Jack and the Beanstalk is a ZX Spectrum game published by Thor Computer Software in 1984. It was written by Chris Kerry, assisted by his brother, Steve.
Tag Archives: 1984
Copta Snatch, Dragon 32
Copta Snatch is a side-scrolling shoot ’em up for the Dragon 32. It was written by David K. Pridmore and published by Blaby Computer Games of Leicester in 1984.
Astronut, ZX Spectrum
Not to be confused with the animated TV series The Astronut Show, this is a 1984 release for the ZX Spectrum, written by Patrick Richmond and published by Software Projects.
Flicky, Arcade
Originating in arcades in 1984, Flicky is a super cute bird-collecting platform game by Sega that relies heavily on gravity, inertia, and jumping to provide the challenge.
The aim of the game is simple: you play a blue bird who must collect up the small, yellow chicks (the “PioPio“), and avoid contact with the cats (the “Nyannyan“) on your way to taking the chicks home (the door you came in through). The quicker you do this, the more bonus points you get.
Simple. Or at least you might have thought so…
Match Day, ZX Spectrum
Although it’s pretty laughable now, Jon Ritman and Chris Clarke‘s 1984 football game, Match Day, was a groundbreaking Spectrum game for the time.
Match Day wasn’t the first football video game ever made, but it was one of the first to at least make a reasonable attempt to translate the sport into something playable.
The Staff of Karnath, Commodore 64
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.
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.
The King of Grabs 