Tag Archives: early

Andes Attack, VIC-20

Andes Attack was the first commercial game release from Jeff Minter and Llamasoft, and it was of course a clone of an arcade game (Defender). Andes Attack was first released in 1982 for the VIC-20 and did reasonable business, in spite of it not actually being very good.

Continue reading Andes Attack, VIC-20

Wallie Goes to Rhymeland, Commodore 64

Wallie Goes To Rhymeland is the third and final game in the “Wallie” series, designed and programmed by Andrew Challis, with graphics by his sister, Claire. The game was first published by Interceptor Software in 1984 for the Commodore 64 and it is mostly forgotten now. Which is a pity because the game has some charm; it was made by a brother and sister team, and it also brought joy to the lives of everyday gamers back in the mid-Eighties.

Continue reading Wallie Goes to Rhymeland, Commodore 64

Trollie Wallie, Commodore 64

Released by Interceptor Software in 1984, Trollie Wallie is a scrolling platform game featuring a weird mouth on legs, called “Wallie“. It’s actually the sequel to Wheelin’ Wallie which came out through Interceptor earlier that same year.

Continue reading Trollie Wallie, Commodore 64

Wheelin’ Wallie, Commodore 64

Wheelin’ Wallie is a side-scrolling Pac-Man-like game where the aim is to eat dots along a course that scrolls from left to right, while trying to avoid the many hazards being thrown at you.

You play as “Wallie“, a disembodied head floating on a wheel than rolls on the ground. Collision with any object loses you a life, as does falling down a hole in the ground. You can trundle left and right as the screen automatically scrolls, and you can also move Wallie‘s head up and down, and that’s about it. Moving objects sometimes fly across the screen and must be avoided at all costs.

Continue reading Wheelin’ Wallie, Commodore 64

Beach Head, Atari 8-bit

The Atari 8-bit version of Bruce Carver‘s classic Beach Head came out simultaneously with the Commodore 64 version, so both are considered “the originals”, although this version was co-coded by Kevin Homer so technically could be considered a conversion.

Continue reading Beach Head, Atari 8-bit

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Atari 2600

Published by Parker Brothers in 1982 The Empire Strikes Back on the Atari 2600 was the first officially-licensed Star Wars game ever released, and it depicts the AT-AT ‘walker’ attack on the rebel base on Hoth, with you playing as Luke Skywalker in a snowspeeder.

Continue reading Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Atari 2600