The Amstrad version of Steve Turner‘s Ranarama is every bit as good as the Spectrum original, although it is probably fair to say that it isn’t quite as colourful. It still looks good, though. And – even more importantly – it plays just as good, if not better, than the original.
Tag Archives: elevators
Spindizzy, ZX Spectrum
Originating on the Amstrad CPC, Spindizzy is a genius piece of coding and game design. It is an isometric exploration game, where you play as a spinning gyroscope (called GERALD) trying to collect gems across a large map of screens. It was designed by Paul Shirley, and the Spectrum port was handled by Phil Churchyard. Spindizzy on the Spectrum was published by Electric Dreams in 1986.
Impossible Mission, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Dennis Caswell‘s classic platform/puzzle game, Impossible Mission, was first published in 1985 by US Gold. It is an okay adaptation. Playable, but nothing special.
Impossible Mission, Amstrad CPC
Another decent conversion of a classic game to the Amstrad. Impossible Mission was developed by Epyx and published by US Gold in 1986.
System Shock: Enhanced Edition, PC
This enhanced edition of the classic sci-fi RPG, System Shock, was developed by Nightdive Studios and first released in 2023. What Nightdive has done is bring the original 1994 classic into the modern age, with high definition graphics and a boatload of quality-of-life features.
System Shock, PC
This is the original VGA/SVGA* version of System Shock, first released in 1994. The game was developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems in North America and Electronic Arts in Europe.
*= System Shock was originally released in VGA (320×200 resolution), but was soon upgraded to SVGA (640×480 resolution) via patches and re-releases. I’m showing both the VGA and SVGA versions here.
Dynamite Dan, MSX
The MSX version of Rod Bowkett‘s classic Spectrum platformer, Dynamite Dan, was programmed by Mr. Micro and published by Mirrorsoft in 1986. It is an excellent port and looks and plays very similarly to the original.
Wizard’s Lair, MSX
Steve Crow‘s superb tribute to Atic Atac, Wizard’s Lair, was released for the MSX by Bubble Bus Software in 1986.
Back Track, Game Boy Advance
When I first played Back Track, my instincts screamed at me that this was a terrible game. The graphics are messy; the enemies look awful; the explosions have a really bad horizontal raster-style visual effect; health packs are called “Band-Aids“; the weapons are unimpressive; the draw distance is masked with a solid black shadow, which is disconcerting; the environments appear flat, empty and uninteresting, and the premise of the game – to rescue kidnapped humans from inside tubes – doesn’t seem very exciting. BUT… I persisted with it and found Back Track to actually be quite absorbing and challenging, when I eventually got into it.
Wario Land, Virtual Boy
Wario Land on the Nintendo Virtual Boy (aka Virtual Boy Wario Land) was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and first released in 1995. It’s a platform game that was designed to utilise the Virtual Boy‘s stereoscopic 3D capabilities, and therefore features objects that swing in and out of the screen, and also allows the player (as Wario) to explore foreground and background areas.
