Written by Derek Johnston and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1985, Zone X is a scrolling maze game where you play a radiation suit-wearing scientist collecting plutonium samples and dumping them into containers.
Tag Archives: 1985
Cavelord, Atari 8-bit
Cavelord is a scrolling action game that was written by Peter Finzel and released – in Germany only – by Ariolasoft in 1985. Thankfully, a fan hack has translated the game into English.
Brian Bloodaxe, ZX Spectrum
Described as a game with “primary imbalance“, by publisher The Edge in 1985, Brian Bloodaxe is a strange platform game that tries to have a laugh at the expense of everyone – you; itself, and the genre of platform games it belongs to.
Crazy Comets, Commodore 64
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.
Impossible Mission, ZX Spectrum
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.
Raid On Bungeling Bay, NES/Famicom
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).
3D Starstrike, Amstrad CPC
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, Arcade
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.
Death Pit, ZX Spectrum
***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, Commodore 64
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.
