Tag Archives: British

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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Durell Software, ZX Spectrum

Turbo Esprit, ZX Spectrum

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Considered by those who know it as an early precursor to Grand Theft Auto, Mike Richardson‘s excellent Turbo Esprit is an action/driving game where the aim is to catch and arrest drugs smugglers by driving around a city and pinpointing them using a map. It was first published for the ZX Spectrum by Durell Software in 1986.

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Commodore 64, Ocean Software

Rambo: First Blood Part II, Commodore 64

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Rambo: First Blood Part II, by Ocean Software, is a legendary Commodore 64 game without much substance. People revere the music (by Martin Galway), and also like the simple 360 shooter gameplay, but the truth is: this is an example of an early video game without much to do, and what there is is rather simplistic.

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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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Bits Studios, Game Boy, Irem

R-Type II, Game Boy

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A 1992 sequel to the excellent first Game Boy conversion of R-Type, developed by the same company as previously (Bits Studios).

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Bits Studios, Game Boy, Irem

R-Type, Game Boy

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This 1991 handheld conversion of Irem‘s classic arcade game, R-Type, is surprisingly good.

Yes: it’s monochrome, and yes: the graphics are tiny, but the gameplay is spot on, which is the most important thing.

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Electric Dreams, Irem, Software Studios, ZX Spectrum

R-Type, ZX Spectrum

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The ZX Spectrum conversion of Irem‘s classic arcade game R-Type is considered by many to be one of the best games ever made for Sir Clive‘s classic 8-bit home computer.

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