This version of the card game uses slightly different rules – it's a one-player game, for a start. First you bet some of your money, and then five cards are selected at random. After choosing which cards you want to keep, the remaining cards are changed, and it is then that you will hopefully win some money. You can also look at the odds of winning for each combination before you insert your money, and there are five skill levels as well. It goes without saying that you can't win or lose any real money, and you have to wait a long time between each turn; you'll soon get bored.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

The first CPC game based on the adventures of James Bond is a very run-of-the-mill affair indeed, comprising of three levels, based on scenes from the film, each of varying styles of gameplay. There is a reasonably fun platform level where James must escape from a mine before it caves in, an Impossible Mission-style level where James must explore the many floors of the City Hall, searching for objects, collecting door-passes, rescuing the girl and escaping before the place sets on fire, and a very poor driving section set in Paris, which is extremely confusing to navigate around. The graphics are pretty awful, but there is a nice rendition of both the Bond theme and the View To a Kill theme by Duran Duran, and the difficulty is set about right.

See also: Licence to Kill, Live and Let Die, The Living Daylights, The Spy Who Loved Me.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

You're the Vigilante and it's your calling in life to beat up the scum on the streets. One day, however, the evil skinheads kidnap your girlfriend Madonna (nice name) and take her to their den. The Vigilante must fight his way through endless gang members before he can destroy their boss and reclaim his girl. I'm a big fan of scrolling beat-'em-ups and the coin-op version was the daddy of them all. But how does the CPC version compare? Well, the graphics are detailed, colourful and downright excellent, but the gameplay is crippled by the slowness of the character, the unresponsiveness of the controls and the sheer difficulty as horde after horde of thugs attack you from all angles! That said, though, it's quite good fun, and poor Madonna's plight will keep you playing until she's safe in the Vigilante's arms!

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

In this top-down shoot-'em-up, you play as a lone Viking washed up on a hostile land. Your aim is to explore the vast land and locate the parts of your Viking longboat, before setting sail once more – but first things first, you're completely weaponless until you find your lost sword. A task that is not made easy by the hordes of enemy warriors intent on putting you in a shallow grave! The graphics are awful and tiny, the music is shrill and repetitive, and although the controls are responsive, the enemies are far too fast and plentiful for you to consider making any serious progress. Akin to Commando or Ikari Warriors in its concept, I don't want to insult those two great games further by comparing them to this ugly, below average effort.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Village of Lost Souls is the first part of The Realm of Chaos Trilogy. You play a warrior who emerges from the mists of a powerful spell to take on a quest. The words of your master echo in your ears – aid the Lord Talent of Dinham to destroy a portal to the Thirteenth Realm. The adventure starts with a series of obstacles that need to be removed before your main quest can commence. For example, there is a hut that is on fire that contains something important. Solving problems like these instructs you in how to play this adventure. It's a pretty large text adventure, too, meaning this one will take weeks to crack. Location descriptions are brief and scroll upwards. This can be annoying at times, waiting for it to finish so you can read it. Overall, a bland-looking text adventure that doesn't offer anything outstanding.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

The year is 2525; an armada of space stations sent by the evil Tangent Empire is approaching Earth. The only way to destroy this invading force is to infiltrate the enemy with your SR-88 Strategic Battle Tanks, better known as Vindicators. You must negotiate each space station's heavily guarded corridors, and destroy the control room. Replenish your tank's ever decreasing fuel supply with canisters located throughout the many levels. Collecting stars enables you to buy power-ups and special weapons in shops that are useful on the many enemies and the prerequisite big bosses. Essentially a re-packaged Ikari Warriors, the cute graphics are let down by the tricky controls of your tank's movements and firing, making this a difficult challenge.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

20000 Lieues Sous les Mers
(Coktel Vision, 1988)

Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and a whaler called Ned have been taken prisoner aboard the Nautilus submarine, piloted by the mysterious Captain Nemo, after it crashes into their ship. This is a computer adaptation of Jules Verne's 1869 novel of the same name, and you play the part of Professor Aronnax as he helps Captain Nemo in his underwater exploration. As well as a point-and-click adventure, there is also a sub-game where you shoot sharks. However, much of your time is spent waiting or visiting rooms and clicking things over and over again, hoping that something will happen. The graphics are messy and are not up to the standards of most of Coktel Vision's other adventures, either.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

Vixen is the only surviving human on the planet of Granath – a planet where giant dinosaurs still roam. As Vixen, you must wander the planet, killing all the monsters with a crack of your whip and leaping from platform to platform. Gems can be collected for bonus points, and you can also collect fox heads. When you collect enough of these, the next time you reach your lair, you are transformed into a fox and enter a bonus stage where you collect more gems. The cover of this game caused a lot of controversy, because it featured the snarling Page 3 model Corinne Russell in the guise of Vixen. She doesn't feature in the game, though, which is a very average platform game with nothing that makes it stand out from any other platform game.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

The computer game based on the profanity-laden comic sees three characters from the comic – Biffa Bacon, Johnny Fartpants and Buster Gonad – racing in the Fulchester fun run, with Roger Mellie (the man on the telly) providing the commentary. The race consists of five levels, and you must win each level if you want to go to the next one. Before each level, there is a sub-game where you can earn tokens which allow you to use special powers in the race. However, winning is extremely difficult, since any contact with obstacles or the other characters severely harms your chances. Your opponents are also suddenly able to overtake you if you go too far ahead of them! The graphics aren't bad, and the music is fairly good, but the novelty of the swearing soon wears off to leave a very poor game.

More information on CPCSOFTS

3

Play a game of volleyball with another player or against the computer. You can only score points when you are serving, and the first team to reach 15 points wins the game. First impressions are good, with a nice little tune and colourful, well drawn graphics (although both teams wear the same colours). However, it's a frustrating game to actually play. The players can't move diagonally, and when you are trying to bounce the ball, it's difficult to judge where it is going to land, and worst of all, the computer becomes very confused as to which player you should control. The result is that the computer is far superior to you and always wins. It's slow as well, and it's not a game you'll stick with for long.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4