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.
Tag Archives: 1984
Manic Miner, Amstrad CPC
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.
Manic Miner, BBC Micro
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.
Manic Miner, Dragon 32
“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.
Chuckie Egg, MSX
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.
Chuckie Egg, Commodore 64
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.
Spy Hunter, Atari 2600
You’d expect the Atari 2600 version of Spy Hunter to be the runt of the litter, and… it’s actually not too bad.
Spy Hunter, Apple II
Like the MS-DOS version of Spy Hunter, the Apple II conversion of the classic Bally Midway arcade game is a bit… erm, rubbish.
Spy Hunter, Atari 8-bit
The Atari 8-bit version of Spy Hunter is a cracking rendition, with smooth scrolling and decent sprites.
Spy Hunter, PC
Spy Hunter for PC MS-DOS is unfortunately a terrible stinker of a video game. I can forgive the four-colour, CGA graphics, but I can’t forgive the repetitive, dull gameplay and the unresponsive controls.
The King of Grabs 