JosephManderley
Member
Thinking back, one of my favorite Spectrum games was a freebie on a cover tape of Your Sinclair. it was an Arkanoid style game called "Batty" It even had split screen 2 player co-op which was great fun.
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The UK Retro Gaming Child of the 80s Thread of Ninted-who?
- Thread starter Gowans
- Start date
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
I always felt both kinda sorry for, and envious of BBC Micro owners, sorry for the poor selection of games they had, and envious due to how superior the BBC's version of Elite was during the 8-bit era.
Some of the games they did have that I remember well though were Revs, Frak!, Starship Command, Dare Devil Denis, and Fortress (A Zaxxon clone). But being honest, when we went around to my mates house that had a Beeb none of these games got played much, we really only went around to play Elite
Some of the games they did have that I remember well though were Revs, Frak!, Starship Command, Dare Devil Denis, and Fortress (A Zaxxon clone). But being honest, when we went around to my mates house that had a Beeb none of these games got played much, we really only went around to play Elite
I started playing with a Commodore C64 and TurboCharge, this game:
http://i.imgur.com/l860b.jpg
Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3pC4rSZwzk
OMG THAT SONG *_*
http://i.imgur.com/l860b.jpg
Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3pC4rSZwzk
OMG THAT SONG *_*
Fredrik
Member
Donkey Kong dual screen game & watch > SVI Spectravideo 328 > A friends Spectrum 48k > Commodore 128 > Amiga 500 > PC 486 > Super Nintendo > Playstation > N64 etc
My fondest memory of the 80's is The Last Ninja. I still play it from time to time and I still hope there will be a Last Ninja 4 some day.
My fondest memory of the 80's is The Last Ninja. I still play it from time to time and I still hope there will be a Last Ninja 4 some day.
BradleyLove
Member
I always felt both kinda sorry for, and envious of BBC Micro owners, sorry for the poor selection of games they had, and envious due to how superior the BBC's version of Elite was during the 8-bit era.
Some of the games they did have that I remember well though were Revs, Frak!, Starship Command, Dare Devil Denis, and Fortress (A Zaxxon clone). But being honest, when we went around to my mates house that had a Beeb none of these games got played much, we really only went around to play Elite
The Repton series on the BBC was probably my favourite after Elite.
You know, that actually looks quite good for back then (I'd never seen it before) and the intro is very well done. I notice in the credits two names I recognize, Chris Butler who did quite a few conversions in his time noticably Commando, Space Harrier and I think he may have done Out Run as well. The other name is Mark Cale who produced it. He also did Ferrari Challenge and Supercar Challenge for System 3 on the PS3. =D
I think the last System 3 published game I bought on the C64 was Vendetta which was a mix of driving and isometric adventure in the vane of The Last Ninja. Man, System 3 were such a force in the UK scene back then with International Karate, IK+, Last Ninja Series, Bangkok Nights, Vendetta....
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
How you can mention Chris Butler and not bring up his C64 port of Ghosts'n'Goblins is criminal!
The guys past is almost enough to forgive him for the RailWorks Train Sims
The guys past is almost enough to forgive him for the RailWorks Train Sims
alysonwheel
Member
To this day I don't think I've put as much time into a game as I have Chaos. Possibly because it was the only game I could beat my older brother at. Wonderful game.
Okay, now I've got the sound effect of a wizard defeated stuck in my head.
PantherAttacks
Member
Chaos was indeed great. A guy named Quirky made a port for the GBA and the DS. Either that or his Elite port was probably my most played GBA game.
Strummerjones
Member
Lots of people mentioning Head Over Heels - there was a good PC remake of it a few years back:
http://retrospec.sgn.net/game/hoh
Lots of people mentioning Head Over Heels - there was a good PC remake of it a few years back:
http://retrospec.sgn.net/game/hoh
Fuck me, what a nostalgia rush that site is. They've got PC remakes of Wizball and Attack Of The Mutant Camels 2 on there! If they're even barely functional, brb, reliving childhood.
Oh yeah, my timeline - Atari 2600 > C64 > SNES > GameBoy > Neo Geo CD/Saturn > PC Engine GT/PS1 >GBA/NGPC/ Dreamcast > PS2(Chip)/GC/Xbox/GBA > PC/Xbox 360/PS3/DS/PSP/Wii. My current collection - PC/Xbox 360/PS3/DS/Wii/Saturn/PS2(chip)/Xbox(Softmod). My future consists of mostly PC Master Race upgrades, maybe broken up by 3DS (soon-ish) and WiiU a year after it comes out.
I've been in this hobby a while, and I'll be in it for a good while yet! Here's to vidya gaems!
RobotRocker
Member
You forget the Digi mantra
Digitiser: We hate everyone equally
The weekly hatemail from PC Spods (Don't deny it) over Computer Boy and the occasional Fat Sow column was incredible. And Amiga fanboys claiming it wasn't dead. And Dreamcast fanboys outraged that Biffo gave Soul Calibur 87% and Powerstone 93%.
Actually you can just write console + fanboy and I'm sure they outraged them at some point. But yes, it's missed like a Digitiser Swan.
mdtauk
Member
I have 3 real experiences with computer games, before I got a NES...
at School
Back in Primary School we would all watch an educational show called Look and Read. As part of those shows, came the accompanying video games on the school's computer on huge floppy disks.
Along with "newspaper layout" software - Caxton Press - we had:
All running on an RM Nimbus machine:
at My Nan's
Then every weekend I would stay at my Nan's house, where my Uncle had an old Atari 800XL
He had a number of games from US GOLD like Bruce Lee
But the game I played more than any other was Star Raiders II
I was into Star Trek and Thunderbirds at the time, so the idea of flying around in space was soooooo cool. Looking at footage now is so familiar to me (and a catchy theme tune I occasionally hum to myself still), as I must have spent months playing the game, with no idea what I was supposed to do.
Footage of Star Raiders II
at Home
Finally at home before I got my NES, and before we got our first PC, there was the Sinclair Spectrum ZX
We had quite a few games for this system, but I must admit I didn't play it half as much as I would have liked to. The problem with it was, the length of time it took to load the games from tape cassette!
Video showing the ANNOYING loading sequence we had to put up with! (Warning the sound is very loud, the visuals could cause seizures, and loading could take between 5-30 minutes!)
I can't remember all the games we had, but some I do remember...
Groucho
Daley Thompson's Super Test
/Daley%20Thompson's%20Super%20Test%20(Hit%20Squad%2C%20MC).jpg)
The Neverending Story
Theme Song Awesomeness
A Dizzy game which didn't load
Rainbow Islands
Spectrum Music
at School
Back in Primary School we would all watch an educational show called Look and Read. As part of those shows, came the accompanying video games on the school's computer on huge floppy disks.
Along with "newspaper layout" software - Caxton Press - we had:
- Through the Dragon's Eye - Show's Theme Tune
- Geordie Racer - Game Footage - Show's Theme Tune
All running on an RM Nimbus machine:
at My Nan's
Then every weekend I would stay at my Nan's house, where my Uncle had an old Atari 800XL
He had a number of games from US GOLD like Bruce Lee
But the game I played more than any other was Star Raiders II
I was into Star Trek and Thunderbirds at the time, so the idea of flying around in space was soooooo cool. Looking at footage now is so familiar to me (and a catchy theme tune I occasionally hum to myself still), as I must have spent months playing the game, with no idea what I was supposed to do.
Footage of Star Raiders II
at Home
Finally at home before I got my NES, and before we got our first PC, there was the Sinclair Spectrum ZX
We had quite a few games for this system, but I must admit I didn't play it half as much as I would have liked to. The problem with it was, the length of time it took to load the games from tape cassette!
Video showing the ANNOYING loading sequence we had to put up with! (Warning the sound is very loud, the visuals could cause seizures, and loading could take between 5-30 minutes!)
I can't remember all the games we had, but some I do remember...
Groucho
Daley Thompson's Super Test
The Neverending Story
Theme Song Awesomeness
A Dizzy game which didn't load
Rainbow Islands
Spectrum Music
drugstore_cowboy
Member
Primary school was all about this:
BradleyLove
Member
Granny's Garden... jeez... what a blast from the past.Primary school was all about this:
Criminal Upper
Banned
While not a UK gaffer here, I always try to pick up Retro Gamer magazine whenever I see it at a newstand. I find it hilarious they always take the time to print side-ways little jabs at Nintendo and the importance of the SNES/NES and constantly gush about Megadrive titles.
But then, the'll have a large article about Super Metroid, and state out right in the opening paragraphs that it's one of the greatest games of all time.
But then, the'll have a large article about Super Metroid, and state out right in the opening paragraphs that it's one of the greatest games of all time.
twingloxx2
Member
Seeing footage of Atari 400/800 games reminds me of how far ahead of its time that hardware was.
The Atari 8-bit computers were designed by Jay Miner, who went on to do the Amiga for Commodore. The Atari ST was designed by people from the C64 hardware team (brought over from Commodore when the Tramiels acquired Atari).
So it's somewhat ironic that the hardware lineage could be considered to be:
Atari 400/800 -> Commodore Amiga
Commodore 64 -> Atari ST
The Atari 8-bit computers were designed by Jay Miner, who went on to do the Amiga for Commodore. The Atari ST was designed by people from the C64 hardware team (brought over from Commodore when the Tramiels acquired Atari).
So it's somewhat ironic that the hardware lineage could be considered to be:
Atari 400/800 -> Commodore Amiga
Commodore 64 -> Atari ST
alysonwheel
Member
My brother had an Atari ST, and I was really excited when I found out I'd be getting a computer for my birthday as I was hoping for an Amiga; because really, why have two STs?
I got an ST. At least I got really good at Turrican.
I got an ST. At least I got really good at Turrican.
Schrödinger's cat
Banned
I'll tell my mate you liked his music
. He's one of many that got stiffed by Mark and Adrian Cale of System 3 - payment still owing. A lot of cowboy shenanigans in the fledgeling industry back then.Charmicarmicat
Banned
I got started with a Commodore 16+4, but this is where my fondest memories began:
Primary school was all about this:
hahaha i so remember that.
drugstore_cowboy
Member
Nice one! I didn't recognise the game by that screen but after seeing a picture of the motte and bailey castle it all came flooding back. I think the class was split into small groups to play it.
There was no escaping the BBC Micro, it was there around the time I started school in '81 right up until I screwed it all up around '91 or '92.
Around the same time Street Fighter II hit.
There was no escaping the BBC Micro, it was there around the time I started school in '81 right up until I screwed it all up around '91 or '92.
Around the same time Street Fighter II hit.
Questprobe. I can't remember *which* Questprobe, there were several (Spiderman, Hulk, [two of the] Fantastic Four)
Anyway, if you were a UK gamer in the '80s, this was your bible:
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
No, no, NO. Speccy owners' bible would have been YS. Crash was... well, maybe it was good enough for Commodore owners, it's not like they had any taste.
(But Oli Frey art? I'll give you that. Yum.)
Primary school was all about this:
What the hell is that travesty?
No, don't get me wrong, I know it's Granny's Garden. But that is *not* BBC Mode 7 graphics - which, of course, is what Granny's Garden should use. What platform is it running on?
drugstore_cowboy
Member
Could be just a mockup.
It's not a Spectrum (no yellow teeth), not a C64 (wrong colour pallette) and I doubt it's a CPC as there's too many colours onscreen for it's medium res mode.
It's not a Spectrum (no yellow teeth), not a C64 (wrong colour pallette) and I doubt it's a CPC as there's too many colours onscreen for it's medium res mode.
Strummerjones
Member
This is apparently exactly where Turbocharge came from - they thought the driving bits were good enough to be their own game. In the end it's basically a Chase HQ 2/SCI rip off, but a good one. Chris Butler worked on lots of 3D texture mapped Sega arcade conversions, including Space Harrier, Power Drift and Thunderblade and was pretty much the master of trying to replicate that graphical technique on the C64 (the Outrun games on the C64 might have sucked less if he was involved).
Schrödinger's cat said:I'll tell my mate you liked his music
Wow, that's awful. Then again System 3 seem to be notorious for being dickheads and treating people terribly.
NemesisPrime
Banned
For me the greatest game on the Speccy was Halls of the Things.
There are remakes as well... and I have been doing some kind of remake for the last 20 years in some shape or another
http://retrospec.sgn.net/game/halls
There are remakes as well... and I have been doing some kind of remake for the last 20 years in some shape or another
http://retrospec.sgn.net/game/halls
One of the things I *adore* about the Spectrum development community from the time - I suspect the same is true of the other 8-bit communities too, although I have no direct experience with them - is their generosity with their past works. Tons of games for the system have been explicitly given distribution permission, and some go even further. I bring this up because Design Design, as well as permitting distribution of Halls of the Things, went even further, offering up prototypes and the source code.
http://www.desdes.com/products/oldfiles/index.htm
You really wouldn't get that these days.
Just wanted to bump this thread with a page I found while I was making a comic about Nebulus last night.
Retro Sanctuary has a cool page where they compare various conversions of 8- and 16-bit games. I'm a real nerd for this kind of stuff, and I never knew the Spectrum version of Turrican was so pretty!
Retro Sanctuary has a cool page where they compare various conversions of 8- and 16-bit games. I'm a real nerd for this kind of stuff, and I never knew the Spectrum version of Turrican was so pretty!
drugstore_cowboy
Member
That's a nice site, I used to like comparing the different versions in multiformat magazines, generally the C64 would look, sound and play the best, shame there's not more comparisons on there.
Did anyone play Double Dragon II on Spectrum?
I remember being able to perform Williams' cartwheel move using keys, I was wondering if this was a bug or something that could be done in other ports or the coin-op.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
After the doubelfine success, I've been thinking about how much I loved Simon the Sorcerer as a kid.
I thought it shat on all other adventure games.
Had this on the CD32. Pain in the arse with the controller but great game.
They made a new one not so long ago, IIRC.
My thoughts exactly Gaz. We are truly riding another golden age of gaming wave. With Steam, iOS and crowdfunding (kickstarter) we are seeing a hell of a lot of interesting stuff that would never get the backing of giant publishing corporations. Just like it was back when a single person would code in their bedroom and copy it to tape, print up some covers and see what happened.
And as others have mentioned (back on the topic at hand), seeing a NES in real life was rare in Australia. The only time I saw one was in a toy store once and it was demoing Super Mario Bros. It was funny seeing that for the first time after hearing so much about it from American gaming magazines. I still never knew anyone that owned one however.
It was all C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System and Megadrive. Super Nintendo certainly became the dominant system over time though.
Totally agree: I kept my humble old rubber-keyed pal set up way past it's best-before date for this game alone. So, did anyone else have a 'hidden blanket' system for spell-casting - a cloth covering the spectrum keyboard - to ensure that no one could peek and tell if the spell you were casting was or was not an illusion?