The ZX Spectrum version of Poogaboo: La Pulga 2 – the sequel to the classic Bugaboo (The Flea) – was coded by the same guy who created the original (Paco Suárez), so plays similarly, and is also what I’d call an authentic sequel.
Poogaboo was only ever released in Spain – by Opera Soft, in 1991 – so is relatively obscure as Spectrum games go. I’m a big fan of the original Bugaboo, but hadn’t heard of this sequel until recently, so was pleasantly surprised by its existence.
Poogaboo: La Pulga 2 is the rather obscure sequel to the ZX Spectrum classic, Bugaboo (The Flea), aka La Pulga. It was written by the original author of La Pulga (Paco Suárez), and was published by Opera Soft, for PC MS-DOS, the ZX Spectrum, MSX and Amstrad CPC, in 1991.
Hydrofool was developed by Gargoyle Games and published by Faster Than Light in 1987. It’s the sequel to Sweevo’s World which was released in 1986.
Nobby the Aardvark was the final Commodore 64 release for Thalamus – a company that made its name on the system – way back in 1993. It’s a fun platform/maze game with an energetic lead character and was developed by Genesis Software, with Thalamus producing.
Deliverance: Stormlord II is the sequel to Stormlord and was published by Hewson Consultants in 1990. Programming and art were once again handled by Raffaele Cecco and Hugh Binns respectively, with game design by Paul Chamberlain and Barry Simpson.
It’s a single-player platform game where you once again take control of Stormlord to rescue kidnapped fairies from the evil forces of the defeated Black Queen; fighting from ‘Hell’, all the way up to ‘Heaven’.
Written by Chris Sorrell, with music by the late Richard Joseph, James Pond: Underwater Agent is the first in a trilogy of James Pond games and was first published on the Amiga by Millennium Interactive in 1990.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the 1992 sequel to the first Sonic on the Game Gear and it is considered by some to be better than the previous game. I’m not sure I agree, though…
***CANNED GAME***
There is a story behind the Commodore 64 conversion of Bubbler, but to condense it into just a few sentences: the game was being converted in 1987 by an intermediary company for Ultimate, called Lynsoft, but was canned before release because it wasn’t fast enough.
The 1987 MSX conversion of Bubbler is arguably better than the Spectrum original because the speed is more consistent during play, which makes it more playable. In fact, it’s a game that borders on being superb, which is unusual for the later US Gold/Ultimate games which are generally considered to be inferior to Ultimate‘s earlier titles.
The Amstrad version of Ultimate Play the Game‘s Bubbler benefits from some extra colour, but plays pretty much the same as the ZX Spectrum original (ie. it’s playable, but insanely difficult).
The King of Grabs 