Video game companies.
Dark Side is the 1988 sequel to Driller is a very early example of a first-person, full 3D, explorable world, that can be viewed from almost any angle.
The game engine – Freescape – has gone on to become famous as one of the earliest examples of its type, and one that was hugely influential on every 3D exploration game that followed.
Steve Crow‘s colourful and fun Wizard’s Lair is clearly a tribute to the brilliant Ultimate Play The Game title Atic Atac. It has the same overhead viewpoint, similar gameplay and graphics and sound effects.
Peter Harrap and Shaun Hollingworth‘s Auf Wiedersehen Monty is an underrated sequel to Monty Is Innocent. It was first released by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum in 1987.
Trashman – by Malcolm Evans – is an interesting and unique game in which you play the role of a refuse collector (bin man, or – if you’re American – a trash collector), collecting bins (or trash cans), and dumping them into a blue lorry that is creeping up the street as you work.
Zynaps is a smart side-scrolling shoot ’em up, developed by Dominic Robinson, John Cumming and Stephen Crow (with music by Steve Turner), and published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum in 1987.
Stop The Express is an early ZX Spectrum game – created by Japanese developer Hudson Soft and first released in 1983 – and is a simple action game where the aim is to traverse the train carriages, from right to left, in order to reach the engine and to stop the out-of-control train.
Who programmed Wheelie? That’s a question I’d like an answer to.
Having played and enjoyed this side-scrolling motorbike game back in 1983, when it was originally released by publisher Microsphere, and having played it again recently, I would like to at least mention the person who made it.
Dave Reidy, and his wife Helen (a school teacher at the time), devised and made Skool Daze for Microsphere, way back in 1984.
This memorable ‘school simulator’ was an instant hit with gamers at the time.
First released in 1985, Roller Coaster – by S. Brocklehurst – is a fun and jaunty platform game in which you play a small, agile character who has to explore a huge theme park looking for bags of gold.
I’m going to use the Japanese and North American name for this game – Star Fox – rather than the European name (Star Wing, which was chosen because the name “Star Fox” was apparently too similar to a German company called “StarVox”!).
