Often shortened to just “Galivan“, this arcade platform game from Nichibutsu first came out in arcades in 1985. Outside of Japan, the game was little-known, but it did get ported to the C64, Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC in the West, and to the Famicom in Japan, to little or no success.
Tag Archives: Bob Wakelin
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…
Choplifter III, Super Nintendo
The 1994 Super Nintendo version of Choplifter III is an updated/enhanced version of the classic 8-bit scrolling shooter, Choplifter, in which you fly a helicopter over enemy territory, rescuing hostages. The game was developed by Beam Software and was published by Extreme Entertainment in North America, Ocean Software in Europe, and Victor Entertainment (JVC) in Japan.
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.
Rainbow Islands, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum has an excellent port of Taito‘s classic arcade game, Rainbow Islands, thanks to the developers at Graftgold. It was first published by Ocean Software in 1990.
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.
Hunchback: The Adventure, ZX Spectrum
Rather than produce another platform game, Ocean Software chose to make a graphical adventure for their third Hunchback game. Which was an unusual choice.
Hunchback: The Adventure again features Quasimodo trying to rescue Esmeralda, this time from the evil Cardinal of Notre Dame. It’s a three-part game, requiring the same number of loads. In part one Quasimodo must escape from Notre Dame itself, and from the Cardinal’s many guards who are trying to stop him. In part two he must make his way under the city of Paris until he reaches the Cardinal’s mansion. And finally, in part three, he must challenge the Cardinal and escape with Esmeralda in tow.
Hunchback II: Quasimodo’s Revenge, ZX Spectrum
The sequel to the hit game Hunchback was released in 1985 by Ocean Software. Hunchback II is another platform game where you control Quasimodo on a mission to collect bells and survive through seven screens of conveyors and climbing ropes. Make it to the end and again rescue Esmeralda as she waits patiently for her green-coloured hero.
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Hunchback, ZX Spectrum
Hunchback is a conversion of the 1983 arcade game by Century Electronics. It has been written that Hunchback is loosely based on the 1831 Victor Hugo novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, because it features Quasimodo running along a castle wall, trying to rescue Esmeralda from a tower at the end, but that is disputed by some who claim that Robin Hood is the main influence. Regardless, at least in this conversion the main character does actually look like Quasimodo…
Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, ZX Spectrum
The third and final of the Ocean-released Daley Thompson sports games is Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, which was first published in 1988.
This one again features ten Olympic decathlon events, split over two days, they being: 100 metre dash, long jump, shot putt, high jump, 400 metres, 110 metre hurdles, pole vault, discus, javelin, and 1500 metres.
This time Daley is trying to beat the world record, rather than win a gold medal.
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The King of Grabs 