Created by Nostalgia in 2015, Commando Arcade is a reworking of the original C64 Commando port by Elite, but with completely new graphics, sound, and levels. So, rather than it being written from scratch, the game was built around the framework of an existing game.
Tag Archives: conversion
Commando, Commodore 64
Programmed by Chris Butler, with graphics by Rory Green and Chris Harvey, and music by Rob Hubbard, the Commodore 64 conversion of Capcom‘s arcade game Commando is considered to be a classic 8-bit game, even though it was put together very quickly (ie. rushed-out) by publisher Elite Systems.
After acquiring the official license they wanted it out in time for Christmas 1985, which gave the coders around four months to make the game. As a result Commando on home computer systems was a cut-down version of the arcade game, with fewer levels than the original and somewhat bare-bones graphics.
Gradius, MSX
Gradius – also known as Nemesis in some regions – was one of the first progressive weapons shooters to come out in arcades, and it was a big hit in 1985 when it was first released.
This led to the game being converted to many home computer systems, including the MSX, which was programmed by Konami themselves. So the game is unsurprisingly very good; very authentic, and with graphics and gameplay that push the MSX quite hard (I wouldn’t say “to its limits”, because I’m not a marketing a-hole, but it does push first-generation MSXes a fair degree).
Pac-Mania, Archimedes
Luckily for Archimedes owners they have an almost perfect conversion of Namco‘s classic Pac-Mania – aka the Pac-Man who can jump – and it’s an excellent game. It was developed by Krisalis Software and published by Domark in 1991.
Nebulus, Archimedes
John Phillips‘ brilliant platform puzzler, Nebulus, made a welcome appearance on the Acorn Archimedes courtesy of Krisalis Software in 1987.
Populous, Archimedes
The Archimedes has a flawless version of Populous – Bullfrog‘s seminal God sim – that was programmed by Richard Walker and published by Krisalis Software in 1992.
Green Beret, Commodore 64
If you can stop laughing at the amateurish loading screen for a few minutes you might find a reasonable conversion of Konami‘s infamous Green Beret arcade game here. Emphasis on the word “might“…
10 Best Bubble Bobble Conversions
LISTS: as decided by The King of Grabs, in order of greatness:
Taito‘s classic 1986 arcade hit, Bubble Bobble, has been converted to pretty much every format on the planet. We played through them all recently and have compiled a list of the best. Click a link to view each conversion individually. Do you agree with our choices? Let us know in the comments.
1. Sega Saturn (1996)
2. Nintendo DS (2005)
3. Game Boy Advance (2003)
4. X68000 (1990)
5. FM Towns (1990)
6. Sega Master System (1988)
7. NES/Famicom Disk System (1987)
8. PC MS-DOS (1989)
9. Atari ST (1989)
10. Amiga (1989)
See also:
MSX (1987)
Commodore 64 (1988)
ZX Spectrum (1987)
Amstrad CPC (1987)
Game Gear (1994)
Game Boy Color (1999)
Game Boy (1991)
BBC Micro (1989)
Apple II (1988)
See also: BB4CPC (2014) on the Amstrad CPC and Super Bubble Bobble MD (1995) on the Megadrive/Genesis.
Did we miss any official conversions of Bubble Bobble? Please let us know in the comments.
In memory of Fukio Mitsuji (1960-2008), the designer of the great Bubble Bobble.
More: Bubble Bobble on Wikipedia
BB4CPC, Amstrad CPC
BB4CPC (meaning: “Bubble Bobble for the CPC“) is a superb modern “homebrew” remake of Bubble Bobble in 48K for the Amstrad CPC by CNGSoft. It was coded by Cesar Nicolas Gonzales and released as freeware in 2014.
Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands, Sega Saturn
Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands was coded by British developer Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim in 1996. It was also released for the PlayStation, PC MS-DOS and Windows, but I’m just covering the Sega Saturn version here because they’re mostly identical.
Continue reading Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands, Sega Saturn
The King of Grabs 