The first game in the Sir Arthur Pendragon series, The Staff of Karnath was released on the Commodore 64 in 1984 to some acclaim. Mostly because it was an Ultimate game, and in the eyes of many people (myself included), Ultimate could do no wrong.
Tag Archives: 1984
Eskimo Eddie, ZX Spectrum
This obscure 1984 release from Ocean Software is basically a clone of Sega‘s classic arcade game, Pengo, but with an extra level tacked-on at the beginning. Similar in many ways to Ocean‘s Mr. Wimpy, which was BurgerTime with an extra level tacked on at the start. As if it would confuse the copyright police… “These are not the clones you are looking for… It is a completely different game… Look… [waves hand like Obi Wan]”
Tribble Trubble, ZX Spectrum
Written by Jim Scarlett and published by Software Projects in 1984, Tribble Trubble was a minor hit at the time of release, garnering some critical acclaim (I remember it getting a Smash in an early issue of Crash magazine, which was a big deal) and doing okay sales-wise.
Looking at it now: it still has charm, and some appeal, and is still worth playing – if you like tearing your hair out trying to beat insignificant tasks… 🙂
Psytron, ZX Spectrum
Psytron is an early shoot ’em up released for the ZX Spectrum by Beyond Software, who published it in 1984.
It’s a futuristic “base defence” game in essence, with you playing through six different levels trying to fend off alien invaders on a 10-screen landscape – the “Betula 5 Installation”.
Chinese Hero, Arcade
Chinese Hero is an overhead fighting game that was developed by Nihon Game (later to become Culture Brain) and manufactured by Taiyo System in 1984.
It is the first game in the so-called “Super Chinese” series and features simultaneous two-player action set on a single screen play area.
Mutant Monty, ZX Spectrum
Mutant Monty looks a first glace like a Manic Miner clone, but it’s actually more of a maze game than a platform game. The main sprite certainly looks like Miner Willy though…
Pac-Land, Arcade
Developed by Namco and released into arcades in 1984, Pac-Land is a departure for the Pac-Man series because this time it’s a platform game. And a pretty good one at that.
H.E.R.O., ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of John Van Ryzin‘s classic rescue game, H.E.R.O., looks pretty basic when compared to other versions, but plays just as well as all the others.
Tir Na Nog, ZX Spectrum
Tir Na Nog (Irish for “Land of Youth”) is the location for this classic 1984 ZX Spectrum game, developed by Greg Follis and Roy Carter for Gargoyle Games.
You play Cuchulainn, a long-haired young man who has “departed the land of the living” (ie. died) and who finds himself walking in an afterlife patrolled by nasty creatures called Sidhe, which must be avoided at all costs.
Lazy Jones, Commodore 64
Lazy Jones is a cult classic Commodore 64 game that tries to cram as many derivative minigames into 64K as is possible – stuff like Space Invaders, Frogger, and platform game clones (one minigame is called Eggie Chuck – a direct reference to the classic Chuckie Egg).
The King of Grabs 