Rainbow Arts‘ classic C64 shoot ’em up, Turrican, was converted to the Amstrad by Probe Software, and it demonstrates how to do this kind of side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter on the CPC. Compared to something like Gryzor, Turrican is streets ahead in terms of presentation and playability.
Tag Archives: 1990
Castle Master II: The Crypt, Amstrad CPC
Castle Master II: The Crypt is the sequel to the ghost-hunting Freescape game, Castle Master, and it was released by Domark in 1990 as part of a double pack with the first Castle Master. As far as I know it was never published as a stand-alone title.
The Crypt is the same as Castle Master in many respects, except that the puzzles and environments are obviously different. The controls and aims are the same as before: destroy the spirits before they destroy you; find keys to open doors, and loot the treasures inside a haunted crypt to score points as you go.
Castle Master, Amstrad CPC
Castle Master is a first-person 3D adventure game set in a haunted castle, where the aim is to destroy spirits before they overwhelm you. The game uses the famous Freescape engine, which was an early 3D engine for creating polygonal environments. It was developed by Incentive Software and first published by Domark in 1990.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu, NES
The Famicom/NES version of Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu was developed by Now Production (who made Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti and Splatterhouse 3, among others) and was published by Hudson Soft in 1990. It’s a side-scrolling beat ’em up with platforming elements based around the famous movie actor Jackie Chan.
Gauntlet, Sega Master System
The Sega Master System conversion of Atari‘s classic arcade game Gauntlet is surprisingly good. For starters: it’s got the fastest fire rate of any of the home versions available, and it plays with a high intensity. This does, however, make the game especially challenging because the health of your heroes does tend to go down rather quickly.
Dragon Warrior IV, NES
Dragon Warrior IV is the localised American version of Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. It’s an RPG, developed by Chunsoft and initially published by Enix in 1990 in Japan (and 1992 in North America).
Dragon Warrior II, NES
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line was developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix in Japan in 1987. The localised English version of this game was released as Dragon Warrior II in North America in 1990.
Fireball II, Archimedes
Fireball II is a garish but playable Arkanoid clone for the Acorn Archimedes, written by Simon Heather and published by Cambridge International Software in 1990.
Although the graphics look a bit amateurish, Fireball II does have a number of surprises under the hood, which make it fun to play.
Bug Hunter in Space, Archimedes
Bug Hunter in Space is the sequel to Bug Hunter, both written by Ian Richardson. This follow-up was published by Minerva Software in 1990 and is a platform puzzle game where you play a six-inch bipedal invertebrate called “Hysteron Proteron” on a mission to squash bugs, and stop aliens from destroying all life on earth.
Apocalypse, Archimedes
Apocalypse is a fast-paced, overrated 3D shoot ’em up that was written by Gordon J. Key (the same guy who wrote E-Type) and published by The Fourth Dimension for the Acorn Archimedes in 1990.
The King of Grabs 