Tag Archives: early

Black Crystal, Commodore 64

Black Crystal is infamous for being an overpriced and under-produced RPG from the early days of home computing.

This Commodore 64 version plays pretty much the same as the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum versions, in that: it’s absolutely awful and will have you both tearing your hair out in minutes, and also wondering who on earth would make such a game…

Continue reading Black Crystal, Commodore 64

Black Crystal, ZX Spectrum

Black Crystal is infamous for being an overpriced and under-produced RPG from the early days of home computing.

The first version of Black Crystal was the ZX81 version, which was designed and programmed by Roy Carnell and Stuart Galloway and released in 1982. A ZX Spectrum version followed in 1983, then a Commodore 64 version later in 1985.

Continue reading Black Crystal, ZX Spectrum

H.E.R.O., Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 version of John Van Ryzin‘s 1984 classic H.E.R.O. plays just as good as the Atari 2600 original, although the graphics are a little messier.

Continue reading H.E.R.O., Commodore 64

H.E.R.O., Atari 2600

John Van Ryzin‘s popular H.E.R.O. (Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation) first made its appearance on the Atari 2600 (aka Atari VCS), via Activision, way back in 1984.

Continue reading H.E.R.O., Atari 2600

Break Dance, Commodore 64

Underneath the chubby graphics, and the cheesy tunes, is a half-decent game trying to get out…

You have to remember though: Break Dance is from 1984, and a) breakdancing was new and cool back then, and b) rhythm games hadn’t even been invented. So no one knew what a rhythm game even was…

Continue reading Break Dance, Commodore 64

Alchemist, ZX Spectrum

This very early, side-scrolling fantasy action game was created by Ian Weatherburn for Imagine Software in 1983.

In the game you control the titular Alchemist – a guy who can shape-shift into a golden eagle and fly to places he can’t normally walk to.

Continue reading Alchemist, ZX Spectrum