The Spectrum version of Llamasoft‘s Lazer Zone was programmed by Chris Clark for Salamander Software and first published by Quicksilva in 1983. It’s a fairly decent shoot ’em up, with a tricky dual gun mechanic to get your head around.
Tag Archives: 1983
Laser Zone, VIC-20
The 1983 VIC-20 version of Laser Zone is a bare-bones conversion of the Commodore 64 original, but with one important extra: in this version you can fire diagonally too.
Laser Zone, Dragon 32
The Dragon 32 port of Jeff Minter‘s Laser Zone was coded by Lee Barnes for Salamander Software and first published in 1983.
Laser Zone, Commodore 64
Laser Zone is an interesting early Jeff Minter game. He first released it in 1983 for the VIC-20, with Commodore 64, Dragon 32, and ZX Spectrum versions following soon after.
Hover Bovver, Atari 8-bit
Jeff Minter‘s early grass-cutting maze game, Hover Bovver, was first released by Llamasoft in 1983 for both Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit systems. Both versions are fairly pointless points-scoring exercises with gameplay and maze layouts that don’t really make much sense.
Hover Bovver, Commodore 64
The original Commodore 64 version of Jeff Minter‘s Hover Bovver is just as niggly and annoying as the Atari 8-bit version, which was released as the game’s “evil twin” in 1983.
Hellgate, VIC-20
Another classic single-screen shoot ’em up from Jeff Minter – that is the sequel to his earlier game, Laser Zone. Hellgate was published by Llamasoft in 1983 for the VIC-20 and further refines Minter‘s ideas for X and Y shooters.
Gridrunner, Commodore 64
Gridrunner came out on the Commodore 64 in 1983, making it a fairly early shooter for the system. Gameplay is basically the same as the VIC-20 original, but with slightly better graphics and a few more clock cycles to play with.
Matrix: Gridrunner 2, VIC-20
Matrix: Gridrunner 2 was confusingly re-titled as “Attack of the Mutant Camels” on the VIC-20 in North America. The suits in charge of this re-naming fiasco insisted that the title from one of Llamasoft‘s older games be used, instead of “Matrix“.
Well: f*ck them, I’m calling it “Matrix: Gridrunner 2” in light of a lack of some common sense here…
Attack of the Mutant Camels, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 8-bit version of Attack of the Mutant Camels came out simultaneously with the Commodore 64 version, in 1983, and is pretty much the same game, but with a few graphical tweaks.