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The UK Retro Gaming Child of the 80s Thread of Ninted-who?

G

Gowans

Member
I was feeling nostalgic today walking the dog and thought it was about time for a thread about the UK retro scene, US sites and Podcasts speak about world gaming history like it was the US and Japan but what about the UK? It was so different.

Dizzy Commadore Theme Park Simon the Sorcerer BBC Micro Master System Gamesmaster Sonic Workbench Giana Sisters Champ Man Amiga Tapes Skool Daze Sensi Spectrum Jet Set Willy Alex Kid Built In Luna Lander FIFA Homebrew Codes in Magasines Stunt Car Racers Delux Paint Loading Times Joysticks Rampant Piracy Floopy Disks Head over Heels Micro Machines Lemmings Manic Miner Cannon Fodder Pinball Dreams Turrican II etc...........


Share you stories UK GAF.
 
S

Songbird

Prodigal Son
Gowans007 said:
I was feeling nostalgic today walking the dog and thought it was about time for a thread about the UK retro scene, US sites and Podcasts speak about world gaming history like it was the US and Japan but what about the UK? It was so different.

Share you stories UK GAF.
Click to expand...

I don't have any exciting stories I'm afraid, just some happy memories. The family started off with a Spectrum before I was born (forgot the model) but ended up skipping the C64 generation, settling with an Amiga 500 and then a Win95 machine. Will always be super thankful to my dad for bringing me up right...

Gowans said:
Turrican II
Click to expand...

Hell yeah. I was born in 89 so I only caught the tail end of the Commodore story. From then it was iD games and adventures too.

Ed: Alright, an anecdote. After coming from the Amiga, you know the hardest thing about DOS and Windows gaming? Setting up sound card settings. Argh! Also, I see no Zool in your list.
 
N

Numpt3

Member
Ah to be young again, sitting in front of my C64 waiting an age for the tape deck to load a game. Good times.

Dizzy and Stunt Car Racer were some of the first games I ever played, I also remember one that was set in a circus which was made up of mini games such as knife throwing, human cannon ball and high diving. Can't for the life of me remember the name of it though.
 
X

xist

Member
When the console storm hit it was all about the Master System. I don't think i saw more than one NES through those early years, and it felt like Sega was the king of gaming back then. 'Twas almost as if Nintendo forgot that we existed...
 
8

8bit

Knows the Score
frankie_goes_to_hollywood.gif


shot1.JPG


DSCF6113.jpg


sentinel.jpg
 
G

Gowans

Member
I went

ZX Spectrum - ZX Spectrum with Floppy Disk Drive - Amiga 600 - Amiga 1200 - Amiga 1200 with HD - CD32 - PC - then PC & Xbox and all systems.

I remember as a kid I had boxes and boxes of games, all pirate copies, that was the culture.

XCopy was always on and past games around with mates, that continued till i switched to PC and consoles at Uni.

I think I must have played every game ever through the first level, I had a mega Joystick collection too, some really random stuff.

The Speccy games I would hammer as a little kid, wasn't waiting through the loading, I remember my brother had Ghosts and Goblins on like 6 tapes. I remember just falling and dieing on Tree house dizzy all the time.
 
O

Oxx

Member
Second-hand Master System II was where it all started for me.

I haven't been tempted at all to relive my early gaming memories on Virtual Console or one of Sega's collections, though.
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
Started out on spectrum and had the 16k, 48k and 128k versions. Also had an nes though :) QAOP was the WSAD of those days. Best things about the spectrum were the low price of the games compared to consoles and regularly getting full games on magazine cover tapes. Chaos:battle of the wizards was my favourite speccy game. Endlessly replayable strategy game by Julian Gollop. Other favourites were the back 2 school games, mercenary and transformers (game wasn't that great but I fucking loved transformers) Still I'd say it's strength wasn't in any one or two particular games it was more about the absolutely massive amount of games that could be had for relatively little expense.
 
H

HolyCheck

I want a tag give me a tag
xist said:
When the console storm hit it was all about the Master System. I don't think i saw more than one NES through those early years, and it felt like Sega was the king of gaming back then. 'Twas almost as if Nintendo forgot that we existed...
Click to expand...

Same in aus. Sega was king. Only nerds had nes and snes.
 
G

Gowans

Member
Air Zombie Meat said:
Started out on spectrum and had the 16k, 48k and 128k versions. Also had an nes though :) QAOP was the WSAD of those days. Best things about the spectrum were the low price of the games compared to consoles and regularly getting full games on magazine cover tapes.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have piles and piles of Spectrum and Amiga mags sitting in my dads loft.

I had all the Speccys too, tho I never used it for long I always thought the little rubber keyed one was the best.
 
G

Gowans

Member
Code masters, Bitmap Brothers, Microprose were my fave devs of the day I remember.

I also liked the guy who did Super frogs animal animations that would get past around, long before I knew about the furry overtones.
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
Yeah, codemasters stuff was always awesome. All those simulator titles that actually weren't very simulator at all along with some awesome puzzle platformers.
 
S

Songbird

Prodigal Son
Gowans007 said:
I also liked the guy who did Super frogs animal animations that would get past around, long before I knew about the furry overtones.
Click to expand...

Eh what? I only remembered Team 17 being attached to Superfrog, well that and Lucozade. Zool had Chupa Chups and James Pond had Penguin biscuits. In game advertising before it was cool.
 
G

Gowans

Member
Thnikkaman said:
Eh what? I only remembered Team 17 being attached to Superfrog, well that and Lucozade. Zool had Chupa Chups and James Pond had Penguin biscuits. In game advertising before it was cool.
Click to expand...

Yeah team 17 were some of the big guys at te time too, worms, alien breed, etc.

That frog was designed by that dude tho, I'm sure he was in the animations.

Don't forget Cool Spot, oh and they all ruled as games too.
I remember getting stuck on Zool tho.
 
N

Noaloha

Member
My initiation into video games was at the age of six or so, via the Atari 800XL.

qoDZt.jpg


Had Star Raiders and Jungle Hunt on cartridge for the in-built slot and, through the cassette deck add-on, I got to play Zaxxon, Attack Of The Mutant Camels, Ghostbusters, Pole Position and some Incredible Hulk text-adventure that I don't recall the name of. That game started out something along the lines of

Code: 
You are Bruce Banner. You wake up in a bare, windowless room.
You are tied hand and foot to a heavy chair and cannot move your body.
>

I have weird memories of freaking out with glee upon solving that first puzzle. :]

Answer:
>BITE LIP
 
P

pitcairn55

Member
Started on a ZX81, then went to a Spectrum. Got that for my christmas present when I was 14 or so, and it remains the most exciting xmas present I've ever had. Shortly after that however I discovered music and girls and didn't game again outside of an arcade until PS1.

I remember being awesome at Manic Miner. I'm not awesome at it anymore. Arcadia from Imagine Software was another fave on the Spectrum. Loved that game so much.

My uncle worked for Sinclair Research during the ZX80/81/ Speccy days, so we got the kit a bit cheap. I remember he was part of the team worked on the ZX Microdrive tape storage module that the Spectrum had. Clive Sinclair came round our house for tea once. He was nice, but strange.
 
G

Gazunta

Member
In this thread, American GAFfers discover there were other systems in the '80s besides the NES. (Watch for this thread's appearance in the "mind blowing things" thread)

Anyway, if you were a UK gamer in the '80s, this was your bible:

071003_zzap64.jpg


I still rate my best career highlight as being a minor footnote in its history.

(OK OK I guess Crash could be your bible too, but, you know...Speccie owners are naff ;) )

UK gaming in the '80s was fantastic. The C64, the Amiga, and the Master System were the go-to systems. For me the C64 will always be my favourite. Elite, IK+, WIZBALL, Creatures and Mayhem in Monsterland...what a fantastic system. THE SENTINEL. Ah dear lord what an era of creativity and freedom that is only now being matched with the advent of iOS and Steam and the indie scene again.

I posted this in the AusGAF thread, but it bears repeating here:

I really think we in Australia had a unique viewpoint of the gaming world, given half our media came from England and half from the US - we got to see two completely independent gaming ecosystems grow during the 80s and slowly merge during the '90s.

But yeah, retro gaming in America JUST means the NES, and I think that's really sad.

I would probably have 500 times my current traffic if I devoted Blow The Cartridge to NES games, but I don't. Nothing but comics about obscure C64 / Amiga / Master System games!
 
G

Gowans

Member
Man those covers take me back, Gazunta, bet I have them.

Right tomorrow I'm going on a trip down memory lane in this thread and looking up the games I loved (& hated).
 
J

Jeff Albertson

Member
Nobody I knew had a Nintendo, a mate had a mega drive with ITALIA 90 that we played a lot another had a master system.

I used to play a commodore 64 at another lads house and remember the circus game.

My first was an Amiga 500+ (cartoon pack with lemmings and Bart vs the space mutants and captain planet)

The Amiga was amazing some of my favourites were

Swos
All dizzy games
Push over
Robocod
Captain planet
Putty
Graham gooch cricket
Premiere (my grandad bought it me and most my games were copies so I liked it)
Arabian nights
Walker
Face off
Cannon fodder

Wow the list goes on but I better stop

My lasting memory of it thought was that damn thing keep unplugging from the machine and it going off, I was jealous of the Amiga 600 kids
 
G

Gowans

Member
Holy shit, Putty!! I totally forgot about that game!

You would turn into a little ball with googly eyes yeah?!?
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
I consider not owning an amiga one of the biggest gaming mistakes of my life. Always used to drool over my friends though. Some stuff I remember: Persian Gulf Inferno, Monkey Island, Killing Game Show, Sensible Soccer, Speedball 2, that swat game I can't remember the name of and a version of Rainbow Islands that didn't look like shit along with other decent arcade ports. I was mad jelly. I missed out because I went down the console route after the spectrum until I got into PC gaming around the Doom era.

edit: Wing Commander and Red Baron blew my mind too.
 
S

Songbird

Prodigal Son
Sega was the big thing where you were? Over here the SNES, N64/PSX were the big things. Only one guy I knew had a Megadrive... It had Micromachines though so all is forgiven.
 
J

Jeff Albertson

Member
Gowans007 said:
Holy shit, Putty!! I totally forgot about that game!

You would turn into a little ball with googly eyes yeah?!?
Click to expand...

Yeah basically a lump of blue silly putty that could stretch over gaps etc

Oh shit I forget soccer kid, loved that shit.

Also I think every game I played was cracked with the cracked by screens at the start (I would always turn on unlimited health)

Some great platformers back then I still sulk about getting stuck in Dennis and fire and ice.
 
stuminus3

stuminus3

Member
1980s home computer gaming is the reason to this day that I'm happier hunched up over a computer desk than I am on the couch.

I broke my best friend's Speccy 48k. Holy shit that was nearly 30 years ago. I've been holding that secret in for nearly 3 decades? Sorry, Grant. If I ever see you again I'll buy you a new one.
 
G

Gowans

Member
Thnikkaman said:
Sega was the big thing where you were? Over here the SNES, N64/PSX were the big things. Only one guy I knew had a Megadrive... It had Micromachines though so all is forgiven.
Click to expand...

Nah Nintendo didnt really become a name till N64 blew everyone away, SNES made in roads tho.
 
A

Ashsturm

Member
I'm regularly suprised by the number of Amiga games I actually played. My memory between the ages of 4 and 10 pretty much consist of SWOS (which was the cause of many a broken joystick due to over enthusiastic substitutions), typing games and Cannon Fodder but these posts are bring memories flooding back.

Not enough love for shareware though, some great obscure titles. Anyone else experience Escape from Hammy Town?
 
S

stalker

Member
Not in the UK (Spain), but my fondest childhood videogame memories at home are mainly "Ultimate Play The Game" (RARE later) games on my 48K Spectrum: Sabre Wulf, Knight Lore, Jet Pac.

I was happy enough with my Spectrum and did not envy the Commodore 64 guys except for the joystick port. In order to plug a joystick to the Spectrum 48K you needed a device known as "the Interface" which was really expensive. I never had one of those :-(
 
B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
Gowans007 said:
Nah Nintendo didnt really become a name till N64 blew everyone away, SNES made in roads tho.
Click to expand...
Probably because I am younger, but Nintendo vs Sega was pretty strong while I was in primary school with the Mega Drive and SNES.

Also don't forget the GameBoy.

I still have my old Atari tucked away somewhere in my house, but I was a really young kid so I was oblivious to the gaming scene until I got my SNES.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Much more computery in the 80's. I had an Acorn Electron as BBC Bs were expensive. Then a C64 and then in 1986 an Amiga 500. I remember that so vividly - my dad took me to the local computer store and he just bought it - I was in awe, it was so expensive, £499 + VAT, £576 in all. *and* he bought a 1081 colour monitor so I didn't need to plug it into the family TV.

I still have the receipt in my bedside table drawer, that memory will be with me forever.


The Amiga went with me to University, where we discovered Stunt Car Racer. Geniunely made my stomach churn going over the jumps, and we hacked together a huge long null modem lead to go from my room, out of the window and downstairs to another guy that had an Amiga so we could play multiplayer, which was awesome.
 
B

BradleyLove

Member
I went Commodore Vic=20, C=64 and then Amiga.

As well as Zzap 64, my other mag of choice was ACE magazine.

Acemagazine1.jpg


As well as scoring games out of 1,000 they also had the "Predicted Interest Curve".

With my Amiga, I was constantly sending off for "PD" discs, ripping samples and MOD files with my Action Replay and then dicking about with ProTracker (or OctoMed).

Happy days.

I also used to manually add anti-aliasing to my drawings in Deluxe Paint (until one of the later versions added AA in).

Interesting little fact: I wrote my Degree Dissertation on my Amiga.
 
T

trinest

Member
BGBW said:
Probably because I am younger, but Nintendo vs Sega was pretty strong while I was in primary school with the Mega Drive and SNES.

Also don't forget the GameBoy.

I still have my old Atari tucked away somewhere in my house, but I was a really young kid so I was oblivious to the gaming scene until I got my SNES.
Click to expand...

I agree, SNES and GameBoy era did wonders for their brand, it didn't pave roads as the poster thinks.

However I do agree the 64 era was much better brand wise.

3522405_f520.jpg


Parents had one of these bad boys lying around which during the early 90s until we got the 64 we played heaps, as well as the various old computers we had around the time like the Obsborne, Amegia and Commdore 64.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
ZX Spectrum - ZX Spectrum with Floppy Disk Drive - Amiga 600 - Amiga 1200 - Amiga 1200 with HD - CD32 - PC - then PC & Xbox and all systems.
Click to expand...

for me :

zx81 -> Dragon 32 -> Zx Spectrum -> C64 -> Atari ST -> Amiga 500 -> then into consoles etc.

For me , C64 era was where i really REALLY developed my love for video games. Paradroid, The Sentinel, Elite, Uridium, etc.

Likewise, i had my Amiga with me at University - along with a SNES.　Playstation and N64 launched whilst i was at Uni as well.

We had a multiplayer SWOS league campaign going in the house - it was awesome.
 
L

LamerDeluxe

Member
Atari_2600.png

1977 - After Pong, we had an Atari 2600. Really blocky but fun games.

box580.jpg

1982 - VIC-20 my first computer, only 3.5 KB free memory. Awesome arcade conversions (Gorf, Omega Race, Radar Ratrace etc.)

mb_vectrex_1s.jpg

1982 - The Vectrex, the only home console to have a real vector display, you have to see it in real life to appreciate it, it looks like fireworks. Smoothly scaling and rotating vector graphics in 1982.

computer_a2000hd_01.jpg

1987 - Amiga 2000, high-end Amiga of the first generation, with Zorro expansion slots and a CPU card slot (Turbo Card).

atari_lynx2.jpg

1989, the Atari Lynx, backlit 406 color display, and an unlimited amount of scaling sprites of almost unlimited size, so much better than a GameBoy.
 
S

Satchel

Banned
In terms of console ownership (as opposed to just playing games on someone else's console or arcades) it was:

Master System -> Megadrive -> Saturn -> Dreamcast
-> Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 then made me swear I would always own every console so I would not miss out on any great games that get made.

So I then went back and bought the NES, SNES, Playstation etc, so now I own pretty much everything.

But growing up as a Sega fanboy was fucking awesome.
 
J

JustAnotherOtaku

Member
I was born in 84 and was playing the C64 from about 3 years old, just before getting a NES if I remember right. Anyway, yeah, that system was so important in getting me hooked on games. Even when I got my Mega Drive and beyond in the early 90's, I was playing the odd C64 game, usually getting a game a week as by that stage they were incredibly cheap.

Even at nearly 28, thanks to the internet there's very little in life that gets me feeling overwhelmingly nostalgic, but as soon as I hear music from any Dizzy game, I'm immediately transported back to the late-80s :)
 
S

spirity

Member
Jeff Minters obsessions with all things llama
Quickshot II and Kempston joysticks
Drooling over Ultimate Play The Games box art, taking the games home and drooling over the graphics
3D isometric madness. Batman, Escape To Victory, Head Over Heels and a million others
Jet Set Willy. Monty Miner. Jack The Nipper. Uridium. The Sentinel. Those games. THOSE GAMES.
Ocean Software ads in Zzap 64 and Crash. Made me want to be an artist
Bernie Drummond being badass
Rob Hubbard being an amazing sound engineer

Brilliant time to be a gamer. I've always said this, but it really was an exciting time. Everything was in its infancy, but not so much that you'd have considered gaming to be a fad. Something was definitely happening. I guess it did, didn't it?
 
L

LamerDeluxe

Member
Air Zombie Meat said:
But Lynx has no games! ;) My only memory of it is playing California Games on the display model in Dixons.
Click to expand...

I have almost all commercially released games for it now, around 75. It has lots of great arcade ports. In fact, the only friends I knew that had GameBoys or GameGears wanted a Lynx after playing mine :^)

I have programmed some small demos on it and the hardware was way ahead of its time (developed by the same people that developed the Amiga hardware).
 
S

spirity

Member
JustAnotherOtaku said:
I was born in 84 and was playing the C64 from about 3 years old, just before getting a NES if I remember right. Anyway, yeah, that system was so important in getting me hooked on games. Even when I got my Mega Drive and beyond in the early 90's, I was playing the odd C64 game, usually getting a game a week as by that stage they were incredibly cheap.
Click to expand...

£1.99 for Mastertronic's "MAD" range (mastertronic added dimension). My paper round funds were happy.
 
X

xist

Member
Anyone have fond memories of Head Over Heels? I don't think my young mind was ready for the puzzling element at that point in time, but looking back at it i bet it was one of those long forgotten classics.

Head_over_heels_cover_art.jpg
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Firebird and Mastertronic games at 1.99/2.99 were awesome especially as a ton were absolutely amazing (Spellbound series (including Finders Keepers), IO, I ball, Warhawk etc)

Rob hubbard and the SID chip had a lot to do with my C64 love as well - some of the music produced out of the c64 was unbelievable.

Hell, we used video game music at our wedding - we used remixes and piano arrangements but it was fun seeing who could spot the tracks. Fafalada got them all :)

We left the reception to Haludza's Monty On the Run game over remix ... not sure i want to read too much into that lol

the wife picked more modern stuff, something from Ico, Radiant Silvergun and I think FFXI

(sad bastards)
but looking back at it i bet it was one of those long forgotten classics.
Click to expand...

it's a very well regarded all time classic - for most people the pinacle of the isometric 3D genre. There was an awesome PC remake a few years back if i remember correctly.
 
C

CLEEK

Member
Pre-console gaming for me started at the dawn of home gaming, with some home Pong thing that had Tennis (standard Pong), Squash, Football and a couple of lightgun games, Skeet and something else.

From there, our family computers went: Vic-20 > Acorn Electron > Amstrad PC-1512.

At the same time, due to the lack of games on the Amstrad PC, I got a 2nd hand C64 with a ton of games for Christmas. After a couple of glorious years, upgraded to an Amiga 500.

I think that best thing about home computers was, regardless of the model you had, piracy was rampant. During the 8 bit era, the computers my friends had were all different, but once we moved to the 16-bit times, *everyone* had an Amiga. The underground network of pirated Amiga games was incredible. I'd see a new game in Zzap, ask around school the next day, and chances are, someone would have it.
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
LamerDeluxe said:
I have almost all commercially released games for it now, around 75. It has lots of great arcade ports. In fact, the only friends I knew that had GameBoys or GameGears wanted a Lynx after playing mine :^)

I have programmed some small demos on it and the hardware was way ahead of its time (developed by the same people that developed the Amiga hardware).
Click to expand...

Cool, didn't know there was that many. I didn't actually believe that, it was just the common fanboy argument at the time. Funny how some things never change. :) The tech was definitely impressive at the time but I can remember people mocking it's battery life. Maybe another overblown fanboy argument though.
 
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