Tag Archives: Bob Wakelin

Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge, ZX Spectrum

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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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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Daley Thompson’s Supertest, ZX Spectrum

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The second of the Ocean-released Daley Thompson sports games is Daley Thompson’s Supertest, which was first published in 1985.

This time there are twelve events, including: rowing, penalties, ski-jump, tug O war, triple jump, 100m sprint, javelin, 110m hurdles, pistol shooting, cycling, springboard diving, and giant slalom (skiing).

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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Daley Thompson’s Decathlon, ZX Spectrum

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Daley Thompson’s Decathlon, developed and published by Ocean for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, was possibly the first home computer game to feature a celebrity, and a person of colour, as the star of the game – at least in the UK anyway.

If you don’t know: Daley Thompson is a British Olympic decathlon star, and was a gold medal winner at the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and as such was a household name in the UK back when this game was released in 1984. Younger readers might not know who Daley Thompson is, but they really should. Thompson is a legend and has been described as the greatest all-round athlete the world has ever seen. Look him up on YouTube if you want to see his Olympic achievements.

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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Pogo, ZX Spectrum

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Ocean Software‘s 1983 release, Pogo, is arguably the best Q*Bert clone on the ZX Spectrum. And there were a lot of Q*Bert clones around at the time.

It was one of the very first Spectrum games I ever bought and it kept teenage me occupied for a few days, before I eventually grew tired of it.

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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Match Day II, ZX Spectrum

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Match Day II is the 1987 sequel to Match Day. It was again coded by Jon Ritman and published by Ocean Software.

The graphics in Match Day II were created by Bernie Drummond (who famously made Batman with Ritman in 1986), and could be described as “more characterful” than in the previous game. One thing is certain, though: the players in Match Day II definitely have Eighties haircuts!

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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Match Day, ZX Spectrum

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Although it’s pretty laughable now, Jon Ritman and Chris Clarke‘s 1984 football game, Match Day, was a groundbreaking Spectrum game for the time.

Match Day wasn’t the first football video game ever made, but it was one of the first to at least make a reasonable attempt to translate the sport into something playable.

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Amiga, Ocean Software, Realtime Games Software

Battle Command, Amiga

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Battle Command is a classic Amiga tank game, developed by Realtime Games Software and published by Ocean Software in 1990.

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Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Eskimo Eddie, ZX Spectrum

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This obscure 1984 release from Ocean Software is basically a clone of Sega‘s classic arcade game, Pengo, but with an extra level tacked-on at the beginning. Similar in many ways to Ocean‘s Mr. Wimpy, which was BurgerTime with an extra level tacked on at the start. As if it would confuse the copyright police… “These are not the clones you are looking for… It is a completely different game… Look… [waves hand like Obi Wan]”

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Denton Designs, Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Gift From The Gods, ZX Spectrum

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Gift From The Gods is a mythology-based maze game – with impressively-animated, large figures – that was only ever released for the ZX Spectrum. Its origins lie in the infamous cancelled Imagine Software game, Bandersnatch.

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Commodore 64, Denton Designs, Ocean Software

Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Commodore 64

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Back in 1985 gamers were astounded to see the release of an officially-licensed game, based on the pop band Frankie Goes To Hollywood. “Whatever will they think of next?” went the chattering classes. Well, just like the records that were burning up the charts, the Frankie Goes To Hollywood video game license turned out to be ‘gold dust’ to publisher Ocean Software, and the game itself is remembered as being a pretty good one (which is rare for licensed product).

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