Geoff Crammond‘s classic The Sentinel was first released for the Amstrad CPC by Firebird in 1987, and it is one of the best 8-bit versions of this weird and wonderful game.

Like all the 8-bit versions, it is a little slow, but when you get into it The Sentinel is just as atmospheric, absorbing and compelling as all the other conversions. If you want an explanation of how to play the game, check out my reviews of the other versions (links below); I won’t repeat myself here.

The Amstrad version looks similar to the BBC Micro original, but with better use of colour. It uses the chunky ‘Mode 0’ graphics well, though. It also has a decent version of the famous Commodore 64 loading screen by Bob Stevenson.

One slight negative I noticed about this version: when absorbing something the target object seems to fade away in two halves (one after the other), which doesn’t have any impact on the gameplay but it does seem to be a graphical anomaly that the game could’ve done without.

Overall, I enjoyed playing the Amstrad version of The Sentinel. I’d say that it’s arguably the best 8-bit version available. If you want to play a faster, higher-resolution version of the game, though, check out the MS-DOS, Amiga and Atari ST ports.

All versions of The Sentinel on The King of Grabs:
BBC Micro (the original), Amiga, Atari ST, PC MS-DOS, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum

More: The Sentinel on Wikipedia

The Sentinel (1987, Firebird) Amstrad CPC keyboard controls:

S = Left
D = Right
L = Up
< = Down
Space = Toggle cursor on/off
O = Pause on
P = Pause off
1 = Quit the game
U = Turn around 180 degrees
A = Absorb an object
T = Create a tree (1 point of energy)
B = Create a boulder (2 points of energy)
R = Create a robot (3 points of energy)
Q = Teleport to a robot
H = Teleport away randomly or complete level

The Sentinel (1987, Firebird) Amstrad CPC passwords/codes:

LANDSCAPE >> CODE
0001 >>>>>>>> 92416816
0002 >>>>>>>> 77651325
0003 >>>>>>>> 39380666
0004 >>>>>>>> 68888059
0005 >>>>>>>> 66799483
0006 >>>>>>>> 45600956
0007 >>>>>>>> 88070956
0008 >>>>>>>> 97558411
0009 >>>>>>>> 78959942
0010 >>>>>>>> 97567465
0012 >>>>>>>> 12837047
0014 >>>>>>>> 89619176
0015 >>>>>>>> 78844565
0016 >>>>>>>> 69076196
0018 >>>>>>>> 34259849
0019 >>>>>>>> 74546878
0020 >>>>>>>> 78042177
0023 >>>>>>>> 69780499
0031 >>>>>>>> 94185468
0032 >>>>>>>> 57640765
0034 >>>>>>>> 03549980
0035 >>>>>>>> 46855644
0037 >>>>>>>> 34454988
0040 >>>>>>>> 19390739
0043 >>>>>>>> 74666797
0080 >>>>>>>> 48730556
0090 >>>>>>>> 05480507
0100 >>>>>>>> 57228885
0110 >>>>>>>> 88172772
0150 >>>>>>>> 89060253
0290 >>>>>>>> 44457846
0305 >>>>>>>> 61639487
0520 >>>>>>>> 29462657
0570 >>>>>>>> 64869348
0700 >>>>>>>> 51369747
0740 >>>>>>>> 72678868
0793 >>>>>>>> 90529942
0880 >>>>>>>> 97879773
0960 >>>>>>>> 60490453
1130 >>>>>>>> 69054842
1160 >>>>>>>> 44999748
1390 >>>>>>>> 60857694
1393 >>>>>>>> 33555429
1422 >>>>>>>> 61261654
1449 >>>>>>>> 88749949
1469 >>>>>>>> 50363387
1497 >>>>>>>> 17694494
1567 >>>>>>>> 31928580
1586 >>>>>>>> 50072578
1611 >>>>>>>> 74448418
1641 >>>>>>>> 35199137
1690 >>>>>>>> 96725444
1838 >>>>>>>> 82258977
1866 >>>>>>>> 41416474
1903 >>>>>>>> 44603726
1920 >>>>>>>> 69172992
1927 >>>>>>>> 14792448
1952 >>>>>>>> 06490870
1960 >>>>>>>> 85898494
1977 >>>>>>>> 18594697
1995 >>>>>>>> 87817578
2005 >>>>>>>> 85675514
2033 >>>>>>>> 98766569