Jdanddiet's Gaming and Movie Blog

Suits You Sir - Crysis 2 XBOX 360 Review

2012-01-27T15:30:00.008Z

There can be no doubting that Crytek's sequel to their PC game is a beautiful piece of work. I don't think I've ever played a videogame with such amazingly complex and stunning vistas, and this standard is maintained throughout the game. The scene where a building collapses right next to you has to be seen to be believed.

The background story to Crysis 2 is standard Alien invasion guff and strikes me as desperately similar to fellow sci-fi shooters of this generation such as Halo and Gears of War. Where Crysis 2 eclipses these two great series, however, is with its variety.

The USP of Crysis 2 is the suit: it's a powerful, flexible bit of kit, and fittingly drives the story. Boasting a number of useful abilities, it gives the player the chance to evaluate different tactical options throughout the game, meaning you really do play it your own way.

The key abilities are cloak mode and full armour. Strap one of these babies on and for a short time you're either invisible or practically impervious. Of course there's a catch: both abilities use a lot of energy (especially whilst moving) and running out of power at the wrong time can be extremely unfortunate for you and the main character, Alcatraz.

Other powers include advanced jumping and running speeds, a nifty night vision and a useful trick of being able to power kick and punch enemies. Naturally the weapons in the game are also of vital importance with the usual range of shotguns, machine guns, pistols and rocket launchers. In another addition, each has it's own variation of sight (or fire mode) that can be easily adjusted in game and the suit itself can also be upgraded. Collecting nano energy left by dead Ceph aliens is your currency and this eventually unlocks some neat additions to the suit's powers.

Alas, Crysis 2 does indeed have some of the reported graphical glitches, which were nonetheless infrequent enough not to hamper my enjoyment of the game.

But overall I found it to be a playable, exciting, tense shooter and, yes - whisper it quietly - I think it's better than Halo Reach.

2012-01-18T15:39:00.003Z

Well it's been over a month now since I've posted on my blog and whilst I'm working on a few new interesting items, I fear I won't be able to update it quite as often as over the last year or so. A combination of increased work commitments and (hopefully) more articles for Retro Gamer Magazine has meant that I don't have as much time these days for my blog. Please call in whenever you can, though, as I will still put up my thoughts on whatever XBOX 360 or retro game I've been playing in addition to the odd Spectrum and XBLIG developer interview.

Next up within a week or so will be my review of the 360 game, Crysis 2.

Cheers
JD

Return of the Living Dead: XBOX Dead Space 2 review

2011-12-13T16:22:00.006Z

The original Dead Space was the second game I played on the 360, and remains one of my favourites. A textbook example of survival horror, it eschewed all-out action in favour of building tension and shocking the life out of the player. For its sequel, released earlier this year, Visceral took the small number of criticisms of the original on board and produced a brilliant sequel. Unfortunately some quarters criticised the slowburn approach mentioned above, when really they should have been playing Call of Duty instead if they really thought that. However this doesn't serve to detract from Dead Space 2. I had huge fun once more playing this game and found in the main that the small improvements had a big impact.

Poor old Isaac. After his terrifying ordeal on the Ishimura, he's now woken up on another futuristic nightmare, this time a moon-based colony know coloquially as The Sprawl. With no memory of the past three years, he's arisen just in time to witness another necromorph outbreak, only this time the nasty critters have a plentiful supply of human victims to transform. This is all the excuse the developers needed to up the action quotient of the series, with masses of enemies attacking Isaac at every opportunity. Aesthetically The Sprawl looks awfully similar to the Ishimura once you get past the living quarters and Church of Unitology (chapters 2, 3 and 4), save a few breathtaking shots of the station and Saturn outside; however, the few subtle changes and set-pieces make it a wholly different experience.

Firstly, the Zero G has been radically - and sensibly - overhauled. Gone is the directionally confusing jumping from one surface to another; Isaac can now float in any zero-g environment and propel himself thanks to the aid of twin boosters on his RIG. This makes for a more practical and playable game whenever gravity is absent. Secondly, there are none of the first games' annoying cannon levels, especially the asteroid blasting mini-game: I, like many, found this section hugely irritating. Thirdly is the inclusion of the re-wiring mini-game, where Isaac has to quickly re-connect panels in order to progress which is a strangely satisfying experience. And finally, some of the new action set-pieces in DS2 are stunning. My particular favourites: the battle on the fast moving train where Isaac must make his way through the train, battling necromorphs until he discovers there's a carriage missing...and the destructive end to this. And in another breathtaking segment, Isaac is casually strolling along a corridor before the next thing you know he's in outer space...

With the addition of some new enemies (including the nasty range attack of the Spitter) and weapons, Dead Space 2 is as a sequel should be: familiar enough to be easy to approach to anyone that's played the original yet different enough to present a new challenge to the player.

Jdanddiet's Dead Space 2 tips

--Always keep a couple of saves in reserve. DS2 throws a lot of enemies at you and you really don't want to be caught short of ammo or health packs.
--There are too many weapons to own first time around. Stick to 2 or 3 and upgrade them accordingly. Un-upgraded weapons will be useless by the final few chapters.
--Get the spitters early. Their deadly acid not only drains HP but also severely restricts movement. Makes a great sound effect though!
--The ripper is a super weapon to have when things get up close and personal. Which is often.
--Ammo is scarcer than in Dead Space. Always hunt around for more, usually by going in the opposite direction you are supposed to be going!
--Upgrade your suit as soon as you can, ostensibly for the armour improvement, but also to get more inventory slots. Going back and forth to collect items is not fun.
--I didn't use stasis much during combat in the original DS. With the number of enemies DS2 chucks at you, it's invaluable. Don't forget it!

JD is resting...

2011-12-09T20:02:00.001Z

Hello Darkness my Old Friend: XBOX 360 Review: Alan Wake

2011-11-24T19:35:00.011Z

To anyone over the age of 30, the term "interactive movie" will send shivers down your spine. Memories of horrific minutely-interactive FMV games from the early 90's when CD-rom was in its infancy and developers struggled to harness to good effect its massive storage power scarred
even the most thick-skinned gamer, wowed at the time by impressive tech demos and screenshots.

These days things are a bit different; games are able to offer far superior visuals that more closely match real life than ever before, and offer a fully interactive world to boot. So the only necessary requirement is a plot that simply doesn't serve as a device to forward the game from one shooting gallery to the next. Alan Wake tries manfully to fulfill this requirement.

Alan Wake was a long time coming to the 360 and as a result anticipation for the game was high. This is usually followed by disappointment, but as I have only recently become interested in the XBOX 360, I took the game purely at face value. And alas, this still incurs some disappointment...

Playing the eponymous writer, your task is to locate and rescue your missing wife, Alice. The game is a complex maze of dreams and the turbulent, writers block wrought, mind of Wake as he wanders through the small town of Bright Falls, chased insessantly by the "Taken", normal people possessed by The Dark Prescence, a malevolent being whose sole purpose appears to be to torment the struggling novelist. The Taken hate the light, which is not so much of an advantage as most of the game takes place during the night!

Likes

1.The Plot
OK, it can be construed as meaningless nonsense, but at least it keeps you on your toes with a few twists.

2.Combat
Simple and easy to get the hang of, despite the dual dynamic of flashlight plus weapon.

3.Atmosphere
Wake has it in bucketloads. Whenever the Taken are about to attack the area takes on a windswept, ethereal quality which really cranks up the tension.

4.Music
Sparse, but highly effective. The tunes at the end of each episode (Nick Cave!) are also very apt.

5.It's 3rd Person
I'm no FPS hater but always prefer this perspective.

6.The Poltergeists
I thought this was a really neat addition - inanimate objects would suddenly take on a life of their own and start flinging towards you. Creepy.

Dislikes

1.The Plot
I really struggled to know what was going on sometimes. I think it was unnecessarily complicated. But then maybe I was just not paying attention enough. Now, where was I? Oh yeah...

2.Combat
It never really varies a great deal, neither do the enemies. There are very few weapons as well.

3.My guns and torch kept getting taken off me!
Just put them in your blinkin' pocket, Wake!

4.The general gameplay could have done with a bit more complexity.
Alan Wake is hardly a challenging game but considering the effort that has gone into the plot, I think a bit more brain-action would have fitted well.

5.Wake gets knackered really quickly.
...and usually has to pause for a breather just as some nasty is about to stab him in the back...

Conclusion
We shouldn't be too harsh on this game as it tries to do something different from the myriad of FPS or TPS that exist today. By essentially designing the game around a plot, it's a fine effort at
building an effectively eerie atmosphere that anyone brought up on Resident Evil and the like will certainly find considerable enjoyment from. As it can be picked up really cheaply now, I'd heartily recommend it to any fan of Survival Horror games.

XBOX 360 Recap: Battle of the Backlog

2011-11-17T20:37:00.010Z

It's been six months now since I first experienced life after retro with my XBOX 360. So how have things gone with my new machine?

My first game with this modern technology was Halo 3, having just played the first 2 games on the original XBOX. Halo 3 seemed more of the same to me, but I was wowed by the fancy graphics and hugely enjoyed the experience.

Halo 3 had cost me £1.25 from a charity shop and I was quickly into my stride, trading in a load of old PS2 and XBOX games at my local CEX so I could purchase some of their exhaustive range of (mainly) competitively priced 360 games. The first wave of purchases included Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed, Halo Reach, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, Mass Effect, Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper and Batman Arkham Asylum and I'm slightly ashamed to say some of these remain totally unplayed...

Yet from this list came Dead Space and this remains the game that has impressed me the most even now. Firmly entrenched in single-player (I'm not too keen on MP), this for me has been the outstanding experience so far on the Xbox 360. Simultaneously, I dabbled with Singularity, a FPS that begins in stunning mediocrity before redeeming itself with some Half Life 2-esque gameplay and a nicely ambiguous conclusion. These were both completed, but Left 4 Dead left me for cold (too geared towards MP for me I fear) and I'm currently on my 4th attempt at Mass Effect - I have only persevered because so many people rate this game so highly. Dragon Age I also tried to get into, but Bioware's fancy graphics didn't hide a creaking combat system that quickly became tiresome. It got traded, as did Dead Rising which again seemed too geared to multiplayer for me.

As such a lover of the Resident Evil games, it wasn't long before I was playing the 5th game on the 360, and this too was an enjoyable experience, despite some erratic AI and your character's inability to walk and shoot at the same time. Darksiders was another recommended game, and another that I persevered with for a while. An on-rails flying section finally tested my patience too far, however, and that got ebayed a few weeks ago.

I was still acquiring games, mostly galvanised by cheap prices. I would determine not to buy anything, only to spot a wanted title to be on sale for a fiver or so, and another game would be added to the list. Deadly Premonition, Fallout New Vegas, Gray Matter, Jericho, Wet, Sega Megadrive Collection, Might and Magic Dark Messiah and Nier all fell into this category, and with the exception of a brief foray into New Vegas, remain unplayed.

So what else did I actually play to any degree? Well, the XBLA title Braid came highly recommended from friends and the internet alike, so I completed that, although never bothered with the seemingly impossible speed runs. Bulletstorm is a manic and amusing shooter that I got a fair way into before losing a game save, so I must try that again some day; Halo ODST I enjoyed as well, it being just different enough from the other Halo games to engage and entertain. More recently I've completed a brace of big-hitters in Halo Reach and Gears of War and am currently taking as break from all the frantic shooting action with a (so far) pleasing experience in the company of Alan Wake.

So what does the future hold? I've been quite strict on myself recently, avoiding ANY purchases knowing my backlog that sits at home. The new Warhammer game, Gears of War 3 and Dungeon Siege 3 have all been games I've wanted, but with the prices of these games only going one way, I've seen no reason to buy just yet.

So what's next? After Alan Wake I'll see how I feel. If I fancy a return to shooting action games it may well be another go on Bulletstorm; or perhaps Crysis 2, Vanquish or Gears of War 2. RPG's are well represented in the to-play pile with Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Mass Effect 1/2, Rise of the Argonauts and Dark Messiah. Alternatively I could finally take the dip with Red Dead Redemption, Gray Matter, Arkham Asylum or Deadly Premonition.

But more likely it will be a sequel to my favourite game so far on the 360, a sequel I bought 3 months ago for just £9.99 and am understandably eager to play - Dead Space 2.

The Spectrum Covertape War Part 4: Game Over

2011-11-14T12:43:00.015Z

As the commercial life of the ZX Spectrum slowly ebbed away, the three main Sinclair magazines got more and more desperate in their attempts to shift units. The tape was now paramount, although both Your Sinclair and Sinclair User kept commendably high page counts compared to Crash Magazine’s massively reduced written content. Tape boxes were always included now; no more cutting the inlay out and ruining your magazine, not that anybody cared much for the paper element anymore.

Crash’s descent began early as issue 90 (July 1991), with number 26 of their “Presents” tapes representing something of a nadir. One serviceable, but six-year old game (Hewson’s Dragontorc), one, again very old, but average game (Design Design’s 2112ad) and a slew of demos, budget games and homebrew efforts spread over 2 cassettes was a poor offering, despite superficial good value. The cover price of Crash had also now risen to £2.99 despite its anorexic content which meant you could get a pretty decent re-released budget game for the same amount.

Sinclair User fared somewhat better that year with issue 108 continuing the “Six of the Best” theme, and whilst the name remained inaccurate, it at least offered some gaming goodness in the form of the excellent shooter Bedlam from Go!, supported by Ocean’s Gutz and the elderly, but still playable Dynamite Dan from Mirrorsoft. Your Sinclair bumped up their efforts and nicked one of Ocean’s compilation titles to boot: The Magnificent Seven featured every month and mixed up demos with original and ex-commercial titles. Issue 64 is probably the best if only because it contains the wonderful Bumpy by Loricels, ably supported by Spindizzy and the Street Fighter-esque beat ‘em up Human Killing Machine.

The end was in sight, though, and Crash was the first to go with issue 98 of April 1992, Crash Presents Tape 34. Its final cassette perhaps summed up it’s half-baked attempt at covergames: Mind Games’ reasonable but little-known puzzler Pi-R Squared; Quicksilva’s pretty, but frustrating Glider Rider; a demo of an obscure budget game entitled Biff and the obligatory Poke Zone.

Sinclair User, after the 12 pack of issue 112 in December 1991, settled down to a mere eight programs for the majority of 1992. As many of these eight consisted of music demos, pokes, tape magazines and utilities, the title was a bit disingenuous, and the quality of games noticeably poorer. It was also painfully obvious how the page count had been drastically cut as well, with the last few issues coming in at under forty pages. Cheap text adventures and game designer efforts were common as budgets were slashed thanks to a fast-disappearing readership. Perhaps even more tragically, titles that had appeared on previous covertapes began to re-surface, a sure sign that the magazines were struggling to fill their strips of tape every month.

Your Sinclair braved it alone for a few more months, but in the end even they faced the inevitable, and the penultimate issue, number 92 from August 1993, contained a tape quite clearly aimed at a younger audience. A demo of Playdays by Alternative, a limp shoot ‘em up and CRL’s seven-year old graphic text adventure Bugsy completed the games, with a geography program and music demo thrown in to boost the total count. An article in the magazine detailing how to play Spectrum games on an Amiga and other superior formats just about summed up the state of affairs and it was a very sad end, not least to the magazines that gave all Speccy owners such entertainment over the years. Of course, thanks in no small part to websites such as World of Spectrum and the thousands of fans all over the world, we now know the computer lived on; but this scenario would have been impossible to visualise back in 1993.

The Spectrum magazine covertapes are often held up as all that was wrong in the Spectrum’s final few years; yet conversely, many a Spectrum gamers’ best memories come from the titles featured on them. Whether it be the bat-and-ball action of Batty, discovering old classics such as Chaos or Beach Head or the endless replaying of one-level demos of Ikari Warriors, Midnight Resistance and Robocop, at the time there was no internet therefore no on-line community spreading remakes, or demos and original games to download and sample. A cassette mounted on the cover of a magazine was the best way of trying a game for yourself before shelling out your pocket money or for getting cheap entertainment to go along with your monthly fix of Speccy news.

And for that, we should be thankful.

The Spectrum Covertape War Part 3: Compilation Chaos Continues...

2011-11-13T19:52:00.011Z

Your Sinclair appeared not to be perturbed by Crash's compilations and continued to release one game per month with issue 36’s double cassettes a rare exception. Sinclair User’s better efforts included the superb Magic Knight Trilogy with issue 81 (December ‘88) and Beach-Head 1 and 2 with issue 82; these two rivals kept the page count generally around the one-hundred mark but a 50% price increase to cover the cost of the cassettes was now standard: the February 1988 issue of SU was just £1.00; ten months later the price had swollen to £1.60. YS was in line with this, except when two tapes featured and a pocket-money busting £1.95 was levied.

Things calmed down temporarily and there were some great classics to be had for a time. Your Sinclair scored big with a brace of classic Julian Gollop strategy titles, Rebelstar 2 and Chaos. However, even they succumbed to compilation fever in 1990 with issue 58 which contained three excellent games (Feud, Tau Ceti and Rebel) as well as a demo of Ivan Iron Man’s Off Road Racing. Sinclair User offered a break from all the gaming with a tape containing arcade soundtracks with issue 92 from November 1989, but as they moved from their self-titled Double Hits – of which Terra Cresta coupled with Flashpoint was a highlight – to “Six of the Best”, the quality began to dip as the quantity began to rise.

Meanwhile, Crash had continued to publish its Crash Presents tapes, which unfortunately tended to disappoint more often than not as the initial wave of excellent games faded out. Issue 70 from November 1989 was particularly poor featuring Ocean’s ancient Q*bert clone Pogo, Gremlin Graphics’ slightly more modern but no better Sam Stoat, Mastertronic’s unplayable Chiller and an awful game-designer shooter called Action Farce 2. The next issue improved considerably on this with Ocean’s Cosmic Wartoad and Codemaster’s Super Stuntman amongst others, but overall after the promise of their first compilation cassette from issue 65, Crash’s reliance on creaking titles and old Mastertronic games contributed to the disillusion that was slowly beginning to creep in to readers of the famous magazine.

With the onset of the compilations, the first homebrew games began to appear thanks mainly to necessity and external pressure from ELSPA who were understandably concerned regarding the impact that all these “free” games would have on software sales. Whilst in theory homebrew games were a good idea as it gave young programmers a chance to show off their work, generally these titles were poor, sub-commercial efforts, usually produced on limiting game designer software. There were exceptions, of course, with a young Jonathan Cauldwell and the first of his Egghead games well worth playing. And on that note...

The Best Original Covertape games*

*as voted for by the World of Spectrum forumites

5.Egghead (Crash)

Egghead was written in four weeks by a young Jonathan Cauldwell in November 1989. He had originally intended to sell the game via mail-order but on a whim decided to submit it to Crash Magazine instead. Editor Richard Eddy liked what he saw and subject to Jonathan completing a written declaration that the game was 100% his own work, bought it there and then for a future covertape. It’s a nifty, playable little game and an interesting pre-cursor Jonathan’s consistently playable later efforts. Incidentally, Newsfield were late paying the author for his work: a reminder letter from Jonathan promising a sequel soon sorted that! (thanks to JC)

4.Moley Christmas (Your Sinclair)

The Monty Mole games were famous for being of high quality yet rock-hard, and this six-screen bonus Christmas special, written by the original Gremlin team for Your Sinclair, was no exception.

DM_Boozefreek: I loved the Monty games so this was one of the best games that YS gave away for me.

3.Earth Shaker

Boulderdash games have always been popular, and Earth Shaker was a super clone from Your Sinclair and author Michael Batty.

Dave_Fountain: Earthshaker was top notch.

2.Hyper Active

The dearly-missed Jonathan “Joffa” Smith coded several famous titles for the speccy including Green Beret, Cobra and Hypersports and this was another quality game.

Greencard: I'm gonna have to go with Hyper Active, played it loads back in the day.

1.Batty (Your Sinclair)

Neat, clear graphics, an interesting two-player co-op mode and a professional piece of work that set a benchmark Your Sinclair never quite lived up to.

Chop983: Of course, Batty is the greatest covertape ever.

NickH: The best Breakout game you'll find on the Spectrum – and it was free! (not quite – JD)

Monday: Game Over for the mags...but not the Speccy!

The Spectrum Covertape War Part 2: Exclusives, Demos & Compilations

2011-11-10T13:10:00.009Z

Exclusives and Demos

Demos and magazine-exclusive games dominated the early exchanges in the covertape war. Crash continued its Sneak Preview tapes, which all contained tasters of generally high-quality games. Issue 54 had playable snippets of Incentive’s latest Freescape game, The Dark Side, whilst issue 58 boasted a whole level’s worth of fun from Ocean’s superb movie license Robocop.
Sinclair User mixed exclusive games, sometimes based around the SU mascot, a rather mean-looking teddy bear, in titles such as Go, Bear, Go (a fun Pengo clone) and Bear a Grudge (a Space Harrier style effort containing digitised pics of the SU staff to shoot at) with demos of a somewhat lesser quality to Crash. Trendsetters Your Sinclair continued their one game a month policy with some original games of mixed quality: Moley Christmas, Blind Panic and The People from Sirius were all reasonable efforts but Dusko Dimitrevic’s Play for Your Life - a poorly implemented attempt at a 3-D future sports game - was disappointing, especially after its over-hyped addictive qualities.

Eventually however, the previously commercial games began to slip out. First Crash dipped its toes in the water with Sophistry, an oblique but polished maze game; Your Sinclair had Dinamic’s Dustin on the cover of issue 34 and Sinclair User offered a “SU Edition” of Dan Dare 2: The Mekon’s Revenge, before eventually going the whole hog and putting Hewson’s Sci-Fi adventure Astroclone on Megatape 6, issue 77.

The conflict was in full swing now and the respective publishers hounded software houses for games to put on their tapes. After time, someone realised quantity was perhaps more important than quality, and so began the next phase in the war.

Compilation Chaos

Issue 65 of Crash from June ’89 was one of the first compilation-style covertapes. Under a title of “The Shape of Thrills to Come”, the editorial boasted of a policy of “GOOD games, where you don’t feel cheated after loading.” They also stuck the knife into their competitors, claiming their rivals’ tapes were full of “dull tripe” and this incendiary claim added fuel to the brewing conflict. The cassette contained four full games, a demo and the obligatory pokes that could be loaded in to the Speccy, saving all that laborious typing. Crucially, Crash’s claim was accurate, at least initially: the games were of good quality thanks to the bearded-wonder Pete Cooke’s superb Micronaut 1, followed by a Special Crash Edition of Codemasters’ popular Dizzy, fun arcade classic Moon Cresta and more platform action in the form of Wanted: Monty Mole. The demo was of the Thalamus shooter Sanxion.

Unfortunately for actual readers of the magazine, this issue marked the beginning of the “pamphlet” era, which, with a mere 36 pages (including advertisements) meant not-a-lot for you to read. Crash had been slimming down steadily from its one-thirty page average the year before, and now the focus had quite clearly shifted to the cassette on the front cover.

The Spanish Connection: Microhobby Magazine
Microhobby was a Spanish magazine that began in November 1984 and finally ceased publication at the end of 1992. Early issues of the magazine were given away with the Microhobby Semanal cassette, but the games on this cassette were always reader type-ins, and often nowhere near commercial standard.

Eventually the semanal cassette ceased publication but the magazine was popular enough to continue, and in time started its own covertapes. These were more in line with the UK Magazines, including demos, previously released commercial titles and reader games.

The standard of the Microhobby games was consistently good: classics such as Green Beret, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, Hyper Sports, Ping Pong, Spy Hunter, Mikie and Xenon all saw action on its cover as well as the unsurprising games from Dinamic and other Spanish developers - of which the renowned La Abadia Del Crimen was a particular highlight. This was in addition to some fantastic exclusive games such as Zhak, Yucan, Ares and Frankie, all playable and colourful platformers.

But best of all, MicroHobby managed to bag some Ultimate games to put on their cassette. The classics Sabre Wulf, Knight Lore and Gunfright all appeared on their tapes in the early nineties, amazingly good bargains for any gamer. (thanks to Ivanzx)

Saturday: More compilation chaos and the beginning of the end.

The Spectrum Covertape War Part 1: The Road Race Begins

2011-11-08T22:43:00.013Z

Meet The Mags

SINCLAIR USER was the longest running of the three main Spectrum magazines, starting in April 1982 and running for 134 issues. It was a more serious affair in its early days, with type-in listings and technical articles prevalent, although it focused mainly on gaming in its latter years. Despite merging with one of its rivals, it finally gave up the ghost in April 1993, which was nevertheless an incredible run for any magazine, let alone one dedicated to a single particular piece of technology.

YOUR SINCLAIR (left) started its life in controversy as it rose from the ashes of YOUR SPECTRUM, a considerably drier and more technically-minded magazine. The new format concentrated mainly on games and contained an off-beat, sometimes anarchic sense of humour that appealed to many. It was the youngest of the three, having started life in only January 1986, and outlasted the other two, finally folding in August 1993 – which is quite amazing considering how outclassed the Spectrum was by then, with Amiga’s and Atari ST’s all the rage and of course the Sega Megadrive and Super Nintendo consoles the latest gaming must-haves.

CRASH was perhaps the most well known of the three, and its combination of humour as well as an unashamed dedication to games endeared it to a vast mass of Spectrum owners. It concentrated chiefly on reviews, previews and gameplay tips and boasted fantastic covers thanks to the very talented artist Oliver Frey. Despite its success, Crash had a sad demise: the last Newsfield issue was number 93 in October 1991; less than a year later, new owners Europress had flogged the title on to Emap who derogatorily merged it with their own Sinclair User (with little obvious internal change); fortunately this absurd creation didn’t last for long as the Crash logo got smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared altogether after eight issues.

The Road Race Begins…

It was dated January 1986: the first issue of Your Sinclair (it had previously been known as Your Spectrum) and it held a cassette on it's front cover. Within this small piece of plastic and magnetic tape was a demo of the Firebird game Rasputin, an isometric 3D game that signified a very important beginning for Spectrum owners all over the UK. Sales of this issue were no doubt higher than normal, but the publishers might have put this down to the new format and name rather than the box and tape on the cover. As a result, the power of the covertape was not realised, and it was some time before another appeared.

The May 1987 issue of the same magazine was the next time a covertape was included, and the game that was offered marked another milestone, for this was no two-level demo; this was the real deal, a fully playable 100% complete game, albeit one that original publishers Ocean had deemed unsuitable for commercial release. And indeed, Road Race was perhaps not the greatest racing game, but crucially, it was free (or rather free-ish – the price of the magazine had been surreptitiously raised), and whetted everyone's appetite for more cheap gaming.

The very next month from Your Sinclair gave us already what many regarded as the pinnacle of covertape games. The Imagine arcade conversion of Arkanoid had been around for some time, resulting in several bandwagon-jumping clones. Your Sinclair managed to bag a generous exclusive from Elite and covertape the marvellous Batty for their loyal readers. The game was an instant hit and copies of the magazine flew off newsagent's shelves up and down the country; in fact, Batty was so good, it even received a subsequent commercial release as part of Elite's Hit-pak compilation as well as the inevitable budget appearance.

Your Sinclair labelled these games their “Smash Tapes” and they had set the bar for cover-mounted games, so it wasn't long before one of their rivals had something for it's readers as well. The Crash Sampler (issue 45, October 1987) offered up a seemingly generous seven game demos, but unfortunately not all of them were playable. The best of these were one-level snippets of Imagine's arcade conversion Athena and Elite's long awaited Ikari Warriors. As was already common, there was no box for the cassette to save costs, but an inlay was provided for you to cut out and insert into a spare plastic box that most resourceful Spectrum gamers were bound to have lying around.

Finally, Sinclair User eventually entered the fray with their Megatape One proudly attached to issue 72 (already boasting of "the best tape ever"!). It offered an exclusive game called Zarjas (by Binary Design no less), although this was merely an expanded version of a mini-game from Mastertronic's Zub, and not particularly groundbreaking. A demo of Vietnam war title 19: Boot Camp accompanied the shoot 'em up and was also fun.

This gentle trading of blows marked the beginning of a full-scale battle that would slowly come to signify the end of the road for the ZX Spectrum games market as well as the magazines themselves.

Part 2: Exclusives and Demos - will be posted on Thursday.

Feeling the Man-Love: Gears of Wars XBOX 360 Review

2011-11-06T11:29:00.007Z

I know it is not as critical as in TV shows or movies, but I like to start at the beginning. So despite often hearing the assumed wisdom that Gears of Wars 2 is the superior game, I wanted to first play the instalment that started it all.

Being a bit new to the whole cover-fire thing, it took me a while to get the hang of GOW. I admit it: I almost gave up. After a lengthy trek recently through all manner of Halo games, I was used to jumping in shooting, gun-butting any enemies unwise enough to get too close and emerging heroically with nary a scratch or nick on my armour.

I realised you can't do this in Gears, an epiphany that struck me the 32nd time Marcus Fenix let out that guttural roar as various appendages disconnected from his over-muscled torso. You have to hide. You have to duck. And you have to know how to move effectively between cover
elements if you are to succeed.

The hang of it I eventually got, and from that point on Gears became a much more enjoyable experience, even better when I worked out the timing and skill needed to perform an active reload. Breaking the game down, it is essentially running and shooting, with occasional set-pieces and dramatical scenes, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Anyway, enough of this, here come the bullet points!

Likes

1.Good, uncomplicated shooting fun
What more is there to say?

2.The cover system is pretty cool and works well
Once you get used to it.

3.It's in 3rd Person!
I'm no FPS hater but always prefer this perspective

4.Bad-ass bad guys
No namby-pamby little comedy aliens here! These guys will think nothing of chewing off your head and spitting down your neck.

5.Superb soundtrack
Professional and on a par with most Hollywood action movies.

6.Great Graphics
Well, at the time they were. As I've only had a 360 for 6 months, I still think they are.

7.Great fun in co-op...apparently
I have no friends.

Dislikes

1.Overuse of the "A" button
It's for taking cover and running fast. A combination that isn't always good.

2.It's a little too easy in normal mode...
...and a little too tough in hard mode, for a casual player such as myself anyway.

3.The Third Person shooting is a bit hit and miss
A necessity with enemies such as the Wretches, it's hard to aim accurately, but too cumbersome to switch to first person mode in close quarters.

4.Lack of variation
A bit unfair perhaps, but shooters have come on a bit since 2006.

5.Its campaign is a bit short.
I reckon about 6-7 hours.

6.Scant plot
Oh well. It's not that important is it?

Conclusion
In 2006 Gears of War was massive and a huge success. Five years later it's been eclipsed for sure, but still stands out as a landmark game. I like it and look forward to playing the sequels!

Jdanddiet's Top 100 Games - The Statistics

2011-10-28T11:40:00.003+01:00

Format Breakdown

ZX Spectrum: 26
Megadrive: 21
PC: 17
Playstation: 7
Arcade: 7
XBOX: 4
Gameboy: 3
Intellivision: 3
Gamecube: 3
MegaCD: 2
XBOX 360: 2
Master System: 2
PS2: 2
N64: 1

Genre Breakdown

Arcade/Adventure: 16
Run and Gun/Slash: 12
First Person Shooter: 11
Survival Horror: 10
Classic Shooter: 10
RPG: 9
Strategy/Puzzle: 8
Sport Simulation: 7
Racing/Driving: 6
Platformer: 6
Beat 'em up: 4
Point and Click: 1

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - The Full List

2011-10-27T22:53:00.002+01:00

100.Golden Axe (Megadrive)
099.Nemesis (Arcade)
098.Universal Soldier (Megadrive)
097.Sea Battle (Intellivision)
096.Hypersports (ZX Spectrum)
095.Batty (ZX Spectrum)
094.Halo (XBOX)
093.Cobra (ZX Spectrum)
092.Gynoug (Megadrive)
091.Prince Valiant (Gameboy)
090.Harrier Attack (ZX Spectrum)
089.Quazatron (ZX Spectrum)
088.Alien Syndrome (Master System)
087.Alien Storm (Megadrive)
086.Myth (ZX Spectrum)
085.Silpheed (MegaCD)
084.Burnout (Gamecube)
083.Brian Lara Cricket 96 (Megadrive)
082.Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (PC)
081.Saboteur (ZX Spectrum)
080.Space Battle (Intellivision)
079.Goldeneye (N64)
078.Max Payne (PC)
077.Light Crusader (Megadrive)
076.Icewind Dale (PC)
075.Doom (PC)
074.Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (XBOX)
073.Renegade (ZX Spectrum)
072.Moon Patrol (Arcade)
071.Fallout 2 (PC)
070.Streets of Rage (Megadrive)
069.Jet Set Willy (ZX Spectrum)
068.Robocop (ZX Spectrum)
067.Paperboy (Arcade)
066.Robocop vs Terminator (Megadrive)
065.R-Type (Master System)
064.Grand Theft Auto (PC)
063.Speedball 2 (Megadrive)
062.Resident Evil 5 (XBOX 360)
061.Dino Crisis (Playstation)
060.Impossible Mission (ZX Spectrum)
059.PGA European Tour (Megadrive)
058.Unreal Tournament (PC)
057.Call of Cthuhlu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX)
056.Ranger X (Megadrive)
055.The Terminator (MegaCD)
054.Warcraft (PC)
053.Cybernoid (ZX Spectrum)
052.Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
051.Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
050.Turbo Esprit (ZX Spectrum)
049.Die Hard Trilogy (Playstation)
048.Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive)
047.Gauntlet IV (Megadrive)
046.Super Mario Land (Gameboy)
045.Micro Machines (Megadrive)
044.Resident Evil 2 (Playstation)
043.Flying Shark (ZX Spectrum)
042.Strider (Megadrive)
041.FIFA 95 (Megadrive)
040.Half-Life (PC)
039.The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Gamecube)
038.Tracksuit Manager (ZX Spectrum)
037.Deathchase (ZX Spectrum)
036.Kung Fu Master (Arcade)
035.Desert Strike (Megadrive)
034.Tetris (Gameboy)
033.Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (Playstation 2)
032.Rebelstar (ZX Spectrum)
031.Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (XBOX)
030.Silent Hill (Playstation)
029.Midnight Resistance (ZX Spectrum)
028.Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast (PC)
027.Duke Nukem 3D (PC)
026.Outrun (Arcade)
025.Tron Deadly Discs (Intellivision)
024.Star Wars (Arcade)
023.Chaos (ZX Spectrum)
022.Rebelstar 2 (ZX Spectrum)
021.Resident Evil: Director's Cut (Playstation)
020.Dead Space (XBOX 360)
019.The Great Escape (ZX Spectrum)
018.Jungle Strike (Megadrive)
017.Metal Gear Solid (Playstation)
016.Star Wars Battlefront (PC)
015.Bubble Bobble (Arcade)
014.Bomb Jack (ZX Spectrum)
013.Chuckie Egg (ZX Spectrum)
012.Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (Megadrive)
011.Academy (ZX Spectrum)
010.Flashback (Megadrive)
009.Matchday 2 (ZX Spectrum)
008.Laser Squad (ZX Spectrum)
007.Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (Playstation)
006.Resident Evil REMake (Gamecube)
005.Command and Conquer Red Alert (PC)
004.Baldur's Gate 2 (PC)
003.Streets of Rage 2 (Megadrive)
002.Half Life 2 (PC)
001.Resident Evil 4 (Playstation 2)

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 10 - The Top Ten

2011-10-27T21:37:00.007+01:00

010.Flashback (Megadrive)
The MD was awash with cartoony platformers and beat em ups, so a complex arcade adventure such as Flashback, the spiritual successor to Another World, was very welcome back in 1994. Technically brilliant (thanks to the superb animation and some lovely graphics), Flashback was an intriguing and immersive game that challenged the mind as well as manual dexterity.

009.Match Day 2 (Spectrum)
You know what I like to do in Football games? Pass. Yep, scoring goals is nice, but putting together a slick, swift passing move is far more enjoyable to me, even if you don't score at the end of it. Thanks to Jon Ritman's superb diamond deflection technique, flick-ons, headers and through balls were all possible to an experienced player, thus hugely extending the playing time of this excellent simulation. It's slipped a few places thanks to a slow pace that's admittedly not a problem when emulated.

008.Laser Squad (Spectrum)
As brilliant as Rebelstar and its sequel were, Laser Squad upped the ante so far that it is streets ahead of Gollop's other classics. Offering a turn-based challenge once more, LS included hidden enemies, a huge variety of weapons, numerous scenarios and addictive, thoughtful gameplay. Fantastic stuff, and even more so in two-player mode.

007.Tenchu Stealth Assassins (Playstation)
Perhaps the most divisive of my top 10, yet a game that captured my imagination from the get-go. Yes, the graphics are terrible; yes the dialogue is cringeworthy. But I love it. Atmospheric and intuitive to control once you get the hang of it, the only disappointment is the fact that none of the sequels have quite managed to capture the magic again.

006.Resident Evil: REMake (Gamecube) NEW ENTRY
Let's be honest, the original Resi is starting to look a little tired round the edges. Capcom brilliantly updated it for the Gamecube, not only improving the gameplay (for example, the 180 degree spin-around move is now present), but also the graphics, music and dialogue. A triumph, and one of the best games on the 'cube.

005.Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC)
If the benchmark for this top 100 was solely the amount of time spent on a game, C&C: RA would win hands down. Apart from the one player campaign, the amount of time I lost to the skirmish mode doesn't bear thinking about. Add in the brilliant Killer Ants secret missions and the ability to play whilst eating a pizza and you have a perfect strategy game.

004.Baldur's Gate II (PC)
The original was brilliant as well, but this sequel improved many aspects (such as removing some of the annoying restrictive rule conditions) and also kicked along the plot quite nicely. Bioware have struggled in my opinion to produce anything since to match BG2's majesty.

003.Streets of Rage 2 (Megadrive)
I'm no fan of BEU's, but this superb sequel makes my top ten nonetheless. As a scrolling fighter, it concentrates less on fancy moves and combos and more on despatching as many bad guys as possible and in the shortest time. Add in great co-op and vs modes and you have an all-time classic that I still go back to regularly all these years later.

002.Half Life 2 (PC)
As I wrote in my PC Gamer Magazine "Uncensored" review many moons ago, the word classic is bandied around far too much. Yet in the case of Half Life 2, it fits precisely. With great variation and playability as well as some atmospheric doom-laden trawls through a shattered city, HL2 improved greatly on an already pretty decent game.

001.Resident Evil 4 (Playstation 2)
You've probably gathered by now I'm a huge RE fan and the fourth instalmant has seen more play than I think any game ever. Completed many many times over, the PS2 version gets the nod over the Gamecube thanks to the Separate Ways Ada Wong mission. Includes possibly the finest extra ever in the Mercenaries, a frantic few levels of exquisite ganado-killing.

So there you have it, my top 100 games! Reckon they'll be a few changes next year...

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - First 90 Recap

2011-10-24T18:58:00.005+01:00

With the final ten to be revealed shortly, here's the rest of the list...

100.Golden Axe (Megadrive)
099.Nemesis (Arcade)
098.Universal Soldier (Megadrive)
097.Sea Battle (Intellivision)
096.Hypersports (ZX Spectrum)
095.Batty (ZX Spectrum)
094.Halo (XBOX)
093.Cobra (ZX Spectrum)
092.Gynoug (Megadrive)
091.Prince Valiant (Gameboy)
090.Harrier Attack (ZX Spectrum)
089.Quazatron (ZX Spectrum)
088.Alien Syndrome (Master System)
087.Alien Storm (Megadrive)
086.Myth (ZX Spectrum)
085.Silpheed (MegaCD)
084.Burnout (Gamecube)
083.Brian Lara Cricket 96 (Megadrive)
082.Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (PC)
081.Saboteur (ZX Spectrum)
080.Space Battle (Intellivision)
079.Goldeneye (N64)
078.Max Payne (PC)
077.Light Crusader (Megadrive)
076.Icewind Dale (PC)
075.Doom (PC)
074.Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (XBOX)
073.Renegade (ZX Spectrum)
072.Moon Patrol (Arcade)
071.Fallout 2 (PC)
070.Streets of Rage (Megadrive)
069.Jet Set Willy (ZX Spectrum)
068.Robocop (ZX Spectrum)
067.Paperboy (Arcade)
066.Robocop vs Terminator (Megadrive)
065.R-Type (Master System)
064.Grand Theft Auto (PC)
063.Speedball 2 (Megadrive)
062.Resident Evil 5 (XBOX 360)
061.Dino Crisis (Playstation)
060.Impossible Mission (ZX Spectrum)
059.PGA European Tour (Megadrive)
058.Unreal Tournament (PC)
057.Call of Cthuhlu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX)
056.Ranger X (Megadrive)
055.The Terminator (MegaCD)
054.Warcraft (PC)
053.Cybernoid (ZX Spectrum)
052.Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
051.Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
050.Turbo Esprit (ZX Spectrum)
049.Die Hard Trilogy (Playstation)
048.Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive)
047.Gauntlet IV (Megadrive)
046.Super Mario Land (Gameboy)
045.Micro Machines (Megadrive)
044.Resident Evil 2 (Playstation)
043.Flying Shark (ZX Spectrum)
042.Strider (Megadrive)
041.FIFA 95 (Megadrive)
040.Half-Life (PC)
039.The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Gamecube)
038.Tracksuit Manager (ZX Spectrum)
037.Deathchase (ZX Spectrum)
036.Kung Fu Master (Arcade)
035.Desert Strike (Megadrive)
034.Tetris (Gameboy)
033.Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (Playstation 2)
032.Rebelstar (ZX Spectrum)
031.Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (XBOX)
030.Silent Hill (Playstation)
029.Midnight Resistance (ZX Spectrum)
028.Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast (PC)
027.Duke Nukem 3D (PC)
026.Outrun (Arcade)
025.Tron Deadly Discs (Intellivision)
024.Star Wars (Arcade)
023.Chaos (ZX Spectrum)
022.Rebelstar 2 (ZX Spectrum)
021.Resident Evil: Director's Cut (Playstation)
020.Dead Space (XBOX 360)
019.The Great Escape (ZX Spectrum)
018.Jungle Strike (Megadrive)
017.Metal Gear Solid (Playstation)
016.Star Wars Battlefront (PC)
015.Bubble Bobble (Arcade)
014.Bomb Jack (ZX Spectrum)
013.Chuckie Egg (ZX Spectrum)
012.Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (Megadrive)
011.Academy (ZX Spectrum)

The Making of...Dead Pixels

2011-10-21T20:16:00.008+01:00

The Zombie horde is threatening to take over XBLIG. It feels like not a week goes past without undead reinforcements shuffling onto Microsoft's online service. This is partly down to the success of I Maed a game with Zombies (or however it's written); and partly due to gamers' fascination with this genre, heightened ever since Resident Evil first appeared 15 years ago. With its slightly unusual title, however, Dead Pixels caught my eye, so after a brief play of the demo, I ascertained this would be a game for me and parted company with another 80 MSP. If you want to read my thoughts on Dead Pixels then please read my review here, but in the meantime, I spoke to developer cantstraferight, aka John Common about the idea and development of Dead Pixels and started by asking him about the odd name for his development company.

"It's a name I've used for many years," John begins, "and takes some explaining. The short version of the story is that whilst drunk once, a girl bit my left index finger. At the time I was playing a lot of Unreal Tournament online and my finger hurt if I strafed right." Must have been some bite, I comment, and John proudly adds that he was still able to win most games despite his disability which encouraged him to adopt the unusual moniker.

John lives in rural Scotland and learnt to program at school and then college. After several failed attempts and efforts to learn how to produce games on a variety of platforms, he came across the XNA framework and has since made eight games, of which four have been released. However, he considers Dead Pixels to be his first proper game. "I had the idea for the game from the start and this was maintained all the way through the development process. Certain things changed, but the basic idea stayed the same," confirms John, "as it was always going to be a side-scrolling RPG with zombies and an 8-bit look."

Dead Pixels took John around seven months to complete, much longer than he originally intended: "My first estimated released date was the first of April 2011 but it kept getting pushed back as the scope of the game changed." I ask him if at any point he was worried about the game's reception given the high number of Zombie titles present on XBLIG. "A little, perhaps," says John, "although as it turns out our customers don't seem too bothered, but I often get the feeling websites have ignored it thinking it as just another zombie game." Dead Pixels also contains a fair amount of referencing as John acknowledged the various influences on his game. "Game-wise the obvious ones are River City Ransom, Metal Slug and RPG's in general," he says, "and these influenced the design of Dead Pixels. I also looked through my collection of 8-bit games and took little bits and pieces from games such as Alien Syndrome, Chakan, Ax Battler and many more." So it appears Dead Pixels has a fine pedigree in gaming influences and this is echoed with references to the films Dawn of the Dead and Zombieland as well as the classic undead franchise, Resident Evil. "I included Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in the soundtrack," tells John, "which was used in one of the puzzles in the original Resident Evil. I'm surprised at how many people get that reference. Perhaps it shows gamers' love for zombies!"

Going back to the design itself, I wonder whether John considered expanding the RPG elements? "I did consider adding helmets and armour but that would have meant changing the character's sprite," he notes, "and the amount of time needed to draw all the new graphics would have driven me insane. I decided I had enough to do as it was!" So with further gameplay advances abandoned, John concentrated on creating the very strange "old movie" effects that are utilised in Dead Pixels. "Originally the plan was to add a little noise to hide how plain and
clean my sprites were," he explains, "and then I started watching trailers for seventies exploitation films and decided to go over the top with it." John was partly worried players would hate it as they would find it distracting (hence the option to turn these effects off), but says the response to this sheen of 70's authenticity has been universally positive.

Is there any part of the game that John feels could be improved? "The thing that bugs me most is the walking animation of the zombies." he says ruefully, "I'm not very good at animating and feel that maybe I should have had another attempt at drawing their legs!" Despite this, is he proud of the game? "Very much so. The amount of comments about how polished the game is makes me feel I've really achieved something. People are out there playing it and that's all I really wanted."

Finally, I ask John what the future holds for Cantstraferight? "I'm currently working on two new game modes for Dead Pixels which will be added to the game for free," says John excitedly, "and I have many new ideas for a sequel as well. I think I'd like to take a break from zombies for a few months though!" John is also programming a version of Dead Pixels for the PC which he hopes will see the light of day early next year.

Check out Dead Pixels on Facebook here
Cantstraferight Studios on Twitter here
And John's own website here

Many thanks to John Common for this time.

XBOX Indie Game Review: Dead Pixels

2011-10-20T22:14:00.005+01:00

If you’re a gamer like me who doesn’t have buckets of time at his disposal, XBLIG games can be a boon. Got a spare 30 minutes? You’re not likely to get much into a Fallout New Vegas session in such a short time; but you could have a helluva lot of fun with a game such as Dead Pixels.

The background story is familiar stuff to anyone who’s got even a passing knowledge of zombie films or games. You’re in the middle of the city, there’s been some sort of apocalypse and the dead are rising from their graves. Your task is to safely negotiate the 20 streets (on the medium setting) that lay between you and salvation, with of course the obligatory undead blocking your path.

Dead Pixels is a side-scrolling run-and-gunner similar in style to classic titles such as Double Dragon and River City Ransom. Starting off with a bog-standard pistol, various weapon upgrades are soon available, each with their own pros and cons. For example, the carbine is useful for rapid-fire spraying of enemies at distance, whilst the shotgun is predictably superior at close range combat. At the top of the screen scroll various buildings, most of which can be entered to either discover goodies or in which reside a trader to buy weapons, health packs, grenades and ammo from. You can also upgrade various character traits in the trader posts such as speed of movement, weapon damage and bartering skill.

Control is as simple as you would expect for such a game. The left stick commands movement whilst the left and right triggers are for firing in the relevant direction. Medikits, alternative weapons and throwable items (such as molotov cocktails and grenades) can be easily accessed via an on-screen menu system. Money for these items is gained by selling the items you find in the abandoned houses or the coins dropped when you kill a zombie.

Dead Pixels is huge fun. As well as the entertaining blasting away at the undead horde, picking and choosing your character improvements adds a great dimension of freedom to the game. There’s a fiscal heart to Dead Pixels: how you divide your hard-earned cash up between weapons, character improvements and other items can hugely influence the style of game. In addition, the graphics are delightfully reminiscent of a bygone age, the sound effects and music solid and perfectly apt.

On the downside, I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the 70’s movie style sheen that the developers have added, but it didn’t bother me either; in any case, it can be turned off. Dead Pixels is also a short game: it won’t take any half-decent gamer more than a couple of hours to make their way through the undead-infested streets, but the replay value is considerable given the variations and score attack possibilities.

Overall I highly recommend Dead Pixels. Excellent value for just 80 msp.

Coming soon: Interview with Dead Pixels developer Cantstraferight, aka John Common.

Memories of Adventure Game Writing - Part 4

2011-10-17T20:20:00.023+01:00

For part 1 click here
For part 2 click here
For part 3 click here

Part 4

"I think I must be Jinxed"
Murder Hunt 2 underwent a similar process to its predecessor with Craig revising the game in September of 1986. With the help of The Patch, he added further text and split-screen graphics for some locations, but remained dissatisfied with the end result. "I may have just intended it as a flip-side release for Murder Hunt 86," he ponders, "but it never got that far. So in the summer of 1989 I wrote a brand new version of Murder Hunt 2, and this was much better in my opinion as it had a creepy atmosphere and a genuine feeling of suspense." Craig sent the sequel off to Zenobi and again this adventure saw publication by them in 1993 yet he still had time in the interim to be disappointed once more. In 1992 Craig exchanged contracts with a publisher in Carlisle for the rights to release both of the original Murder Hunt games. Again, nothing came of it. "I think I must be jinxed," he mutters.

Slack Bladder
Aside from the earlier abandoned projects (Robert the Bogart and Eric & the Magic Torch), there was another game finished by Craig that sadly never saw release - even by the erstwhile Zenobi. "I was contacted by a guy called Richard Robinson who was the playtester for submissions at Interceptor Software," explains Craig, "and he'd just written his report for Murder Hunt. A friend of his had asked him to "produce" a game which essentially meant proof-read the text, add a new font, graphics and generally polish the adventure up." The game was called Slack Bladder and was unsurprisingly (loosely) based around the popular BBC comedy Black Adder. "Richard asked me if I was interested in the project, and as this was the point where I had put Quest for the Holy Something on hold and was waiting for the release of Gilsoft's the PAW, I had time on my hands, so accepted."

So what was Slack Bladder like? "To be honest it was pretty awful, but I like a challenge so got stuck in," says Craig, "and I ended up junking all but about 20% of the game." Craig wrote the remainder of the game himself from scratch and by June 1987 Slack Bladder was complete once more. As far as Craig is aware, the game never secured a release, despite his efforts, although interestingly a version is available on World of Spectrum. "I was never completely happy with Slack Bladder, so perhaps its status is not surprising, although I remain proud of an amusing "Alice in Wonderland" skit that I included." Craig concludes. "I tried working on another spoof (Black Viper) using some of the material from Slack," says Craig, "but I ran out of steam and took it no further." It's not all bad news however: in the process of this interview Craig has been alerted to the current interest in Spectrum games. "Going through my archives recently I came across some pages of notes and ideas that I'd made in 1989 on Black Viper," he says, "so you never know, these could form the basis of a new work."

Post-Adventuring
The last Spectrum adventuring work undertaken by Craig was in the autumn of 1992 when he polished up the three adventures for Zenobi. The next year he took the dip and bought a second-hand Atari ST, but used the machine almost exclusively for word-processing. "The Spectrum got packed away in a box in the wardrobe and it's not been seen since." says Craig. Did he never even consider converting his existing games I ask? "I did look into the possibility, or maybe even writing a new adventure, but nothing came of it," states Craig, although I don't sense a great deal of remorse over this. There's a simple explanation.

"At the same time that I was putting to bed the Zenobi games I was also getting involved with music and had started learning bass guitar, ostensibly so I could join a mate's band who needed a bassist." This proved to be a more long-term avenue with Craig as he has stayed in music ever since and his latest band, The Container Drivers, are in the process of hopefully putting together an album sometime in 2012. "Without wanting to sound too pretentious, I always regarded the writing of adventure games as an outlet for my creativity," says Craig, with just a hint of pretension, "and I could have tried my hand at writing short stories or poetry but settled instead for The Quill - and nowadays, music."

So what happened to videogames, Craig? "I think I just grew out of them. As I said earlier I played loads of Spectrum games back in the mid 80's, but once the new decade dawned and I eventually got the next generation of computer, the desire just faded. Apart from a spell playing Tetris on a friend's Gameboy in the early nineties, I've never even played on a console bar a few turns on Wii Sports."

Craig's story is a poignant one. Despite the huge range of publishers around at the time, it shows how difficult it could be to get a game published, even when the process of getting it accepted had been bridged. Admittedly Craig was creating games in a genre that had become saturated over the years thanks to the various adventure game creator utilities around, yet the Crash Smash garnered by Custerds Quest demonstrates a sense of humour and penchant for dry wit that could have rivalled the great Delta 4 comedy adventures had it been given the chance to shine in 1987 and 1988.

If you want to play any of Craig's games (even Slack Bladder) they are all available for download at World of Spectrum

You can find out more about his band at www.myspace.com/containerdrivers.
Craig also runs an unofficial website on the band cult punk band Television Personalities (www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk) and has also asked me to mention his nostalgia site for early 90's indie bands: www.birdpoo.co.uk (don't ask!)

Many thanks to Craig Davies for his generous time in making this feature possible and John Wilson of Zenobi for helping me get in contact with him.

Wait a sec...before you go, an excerpt from Custerd...

You can also see here:-
*An inconsequential stone panel*
Examine panel.
It's inconsequential! Can't you read? It's a floor panel and I suggest that you kick it!
(having done this before and trying to be clever) Tap panel.
Rule 6b. The player must first kick the panel before tapping it.
Kick panel.
You kick the stone panel and break a few toes. You dance around the room with your foot held high saying things that would shock your granny. You really are too gullible! Alright, try tapping it.

Memories of Adventure Game Writing - Part 3

2011-10-16T19:06:00.020+01:00

For Part 1 please click here
For Part 2 please click here

Lost and Found
By October 1987, Quest for the Holy Something was finished and ready to go. “I sent it off to Argus Press for evaluation,” says Craig, “although I can’t remember for the life of me why I chose them!” When he heard nothing, Craig contacted them only for the publisher to deny all knowledge of receiving the submission. “Then, several months later, I got a phone call from a guy who said he’d recently taken over the job of evaluating and he said he’d found my game in amongst a batch of loose cassettes down the back of a cupboard!” Unfortunately the tape lacked any documentation. “He asked me to resubmit a map, tips and solution but by that time I’d lost access to a printer, so this avenue wasn’t pursued. Why I didn’t just write it all out by hand I’ll never know…”

So, reluctantly, Craig sent the game to The Power House in January 1988 who took six months to reply to him with a cursory “Thanks, but no thanks.” Over the subsequent winter of 1988/89, Craig revised Quest, spending much time in particular improving the graphics before finally getting in touch with John Wilson of Zenobi Software in the summer of 1989. The reason for the delay was real life (or rather education) getting in the way: Craig began University in October 1989 and for reasons he now can’t quite fathom, didn’t take his ZX Spectrum with him. With the author finding it difficult to pick up the pace when returning home for holidays and Royal Mail offering an appalling service with several letters and packages disappearing en route between Rochdale and the West Midlands, it wasn’t until Craig finished his studies in the summer of 1992 that he could finally get down to tweaking the game properly in order to have commercial standard programs for Zenobi.

The End of the Quest
So having started work on Quest for the Holy Something way back in November 1986, amazingly it would not be released until 1993, when unfortunately for Craig the commercial life of the ZX Spectrum was almost at an end. “I often think it’s a huge shame that Quest didn’t get released in 1988, or even 1990 when Zenobi first gave it the thumbs up,” opines Craig. “I consider it to be my funniest games and am grateful for John Wilson for finally allowing me to get out to a wider audience – and for paying a decent royalty rate too!” he concludes.

Given his persistence as outlined above, it’s perhaps surprising Craig didn’t have any other adventures published in the 80's and it wasn’t for want of trying. “I wrote several more adventures post-Custerds Quest,” he says, “but due to a combination of bad luck, academic distractions and other circumstance, they never saw the light of day, until a few of them were released by Zenobi in 1993.” One of these releases was Murder Hunt.

More Murder
In the autumn of 1986, Craig went back to the Bodkin game and began revising several parts that he had not been happy with. “I tidied up the text a bit, added graphics and replaced the appalling font that we had bizarrely decided to use,” he confirms. The re-jigged adventure, which would eventually become known as Murder Hunt 86 was offered to the budget label Firebird but was sadly rejected outright by the BT company (“I’m certain their reason was that they were no longer accepting Quill’d games”) before Craig compressed the game further and added a huge amount of extra jokes and text. Still thinking of budget labels, he sent the game off to Interceptor Software in the belief it would make a fine release for their own budget label, Players.

“They’d hosted a handful of adventure games,” begins Craig, “and were interested in Murder Hunt, but the process dragged on for months. They eventually accepted the game and contracts were duly exchanged before I took the opportunity to completely re-write the game from scratch in the summer of 1987 with added extended locations and descriptions.” Craig imaginatively dubbed this new version Murder Hunt 87 and contacted Interceptor once more regarding their plans for the adventure. “I seem to recall they told me that they were planning on launching a brand new label and that my game was due to be published in the second tranche of releases,” says Craig. What happened next had an air of inevitability to it.

1987 rolled into 1988 and with Craig studying for his A-levels, his computer hobby was understandably put to one side. Therefore, it wasn’t until late in 1988 that he finally got round to ringing Interceptor to see what had become of the marvellous new line. “The chap I spoke to said the whole project had been pulled,” says Craig sadly, “and that I should have been informed at the time that all the rights to the game had reverted back to me.” The final version of Murder Hunt, Murder Hunt 89 was submitted by Craig to Zenobi Software in April of 1990 and, along with The Quest for the Holy Something, saw release in 1993.

End of part 3
In part 4: Murder Hunt 2 is next for a re-vamp, Craig gets Slack and jettisons games for another pastime...

Memories of Adventure Game Writing - Part 2

2011-10-14T10:31:00.011+01:00

If you haven't read part 1 please click here

Publication!
"CRL were the first people I approached," says Craig when I ask him how Custerds Quest ended up on the publisher's budget arm. "I can't recall exactly, but assume I sent it to them as they'd released Delta 4's Bored of the Rings the previous year so I probably thought they would be receptive to my game." CRL accepted the game but passed it over to their pocket-money label, at the time entitled Alpha Omega and run by Ashley Hildebrandt. "Custerd got released by them at the end of 1986. It only picked up one or two reviews at the time and I certainly don't remember much publicity."
A few months later, with Alpha Omega flagging, CRL took the decision to rebrand the label into The Power House. In the meantime, Gilsoft had released The Press, so Craig took the opportunity to use the text compression utility on the Alpha Omega version of Custerds Quest. "I added a heap more text, jokes and responses to silly things you might type in and this is regarded as the definitive version of the game. In fact, the Alpha Omega version seems to have been totally forgotten." adds Craig.

A Princely Sum
Another part of The Power House revamp was the introduction of programmer profiles on the cassette inlays. "I was asked by CRL for a passport photo," recalls Craig, "so I used a photo booth in my local Boots." Looking at the picture, I ask Craig why he posed in dark sunglasses. "I was keen to appear anonymous at the time - for some reason this seemed important to me back then - so I wore the glasses, despite the fact it was a bitter January day!" Craig agrees it was a novel touch to include the mini-profiles, but was less enamoured with the rest of the cassette sleeve. "It neglected to tell the purchaser anything about the plot or aim of the game beyond a handful of basic commands," he says regretfully, "which was something the original version had managed at least. I also preferred the original artwork which depicted a rather shabby-looking knight perched atop a carthorse as I thought this was much more in keeping with the tone of the game."

So I ask Craig the million dollar question - how much money did he make from Custerds Quest? "Not a lot!" he replies conclusively, "I only ever received one royalty cheque from the Power House and that was for the princely sum of £3.04. I'm not sure how they arrived at that figure, but the letter that accompanied the cheque said it was for the first two quarters of 1987!" Craig continued to pester the publisher for more royalties, but in return received nothing more than broken promises and vague assurances. Eventually, The Power House label was sold off by CRL when the parent company began to encounter distribution problems early in 1988 and that was the end for Sir Custerd.

The Quest for Further Adventures
According to the inlay of Custerds Quest, the next game from author Craig Davies was to be another spoof adventure entitled The Quest for the Holy Something. "Actually technically that wasn't my next game," says Craig, "as for a couple of months after CQ I worked on an abandoned adventure called Eric and the Magic Torch [Incidentally, Craig returned to this project in 1992 and produced a playable version, so it may yet see the light of day]. Craig continues: "I started work on "QFTHS" in November 1986 on The Quill but then halted work a couple of months later in anticipation of Gilsoft's next adventure creation utility: The Professional Adventure Writer." [or PAW, as it became widely known].

Unfortunately, it wasn't worth the wait, or at least not to Craig. "When I finally got my hands on it, I was very disappointed. The amount of free memory it gave you to create your game on the 48k Spectrum wasn't nearly enough and this issue was compounded by the extremely basic built-in text compression." What Craig hadn't realised was that the new utility would be released with very much the new 128k 8-bit machines in mind. "If I had written The Quest for the Holy Something on the 48k PAW it would have needed to have been in four parts rather than the two I was able to squeeze it into using The Quill. So I went back to that and worked on the game again over the summer and autumn of 1987."

End of Part 2
In part 3: Craig tries to sell Quest, neglects his Spectrum, goes back to Murder Hunt, and phones Royal Mail a lot.

Memories of Adventure Game Writing - Interview with Craig Davies - Part 1

2011-10-12T16:12:00.012+01:00

Foreword
A few weeks ago I contacted a chap called Craig Davies with a view to composing a "making-of" of his game, Custerds Quest. His replies were so exhaustive and entertaining, offering an intriguing glimpse of the mid-late 80's period in the 8-bit games market, that I decided to write a bigger feature, taking in Craig's other efforts at getting his adventures released, as well as more biographical detail. So here we go with Part 1 of...

Memories of Adventure Game Writing

It may not be the most well-known of games, but Custerds Quest was an amusing adventure game parody that secured a Crash Smash in 1987 for The Power House, the budget arm of publishers CRL. Written by Craig Davies, I spoke to the man himself about Custerds Quest as well as his other attempts at getting published back in the 80’s and his memories of this turbulent period in videogames…
In the beginning…

Craig Davies’ love of computing began in 1981 when his older brother brought home a Sinclair ZX81. “Until then,” he begins, “computers were just things that you only saw on TV.” A few years later, Craig acquired a Spectrum 48k, yet his brother remained the programmer of the family. “He had bought a book on Z80 code and taught himself how to program,” says Craig proudly, “and then helped with most of the special effects that I used in my adventures – such as the scrolling messages on the title screens and the screen fades that I used here and there.” So what did Craig himself learn? “I did try and gain a bit of know-how; enough to enable me to hack games to look for cheat POKES for example. I bought a Multiface 1 from Romantic Robot - which was a fantastic piece of kit – and used it with a dissembler called Genie to break into games and scroll through the code.”

These dabblings came in useful when his adventure writing began. “I dissembled Gilsoft’s “Patch” and then “The Press” and worked out where in memory the special effects were stored. I then found the look-up table from where the routines were called and was able to move things around to accommodate my own routines.” Craig would go on to use these techniques to alter his games so they were subtly different to the usual “quilled” adventures.

Influences and favourites
Moving onto the games themselves, I ask Craig what his influences and favourites were from the time. “My best friend at the time got his Spectrum a year before me and one of the games he had was The Hobbit which must have left some impression on me. I remember we spent ages playing it, trying to work out how to stop those blasted bulbous eyes from dropping down and killing us!” Craig also enjoyed some of the Spectrum’s famous platform games such as Technician Ted, Manic Miner, Monty Mole and Jet Set Willy, yet it was the slower pace and use of imagination of adventure games that appealed to him most. “Or maybe I was just rubbish at the other games!” he jokes.

In addition to The Hobbit, Craig played plenty of other adventures, including those from a certain publisher that was to have a big influence on his own games. “I always loved the Delta 4 adventures, particularly The Boggit,” he says enthusiastically before also mentioning the St. Brides spoof Very Big Cave Adventure and the lesser-known Spoof the Magic Dragon from Runesoft. “I think the comedic spoof approach just suited my sense of humour,” says Craig, “and undoubtedly at the time I wanted to emulate the kind of game that Delta 4 were renowned for producing.” In fact, the young adventure fan took his love of all things Delta 4 a step further that landed him in hot water with his parents. “I used to ring them up from time to time and I’d have lengthy amusing conversations with Fergus McNeill. I’m not so sure my parents were so amused when the phone bill came in, but as this was before itemised bills I denied all knowledge of it!” Unfortunately for Craig, this didn’t prevent his Mum having phone locks fitted shortly afterwards…

The Road to Custerd
“It all started in 1985 when my best mate from school got hold of a copy of The Quill. We started playing around with it and wrote a handful of locations, created some objects. Almost before we knew it, we were writing our first very own adventure game.” This game turned into Murder Hunt and after adopting the moniker Bodkin Software, Craig and his friend began selling the adventure by mail order. Helped by some generally favourable reviews, the game went on to sell around 130 copies according to Craig. “Almost immediately we wrote a fairly functional sequel imaginatively entitled Murder Hunt 2,” continues Craig, “but we didn’t release it. Then, after working a couple of months on an abandoned project called Robert the Bogart, I bashed out Custerds Quest on my own in a little over a fortnight in July 1986, immediately after sitting my O-levels.”

The original title of Custerds Quest was The Terror of Tower Doom. “It was my tongue-in-cheek dig at those games that took themselves far too seriously,” explains Craig. However it was suggested later that the name be changed to the more snappier Custerds Quest although with hindsight Craig regrets not insisting that “Tower…” be left in as a subtitle.

Craig began work on Custerd with another big influence at work in the background. “I loved Black Adder, and the second series was airing around that time. That wonderfully dry wit was very close to my own default humour, and along with the film Airplane, from which many of the puns and sight gags came from, influenced these adventures a lot.”
So with the plot and jokes sorted, only the graphics remained and this was where Craig struggled a little. “The graphics were done separately as The Quill did not incorporate them. So I bought the Illustrator in late 1985 and began tinkering with it.” How did he get on with the graphics package? “To be honest, my early efforts were woeful,” he says with a grimace, “but the ones I did for CQ, whilst basic, were at least functional. By the time I created the graphics on my next game, I’d become almost proficient in the art.”

End of Part 1

In Part 2: Custerd gets published (twice), Craig gets his first royalty cheque and begins work on his next game...

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 9 - 20-11

2011-10-10T19:50:00.005+01:00

20.Dead Space (Xbox 360) NEW ENTRY
Resident Evil 4 in Space. That may well have been the pitch, but Dead Space is so much more than that. Atmospheric in design, both graphically and aurally, it's a triumph of building tension and gameplay.

019.The Great Escape (Spectrum)
...or the game that actually suited the Spectrum's popular monochromatic display. World War 2 brilliance from Denton Designs.

018.Jungle Strike (Megadrive)
It may not be as nostagically popular as Desert Strike, yet Jungle improved upon the template set by its forebear with such verve and technical miracles - not to mention the multiple vehicles you could now control which added huge variety - that it is actually in effect superior in every respect.

017.Metal Gear Solid (Playstation)
The old Nintendo franchise got a brilliant re-boot on the all-conquering PS and it remains one of the greatest stealth games ever. The graphics and depth of gameplay marked it out as an outstanding game back in 1998 and it remains quality now.

016.Star Wars Battlefront (PC)
It got a mild slating at the time from my favourite PC Magazine, PC Gamer, but I always loved its simplicity; run around, or jump in one of the iconic vehicles, and blast those pesky Imperials Rebels. Huge fun.

015.Bubble Bobble (Arcade)
It's what must be one of the most bizarre concepts ever for a videogame, but for sheer entertainment wins hands down. Another great multiplayer game.

014.Bomb Jack (Spectrum)
One of a limited cadre of Spectrum games that is actually better than the arcade original (see Renegade, Bosconian '87), Bombjack was an addictive collect 'em up with smart graphics and a one-more-go factor that was rarely beaten on the Speccy.

013.Chuckie Egg (Spectrum)
Although I originally played this classic platformer on the BBC, it's the Spectrum where I played it most, and the game is almost identical. Challenging, yet simple, Chuckie Egg is one of the greatest platformers ever and I always preferred by me to the over-rated Manic Miner.

012.Buck Rogers: Countdown To Doomsday (Megadrive)
SSI's achievement in squeezing down their complex PC and Amiga game into the Megadrive 16-bit cart should never be underestimated. The result was an outstanding RPG that mixed classic Rogers mythology with some nifty team and space combat.

011.Academy (Spectrum)
Tau Ceti laid the foundations upon which Academy built. Pete Cooke designed a remarkably open-ended game, with a variety of missions designed to qualify the player as a gal-corp skimmer pilot. The ability to design your own Skimmer was a huge innovation at the time.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 8 - 30-21

2011-10-08T18:52:00.005+01:00

030.Silent Hill (PS1)
A superb horror game to rival Capcom's Resident Evil series, Silent Hill fosters a creepy atmosphere that reminds you of when games could be genuinely scary. Strangely, I've never played the sequels, although I've heard the second instalment on the PS2 is pretty good.

029.Midnight Resistance (Spectrum)
How this fantastic run and gunner got squeezed into the Speccy I'll never know. Sharp, addictive and playable, I prefer this to the Megadrive version incredibly. What higher praise can I give to the coder, Jim Bagley.

028.Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast (PC)
One of the criticisms of the brilliant original Jedi Knight games was the poor lightsabre combat. This was addressed in the sequel, in addition to improvements to the rest of the game, and the results were pretty spiffy for any Star Wars fan.

027.Duke Nukem 3D (PC)
I'm Duke Nukem - and I'm coming to get the rest of you alien bastards! Yes, Duke may have lost some of lustre recently thanks to the insipid Duke Nukem Forever, but back in 1996 he was King of the world. Hail to the King, baby!

026.Outrun (Arcade)
The ultimate driving game in my opinion: slick, fast and playable. Has to be in that cab, however. The Spectrum version was rubbish!

025.Tron: Deadly Discs (Intellivision)
The Intellivision wasn't home to many classics but this was a superb arena-based game with a finely balanced difficulty curve.

024.Star Wars (arcade)
I challenge anyone who stepped into this cab in the early 80's, with your mates crowding round and Ben Kenobi echoing in your ears, not to have had a whale of a time.

023.Chaos (Spectrum)
Dear Mr. Gollop, just to let you know you were probably responsible for me failing my Chemistry GCSE! This battle of wizards introduced a random element (the spells you were given) and a host of tactical options. Like most of his games, it was best played with a friend, or even upto 7 friends in Chaos.

022.Rebelstar 2 (Spectrum)
Dear Mr. Goll- oh you get the idea. He improved upon the original with a steeper difficulty level and an interesting dual-layer mission. And it was still £1.99. Amazing!

021.Resident Evil Director's Cut (PS1)
The director's cut added little to the original game, but it was already a stonewall classic - just this was the version I played and the main reason I bought a Playstation. It had its flaws, but after a decade and a bit, this remains a hugely influential game.

What happened next?

2011-10-05T12:55:00.003+01:00

A few months ago I bought a Philips CDi cheap off ebay (£10). I ran a short series of posts about the games I got with it and those I purchased separately (also cheaply) off ebay.

After using it at Christmas time to watch some movies, the poor CDi was ditched. It simply took up far too much room for the weak gameplay and limited selection of movies it offered.

Should you wish to check out my thoughts on this not-misunderstood-at-all machine, please use these links.

http://jdanddiet.blogspot.com/2010/01/philips-cdi.html
http://jdanddiet.blogspot.com/2010/01/cdi-games.html
http://jdanddiet.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-cdi-games.html
http://jdanddiet.blogspot.com/2010/01/cdi-games-part-3.html

Witchfinder's 100k Challenge

2011-09-26T21:27:00.001+01:00

Now here's an interesting idea...

Retrogamer forum member, Retro Gaming event organizer and all round cool dude, Witchfinder has set himself a challenge: a 100k challenge. I'll quote the man himself to help explain his new blog:-

"The premise is to focus on 40 arcade games, a mixture of bona fide classics, personal favourites and a few more leftfield choices. The aim is to gradually improve at these titles until I can achieve a high score of 100,000 points or more on each. I'll be sharing my progress with pictures, gameplay videos, tips and occasional diversions on to related (and unrelated) topics. "

He's already been at it for a while: here's a link to the Week 1 Summary

Good luck Witchfinder!

Eurogamer Expo 2011

2011-09-24T20:12:00.017+01:00

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend the Eurogamer Expo 2011 at Earl's Court in London - and pretty impressive it was too!

My main point of interest was the REPLAY stand where the guys were promoting this year's REPLAY expo in Blackpool with an array of classic consoles and computers. But having bought an XBOX 360 a few months back, I was also very keen to see the latest releases that were being displayed, most well before their official release date. So here's my story of the day.

At just gone opening time (11am) I arrived, and the queue was already mahoooo-sive - I saw a lot of the back of this bloke's head. Credit to the organisers though : despite its length, the queue moved really quickly and I was in the venue by 11.25.
I was greeted by this - lots of stands, a bewildering amount! And lots of gamers, already firmly entrenched in front of the multitude of TV screens.
My first view of the REPLAY stand. There were lots of nice banners, and it was on a par (if not superior) to the rest of the exhibition. The lounge areas were a great idea. Nice work guys!
The REPLAY guys organised a few competitions throughout the day. There was a challenge the UK Mario Kart champion comp, with Sami Cetin (the man himself) present. The Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Land competitions were particularly popular. Sonic was won by a young lady who cleared the first level in just 29 seconds!
Anyone born in the early-mid 70's? You will recognise these photos! I had both these tabletop games as a nipper and loved them, although they are laughably simple by today's standards. Neverthless, the music from both was enough to bring back a flood of memories once more.
Some of the great systems on show: an original XBOX, a PS2 (playing retro shooter XIII Stag) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider, complete with pointy tits, on the original Playstation.
Three lads playing Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64: their "first console", which made me feel very old...
This was the new BBC game Blurp, which received its debut at Eurogamer. It's pretty good!
Me: Do you know when this game came out?
Young lass: No.
Me: 1983.
Young lass: That was 10 years before I was born.
Me: Ummmm....
Is that Mario playing? I do believe it is! Surely he is the master of all gaming?

I guess not!
Modern Games.

If we must.
Dark Souls. Prepare to Die. Charming.
Mass Effect 3: Looks and plays exactly like the first 2. Admittedly a swift 10-minute trial for me...
Kinect, how to look a tit part one: Rise of Nightmares. This nice lady is currently chainsawing a zombie in half.
Halo Anniversary HD. Looks spiffing.
Modern Warfare 3. Looks quite unpleasant.
How to look a tit part 2: Kinect Fruit Ninja. Yes, Fruit Ninja.
Mario Kart 7 was on display. I really must get round to playing the first 6.
The Eurogamer games of the year stand had every one of the GOTY from Unreal Tournament back in 199somewhen.
To conclude: plenty of Cosplay people around. Since I would receive an instant divorce if I'd taken any photos of Chun-Li, the Wipeout girl (you know who I mean....) etc, here's a chap wearing a load of old boxes. Ho hum. 'Til next year!

The Making of...Ball Breaker

2011-09-21T20:52:00.013+01:00

Origins
I remember playing the breakout game that came on the Horizons cassette, the introductory tape that was bundled with the 48k Spectrum. It was called Thro' the Wall, and despite the game's basic nature - and BASIC code - I spent hours trying to guide the ball onto that one painful last block. Fast forward a couple of years and Taito had a massive hit with an arcade game entitled Arkanoid. I'm sure you're all familiar with this game; it was Breakout with whistles and bells, and it was pretty good too despite a controversially low Crash Magazine score (59%) that precipitated a deluge of reader complaints under the banner of "Ark Annoyed" on Lloyd Mangram's letter page.

Nevertheless, Arkanoid was a big seller for Ocean/Imagine and its follow up, Revenge of Doh, was even better. Within the predictable clones and imitations in Arkanoid's trail however, there was one game that stood out thanks to a high concept that made the process of block destroying
much more complicated.

Inception
The main men behind Ball Breaker were CRL chief Clem Chambers who came up with the idea and assisted in the level design, and Richard Taylor, the talented programmer who had previously coded Terrahawks, a game praised for its impressive vector graphics. Work on the game commenced in late 1986 and took approximately 6-9 months from idea to publication.
"The original concept was Clem's really," says Richard who was one of CRL's earliest employees, "and it was basically Breakout but in 3D." This was the "high concept" behind what would become Ball Breaker, albeit with a few added twists. "That's essentially it," echoes the CRL boss Clem Chambers, "I had the idea of a 3D Arkanoid but before that it came from the way I used to break games down to Movements, Controls, Obstacles and Goals (or MCOG)," he continues, "and Ball Breaker came from that philosophy. It didn't matter whether it was 2D or 3D as the basic game was the same and would work, because the MCOG remained the same."

The game was to include all the trappings of the genre that had been introduced by Arkanoid. "We wanted from the outset to include monsters and missiles to fire," explains Richard, "and in a sense it actually became a hybrid of Breakout and Space Invaders combined with the isometric 3D made famous by Ultimate." After the fast and sleek Terrahawks, Richard wasn't overjoyed to be working on Ball Breaker ("I was a bit obsessed by vector graphics at the time" he confesses) although in retrospect he conceded the potential of the idea.

The Team Game
Clem Chambers assembled his team for Ball Breaker. Jon Law was recruited for graphics design and Jay Derrett the music (although as Richard Taylor admits, "it was a bit wasted on the puny Spectrum sound capability"). These types of programming teams were becoming more common by this point but Richard never felt it was a problem on Ball Breaker. "To be honest there wasn't that much need for interaction since there was just me doing the main coding. Things did get a lot more complicated, however, when you had multiple coders on a game, but that was still unusual."

Taylor was actually in his first year at University whilst programming the game. "I spent most evenings up until about 2am coding and debugging whilst my room mates were trying to sleep, which wasn't very social - especially when I would run the game and forget to turn the sound off!" Richard's previous education - an A-Level in Physics - also proved to be a great asset to Ball Breaker. "I was quite pleased with the physics elements of it actually," he says proudly, "such as the way the ball bounced and dropped and how it reacted to objects. But the thing I liked best was how the stacks of blocks fell down when you smashed the bottom one with the little delay between them." The coder wasn't entirely satisfied with the end result however, admitting that it was a mistake that he did not address the reduced frame rate that occured whenever multiple objects appeared on screen, although he concedes "that wasn't an easy thing to do at the time."
Technical Restrictions
Surprisingly, the original version of Ball Breaker was on the Amstrad with the Spectrum conversion following on shortly afterwards and both were programmed by Richard. "I was very familiar with both platforms and of course they shared the Z80 so I could take code across directly." Each system had its plus and minuses. "Of course, the Amstrad version was more colourful," explains Richard, "but the machine was underpowered compared to the Spectrum and there was no hardware assist at all. Additionally, on the Spectrum the screen buffer was 6k; on the Amstrad it was 16k." This was essentially the pay-off for the brighter graphics as the Amstrad CPU struggled to move all the elements around the screen. So how did Richard get around this problem? "I went to a lot of effort to calculate which 2D areas on the screen had any change from frame to frame and only updated those parts, which helped a lot to keep everything moving."

Ball Breaker did not receive a Commodore 64 version for similar technical reasons. "The CPU was slower," says Richard, "so unless you could map the game into hardware sprites or scrolling you really couldn't do much at all. Isometric 3D - especially games with lots of movement such as Ball Breaker - just couldn't be done on it, or at least not to any decent level."

The composing of Ball Breaker's levels was a joint effort between Richard and Clem. "I'd basically just designed a few random levels and then we sat down together and made improvements," explains Richard. "Many of the screens were very hard to complete so when Clem got too frustrated I had to tweak them accordingly. We probably didn't put the effort into the level design that we should have, which is one of the reasons there was a sequel which was just the same game with different designs."
Reviews
Sinclair User were the most effusive of the Spectrum magazines with Graham Taylor (no, the other one) awarding the game an impressive 9 stars out of ten, calling the game "utterly addictive". Tony Worrall, writing in Your Sinclair gave the game an 8 although this was tempered with the caveat that perhaps it was for fans of the genre only. The Crash magazine reviewers were divided on Ball Breaker, resulting in a lesser score, although 64% was still respectable enough, and 5% more than its illustrious forbear; Amstrad Action were similarly cautious, awarding the game 69%. Come the second game, patience was wearing thin, and although SU still awarded Ball Breaker 2 eight out of ten, the similarity of the sequel to its predecessor counted against it. "To be honest, I'm not sure the game code changed really at all for Ball Breaker 2," admits Richard. "However, what did change is that I put together a game level designer package - with instructions - that could be sent out to those who were designing levels."

So, finally I ask Richard what he thought of the finished game. "I thought it turned out pretty well. I wasn't into games that much at all, but I liked the breakout-style games because they were so straightforward and accessible." he says, "and Ball Breaker was a reasonably playable version. And I remember being most surprised no-one had tried a 3D version of Breakout before!"

My thanks to Richard Taylor and Clem Chambers for their time.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 7 - 40-31

2011-09-19T20:24:00.004+01:00

040.Half Life (PC)
Back in 1998, First Person Shooters were already starting to become a little staid as publishers released game after game in this genre. Valve changed all that.

039.The Simpsons: Hit and Run (Gamecube) NEW ENTRY
It's pretty difficult not to love this amusing driving and action game based on the famous cartoon.

038.Tracksuit Manager (Spectrum)
Despite looking like nothing more than a glorified spreadsheet, this Footie Management Sim utilised a fascinating written commentary for matches that was far superior to any graphics the Speccy could manage. A host of tactical and logistical options would keep you occupied for months.

037.3D Deathchase (Spectrum)
It was criticized for its simplicity, but this in my opinion was its biggest draw. And yes, I did pretend I was on a speeder bike!

036.Kung Fu Master (Arcade)
Nothing tells you more about this arcade game than when I used to go into arcades in the late 80's full of exciting new games, only to be back drawn to Kung Fu Master...

035.Desert Strike (Megadrive)
Mike Posehn's brilliant isometric shooter squeezed every drop out of the 16-bit Megadrive and was an engaging, original blaster to boot.

034.Tetris (Gameboy)
The original puzzler that sold a million Gameboys. Probably.

033.Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (PS2)
It may be considered an inconsequential step in the evolution of Resident Evil, wedged between the old, fixed perspective style and the new flashy Resident Evil 4, but I still found CV an exciting and compelling Resident Evil chapter.

032.Rebelstar (Spectrum)
Dear Mr. Gollop, just to let you know you were probably responsible for me failing my Maths GCSE! This hugely playable and addictive strategy title also cost an incredible £1.99 - best value ever? 2 player mode was brilliant.

031.Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (Xbox) NEW ENTRY
Whilst the Dark Alliance games have nothing of the PC original's depth or complexity, the pure hack/slash/loot gameplay is hugely compulsive. This sequel vastly increased my enjoyment thanks to the option to create your own magical weapon

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 6 - 50-41

2011-09-16T17:49:00.006+01:00

050.Turbo Esprit (Spectrum)
Mike Richardson's free-roaming driving game classic was quite like nothing else on the speccy. Even if you didn't bother trying to catch any drug dealers, the game was a joy to play, zooming around a real living breathing city.

049.Die Hard Trilogy (Playstation)
A wonderful trio of entertaining games, and also great value for money. My favourite was the partly-maligned first section based around the original film. Shame they couldn't repeat the magic for the disappointing Alien Trilogy.

048.The Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive)
Another Mega Games, erm, game, and another that I played and played and played. A difficult and challenging entry in the famous series, Revenge nonetheless was an addictive side scrolling run and jump/gunner.

047.Gauntlet IV (Megadrive)
Not only does Gauntlet IV go back to basics (after the daft isometric third game), adding RPG elements as well, but also included are the two original games! Outstanding value and great multiplayer action.

046.Super Mario Land (Gameboy)
My only real foray into the land of Mario, and a game that was perfectly suited to Nintendo's little wonder.

045.Micro Machines (Megadrive)
Another multiplayer delight, and a superb concept to boot (from Codemasters).

044.Resident Evil 2 (Playstation)
Set in and around the Raccoon City Police Station, RE2 cranked up the tension, scares and puzzles to produce a bigger and more exciting adventure.

043.Flying Shark (Spectrum)
One of the finest shooters ever on any 8-bit computer, let alone the Spectrum. The monochrome graphics are just sharp enough, the gameplay exquisitely balanced.

042.Strider (Megadrive)
Renowned favourite of the Retro Gamer Magazine's editor Darran Jones, although I've admittedly never played the arcade original. The Megadrive version is perfect, however, so I see no need!

041.Fifa Soccer 95 (Megadrive)
Back when footie games were simple. Basic, maybe, but the ability to score spectacular goals and put together some decent passing moves was a huge plus over the original FIFA.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 Games - First 50 recap

2011-09-15T12:10:00.002+01:00

With Part 6 imminent, let's recap the first 50 entries:-

100.Golden Axe (Megadrive)
099.Nemesis (Arcade)
098.Universal Soldier (Megadrive)
097.Sea Battle (Intellivision)
096.Hypersports (ZX Spectrum)
095.Batty (ZX Spectrum)
094.Halo (XBOX)
093.Cobra (ZX Spectrum)
092.Gynoug (Megadrive)
091.Prince Valiant (Gameboy)
090.Harrier Attack (ZX Spectrum)
089.Quazatron (ZX Spectrum)
088.Alien Syndrome (Master System)
087.Alien Storm (Megadrive)
086.Myth (ZX Spectrum)
085.Silpheed (MegaCD)
084.Burnout (Gamecube)
083.Brian Lara Cricket 96 (Megadrive)
082.Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (PC)
081.Saboteur (ZX Spectrum)
080.Space Battle (Intellivision)
079.Goldeneye (N64)
078.Max Payne (PC)
077.Light Crusader (Megadrive)
076.Icewind Dale (PC)
075.Doom (PC)
074.Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (XBOX)
073.Renegade (ZX Spectrum)
072.Moon Patrol (Arcade)
071.Fallout 2 (PC)
070.Streets of Rage (Megadrive)
069.Jet Set Willy (ZX Spectrum)
068.Robocop (ZX Spectrum)
067.Paperboy (Arcade)
066.Robocop vs Terminator (Megadrive)
065.R-Type (Master System)
064.Grand Theft Auto (PC)
063.Speedball 2 (Megadrive)
062.Resident Evil 5 (XBOX 360)
061.Dino Crisis (Playstation)
060.Impossible Mission (ZX Spectrum)
059.PGA European Tour (Megadrive)
058.Unreal Tournament (PC)
057.Call of Cthuhlu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX)
056.Ranger X (Megadrive)
055.The Terminator (MegaCD)
054.Warcraft (PC)
053.Cybernoid (ZX Spectrum)
052.Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
051.Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)

The Making of...A L I E N

2011-09-12T19:24:00.019+01:00

In 1984 film licenses were still something of a rarity on the home computers. Ocean Software hadn't quite yet cottoned onto the idea fully and generally they tended to be low-key affairs. One game dramatically changed this: Ghostbusters. Activision's classic made their fellow publishers realise the potential of a good movie behind your game and one such software house was Argus Press. Under their Mind Games label, Argus released Alien, an adaptation of the film that (technically) most Spectrum fans would not have been able to see due to its 18 certificate. Of course, many of them had seen it in one way or the other, but that's another story...

The Playstation game Resident Evil is generally acknowledged to mark the start for the phrase "Survival Horror", yet the genre had been around for years and the movie Alien represented a perfect template for this type of game.

Your task as player was simple: take command of the various members of the Nostromo crew, kill the eponymous xenomorph and protect Jones the cat. Each level was presented in an overhead plan style with all the locations of the spaceship present including those "you-go-first" air ducts. After a brief introductory period, the Alien would hatch from a hapless crewmember and the running around and screaming would commence.

From Imagine to Concept

John Heap, of Imagine and Denton Designs fame, was the designer and programmer of the ZX Spectrum version, and it also marked the first full debut of this talented coder.

"I'd been in the industry for about three months," recalls John, "and was working at Imagine Software on one of their Mega Games." Readers who are familiar with the demise of the Liverpool-based software house will recall that these two games, Bandersnatch and Psyclapse never saw the light of day, having been quietly abandoned in the aftermath of the Imagine collapse. "Some of the older hands, including Paul Clansey," continues John, "set up a company called Concept Software and a short while later they offered me a job as they required a Spectrum programmer." The game John was being recruited for (at least initially) was Alien, a conversion of the Commodore 64 original, programmed by Paul Clansey.

"The C64 version was already well on its way to completion when I joined," explains John, "so whilst I was sole programmer on the Spectrum version, a lot of kudos should go Paul's way." The conversion process was not quite so simple in those days, however, as John confirms. "The code was written in assembler and there were no cross-compilers. When you take into account the different strengths and weaknesses of the two machines, it was basically a total rewrite." Nevertheless, John was very excited to be working on such a prestigious film license. "To have it as my first published game was absolutely fantastic. I don't recall the constraints - if any - that Paul was working under, but I think we were more or less allowed to design the game as we liked."

Cranking up the Tension

In addition to the license, Alien had a number of other concepts that stood out. Always planned as a strategy title, the game had a slowburn atmosphere to it that marked it significantly apart from the ubiquitous platform and shoot 'em up games occupying the shelves at the time. "That worked incredibly well," says John proudly, "as having the door sound as either you or the crew moved around was a stroke of genius and was a lesson to us all: less is more." There was only one drawback to this in John's opinion. "When you are finally confronted by the Alien - whilst it's an excellent graphic - it is kind of disappointing bearing in mind the tension that has been building up."

Alien utilised an icon-driven system for control. "I remembered from my Imagine days their Apple Lisa's all running spreadsheets. These computers had an icon-driven OS and I could see they were the future so we were keen to implement them into Alien." Another novel concept was the emotion indicators: "I wanted to show intelligence within the NPC's and player's character - or at least as much as was possible given the Spectrum's limitations." says John and this random element kept the player thinking about alternate actions, given the implications of their emotional status. "Simply put, they might not do as they're told," he states impishly, "and it allowed man-management features to be added to the gameplay." John went on to develop this idea further with some of his subsequent games such as Shadowfire (Beyond) and Where Time Stood Still (Ocean).

Speccy vs. C64

I can't resist any more and ask John the million-dollar question. Does he think the Spectrum version was better? "Well, I liked the Spectrum more as a computer," he reflects, "because you had a blank canvas and never felt there were any artificial limited imposed. I think the Spectrum version was graphically cleaner than the C64, helped by the fact that my pixels were square and I wasn't limited to a single character set." And also, like many Spectrum games, Alien was a tough beast to master. "I think perhaps I made the difficulty worse by allowing access to the air vents. That element wasn't in the C64 version and I programmed the cat to jump into them!" says John without an iota of regret for those Spectrum gamers who tore their hair out trying to rescue the pesky feline critter.

The level of difficulty was succinctly demonstrated by the end percentage score the player received. Echo the ending of the film (rescue Jones the cat, set the Nostromo to self-destruct and escape in the shuttle) and you'd receive a lowly 2 or 3% score. "It seemed that it would be a better ending for the company to kill the alien without blowing up the Nostromo," explains John, "so all you had to do was kill the alien, keep all the crewmembers alive and ensure the cat is ok." he adds with a smile. Simple.

Despite this, there were a couple of elements that John wasn't happy with in retrospect. "I always tested the game on a keyboard and on release there were reports that with a joystick it was difficult to highlight the correct icons so I realised I should have put some debounce in." he says. "I was also a bit disappointed with the title screen; it was drawn on a very old fuzzy-screened colour television so when I placed the green attributes it looked subtle and glowed atmospherically. When I saw it on a big modern telly, however, I was appalled at how chunky it looked!"

Critical Reaction

Ultimately, John was very satisfied with the end result and the reception that Alien received in the gaming press. Sinclair User gave the game a "Gilbert Factor" of 7 and said it boasted "tremendous tension". Your Spectrum's Joystick Jury noted Alien's high difficulty level allayed with admiration for its diverse and original gameplay. Best of all, however, was Crash magazine's coveted Crash Smash where the (anonymous) reviewer cited a "very faithful recreation of the movie's feel," and recognised the atmospheric sound effects before concluding "Hitchcock would have loved it". High praise indeed!

Many thanks to John Heap for his help in this article. These days he runs The Good Game Company who can be found here: http://darkinference.com/index.html

The Making of Jones in the Fast Lane

2011-09-12T17:53:00.007+01:00

The new issue of the brilliant Retro Gamer magazine is out on Friday (September 15th) and amongst the usual features, includes my second feature for the mag. Jones in the Fast Lane is an old Sierra game from 1991, if you wanna know more, buy the mag :-)

I'd like to take this opportunity to offer special thanks to Peter Forson for his help in the creation of this article. Cheers Pete!

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 5 - 60-51

2011-09-08T21:38:00.007+01:00

060.Impossible Mission (Spectrum)
One of the first games I got with my Speccy and although admittedly not a patch on the C64 version, still a great game.

059.PGA European Tour (Megadrive)
Ah, back when golf games were simple and fun...again best played against a fellow human - preferably competitive Dad!

058.Unreal Tournament (PC)
I still enjoy a dab of the original UT every now and then. Any chance to use that sniper rifle...

057.Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox) NEW ENTRY
Chilling, strange and atmospheric, Dark Corners is a macabre combination of horror and a 1920's detective story. A fascinating and intriguing game.

056.Ranger X (Megadrive)
Weird Japanese-influenced robot platform-y type shooter that saw a lot of time in my MD.

055.The Terminator (MegaCD)
A supremely superior version of the Megadrive original. The mini cut-scenes aren't upto much, but the cleaner graphics, gameplay and vastly improved music make it a must.

054.Warcraft (PC)
My Lord? Yes? THE ORCS ARE APPROACHING!

053.Cybernoid (Spectrum) NEW ENTRY
Raf Cecco's finest hour in my view. Tough, but rewarding, and plenty of shooting action.

052.Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
I know it's not fashionable to like this 3rd instalmant, but I fell in love with the cartoony graphics, even if the humour wasn't quite as sharp as in the first two games.

051.Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
Nowadays the MOH games are yawnsome in their regularity, but back in 1999 this was quite an event and Call of Duty was a distinct second place.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 4 - 70-61

2011-09-06T09:31:00.008+01:00

070.Streets of Rage (Megadrive)
I originally got this scrolling beat em up on the Mega Games compilation and whilst it lacks the majesty of its sequel, it's still a great game that I played all the way through several times.

069.Jet Set Willy (Spectrum)
Despite never even coming close to completing it, I used to spend days just trying to find new rooms and waiting for the yacht to sail...

068.Robocop (Spectrum)
A classy movie adap from Ocean with their now customary multi-level template.

067.Paperboy (Arcade)
The arcade original with the handlebar controller was brilliant, and the game itself original and addictive. But tough!

066.Robocop VS Terminator (Megadrive)
Bloody and gory fun in a comic-book-style platform shooter. Superb fun.

065.R-Type (Master System) NEW ENTRY
In my opinion the best home console version, although fellow 8-bit the ZX Spectrum gives it a run for its money :-)

064.Grand Theft Auto (PC)
I've never got on with the 3D versions preferring instead the toy-car style violence of the original two games. GOURANGA!

063.Speedball 2 (MD)
One of the greatest future sports games ever, if not THE greatest. Best with 2 players, Speedball 2 is great combination of handball, football, rugby and Street Fighter.

062.Resident Evil 5 (XBOX 360)
Despite a major control lapse (you can't walk and shoot!), I found Resi 5 to be a highly enjoyable and fast paced action game. Not many scares though...

061.Dino Crisis (Playstation)
It's Resident Evil with dinosaurs. What more do you want?

XBOX Indie Game Special: Grand Theft Froot

2011-08-30T19:29:00.012+01:00

From my limited experience of XBLIG so far I've already gleaned there's a huge range of games that vary extraordinarily in content and gameplay. There's rampant cloning of popular titles, shovelware and kids titles by the dozens as well as the obligatory avatar games. One diamond that shone from the pile for me, however, was a game called Grand Theft Froot and I was lucky enough to catch up with its developers, Jack & Lisa of Frooty Game Studios earlier this week. But we'll get to them shortly: what of Grand Theft Froot itself?

Despite the paraphrased name from Rockstar's classic one-man-crimewave game, Grand Theft Froot is a platform game set on an alien planet. There's some sinister things going on; a mysterious corporation (The Advanced Weapons Research Corporation, or AWRC) is developing super weapons using a strange poison known as "Froot" and your hero (or heroine?) is charged with finding out what's going on. Suffering from amnesia, you are constantly offered conflicting advice from two different sources: one of them is trustworthy, the other is not. Each multi-scrolling level in Grand Theft Froot contains an exit with various hazards in between - before the exit can be reached, these hazards have to be traversed and all the Froot contained in the level collected. Enemies include the robotic guardians of the AWRC as well as the globular remains of their nefarious experiments.

The graphics in GTF hark back to the times of the NES and Master System - simple and precise and do the job perfectly well. Sound is utilised well and there's a cool dance tune that plays throughout, although this can be a little repetitive (I ended up turning it off). Where GTF really strikes gold is with its gameplay - the game combines those classic tenets of being easy to play (initially at least) yet very difficult to put down. This is for three reasons: first of all, the platforming action itself which is tightly controlled and balanced, luring you in; secondly, the character development in the form of "levelling-up", an unsophisticated form of the RPG genre that continually lets the player improve their basic stats (such as agility, power etc); and thirdly, the story that accompanies the game, something that expands and explains as it goes on.

Where GTF wins for me, however, is the ability to go back and replay previous levels. This gives you the chance to improve your experience (which you don't lose if your character snuffs it) and therefore make tougher levels simpler. As an experienced but generally useless platform gamer, this was essential for yours truly! The game also offers numerous upgrades to your gun and shields which can be obtained by collecting the coins that lay carelessly strewn around the alien planet.

Alas, it's not all beer and skittles: Grand Theft Froot does have its faults. The title, for starters, which whilst undoubtably apt, was probably not the best choice. There are some annoying little tics as well; plot updates and messages appear in pop-up boxes and these often obscure the action resulting in your character being totally exposed. Also, when hit by enemy fire you "jump back" resulting in some frustrating falls into lava pits. However, whilst other critics have complained about the over-use of the cannons in GTF, I personally didn't find this to be an issue.

Still, at a mere 80 msp, Grand Theft Froot offers hours of gameplay and a depth that more than warrants the miniscule investment. It has a touch of humour to it as well that should appeal to anyone brought up on the wacky platformers of the 8 and 16 bit era.

Grand Theft Froot is the first fully completed and published game from Frooty Game Studios, aka Jack and Lisa and I spoke to them about the genesis of the game.

Their plan was simple: to create a game that anyone could complete, yet was still a challenge to more experienced gamers. "The latter Ratchet and Clank games are a good example of this," says Jack, betraying an influence on GTF, "in that the game gets easier each time you die because you keep your experience and upgrades." The upshot of this is simple: expert gamers will get through the game in quick time with the appropriate difficulty level; less experienced games will take longer but find the game gets a bit easier with each mistake they make.

Grand Theft Froot took around 8 months to fully develop and this flexibility within the game's structure was planned right from the very beginning. "The whole idea was to tell the story," says Jack, "and the game was simply a vessel for this. In order for players to experience the whole story it obviously has to be beatable by everyone, yet offer a challenge as well." This resulted in the RPG-style addition to the platforming action whereby the player can go back to any previously played levels and try and gain experience, thus accruing more health, energy or agility. Also, GTF offers traditional platform elements such as secret areas and hidden treasures. "The game rewards exploration by giving you more coins and secrets in hard to reach places - but this comes at a potential cost as these places aren't always easily reached," explains Jack.

Despite this, GTF was designed and programmed to a certain extent "on the fly" by Frooty Game Studios. "We had a general idea of what we wanted to accomplish," says Jack, "but as we worked on it we refined the design more and more, playing through all the levels, changing the layout and enemies. Basically the game began to evolve itself." And all the time Jack & Lisa were set on creating something different, from the main character to the storyline. "Games with cool stories stick with the player better," explains Jack, "and our idea was to make a game with one such story and show that indie/XBLIG games are more than capable of offering a great story coupled with entertaining gameplay."

Despite the flexible system, many gamers from the era of the 8-bits will find memories of rock-hard platformers such as Monty Mole and Manic Miner resurfacing. "Yeah, the difficulty really ramps up towards the end, but it actually fits into the storyline, although its never unbeatable," confirms Lisa, "although the option to go back and level up is there. In fact, levelling up your character to 50 makes you literally overpowered, making the game really easy."

So what next for Frooty Game Studios? "At the moment we're looking at adding one more challenge level to GTF," says Lisa, "and then we'll focus on a different game." And is a follow-up to Grand Theft Froot a possibility? "Yes, definitely, as we are planning for this to be a trilogy. The next part will probably be made next year," they both confirm, although they are reluctant to opine further for risk of revealing spoilers. In any case, it would appear there's plenty more Froot to be stolen in the future!

Further info
Grand Theft Froot is available on Xbox Live Indie Games and costs 80 msp.
You can check out the GTF page on Facebook by clicking HERE
Check out video footage of GTF on the Frooty Game Studios own Youtube channel HERE

Many thanks to Jack and Lisa of Frooty Games Studios for their time.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 3 - 80-71

2011-08-25T10:54:00.007+01:00

080.Space Battle (Intellivision)God knows how many hours I sunk into this one. A surprisingly tactical as well as exciting shooter for Mattel's finest.

079.Goldeneye (N64)

I only briefly owned a Nintendo 64 and this was the game that entertained me most. I still love the ship level.

078.Max Payne (PC) At the time its melding of comic book and game was refreshing - as was the Matrix-style slo-mo and bullet time. Shame about the movie...

077.Light Crusader (MD)
Treasure's last venture on the Megadrive and a lovely RPG-lite action adventure with superb isometric graphics and great music.

076.Icewind Dale (PC)

I always liked the ability to create your whole party - it may be a simple dungeon crawl, but it was huge fun.

075.Doom (PC)
What can I say about this game that hasn't been said before? Simply, a violent, groundbreaking classic.

074.Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox)NEW ENTRY
A quaint amalgamation of Role playing, point and clicking and action spread over an odd futuristic Earth and bizarre alien worlds. It has a wondrous ethereal atmosphere, thanks in no small part to the beautiful music.

073.Renegade (Spectrum)
One of an elite cadre of Spectrum games that actually improves upon thearcade original. A truly great beat em up.

072.Moon Patrol (Arcade) NEW ENTRY
That one-more-go finely balanced difficulty curve is what makes Moon Patrol such a classic arcade game.

071.Fallout 2 (PC) NEW ENTRY
Before it went all Console-y, this sequel was my favourite in the futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland genre.

Mohican Kid's Charity Lucky Dip

2011-08-22T16:55:00.004+01:00

In 2009, a chap called Simon, more commonly known within the Retrogaming community as MohicanKid, had a brilliant fundraising idea for the retro gaming show Retro Reunited. So MohicanKid's Lucky dip was born and has since featured at many events up and down the country in addition to the various raffles and tombola's organised by Simon. Previously all the money raised has gone to the charity supported by the gaming event (for instance last year's R3PLAY supported Gamesaid http://www.gamesaid.org/) but at Simon's next appearance at R3PLAY 2011 the funds will be split 50/50 between Gamesaid and his own charity Papyrus (http://www.papyrus-uk.org/).

Please visit Mohican Kid's website (http://www.mohicankid.co.uk/) and pledge any unwanted items you can to his lucky dip and help with these great causes.

I'll be posting more later about the REPLAY 2011 event which will be happening at the Norbreck Castle Hotel on Saturday November 5th & Sunday November 6th.

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 2 - 90-81

2011-07-29T20:10:00.009+01:00

090.Harrier Attack! (Spectrum)

Mike Richardson's superb scramble clone capitalised on the Falklands War but was a great game nonetheless. Bomb the city!

089.Quazatron (Spectrum)
Ah, good 'old KLP-2, one of a long line in character pun names. Quazatron had its faults (the awful scrolling in particular), but the creative and fun mini grappling game - which was always random as well - was a great little edition to the isometric main game.

088.Alien Syndrome (Sega Master System) NEW ENTRY
I'm not a huge fan of the MS - I was basically still playing on my Speccy until the Megadrive came along - but after recently trying out this excellent arcade conversion, may have to re-evaluate!

087.Alien Storm (Megadrive)
An utterly bonkers Megadrive game along the lines of Golden Axe, except with aliens and FPS sections.

086.Myth (Spectrum)
This latter era Spectrum game boasts lovely animation, smooth graphics and intriguing gameplay. A platformer at heart, it's the polish that won me over.

085.Silpheed (MegaCD)
A shooter that still boasts stunning graphics, an amazing soundtrack and frantic, bristling entertainment.

084.Burnout (Gamecube) NEW ENTRY
Another genre I'm not particularly fond of, yet Burnout's sheer cheekiness and downright condonement of dangeous and illegal driving is a winner for me!

083.Brian Lara Cricket '96 (MD)
Cricket is a difficult sport to replicate on screen, yet Codemasters had a pretty decent stab at it back in 1995. Fielding was still boring though!

082.Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (PC)
Dark Forces was fine, but Jedi Knight is where Star Wars computer games really came to life. Boasting the real music, real recognisable characters, JK was the real deal.

081.Saboteur (Spectrum)
More Durell and Saboteur had a free-form nature that was iconoclastic at the time and a brilliant atmosphere. A true Spectrum classic.

The Making of Karyssia Queen of Diamonds

2011-07-26T23:05:00.006+01:00

In 1986, Incentive Software released The Graphic Adventure Creator. It was an instant hit thanks to its simple and easy to use interface, and gamers up and down the country immediately began compiling their own adventures. Incentive themselves began a dedicated label called Medallion to publish some of these efforts (ostensibly to demonstrate that the GAC could be used to create publication-standard adventures) and organised a competition via the Home Computer Club – a division of the Book Club Associates – to judge the best of the lot, with a £500 royalty advance the prize on offer from Incentive, as well as publication.

The competition was judged by Tony Bridge (PCW’s adventure columnist as well as an author himself) and it was only possible to enter if you bought your copy of the Graphic Adventure Creator via the Home Computer Club as this was the only edition that carried the required entry form. Up until this point, the main adventure-creating utility was The Quill, and this was the program used by 17-year old Darren Shacklady to create adventures for his college friends to play. As a member of the HCC, however, Darren decided to buy the GAC and give it a shot.

Getting going with GAC

“I could hardly wait for the GAC to arrive by mail,” says Darren, “and eagerly devoured the manual and example adventure provided when it finally did.” The bundled game was King’s Ransom, a beautiful, if somewhat shallow adventure.

“Despite the rather long loading time, my first impression of King’s Ransom was, well, short!” continues Darren, “and I found out afterwards that despite only half a dozen graphic screens and a dozen or so locations, the game is a full 32k, leading me to think the Spectrum would have trouble accommodating a full graphic adventure.” Darren’s solution to this almost came accidentally, but more on that shortly. How did his initial dabblings with The GAC go? “I tried to draw the interior of an inn,” he says, acknowledging the renowned rule that all fantasy adventures started in an inn or tavern of some description, “and the end result looked, frankly, shabby. My favourite adventure ever was the Hobbit, and in comparison I knew my efforts would not attract gamers for more than five minutes, good adventure or not.”

Darren turned his thoughts to his other favourite games at this point as he pondered on what sort of screen and graphics he’d like to see upon playing an adventure. Bo Jangeborg’s amazing Fairlight had been around a few months and it was a game that had won the budding adventurer’s heart thanks to its beautiful graphics and engaging plot. “So, I thought, what if I draw my inn in the Fairlight style, IE with isometric graphics? It only took a few minutes to bash out the nine basic lines you needed to present an isometric room with the details – furniture, a painting, the bar and a shaded wall – taking a little longer.” So was Darren satisfied with the results? “Yes, very much so. I suddenly had something that looked very much like a professional game, which for someone with very little skill in drawing made me realise this was definitely the way to go.” And there was a very favourable advantage to this method as well: “After designing much of the game and drawing several screens, it dawned on me that they took up hardly any memory!” This was down to partly the simplicity of Darren’s screens (nine lines, a shaded wall and a few objects) and the GAC itself thanks to its useful “merge screen” trick that enabled one basic design to be re-used.

King’s Ransom was an attractive adventure that demanded enough resources to make the adventure non-descript; Darren Shacklady had come up with a way of combining good graphics with plenty of gaming depth.

An Adventure in Three Parts

Yet, despite this solution, Darren’s grand multi-kingdom fantasy world would still take some squeezing into 48k. He had long had the plot and many locations in mind before deciding to cut the world down to three islands with the plot surrounding the eponymous evil Queen. Despite the relief provided by the GAC’s in-built text compression system, Darren decided early on to split the game into three parts, but still had a major task in persuading the player to believe in his world.

“One idea came about when I read that Tolkien’s works were designed to give his invented languages a setting and plot.” recalls Darren, “Lacking the time and skill to create my own languages, I opted simply to suggest a coherent fantasy language by suffixes – island names ended in “arin”, towns “inan”, most male names “in” or “ir” and female names “ssia” – as proved by the game’s title.” Darren even managed to have a little joke at this technique: “One silly name I invented was a homophone: the innkeeper Barrinir (bar in ‘ere).” He also utilised a few other devices to make his game live and breathe with a plot that developed around the player as they progressed along with wholesale changes that could affect the whole experience. Another influence was the classic space trading game Elite, and Darren implemented this in Karyssia by including scope for improving the character’s combat ratings with significant melee victories as well as the acquisition of new items and weapons. This meant sub-quests were vital in order to gain the necessary skill points for overall success in the final battle.

Critical Reception

Derek Brewster objected to the use of infamous sudden death traps in Karyssia. “In order to close off one direction, I used a trap, which in retrospect was very bad manners to spring on unsuspecting players!” says Darren apologetically. “It would have been simpler to not offer that direction but the reason for it was that I wanted to suggest at the beginning of the game that your character was too weak to fend of dangerous enemies – but perhaps a “flee” option would have been better!” Despite this criticism, Crash’s resident adventure specialist liked Karyssia and awarded it an impressive 87%, just missing out on Crash smash status. Your Sinclair also praised the game, calling it “one of the best GAC games we’ve seen yet,” and complementing the “stylish” graphics before scoring the adventure a commendable 8 out of 10.

Winning...and losing

“The very end of the Karyssia leaves scope for a sequel,” explains Darren, “but that was never going to happen given what occurred next.” Initially, Darren was naturally delighted to win the Home Computer Club competition. But after a short period where he gave the game some necessary tweaks and amendments, it was offered to plenty of distributors with the same reply from all: text adventures – even those with graphics – were not considered acceptable commercial enterprises any more. Darren’s prize was an advanced royalty of £500. As the game was only sold via the Home Computer Club following the lack of a distributor, it’s almost certain that Incentive made a loss on Karyssia, a huge shame considering its quality. Eventually the game appeared on a Crash covertape, which Darren hopes recouped at least a little of their outlay.

In a way, utilities such as the Graphic Adventure Creator had been too successful, at least certainly for anyone with any hope of actually publishing a graphical text adventure. They made the creation of a real-life breathing world and a competent adventure possible for anyone and overnight the text adventure market was rendered obsolete although of course changing fashions and improved graphical standards were also a factor. And yet those with vivid imaginations and skilled in potently describing locations could portray a much more evocative scene than any graphic, whether static or moving, ever could and Karyssia harks back to a time in the early 80’s when one man sitting in his bedroom could produce a piece of work that appealed to millions – a time that, when Karyssia was released in 1987, had already sadly passed, replaced by number-crunching, sales charts and mercurial consumer tastes.

And what of the erstwhile author? “There is nothing to rival the feeling of having written a game that someone else has enjoyed, whether you develop for a mass audience or just a few mates for no profit. I also feel honoured to have made a contribution to the history of the Spectrum – however tiny and obscure!”

Jdanddiet's Top 100 games - Part 1 - 100-91

2011-07-14T20:35:00.003+01:00

So this is it...Jdanddiet's favourite 100 games, retro, recent or otherwise...

It's a list that is constantly in flux as I try out more games new and old. This is how it stands today however, starting with entries number 100 to 91.

Please don't forget, dear reader, that this is Jdanddiet's favourite 100 game list, not a definitive top 100 games list - so please no complaints along the lines of "I can't believe you didn't include..." - as I probably haven't played it!

Let's go!

100.Golden Axe (Sega Megadrive)
I'll be honest and declare I have never played the arcade parent yet I got Golden Axe with my first Megadrive and was instantly hooked. It's still good for a bit of hack and slash every now and then, especially in two-player mode.

99.Nemesis (Arcade)
With memories of the awful ZX Spectrum version conveniently forgotten, Nemesis (or Gradius to you non-UK people) was my shooter of choice in the arcades in the mid-eighties. Its power ups were cool and it was just so damn playable. God knows how many 10p's of mine it ate.

98.Universal Soldier (Sega Megadrive)
A blatant rip-off of Turrican 2, which I've never played, so here is the version by Ballistic that was doctored to tie in with the Van Damme movie. Still a great game with some fantastic music.

97.Sea Battle (Mattel Intellivision)
This two-player only Intellivision cart was simple yet huge fun, especially when played against "competitive dad"!

96.Hypersports (Sinclair ZX Spectrum)
I always much preferred this to the Daley Thompson games. Favourite event? Skeet shooting and the little winker...

95.Batty (Sinclair ZX Spectrum)
I hated Arkanoid but somehow Batty struck a chord with me. Maybe because it was free!

94.Halo (Microsoft Xbox) NEW ENTRY
Followers of this blog will know I only recently got into Halo and found it an entertaining and fast-paced shooter, despite its flaws. I don't like many console Fps' so it is a rare honour for one to feature in this top 100.

93.Cobra (Sinclair ZX Spectrum)
RIP Joffa. Along with all your other stellar achievements you also gave us the-best-game-ever-based-on-a-crap-Stallone-movie. Lovely scrolling and a finely balanced difficulty curve.

92.Gynoug (Sega Megadrive) NEW ENTRY
A horizontally scrolling shooter that has some inventive enemies and power ups.

91.Prince Valiant (Nintendo Gameboy)
It may seem an odd choice, but I was addicted to this game for a long time. Wander round the segmented landscape offing the various enemies one at a time with a selection of interesting spells. Kind of RPG lite, but perfectly suited to Nintendo's little wonder.

25 Films that I wish I could unwatch and get some of my life back

2011-07-13T20:32:00.013+01:00

25.Robocop 3
Even Robocop 2 had its plus points and at least it still had the acerbic violence and dark sense of humour. All this was missing from the second sequel including Peter Weller who presumably wisely jumped ship.

24.The Hunted
Proof that sometimes you just can't repeat the magic no matter how hard you try. Tommy Lee Jones in another chase movie similar to the Fugitive, but the lack of suspense and believable characters renders this utterly boring and Del Toro does his usual and just grunts throughout the entire movie. Proof that having two Oscar-winners does not automatically make a good movie.

23.Firewall
Thrillers by numbers particularly annoy me and this Harrison Ford-trying-to-tap-into-techno-fear offering is an extreme example. Its abjectivity is the lack of peril - you just know neither Ford or his family are going to get hurt so the bad guy shows how bad he is BY SHOOTING ONE OF HIS OWN MEN! Keep going mate, you'll save Harrison the job.

22.Get Smart
The first tv adap on this list. Not funny, not thrilling, not good.

21.Resident Evil: Afterlife
The biggest disappointment. After the moderate improvement of Extinction, Paul Anderson returns and ruins it all with sub-Matrix stylings that are as boring as they are nonsensical. Twat.

20.Saw III
The first was a great thriller. The second not as good but still ok. This one is just a horrible unpleasant mess.

19.Trail of the Pink Panther
An embarrassing remix of old outtakes and movies made after Sellers death, if you believe it...

18.Feardotcom
An attempt to mix the grungy horror of Se7en with the internet and about as fun as that sounds.

17.The Fountain
Some people love this. Most people hate it. No prizes for guessing my opinion! Boring pretentious shite.

16.Taking Lives
Another by-the-numbers thriller that has the most obvious bad guy since Darth Vader first strode through that Rebel Blockade Runner.

15.The Wedding Date
Generally I don't mind rom-coms too much, they serve a purpose and sometimes can be mildly amusing. But this one is particularly unfunny and loathsome.

14.Bewitched
Or: how to take a charming, occassionally funny and quaint TV series into a charmless, brainless, humourless mess.

13.Aliens Vs Predator Requiem
Even worse than the original AvP. How is that even possible?!

12.Hard Rain
One of a raft of Die Hard clones released in the 90's. Watch it again. It is awful, mainly due to Slater (can't act), Minnie Driver (can't act) and Morgan Freeman (acting via long distance phone line).

11.Hollywood Homicide
Harrison in neutral. Again. Is this the same man that played Han Solo, Indiana Jones and the kick-ass President in Air Force One?

10.Prom Night
Here come the horror remakes. The original wasn't even that great!

9.The Fog
It doesn't help that I'm such a huge fan of the Carpenter original. Should have expected this I suppose, especially when the poster boasts a skimpily dressed girl...

8.Final Destination 3
Like Robocop, I liked the first two, but this one eschewed any semblance of plot or sense and just concentrated on the horror porn.

7.National Treasure 2
The first was exciting in a simple sort of way, this was just a pointless run-around. Mr. Cage is lucky there aren't a few more of his movies on this list as I studiously avoid most of his output these days.

6.The Avengers
As I posted previously, it wasn't the disappointment: it was the hope that killed me.

5.Journey to the Centre of the Earth
3D shite of the highest order that makes the 60's original look like a work of art on a par with the Mona Lisa.

4.Die Hard 4.0
Why why why why? The first 3 are all such great films, but ridiculous stunts, ludicrous plot and rubbish support actors make 4.0 a total waste of good celluloid. A desperate disappointment.

3.Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End
Not only a terrible, ill-scripted mess, but it goes on for 3 hours! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!

2.Lady in the Water
Has anyone ever dropped the ball more spectacularly than Mr.Night Shyamalan? In less than ten years he went from The Sixth Sense (brilliant) to this. If I'd had the misfortune to see The Last Airbender, it would probably be on this list too.

1.Sex Lives of the Potato Men
Now don't get me wrong; I like a bawdy comedy as much as the next man and love a bit of the 'ol Carry on. But this execrable "movie" featuring a revolting unfunny Johnny Vegas and some cringeworthy acting coupled with a non-existent "plot" make this a tragic waste of time, money, videotape and just about everything else that contributed to its making. Horrible, just horrible.

After the Revolution: Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360 Review

2011-06-21T18:46:00.008+01:00

Resident Evil 4 was a revolution not only for the famous survival horror series but also for console gaming in general. Offering a new plot, new location and crucially, new floating camera rather than the old fixed perspective, it was a worldwide smash and a huge success for Capcom.

The problem this caused for the developers was how to follow it up; on the one hand was the expectation of gamers, highly elevated after the previous instalment to a level where a mere improvement in graphics would not suffice; on the other hand, as the old mantra goes, if it ain't broke - don't fix it.

In truth, what Capcom have done is something in between, a rather half-hearted attempt to update the series again which ends up making Resident Evil 5 feel more like an add-on pack for the previous game. They've changed characters again (we're back to Chris Redfield) and they've changed the location as well - now we are in Africa, although after the initial town scenes you wouldn't know it. And most critically, Chris is now accompanied by the svelte Sheva Alomar, who is controlled by the 360 in single player mode, and whom you must protect in order to proceed in the game.

So what did I like and dislike about Resident Evil 5?

Likes

1.The Setting.
Initially it's very evocative and you can almost feel the dust and sweltering heat. As you progress it becomes a bit more familiar, however.

2.The Weapons.
As solid as ever. A wealth of pistols and machines guns as well as the very muscular range of shotguns, grenade launchers and rifles. All upgradeable, giving you plenty of flexibility and choice.

3.The Camera.
Just over the right shoulder, just as with Resident Evil 4 and just how I like it.

4.The Controls.
Again very similar to Resi 4, including the 180 degree turn. The inventory screen takes a bit of getting used to and it doesn't pause the action, but the hotkeys for weapons alleviates this problem.

5.It's more of the same.
Resident Evil 5 boasts very similar action to its predecessor which means it's easy to get into.

6.The ship level.
I like ship levels. A lot.

7.The Return of the Mercenaries
My favourite unlockable bonus makes a comeback. Yay!

Dislikes

1.The co-op aspect is not really exploited.
Aside from a few levers that need pulling together and the odd bit of assisted jumping, the addition of a permanent AI character is not realised to its full potential.

2.And talking of AI...
While generally not as terrible as some suggest, watching Sheva pointlessly empty all her ammo into a boss creature can be a little frustrating. She occasionally swipes goodies but they can always be "requested" back from her to Chris, so that's not such an issue.

3.It's a bit too similar to Resi 4.
The swampland level is reminiscent of the lake in
4; An industrial level is practically identical to one of the latter sections in 4 as well. And by the time you get to the final couple of stages, the bad guys might as well be Ganados.

4.It rewards you for getting killed.
If you get killed, before you restart it's back to the shop and you are able to kit out much more effectively. Useful, but it makes the game a tad easy.

5.The dialogue is STILL terrible.
How can they not have learned after all these years? Comic-book villain Albert Wesker is particularly cringe-worthy.

6.Those blasted QTEs.
Press X. Press Y. Tap X repeatedly. Press X and Y together. Thrilling.

7.You can't walk/run and shoot.
Very annoying initally, gets a bit better, but I really don't understand why they changed this from Resi 4. A better way surely would have been to make your aiming shakier? Lazy.

Conclusion
As you can tell from the above, RE5 has plenty of flaws, but I still enjoyed it. After having completed the game, there are plenty of unlockables as well to ensure extended play time. If you didn't like RE4 then I wouldn't bother but if you did then give it a whirl - you never know, you might just find yourself having a ball.

A Time to Kill: Singularity Xbox 360 Review

2011-06-12T13:44:00.007+01:00

First person shooters are everywhere on the 360. The genre is popular, of this there is no doubt, so the challenge for developers in the field is to produce either a startling innovation (very tricky) or simply make the experience so enjoyable, gamers don't realise the derivative nature of the game they are playing - or if they do notice, make them not care.

For the first hour of play, Singularity securely manages to cover neither of these bases. Playing Nathaniel Renko, part of a military team sent in to investigate the mysterious Russian island of Katorga-12, the initial few levels almost turned me off Singularity totally; it's so formulaic and dare I say it, boring, that patience is tested to the limit. Add in some "loose" damp squib weapons and you have the recipe for an immediate trade-in.

Perseverence brings its own reward however, and once your buddy gets killed and Renko beats a hasty retreat from some nasty Russians before finally beginning to piece together the background of the island, Singularity improves with every moment.

The key is the TMD: Time Manipulation Device. Once acquired and strapped to Renko's left arm, the various powers this device offers branches the gameplay into areas that whilst not revolutionary, at least offer some variety. Of course, Singularity's key influence becomes clear at this point. Half-Life 2 was and still is a great game and not a bad title to refer back to when designing a new game. The TMD's abilities are initially very similar to that game's gravity gun, as is the female sidekick and moody setting. Where the TMD differs however is its time manipulation aspect: objects (and people!) can be aged or advanced, with interesting results either way! A final mention must go to the plot which is mildly intriguing, leaving you in constant doubt as who to trust, and a denouement that can be settled in several different ways.

Overall, I would recommend Singularity; a neat combination of (admittedly simple) puzzling and shooting action combined with the TMD makes for an enjoyable game from developers Raven. It should be easily obtainable for under a tenner by now as well.

Hits, Hidden Classics and Horrors: Beau-Jolly's Computer Hits 4

2011-06-02T11:40:00.011+01:00

We spin forward a bit now and Beau-Jolly's 1988 Computer Hits 4. After abandoning the "video-cassette" style case used with 10 Computer Hits, Beau-Jolly adopted the standard plastic double cassette boxes and with it the quality of games dipped. After the mediocre Computer Hits 2 and 3, they were redeemed somewhat with a solid collection of titles on this compilation and what's more they bunged in two free games, hence the dropping of the "10" from the title. So what did you get?

City Slicker - Hewson
A Hewson game generally meant quality, but this was one of their weaker efforts. Graphically fine, and playable enough, its basic platformery was simply a far cry from the majesty of Cybernoid 1 and 2, Rana Rama, Uridium etc etc....
HIT/AVERAGE/MISS: AVERAGE

Starquake - Bubblebus
Steve Crow's classic may have been getting a little long in the tooth by 1988, but it was still a prime example of level design and playability. Colourful, well-defined sprites and graphics, natty sound and tight controls sealed the deal.
HIT!

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad - Palace
This beautiful platform/arcade adventure offered up a novel plot with the original release from Palace games including an exclusive comic. Sadly all extras were absent here, but TSSOA was still a classy, if difficult, game.
HIT!

Bride of Frankenstein - 39 Steps
Without doubt one of the major duffers on this compilation, Bride of Frankenstein was a monochrome side-on flip screen game which offered very little variation or indeed fun.
MISS!

Deactivators - Reaktor
Deactivators is the hidden gem on Computer Hits 4, and indeed on the Spectrum in general. Yes, while you were busy playing awful platform clones and staid shoot 'em ups, there were original and addictive games like this that you should have been playing instead. The player takes control of a team of robots who's job it is to dispose of several bombs within a certain time limit. Various hazards stand in their way as well as some crazy gravity changes. Deactivators was a great game that boasted lovely 3d (ish) graphics and should have sold a lot more copies than it did.
HIT!

Uchi Mata - Martech
The other major clanger to go with Bride of Frankenstein, Uchi Mata boasts such unbelievably poor graphics that it's hard to see past them to ascertain what the game actually plays like. In truth: like a dog.
MISS!

Contact Sam Cruise - Microsphere
With a graphical style along the lines of the famous Skool Daze games, CSS already had a solid pedigree in place. Transplanting the scene to a 50's style gumshoe plot was a stroke of genius as the player tried to solve the mystery of the woman with the big tits. Or am I thinking of another game?
HIT!

Spindizzy - Electric Dreams
The first of the "free" games, and another classic, this time a Marble Madness clone. I spent hours discovering new screens in Spindizzy without coming even close to completing the game (it was tough), but still enjoyed it hugely.
HIT!

Dandy - Electric Dreams
The other free game, and another brilliant one. In spirit a Gauntlet clone, Dandy offered similar gameplay with colourful backdrops and plain black sprites. It was frantic and fun, although you only got to choose between two characters. Naturally, 2 player was included and much more interesting.
HIT!

Pyracurse - Hewson
I was never a particular fan of isometric games, but Hewson's Egyptian-set arcade-adventure was one of the better efforts. Trickier than the Great Escape, yet still an absorbing game.
HIT!

Revolution - Vortex
There was a spate of "ball" games following in the trail of Marble Madness; I liked Gremlin's Trailblazer and Bounder best, but this isometric take on the genre was an addictive game, with smart graphics and a steep difficulty curve.
HIT!

Pulsator - Martech
I never played Pulsator back in the day. Its reputation is of an average maze puzzler that tries hard to emulate the C64 classic Paradroid and comes nowhere near.
AVERAGE!

HITS: 8
AVERAGE: 2
MISSES: 2

The Sum of All Fears: Dead Space Xbox 360 Review

2011-05-20T09:34:00.013+01:00

It's a fine line between loving homage and shameless rip-off. Visceral Games' Dead Space treads this line but fortunately never falls into the latter category - indeed, when a game is this enjoyable, its derivative nature soon becomes charming, another point of admiration in what is in this case, an extremely polished space/horror adventure.

Dead Space is the story of Isaac Clarke. Sent to investigate some far-flung space ship (the "planetcracker" USG Ishimura), he's soon up to his neck in deadly flailing monstrosities as the plot unfolds and he ventures deeper into the stricken vessel. Initially aided by two colleagues, Isaac encounters varying degrees of terror as he stomps to the final conclusion on the colony below the Ishimura. So what did I like about Dead Space and what are its faults, if any?

Likes:-

1.The Music.
Dead Space cunningly cranks up the tension with SPARING use of music throughout. Slow, morbid themes can start up for no reason and when you are in perfect safety; monsters sometimes attack in silence.

2.Sound Effects
Things that go bump in the night. Things that clang. Could be nothing. Could be something.

3.The Weapons

The Plasma cutter, the pistol of Dead Space if you like, is a joy to use and mildly revolutionary in the way it can change it's angle from vertical to horizontal. All the weapons are neatly varied although some are a little superfluous.

4.Shoot the Limbs!
No random, just hit anywhere firing. Shoot off the limbs or you'll soon find yourself in little pieces. Which conveniently brings me to...

5.The Death Scenes
Poor old Isaac! The deadly inhabitants of the Ishimura (not to mention the ship itself) provide all manner of gory and entertaining deaths. The re-generating Necromorph's kill is one that particularly sticks in my memory: a stab through the chest, legs sliced off before decaptitation and ripping in half. Nice!

6.The Plot
OK, nothing that hasn't been seen before, but the melding of several themes - Isaac's visions, the religious cult and characters who are more than they seem all add up to you never quite knowing what's going to happen next.

7.The Save System
Almost perfect: there always seems to be a save point around just when you need it. There are also checkpoints at key areas as well.

8.The Store/Bench

I know these elements are very common these days, but Dead Space employs them very well, giving the player much freedom in how and when to upgrade the numerous weapons - as well as Isaac's suit.

9.Kinesis
Again, not exactly original, and a direct copy of Half Life 2's gravity gun, but still a lot of fun. The Stasis machine (the ability to slow things down) felt more forced, but still had its moments.

10.Zero G
It can be disorientating (which is kinda the point I guess), but works well.

Dislikes:-

1.It's a bit easy
Harsh criticsm maybe, especially as I played the game on the "normal" setting. Yet there just seemed to be too much ammo and health lying around - for instance I don't think it was really necessary for ALL the dead enemies to drop useful items.

2.Fetch boy!
Towards the end the game does begin to feel a bit like the classic RPG side quest of going to fetch the item,bring it back,use it, fetch another etc etc...

3.Asteroid Blasting
It's fun for a bit, but quickly becomes a chore.

4.The Plot "Twist"
Surely that didn't fool anyone? Right?

5.The scenery can get a bit boring.
Unavoidable I guess, thanks to the setting. In its defence the game does alleviate this with scenes outside the ship as well as the tumultuous collision with the military ship.

Conclusion...
The above dislikes are only minor quibbles really. Dead Space is only my second 360 game, and if they're all as good as this I think I'll be quite contented gaming-wise for the next five years. From the very beginning this game oozes class: the pre-game screens interface neatly melds with the game and I was hooked from the moment I realised the perspective was "over-the-right-shoulder" rather than first person, something I still struggle with a little on consoles. Yes it's derivative: Resident Evil 4 in Space, with the scenery of Event Horizon, a dab of Aliens, a big slobbering spoonful of The Thing and even a quick nod to the scenes aboard the Genesis Space Station in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. From the opening panic-stricken and weaponless chase to the final intense battle on the colony, Dead Space grips the player by the jugular and doesn't let go until the last monster lays in a steaming pile before you. Unless you prefer games with cute fluffy bunnies (in which case why do you have a 360?), play it!

Oh No! Jdanddiet goes current gen!

2011-04-23T22:25:00.002+01:00

Blame Halo. I wanted to play Halo 3 and there was obviously no way I was going to do that without an XBOX 360. So I delved into Ebay, searched for local collect-only auctions (ie best chance of a bargain) and one duly came my way. It could RROD any day of course, but for 27 quid I considered it a risk worth taking - at the very least I have a 60 gig hard drive, controller and cables.

But what of Halo 3? Well it's more of the same, really, just prettier. Which isn't such a bad thing, but after the beauty of the graphics have faded, I must admit it's a bit of a disappointment, because it really is very similar to the previous two games.

There's a stack of 360 titles I'm eager to get to grips with, however, and very few of them cost more than a tenner, even new. Happy days!

Were you Blinded by its Majesty?

2011-04-15T19:10:00.007+01:00

Jdanddiet finally finds a console FPS he likes!

It's a common PC gamer bore mantra to insist that you can't play First Person Shooters without a keyboard and mouse, and to a certain degree I concur with this sentiment. If you have a look back at my PC gaming memories posts a few weeks ago, you'll see I was fully taken by the explosion of this genre back in the mid-late 90's and played a multitude of FPS' and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

When the Playstation 2 came out I eventually obtained one in 2003 and struggled to get to grips with the analogue pad. I tried Area 51; I tried all the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games. It just didn't feel right. 3rd person games (such as Resident Evil 4) were fine; 1st person, I just gave up.
Fast forward to 2010 and I finally got round to obtaining the PS2's great rivals, the Gamecube and XBOX. The Gamecube pad was a similar no-no, but the XBOX controller seemed to be a slight improvement. Plus there was a famous FPS on the XBOX that I was keen to give a go.

The original Halo appeared in a blaze of publicity and wowed gamers everywhere with its impressive graphics, smooth, action-orientated pace and intriguing plot. Today its graphics are not quite as impressive of course, but as I lack a current gen machine, this doesn't bother me: the beautiful external landscapes still look stunning. So what else does Halo offer that the countless other console FPS's have failed to achieve?

Well I'm not too sure to be honest! Apart from the cinematic musical score, the gameplay certainly offers nothing innovative: a few vehicles of course (which actually can be a quite a pain to drive/pilot), but having played Half Life 2 et al on the PC, this is par for the course. As usual, the human military weapons are sturdy, muscular and a delight to use - even if ammo has a habit of running scarce very quickly. In contrast, the alien weapons which you frequently have to resort to picking up as a result of this are generally a bit rubbish. Also on the negative side, the grunts wailing and tomfoolery renders the game to a xeno version of Benny Hill which certainly does it no favours.

But what Halo has in bucketloads is atmosphere, craft and playability. You always feel you're at the centre of the action, assisted by the marines. The much-vaunted plot that has inspired novels and spin-off stories aplenty is admittedly superior to most videogames and the abrupt
revelations halfway through don't feel forced as a result. In essence though, Halo is good blasting fun, and what more can you ask for. Its key is its simplicity.

Halo 2 continues the story, and is essentially more of the same, a fair dictum by Bungie considering the original's popularity. There's more locations this time with sequences set on Earth as well as on Covenant ships and the Halo itself. In perhaps a necessary twist, you get to play an alien character, the avenging "Arbiter", and the game throws in a side-plot involving a Covenant civil war between the Elites and Brutes. It's still basically the same and feels like an episode rather than a stand-alone adventure, but I enjoyed it just as much as the original.

As I can't play the XBOX 360 Halo 3 yet, I've gone a bit mad on other XBOX FPS's now. I'll do a round up of these in the next few weeks or so and see how they compare to Bungie's classic.

ill

2011-04-13T22:01:00.002+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts.

I've always shaken off colds easily in the past - this time it hasn't been so simple. The last 3 weeks I've had to contend with a blocked nose, headaches and general weariness and it's been most tiresome.

3 weeks. I used to shrug of colds in a couple of days. Is it because I'm getting older? Is it because the various strains of bug are getting more resistant to the various pills we pop in order to combat them? Or is it the 2 fingers of whisky I simply have to have in each Lemsip I drink?

Who knows, but I'm getting over it now and regular posting will return soon. I've got plenty more Spectrum compilations to write about (incidentally, I recorded a bunged-up Youtube video detailing this collection which you can view here video 1 and here video 2) and will also be posting my thoughts on a renowned console FPS series.

Until then, as ever, thanks for reading

JD

Incentive From the Archives

2011-03-23T21:49:00.003Z

In case you were not aware, this month's RETRO GAMER magazine features an article by yours truly. Giving the low-down on pioneering 80's software house Incentive is a six-page From the Archives piece I wrote at the end of last year.

Of course all the usual fantastic features and regulars are in this month's issue, still available most WH Smiths.

I'm working on several more possible features for Retro Gamer so please accept my apologies if I don't blog as often as I used to.

JD

Spectrum Compilations: Superstars and Also-rans: Imagine's Game, Set & Match

2011-02-21T22:50:00.010Z

You've got to admire Imagine's advertising for this sport-themed compilation. Taking advantage of the multi-event games such as Daley Thompson's Supertest and Hyper Sports, they proudly boasted of 23 events on the box spread over 10 games and admittedly this did represent fairly good value for money. Game, Set and Match was hugely variable in content however as a quick look through its titles proves...

World Series Baseball
Like several other of the games here, WSB was an okay simulation of a famous American sport that generally struggled in replication to the Spectrum. Presumably Imagine had to obtain the official license for the World Series title, and the game was a credible attempt at replicating Baseball - less serious than Hardball (Advance) but certainly more playable.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Tennis
One gets the impression writing this that Imagine were knocking sports titles out left, right and centre in 1986 and 87, and there is certainly a rushed element to Tennis. A complete lack of complexity (you can't aim your shots) and sluggish controls mean it's inferior to Psion's Match Point from some three years earlier.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Hyper Sports
One of Joffa Smiff's legendary games, Hyper Sports was a brilliant recreation of the arcade classic button masher, offering bright colourful graphics, smooth scrolling and frantic, compulsive gameplay. Most Spectrum gamers have very fond memories of this over the Daley Thompson games, and for good reason - it was better!
Hit/Miss: HIT

Ping Pong
An arcade conversion, Ping Pong is a sports sim of consummate playability. In an inspired gameplay move, the bat automatically tracks the ball leaving the player just the task of directing the shot, as well of course deciding which type of shot to play. It worked exceedingly well, although the limited options reduced it's lifespan and the crowd noise after every point soon became very irritating.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Super Soccer
The famous mullet-headed footballers of Super Soccer fame never did the game many favours, and despite some wicked looking sliding tackles, it didn't offer much in terms of playability. It's certainly not a patch on Ocean's Match Day 2.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Pool
The aging Pool from CDS Microsystems (long since disappeared from the Spectrum scene) was nevertheless one of the most playable pool simulations available on the Speccy. If there were two of you - because there was no computer opponent. This meant I got bored of Pool very quickly alas...
Hit/Miss: MISS

Barry McGuigan's Boxing
I can't stand boxing, just not my thing at all. Unless of course it's women's topless boxing, but a simulation of this artistic sport sadly never made it onto the Spectrum. Barry McGuigan's boxing is generally acknowledged as one of the best boxing sims on the Speccy though; it boasted top notch graphics (for the time) and concentrated on just the fighting element - you couldn't move your boxer. Nevertheless it worked very well.
Hit/Miss: HIT

World Series Basketball
Another sport that repeatedly failed on the Spectrum, this one crucially, did not contain any of the playability that made World Series Baseball so much fun to play. It's extremely tough and poor graphics that look to have been recycled from Super Soccer didn't do it any favours.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Jonah Barrington's Squash
I'm afraid not being particularly into the sport, I never gave this aged sim much of a chance. It boasted synthesised speech if my memory serves me correctly, but I never found much enjoyment to be gained from it.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Daley Thompson's Supertest
A worthy successor to Decathlon, and one of the earliest 128k games, DT's S offered 12 events on the expanded 128 edition ranging from the familiar joystick wagglers such as rowing and cycling, to more inventive events such as pistol shooting and penalties. The graphics were never great in these games, but they were superb fun, especially when played with friends.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Hits: 5
Misses: 5

Star Wars Videogames Special Part 2

2011-02-10T22:35:00.007Z

The Phantom Menace was a rubbish title, and the film wasn't much better. Once this bandwagon got running, however, the Star Wars games came thick and fast and the Lucasarts assault on the gaming market hasn't really lessened much since. I went from a Star Wars IP starvation diet to the threat of death by gluttony. It was clear one had to be picky from now.

I still had an original Playstation but in addition to Dark Forces, the only other Star Wars game I played on it was Jedi Power Battles which was one of the many games released to tie in with the first prequel. It was quite a fun little caper, with some cool lightsabre moves, but a mere taster compared to the sumptuous meal of Jedi Knight which had gone before it.

However by 1998 the Playstation was starting to look increasingly dated and in any case I had a brand spanking new pentium PC which I soon modified with more RAM and a 3D graphics card that I won from PC Gamer magazine for writing a particularly witty letter. An early game I sampled was Tie Fighter, which by now had a budget all-inclusive re-release. It was pretty cool, and better than X-Wing from what I heard, but for one reason or another I never got round to playing any of the follow up space battle games.

So next up was the brilliant Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Still playing as Katarn, Lucasarts took notice of the lightsabre criticsm of the first game and hugely ramped up the sabre battles with all sorts of smart moves. Force powers were much improved as well making Outcast a pure delight from start to finish. If you don't like this game, you don't really like Star Wars.

Skipping over the Age of Empires-inspired Galactic Battlegrounds which never appealed to me thanks to its tinsy-winsy looking AT-AT's and the flawed Force Commander, I kept on the PC FPS trail with Jedi Academy. This game got mediocre scores in the PC gaming press (70% from PC Gamer if I recall correctly, a far cry from the glowing reviews for Outcast), but I still hugely enjoyed it and found it quite refreshing to be playing a new character rather than miserable old Katarn again. If you like Jedi Knight, you'll get something out of it for sure.

Also on my PC I played the multiplayer games Battlefront and Battlefront 2. These gave you the opportunity to go online (or on your own if you prefer, with and against bots) and slug it out within some of the most famous locations in the Star Wars universe. Like Academy, it also got luke-warm reviews, but it appealed so much to me that I bought them anyway. What's not to like about jumping into snowspeeder and plunging headlong towards advancing AT-AT's on the snowbound planet of Hoth? OK, it was a tad limited, and despite the prescence of "historical" and "galactic conquest" modes, there's no storyline to speak of, but with a huge variety in weapons, soldiers and vehicles, Battlefront is great. I downloaded loads of maps as well from the internet, giving it even further hours of play. Battlefront 2 expanded on the original with Jedi Heroes (and Sith Villains) plus a few more locations, chiefly lifted from the final film, Revenge of the Sith. It was more of the same, but if ain't broke...

So what came next? Well not a lot actually. I briefly dallied with Bounty Hunter when I finally acquired a Gamecube a couple of years ago, and its enjoyable enough, if a little flawed. The Rogue Squadron games appear wonderful to start off with, but achingly poor level design and those dreadful on-foot levels ruined them for me, especially as the Battlefront games had already done it bigger and better (in my personal timeline).
Knights of the Old Republic I tried, really tried, to get into, but just couldn't, finding the game too slow and clunky after the pure shooting simplicity of Battlefront. I bought its sequel, Sith Lords edition, recently for the XBOX so will give it another go I guess. Over on the PS2, the Lego Star Wars games are good fun, and I played a fair way through the Original Trilogy version, but found the stud-collecting a bit of a chore. Also for the PS2 I have Force Unleashed to play which received mixed reviews so I will approach that with no little trepadation. I think I've got an Episode III game somewhere as well as Republic Commando for the XBOX which I really should play as admittedly it does look good. With no home PC to command, the well-liked Empire at War RTS game is unlikely to get a play any time soon.

So retro-speaking, what have I missed out on? There were games such as Jedi Arena and Empire Strikes Back as long ago as the early 80's on the Atari 2600. They hold little appeal these days however, and neither do the various Spectrum incarnations. The Nintendo "Super" Star Wars games are essentially super-tough platformers - again this does not appeal and I presume Rogue Squadron on the N64 is merely a cruder version of the Gamecube iterations.

I hope I'm wrong - but I fear the golden period for myself and Star Wars games - the late 90's / early noughties has passed.

NB: I've recently tried Force Unleashed. Not particularly impressed so far!

Star Wars Videogames Special Part 1

2011-02-03T21:52:00.005Z

Star Wars.
Everyone loves it, right? At least most of us did, until 1999 and the release of the Phantom Menace, but that's another story...

Of course, movie licenses have always been a big part of computer game culture, and Star Wars was arguably the primest target for any computer game. My first experience of playing a Star Wars game was, like many, the superb wireframe arcade machine from Atari - the sit-down version of course. I've blogged before about this classic (click here), but suffice to say when you're charging down the Deathstar Trench with Obi Wan Kenobi echoing in your ears, palms sweating in tension as that fiendishly small exhaust approaches and the famous music ringing out, you are Luke Skywalker, saving the known universe from the evil Empire.
Fast forward to 1985, and having recently acquired a shining brand new Spectrum 48k+, the first two games I spend hours and hours on are 16k games: Ultimate's Jet Pac and Micromega's 3D Deathchase, with the latter being a Star Wars game in all but name. Deathchase sees the player on a motorbike (speeder bike) charging through a dense forest (Endor), hunting down enemy bikers (scout troopers on speeder bikes) and tanks (scout walkers). Anyone who had seen Return of the Jedi and didn't pretend they were Luke Skywalker astride a speeder bike on the forest moon clearly had something wrong with them.

Then it all went a bit quiet on the Star Wars front. Domark's 1987 adaptation of the Atari arcade machine was too little too late (certainly on the Spectrum) and the isometric Return of the Jedi never appealed to me. So, having missed out in the early 80's thanks to having an Intellivision and no money to buy the expensive cartridges, it appeared, despite the enduring appeal of the brand, that I was destined not to take part in the adventures of Luke, Han, Leia et al.

Then, in late 1994 I acquired my second console, a Sega Megadrive. Shortly afterwards I foolishly laid out 200 quid for a mega cd unit (click here) and one of the first few games I bought for it was Rebel Assault.
Now this was more like it! The iconic music was present, and the fledgling CD format meant the proper orchestral music by John Williams, not that tinny metallic beeping from the arcade machine. The first level has you guiding a T-16 down a narrow trench on Tatooine and was frustrating but still enjoyable. After that, Rebel Assault becomes a strict on-rails shooter, but what the hell, it was Star Wars, it had decent graphics and you felt like you were taking on the Empire!

This was it for the 16-bit Star Wars era for me, however, and we pick up the story in 1996 with my first PC, and a year later, the Sony Playstation.
When Doom came out, there were a rush of First Person Clones, as you might expect with it being such a monster hit. Lucasarts didn't miss out and released Dark Forces for the PC and Playstation, but if I'm being totally honest with you, this game never grabbed me. By the time I got round to playing it, not only were the graphics outdated, but compared to games such as Quake and Duke Nukem 3D, the gameplay was positively archaic (no jumping!). A year or so later, I remember wandering into Electronic Boutique in Lakeside and seeing Masters of Teras Kasi on a demo Playstation unit. It looked and sounded great but I had reservations, so didn't buy it, a wise decision it turns out. A far better choice was Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight.
Jedi Knight was so different from Dark Forces, I still don't understand why they bothered to link the two games with the Dark Forces II prefix. Playing nebulous rebel footsoldier Kyle Katarn, Jedi Knight began within the towering spires of Coruscant and simply oozed atmosphere and authenticity. The advent of the CD-rom era had done Star Wars games a huge favour: here were the real sound effects, the real music and an authentic, immersive, experience. With a vastly improved engine, Jedi Knight allowed Katarn to leap around with gay abandon so giving rise to a number of tricky jumping puzzles. One abiding memory is the level when you're stuck in a ship that's crashing, a mind-muddling mad dash to the emergency escape pods. The game had its weakpoints: fashionable yet dreadful cutscenes did it no favours, the lightsaber battles were naff and the game didn't really change should you decide to "all medevil". It was (and still is) a great experience however, and one of the first few PC games that I played through several times.

But away from videogames for a moment, something was happening elsewhere that was about to really change the scale and frequency of Star Wars games. There was a new Star Wars movie coming out.

Spectrum Compilations: - Korrupted Memory: Imagine's Konami Arcade Collection

2011-01-30T08:02:00.015Z

Looking back at these compilations has revealed that some fond memories are best left at that. When I spotted the Imagine compilation Konami Arcade Collection on EBay and eagerly snapped it up, I remember thinking that was a great compilation and that I spent a lot of time playing its contents when it was first released.
Unlike the similarly themed Taito Coin op Hits, however, this one doesn't quite deserve those rose-tinted spectacles...

Shao-Lin's Road
I loved the arcade machine but avoided the Spectrum version first time round thanks to a mediocre review in Crash (think it was 68% from memory). It's a multi platform beat 'em up and is actually really good and I can't quite understand why it didn't get a better score - maybe it just got lost amongst the Kung-fu games doing the rounds then. The controls are responsive and the action frantic.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Jail Break
Things soon take a turn for the worse on this comp. Again, I greatly enjoyed the original, an entertaining twist on the common space shooter genre of the time. The Spectrum version, by Andrew Glaister was particularly poor on several levels chiefly the collision detection was awful and the main character, who moved far too sluggishly. It's a shame because the graphics were ok, leaving me to churlishly suppose what legendary programmer Joffa Smith would have done with this conversion...
Hit/Miss: MISS

Green Beret
I'm not going to go on about Bert again but suffice to say at this point his constant appearance on compilations was starting to prove a bit tiresome. Still a hit though!
Hit/Miss: HIT

Yie Ar Kung Fu
Another compilation staple, YAKFu (as I like to call it) saw you playing a character called Oolong, charged with defeating various baddies in one-on-one battles. It has its detractors, but I loved it, finding the variation of enemies entertaining, even though it lacked the complexity of, say, Way of the Exploding Fist - or WOTEF as I liked to call it....
Hit/Miss: HIT

Yie Ar Kung Fu II
Its sequel, however, was rubbish.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Ping Pong
Another great game, but one I'd played to death already thanks to another compilation. The key element with Ping Pong was changing the arcade gameplay - the bat now tracked the ball automatically. Great fun, if a little limited.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Hypersports
Joffa Smiff returns, in what many consider to be the finest multi-event sports game on the Speccy. It's certainly one of the best arcade conversions with a nice varied balance of events from timing and skill events such as Archery and Skeet Shooting, to keyboard mashers like
Weight Lifting and swimming.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Nemesis
Now I know I said I liked some of the other arcade games, but Nemesis I LOVED. This was my shooter of choice in the arcades and I wince when I recall how many 10p pieces I must have stuffed feverishly into its coin slot. As a result I bought the Spectrum version before reading the Crash review, a mistake I never made again. Programmed, like Jail Break, by Konami themselves, you'd have thought they'd prepare a loving conversion. Instead we get a bastardized version with only one extra weapon available at a time, smaller levels and that old favourite flaw, awful collision detection. The game moves at a sluggish pace as well, meaning Nemesis was a huge disappointment to me.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Mikie
Another marmite game, Mikie was a Crash Smash and despite an in-built natural resistance to its charms (I wanted to shoot aliens, not collect hearts!) I found it a playable and entertaining conversion.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Jackal
I never played the arcade game, but its pitch was clearly "Commando-in-a-jeep". The Spectrum version bears very little similarity to the arcade original in every major respect: the graphics, the
gameplay, the sound and the level design are all different, and worse, making this one of the poorest Speccy arcade conversions.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Hits: 6
Misses: 4

So, on the surface of it not bad value, but the real truth is somewhat hidden by the above statistic. If you take the hits, many of them - Hypersports, Mikie, Ping Pong, Green Bert and Yie Ar Kung Fu had been around for some time and already appeared on Imagine's previous Konami compilation, Konami's Coin op Hits. The newer games were all released on Konami's own label, and ironically this was when the quality disappeared down into the basement. We can only imagine wistfully what the talents of our dearly departed Joffa would have done with Nemesis, Jail Break and Jackal.

XBOX Review: Fallout Brotherhood of Steel

2011-01-27T23:55:00.004Z

The latest Xbox RPG to fall under my control was this makeweight chapter in the Fallout series. I initially started playing it on the Playstation 2 - but the game kept crashing at a certain (early) point so I switched to the XBox version which cost me just a couple of quid from CEX.

Fallout 2 on the PC was a game that ate up huge chunks of my life a few years ago, so I was naturally intrigued by this console update. A lack of complexity was to be expected of course, and the route that Brotherhood of Steel takes is virtually identical to the Baldur's gate Dark Alliance games. In fact, as this game uses the same engine as BG:DA2, Fallout BOS is essentially Dark Alliance in a post-apocalyptic setting.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact it's seriously good fun, if a little frivolous at times for my liking. With a choice of three characters (see above), the player must work their way through the scorched wastelands helping out those in need and despatching bad guys in often inventive and amusing ways. Naturally, all the trappings of traditional fantasy RPG's have been twisted according to the setting with the locations as well as the character advancement reflecting the post-apocalyptic scenario.

Eventually, it does all wear a bit thin however; Fallout BOS doesn't really have enough depth or variety to warrant a second play with one of the other characters. It's totally linear, with no deviation of traits or alignment (despite your character's occasionally abrasive comments) or side missions of any great description. If you enjoyed the Baldur's Gate Xbox games, you will find Fallout very easy to get into and an interesting diversion but nothing more. There's a fair amount of back-tracking required which can be a pain, although on the plus side it's very amusing on occasions. Ultimately, despite some RPG pretensions, Brotherhood is all about fighting whether it be hand to hand or using the inventive ranged weapons that pepper the poisioned landscape.

And you get to wield a spiked baseball bat - always a bonus in my book!

JD's Tips for Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

--As with most games of this ilk, the improved critical is very useful early on for earning you some extra cheap kills.
--Don't bother buying expensive armour from the trader early on - most items can be found in the footlockers (Fallout's treasure chests) or crates that are scattered within the maps.
--The shotgun is lethal close up, but not so at distance - so reserve it for indoor encounters only.
--Improved first aid is another useful skill as it ramps up the effectiveness of stimpacks considerably.
--Save regularly - there are some nasty big holes to fall down that kill your character instantly.

Spectrum Compilations: All that Glitters - US Gold's The Gold Collection

2011-01-22T20:36:00.010Z

Compilations only really started to appear from 1985 as publishers realised there was a gold mine in rehashing old titles together in one set for a bargain price. US Gold, after the mediocre Arcade Hall of Fame set, went to town with The Gold Collection, splashing out on an oversized black plastic box with the first of the ingot-style inlays. So did the Gold Collection live up to its name?

Beach Head
Beach Head was one of US Gold's first releases, and whilst not necessarily one of the most complex games ever, the variety of levels and superb standard of presentation certainly set it above other games of the time. I've actually always enjoyed it, from the tricky short-cut where you have to gude your fleet through a narrow channel laden with mines, to the final shoot out with the big gun.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Tapper
Never had much time for the arcade conversion Tapper: think I was more interested in shooting things! It's different I suppose, but playing it now it seems very limited and lacking in long term value.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Zaxxon
US Gold's conversion of the arcade classic was an ok job - nothing more. It was surely better than many of the poor imitations that were on the market and contained US Gold's already renowned excellent standard of presentation. As a shmup fan I liked it, but not as much as...
Hit/Miss: HIT

Blue Max
Blue Max is essentially a Zaxxon clone, with the action transposed to a World War 1 setting and the player in control of a biplane instead of a spaceship. I liked it a lot as instead of one hit dead, you had an energy bar; more playable and more realistic
Hit/Miss: HIT

Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom
Another shooter! This compilation really was one for action fans, and Buck Rogers, a maligned "3D" style shmup was one of my faves from back in the day. The graphics were colourful and impressive, the gameplay fast and frantic. Planet of Zoom hasn't aged well, but I still dig it out every now and then for a bit of shooting fun - flaws and all.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Spy Hunter
Again a game that has its critics - mainly the lack of a decent storyline and an old-fashioned lack of a proper ending - but this is defying the fact that Spy Hunter is huge fun. I used to play it for hours and hours, simply speeding around, ramming cars of the road and utilising the cool oil slicks before crashing off a bridge...
Hit/Miss: HIT

Hits: 5
Misses: 1 (a harsh one as well!)

Spectrum Memories Part 4

2011-01-19T21:46:00.002Z

Click here for Spectrum Memories Part 4

Spectrum Compilations: Return Fire - Ocean's Live Ammo

2011-01-18T23:09:00.010Z

It was only a matter of time before mega-publishers Ocean dipped their toes in the compilation market, and this effort from 1986 was one of their first. Boasting 5 games, Live Ammo was obviously themed around shooting games (or War-based games) and whetted their appetite for more game collections - it was soon eclipsed by the magnificent, um, Magnificent Seven. But that's another story...

Green Beret
Joffa Smith's classic run 'n' stab was rock hard but superb fun. Everything about the game oozed quality from the lovely scrolling to the perfectly balanced controls and nicely animated graphics. Green Beret IS ridiculously tough in places, but it's good fun to practice!
Hit/Miss: HIT

The Great Escape
Whilst this Denton Designs classic didn't quite fit the ethos of the compilation (you didn't get to shoot anything, but I suppose you did get shot at...), you can't really argue when it's a game of this quality. Sporting the iconic hands on barbed wire by Ocean regular Bob Wakelin (apparently not one of his favourite pieces), the game's objective was to escape the prison camp whilst continuing the routine of daily life, IE roll call, meal times and bed time. It was very atmospheric thanks to the stark black and white graphics and an engrossing piece of software.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Rambo: First Blood Part 2
This game was one of the first I played on the Speccy and I used to love it. Unusually free-roaming for the era, the player took control of Rambo in his attempt to free his colleague from the dastardly red devils. It's reasonably good fun, but extremely tough and the non-linear aspect can ironically be a bit annoying as you wander around trying to find your next objective. The graphics are very sparse (as is the sound), but Rambo just scrapes a HIT status.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Top Gun
Expectations were low for this one but Ocean delivered a decent, if limited game, that scraped a Crash Smash (and cover) with 90%. Top Gun is unsurprisingly a flight simulator with little attention paid towards the "simulator" part - it's all about shooting down the vector-graphic
enemies before they got you. To be frank, despite a decent 2-player mode, it was overrated as it lacked enough variety to really warrant a score over 70%. Still, not a bad shooter to keep you occupied for a short while.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Army Moves
Oh Dinamic, Dinamic, those lovely screen shots hid such terrors for any young Spectrum gamer! Colourful, action-packed games were their speciality and they did indeed look great in screenshots. However almost all of their games were so hideously unbalanced in gameplay that I never bothered with any of them after this. They didn't worry too much about colour clash either!
Hit/Miss: MISS

Hits: 4
Misses: 1

XBOX Review: Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth

2011-01-06T08:25:00.010Z

Taking a break from all the third person RPG action adventuring of late I recently tested out this intriguing game from Bethesda Studios. This XBOX version, costing a mere £1.49 from a local Cash Converters, was an impulse purchase - as a fan of survival horror games I assumed this is the genre it would fall into and took the gamble. My heart sank when I realised it was first person; like many others, I just can't get on with first person shooters on console pads. This is mainly due to the shooting element however, and as practically the entire first half of Call of Cthulhu sees you weaponless, this wasn't really an issue for me.

The game starts in 1916; you play Jack Walters, a private detective specialising in strange cases. Called to a mansion just outside the town of Arkham, you arrive to find it surrounded by Police and the occult leader inside calling your name. Before you realise it, a firefight begins and Jack's inside the building, hunting for clues as to his involvement with the strange religious sect. Photos of him adorn one room and it transpires the cult have been following him for years. Jack meets a couple of occultists (briefly) before making a very strange and terrifying discovery. The action then moves on six years; Jack has had a spell in an asylum following his traumatic experience in the prologue but is now back behind his desk. He receives a mysterious package which leads him to his next case and the port of Innsmouth and this is where the majority of the game takes place. The story eventually leads you to the underground base of a mysterious cult behind all the nasty goings on and takes in several amazing monsters - including the massive sea creature in the photo above.

I realise there are probably many people out there who hate this type of game; the action is minimal and even when you finally do get a weapon, there's no way you can go around guns blazing thanks to the paucity of ammunition. As a result, the first half of the game is almost entirely dedicated to stealth, as Jack must avoid the various "tainted" inhabitants of Innsmouth who are trying to capture him. Personally I loved this: creeping around (using Jack's helpful "sneak" ability), listening in to enemy conversations and checking out locations before venturing into them made the ultimate progress hugely satisfying, if tough.

The derelict, poisoned town of Innsmouth has a suitable rundown and dirty look to it, and whilst some of the locals witticisms may border on the cringeworthy, the hatred and distrust they feel for you is palpable. Dark Corners of the Earth also has several pant-wetting moments as Jack encounters horror after horror: a poor soul being kept alive despite having his internal organs removed is an early shock, and a sign that the game isn't going to hold back.

The lack of weaponry does make the game tricky in places. Early on, Jack is attacked in his hotel bedroom and must escape the marauding locals. He has to run through several doors, locking each one as he goes, pushing furniture and finally slipping through an open window. It's frantic, desperate work and took me several attempts to navigate this section, each time working out a little more of what I had to do. The game is unforgiving with regards to injuries as well; a small mis-timed leap will result in a broken leg, and this realistically hampers your movement to a large degree. Fortunately, not quite so realistic is the healing powers of the various bandages and splints contained in medical boxes: application of same instantly cures any lacerations or breakages!

As with many games in the survival genre there are plenty of puzzles to solve, but these are actually quite lightweight compared to, say, Silent Hill. Most can be solved simply by studying carefully the literature that Jack picks up. Jack also experiences eerie visions at regular intervals throughout his adventure; these are in turn creepy and useful as the sometimes reveal the layout ahead of Jack or perhaps someone (or something) that is stalking him. As well as general health, there's an insanity meter that reminds me of the Gamecube game Eternal Darkness: should Jack encounter too many dead bodies and monsters within a short space of time, it takes its toll on him mentally. This is represented in several ways: first of all the screen blurs on horizontal movement; then, slowly, the colour seeps from the display followed by silence, save random whispered voices inside Jack's head. All the time the controller is beating faster and faster until eventually Jack takes his own life - by strangulation (see the picture above) or by shooting himself with whichever gun he happens to be holding. It's quite an experience.

Dark Corners of the Earth is an atmospheric and intriguing game. I'm not a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft, finding his writings overblown and pretentious, but admit that his world translates well into this computer game. It reminds me very much of old style gaming, when it wasn't all about dull WW2 FPS's, but the careful creation of plot, atmosphere and tension to draw the player in. Well worth £1.49!

Buy if you like: The early Resident Evil games; Silent Hill; Eternal Darkness; stealth games in general.
Avoid if you prefer: action orientated games such as Halo or Call of Duty.

JD's Tips for Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth

- If you're stuck, make sure you examine everything. It can be a laborious, but sometimes clicking on an object for the 3rd of 4th time can reveal fresh information.
- Take it slowly. The early stealth levels rely on absolute undetection - if you're seen, that's basically it. If it doesn't look possible to sneak past enemies, there may be another route or a way of distracting them.
- When you do finally get a gun, use it sparingly - ammo is rarely abundant, and in any case you can only carry so much.
- Make sure you study all the literature that gets placed in your inventory. I almost got stuck because I hadn't read something properly.
- Call of Cthulhu is quite linear - if you're stuck somewhere, the answer will likely be right in front of you.
- Keep a "base" save. There are several points where if you don't do something, it is not possible to complete the game. If you have failed to realise this and saved after the event, you'll have to re-start from the beginning - unless you have a base save.
- Stealth mode is fine when studying layouts and hiding, but for general sneaking around it's not particularly useful.

2010-12-31T00:01:00.001Z

Spectrum Memories Part 3

2010-12-28T20:08:00.001Z

Spectrum Memories Part 2

Hewson Consultants: 8-bit Publisher Extraordinaire

2010-12-22T18:32:00.007Z

The big names in Software Publishers in the mid-eighties will be familiar to any Spectrum fan: Ocean. Elite. Ultimate. US Gold. Firebird. But there was one name that was renowned for it's remarkably consistent quality of games, most of them achieving the magical double of critical acclaim and commercial success. As a result, they are one of the companies that I recall with the most fondness.

Hewson Consultants was started by Andew Hewson back in 1982, yet it wasn't until 1985 that I got a Spectrum and it was at this point that they really upped the ante in terms of quality of product. An excellent recent Retro Gamer article by Richard Hewison told us all we needed to know about the company itself, so I'll just concentrate on the games of theirs I played between 1986 and 1989 in an effort to show you what a superb publisher they were.

Quazatron
Often compared to Paradroid, the Spectrum game offered superior graphics, albeit in monochrome and with jerky scrolling. I admit I never really got too far in Quazatron but still found it great fun, whizzing around and grappling with other robots. That was the key to the game - the grappling mini game was exciting and tense, which was vital considering how often you needed to do it.

Uridium
I got this classic shoot 'em up for Christmas 1986, and the first thing I recall was that it came in a small single cassette box rather than the then common (and somewhat needless) double cassette box. It was also the Commodore 64 game THEY said couldn't be converted onto the Spectrum, and once more THEY were proved wrong! Predictably monochrome - full colour would have been a disaster - the graphics were nonetheless much sharper than the C64 equivalent and, vitally, moved just as smoothly. A brilliant - if rock hard - shooter.

Exolon
Hewson pulled off a clever move then they snaffled ace programmer Raffaele Cecco from Mikro-Gen. His two games for them had been Equinox and Cop-out, which were average efforts, livened by some smart and colourful graphics. Andrew Hewson obviously saw some potential, and Cecco's first game for his company was the Crash Smashed trot "n" gunner, Exolon. In retrospect, it's a simplistic game, but at the time the stunning graphics (with no colour clash!) and frantic shooting action endeared it to many - including me.

Cybernoid
In 1987, Hewson released this flick screen shooter, another Cecco classic. Each screen represented a significant challenge, whether it be the notoriously pixel-perfect lifts or a whole raft of enemy spacecraft. The player had to collect a certain amount of booty from the pirates before he could proceed to the next level which added an interesting dynamic and the addition of some interesting power-ups gave Cybernoid above-average gameplay to go with it's colourful, well-defined graphics.

Zynaps
OK, it was a fairly obvious Gradius/Nemesis rip-off; and alright, the collision detection may have been a little harsh at times - but there's no doubting Zynaps is a beautiful and classy shoot 'em up. I wasted hours on this game, although time has not been kind to it: there's an obvious lack of variety to its levels as you proceed.

Marauder
Another year, another Crash smash! 1988 saw Hewson move to this ground-based game, and back to the monochrome action they last used with Uridium. Viewed from top-down, the player must negotiate the planet of Mergatron searching for some stolen jewels. Despite the planet being dead however, it's automatic defenses are far from inactive and try to halt the player at every turn. Fortunately, shooting the coloured beacons scattered around the planet can divulge some useful power ups - or unhelpfully reverse the controls of the car! Marauder was another slick shooter and also boasted some superb sound on the 128k Spectrum.

Gunrunner
A rare critical blip for Hewson (it only scored 55% in Crash), Gunrunner - as the name suggests - was a horizontally-scrolling run and gunner from Christian Urquhart. After obtaining it on the cheap, I remember quite enjoying it despite it's average score and getting several hours play. It's not up to the standard of some of Hewson's other titles for sure, and perhaps was harshly judged as a result.

Some of those that passed me by (but that doesn't mean they're not great!)

Cybernoid 2 - never got into it as much as the original for some reason I can't recall...
City Slicker - another rare critical flop for Hewson - a bog-standard platformer that has it's fans.
Nebulus - this rotating tower game never appealed to me but was well reviewed at the time.
Ranarama - I think I'd already had my fill of Gauntlet clones by the time I played this.
Firelord - I did play Steve Crow's Firelord a fair amount - but I got frustrated wandering around getting lost and gave up. Maze games were never my bag, but it's an undoubtable classic.

Spectrum Memories Part 1

2010-12-17T20:20:00.000Z

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It's WAR! Jdanddiet's Favourite WW2 Movies

2010-12-16T20:06:00.005Z

I've always liked World War 2 movies. I don't know why in particular. Here's the ten I can watch over and over again...

10.The Eagle has Landed
I appreciate this story of a secret Nazi plot to assassinate Winston Churchill has its weakpoints - Michael Caine pretending to be a German pretending to be a Pole for one - but since watching it as a kid it has always been enjoyed by me with every subsequent viewing. There are
plenty of memorable moments: Larry Hagman's arrogant yank general bleeding from his helmet; the "Polish" soldier getting caught up on the mill when he saves a kid and the assault on the church when things finally all go belly up. It's pure hokum for sure, but I like it. So there.

Authenticity: 2 - let's be honest, not very. Or is it? Who says a German paratrooper masquerading as a Pole wouldn't end up with a cockney accent?
War is HELL! factor: 3 - not much blood and no limbs flying around.
Entertainment: 8 - fun from start to finish.

9.Enemy at the Gates
Onto a somewhat classier and more authentic flick and this Russia-set movie which boasted a good cast in Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Ed Harris and, um, Bob Hoskins. The war-torn city of Stalingrad is the backdrop, but the real battle here is between uber-Sniper Ed Harris and his
Russian opposite Jude Law. It doesn't pull it's punches with unbelievable cruelty present on both sides and the cinematography is top notch. Only a clumsy love triangle sub-plot between Law, Fiennes and Rachel Weisz detracts.

Authenticity: 7 - Stalingrad is grimly presented although it's unlikely the two snipers met as they do at the film's conclusion.
War is HELL! Factor: 9 - Women and children are all drawn into one of the nastiest battles of WW2 and the Russians think nothing of shooting their own men who dare to retreat.
Entertainment: 7 - it gets bogged down a bit with the love triangle plot but has some fantastically tense moments.

8.Das Boot
Originally an 8-hour TV Series, the producers took the decision to slim it down to a 2 hour movie, and it worked pretty well. One of the best submarine movies ever, Das Boot stars the brilliant Juergen Prochnow as the jaded captain forced to play hide and seek with allied destroyers. Many of the usual sub-movie staples are here, but as a telling of the story from a different viewpoint and a comment on the utter pointlessness of war, it's rarely been bettered.

Authenticity: 8 - you feel like you are in the sub.
War is HELL! Factor: 9 - and Hell is living in a cramped sardine tin for months at a time.
Entertainment: 8 - occasionally flags, but not as much as the mini-series did.

7.Escape to Victory
I am powerless to resist whenever it's on - Escape to Victory is possibly the most unrealistic war film ever, but (for me anyway) eclipses that other Boxing Day favourite, The Great Escape. From Sly Stallone saving penalties to Pele's "acting" and John Wark's 'tash, Escape to Victory is sheer fun from start to finish. And you never know - it MAY have actually happened!

Authenticity: 1 - you 'avin a tin bath aren't you?!
War is HELL! Factor - 2 - looks quite fun, actually.
Entertainment: 10 - Football + WW2 = win!

6.Battle of the Bulge
No, not a film about the on-set of middle age, but a battle in Belgium that, if not deciding the outcome of the war, certainly hastened it's conclusion. Robert Shaw is the expert tank Commander sent to exploit a weakness in the allied line whilst Henry Fonda plays the
intelligence officer whom no-one believes when he's convinced a German counter-offensive is imminent. A sprawling mess with a large cast of the type that Hollywood used to specialise in, Bulge loses out in authenticity but has some great moments such as the final assault on the fuel dump and any scene with Telly Savalas' insouciant tank captain. A young Charles Bronson has a cameo and Ty Hardin is superb as a slippery 5th Columnist.

Authenticity: 5 - it's winter in Northern Europe. So why does the final battle take place in what looks like a desert?
War is HELL! Factor: 6 - captured POW's are callously murdered but no blood and guts.
Entertainment: 10 - good old-fashioned Sunday afternoon fun.

5.A Bridge Too Far
Like Battle of the Bulge, A Bridge too Far is set as the Third Reich is in retreat, this time the paratrooper assault on Holland. It also boasts an impressive cast and a laudable breadth of story which can be confusing when watching for the first time. It's unusual, however, in that the Allies don't win this battle, making it an even more strange choice for a movie, as important as the conflict was. So, too many actors, too long and too confusing. I like it!

Authenticity: 7 - there's no glossing over the frustration and helplessness some of the Allies must have felt.
War is Hell! Factor - 5 - Still Sunday afternoon stuff.
Entertainment - 8 - Watching all the luvvies compete is entertaining enough.

4.Where Eagles Dare
I reckon it was around the fourth of fifth viewing that I finally understood Where Eagles Dare. This tale of high adventure amongst the Austrian Alps has some brilliant set-pieces, yet it is the twisty-turny plot that it tends to be remembered for. Who can forget the fight atop the cable cars? Or Clint Eastwood trying to quietly kill the German radio operator? Based on Alastair McClean's equally unlikely novel, Where Eagles Dare is pure fun but about as realistic as Harry Potter.

Authenticity: 3 - um, no. I'm pretty sure you can't chuck grenades back amongst many other things. It's a boy's own adventure film ultimately, with a WW2 background.
War is HELL! Factor: 6 - well it's certainly confusing.
Entertainment: 9 - The thriller elements keep you on your toes as does the action.

3.Cross of Iron
Grim, intense and powerful, Cross of Iron is a Sam Peckinpah film of the highest quality. Following a German Unit as they battle to prolong the war, it stars grizzled James Coburn as Steiner, the tough commander who frequently clashes with his medal-obsessed superior. The book upon which it is based (by Willi Heinrich) is far superior, but the movie is still a classic, with plenty of trademark Peckinpah flashes of genius.

Authenticity: 7
War is HELL! Factor: 8 - yup, and your own side can be just as deadly!
Entertainment: 8 - lots of action and stylish slow motion.

2.Saving Private Ryan
One of the few on this list that I've actually watched at the cinema, I knew about Ryan's opening scene - yet nothing can prepare you for it. Some images will linger forever: the men in the boat being machine gunned before they even step out; the bullets through the water; the blood being washed up onto the shore and the radio soldier with his face blown off. The rest of the film is inevitably slower-paced and less intense, but in a way that's almost a relief having experienced the horror of Omaha beach.

Authenticity: 6 - Despite being supposedly based on truth, it's sheen of authenticity has several glaring omissions - most noticably, the other allies! There is also an infamous POV faux-pas at the beginning.
War is HELL! Factor: 10 - That beach landing....
Entertainment: 9 - One brilliant set piece to another.

1.Downfall
The third film on this list from the German point of view, Downfall was a movie I knew little about and so approached with considerable caution. I needn't have worried. A powerhouse performance from Bruno Ganz as the leader of the 3rd Reich perfectly encapsulates the descent into madness that Adolf Hitler succumbed to. There's not many laughs, but the script is lean and sharp and focuses on a part of the war with no heroes and no winners. Unmissable.

Authenticity: 9
War is HELL! Factor: 10 - especially for the losers.
Entertainment: 9 - surprisingly gripping considering the lack of action.

It's not the disappointment; it's the hope that kills me - Part 1

2010-12-10T22:37:00.009Z

The Avengers (1998)

Me and a mate went to see this in its week of release - ever since the news had surfaced that a movie of the famous TV show was in production, I had been keenly looking forward to it. I can't say the show was a particular favourite of mine, but the news that Ralph Fiennes (hot off a run including Schindler's List, Quiz Show and The English Patient) was due to star as John Steed alongside the slinky Uma Thurman as Emma Peel gave all Avengers fans a feeling this was going to be a superb update of the classic TV programme.

What happened next was a textbook example of how to ruin a film in the cutting room. Who knows what really happened; maybe the script was poisoned from the start; maybe the editing destroyed it. In any case, The Avengers movie, directed by the unknown Jeremiah Chechik, was an unmitigated disaster.

Clocking in at under 90 minutes, the film was an incoherent mess, lurching from one failed set piece to another. Who can forget the embarassing teddy bear sequence? Or the cringeworth "love" scenes between Fiennes and Thurman, a relationship so cold you could cut it into blocks and put it in a gin and tonic? Moreover, history tells of disastrous test screenings and an original cut of 115 minutes before the film was pared down to it's bare-bones hour and a half.

What's worse, is the way the opening sequence of The Avengers teased you - a brilliant 4 minute stroll by Fiennes through an assault course completely mis-sets the tone for what transpires. Sean Connery, aided by Eddie Izzard and Shaun Ryder (both of whom had their roles brutally cut) is also criminally wasted in what must go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in cinematic history. The figures on IMDB are particularly damning: an estimated budget of 60 million dollars compared to a gross of under 25 million dollars, figures that killed off Chechik's nascent movie directing career.

Maybe one day, Hollywood will come calling again to Steed and Peel. We shall all approach with considerably more caution if and when this happens.

Spectrum Compilations: Tarnished - US Gold's Gold Collection III

2010-12-08T22:59:00.008Z

The Gold series was publisher US Gold's branch into the compilation market and had been very successful for them. The original collection, like this one, featured an oversized clamshell plastic box with each game's title gleaming upon a gold ingot. It boasted solid arcade conversions such as Spy Hunter, Buck Rogers and Tapper alongside seminal classic Beach Head and the fun Blue Max. By the time they got to the Gold Collection III, however, things were starting to look a bit shaky...

Leviathan
Originally released by English Software, Leviathan was a Zaxxon-inspired shooter that lacked any of that ancient games' playability, style or even graphical prowess. Featuring strange "stippled"-like sprites that basically made the game look unfinished and rendered your spaceship invisible at regular intervals, Leviathan was a total mess and one of the worst games released on the Spectrum in its prime.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Express Raider
The arcade original wasn't great, but at least had a modicum of playability. The poor Speccy unfortunately couldn't hack it - unresponsive controls and unimpressive graphics meant this was an average conversion of an average arcade game.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Psi-5 Trading Company
This odd strategy space adventure certainly didn't want for ambition, but got slated in the press of its lack of actual excitement or even anything to actually do. Elite had done the trading thing so much better in combination with shooting action and Psi-5 just felt like an extremely hollow experience in comparison. Nice graphics - shame about the game.
Hit/Miss: MISS

Crystal Castles
I'm a big fan of the arcade game, and US Gold did a reasonable job of converting Bentley Bear onto the Spectrum. It suffers from the same control problems as its parent, yet at least Crystal Castles has some playability and staying power to it compared to some of the other miserable efforts on this compilation.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Breakthru
Oh dear, it just gets worse! Renowned as one of the poorest arcade conversions on the Spectrum, Breakthru is a side scrolling shooter where you take control of an armoured car. The graphics were neat enough, but the game was hamstrung by appalling collision detection and was also ridiculously easy - I got a fair way into the game by simply jumping my way from one end of a level to another!
Hit/Miss: MISS

Martianoids
There will be no fond farewell for The Gold Collection III I'm afraid; although it may have been Ultimate it was in name only as Martianoids was a disappointing release from the famous publisher, another 3D isometric game that didn't really add anything to the classic Knightlore from three years earlier. And in fact Martianoids borrowed heavily from another of Ultimate's filmation games, Alien 8 yet despite being deeply flawed and unplayable, the Spectrum magazines at the time still couldn't quite bring themselves to give Ultimate a bad review.

Hits: 1
Misses: 5

Spectrum Compilations: Terrific Taito - Taito's Coin-op Hits

2010-12-03T19:46:00.012Z

Rarely can a compilation of Taito's Coin-op Hits size (8 games) have contained such a solid line up. I bought this compilation as soon as it came out from Imagine, and even at £14.99 it represented superb value for money. I only had one of the games already (Bubble Bobble) and all of them - even those not so critically acclaimed - were at the very least eminently playable.
Rastan
A scrolling action-adventure, Rastan was a Barbarian-esque warrior scrapping his way through various fantastical landscapes. The animation was great (including Rastan's sweeping sword) and the game was huge fun - if a little on the tough side.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Legend of Kage
I loved this platform fighter and could never understand why it got such a mediocre review in Crash Magazine. It worked very smoothly with your ninja leaping between platforms and offing the bad guys with panache. An underrated game.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Bubble Bobble
One of the famous (or infamous, if you prefer) "dolly mixture" games that included Rainbow Islands and The New Zealand Story, the story of the two cute dragons Bub and Bob enrapt me back then and I still enjoy having a go every now and then. The simplicity of the arcade original meant the Spectrum version was more or less the same barring a few sound and graphic tweaks and was a deserved Crash Smash.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Flying Shark
The amount of days/weeks/months lost to Flying Shark! This is undoubtably my favourite shooter on the Spectrum - fast paced, well balanced and frantic. Flying Shark is one of the finest Spectrum shoot 'em ups and should not be missed.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Arkanoid
When Crash Magazine awarded this arcade conversion a paltry 59%, tongues wagged. Sinclair User and Your Sinclair bestowed greater scores to Imagine's effort and for once they were the more accurate. The concept by Taito was original - basically breakout with a few whistles and bells - and highly addictive - a trait repeated on the Spectrum conversion.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Arkanoid 2 Revenge of Doh
Crash didn't make the same mistake twice and awarded Arkanoid's sequel an impressive 80%. Many people prefer Revenge of Doh, but I always found it to be "more of the same", and after the raft of clones (Batty, Krakout, etc) that had inevitably followed the original, the idea was starting to wear thin. Nevertheless, Revenge of Doh is a quality, polished game.
Hit/Miss: HIT

Slap Fight
The second shoot 'em up on this compilation is it's weakest point but given the quality of the others, that isn't necessarily a criticsm. Slap Fight infamously suffered from the "invisible bullet" syndrome, yet it was a competent enough blaster to keep you occupied.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Renegade
And last, but very not least, comes one of the finest BEU's on the Spectrum, Renegade. Arguably superior to the arcade original thanks to the re-jigged controls, Renegade took some time to get into, but once you did, it was huge fun. The crunching sound effects and sharp sprites helped with the gameplay to make Renegade an instant classic.
Hit/Miss: HIT

HITS: 8
MISSES: 0!

Spectrum Compilations: Quality not Quantity - 4 Crash Smashes

2010-12-02T20:32:00.007Z

Quality not Quantity - Gremlin Graphics' Four Crash Smashes

Gremlin Graphics entered the compilation market with this gathering of excellent titles from their fellow publishers. With only four games spread over a brace of cassettes, it wasn't the most bountiful of compilations, but each game was boasted as having achieved the magic 90%+ score in the Spectrum magazine Crash. No duffers here: pure quality!

Night Gunner
Digital Integration's excellent shooter had two stages. There was a side on screen as you took control of a gunner taking out enemy fighters and flak balloons; and secondly the bombing mission itself. It was slick and playable, if a little short on long term staying power.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Dun Darach
I always struggled to get into Gargoyle's superb arcade adventures such as this and it's prequel, Tir Na Nog. There was no doubting the quality though as they were massively involving and considerably ahead of their time in terms of depth. I was just more into shooters!
Hit/Miss: HIT
Spy Hunter
US Gold's conversion of the classic arcade game was my favourite from this compilation. Admittedly a slim premise (and lack of a proper ending) hampered it somewhat, it was brilliant run racing through the narrow streets dodging spike-wheeled enemies and laying oil-slicks behind you.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Alien 8
By now, Ultimate's filmation was starting to become tiresome as they tried the inevitable sci-fi twist. I enjoyed discovering new rooms but never got anywhere, finding the jumping puzzles tedious and boring. Like many others, I much preferred Ultimate's earlier, 2D games.
Hit/Miss: MISS
3 HITS/1 MISS

10 Great Movies you may not have seen...

2010-11-28T19:49:00.010Z

10.Swimming with Sharks (1994)
What's it about?
Kevin Spacey is the odious studio boss, treating his underlings like trash whilst sycophantic to superiors. Frank Whaley plays his latest employee who eventually has enough...
Why should I see it?
Originally known as "The Buddy Factor", this film industry satire contains an outstanding performance from a pre-Oscar Kevin Spacey. Whaley is also good as his poor downtrodden lackey, whilst solid support comes from Star Trek: The Next Generation's Michelle Forbes and Benicio Del Toro.
JD's Favourite scene: Eschewing the famous sweetener scene, my favourite is when Spacey, having surreptitiously hung-up, praises his junior whilst supposedly still on the phone to a colleague. Whaley knows anyway what's happening; and Spacey, with a gloriously masochistic glint in his eyes, knows he knows, but simply doesn't care, lapping up the power he has over his assistant.
JD's Favourite quote: Buddy (Kevin Spacey): "Avoid women directors. They ovulate. Do you have any idea what that does to an three month shoot?"

9.The Way of the Gun (2000)
What's it about then?
When a surrogate mother is kidnapped from a gangster by a pair of punks it sets in motion a tragic series of events as the mob boss tracks them into Mexico.
Why Should I see it?
Christoper McQuarrie's excellent modern western features a superb cast - pretty boy Ryan Phillipe, Juliette Lewis, James Caan and Benicio Del Toro are all fine. Way of the Gun is fast-paced, violent and exciting.
JD's Favourite scene: Oh, it's gotta be the opening scene!
JD's Favourite quote: Mr.Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro): "There's always free cheese in a mousetrap."

8.Miracle Mile (1988)
What's it about then?
A man answers a public phone outside a diner and receives a strange, ominous call - missiles have been launched and the end of the world is nigh...
Why Should I see it?
Miracle Mile has a curious air to it and this ensures you never quite know what's going to happen. It's certainly an odd film - a cold war thriller, with early scenes more like an awkward romantic comedy. It also stars Anthony Edwards and strangely enough his future ER co-star Mare Winningham.
JD's Favourite scene: That fateful phone call.
JD's Favourite quote: Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards): "Mrs. Peters, in a half-an-hour there's going to be a full-on nuclear attack. The missiles are on their way now. L.A.'s going to be a desert again very soon."

7.The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)
What's it about then?
This Sci-fi spectacular concerns two rival alien species, a device for travelling to alternate dimensions and a brilliant half-Japanese inventor/rock star Buckaroo Banzai.
Why should I see it?
Because it's energetic, inspired, clever, funny and makes absolutely no sense. It also has a great cast including Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum and Ellen Barkin.
JD's Favourite scene: The raid on Buckaroo's base by the aliens: tragedy, drama, action and a watermelon.
JD's Favourite quote: John Whorfin (John Lithgow): "Take her to the Pitt. Go, Big-booty. Use more honey. Find out what she knows."

6.One False Move (1992)
What's it about then?
A trio of murdering criminals, led by Billy Bob Thornton, wander into the quiet Southern town of Star City, officiated by local sheriff Bill Paxton who clashes with the big city cops following them.
Why Should I see it?
Because it's a masterclass in slow-build tension that also features a performance from Paxton that until 2002's Frailty had not been bettered. The poster caused mild controversy: the shooter was removed from many versions, causing much confusion.
JD's Favourite scene: The unexpected closing revelations.
JD's Favourite quote: none suitable!

5.Below (2002)
What's it about then?
Set in 1943, Below is the story of an American submarine and some nasty goings on that occur when they pick up survivors from a stricken passenger vessel.
Why Should I see it?
Deftly taking the natural tension of a submarine movie and giving it a supernatural slant works surprisingly well, and the movie has an intriguing twist. Directed by David Twohy (Pitch Black).
JD's Favourite scene: Either the early drama with the sinking of the ship or that mirror scene.
JD's Favourite quote: Hoag (Andrew Howard): "What if, when we took on that kraut ship, we didn't sink 'em? What if... they sunk us?"

4.Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
What's it about then?
Steve Martin plays Rigby, a 1940's private detective, hired by the elegantly beautiful Rachel Ward.
Why Should I see it?
Interspersed with the real cast are many of the stars of yesterday such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It may not always work perfectly, but it's fascinating to watch, and funny too. Ward is also stunningly beautiful in clean black and white.
JD's favourite Scene: When Rachel Ward first walks in...
JD's favourite quote: Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin, in voiceover): "I hadn't seen a body put together like that since I solved the case of the Murdered Girl with the Big Tits."

3.Trespass (1992)
What's it about then?
Two firemen (Bill Paxton and William Sadler) discover a map to hidden gold in an old abandoned warehouse; the only trouble it's a local gang who's turf they've unwittingly infringed upon.
Why should I see it?
Trespass is a tense, muscular, action-packed thriller that doesn't let up for it's slim running time. Originally titled "Looters", it's title was changed due to a certain riot in Los Angeles...
JD's Favourite Scene: The tense gangland execution.
JD's Favourite quote: Bradlee (Art Evans): "That's the beauty of gold. It never tarnishes. Lasts forever, too. You can twist it, pound it, even piss on it but it's always the same gold. It was here long before we were and it'll be here a long time after we're gone. I bet you a lot of men have died for the gold that's just in this one piece."

2.Ravenous (1999)
What's it about then?
Set in a frontier US Army base, Guy Pearce plays a cowardly soldier sent there as a back-handed punishment for "heroically" pretending to be dead before taking out a Mexican outpost. When a mysterious stranger arrives, all is not as it seems...
Why should I see it?
It's different (a cannibal film set in 1840's US) and the production values are superb: authenticity seeps from every nook and cranny of the Army Base. Pearce and Robert Carlyle are well supported by the likes of Jeffrey Jones and Jeremy Davies.
JD's Favourite Scene: A trip to the cave reveals the stranger's true nature.
JD's Favourite quote: Colhoun (Robert Carlyle): "Breakfast. Lunch. And Reinforcements."

1.Zero Effect (1998)
What's it about then?
Bill Pullman is Daryl Zero, a chronically shy but brilliant private detective, hired to solve a perplexing blackmail case. He's assisted by his friend Ben Stiller, a role refreshingly lacking in Stiller's usual annoying comedic schtick.
Why should I see it?
Intriguing, subtle and engrossing, Zero Effect presents a standard criminal thriller and twists it with a paranoid detective finally coming out of his shell. Sharp dialogue and a leaning towards classic Conan Doyle doesn't do it any harm either.
JD's Favourite Scene: When Zero meets Gloria (Kim Dickens).
JD's Favourite quote: Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller): "He can tell you where you were born, how old your mother was at the time, and what you had for breakfast, all within 30 seconds of meeting you."

Sony Playstation Special Part 2

2010-11-26T20:08:00.006Z

The stealth genre seemed to divide gamers in the late nineties and I was a big fan of two games in particular. The first was, predictably, the playstation update of Metal Gear Solid, a smooth and classy version of the classic series that welded in some amazing graphics, concepts and gameplay elements (who can forget the controller trick?) to superb effect. I remember being so blown away when I first loaded it up, that I spent the first hour just using the binoculars to study the enemy base.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins took the MGS sci-fi setting and moved it to feudal Japan, in the process much simpifying the gameplay. Playing either the male (Rikimaru) or female (Ayame) ninja, your ten missions involved either terminating various wrong-doers or helping Lord Gohda against his rival Lord Mei-oh. Tenchu and MGS were both games that rewarded the patient; going in all guns/swords blazing would not only likely result in death for your character but also a low amateur rating in the ninja game. I think in terms of technical achievement and level of involvement Metal Gear Solid is a superior game; however once completed MGS I never went back to it, but even after defeating Lord Mei-oh, I returned many times to Tenchu in order to try and achieve those perfect "Grand Master" ratings. I bought a game called Ninja on the strength of Tenchu and was disappointed to find it a pretty but basic beat 'em up after all that cunning and sneaking.

To be honest, these are the games that continued to dominate my Playstation gaming. I tried a wealth of others of course: Dino Crisis used the same engine as Resident Evil but dinosaurs didn't hold my attention as much as zombies; I completed a brace of Duke Nukem 3rd person shooters in Time to Kill and Land of the Babes and found them great fun, if a little insignifcant. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was another game I played a lot of without ever quite getting the hang of the two planes upon which the game jumped between.

My time with a playstation wasn't helped by the acquisition of a new PC. Fancy graphics cards were commonplace, and in a direct opposite to the situation now, PC games were clearly far superior to their console counterparts. Half-Life, Baldur's Gate and the Jedi Knight games were far more beautiful and involving than the PS could ever compete with.

So I missed out quite a bit on the Playstation. I never played any of it's renowned RPG's such as the Final Fantasy series, Grandia, Vandal Hearts, Wild Arms or the Breath of Fire games. Many other games I played on the PC instead - Grand Theft Auto, Carmageddon, Alien Trilogy, Tomb Raider, Hexen, Doom were generally better on a computer - and other genres such as 2D platformers (The Oddworld games, Rayman) and the fancy early 3D games (Pandemonium, Tekken, the Crash games) all passed me by.

Retrospectively the RPG's are the games I want to try and experience now - but these are generally still quite expensive - so I'm hoping the future lies, one day, in downloading these classics to - in my case - enjoy as if it was 1997 all over again.