Tag Archives: 8-bit

Stunt Car Racer, Amstrad CPC

Geoff Crammond‘s incredible Stunt Car Racer was converted to the Amstrad CPC by Pete Cooke, the man responsible for classic ZX Spectrum hits Tau Ceti, Academy, and Brainstorm. It’s safe to say that Cooke did an immaculate job of bringing this ace racing game to the Amstrad in 1989.

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Spindizzy, Amstrad CPC

I was always under the impression that Paul Shirley‘s classic Spindizzy originated on the Commodore 64 and was ported to other machines, but this interview with Shirley says that the game actually originated on the CPC and was ported to other systems. Since Paul Shirley coded the C64 version himself I had guessed that that was a logical assumption to make, but it now looks to be wrong.

The Amstrad version of Spindizzy – one of the best games ever made in my humble opinion – is pretty much perfect, with crisp, clean, detailed graphics and responsive controls.

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Sorcery Plus, Amstrad CPC

Sorcery Plus is an expanded version of the best-selling Amstrad game Sorcery, catering for 128K disk-based machines and featuring new rooms and other enhancements. It was developed by Gang of Five and published by Virgin Games in 1985.

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Chase HQ, Amstrad CPC

Ocean Software‘s 1989 conversion of Taito‘s classic arcade race game, Chase HQ, is a bit of a doozy on the Amstrad. While it doesn’t have quite the impact that its amazing arcade parent does, it does do a very good job of trying to recreate its high-octane, criminal-chasing thrills.

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Get Dexter 2, Amstrad CPC

The sequel to the classic Amstrad adventure, Get Dexter, is more of the same isometric puzzle-solving, and weird futuristic adventuring, except that this time the game world is comprised of interlinked exterior screens rather than a simple maze of rooms.

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Get Dexter, Amstrad CPC

Get Dexter is an isometric action puzzle game originally released for the Amstrad CPC in 1986. It was programmed by Remi Herbulot with graphics by Michel Rho. In its native France the game is known as “Crafton & Xunk“, which I always thought was a bizarre title for a video game.

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Amstrad CPC Special

The Amstrad Colour Personal Computer (CPC) is a family of 8-bit home computers that were designed and manufactured by British company Amstrad (the infamous one led by Alan Sugar), and marketed as competition to the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum from 1984 onward.

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Fred, ZX Spectrum

Written by famous Spanish software house Indescomp, Fred is a scrolling platform/maze game where you control a cartoon Indiana Jones-type character plundering treasures from an Egyptian tomb, while avoiding contact with ghosts and mummies.

Fred was first released in 1984. In its native Spain the game was published by Investronica, while in the UK and other parts of Europe the game was published by Quicksilva.

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Moon Cresta, ZX Spectrum

The Spectrum conversion of Nichibutsu‘s classic 1980 arcade game Moon Cresta was published by Incentive Software in 1985 and it is considered to be very good, considering the machine’s limitations.

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