The Amstrad version of Ocean‘s RoboCop came out in 1989, and it is much like the Commodore 64 version, but with a smaller play window and chunkier graphics.
Tag Archives: 1989
The NewZealand Story, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Taito‘s The NewZealand Story was programmed by Gerald Weatherup of Choice, and was published by Ocean Software in 1989. And it is a decent port of the cute and colourful arcade game – except without the colour…
Willow, NES/Famicom
Based on the 1988 Ron Howard film of the same name, Willow is an adventure/RPG that was developed and published by Capcom in 1989. It has nothing in common with the arcade game, called Willow, which was released by Capcom the same year.
Willow, Arcade
Based on the 1988 film of the same name, Willow is a platform action game developed by Capcom and distributed into arcades in 1989. The intro says: “A magnificent fantasy filled with love, friendship and adventure!“, but in reality the game is a violent hack-and-slash ’em up, and is some distance from “love, friendship and adventure”…
Chase HQ, ZX Spectrum
There’s no doubting that Ocean Software‘s 1989 Spectrum conversion of Taito‘s classic Chase HQ is impressive. Programmed by John O’Brien, with graphics by Bill Harbison, and sound by Jonathan Dunn, this 8-bit chase game really pushes the Spectrum to its limits, and puts pretty much every other third-person driving game on the Speccy to shame, with its amazing road movement and exciting gameplay.
The Sword of Hope, Game Boy
This first-person adventure/RPG was developed by KEMCO (a subsidiary of Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co.), and published by Seika Corporation in Japan, North America and Europe in 1989. In it, you play as Prince Theo, who is on a quest to challenge his insane, power-mad father for rule of the kingdom.
RoboCop, Amiga
Ocean Software‘s Amiga port of RoboCop was fairly impressive when it first came out in 1989, but – playing it now – it hasn’t stood the test of time particularly well. It’s a scrolling run-and-gun shooter that is loosely-based on the Data East arcade game of the same name (although the arcade game and the home computer versions were developed in parallel).
Legacy of the Wizard, NES/Famicom
Legacy of the Wizard is the North American localisation of Dragon Slayer IV, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Brøderbund in 1989. It’s a fantasy-based platform/action game featuring a family of four heroes – and their pet – on a mission to retrieve a mystical sword and slay a dragon, inside a sprawling dungeon.
U.N. Squadron, Arcade
Released in Japan as “Area 88” and based on the Manga series of the same name, U.N. Squadron is a horizontally-scrolling bullet hell shooter arcade game developed and distributed by Capcom in 1989. It features three playable characters, each flying a different aircraft, and one or simultaneous two-player gameplay.
Clown-O-Mania, Amiga
This obscure isometric action/maze game was published by German company Starbyte in 1989 and is basically a clone of the 1983 Atari 8-bit game Flip and Flop. And it’s not a bad game, even though the title of it doesn’t make sense (it really should be “Clown-O-Rama” or “Clown-Mania” – the use of the “O” in this context doesn’t work in English).