Another game I have fond memories of buying and enjoying back in 1984, Melbourne House‘s classic ZX Spectrum platform game: Sir Lancelot.
Considering that it was squeezed into only 16K of RAM (yes, it even ran on 16K Spectrums) it is a remarkable achievement.
Released for the Oric by IJK Software in 1984, Don’t Press The Letter Q is a very early ‘minigame’-based adventure, in a similar vein to more modern titles like Warioware.
Considering that Don’t Press The Letter Q is over 35 years old now, it has stood the test of time remarkably well. And – considering that it is an Oric exclusive – it is something of a stand-out title on the platform. Arguably even the best game on the Oric.
Designed and programmed by Éric Chahi (the creator of the classic Another World), Doggy is a fun side-scrolling action game that was initially released for the Oric by Loriciels in 1984.
Ocean‘s Island of Death is a game I remember seeing back in 1984 (because of the striking Bob Wakelin cover art), but have never played – until now.
And I’m quite surprised by how good it is…
The MSX version of Manic Miner was produced by Software Projects in 1984. It’s a rare British MSX title, written by Cameron Else. It’s also fast and beautifully playable.
The excellent Amstrad CPC version of Manic Miner was first released by Software Projects in 1984.
It is very close to the ZX Spectrum original in almost every respect, barring the fact that the colours are slightly less vivid and the play window is slightly smaller. Oh, and the last level is different – like an expanded (and more difficult) version of the last screen in the Speccy original.
BBC Manic Miner was released by Software Projects in 1984.
Compared to the Spectrum original it is slow and flickery, and isn’t quite as colourful, although it plays pretty much identically so isn’t too bad.
“How to ruin a great game with bad collision detection…” That’s the overriding thought in my head when playing Manic Miner on the Dragon 32.
The MSX version of Chuckie Egg was produced by A&F Software and released in 1984.
Graphically, the use of colour in this version is strange, but at least Henhouse Harry (the main character in Chuckie Egg) benefits from some extra colour. His animation is a bit stunted though. Harry moves around quickly enough, and the controls are very responsive, so running and jumping feels good – as it’s meant to in Chuckie Egg.
The Commodore 64 version of A&F‘s Chuckie Egg retains the style and structure of the ZX Spectrum original‘s platforms and ladders, but goes for a chunky Henhouse Harry character sprite. Like in the Atari 800 version: the oversized Harry looks a bit ridiculous, but moves around well enough.
The King of Grabs 