Zoids was a range of popular children’s toys during the 1980s. They were dinosaur robot-type things that fought each other and looked really cool (if you were six years old). The toys spawned TV shows and computer games, and this one – designed by The Electronic Pencil Company – is notable as one of the best.

Believe it or not, but the Amstrad version was the lead version in this Zoids project, by The Electronic Pencil Company.

The game was designed by Chris Fayers and produced by David Martin, and it features a single screen play area with small screens, icons and information panels showing an overview of the battle, like a computerised control room. You could even think of it as modern drone warfare.

The aim of the game is to find five parts of Zoidzilla and rebuild him, then destroy Redhorn The Terrible.

The six icons either side of the map monitor allow you to control your Zoid, and access information about the battle. Combat is shown in a pop-up window as wireframe 3D graphics, although this is very simple and usually involves shooting down enemy missiles.

The Commodore 64 version of Zoids: The Battle Begins was the first to be noticed by the general public, it having a great soundtrack, and it also having received a spectacular review in Zzap!64 magazine (a popular C64 magazine at the time). As good as it was, though, I found the C64 version to be too difficult and confusing to play…

The Amstrad version of that same game, however, is much more playable and fun. Maybe not as atmospheric, but definitely more playable and fun. As you can maybe tell by these screenshots. 😉

In fact, I’d say that this is an underrated game overall. Zoids: The Battle Begins is actually well-designed and programmed, and is still enjoyable to play, if you’re prepared to learn how to play it properly.

More: Zoids: The Battle Begins on Wikipedia