An American TRS-80 release imported to the Dragon 32, Time Bandit is a scrolling maze game with shoot ’em up elements. It was written by Bill Dunlevy and Harry Lafnear and first published by MichTron in 1983. Microdeal published it in the UK.
Monthly Archives: September 2021
Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, ZX Spectrum
The third and final of the Ocean-released Daley Thompson sports games is Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, which was first published in 1988.
This one again features ten Olympic decathlon events, split over two days, they being: 100 metre dash, long jump, shot putt, high jump, 400 metres, 110 metre hurdles, pole vault, discus, javelin, and 1500 metres.
This time Daley is trying to beat the world record, rather than win a gold medal.
Continue reading Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, ZX Spectrum
Daley Thompson’s Supertest, ZX Spectrum
The second of the Ocean-released Daley Thompson sports games is Daley Thompson’s Supertest, which was first published in 1985.
This time there are twelve events, including: rowing, penalties, ski-jump, tug O war, triple jump, 100m sprint, javelin, 110m hurdles, pistol shooting, cycling, springboard diving, and giant slalom (skiing).
Daley Thompson’s Decathlon, ZX Spectrum
Daley Thompson’s Decathlon, developed and published by Ocean for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, was possibly the first home computer game to feature a celebrity, and a person of colour, as the star of the game – at least in the UK anyway.
If you don’t know: Daley Thompson is a British Olympic decathlon star, and was a gold medal winner at the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and as such was a household name in the UK back when this game was released in 1984. Younger readers might not know who Daley Thompson is, but they really should. Thompson is a legend and has been described as the greatest all-round athlete the world has ever seen. Look him up on YouTube if you want to see his Olympic achievements.
Gargoyle’s Quest II, NES
The sequel to the intriguing Game Boy game, Gargoyle’s Quest, was first released on the Nintendo Famicom in 1992 by Capcom. It is another spin-off from the successful Ghosts ‘N Goblins series.
Again, you play as Firebrand – the winged demon from Ghosts ‘N Goblins (and Ghouls ‘N Ghosts) – and again it features platforming action, with an interesting ‘fly-and-float’ mechanic.
Gargoyle’s Quest, Game Boy
This interesting 1990 action adventure platform game is a spin-off from the classic arcade game Ghosts ‘N Goblins.
It features the flying demon character (called Firebrand in English language versions and Red Arremer in the original Japanese version) in the lead role, and who was first seen as an enemy in the Ghosts ‘N Goblins arcade game. That, in itself is quite unusual – getting to play a baddie from an earlier game in a later sequel, and this game is more than just a simple platform game.
Hydra, Arcade
Hydra is a relatively obscure arcade action game featuring an armed powerboat that is chasing wanted criminals along twisting waterways in order to intercept and recover various stolen artefacts from them.
Turbo Esprit, ZX Spectrum
Considered by those who know it as an early precursor to Grand Theft Auto, Mike Richardson‘s excellent Turbo Esprit is an action/driving game where the aim is to catch and arrest drugs smugglers by driving around a city and pinpointing them using a map. It was first published for the ZX Spectrum by Durell Software in 1986.
Rambo: First Blood Part II, Commodore 64
Rambo: First Blood Part II, by Ocean Software, is a legendary Commodore 64 game without much substance. People revere the music (by Martin Galway), and also like the simple 360 shooter gameplay, but the truth is: this is an example of an early video game without much to do, and what there is is rather simplistic.
Pogo, ZX Spectrum
Ocean Software‘s 1983 release, Pogo, is arguably the best Q*Bert clone on the ZX Spectrum. And there were a lot of Q*Bert clones around at the time.
It was one of the very first Spectrum games I ever bought and it kept teenage me occupied for a few days, before I eventually grew tired of it.
The King of Grabs 