The Amstrad version of Steve Turner‘s Ranarama is every bit as good as the Spectrum original, although it is probably fair to say that it isn’t quite as colourful. It still looks good, though. And – even more importantly – it plays just as good, if not better, than the original.
Tag Archives: Amstrad CPC
Batty, Amstrad CPC
The Dark Knight: Shadow of Madness, Amstrad CPC
This excellent Spanish homebrew game is a well-produced platform/action adventure, starring a titchy version of DC Comics‘ Batman (aka The Dark Knight). It plays really well, looks great and is a challenge worth undertaking.
Continue reading The Dark Knight: Shadow of Madness, Amstrad CPC
Zoids: The Battle Begins, Amstrad CPC
Zoids was a range of popular children’s toys during the 1980s. They were dinosaur robot-type things that fought each other and looked really cool (if you were six years old). The toys spawned TV shows and computer games, and this one – designed by The Electronic Pencil Company – is notable as one of the best.
Impossible Mission, Amstrad CPC
Another decent conversion of a classic game to the Amstrad. Impossible Mission was developed by Epyx and published by US Gold in 1986.
Koronis Rift, Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC version of Koronis Rift is very similar to the Atari 8-bit original. The Amstrad‘s multi-colour graphics mode emulates the Atari graphics so well that you’d have to wonder if it’s a clone of Atari‘s graphics mode… It probably is. 🙂
Koronis Rift was ported to the Amstrad by Mr. Micro Ltd. – for Lucasfilm Games – and first published by Activision in 1987.
Sir Lancelot, Amstrad CPC
An Amstrad conversion of the minor hit, Sir Lancelot, which was first seen on the ZX Spectrum. It was published by Melbourne House in 1984.
3D Starstrike, Amstrad CPC
Written by Graeme Baird, Ian Oliver and Andrew Onions, 3D Starstrike was the hit-outta-nowhere* from Realtime Software, in 1984. Well, actually, that was the ZX Spectrum version, which came out the year before this – the Amstrad CPC port. Which was released in 1985.
*= Aided somewhat by the success of Atari‘s famous Star Wars arcade machine.
Super Hero, Amstrad CPC
Codemasters‘ 1988 release for the Amstrad, Super Hero, sounds innocuous, but it marked the return of pixel artist Bernie Drummond, after Head Over Heels and Batman, but before Monster Max. Which was always a cause for celebration, in my humble opinion. RIP Bernie.
Super Hero is similar to Ultimate Play the Game‘s Nightshade, or Gunfright, in that the isometric backgrounds scroll around on occasion. Not all the time. Some rooms are static, Knight Lore-style.
Android 2, Amstrad CPC
Converted to the Amstrad CPC by Chris Wood, from the ZX Spectrum original by Costa Panayi, Android 2 is a responsive and playable port, but doesn’t quite match up to the Spectrum version’s level of presentation.
