Jon Ritman did the programming and Bernie Drummond did the graphics. And the result was: Head Over Heels – an isometric platform game, published by Ocean Software, and featuring two different characters who can combine to become more agile.
Tag Archives: 1987
Head Over Heels Week
Happy April Fools Day!
A celebration of jokes and humour, and – in our world – video games.
Written by Jon Ritman, with graphics by Bernie Drummond, Head Over Heels was first released in 1987 and is still a fantastic game to play now – across a number of different formats.
So every day this week we’re going to be celebrating Head Over Heels – a classic 3D platform game like no other – starting with the ZX Spectrum original, and covering all the different versions of the game as the week progresses.
Anyway: welcome to April. You lovely gaming fools.
The King of Grabs
Head Over Heels on The King of Grabs:
ZX Spectrum version, Commodore 64 version, Amstrad CPC version, MSX version, Atari 800 version, Atari ST version, Amiga version, PC version, Head Over Heels Week
Ranarama, Atari ST
Ranarama, by Steve Turner of Graftgold, originated on the ZX Spectrum in 1987, and was later converted to the Atari ST, Amiga and Amstrad CPC.
Dungeon Master, Atari ST
This is the one: Dungeon Master – the Atari ST original. One of the best games ever made, and among my favourite games of all time…
Bionic Commando, Arcade
Another arcade classic from Capcom – Bionic Commando. A run-and-gun game from 1987, but with a difference: in this game your guy can fire a grappling hook from his arm and swing from location to location.
After Burner, Arcade
Sega‘s tremendous 1987 arcade hit, After Burner, used powerful sprite scaling technology in its cabinets back in the day, to create the mind-bogglingly fast on-screen visuals.
Alien Syndrome, Arcade
Sega‘s 1987 arcade shoot ’em up Alien Syndrome is a difficult game. Even with quicksaves I can only (be bothered to) get to the end of level two. Which must explain why many of the Alien Syndrome videos on YouTube are cheat videos… No one can be bothered to play it properly single-player.
Operation Wolf, Arcade
Taito‘s superb Operation Wolf was one of the first arcade games to feature a machine gun with force feedback on the cabinet.
Xybots, Arcade
Rainbow Islands, Arcade
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 is possibly Japanese game developer Taito‘s finest hour. On any system.
The King of Grabs 