A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
It is the year 3001 and, following the destruction of the Earth's population in a nucleur holocaust, all human souls have been sent to hell to pay for their destructive nature. Millennia later, an angel – Gabrielle – is sent into hell on a quest to gather the repentant and finally open the gates of heaven for them. It's a good storyline, and like many French games, it has excellent graphics and sound (a brilliant rendition of Madonna's Like a Virgin plays on the title screen!). It also has a good difficulty level – not too easy, not too hard. However, it could have been so much better. Its main drawback is its terrible collision detection; often you'll land on a platform and just sail right through it – very annoying. Still, it's above average, and has one of the most memorable loading screens ever...
This is a rather average Galaxian clone, with the usual storyline of "Aliens have invaded Earth and you are the only hope for humanity." We've heard it all before. On the first level, only one alien swoops down on your spaceship at a time, but the game unfortunately becomes a lot more difficult when two or more aliens do this, which occurs on the second level. It's a shame, because the graphics aren't bad and the game would otherwise be rather good.
The rebels are gradually taking over the galaxy, and you must stop them from gaining control of the centre. A map of the galaxy is shown, and the rebels' advance is marked by red crosses. You have to select a sector and beam down towards the planet in that sector in your Thunder Cloud II spaceship. This shoot-'em-up section consists of three stages which play slightly differently. Graphically, the game is very impressive – the shoot-'em-up stage is viewed in 3D with the aliens and meteors coming towards you – but there is absolutely no variety in each stage at all; every single sector looks the same and plays the same, and after four or five sectors, I got bored. The digitised music on the title screen is nice, though.
Aliens from every corner of the universe are gathering together to take part in the biggest sporting event in history – the Galactic Games! There are five different events, each one undertaken by a different alien race. There's the 100m Slither, where you must wriggle to victory without running out of slime, Space Hockey – basically, hockey with a living puck – Psychic Judo, where you must send out energy balls to attack your opponent whilst defending against his, Head Throwing, which speaks for itself, and the Metamorph Marathon, where you must complete a marathon over different types of terrain by morphing into different creatures. Despite merely average sound and graphics, and some tricky keyboard controls, this original take on the Olympic Games genre is addictive and great fun, and has a great sense of humour; some of the commentary is very funny!
It's another Space Invaders game and is arguably the worst CPC game of all time; ask anyone! You have to destroy waves of aliens, but to make things harder, they drop down on you. In fact, it seems to be almost impossible to avoid them, and that's the real problem with this game. It's not the terrible, garish graphics, or the below-average sound; it's just that getting beyond the first wave of aliens is unbelievably difficult.
After completing a space mission, it's time for you to return to your starship, but there are swarms of aliens to blast before you reach it. There are ten types of aliens, which you come across one swarm at a time, each type being nastier than the previous type, starting with the mostly harmless Rammers and Mushies, and finishing with the malicious Swoopers and Baiters. The truth is, it's another simple shoot-'em-up, although I suppose you could take the year it was released into consideration. The graphics are rather colourful and the sound effects are sparse, but there's nothing special about it at all.
The evil Forth Empire are constructing bases on each of the five planets that make up the Junos system. You must fly your spaceship across each planet and destroy the enemy control centres. Behind the thin plot to this game lies a great 3D space shoot-'em-up with lots of action. Each level is divided into several sections. First of all, you fly along the surface of the planet, then you enter the enemy fortress, flying through narrow, winding tunnels, where you eventually reach the control centre. There are lots of aliens to contend with, and they come at you all the time, so you can't relax for a moment! The scrolling is very fast indeed considering how much action is taking place on the screen, although the graphics are a bit too garish for my liking – but overall, it's a very good game.
You're a cosmo-policer and you must shoot everyhing that stands in your way – that's the plot to this game, which is very often incorrectly spelt as Galvan. The graphics are colourful, but the playing window is really tiny and you don't have time to prepare for the waves of incoming aliens that arrive from the edge of the screen. Add extremely irritating scrolling, dull sound effects, weird controls, and you get a nearly unplayable game!
An enemy swarm of aliens has taken over the planet Gallitron, and you've been sent down in your tank to destroy their communications satellites. Gallitron is divided into several zones, each with its own sentries to shoot and/or avoid, and its own scenery. You also have to keep a close eye on both your ammunition and fuel; they can run out very quickly. The graphics are OK but the shadows make for an odd sense of perspective, while the sound effects are very mediocre. It's also slightly easy, and there are a lot of extra lives lying about.
Another platform game with twenty levels consisting of a single screen, where you must kill all the dragons on each level and collect as many gems as you can while you're at it. A large white dragon flies across the top of the screen and lays lots of eggs which you can push so that they fall off the platforms and squash any dragons underneath them. There are several types of dragons which have different characteristics. The graphics aren't too bad, but the sound and music are terrible, and it's too difficult.
Five planet federations have fallen under Gremla's dominion and the only hope of freeing them is Arkos, a 'megaterminator'. Game Over is divided in two parts. On the first one you just have to rush through the screens, while the second part has some adventure elements. The graphics are quite good, with some really big sprites. The sound is only average because while the sound effects are pretty good, there's no music. Now, one thing I could never understand is why Arkos wants to defeat Gremla. On the loading screen they seem to be quite good friends.
See also: Game Over II.
This was released in Spain as Phantis, where it also had a completely different loading screen featuring a very sexy woman. As for the game... well, I was amazed! It's a Dinamic game that's actually a bit too easy! The first part (in which you enter the planet of Phantis in your spacecraft) is a standard space shoot-'em-up, while the second part (in which you must free your companion Gremla) involves some good old platform action and a lot of blasting. The reason why it's too easy is that extra lives are available in abundance, although you're really going to need them later on in the second part! The graphics and music are absolutely brilliant, and while there's nothing original about the game, it's still great fun.
See also: Game Over.
Based on the 1988 Olympics in Seoul (although it's not an official Olympics game), you can compete in eight events – diving, cycling, uneven parallel bars, rings, the hammer throw, hurdles, the pole vault, and archery. Some events, such as cycling and the hammer throw, require the usual joystick waggling that is associated with most athletics games. Other events, such as diving, require a combination of the correct joystick movements, as well as accurate timing. In fact, the available movements for the two gymnastics events are so complex that a flow chart was provided with the game to explain them, which takes all the fun away from them. However, most of the other events are fairly playable, although the standard of the graphics and animation varies widely between events, making the game feel slightly incoherent overall.
Arlene has been taken to the city pound, so Garfield has a plan to rescue her. After collecting some objects in Jon's house, it's time to set off to search the town. You'll also have to enter the sewers at some stage in the game. However, you must be careful that Garfield doesn't become hungry, or he'll have a 'snack attack' and eat an object that he's carrying! Like most cats, Garfield is sleepy, and if he falls asleep, the game is over. Odie can also be a great nuisance, but you can kick him out of the way. The graphics are quite good, but some of the locations use dull colours, and you're often left wandering about, trying hard to avoid a snack attack.
See also: Garfield: Winter's Tail.
Garfield is asleep and is dreaming about a chicken somewhere in Switzerland which lays chocolate eggs. The game is divided into three parts; the first sees Garfield skiing, the second sees him in the chocolate factory attempting to connect pipes together so that the chocolate reaches the egg-laying chickens, and in the third, he's on a frozen lake and has to find the other side. The game is slow, monotonous and boring, with monochrome graphics. There is also only one sound effect used throughout the game – now, is that awful or what?
See also: Garfield: Big, Fat, Hairy Deal.
Gary Lineker was one of the best known names in English football in the 1980s and early 1990s, although he doesn't actually feature within this game – Gremlin merely used his name to make it sell. What you get is an average football game which is rather fast, but unfortunately sacrifices playability and smoothness. The scrolling is very jerky and it's difficult to understand what's going on. Dribbling in particular is annoyingly frustrating to achieve. The graphics aren't that bad once you're on the pitch, and the music on the menu is good. However, it's not the best football game out there, and it didn't interest me for long.
A novel idea where your goal is to fill nine holes at the bottom of the screen with barrels. This involves dropping the barrels down a maze of tunnels with gates that redirect its descent. Once a gate has been used, it reverses direction, creating a new pathway. The maze itself can also be scrolled up or down to reach those awkward, hard to reach holes. The man pushing the barrels is well animated, but all other graphics carry a basic feel, mixed with simple sound effects. Overall, Gatecrasher is an entertaining and unique puzzle game that everyone will enjoy.
In this platform game, you must help our hero open the Gates of Hell; however, this will prove to be rather difficult, since there are a lot of obstacles and closed doors that stand in your way! The graphics are nicely drawn in a cartoon style with bright colours used, although they are not too detailed. A happy tune plays in the options screen, but during the game there are only some effects. The gameplay is pleasant and fast paced and the stages are well designed with a correctly set level of difficulty that increases reasonably as we progress. A drawback is that our hero may die only once! The grab factor is above average. Most probably, players will try repeatedly to open the Gates of Hell! Overall, a pleasant and well designed game, but it should have a continue option.
An early Defender clone for the CPC. In this version, you defend canisters littered along the landscape from a hostile alien race called the Reeg forces. When a Reeg ship lifts a canister and reaches the top of the screen, the cargo changes into a mutant hellbent on destroying you! Fail to kill all the baddies quickly enough and another group of ships appears, moving much more quickly, their cannons firing at you. The game is a fast side-scroller, frantic and colourful even though the original only had primitive graphics. It's quite a hard game where you will run out of ships very quickly. There's no music and only a few sound effects – listen to the explosion sound effects when you die. Overall, a good conversion of the original that is only let down by how difficult it is.
One of the most famous 8-bit games of all time, this is a faithful conversion of the classic multi-player arcade hit. You and a friend can choose between the wizard, valkyrie, barbarian or the elf. Lying before you is a dungeon comprised of countless levels filled with all kinds of treasures and horrors imaginable. Battle your way past ghosts, ghouls and a wide variety of evil monsters using magic and potions, as you desperately try to escape before your health runs out. Both graphics and sound here are delightful and once you get into this game, many, many hours can be lost! There is also another version of the game called Gauntlet: The Deeper Dungeons, which contains lots of levels designed by Gauntlet fans.
See also: Gauntlet II, Gauntlet III.
The game that follows on from the original has much the same layout, although some new features have been added. There are health-draining force fields and new monsters such as sorcerers, blobs of acid, and a black monster that homes in on you and saps your health. The levels also start changing randomly after level 5. Less important is the ability to choose what colour you want your character to be, and if you're playing with a friend, it's now possible for both of you to choose the same character. The graphics and sound effects are just as good and the game is as good as, if not better than, the original.
See also: Gauntlet, Gauntlet III.
The third instalment of the Gauntlet series is quite different from the previous two games. The game takes place on the island of Capra, which is divided into eight sections. The Devil has come from hell and unleashed his evil monsters, and you must kill them and return the Devil to where he belongs. The most obvious change is that the game is viewed in isometric 3D. However, it's also a Spectrum port, albeit one with very detailed graphics. Could we not have some more colour? You also have a choice of eight characters instead of four, and instead of dozens of small levels, there are now eight very large levels. There's a lot of walking involved, as each level is essentially a treasure hunt, but it's still a good game – if you're a Gauntlet fan, that is.
See also: Gauntlet, Gauntlet II.
Gazza may be a has-been now, but there was a time long ago when he was a rather skilful footballer. Unfortunately, this game (known as Bodo Illgner's Super Soccer in Germany) is utter tosh. You can choose to play in either a league or a cup tournament, or just have a friendly match. The players can be renamed and their statistics adjusted. All this detail sounds impressive; it's when you come to play the match that you start to scream. The scrolling is extremely jerky, and it's difficult to control your player. In fact, it's difficult to see which player you are trying to control. And is that noise supposed to be the crowd cheering, or is it interference?
See also: Gazza II.
This is a really nice football game, although it doesn't allow you to play in a league or a knockout tournament. The difficulty of the game depends on who you choose to play against – Albania are the weakest team, Brazil the strongest. Alternatively, you can play with a friend, although there's an annoying bug where the two teams swap colours at half time. Two nice features are the boot-o-meter, allowing you to control the strength of your kicks by holding down the fire button, and a radar screen which shows where the ball and all the players are. The game is very easy to get into, and with an amazingly cool tune on the menu screen, it's a winner.
See also: Gazza's Super Soccer.
In 1930s America, air races used to be held in which 'planes and their pilots would race around an open-air course which would usually be marked on the ground with pylons or other markers, and they proved to be very popular with the public. This game sees you taking part in such a race, except that there are sixteen courses to fly, and that instead of racing against other 'planes, you have to complete the course within a set time limit. However, you do have to dodge 'planes coming in the opposite direction! The music on the menu screen is nice, but the game is rather boring, the sound effects are poor, and the graphics are rather garish.
"DIE ALIEN MUTANT SCUM!," screamed the headline of the Soonday Spirit. Of course, the aliens took great offence to that, and now the entire galaxy has declared war against Earth. You've been sent out to stop them in the new Gemini Wing fighter. As well as the standard firepower, you can also collect power-ups in the form of gumballs which hang on to the tail of your craft, and they can be unleashed one at a time. To be honest, I don't like the game much. The graphics are nice, but the sound effects are pathetic and the collision detection is dodgy at the best of times.
Your father has been kidnapped and his house burnt to the ground. You pick a few items and try to find him in a strange and deserted land. This is the start of a good text adventure game, featuring nice MODE 1 graphics. Unfortunately, the plot is very, very linear and the game too short. All you can do is choose between two or three actions that appear in a window – and making the wrong choice often means death! There is no music, except at the very beginning (but it is rather bad anyway). However, it is an interesting game, where you always want to explore further.
Let's put it in a few words: this game (known as Crafton et Xunk to French readers) is one of the very best for the CPC. You're Crafton, an android who tries to escape from an experimental project. You must obtain a code to open the door to the outside. In the building, there are eight scientists, each of whom has a part of the code. You'll be helped by Xunk, a podocephalus (i.e. a foot with a brain on top of it!), who calls you when he has found something interesting, and occasionally helps you to jump over obstacles (and aliens). There are too many great and hilarious things in this game for me to detail here. The graphics are colourful and well designed, and the sounds fit the action perfectly. It's funny, clever, and great!
Save New York and the entire world from a disaster of biblical proportions in this spin-off from the hit film. Ghosts are converging on the evil Temple of Zuul, and the only way to stop them is by forming your own ghostbusting franchise with which you must make more money than you started with. Only after this and much ghost killing can you reach the final confrontation at the top of the temple. This is quite a poor game with crude graphics and annoying gameplay, and although the music (including speech) is good, it is nothing more than an excuse to cash in on the film.
See also: Ghostbusters II, The Real Ghostbusters.
Pretty closely based on the movie of the same name, Ghostbusters II has some of the best graphics and sound you'll ever see or hear on the CPC. From the intro screen to the digitised scenes straight from the movie to the gorgeous levels, the graphics are simply awesome, and the spooky sound effects and spot-on version of the Ghostbusters theme tune complement the graphics nicely. There are only three levels, which is disappointing, but the sheer difficulty of the first level, which sees you descending down a manhole to investigate a river of slime, means you'll have to be a gaming god to see the other two levels – which are awesome. All in all, a great game in all respects except the stupid difficulty of the first level!
See also: Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters.
Nightmare Mansion is well-named; it's home to some of the scariest creatures and monsters you can imagine! You're a macho muscle man who's been sent out to rescue your brother Buster from the mansion, but the mansion is too frightening even for you. Exploring the mansion reveals objects which you need to collect to gain access to other rooms, and you must also shoot any monsters which appear, otherwise the 'terrometer' will increase and you'll lose energy fast. It's not easy to get the hang of the game initially, but stick with it and you might well like it.
This is a straightforward platform game that sees you, as a knight, fighting off numerous ghosts, zombies and other monsters. The first level is set in a graveyard, where you have to jump over gravestones and several rivers. The second level sees you on a ship, with more platform jumping involved, and the third level is in a dark cave. After that, the levels start repeating. This game is really showing its age – the graphics are basic, the concept is totally unoriginal, the collision detection is woeful, and above all else, it's too hard.
See also: Ghouls 'n' Ghosts.
This is essentially Pac-Man transformed into a platform game. You are trapped in a haunted mansion and have to eat all the jewels on the screen before you can go to the next level. On each level, you may encounter ghouls, moving platforms, spikes and springs, and you'll also have to jump between platforms. So why does the game score such a low mark? Well, it's because this is perhaps the most impossibly difficult game I have ever played. Platforms and spikes are positioned so that you have to be pixel-perfect when jumping over or between them. Furthermore, it's very difficult to get into exactly the right position. This is one of those games that will make you want to smash your computer in a rage of frustration, and it is best left well alone.
Once again King Arthur must take on and defeat the evil forces in his kingdom in this, the sequel to Ghosts 'n' Goblins. A simplistic platformer, you jump around, avoiding obstacles and traps, while shooting the various nefarious supernatural monsters that come at you from all directions using a variety of weapons. Large bosses have to be defeated at the end of every level and as before, you only have your set of knight's armour and your pants to protect you! It looks only slightly nicer than its prequel but it lacks that game's excellent music and original gameplay. If anything, it's not the conversion of this game that makes it poor but the actual arcade original itself.
See also: Ghosts 'n' Goblins.
Secret documents belonging to NATO have been stolen by another country, and you have been parachuted into the jungles of that country, along with Killer, your dog. However, you have become separated from Killer, so you must find him first, and then you need to find the heavily armed enemy camp and the helicopter base. You also have a cypher which receives satellite communications, and a torch for seeing in the caves, and you'll need to pick up magazines to refill your gun. Most of your time is spent trudging around the jungles and the underground caves, and shooting any soldiers that cross your path, and before long, the game becomes boring. Furthermore, it's an ugly Spectrum port, and the text is littered with spelling mistakes.
Four pieces of Gilbert's dustbin have been scattered across his home city on the planet of Drill, and if he can't find them all within the time limit, he won't be able to travel to Earth to sign a new contract for his TV show. To find the parts, you must find a Milk Bar, go to an arcade cabinet and play a mini-game; if you win, you'll get a clue to the location of one of the parts. You can shoot aliens by firing snot at them (yuk!), and if you shoot enough aliens on a screen, a Hoverjelly will appear; shooting it allows you to collect either a tin of beans (allowing you to float – guess how!) or a slice of cake (which cancels the floating effect). However, some of the mini-games are very difficult to complete and rely more on luck than skill, and unless you win, the parts won't appear. The Spectrum-like graphics also reduce the game's appeal, although the music is quite good.
As Gilligan, your job is to collect the gold bags and put them all into the wheelbarrow while avoiding the shafts, bandits and trolleys. In order for Gilligan to collect the gold, he must pick up a gold bag and deliver it to the wheelbarrow, dropping it to collect a bonus. The bonus also acts as a time limit, so you lose one of your three lives if it reaches zero. Given the era of the game, there's nothing ground-breaking about it. The graphics are fine and somewhat cute, even though the colours clash. There's no tune and few sound effects which work well with the graphics, and the gameplay is straightfoward but effective. While the game is small (three screens), it has that great 'one more go' appeal.
Marcus of Massina is a Roman gladiator who seeks freedom, but it will come at a price – he must win fourteen fights in the arena against other gladiators and become the Emperor's Champion. Even then you won't have enough money to buy your freedom, so you must gamble your earnings on the outcomes of other fights. Before each fight, you must select three weapons out of a total of 45, one of which must be a dagger; however, there is no information on how effective each weapon is. Your opponents are also extremely difficult to defeat. Maybe there is a certain combination of weapons that make it easier to defeat them, but with 45 weapons to choose from, hardly anyone is going to search for it. The graphics are very poor, the sound effects are limited to a few beeps, and the controls are awkward, particularly if you're using the keyboard.
The planet of Hygon has been run over by aliens who have built three cities on the surface, so you have been sent there to kill as many aliens as you can and blow up the cities with nuclear weapons. The game consists of several timed stages in which you do one of three things – shoot aliens, shoot bits off alien spaceships, or negotiate a 3D obstacle course of tower blocks that come towards you. You have to repeat these stages dozens of times (or so it seems), with slightly different aliens each time, until you reach even the first city. There is hardly any skill involved in this game at all, and the vast majority of players will go and play something else when they quickly realise just how incredibly repetitive this game is.
Amsoft couldn't even spell Glenn's name correctly – tsk! Anyway, Glenn Hoddle was a very well known footballer in the 1980s, and then became a manager, and eventually, the coach for the England team. You don't get to play him in this terrible game, however. Why is it terrible? The main reason is because of the ridiculous method of controlling your players. You press the fire button to select a player close to the ball, but the wrong player is nearly always chosen, and he will often walk (not run) towards the ball in the wrong direction and allow the computer-controlled team to take it. It's really difficult for you to take the ball, and you can only watch as the computer scores a goal every ten seconds – yes, really! This is one football game that's at the bottom of the league.
The Abraxas Corporation has created a very heavily fortified artifical island. Your mission is to bomb ten nuclear reactors on the island within half an hour. Initially, you use a motorbike to get around, but by running down a slope, it's possible to change to a hang-glider and bomb the reactors. However, they're heavily guarded by lasers; running into pylons will confuse them for a while, though. The graphics are in dull monochrome and I think it's too difficult; the lasers drain your energy very rapidly if they shoot you, and there's nowhere to replenish it. In fact, this game is more famous for its music, which is excellent – if you haven't heard it, then listen to it now!
Gliece Security is a very interesting puzzle game in which you have to match the proper coloured keys to their corresponding locks. Sounds easy? Well, it isn't. This mind-boggling game requires precision and patience to be completed. The game begins with a well drawn image. The graphics are basic and not too detailed. A nice tune plays throughout the game, but there are no sound effects. The gameplay is challenging, interesting and addictive. There is definitely a very strong grab factor. The CPC has great puzzle games and this is no exception. Overall, a fine piece of art and a must for puzzle game lovers. For the rest of you, just make sure you try it at least once.
G-LOC stands for "loss of consciousness through G-force", which is what pilots can experience when performing manoeuvres in fighter jets. Taking the controls of one such jet, you must simply destroy as many enemy 'planes as you can. Your jet is armed with twin cannons and a limited supply of missiles. The action is non-stop as enemy formations approach you from in front and behind, and you will need to dodge their fire by rolling your jet in a 360° spin. However, there are only two types of enemy in the entire game, there is no scenery, and the gameplay soon becomes a little repetitive. Considering that this game requires 128K of memory, I expected a bit more from it.
Ingrid Bottomlow has returned from her studies at the Institute of Gnome Economics to her family's home, Gnettlefield Farm. However, in her efforts to apply her new knowledge, she causes chaos, and the family banish her using a magic scroll – which is not very nice! Can you help Ingrid find her way back to Gnettlefield Farm? This is a three-part text adventure which contains lots of humour and gnome-like spelling – for instance, changing 'north' into 'gnorth'. Many of the locations in all three parts are very similar to each other, which reflects badly on the game as a whole. The pictures are very nice indeed, but the first part is lacklustre and only uses one picture. Once you've completed it, you'll find the other two parts to be rather better.
Somewhere deep within the forest lies an old castle that is rumoured to contain vast amounts of gold and jewels. Many adventurers have set off in search of the castle and never found it. Those who did find it were never seen again. Goblin Towers is a short text adventure that's better suited for beginners. The game world isn't too large with location descriptions that are mostly brief. There are some intense battles though – so it may take many sword commands to slay your foes! The adventure does offer a small collection of puzzles that you will soon solve without much difficulty. So, if you're a novice to text adventuring, Goblin Towers is a good place to start.
A strange creature called Gogly needs to collect keys in order to unlock doors. This moves him to the next screen. Each screen becomes more maze-like, while bouncing projectiles aim to hinder your progress. This is a hard game that sends you back to the beginning each time you die! The graphics are colourful and well drawn with some good sound effects included.
Free the King and Princess who are being held by your nemesis Death Adder in his castle. Play as either Ax Battler the Barbarian, Tyris Flare the Amazon or Gilius Thunderhead the Dwarf and take your revenge as you hack and slash your way past his evil servants and guardians who block your path. As well as a variety of mean moves, each individual character has his or her own exclusive elemental magic that varies in strength. This is an excellent and faithful conversion of the arcade hit with some of the best graphics ever on the CPC.
You are a Buddhist monk in the Orient, who must achieve enlightenment by lighting incense before the statue of Buddha in a golden temple. Your journey starts with you as a young monk, and as the game progresses, you become older, eventually dying at the age of 100. The game sees you meeting various characters who may be friendly or hostile. You will find objects – but one of the big problems with the game is that I simply could not figure out how to make use of any of them! Another problem is that it accesses the disc all the time and this slows everything down a lot. The backgrounds for each room are well drawn, but a potentially interesting game is ruined by poor design and implementation.
This general knowledge quiz emulates the final round of the popular TV game show Blockbusters. This in itself is a little odd; why offer the player only the final round? Game-wise, it more or less matches the TV show's challenge but it does feel incomplete without the first and second rounds of the game. Good typing skills are required to overcome the harsh time limit on some of the harder difficulty levels – one spelling mistake and you've lost a section of the grid. A very poor offering from Macsen.
See also: Blockbusters (Macsen).
Fly your spaceship along a long corridor, shooting the obstacles and hazards in your way. Once you've reached the end of the corridor, you fly along another one. The corridor sections are viewed in isometric 3D reminiscent of the classic coin-op game Zaxxon. If you can complete both corridors, you then play a short section viewed through the cockpit of your spaceship, in which you must shoot aliens as they fly erratically towards you. The graphics are colourful, but there is a lot of flicker and the action is a bit slow, which makes the game too easy and repetitive, and therefore not much of a challenge.
Gonzzálezz is a Mexican who enjoys a siesta in the afternoons as many Mexicans do. However, this particular siesta has turned into a nightmare; he can hear an alarm clock ringing, but he cannot wake up! This game, like many Spanish games, is divided into two parts. The first part is a platform game in which you must guide Gonzzálezz through a surreal landscape to reach the alarm clock and finally silence it. In the second part, Gonzzálezz crosses the deserts of Mexico to find a nice hammock so that he can take his siesta in peace. The graphics are stunningly detailed and the animation of Gonzzálezz and all the enemies to be encountered is excellent. It's just a shame that the difficulty level is too high, particularly in the second part.
Goody is a thief who has set his eyes on the Bank of Spain, located in Madrid. You may help Goody in a humorous voyage across Madrid, collecting money to buy the necessary tools to do your job, while avoiding a bunch of funny characters ready to prevent him from achieving his goal. Unfortunately, Goody is far too difficult, with some screens that require skill, luck and loads of patience. Apart from that, it's quite a nice a game that's worth a few tries.
Based on the 1980s movie, this game sees you on a quest to find a pirate ship hidden deep within a cavern. Initially, it appears to be yet another platform game where you run, jump and collect things. Start playing the first screen and you soon realise there is a lot of careful planning and strategy required. You play two of the kids from the movie who have to work together on each screen to make it to the next one. Pressing fire swaps between them, so one can operate part of the scenery allowing the other kid to move onwards. The Fratelli family of criminals are also on the hunt for the treasure and need to be avoided. The graphics for each screen are simple but varied, with a basic tune playing throughout. Sound effects vary from screen to screen, adding some atmosphere.
This is a fun, if a little simple, game where you progress from screen to screen solving the puzzles presented on each one. You move in four directions collecting artefacts to increase your score. Certain paths are blocked by all-seeing eyes which lead to death if touched. Finding the correct switch will remove them, often leading to a bonus such as an extra life. Gorbaf can call on his magic ability to freeze the hordes that block his route, but careful timing is required. This game carries the feel of one made using a game creator like Sprites Alive.
A thinking man's Gauntlet. This game relies on skill and planning instead of just hitting the fire button. Your mission is to retrieve seven artefacts hidden and guarded within four towers, each comprising of seven floors. You have three distinct weapons that can be powered up, but ammo is needed. Just check out the fireball effect; it even destroys walls! 32 types of potion are to be found, and artefacts can also be collected that make you stronger. Graphically, this one is a smooth push scroll in MODE 0. Sound effects are sparse. It's a challenge indeed that seems simple at first until you realise that pressing the fire button will not always save or help you.
Compete in all sixteen races of the 1990 Formula 1 season and try to beat seven other drivers and ultimately win the World Championship. You can practice or race at an individual track or take part in an entire season of racing. Weather conditions will vary, so you will need to choose the correct tyres at the start of each race. First impressions aren't good; the game is a blatant Spectrum port and the controls are quite unresponsive – changing gears is particularly awkward. As for the race itself, the other drivers have an extremely annoying tendency to crash into your car, it's a miracle if you manage to get away from the starting grid unscathed! This is a very poor racing game indeed and isn't worthy of anyone's attention.
For a 1986 video game, Graham Gooch's Test Cricket is probably the best looking and best playing cricket game that remotely resembles a cricket match on the Amstrad CPC. Your objective is to beat those larrikins from the land Down Under in a sporting game of cricket. Four game types – a 40, 55, 60 overs or two innings game – can be chosen, one or two players can play, and there are simulation or arcade modes and a range of skill levels. You then select those classic players from the 1980s that you want on your team, such as Ian Botham from England or Alan Border from Australia. In simulation mode the computer does everything and you just watch; in arcade mode you select how you want to bat and bowl. It's a very tidy game with nice graphics and sounds, but it just lacks something, and it could have been brilliant.
One of very few Formula 1 management games for the CPC, this offering sees you competing against other teams in the bid to win the driver's and constructor's titles. You start by selecting sponsors for your team and the engine that your cars will use, but you can't choose which drivers to sign, which is a rather silly omission. Before each race, both drivers have to complete two qualifying laps, and you must then decide what tyres to use and how much fuel to put in the tank for each car. What really lets this game down badly is the race highlights, which last well over 20 minutes and offer no sense of thrill or excitement at all. It will test anyone's patience to sit through one race, let alone an entire season.
Get in the seat of a Formula 1 car and race in the World Championship around eight tracks. You can choose to drive either a Ferrari, a Williams or a McLaren; the Ferrari is the least powerful but has the best handling, while the McLaren is the most powerful but is also the most difficult to steer. There are also five difficulty levels which determine how much damage your car can take, whether you use an automatic or manual gearbox, and whether your engine can blow up. Controlling your car is quite difficult, and you're constantly swerving, trying to centre the steering! The game is rather easy, and you can usually win races without any problems. The graphics are very good, but the scrolling is quite jerky and you don't really get an impression of driving fast.
You're racing in a Formula 1 car along a track, and you must overtake 30 cars within 10 minutes. This isn't a proper racing simulation at all, as the track is almost completely straight, and all the game consists of is dodging the oncoming cars. This is quite difficult, as you can't steer your car and decelerate at the same time. To make matters worse, your car handles more like a tank, and it's extremely difficult to avoid the oncoming cars. If that wasn't enough, the graphics are terrible (although the game was admittedly released in the very early days of the CPC), and the sound is awful. This is definitely a game you want to avoid at all costs!
Racing on twelve different circuits, you must prove that you're the best motorbike driver in the world. You can choose between championship or practice, and one or two players. But even in solo mode, the screen is split into two halves, making the action sometimes difficult to follow. The feeling of speed is well rendered, but it is hard to anticipate the bends because you can't see very far. The graphics are good, although the background is always the same. The crashing of your bike isn't very realistic either, and the sound of your engine is a bit strange. But what is more annoying is that your bike responds very slowly, which makes the races a bit hazardous.
See also: Grand Prix 500 2.
Get on a 500cc motorbike and race against five other riders on twelve circuits around the world in the championship. Of course, there are also options to take part in a single race or some training. The game is full of options, with three difficulty levels and the ability to save and load your championship position. You can even choose the colour of your bike. Two players can take part in a race simultaneously, which is great fun. Despite all of these options, the game retains an arcade feel to it, as opposed to being a realistic simulation of motorbike racing. The presentation and graphics are both excellent and there is a real sense of speed as you zoom around the tracks at well over 200mph.
See also: Grand Prix 500cc.
Not this! The tracks in this game are viewed from above, and you have to buzz your 'car' (which looks exactly like a box, by the way) around the track within the time limit to go to the next one. The trouble is that your car is impossible to control and the track must have black ice all over it, making it ridiculously difficult to progress – well, that's what I think. The pictures of the McLaren and Ferrari at the top are nice, but the rest of the graphics aren't as good. The tune and digitised speech ("three... two... one... go!") are both superb, though, but that doesn't make the game any better for it.
See also: Grand Prix Simulator 2.
Time to go racing once again as you try to complete three laps of each track (nine of them in total) before your time runs out. The time you get for each track depends on how well you did on the previous one, so it's important to do as well as you can on all the tracks. The main differences between this game and the original are that up to three players can take part, and that the graphics are in four-colour mode – and they're much better for it! The cars are still a bit tricky to control, but if you keep practising, you will get somewhere.
See also: Grand Prix Simulator.
Gonch's Walkman has been confiscated again, and if his mum finds out, he will be in big trouble. Along with his friend Hollo, he decides to break into Grange Hill and retrieve it. This is an arcade adventure in which you wander around, looking for objects and finding what they are used for and where to use them. The program uses menus in order to accomplish commands, and you can also enter commands directly when you want to use objects or talk to people, although the parser is very limited indeed. The music is really groovy (although unfortunately it's not the old Grange Hill theme tune). On the other hand, the parser and the plethora of hazards which end the game instantly make the game frustrating to play, and the graphics are fairly poor as well.
The year is 1942, and you are a prisoner of war, incarcerated in a German camp. How will you escape? Guards patrol the camp day and night, but by watching their movements and becoming familiar with the daily routine, and exploring the layout of the camp, you can work out how to minimise your chances of being detected – and if you are caught, you'll be placed in solitary confinement for a while, and any objects you are carrying will be confiscated. This game is regarded as a classic, but the CPC version is unfortunately a Spectrum port, and it suffers accordingly. The concept is original, but the isometric graphics are displayed in a single colour, and the scrolling is very slow indeed. As a result, it takes ages to move from one place to another, and I reckon that the majority of players will not have the patience to play it fully.
Giana and Maria are dreaming, and in their dream, they enter a world full of platforms and cute monsters which they can kill by bouncing on their heads. Some of the platforms also reveal coins if you hit them with your head. There are also diamonds to collect, but make sure you don't fall off the platforms! Yes, I know what you're thinking. "This is Super Mario Bros.!" It is very similar indeed; in fact, it's so similar that Nintendo sued Rainbow Arts and won, and the game was withdrawn from the shelves after about two weeks, so I suppose it's quite a rare game. The gameplay is as good as its Nintendo equivalent, although the movement is slow and there are no sound effects at all!
An early game by programming great David Perry, Great Gurianos is a port of the arcade game Gladiator. You play as Gurianos and must walk along, using your sword and shield to either block or destroy incoming monsters, before taking on a selection of rival gladiators. There are a few nice touches: you can block and strike at three different levels – low, mid and high – adding a bit of strategy to the boss battles; armour disappears from you and your opponents as you battle; and there is an excellent tune on the title screen. However, the game is criminally difficult, and the graphics are rather bland and empty. The big killer, though, is that due to lack of space to include an ending, Perry made the final boss invincible!
This game appeared on one of Alternative's Classic Arcadia compilations; as far as I know, it wasn't released on its own. Anyway, you have to guide some frogs safely across a busy road and a river, and place them in boxes on the other side of the river; yes, it's a Frogger clone. You have to manoeuvre the frogs through the gaps in the fast-moving traffic, and then leap across the logs on the river, and time the leaps into the boxes perfectly, otherwise you lose a life and must start the process again. When you have placed five frogs in the boxes, you go to the next level. The graphics are fairly good, and the sound effects are simple, but the second level is too difficult and it's not a game you'll stick with for long.
Take on the might of the enemy's forces to rescue the captives in this Cold War platformer. Run, jump and shoot your way past their troops to reach your goal. Any collisions means instant death so it turns out to be quite a job – especially when some of your opponents are armed with guns while you are only armed with your trusty combat knife. Luckily, if you manage to bump off a passing handyman you can pick up new weapon, albeit with limited ammunition, such as a flamethrower or a bazooka, which prove to be considerably useful in a sticky situation. A nice looking game with limited sound, it remains difficult but ultimately frustating.
Gregory has gone to sleep, but a ghost has come along and taken his alarm clock! He now has to enter his dreams and find the four pieces of the clock before he wakes up again. The first level is set in a warehouse of some sort, and then it's on to a jungle full of strange inhabitants, an art gallery, and finally a battlefield. It's a game which is aimed at younger people and this is clear from the blocky but bright graphics, but there's not much sound, and it's not very good, anyway. The first level is OK but the second level will have you tearing your hair out.
As far as I know the world's only 'garden-'em-up', the aim of this oddity is to nurture a garden, and keep the pesky insects away from it. This is done by switching between the game's two characters – Grell, a gnome who mainly comes in handy for killing the insects, and Falla, a fairy who flies about sprinkling various dusts on the garden to make it grow. It may sound easy, but soon becomes fast and furious as you desperately switch characters to kill insects in some far-off corner of your garden! The graphics are fine – quite colourful and cartoony, as you would expect from Codemasters – and the sound effects are OK too. It's just the game itself didn't grab my attention. A passable attempt at a very different genre of game!
The town of Kingston Falls has been overrun by gremlins. You are Billy, who was responsible for introducing them in the first place, and you must now rid the town of the gremlins by any means possible. This is a text adventure with illustrated graphics for several of the locations. A nice touch is that the pictures change based on events; for instance, if you have killed a gremlin, the picture will show the gremlin's corpse. However, all of these graphics may be the reason why the parser is fairly limited, though if you have seen the film that the game is based on, you will recognise a lot of the puzzles and have an easier time solving them.
See also: Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Gremlins 2 has, in my opinion, some of the best graphics on the CPC. You're Billy Peltzer, from the film of the same name, and you have to battle through the Gremlin-infested TV studios where you work. It doesn't sound like much, but the game is seriously fun! Characters from the film are instantly recognisable, and the Gremlins come in all sorts of different guises. The sound is pretty good, too, but this game is all about the graphics! Giant Gremlin faces appear on huge TV sets as you pass, and the spider boss is one of the best-looking bosses ever! A truly great film licence. Be warned though, it is quite easy, and shouldn't pose too much of a problem to a seasoned gamer. Not that it matters, because you'll be coming back to finish this again and again!
See also: Gremlins.
Enjoying a few drinks at the local pub, a cat named Norman the Wise learns that Mauron the Evil One has stolen the Orb of Life. It must be retrieved and returned to the Cup of Sorrows, so that peace and love will reign once more across the land of Greyfell. The problem is finding the Orb, and for that, you will need to find some of your friends, who will provide you with some very cryptic clues. If you can work out their meaning, you will know which object to collect and give to them so that they can help you a bit more. It sounds like a promising adventure game, but it is appallingly slow. It takes ages for Norman to go anywhere, and most of the locations are drab and dull. The mostly monochrome graphics and awful sound effects make things even worse.
Go for Super Bowl glory in this American football management game. Offering a choice of sixteen of the top NFL teams, you are in charge of finances, team selection and player transfers. Unfortunately this is an extremely shallow simulation of the real sport. There are no player positions, players can literally play anywhere, there are only eleven guys who apparently play the entire match (offence and defence), and there are no tactical options in the slightest. For a game that is built on plays and movements, this is a shocking omission. The game simply revolves around you moving players in and out of your reserves as they inexplicably lose energy, before watching the slow and crudely drawn match highlights from a distance. This seems like it's been designed as a rugby game and re-skinned to take advantage of the American football craze of the 1980s; a shocking waste of time.
Groops! is an addictive puzzle game; make combinations of specific boxes and see them explode! To begin with, the graphics are magnificent. There are sixteen colours on the screen with highly detailed boxes and backgrounds, and the explosions are impressive as well. The choice of colours used is so precise that one might think that it is a game for the Plus machines. The sound is state of the art; there are many themes, all of them composed with care and imagination. The gameplay is fast-paced, enjoyable, challenging and entertaining. There is a variety of game modes, further boosting the playability. The grab factor is nothing less than addictive; this game can easily become an everyday habit. To conclude, this is definitely one of the best CPC games ever and a brilliant masterpiece in general.
This is the second of the two Adrian Mole games and it's extremely similar to the first. It's so similar, in fact, that you might as well go and read the review for The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole! The garish graphics are still here, as are the well written entries and the lack of interaction, where all you do is make the occasional decision from three possible options, which affects your score (again starting at 40%). Er... is there anything else I can say?
See also: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.
Lance and Bill have to rid the Earth of the very H. R. Giger aliens that have invaded it in this excellent conversion of the arcade coin-op Contra. This game boasts superb graphics and really shows off the graphic capabilities of the CPC. Along with some great sound effects the gameplay is also just right and it's a really enjoyable challenge. The 3D sections are quite impressive and it's well worth completing as the ending is hilarious.
A blatant rip-off of Vigilante, The Guardian Angel (or Freddy Hardest in South Manhattan to Spanish readers) puts you in the shoes of a red-bereted Guardian Angel (surprise!) as you walk the streets taking out the bad guys, who attack from the front and behind, until you reach the end of the level. The graphics are very detailed – perhaps too much so, as the sprites often become hard to distinguish from the background – a problem made worse by the game's immense lack of colour. Also, the sound effects are bad. And on top of that, the game's far too hard; you just can't get past Ricky 'Death Star' Chan in his forklift truck on the second level!
See also: Freddy Hardest.
Anyone who doesn't like puzzle games should steer clear of this game. The aim here is to place coloured tiles next to each other so that they form squares or rectangles. On each level, you must achieve a certain number of points to complete it, and you only get one chance. However, there are some areas of the screen that you cannot use, and on higher levels, you must think carefully about how best to fill the available space. Don't spend too long thinking, though, as there are one or more balls bouncing around the screen and draining your time limit at the same time! There are fifteen difficulty levels, each represented by a guardian which you select on the menu. The graphics are very pretty, but the gameplay is a bit repetitive.
The Raiders have come to take the Earthlings away and turn them into Mutants, and only you can stop them. Zooming over the surface, look out for the Raiders as they attempt to snatch the Earthlings and take them away, or preferably, shoot them before they can do this. You can, however, rescue the Earthlings and return them to the surface. Each wave brings on new types of enemy, and there are plenty of them; if you get past the third wave, you're doing rather well! The game is based on the classic Defender and the graphics and sound effects are suitably retro, and though it's difficult, it's quite addictive and great if you're after a quick blast.
J. T. Gamber is an ex-special forces soldier. The economic crisis has plunged society into poverty, from which a new power has emerged. The citizens live in fear, but J. T. Gamber is already fed up with the criminal gangs and has decided to take the law into his own hands. Now it's time for you to control him and punish the bad guys. The graphics are colourful but not too detailed, although this doesn't mean they're bad. The loading screen is very good. The scrolling is very smooth and fast, and there are both sound effects and a great tune which plays during the game. The gameplay is great with fast-paced, non-stop action; the game sometimes feels like Navy SEALs. The difficulty is well balanced, but the game is not big; you will probably complete it after a few tries.
Guerrilla War is a conversion of a coin-op by SNK. The name of this arcade machine in Japan was Guevara, which is self-explanatory with regard to the plot of the game. You have to choose between being either Che Guevara or Fidel Castro and must make your way from the coast on the first level to the headquarters of your enemy on the last one. Guerrilla War is a faithful version of the original game. The graphics are big and colourful, the sound and the music are also quite good and so is the scrolling. As a matter of fact, almost any fault and virtue in the CPC version can be found in the arcade machine. Fortunately, the game is easier on the CPC, which makes playing Guerrilla War much more appealing.
The Guild of Thieves is legendary throughout the land of Kerovnia, and you want to join their ranks. But the Guildmaster has set a test for you, to see if you are worthy enough. You have to search an island and steal and collect every treasure that you can find! There are lots of places to explore, and many objects to be found, and some of the treasures aren't obvious. There are also a lot of ingenious puzzles, and thankfully an inexperienced adventurer will be able to progress fairly quickly in the game. The plot and the landscape are more believable than the game's predecessor, The Pawn, and the graphics are just as brilliant, if not better. Add some nice humour (spend some time reading all the books in the library and you'll see what I mean), and you've got arguably the best text adventure for the CPC.
Guillermo Tell (or William Tell in English) was a Swiss hero from the 14th century, who famously shot an apple perched on top of his son's head using his crossbow. In this game, Guillermo Tell must traverse the Swiss mountains to rescue the beautiful lady Brunegilda, who has been captured by the evil Sir Rudolph. However, his many henchmen are ready and waiting to ambush Guillermo throughout his journey. This game requires MHT's Gunstick; unfortunately, it cannot be played using the keyboard or joystick. The graphics are beautiful and full of colour, but the game is let down by being frustratingly difficult. Your ammunition is very limited, and there are so many enemies and missiles on the screen that you are overwhelmed.
Penetrate the enemy waterways in your gunboat and find and destroy four naval bases. The waterways are very heavily fortified and you will be subject to a barrage of hostile fire from warships, helicopters and gun turrets, and you must also watch out for mines. Your gunboat is equipped with a cannon, missiles, torpedoes and depth charges, and you'll need to know which weapon to use against particular enemies. You won't get many chances to use them, though, because your gunboat is bombarbed by so much enemy firepower that you'll be lucky to survive for more than a couple of minutes! The gunboat is also very difficult to control properly, and with so many enemies attacking you simultaneously, slowing down to position yourself to fire at an enemy is almost inevitably lethal. It's a terrible and immensely frustrating game to play.
This colourful-looking game involves shooting ducks as they fly by. The hunters take it in turns to aim at the ducks; a direct hit allows you another shot at them. If your shooting skills are spot on, you control your loyal pet dog and collect the bird and take it to the basket. Sometimes the bird may fall on the other side of the river which means your poor mutt must brave the water and obstacles. The game ends when the timer runs out and the hunter with the most kills wins. An old game, with basic sound and graphics, that is fun for a while.
You're the Sheriff, and your town has fallen under attack from outlaws who have gained the deeds to several buildings. You must take out these criminals in the only way they respect – gun fights. There's reward money, too, which can be gambled with or used to gain an extra life. Be careful with your gun, though, as you only have six bullets – your office has fresh supplies. I found this a simple yet acceptable game with simple graphics and sound. It can get a little repetitive, though, and there isn't a horse in sight!
Sheriff Quickdraw has come into town to clear it of the gunslingers that are roaming about – and earn a lot of money as well. Each one has to be found first, though, and this Wild West town is rather big. You must avoid bumping into any of the townfolk, although some of them may be able to point in the direction of the criminal and help you in locating him. When you have found him, you must shoot at him to grab his attention, before taking part in a showdown, in true Wild West fashion. Make sure your gun is fully loaded, though! This is a very good game with lots of excitement and some great sound effects, although it would be better if you had more than three lives.
Angel Face and four of his henchmen have entered a Wild West town, and as the sheriff of the town, you've got to track them down and shoot them. This is a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up in which you simply shoot all the cowboys and Mexicans which come towards you. However, the odds are stacked against you; you can't turn around or move backwards, so if there are any enemies behind you, it's usually difficult to avoid them and their bullets. You can also collect stars which give you extra lives or points – or a bomb! This Spanish game (which is known as Desperado over there) has colourful graphics and great music and presentation – the loading screen and the end credits when you complete the game are brilliant – but the gameplay isn't as good.
See also: Desperado 2.
Another below average space shoot-'em-up. In this one, there are five stages, seeing you controlling one of three Gunstar pilots and blasting aliens large and small, and flying through asteroid fields. It's all in a day's work when you're a Gunstar. On the fifth and final stage, you must dock with your mothership, and if you succeed in doing that, you go back to the first stage to do it all over again! The game itself is pretty difficult; if you lose a life, you must restart on the first stage. While the graphics are nicely done, both the scrolling and animation are a bit slow, and alien bullets are often too easy to miss in all the chaos. There's nothing original at all and there are much better games like it.
Control a ball running along a gutter, and move it left and right to hit the kings, queens and jesters, while avoiding the axemen and monks. You'll lose one of your three lives if you touch an axeman, while touching a monk sends you all the way back to the start of the gutter, which is not funny when you've progressed so far. There's a guide on the right of the screen which shows you how far along the gutter you are. The concept is really simple, but despite the colourful graphics and jolly tune, the game soon becomes very repetitive.
Greedy Guzzler, the rodent with a large appetite, has to eat all the fruit in a maze while avoiding the Frobblies. Where the game differs from Pac-Man is that you need to get keys to reach the fruit. When you've eaten the fruit, though, Guzzler will become rather fat and will be unable to reach other sections of the maze. The only way to make him slim again is to touch Deflator Dennis who zooms around the outside of the maze – but don't touch him if you're thin! You can also use bombs to temporarily stun the Frobblies. The game is fun at first, but you quickly realise that it's just another average sort of game with unspectacular graphics, sound and music. It's still worth the occasional go, mind you.
Guide your gyroscope through an obstacle course of hills and narrow platforms, without falling off the edges or colliding with any of the aliens. The gyroscope is quite tricky to control, and the design of some of the seven levels means that getting anywhere can sometimes be a matter of luck. The graphics are all right and do their job, although the tune that plays throughout the game is annoying. Frustration may well set in quickly for most players, though – and why do you have to wait so long for the menu screen to fade away before the game starts?