Programmed by Simon Nicol, with music by Rob Hubbard, Crazy Comets is the beginning of Simon Nicol‘s preoccupation with the arcade game Mad Planets.
Crazy Comets was first published by Martech in 1985.
After Crazy Comets, Nicol then made Mega Apocalypse, and then Apocalypse II (which never got released). Each game a clone of Mad Planets, although with Nicol‘s own twist.
The ZX Spectrum version of Dennis Caswell‘s classic platform/puzzle game, Impossible Mission, was first published in 1985 by US Gold. It is an okay adaptation. Playable, but nothing special.
The NES/Famicom version of Will Wright‘s famous overhead-scrolling helicopter game, Raid On Bungeling Bay, was developed by Hudson Soft in Japan and first published by Brøderbund on 22nd Feb 1985 (despite what it says on the game’s title screen).
Written by Graeme Baird, Ian Oliver and Andrew Onions, 3D Starstrike was the hit-outta-nowhere* from Realtime Software, in 1984. Well, actually, that was the ZX Spectrum version, which came out the year before this – the Amstrad CPC port. Which was released in 1985.
*= Aided somewhat by the success of Atari‘s famous Star Wars arcade machine.
Gun Smoke (aka “Gun.Smoke“) is an arcade shooter by Capcom, first released in 1985. It is basically a ‘wild west’ version of their previous hit Commando, only this time you’re playing as a cowboy, shooting at outlaws.
***CANNED GAME***
Death Pit was advertised extensively by Durell Software in 1985, but was never released. The completed full game has since been made available online, so you can still play it now.
Theatre Europe on the Commodore 64 is a relatively simple war game, set during the Cold War 1980s. It was coded by Alan Steel, with graphics by Ian Bird, and music by David Dunn. The game was first published by PSS in 1985.
Commodore‘s go at tennis, as part of its series of C64 sports games, is a pretty poor game overall. It’s got a side-on view and the feel and presentation of the game are lacking.
The ZX Spectrum of Beach Head II was developed by Platinum Productions and published by US Gold in 1985.
Often shortened to just “Galivan“, this arcade platform game from Nichibutsu first came out in arcades in 1985. Outside of Japan, the game was little-known, but it did get ported to the C64, Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC in the West, and to the Famicom in Japan, to little or no success.
The King of Grabs 