The second of the Ocean-released Daley Thompson sports games is Daley Thompson’s Supertest, which was first published in 1985.
This time there are twelve events, including: rowing, penalties, ski-jump, tug O war, triple jump, 100m sprint, javelin, 110m hurdles, pistol shooting, cycling, springboard diving, and giant slalom (skiing).
Rambo: First Blood Part II, by Ocean Software, is a legendary Commodore 64 game without much substance. People revere the music (by Martin Galway), and also like the simple 360 shooter gameplay, but the truth is: this is an example of an early video game without much to do, and what there is is rather simplistic.
The Amstrad CPC version of Ghostbusters was only ever released in Europe. Alongside the MSX version it was one of only two Ghostbusters conversions that were never released in North America.
The MSX version of Activision‘s Ghostbusters is the same as all the others… Simple; archaic; and a very early example of a movie-licensed video game.
There’s no digitised speech in this version, although the rendition of Ray Parker Jr.‘s hit single isn’t bad.
Playing Ghostbusters on the Atari 2600 – after having played the original – is one of those “What The F**k?!” gaming moments that will probably stay with you forever…
Monty Is Innocent is an ‘anomaly’ in the famous Monty Mole series of games, from Gremlin Graphics.
Monty Is Innocent wasn’t designed or programmed by Pete Harrap, the original creator of Monty Mole, but by Chris Kerry (who pitched the idea to publisher Gremlin after having a hit with his game Jack and the Beanstalk). Gremlin liked the idea enough to green light the game and eventually release it as Monty is Innocent in 1985.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is the sequel to the timeless Atari, Inc. shooter, Star Wars, and it was first released into arcades in 1985. It is, of course, based on the classic 1980 film of the same name.
Sundog is a sci-fi strategy/RPG/adventure game designed by Software Heaven (aka FTL – the makers of Dungeon Master), and is generally held in high regard. It originally came out on the Apple II in 1984, then later converted to the Atari ST in 1985.
I have to admit, though, that Sundog is a touch too archaic for my tastes. At least in terms of wanting to put hours into a game. The Atari ST version certainly looks better than the Apple II version, though.
The MSX version of Ultimate‘s classic isometric action adventure, Alien 8, is almost identical to the ZX Spectrum original – including slowdown caused by sound effects playing and lots of on-screen movement.
Dragon Skulle is the fourth and final game in the Sir Arthur Pendragon series, from legendary publisher Ultimate Play The Game. It was first released in 1985 and actually received lukewarm reviews in much of the press at the time.
The King of Grabs 