used by the computer) becomes
themselves taking up Project X, is a real stroke of genius. something never seen before, and perhaps not even after.
It is impossible to play without a smile permanently printed Moving in turn in the various locations on the map will
on the face. meet these monsters to be eliminated, thus accessing
The best alternative: Fire and Ice. A beautiful concentrate the treasures contained in the chests, remained at that
of pure joy. point unattended.
Obviously meeting between humans gives way to clashes
TURRICAN 2 between knights to the death, literally.
There are few games I've loved as much as I've loved This and much more is Moonstone, a game for which to
Turrican 2, and I'm not just talking about Amiga. The only find a term of comparison is really difficult given its
flaw it has is that it ends, otherwise I challenge anyone splendid uniqueness.
to find something wrong. Huge, beautiful, pure action Impossible to explain what is this masterpiece of a game
from start to finish. in so few lines, certainly deserves a more in-depth study
Aesthetically it is a splendor, from the settings to the that sooner or later will arrive on these pages, rest assured.
enemies we will encounter during our adventure, including Beheading horrible beings (but also friends) has never
end-of-level monsters of truly remarkable size. been so much fun.
The music is composed by that genius of Chris Hülsbeck,
one of the greatest composers of video game soundtracks
(and perhaps not only). In this regard, the anthology
released in 2013, containing the soundtracks of all the
episodes of Turrican (as many as 4 CDs) is to be retrieved
absolutely, if you have not already done so.
In short, impersonating a guy in a robotic suit, who collects
weapons and power ups with which to destroy anything
that moves, in huge levels where getting lost is a real
pleasure, can you ask for more? In fact, yes, maybe the
possibility of flying a spaceship and shooting the whole
thing? Well, Turrican 2 has that, too.
Turrican 2 is just perfect, end of story. The excellent alternative: Defender of the crown + Darkmere
+ Mortal Kombat. Put them together and you'll get
something vaguely similar!

MONKEY ISLAND
I could safely stop at the title without saying anything
else, a timeless classic, probably the best graphic adventure
(or if you prefer, "point-and-click") ever made. A brilliant
story to say the least, a protagonist who is the anti-hero
par excellence and who is impossible not to love, an
adventure full of situations and absurd characters, humor
in packs.
Characters and locations (wonderful) become iconic,
entire lines of dialogue still cited today as is done with
The best alternative: Ruff'n Tumble. A great game, although great films. We find ourselves in the presence of a game
it may not seem like the two titles have much in common. that has simply made history, becoming the term of
comparison for any title of the same kind that would have

Page 40 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

come out from there on. Played today it provokes the Played in pairs, Speedball 2 reaches peaks of fun that few
same sense of wonder of then, accompanied by fat laughter. games can boast today.
In 2009, a graphically updated remake was published
(and not only); delicious, although in these parts we "Ice cream! Ice cream!"
continue to prefer the dear and old pixels. The excellent alternative: Speedball. I don't think there's
To say the least fundamental. anything like Speedball 2, except the first episode, which
is really a good game but not at the sequel level.

ANOTHER WORLD
As I said at the beginning of this article, I talked about it
quite in detail in the last issue of RetroMagazine World,
so I avoid going into too much detail or I would inevitably
end up repeating myself.
For me it is undoubtedly on the podium of the best games
ever released on Amiga, there is little else to say.
An intense and exciting adventure, a sublime technical
realization and an animated presentation that has made
school.
The great alternative: Monkey Island 2. Another masterpiece,
not an alternative but the title to be played one minute
after the end of the first chapter.

SPEEDBALL 2
I've always loved anything done by the Bitmap Brothers,
Speedball 2 remains in my opinion their absolute pinnacle.
Here we do not just bring out a great game, what is done
is to create a sport (inspired by the film Rollerball) and
on that sport, an epochal game. Okay, actually, sport is
invented with the first episode, but it's with the second
that perfection is achieved in every respect.
Graphically impeccable with its cool and metallic cyberpunk An experience to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.
look, fluid, fast, without the slightest uncertainty despite The great alternative: Flashback. The spiritual heir to
the amount of moving elements. Another World, another Delphine Software gem.
Exceptional sound thanks above all to the introductory
music (Golden Joystick for the best soundtrack) and the I hope I have not upset anyone with this very personal
effects during the games, including excellent sampled voices. list, in any case I renew the invitation to visit us on our
Whoever played Speedball 2 knows full well that the website and on our social channels, we are curious to
mythical ice cream vendor is in the stands. know your personal list of titles to play absolutely on our
Instant playability and guaranteed fun right from the beloved Friend!
start. Immediate, yes, but not easy.
The career mode is perfect, with the ability to enhance Greetings!
the skills and armor of their players, as well as being able
to buy new, stronger and uglier.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 41 of 70

 GAME TESTING

SHINOBI, THE ART OF BEING A NINJA

by Mic The Biker Novarina

Hello to all readers of Retromagazine, today our brave

DeLorean will take us on a scary journey back in time, to
get to know this mysterious character and his enormous
success, which led him to become an icon of an era. In
1987, and in the 1980s in general, the figure of the Ninja
was quite fashionable. I remember that we of the Borgo
San Paolo Band all had a SHURIKEN always following,
obviously bought in the martial arts store located in Via
Trecate. The memory of Bruce Lee was still palpable, the
movies with the theme Kung Fu and similar were great
successes.
We of the band were also beginning to take our first steps
in this world, choosing each his own oriental discipline The graphics were really remarkable and still makes a
good impression today. The detail of the seabed immediately
not without initial difficulties. In those years doing martial
arts was not just going to a gym to fight: there was a comes to mind, always of great impact and chromatically
strong concept of the Dojo, which was the place to form convincing. The animations are super fluid, with sometimes
a good character, patience and discipline. There was a really gigantic sprites. The animations have a large number
lot of philosophy and a lot of wisdom in what was taught, of frames, which makes the movements really beautiful
something romantic seen with today's eyes. Just in those to see. Moreover, the card used the "System 16b" system
years we were all in a bomb with the figure of the Ninja, powered by a Motorola 68000 at 10 MhZ and boasted a
the mysterious protagonist of the immense THE LAST palette of 6144 colors. The audio part uses the power of
NINJA, a game we talked about in number 29. The the typical audio chips of the period, namely a YM2151
protagonist is the prototype of the masked fighter, skilled (4 Mhz) and a UPD7759 (640 Khz), to support a Z80. The
in espionage, sabotage, infiltration, murder and guerrilla music was curated by Yasuhiro Kawakami, prominent
warfare. But remember that his exact name was Shinobi, composer of the Sega videogames of the time. Typical of
which indicated who was part of a specialized group of his way of working is the linearity and simplicity in the
spies and mercenaries. For us, this name represented composition of the pieces. He reached the height of fame
the following year by signing the soundtrack of a little
one of the most beautiful coin ops ever. In this masterpiece
we control the ninja named Joe Musashi and we have to game called Tetris.
deal with the criminal association "Zeed". What a game, The game has its own rules to follow to progress with less
guys, a super dynamic platformer with a lot of action effort: the rescue of certain hostages guarantees us an
inside: you have to practice to play it and continue with enhanced attack: in this case the ninja stars, as we called
the missions. them, are replaced by a gun. This is very useful because
it shoots explosive bullets while the attack at close range
The Coin Op becomes a katana shot. We only have Musashi's "Ninja
The cabin made its dirty appearance with its themed Magic" once per level: using it will destroy all enemies. If
aesthetic and Mom Sega's logo in the foreground on the we use them against bosses, we'll be able to hurt them,
dashboard. The controls were a classic of the time: a very badly. Let's now look in detail at what these three
joystick and three buttons to attack, jump and use the powerful attacks consist of. Let's start with the magic
"ninja magic", which we will see after what they are. Very called Shadow Magic: it creates sixteen clones of Joe that
nice movement of the protagonist: in addition to walking, propagate in every direction, slicing whoever is on the
you can proceed by squatting while keeping the joystick screen. Note that it is possible to use it against all bosses:
diagonally low. We can jump to the upper and lower levels, it instantly halves the bar of life and is a great technique
where provided, by pressing jump and joystick lever up to finish an already weakened boss. Let's move on to Wind
or down. Joe Musashi is well armed, we find an unlimited Magic: the move causes a huge tornado of wind around
supply of shuriken, in addition to the most ignorant kicks Joe, which will form several smaller vortices that cross
and punches that are used when an enemy is too close. the screen overwhelming all enemies, who will die
Page 42 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

game: punk with the desire to fight, men armed with guns
or knives and bizarre fighters with sabres dressed as
SheezHan. Continuing in the scenarios we will find terrorists
who try to surprise us by throwing themselves from the
walls on which they are climbing. And here we come to
the first boss, this Ken Oh. This is a giant warrior with a
face covered in a samurai mask. It will be hard, he will try
to make us grill by throwing us flames that move around
the screen but that, fortunately, disappear quickly. Ken's
weakness Oh are his eyes, unprotected by the helmet.
The harbor - After having brought home the skin from
the urban area, here we are at the port. We begin to
immediately. And finally we see the Thunder Magic: our wander in the docks, full of enemies and prisoners to be
Joe is hit by a rain of lightning and in turn will spread a released, to get inside a docked ship. Here we get acquainted
shock that will cross the entire screen creating smaller with some really challenging bad dudes, such as ninjas
lightning, which will roast the enemies without the slightest armed with double katana. Leaving the ship the level
mercy. There will really be many who will try to put the becomes tough, with pillars to be used as platforms from
sticks in our wheels during our race against time. In the which to stand out powerful jumps, all while killing divers
three minutes at our disposal we will find punks, many armed with knives. The boss of the location, Black Turtle,
mercenaries, several ninja warriors dressed in different is a helicopter armed with rocket launchers: if that wasn't
colors and some boring swordsmen who watch the enough, bunches of ninja emerge from the middle, definitely
hostages. The clash dynamic is innovative: we can hit angry with us. The weak point is the engine, located under
most enemies without taking any damage, but we can be the cockpit.
killed when hit by an enemy attack. It is very logical if we
think about it, differentiates the game from almost all the
titles of the time where every contact suffered damage.
When we die, we have to start the level again from the
beginning. In this case, the hostages already released
must not be rescued again. There are three lives at our
disposal and once they are exhausted, we must use a less
innovative dynamic but very popular at the time: down
coins or tokens to continue the game. But the programmers
were ruthless and heartless: it is not possible to continue
if killed during the final mission. Bonus points can be
accumulated during the game: they are awarded by
calculating the advanced time at the end of the level, to The mountain - The action moves into a mountainous
which a juicy score is added if you pass the level without and rocky environment that teems with evil belligerents.
using the "Ninja magic". Higher scores can be obtained At some point we are faced with an opening that leads
using only close-range attacks, without ever using stars inside the mountain and from here to a technologically
and guns. Extra lives come to our aid: they are assigned advanced base. The boss on duty, Tal Mandara, is quite
to reaching certain scores, saving a special hostage or special: initially we have to face a wall of robots with the
completing the bonus round. This special level is found features of Shiva: here it is practically mandatory to use
between one mission and another: here we will have to Shadow Magic to give a good shot to all these droids and
deal with the mythical first person screen, in which shuriken finish them faster. Then, ready to go, here we are in front
must be thrown at the enemy ninjas before they reach of a mechanical face that flows on the wall: it goes from
us. If the player successfully completes the bonus round, top to bottom, shooting from the mouth of the fireballs.
they will receive an extra life. Its weak point is a hemisphere on the forehead.
The Urban area - The game unfolds through five distinct Japan - The mountains in the background introduce us
settings from the changing scenery. The first, where we to a Japanese residential area: we enter the houses made
will start our adventure, has typically urban connotations. of wood with strange interiors, since more than houses
We will begin to get acquainted with the enemies of the it seems to be in a sawmill with many logs that we find.
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 43 of 70
 GAME TESTING

The atmosphere becomes more horrifying due to the magic" here appears by completing the bonus rounds
presence of zombie ninjas and horrible anthropomorphic and the player can hold up to four actions.
frogs. The boss can not be less: his name is Lobster and Starting in 1989, Shinobi ports were released for most
has the features of a samurai with a katana protected by of the systems then in vogue. We find the game converted
thick armor. He always strikes at close range and is a for the newborn 16-bit systems Amiga and Atari ST and
tough nut to pull off, since his weak spot is his neck: you for the very common 8-bit machines Commodore 64,
have to be precise since he discovers it only when he is Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. All these conversions
about to strike. I never understood the reason for his were developed by The Sales Curve and published by
name, perhaps because of the color and the fact that he's Virgin Mastertronic in Europe and by Sega in North America,
armored, not because of the resemblance to a lobster. excluding the Amstrad and Spectrum conversions.
The Forest - Here we are at the last level, what in case of
death there is no token to hold, you must suffer the shame C64 (1989) - Here we are talking about the best conversion
of Game Over. A boundary wall welcomes us and accompanies to 8Bit, in my modest opinion even superior to the
us in a huge garden of bamboo reeds typical of Japan. conversion on Master System. This masterpiece was born
Here we will have the good fortune to meet a roundup of from the skill of Simon Pick and Ned Langman, who
almost all the enemies previously found in addition to the managed to make a real miracle by making the visual
armed guards of Bo, the famous long stick. From here sector look great and balancing everything with a crazy
you enter a typical Dojo environment of the rising sun gameplay. You have to try it to understand, the gameplay
and get to know the supreme boss, the infamous Nakahara, is damn balanced, the controls are perfect and the game
the iron-masked Ninja. This one is really scratchy, it runs smooth as few. The litmus test was that every
literally jumps the nerves since it uses various ninja spells: specialist magazine of the time gave this conversion
it jumps, teleports, disappears and hits dry. It is vulnerable enthusiastic reviews to say the least.
only when it does not use magic and is also very resistant.
If we manage to get the better of ourselves we can finally
enjoy the very sweaty ending, where we are shown an
explanatory text and the word END. Let's say a very poor
final, in line with most of the arcade games of the time.
An understandable choice, given that reaching the end
of such infernal machines was almost impossible.

Shinobi and the home conversions

Obviously, such a game could not have not had a lot of
conversions for our beloved home gaming systems.
Obviously Sega, playing at home, anticipated everyone
by launching the home version for Master System. The ZX SPECTRUM (1989) - The conversion for ZX Spectrum
date of the Japanese launch was June 19, 1988, later in had to deal with the chromatic limits of the machine: we
North America and Europe. Sega did a particular job since find therefore essential backdrops to which they
some game dynamics were modified compared to the counterbalanced the sprites designed with great care.
original. The thing that immediately catches the eye is Programmed by David Leitch with Drew Northcott's support
that the player now has a health marker that allows for graphic tools, the real Achilles heel of the game was
Musashi to take more damage before losing a life. You animation. Nevertheless, given the pace of the game and
will miss the excellent idea of coin op where simple the relatively precise response of the controls, this version
collisions did not cause damage, here touching an enemy was very good in reference to the games present for the
loses health. The rescue of hostages is also handled machine but did not meet as much favor in the critical field.
differently: on the Master System it is not mandatory to
complete the game. However, saving the hostages allows MSX (1989) - The first thing I can say is that much more
the player to upgrade the weapons, as well as to recover could be done: aesthetically the MSX version resembles
the energy lost in contact with the bad guys. The rescue that of the Spectrum ZX but with a much cheaper scrolling.
of certain hostages remains a prerequisite for accessing To this we add a reduction in the size of the game screen
the bonus stages of the game, which arrive here after and the omelet is made. By playing it you realize that
each stage instead of at the end of the level. The "Ninja there is a serious delay in the response of the commands
Page 44 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

and the sentence can be only one: without a doubt the parts are missing from the original, in this case the bonus
worst home incarnation of the classic Sega. rounds and the second mission: all subsequent missions
AMSTRAD CPC (1989) - The conversion for Amstrad CPC are renumbered accordingly. Close attacks and power-
was by Richard Aplin. The first thing that jumps to the ups are also missing and there is no timer on the screen
eye is the good work done in purely visual terms: excellent that indicates the remaining time. Despite all, the game
colors, great graphic care, all to contain the technical is nice, what there is is done really well and does not make
gap between this porting and the original Coin-Op. As you regret the original.
often happens it is only by taking the Joystick in hand
that the knots come to the comb: there was immediately In October 1993, a curious fact happened: years later,
a noticeable delay in the controls, which made it difficult Atari Corporation filed a lawsuit against Sega. The reason,
not to die. This, combined with a questionable rendering according to Atari lawyers, is an alleged infringement of
of the animations, compromised the overall effectiveness a patent created in the 1980s by Atari Corp. Thelatter
of the gameplay, since it was simply difficult to continue asked to stop the production, use and sale of hardware
in the game. Too bad, the potential was there. and software for Sega Genesis and Game Gear. On 28
September 1994 the two giants reached an agreement:
AMIGA and ATARI ST (1989) - Here we are looking at the this provided for a cross-licence to publish up to five titles
two most beautiful versions of the entire lot, but will they each year in their systems until 2001. Sega chose shinobi
also be fun? Making the right proportions on the number as the first conversion for the Atari Jaguar, but history
of colors on the screen, the Amiga and Atari ST conversions tells us that nothing was ever done about it.
by Shinobi are the most faithful to the original Coin-Op.
Let's take the Joy in hand and see if it also applies to Biker Reflections
gameplay: the similarities unfortunately stop at the Unbelievable how years have passed under the bridge of
graphics. In terms of gameplay, the two games are difficult,life. More and more often I find myself thinking about a
thanks to a sharp cut in the animation frames of both game and, remembering its date, I have the perception
Musashi and his opponents. Added to this is a scratchy that everything is recent, almost the stuff of the day before
and slow scrolling, which seems to drag itself, sensation yesterday. But then I think about the numbers and stop,
due to the annoying delay of the controls. Shinobi was almost feeling bad. But does math really tell me it's been
crushed by criticism at the time, but this conversion met all these years? Hell, I remember sticking my token in
with some success. I remember it very well and I played Shinobi's cabin, and it seems to me to have happened a
it a lot first: Shinobi was the classic case in which good little while ago. I remember every moment I lived with
graphics combined with a passion for the original arcade the Banda di Borgo San Paolo as if they were events of a
put the many flaws in the background. few months ago. Instead, generations have passed. If we
consider the world of video games, geological eras have
NES (1989) - For the good Nintendo Entertainment passed. But tell me what you want, those damn booths
System, Shinobi was released by Tengen as an unlicensed are still playing pretty damn good today. Of course, there
version and limited to the North American market. The was talk of difficult games, a difficulty that modern video
basis of the Master System was used for this conversion. games do not even dream of. But it's history and Shinobi
However, they removed all short-range weapons, grenades, is part of it, one of those games that are the fuel of the
and held basic fists, kicks, throwing daggers, and guns. DeLorean, the magical memory machine that takes us
It's harder to get rid of enemies because we can only back in time.
shoot one shuriken, one dagger or one bullet at a time,
even after getting the power-ups. To overcome this, there
are now five "Ninja magic". In this version, the vertical
scrolling phases have been redesigned into horizontal
scrolling phases.

PC ENGINE (1989) - On December 8, 1989 was released,

exclusively in Japan, a PC Engine version by Asmik. The
resemblance to the original is remarkable: graphics and
game mechanics are similar to those of the arcade version.
As often happens for conversions on this machine some
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 45 of 70
 GAME TESTING

Impossible Mission
by Christian Miglio
I can only start this article with the phrase "Another by a myriad of robots to recover the 36 pieces that make
Visitor, stay awhile, staaaaay foreeeever!". Which game up the 9 pieces of the puzzle that hide the password of
can ever refer to except the killer app par excellence for the armored door behind which the madman is hiding.
C64 or Impossible Mission? All in the form of jumps.
And so far so simple... or not?

Good evening brothers of RetroMagazine World, this time Stay awhile...

I do not just call you friends if tonight you decide to take
two minutes with me to be able to "play" with words (and And to think, such an epic game comes from the mind of
why not, even emulating it while I write) at the mythical a very modest programmer, Dennis Caswell.
Impossible Mission. So modest, I can't find a picture of him on the web.
After graduating in 1981, Caswell was hired by his old
It was back in 1984, when, after a few laps of tape, that roommate's brother to start a video game company,
criminal bastard Dr. Elvin Atombender invaded the phrase Arcadia. He later became Starpath, responsible for the
that would remain in the history of the video game. Above Supercharger hardware for the Atari 2600.
all, it would elevate the C64 to a large video game machine
for the time. After the collapse of the company, Epyx bought the
So...let's go! Press play on tape! Starpath and with it most of the talented staff including
our hero Caswell.
Impossible Mission was Caswell's first and only work for
Epyx even though the "running man" project had begun
some time before the acquisition.

When Caswell was given permission to start a project on

the C64, He detached the Atari 2600 and threw it in the
hallway outside his office waiting for the new Commodore.
It was a job of inventing a game around a character, since
he didn't have a precise idea at first. What gave him credit
Another visitor... was the idea of a character bigger than usual and with
several animations.
Where to start? Epyx big guys liked such idea.
A story as simple as the threat of a worldwide nuclear
disaster from that crazy criminal genius. A secret agent Stay Forever!
ready to dive headlong into the labyrinth bunker defended Apart from the sampling of the audio, the game was
Page 46 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

created entirely by Caswell, he took care of practically doctor is hiding.

everything.
Being in the early days the manufacturer did not have The password of 9 letters was hidden in as many punched
graphic digitization tools available, so the entire graphic cards then each broken into 4 pieces for a total of 36 tiles.
part was drawn on millimeter paper, then converted into In the bunker we immediately realize that it is not a simple
strings and then typed into code. bunker but is the real residence of our nemesis, to the
The idea of the game, contrary to what is thought, was point of having to look for the puzzle tiles inside the most
taken from "Wargames" movie. Caswell liked the idea of disparate furniture, from the desk to the bathroom up to
having to infiltrate a bunker and deal with a bad guy like even the trash can.
a supercomputer or something that threatened to destroy
the world. Destroy Him

Only the title at the end of the programming, was borrowed

(a bit cheating) for similarity of the character with those
of the television show Mission Impossible. Due to obvious
copyright problems it could not be borrowed for which it
was reversed.

Getting back to the programming phase, only the movement

of the little man required for the movement of approximately
3 sprites, was the heaviest part of the whole program.
Fortunately the rest of the game did not occupy great
In our mission we will be alone and without weapons, the
only weapon is the incredible agility of our agent 4125,
which results in an incredible death jump that will allow
us to overcome any difficulty.
We begin the game inside one of the elevators in the
bunker, with Elvin's voice saying "Destroy him my robots".
We note that in the lower half of the screen, in the center
there is a minimap of the rooms that changes with each
new game, in the bottom left the commands to scroll the
pieces of the puzzles found in addition to asking for the
resources so it was possible to remain within the hardware help of the computer, in the bottom right the commands
limits of the C64. to manage the rotation and the color of the puzzles.
Computers and puzzles can only be accessed by pressing
The Impossible Mission Plot the fire button when we are in the elevator.
Impersonating the secret agent 4125 fighting with his
nemesis, the brilliant nuclear scientist suddenly mad Elvin
Atombender who threatens a nuclear attack against the
world.

As soon as you enter the bunker the door closes behind

the shoulders of our hero and you will begin to hear the
voice of Doc Elvin. Realizing the presence of the intruder,
he launches the famous challenge phrase and activates As soon as we enter one of the rooms we will notice that
the sentry robots. to reach some of the parts of the room there are no stairs
The purpose of the game as we mentioned before, is to but elevators and that each room is full of sentry robots
recover the password to open the vault where the crazy ready to fry us for each of our false moves.
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 47 of 70
 GAME TESTING

...My Robots The game has a basic complexity that increases its
The only possible help is to be able to find some passes longevity and makes it one of the milestones in the history
to reset the lifts inside the room or to be able to temporarily of the C64, it is a game where the professionals of the
"sleep" the robots inside it. joystick risk getting stuck in front of the complexity in the
It is possible to do this by finding them inside the furniture resolution of the puzzles.
we are looking for or inside particular rooms that use a
sound minigame with increasing difficulty in which we The Sound of Impossible Mission
have to press in the right order of tones of sounds. The version for Commodore 64 makes use of speech
synthesis to reproduce human voices, which was not
common at the time, it uses the Electronic Speech System
(ESS) system that will accompany us to the present day
since it was born to give voice to the C64 and today
implemented in the most important technologies of
digitization and audio compression.

In '84 it was amazing to hear the synthesized voice of

Atombender who at the start of the game says: "Another
visitor. Stay awhile... staaaaay FOREVER!" .

As for the robots, there are two types, one of the sentry Another phrase spoken from time to time is "Destroy him,
type that runs back and forth the platform or remains my robots!" .
stationary and in any case can shoot electric shocks, and
another of the flying ball type that resembles the robot Equally characteristic is the scream of the protagonist
sphere surgeon torturer of Star Wars. when he falls off the screen, which fades more and more.
The simple contact with the sentry robots unless they
are asleep with a pass is lethal, as is the discharge. When the player manages to solve the game correctly
you see the figure of Atombender who pronounces "No.
Out in six hours, a real impossible mission. No, no, no, NO!", while a female voice says "Mission
Contrary to what is expected, instead of having 3 or 5 Accomplished. Congratulations!".
lives available as in canonical arcade games, Impossible
Mission gives us 6 hours of real time to complete the mission. If the player loses the game, you can hear Atombender
laughing, not to mention the sound of footsteps in the
corridor when we are in the elevator corridor.

The game was converted at the time for major formats,

although not all versions have speech synthesis.

After the success of the game the ESS company increased

prices significantly as a result Epyx no longer served them.

The versions
Among the other versions, noteworthy is the one for Atari
7800 (NTSC format), containing a bug that prevented its
It sounds like an infinity, but it doesn't. completion, corrected in the pal version.
Every time our hero dies in one of three possible ways,
that is by direct contact with a robot, by shock from the In 2004 the game appeared on the C64 Direct-to-TV console.
robots themselves or by falling into the pit of an elevator,
they are removed ten minutes from the time limit. Between 2007 and 2008, System 3 (which acquired the
Page 48 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

Note the similarity with the title of the film with John
Travolta, "SWORDFISH CODE" which has a clear reference
to the game.

rights to Epyx games) released the game for several

modern systems, including PlayStation Portable, Nintendo
DS and Wii. When the game came out it was announced with critical
acclaim and eventually won the prestigious British
You can play both the original version and a version with Microcomputing Award as the best game of 1985 especially
updated graphics and audio. for the excellent gameplay, in which a game leads to another.

Curiosity
The game had two sequels: Impossible Mission II (1988)
and Impossible Mission 2025 (1994, for Amiga).
Neither has Caswell been contacted to be part of the
development team.

The same ESS audio technology was implemented in

Activision's Ghostbusters video game for C64.

The same "running man" animation sprites were later

used by EPYX for the California Games video game series
and later for Mastertronic's Kane and Kane II video games
although not officially.
Some of the 9-letter keywords that could appear at the

Thank you Brothers of RetroMagazine World for following

me in this digression!

end of the puzzles are: SWORDFISH, CROCODILE,

ASPARAGUS, ARTICHOKE, ALLIGATOR, ALBATROSS,
BUTTERFLY and CORMORANT.
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 49 of 70
 GAME TESTING

Lady Pac
by Francesco “iononsoleggere” Bizzini
In all its versions, from 1980 to today, Pac-Man is perhaps video game and who would stay all day with our beloved
the most cloned video game in the history of the industry. back machines on only for the taste of seeing pulsating
There are those who have tried to ride the "Pac-man in them the pixelated lymph: a sparkling attract mode!
fever" (pray, sing the song when you read this quotation But let's get down to business and ask Luca how the idea
mark) and there are those who, especially in modern of paying homage to a classic like Ms. Pacman was born
times, have honored the franchise for pure creative or and why that classic.
celebratory spirit. Leaving aside the example given by
Google that, for the 30 years of the Namco title, on May “Ms. Pac-Man – says the programmer - has always been
21, 2010, released its version, branded BIG G and playable one of my favorite games. WhenI was a boy (alas a long
directly from a search engine, the examples are really time ago) I played countless games with the original
dozens, from the beautiful K.C. Munchkin and Jawbreaker arcade. As you know (or maybe not) I made several other
up to the obscene as parodic Pac-Guy. Today, however, clones for Windows. One of the titles I had not yet cloned
we are talking about a real tribute, made with respect was Ms. Pac-Man."
and dedication, to the beautiful sequel Ms. Pac-Man of
1982 (even on this seminal title it would be worth dwelling
for hours and hours, even just mentioning the importance
of the conversion kits from which it was born). In 2021,
the prolific and talented Luca Carminati gave us, in fact,
Lady Pac for Commodore 64, a gesture of coding-love
towards the perhaps most successful incarnation of the
iconic family of chewers of socks. For the occasion,
RetroMagazine met him and interviewed him to understand
from his words how and why, among his many projects,
which range from many different platforms, he decided
to commit to Lady Pac for our beloved breadbin.

What differences have you chosen to make in this

reinterpretation? Why did you decide to detach yourself
from the “pure clone” 1:1?
I define myself as a creative, and as such I do not feel
sufficiently stimulated to reproduce a game such as the
original. I always wanted to add something new, a personal
reinterpretation, albeit minimal. In addition, I have always
felt that the original arcade games had a level of difficulty
that was too high for most players, including myself (on
the other hand, they were slot machines). Instead I wanted
to make clones with a higher degree of playability so as
to ensure fun even for those who are less skilled and
Ah, before we go to the questions, we need to provide experienced. Hence the possibility to choose between
some necessary clarifications. This tribute is not a different skill levels and a difficulty curve that increases
shameless copy of the title created at the time by those slowly and slightly during the game.
geniuses of the General Computer Corporation on behalf
of Midway. No, in fact Lady Pac brings with it a revisitation For Commodore 64 we remember the good Ms. Pacmac
that doesn’t take away anything from the game but adds Atarisoft. Your title has double frame rate and much
a lot of new things to an already immortal title. Let's talk more defined sprite, was it complex to get that result?
about the fact that the labyrinths are generated in a To be honest, I didn't have any big problems, neither with
completely random way (therefore adding an absolute the frame rate (I didn't optimize the code much) nor with
replay value) and that every two screens passed, a bonus the graphic aspect (the sprites and the characters came
stage has been added where we have to peel fruit and to me quite naturally). However, I had some difficulties
thus increase our score. To these two changes is added with the audio aspect. Some sound effects were more
the third really important for us who are voyeurists of the challenging than others, especially the sound of Lady Pac
Page 50 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

swallowing the dots. The first attempt to play the original Your dream retro-project-coding, which you've always
arcade sound was unsuccessful, so I opted for a different had in your head or in your drawer, but which you've
effect, the one in the very first version of the game. never been able to start?
Unfortunately thateffect was not appreciated by some If I manage to make other games (clones), I would focus
users, so I put in a lot of effort, I thoroughly re-analyzed on a version of Donkey Kong (which was my first ever love)
the original sound and in the end I got a much more similar for Windows, with completely new levels and situations.
effect (although certainly not identical) and more suitable. But perhaps this will only remain an idea...

You have also developed games for Amiga and you are The indy game that you liked the most in 2020/2021
a very prolific coder: what drives you to engage on and the most overrated.
(commercially) deceased platforms? Do you work alone Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this. Programming
and at what/how many hours of the day/night? games (and not only of course) does not give me time to
What drove me to realize my clones were, first of all, passion evaluate work done by others.
but certainly also nostalgia (things that I think all those
interested in retrogaming share). I've always worked Where can we follow you to stay up to date on all your
alone, at least until now. I find it difficult to quantify the releases? Do you also have social media profiles?
number of hours it takes to make my games. Some days The only reference is itch.io. Regarding new releases, as
I may have worked 6, 8, maybe 10 hours, and others I I said before, it will be all to see.
may not have worked at all. I can assume 2 or 3 hours a
day on average, never at night anyway. We thank Luca Carminati for giving us this interview and
we remind all readers and readers that Lady Pac is free
to download, precisely, from the specific page lowcarb.itch.io/
lady-pac with "name your own price" mode if you want
to leave down even an obol (do not be stingy!). For the
rest, in our opinion absolutely syndicable, Lady Pac is a
very successful tribute that can not miss your "breadbin"
collection.

GAMEPLAY: 99%
We're still talking about a clone of Ms. Pac-Man, so it's
skyrocketing. The only drawback, if any, is that to fully
enjoy these types of game you would need a joystick stuck
in 4 directions only. In fact, with one free to move in 8
you risk making unintentional errors of precision, dying
Also, as you mentioned, you have just released a revised miserably. In any case, guaranteed playability with any
version of Lady Pac with the change on aspects requested "thing" you attach to the Commodore 64 or to the emulator.
by users. How important is it for you to listen to the
people who play your games and where, in your opinion, LONGEVITY: 90%
is the limit to be placed, the stake, so that a game is no With randomly generated mazes and the ability to set the
longer touched? difficulty, number of lives and number of socks, Lady Pac
The stake has been placed: I am not willing to make "speaks" to the whole family and therefore allows a very
changes that affect the final result of a game, such as high longevity. If you then put the presence of the inevitable
retouching the speed of ghosts or assigning different high score, your parties with friends and friends will
values to scores. I am certainly willing to correct any bugs literally catch on fire. You will often return to this title, in
or, at most, make marginal changes, but the limit is now close. short. Trust me.

Next projects you're working on?

Since I liked to make Lady Pac for the C64, I thought of
making a version also for Windows, so with a graphics
and a layout much closer to that of the arcade game. For
the rest, honestly, I don't know. I am evaluating some
aspects of my life and I do not know if I will still have a
chance to make other games. Only time will tell.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 51 of 70

 GAME PREVIEW

Year: 2021
Developer: Westwood Studios/

DUNE II
Modern ZX-Retro Gaming
Genre: RTS
Platform: ZX Spectrum 128k
Website: https://vtrd.in/
release.php?
r=8665eca756acb5287ee6342c03
bdaf3f

Dune II is one of the most influential

games in the real-time strategy genre,
originally developed by Westwood
Studios and released by Virgin Games
in December 1992 for PC dos.
In 1993 he was converted to Amiga
and Mega Drive/Genesis. In 2013 it
even arrived on Android systems and
its engine became open for a series
of derivative games.
Based on David Lynch's 1984 film
Dune, an adaptation of the science
fiction novel by Frank Herbert, author
of the saga. initially.
Although it is not the first real-time In the first missions, the objectives
strategy video game, Dune II are to successfully establish a base
established the format that would be on an unoccupied territory of Arrakis,
followed in the years to come. collect spices and defeat intruders.
As such, Dune II is the archetype of Later, when the three Houses divide
the game of "real-time strategy". between them Arrakis, we should
Striking a balance between complexity storm and capture the enemy
and innovation, it was a huge success territories.
and laid the foundation for Command The final reckoning is the battle
& Conquer, Warcraft and many other between the player's family against
strategy games three enemy factions, including
The story of the game is simple, the Frederick's forces, the fearsome
emperor Frederick IV of the Corrino Sardaukar (an elite force whose heavy
family is desperately looking for the infantry is particularly powerful).
collection of the precious drug melange
(also known as "the spice"), which is
found only on the planet Arrakis.
To achieve this goal, he now offers
the only governorship of Arrakis to
anyone of the three Houses (Atreides,
Harkonnen and the non-canonical
Ordos) who provides him with more
spices. The war begins when the
delegations of all three Houses arrive
on Arrakis.
We players will be the commanders
in charge of the house that we choose

Page 52 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

GIUDIZIO FINALE

» Gameplay 95%
Almost everything has been
put in. Excellent storyline,
competitive opponent AI, the
three houses.
Everything in just 128k. What
more to say.

» Longevity 90%
It's a vast strategic game...
and it's free!
The introduction, the mission briefing Kempston.
and the end-of-game footage are The AI is pretty good, as in the PC game
different for each household, in line even here if we won't be able to carefully
with their very disparate worldviews. plan attacks, builds and troop
Weapons and units also vary from house management we will risk being destroyed
to house. by opponents with ease.
This porting for Spectrum is fairly Despite some technical limitations
faithful to the original game and makes (such as a non-fluid scrolling and some
you scream at the miracle and keeps graphic imperfections) this version for
some features present such as the Spectrum is a very solid real-time
spoken championship and the gigantic strategy game with many, many hours
sand worm, capable of swallowing of play and the option to save and
vehicles and infantry. upload to disk as much as you want.
Most of the introduction has been Have fun and remember ... The Sleeper
maintained, we can choose the language has to wake up!
between English and Russian and the
controls between keyboard and mouse by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 53 of 70

 GAME TESTING

THE ASTYANAX
Publisher: JALECO
Year: 1989
Platform: Arcade
Genre: Platform

One of the reasons I like to write In this hidden world we should

reviews for Retro Magazine World face terrible creatures from space
is to try to discover forgotten or before we reach the final alien
even unknown gems. That's why monster and try to eliminate it.
today I want to talk to you about
The Astyanax, an excellent To move our hero we have a key
platform that unfortunately has dedicated to jumping and one to
been crushed by the giants of the hit the enemies with our axe, but if
genre and that many have not we wait before hitting and we
been able to appreciate. charge an energy bar, our axe will
become fire and will inflict more
damage to the enemies. At our
disposal we also have a third
button for a magic shot that we
can only activate by collecting
particular items.

The possibility of recovering a

shield is also excellent, but it is
destroyed after some blows from
Released in 1989 under the Jaleco the opponent monsters.
brand, in this title we play the role
of the hero Roche who moves in a From a graphic and sound point of
world between the Middle Ages view, The Astyanax has nothing to GIUDIZIO FINALE
and fantasy, armed only with his envy the most famous titles, with
mythical axe of fire. colorful and detailed sprites,
beautiful backdrops and with
» Gameplay 90%
The Astyanax has one button 
The purpose of our trip is to reach music and sound effects that are
for jumping, one for attacking, 
the castle of Algerine to defeat the the background and accompany
and one for magic strike. The 
sorcerer Algos and bring peace to every single action of the game.
colorful sprites, sound effects, 
the kingdom.
and excellent collision system 
But The Astyanax also has another
make it still very playable 
To do this we have to cross six winning card that we find in a few
despite the fact that more than 
lands full of mythological monsters titles of this category, that is, the
thirty years have passed since 
and traps of all kinds, without possibility of playing in a
its release.
forgetting the boss fights that cooperation with a friend and
await us at the end of each level. making this adventure even more

But just when we're in front of

engaging.
» Longevity 90%
Algos and we think we've beaten In 1990, a conversion was also The Astyanax is finished in 
him, that's when we'll notice that published for the Nintendo but about thirty minutes, but the 
the developers have come up with with a plot and a graphic creation option to play it cooperatively 
an incredible surprise. From a wall that differ a little from the original with a friend greatly increases 
a passage will open and we will arcade, although it is still a very the fun and involvement.
suddenly find ourselves in a fun title to play.
futuristic world made of aliens that
our enemy raised in great secrecy. by Querino Ialongo

Page 54 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

POCKET WONDER
Year: 2021
Developer: Harley Wilson
Editor: Indie

SPORT 10 IN 1 Genre: Multi

Platform: PC - PS Vita

A super cartridge (virtual of course) although in their simplicity will be

given by its author on the web to all able to keep us glued in front of the
of us who collected the newsstand monitors offering us moments of
cassettes of the C64 or Spectrum. To healthy fun. How about a duel at Ice
us who wanted the cartridges with Hockey with the zombies trying to
dozens and sometimes hundreds of skin you? Or drive a car ready to turn
games for Nes, DS, 3DS and whoever into a powerful robot capable of
else has it. In short, if times have destroying everything? Did you ever
changed and today with all the offers think you could play a breakout lying
there are on the web, hacking games by the pool or face an RPG-style duel
in addition to a crime is even a waste using the mechanical arts of those
of time, as you can say no to a dozen bar games where the purpose was to
simple but fun retro games ready to pick up gadgets and toys?
be played for free on our PCs? And,
if you know how to do it, even on the In short, a pleasant dive into a retro
never forgotten PS Vita? world full of surprises and small
touches of class that will perhaps
So here you are Pocket Wonder Sport, keep you busy for more than a few
a mega compilation from the English minutes without even spending a
developer Harley Wilson who, in token!
addition to working for Ubisoft, also
seems to be a prolific author of indie To download the full version of the
games with an authentic retro flavour. game, please visit: GIUDIZIO FINALE
https://hwilson.itch.io/pocket-
Once you start the game on PC or PS wonder-sport
Vita we will find ourselves in front of » Gameplay 80%
All games have simple
the classic menu typical of the mega The author's official website is here:
mechanics but still manage to
compilation of the past, with many https://www.artstation.com/ entertain. Like the good games
titles at our disposal. Simply choose harleywilson/profile of yesteryear!
one and start it with enter, use Z as
the focus key and ESC to exit and try by Flavio Soldani » Longevity 70%
another immediately. The gameplay Since these are mini-games I
do not think we will spend
of the ten games is simple, immediate
hours, but a game every now
and does not even need instructions: and then as a stress reliever I
it will take a few seconds to learn the think we can widely fit.
rules of the ten video games that

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 55 of 70

 GAME TESTING

XENOCIDER
Year: 2021
Editor: Retro Sumus
Genre: Shoot em up
Platform: Sega Dreamcast

Space Harrier has his heir! After completing the main game, new
Xenocider, like most shooters, has a modes open up.
story that takes a back seat to the The first with a higher level of difficulty
main action. We all know that shooters and one with two mini games.
are about high scores and progression
on a credit! There is a lot to discover about the
two mini games that are unlocked
In this game we will be Xara, a world- after getting so far in the main game.
destroying cyborg who loves to destroy The first is a Space Harrier clone that
things. exudes nostalgia. Just like the classic
The mission is to explore the planets Sega, we're gonna fly up on the screen
by eliminating everything on our path. and shoot everything that happens.
These planets constitute the seven The second mini game is a Rez-like
levels of Xenocider, each of which has shooter with wireframe-style graphics,
the usual battle with the bosses. similar to the bonus phases of the
There's a little more to the story, but main game, where as a goal we will
for the most part, we're going to blow have to survive as much as possible
up things and monsters in a classic and get very high scores.
"rail" shooter. But all Xenocider is full of objectives
Despite the almost nothing and obvious to unlock and levels to explore.
plot, there is a lot of longevity in It's a pure arcade. Born to be noisy
Xenocider. With different branching and not to last a long time. Frenzied.
paths you can play in different ways.
But let's go in order.

When we start the game we will be

greeted by impressive graphics.
Majestic! It's always nice to see a new
3D game on Dreamcast. Powerful,
colourful and really moves with
incredible fluidity. The level of detail
that the developer has put into this
title is commendable.
There are several modes in Xenocider,
but we'll start with the standard story
mode.

In this mode we will make our way

through the levels with limited lives.
How limitless lives? Well yes Xenocider
is difficult, very difficult, and requires
precision and memory to understand
how to deal with levels and track
weapon upgrades.
Page 56 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

GIUDIZIO FINALE

» Gameplay 85%
Difficult but rewarding! A
control system initially
"different" but very fun.
Incredible the mini-game
similar to Space Harrier.

» Longevity 75%
It's really hard and merciless.
Not suitable for "soft" players.
For them, there is Pokemon
Go!

One of the most interesting features of especially in the third level where we
Xenocider is the control system. Whoever will often be hit by objects that we have
played Charge 'N Blast on Dreamcast actually avoided. This is very frustrating
will understand the concept. The analog and will make you swear not a little.
lever points the weapon while the Even the level of difficulty is not for
triggers make it fly to the left or right. everyone. Let's say it is one of those
If you've never played a game with this titles not suitable for those looking for
setup before, it may take a moment to something calm and relaxing.
figure out how it works. The front buttons In conclusion, it is a great product,
consist of jumping, automatic fire on/ reminiscent of the first Sega games of
off and secondary powers. the early 2000s. Fragrant, difficult and
well-developed in the technical sector.
Graphically, Xenocider is detailed with Suitable for all lovers of arcade
solid polygons and psychedelic colors. challenges.
Several enemies and effects cover the Word of Bardo
screen in an explosion of colors and
the inspirations from Fantasy Zone to by Roberto "Il Bardo" Pirazzini
Space Harrier are numerous.
Speaking of Space Harrier, the mini Website: https://retrosumus.com/
game inspired by him is gorgeous. Full,
blocky trees and dragons fill the screen.
There is such attention to detail that it
will leave you speechless.
The rest of the graphics are detailed
and some bosses are charming. My
favorite is a big worm who seems to be
fighting Del La Rol from Phantasy Star
Online.

Techno music mixed with sound effects

typical of arcade halls will keep you
company during your exploration.
Excellent and in perfect combination
with the graphics. A joy for those looking
for something that remembers the
arcades of the good old days.
In all this chaotic fun there are some
painful notes. Some collisions between
objects are not really convincing,

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 57 of 70

 GAME TESTING

FLOB
Year: 2021
Developer: Bocianu Boczansky
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Atari XL/XE

A nice platformer for the 8 Atari bits! It is a game that requires a certain
Colorful, fun and quite challenging. commitment to be completed. The
Made in Mad-Pascal a 32-bit Turbo level of difficulty is quite calibrated
Pascal compiler for XL/XE computers even if some levels will make you
made by Vasiliy Tereshkov. swear not a little.

In the game we’ll be the pink slime Graphically it is a jewel of pixel art.
Flob and we will be forced to find Well animated and very colorful and
ingredients and gelatin formulas characteristic. Even the soundtrack
hidden by our own creator through is not bad and if we want to concentrate
140 levels. A job made even more more we can also disable it in the
difficult by the total inability to jump game options.
and reach the most difficult places.
To overcome this lack we can use Sorrowful notes: 140 levels may seem
some gravitational switches in each like a lot but I assure you that they
game box that will change the path are not so challenging once you
and allow us (whenever possible, you memorize the pattern to follow to
have to think about it! NDN) to reach complete them.
the gelatin.
However, Flob is a nice product and
The game is freely downloadable from deserves your attention. A puzzle
the author's website, but if we want game like in the old days.
we can help with a small donation to
receive a physical copy. by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

Each map has a very specific style

and an increasing level of difficulty.
Our pink jelly will be controlled through
the joystick to move and thanks to
the fire (or shift) key we can switch
the level and "flip it". There is also a GIUDIZIO FINALE
"CHEAT MODE" option to view each
level without too much effort.
» Gameplay 80%
The lack of jumping may be
limiting, but the switches make
Official Website: up for it big time.
https://bocianu.atari.pl/blog/flob?
fbclid=IwAR1Q8Lblgik2aHQfuBLMoUx » Longevity 80%
w5ycEnhcLO8OpdC30AihDGYO25YGMh It is a puzzle game. It is not
nyZV_c impossible but it is well
calibrated. You will replay it

Page 58 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

TRAVEL THROUGH TIME Year: 2021

Editor: Zosya Entertainment
Genre: Driving game
VOLUME 1: NORTHERN LIGHTS Platform: ZX Spectrum 128k

Zosya Entertainment is a Russian but we will also face natural obstacles

independent software house and more (railway crossings, crossing
specialized in Spectrum games. pedestrians, billboards).
All products are made with passion
and with great care like Drift!, Valley
of Rains, Gal and the Bonnie & Clyde
platform.

I have to admit that I had a great time

wandering through the Swedish streets
(yes, it's strange, but it's set in
Travel Through Time Volume 1: Sweden).
Northern Lights is another excellent
product developed with great capacity. A pain point, the lack of a rescue
The game comes free in digital system. There is no password system
download, downloadable from the or similar that can allow us to move
official website of the software house. forward. It's actually frustrating to
It runs on all 128k models and, if you start all over again.
want, you can order the "physical"
version on tape to support developers.

A driving game that reminds us a bit

of Chase HQ or Out Run and that will GIUDIZIO FINALE
take us through the history of cars
through the decades (from 1950 to
the 80s). » Gameplay 90%
Great control system, lots of
options to play, six available
vehicles and bridges,
underpasses with dynamic
For the rest I highly recommend you shadows, tunnels, level
try it and support Zosya's TEAM. crossings. Shoots at 25fps. A
little gem.
by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

Official site: https://www.zosya.net/ » Longevity 80%

2021/06/24/travel-through-time- I would have liked to give more
Graphically fluid and impressive. Very volume-1-northern-lights/ but the lack of a password
detailed both in the details of the system lowers the grade by ten
game and in the numerous intermezzo points. Too bad. Still, it's a very
screens that are presented in the fun game that will hardly bore
story mode. you.

During the race we will not only run,

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 59 of 70

 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021

METAL GEAR
Developer: Hoffman
Genre: Stealth game
Platform: Amiga
Versions: MSX 2 – Commodore
64 e NES

The Metal Gear saga also lands on enemies, but explore the area with
Amiga. A saga that has fascinated circumspection, solve small puzzles
many players, especially with the and collect items and weapons. This
release of Metal Gear Solid on Amiga version is a direct port of the
Playstation or the title that made MSX 2 version.
Snake known to the general public.
The graphics belong to that time
period and obviously suffer from it
compared to other conversion
operations, but it performs its work
excellently.

The audio sector was the real strength

of the title and even in this conversion
it is well done. Music creates tension
But Metal Gear comes from far beyond and is well developed.
time, since 1987 and was born on the But as with the original, it is the
platform preferred by Konami and playability and longevity that roar
Kojima, the MSX 2. strongly.

Metal Gear puts us in the shoes of a Metal Gear is not a very long game,
rookie soldier named Solid Snake. His but it suffers a lot of backtracking
job is to infiltrate a place called "Outer and times when you will have to spend
Heaven", rescue the hostages and your meninges to figure out where to
destroy a new weapon capable of go. It is a game that requires attention
launching nuclear warheads on the and precision. Nowadays there are
world called Metal Gear. A revolutionary numerous guides available on the
game at the time, little known in the internet and not only, but in those
American sound but with many fans days we had to arm ourselves with
in Japan and the old continent. holy patience and mark every route
explored.
It is a stealth game with 2D graphics
from above where to move forward To conclude, Metal Gear also deserves
we must not only shoot or punch to be played in this Amiga version as
in its previous incarnations. It is a
GIUDIZIO FINALE
game that has invented a concept of
"playing" never seen before and that » Gameplay 80%
will be standard in the following Simple to manage and well
developed and calibrated.
decades.

by Roberto “Il Bardo” Pirazzini » Longevity 75%

The game isn't long but it is
Website: https://www.pouet.net/ tough. Might scare off those
prod.php?which=89034 looking for something easier.

Page 60 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 GAME TESTING

SPACEGULLS
Year: 2021
Editor: Morphcat games
Genre: Platform
Platform: Nintendo Nes

Spacegulls was created for the NESdev It uses the same engine as another
Compo 2020/21, a developer Morphcat games product, Bobl. An
competition and won the 1st place. engine that uses physics for movement.
It is a nice and fun platform realized Innovative on this platform.
in its first version in a single week of It is animated with great care, very
work. colorful and equipped with a good
soundtrack like all the products of
this software house (such as
Micromages or Bobl itself). It takes
full advantage of the small Nintendo
console.
The control system is perfect and you
can easily learn what to do in the
various levels.
Too bad about the very short longevity.
Too simple to complete.
Given the success of the first version, Too bad.
the Morphcat games guys decided to
make it a little more robust and put by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
it on the market for free by correcting
some bugs and adding new music.
We are seagulls and we have the task
of bringing home prehistoric eggs
hidden by the evil Dr. Beak of the
O.V.O. (The Odious Villains
Organization) in order to search for
the secret of eternal life.
The eggs are hidden in a series of
layers filled with traps and terrible
robot feathers.
Spacegulls is a short platform and
you see it, it ends in about 15 minutes Website: https://
of play once you learn the mechanics. morphcatgames.itch.io/spacegulls
GIUDIZIO FINALE
But it's done well and reminds a bit
of Mega Man (in the style of
exploration) and Joust (in the way of » Gameplay 80%
moving). Nice to play. Great control
system and good difficulty.

» Longevity 50%
It is true, it was created for a
competition, but something
more could have been done.
Only 15 minutes of gameplay
to complete it... too short.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 61 of 70

 GAME TESTING

CHICKIN CHASE
Year: 1985
Developer: Jawx
Genre: Action
Platform: Commodore 64

For originality and comedy. The task invading animals greedy for fresh
may seem challenging at first, but eggs such as hedgehogs, foxes and
once you take familiarity with it you snakes. Once the intruder is kicked
will not only get to the end, but you out, we have to run to the alcove to
will want to replay it whenever you flirt with the chicken, otherwise being
need a little entertainment and some just one second late, she will come
extra laughter. out with a rolling pin in the direction
On a graphic level it is done quite well of our head! Never leave a lady waiting,
as good is also the playability. The especially in an alcove.
music is nice, even if it seems to be
running against time: and the little Obviously we have a recoverable
chicken knows something about it, energy limit thanks to worms that
right? come out of the ground but we have
to be fast there too, since they will
Even this summer is punctually sultry not remain with their head out of the
in Italy, but we certainly can not ground forever. The further you go in
complain after the restrictions due the game the more eggs will be laid,
to covid and its curfew have been the more chicks will come out and
removed (hopefully forever) and in bigger and smarter animals will come.
any case nothing takes away the I discovered the game by chance like
desire and the stimulus to try, play many others on a newsstand drawer
and replay even a somewhat bizarre and it was one of the few that caught
title like Chickin chase. my attention. For those of you who
have the chance, take it with you at
It was one of the games of the the seaside (not the Commodore 64
economic line distributed by Firebird, with all the accessories, eh!).
at least I always found it in that version
and from there I could deduce if the It seemed to me to see other games
game was a huge success or if it was similar to these with chickens as
another mediocrity. In this case, I protagonists, but this in my opinion
was very doubtful, given the cover is the best on the field and you will
that depicted a chicken that was see it soon; the only problem perhaps
clubbing the lazy cockerel reading will be that the wife, girlfriend, mother
the newspaper... In fact the game has or friend could take some hints from
a bit of comedy. the chicken… Maybe it is better to
GIUDIZIO FINALE
hide them some of those scenes… :-)
We find ourselves in a chicken coop
wandering around with the sole By this issue of August, I wish all » Gameplay 78%
As funny as you want. Be
purpose of catching on the ground, readers who have been following us
careful about showing it to
but here comes our beloved clerk to for years, good holidays and a future your wives!
lay an egg; just one? I believe that return to normality as well as a
our chicken wants a large family and prosperous economic recovery. » Longevity 75%
we will have to defend our future son Pure entertainment. And for
(are we sure of his paternity?) from by Daniele Brahimi relationship life, ehm...

Page 62 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENGLISH YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 9
 RETROEVENTI

Modena NERD 2021

by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

On Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th of July 2021 the
fifth edition of Modena Nerd took place in Modena (Italy),
the first real post-pandemic "playful-comic" event.

It was an edition hel with the maximum safety to avoid

ourselves to be constrained again in the canvas of the
pandemic. In fact, access to the fair was allowed only to
those who had purchased tickets online on the official
website. At the entrance the body temperature was
checked and it was mandatory to wear a face-mask.

I stopped by to attempt a speed run at SUPER MARIO for

NES, unfortunately it ended with a not optimal time (8
minutes).

I will not dwell on describing the many exhibition areas,

all themed (comics, cosplay, Lego... ) but I must admit Really beautiful was the VINTAGE COMPUTER FESTIVAL

that they were a beautiful sight for the eyes. Especially ITALIA area. Between Vectrex and Commodore 64, passing

after the greyness of this period, a breeze of smiles and through ZX and many "open" computers that showed

the desire to meet.

Let’s talk about the area of our interest, the video-games.

I have to admit that compared to other fairs in the sector,
the space reserved for retrogaming was really nice and
well equipped.
Lots of cabins of all kinds (from Pac Man to the latest
arcades) and lots of places to play and with the possibilities
for the little ones to try consoles and computers with 8,
16 and multiple bits.

their insides. A fantastic zone to watch and learn.

In short, a very successful event, not too technical (there

will be other events for tech enthusiasts) but very well
organized and performed!

Looking forward to attend the next edition in 2022.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 63 of 70

 RETROINTERVIEW

Interview with Pierluigi Fresia AKA PierSoft

by Giorgio Balestrieri
The history of computing, beyond the main line drawn by
great academic names, such as Alan Turing, John von
Neumann, Federico Faggin, Grace Murray Hopper, Dennis
MacAlistair Ritchie and many others, primarily developed
in research laboratories and large companies, but it was
also conditioned by many events whose protagonists are
a handful of enthusiasts who gave enormous contributions
to the development and the spreading of computer software
and IT as we know it today. People like Richard Stallman,
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Linus Torvalds and
many others, have changed the way computers and
programs are perceived and used, allowing the transition
of computing from something unknown to most, i.e.
basically the privilege of a small circle of insiders, to an
essential and permeating aspect in our everyday lives.
In the process of spreading the computer culture, an
Fig.2 - A young Pierluigi Fresia
important part has been the distribution and availability
of software, which has allowed computers to change from RMW: Hi Pierluigi and thank you for meeting us for an
basically useless metal boxes and become valuable interview. Like many ex-young boys (me, Giorgio, I'm
collaborators, able to increase productivity and efficiency over 50, and Francesco is close to that milestone as
in virtually any human activity, even the most futile. well), we lived the golden age of microcomputers in
In particular, the distribution of software, together with which you were somehow a protagonist under the name
the birth of official sales channels, has always been of Piersoft. We kind of took advantage of the fruit of your
accompanied by “parallel” forms of circulation. It started work. At the time the software for our beloved home
with a simple swapping among the first users and enthusiasts computers was hard to find and very expensive, especially
and then evolved into a sort of “industrial” methods of for the tiny pockets of passionate kids like we were. How
distribution, initially fostered by the general lack of did your adventure begin? Who was Pierluigi at that time?
perception of the real intellectual and economic value of
software. What we want to tell here, through the speaking Piersoft: Well, Pierluigi at that time, as almost everyone
voice of one of these submerged protagonists, is the story knows, was a hairdresser for ladies in Milan. My adventure
of Pierluigi Fresia, better known in the 80/90s as Piersoft, with computers began as a game; I was one of the first
whose trademark colonized newsstands throughout Italy owners of a Commodore 64 in Italy, together with “DNS” (I
and whose intro screens in PETSCII characters are well can only tell you his initials for privacy reasons) and we
impressed in the memory of those who owned a C64. basically began trading the only game we had. Then we
The interview reported here has been extracted and met “2703”, a German guy who lived in Milan, and he also
adapted, for editorial reasons, from the video interview had a Commodore 64. He was a very good coder and was
that Pierluigi has kindly granted us. The full interview (in even able to crack games. At that time the game protections
Italian only) can be seen through RetroMagazine World were very simple, like those in the Activision games, for
Youtube channel (link at the bottom of these pages). example. A simple JMP instruction was enough to get
them passed. We quickly found out that this way we were
able to expand our stock of games. Other members, such
as “5406” and “Roby One Kenobi”, were later added to
our group, which reached the number of about 8 people.
Unfortunately, today two of the members are no longer
with us and I guess I will join them soon. I am suffering
from several rather complex diseases and I don't think I
have much time left. That's also why I decided to give
this interview.
After the initial amateur swapping of the games we had
in our list, we began a sort of “business”. We used to go
to London to buy and collect the new titles appeared on
the market and take them to Milan, where we were able
to unprotect them and copy them for other friends/users.
Fig.1 - A Piersoft intro added on top of unprotected In order to recover travel and original copies’ expenses
games. Note the phone number.
Page 64 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROINTERVIEW

was one of the first and I managed it personally. Afterwards,

many others were born, but I remember that we did a
good job with the BBS. I no longer own the hardware and
software of those times, as we are talking about the years
around 2000 and the Italian law had now filled the gaps
that had allowed us to operate undisturbed or so. I had
reached that point where it was no longer worth it. I was
fine financially, I had my own store, so I decided to quit.

RMW: In fact, what you were doing in the 80s and 90s
in Italy wasn't strictly illegal. Without going into technical/
legal details, which could bring us to a long discussion,
due to a lack of a specific act on software copyright,
your activity was not totally legal but could not be
punished. The legislator fixed this anomaly much later,
around the second half of the 1990s, starting in 1994
with the well-known "Italian Crackdown", which led to
the closure of the unofficial distribution channels existing
Fig.3 - One of the Piersoft's advertisements at that time, so software piracy became illegal in all
respects. Concerning this topic, we can report a testimony
(Ryanair and low-cost air companies did not yet exist, collected during one of the events of “Once Upon a
RMW note), we started to ask money for duplicate copies. Sprite”, a yearly event organized in Italy by Andrea
Then, with the passing of time, other players entered this Ferlito of Codemotion, where a former hacker told us
business, such as “Niwa”. I was the oldest and already much bolder stories, such as the phone phreaking or
running a business, so I had the right experience to take the credit card database trading of the time. Beyond the
care of the organization and coordination of the group. legal issues, this interview is useful to reconstruct a
Each of us were assigned the tasks according to our piece of the Italian history of computing, to which we
abilities: some were dedicated to crack the software, are all connected. For example, I am a software developer,
others translated it in Italian, etc. I was in charge of the and Francesco was too, even if now he has gone to “the
commercial part (but not only) and I was the only one to other side of the fence” (that is, he now torments the
expose myself. Our activity rapidly became well known, developers by telling them what and how to do it), but
so much indeed that it reached the point that the games we both started with great curiosity and interest as kids.
we used to sell were copied and redistributed by basically Italy entered the world of computing with great delay
everyone, even by those editorial companies that sold and for those interested in the IT to be able to obtain
compilation of games through newsstands. This was the software and games to feed their passion was essential
case of a publisher in Sicily, they used to sell tapes without but not easy. In my case, for example, I started with
any agreement with us. I did not take it well. It’s true that video games but soon I began to wonder how they were
in Italy there was a legislative hole and it was not strictly created and studying the few resources available (BBSes
illegal to duplicate and spread games and software, but weren’t there yet and the Internet was not even an idea)
if caught you could still get in trouble. Selling tapes in and studying the disassembled code of games, I started
the newsstands in my name, it meant pointing trouble at the path that led me to find my place in the IT world. So
me, without me having any advantage. I must say that without your activity of “unofficial
importer” and that of many other organizations like
RMW: You told us about how you arranged to go to yours, it would have been a lot harder to find software
London to retrieve new games and software. In fact, resources and documentation. In fact, you told us that
you were acting as an “unofficial importer”, in a sense.
You were bringing software to Italy that had not yet
arrived in our country.
Piersoft: Yes, exactly, what we brought back from England
to Italy did not exist, we got original copies to which we
removed the protection and started selling it to our
contacts. Personally, I gave away a bunch of original
software. Just today (June 30, 2021, Editor’s note) a dear
friend came to me and I donated him a lot of stuff that I
still had with me. Seeing my Commodore 64, equipped
with Speed Dos and so many other nice things gathering
dust in the corner, I felt sorry, so I gave it away too. They
were a piece of my story.
Then in time, I switched to Amiga and the BBSes. Mine Fig.4 - Ghost'n'Goblins, hacked by 2703
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 65 of 70
 RETROINTERVIEW

Piersoft: I started with BASIC, like everyone else, I think.

Then when I met “2703”, I approached the assembly and
the use of an assembler. I was doing pretty well, of course
not at the same level of “Roby One Kenobi”, who is still a
programmer today. After a while “2703” left to America
and now he works for NASA. “5406” instead has moved
to Puglia, but is a very discreet person, he does not want
to be interviewed and generally he refuses to talk about
this old part of his life.

RMW: When you started your activity as Piersoft, in Italy

the BBS-based communications were not even born yet.
How did you members of the group keep in touch?
Fig.5 - Another Piersoft intro

coding and programming studies were assigned to your Piersoft: Look, “2703” lived a kilometer from me, I mean
friend “2703” who had to learn first from the code he’d from my shop. The others lived within 7-800 meters from
seen in the original games, understand how it was made my place, so basically we were all in the same neighborhood.
and how protection worked in order to crack them up. Between San Siro and Primaticcio there is not much
distance so we used to meet in person to play games and
Piersoft: All true, yes, but after a while I learned how to swap copied tapes. Our meetings soon became a small
unprotect games too. As a group we all used to work organization and so the business was born, basically
together and I have always been the one who "steals with when “2703” began to crack games.
his eyes" (learns by watching, Editor’s Note). So watching
how “2703” used to do with machine code, I learned RMW: In other words, in a square kilometer or so, three
something from him and became able to override the people with the same passion and expertise in
simplest protections. When more complex protection programming met together. I would consider it almost
systems came out, “2703” learned more about them and a sign of destiny, because in those years what happened
he was able to bypass those as well. to you was not so obvious. When you went to London to
get new titles, how did you get them back to Italy? I
RMW: So you weren't just a retailer or a passive gamer, mean, in your travel bags or were you shipping them
you also got your hands “dirty” with the code, a real from UK? Did you encounter border checks? Did you
enthusiast then. have to pay customs taxes when returning to Milan?

Piersoft: Yes, I used to do something with code too. Then, Piersoft: We simply put them all in our suitcases and as
since I was the one with the most experience, I was also far as I remember, there were no customs costs involved.
the one showing his face in the distribution. Even if it was We did not carry tons of software with us, we just came
not illegal, problems arose all the same, especially when back with 4-5 games each time and that did not arouse
it came to the BBS systems. I've been sued and seized anyone's interest. Later, we took contact with UK people
by the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Revenue Guard Corps, who sent us larger volumes of software, but during our
E.N.), but it's all overdue now, because they didn't find first trips, when we went to retrieve games and programs,
any evidence. When I had already activated the BBSes, we returned with a few titles only. That’s also because
and one of these was located in Turin, they came there the production of new titles was not as high as it later
to seize my computers but thanks to a routine that erased became. When the modems became available, transferring
the disks, which was activated by pressing a certain the games was just a matter of having one on a phone
combination of keys, they did not find anything useful
against me in those systems. I got away with it because
at that time the officers were not experienced enough in
computer crimes and computing in general. I was able
to activate the wiping routine when the agents were
already in my house. Anyways, my activity was not yet
considered illegal, the frisks and computer requisitions
were more due to the fame I had created around me and
to the complaints of my "competitors", who repeatedly
tried to harm me and put me out of the market.
RMW: Let’s talk about your personal experience with
computing. In what languages did you ever enjoy
programming, if any? Fig.6 - Intro of 2703 to Hyper Sports, with credits

Page 66 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9

 RETROINTERVIEW

Therefore we even created our own protection system,

or rather “2703” actually put it together. Its name was
Bunker! (E.N. We did some research and Bunker! was
coded by another Italian group. "The Wizard" was actually
coded by Piersoft/2703. More on this in the next issues
of RMW). It was capable of forcing the drive head to slam
against its limit, if it noticed that the program was copied
(again). It seemed a good idea at first, but then it revealed
to be a disaster, because this technique, on some 1541
drive models, prevented the drive head to get back in
position, actually making the drive itself unusable. The
protector was withdrawn as soon as we realized the
trouble it caused to disk drives. I remember that another
protection system, called "Sentry", was also available
and sometimes used by other groups to protect already
cracked software.

RMW: Let’s talk about how Piersoft titles got to the

newsstand distribution. How did the transition from
swapping to newsstand distribution take place? Was it
Fig.7 - Piersoft, during one of his London trips planned or did it happen naturally, following the expansion
of the local hand-to-hand exchange?
line. I started with a mere 300 baud modem connection,
connecting from my place in Lavagna to 2703’s home in Piersoft: Actually we did NEVER distribute directly our
San Siro. Then faster modems became available on the titles on newsstands. There were publishers who did it
market and I created the BBS to exchange software on and who came looking for us to get the software that they
the BBS circuit. We also used to connect to US BBSes in then sold on disk and cassette. Often they also dealt with
order to exchange software, and they often were just translation and I admit that they paid us well. It was all
crack programs of a few KB. legal for them because they had not cracked the games,
so they had much less responsibility than us. It was a
RMW: A few kilobytes that would have cost you a fortune
in telephone charges. At that time the tariff was regulated
by the TUT (Tariffa Urbana a Tempo = Local Rate, E.N.),
which provided for the application of different costs
depending on the distance and geographical location
of the two parts and it was very expensive to maintain
a telephone communication, especially between two
continents.

Piersoft: Actually it didn't cost us anything, as we used

the blue boxes so we could call for free.

RMW: Why don’t you tell us more about the volume

increase of the software library you were handling. You
told us how you collected a few titles going to London
in person but then you used to manage a much larger
quantity. The cassettes sold in newsstands, for example,
included many titles with your own brand. When did you
sense about the leap in terms of quantity of games that
circulated under your name?

Piersoft: Well, a lot of time has passed since the beginning

in 1983, but I remember that thanks to the many swaps
I used to do with others having unpublished titles, my
distribution (my “round” so to say) slowly expanded. It
was precisely thanks to swapping with other people that
the software unprotected by us started to circulate at the
Fig.8 - One of the tapes distributed in Sicily without
speed of light. And soon it became out of our control. agreements with Piersoft

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 67 of 70

 RETROINTERVIEW

who changed the brand on the software unprotected by

us, the same games by Piersoft but obtained from other
sources. They replaced our logo with theirs, not respecting
our agreement. Over time, they even opened a store in
Milan where they sold computers, accessories and software
(both original and cracked games), but I knew they failed
a few years later. I never contacted them again nor was
I. As far as I know, that’s Niwa's story.

RMW: Did you only deal with software for Commodore

64 or other systems as well?

Piersoft: Together with the Commodore 64, we took care,

or, rather, I also worked with software for Amiga and Atari
ST. For the ST the business was very small, it was not a
Fig.9 - Amiga BBS popular machine and the number of titles available was
very few. It was mainly used in music, because to the
perfectly transparent activity for them. On second thought, MIDI port that was supplied in the stock model. The Amiga,
it was a mistake not to proceed directly with the publication on the other hand, received a great success in sales and
in the newsstands, because the big money was actually quickly presented a huge software library, productivity
there. I took a percentage for the games I provided, of software included, not only games.
course, but I know some of those who have become really
rich by selling disks and tapes in newsstands. But then RMW: Let’s go back at the BBS systems again. Today we
again some also got their fingers burnt, because instead see many fans, obviously nostalgic fans, that go back
of quitting as I did when this type of activity was declared using this type of communication technology, so much
completely illegal, they kept going, so at the end the law that new BBSes are being created for the old Commodore
punished them harshly, even on the criminal side. I came 64. How did yours work? What hardware and software
out of this business with a clean record and the remaining did you use to run them?
part of the charges dropped for statute barred.
Piersoft: My first BBS ran on an Amiga Tower 3000 that
RMW: So, after all, you weren't the notorious distributor I had brought from America. Up to three users could
who colonized newsstands all over Italy, as we always connect at the same time. The BBS software was named
believed because of your brand name on the pirated games! AmiExpress. I had actually started with the Amiga 2000,
but the Tower 3000 offered better performance, the ability
Piersoft: Yes, that's right, I never distributed software to connect hard drives and the BBS used to work very
through newsstands, I was just the supplier of those who well there. I was the Sysop, of course. I also had external
then recorded it on tape and disk and sold it through co-sysops, but most of the management was done by me.
newsstands. There were also unfair publishers, particularly I also suffered cyber-attacks from jealous competitors,
in Sicily as I said earlier, who used to sell cassettes with
our brand name, diverting attention and risks on us.
Anyway, most of their games were ours because they
worked flawlessly, unlike those of other groups whose
cracking jobs were generally low quality. Piersoft became
very popular, they even contacted me from France for an
interview on the Actuèl magazine. Several distribution
groups such as Niwa and Fanta-soft, they used to stock
up from PierSoft.

RMW: Speaking about Niwa, do you want to tell us

something about them?

Piersoft: Niwa's story is simple: they started selling their

tapes on a single newsstand. They distributed the first
games obtained from other retailers. One day they
contacted me, it was easy to do it because at the time I
put my phone number on the introductory screens of the
games. We met at my house and we made an agreement
for the supply of the software. After a while our relation Fig.10 - Login screen of the Piersoft BBS
broke up in a bad way, because they hired programmers which was based in Milan
Page 68 of 70 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9
 RETROINTERVIEW

some of which actually worked and compromised my

system because of the crazy bugs of AmiExpress. The
result of the attack was destroying all the contents of the
BBS hard drives. When this happened, I always managed
to put it all back on and it was a great success! The three
lines were basically always clogged. The BBS itself was
divided into seven areas, one of which required a fee to
be accessed and another one was reserved only to a small
number of users. This area was used to talk about weird
things, such as how to build bombs (at the time there was
a manual, called the Jolly Roger, written by anarchists,
very well-known and popular despite the illegality of the
topics treated, E.N.), but it was basically a reserved area.
About 30 people had an account and it was mainly about
technology and hacking. I also had contacts abroad, both
in Europe and the US. The BBS actually reached a high
degree of popularity.
Fig.11 - Piersoft today, on his birthday

RMW: So Piersoft wasn't just newsstand tapes that, as I was the only one in the group to be exposed, but I was
we found out, weren't even your business. Ironically, ruthless and had enough guts. With the help of a lawyer,
you've become famous for the wrong thing. plus the fact that I quit in time, I came out clean record.
But we were a close group and we did what we liked, it
Piersoft: Yes, as I said, I only was a supplier. The main was a good adventure.
publishers were “DNS” and another guy, who made a
great career, becoming director of several magazines and RMW: In your opinion, was piracy an aid for spreading
some years ago unfortunately passed away. Piersoft the culture and the use of computers or was it an absolute
consisted mainly of a group of enthusiasts who were damage? Today there are opinions in support of both
interested in computers and programming. One of the theses. Given your experience and involvement in the
members of the group, Peter, he was an excellent field, what do you think?
programmer. He helped me a lot with cracking and
translating software and I remember he was always eating Piersoft: The way I see it, well, in the beginning it was
at my place. Unfortunately, I've lost any contact with him. surely a help. A help because not everyone could afford
to spend the amounts of money to purchase original
RMW: Now an uncomfortable question. Of course you software. Often there was no way to get it either though
are free not to answer if you don’t want to. Can you tell the official sale channels. In those years, the ability to
us something about the deal of money that Piersoft find software easily and cheaply for me has contributed
generated? to computers popularity and computer science affirmation
in Italy.
Piersoft: Well, I admit there was a lot of business going
on. We could easily earn 10 or 20 millions of Italian Lire With this last question, we close the interview with Pierluigi
per month (roughly 5.000 or 10.000 euros nowadays), "Piersoft" Fresia, whom we thank for his patience and for
which of course I couldn’t keep for myself. In the beginning, the opportunity for an interview. Our little chat has allowed
money was certainly few, but over the years they increased us and the readers to know better the events related to
significantly. A much larger volume was generated by the the unofficial distribution of software in Italy, which was
distribution in the newsstand, that’s the reason I say it slightly different from other countries in Europe, as said,
was a mistake not to enter in that business either. Of because of the lack of a good software copyright act.
course the costs involved would have been higher, but We encourage you to watch the full video interview, which
I’m sure they would all come back with a great profit. I contains much more, especially on the personal and
know some who really have gotten rich with this activity. human aspects of Pierluigi. You will get a much deeper
look and emotions than those you could receive reading
RMW: And now a fairly predictable question: did you this article.Here’s the link to the full video interview (in
have fun? Italian only, sorry about that):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQf4sQLdlA
Piersoft: As I told you, in the beginning, it all started as
a game following my passion, so yes, I had fun in that We end this interview by expressing to Pierluigi all our
period. The software that was in our hands I initially solidarity for the struggle with his health problems, wishing
redistributed it for free, then it became a business. I also him all the best. We hope to have him with us for a long,
assumed all the risks and all the trouble involved because long time to come.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENGLISH YEAR 2 - ISSUE 9 Page 69 of 70

THE MULTIVERSE OF
RETROGAMING
Disclaimer
We all know that the world of
retrogaming is "magical", and you the RetroMagazine World as an aperiodic
gamers certainly have always the magazine entirely ad-free is a non-profit
feeling of being inside something that is project and falls off any commercial circuit.
All the published material is produced by
different from everything else. And it's true: we often feel like we are immersed the respective authors and published thanks
in a parallel reality, and we're seen from the outside as eternal children, never fully to their authorization.
grown, and as nerds in old age. If you begin to have doubts, start thinking that perhaps
RetroMagazine World is licensed under
they may be right. Just stop for a moment and sit down: answers will come to you. the terms of: Attribution-
Sometimes they arrive as a shock, or, as in this case, His Majesty the Science comes NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
knocking at your door. It teaches us the existence of the Multiverse, that is, a set of International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/
coexisting universes provided for by several theories, such as that of Linde's eternal 4.0/
inflation or that according to which a new universe would arise from every existing black
hole. There are several levels of multiverse, such as Level III, where multiple universes This is a human-readable summary of
all have the same physical constants but differ in what happens within them. Among
(and not a substitute for) the license. You
are free to:
them there is a reality that differs from ours only for one particular item: the SIXTY-
FOUR-ISM, better known as the cult of the Commodore 64. Here is the most widespread Share — copy and redistribute the
religion and its leader is ZotterGod, the one who discovered the dimensional bridges. material in any medium or format
ZotterGod wanted to create ZZOT! Magazine, the official bridge to spread sixty-four- Adapt — remix, transform, and build
ism in every reality of the multiverse. This faith is based on five dogmas that we do not upon the material
tell you here, we leave you the pleasure of discovering them by yourself looking for and
The licensor cannot revoke these
reading the magazine. The mood is inspired by the publications of video games of the freedoms as long as you follow the
80s, which will deal exclusively with new games for the C64, since the scene has re- license terms. Under the following terms:
exploded in a definitive way and in which there are games of crazy quality, sometimes
unattainable in the golden years of eight-bit computers. But ZZOT! is also a fiction: a
Attribution — You must give appropriate
credit, provide a link to the license, and
crazy interdimensional fantasy that is shown for the first time through a magazine and indicate if changes were made. You may
a web series. No one knows who is behind this crazy idea, their faces are hidden behind do so in any reasonable manner, but not
beautiful caricatures and invented names. A webzine that the day before it was put on in any way that suggests the licensor
endorses you or your use.
sale was "pirated" by the famous group called Hokuto Force and this, for those who
have been on the scene since the 80s, is a crazy deja-vu, a return home, to things done NonCommercial — You may not use the
well. Obviously the digital magazine is available in two languages, because ZotterGod material for commercial purposes.
cares about sixty-four-ism and wants to make it available to as many people as possible. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or
But where can you find this metaphysical magazine? Here are the links to enter this build upon the material, you must
multiverse from which it will be impossible to escape: distribute your contributions under the
• WEBSITE: https://www.zzot.it
same license as the original.
• FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/RedazioneZZOT No additional restrictions — You may
• YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjDL-lZVvo-tr7bVMs59QTw not apply legal terms or technological
• PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/ZZOT measures that legally restrict others from
doing anything the license permits.
• INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/zzot_c64
• ETSY SHOP: https://www.etsy.com/shop/REDTRONCO
Erm...ok, you're right, the link to the pirated version of the first issue of the webzine is
missing: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=205280
ZZOT! The fundamentalist magazine of the extremist sixty-four-ist.
Things from the other world friend readers: think that there, in that multiverse, the
magazine that comes from the other dimension is ZZAP!, perhaps you have already heard of it...
Mic the Biker Novarina

RetroMagazine World-English
Year 2 - Issue 9 - AUGUST 2021

Chief Editor
Francesco Fiorentini
Managing Editor
David La Monaca
Editing Manager
Marco Pistorio
Web Managers
Flavio Soldani/Giorgio Balestrieri