This homebrew conversion of Ultimate‘s classic Alien 8 was released for the Commodore 64 in 2020. The original game was only ever officially released for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, MSX, and Amstrad CPC, but never for the C64. And the ironic thing is that this conversion is arguably the best version of Alien 8 out there.
Tag Archives: maze
Alien 8, BBC Micro
Alien 8 is a classic isometric platform puzzle game that was released by Ultimate Play the Game on four formats – ZX Spectrum (the original), BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, and MSX.
The BBC Micro conversion of Alien 8 has responsive controls and runs slightly faster than the original Spectrum version. It still suffers from slowdown when there are a number of moving objects on screen at once.
Knight Lore, Commodore 64
This 2019 Commodore 64 homebrew conversion of the classic Knight Lore is arguably even better than the brilliant ZX Spectrum original. Spectrum owners will not want to hear that, but – being objective – this port does make the game more enjoyable to play. I also managed to get further into the game than I ever managed on the Spectrum, although I did use quick saves (but no cheats).
Underwurlde, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version of Ultimate‘s classic Underwurlde was developed by Softstone and published by Firebird in 1985. It is a faithful recreation of the Spectrum original.
Dingo, Arcade
Dingo is a 1983 arcade game created by Ashby Computers and Graphics Ltd. (A.C.G.) and manufactured by Jaleco.
For those who don’t know: A.C.G. is the name of the company who would later develop and publish a series of classic games under the Ultimate Play the Game banner, including Jet Pac, Atic Atac, Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore (among others). Dingo is one of their first ever video games.
Grasspin, Arcade
Grasspin is a 1983 arcade game created by British developer Ashby Computers and Graphics Ltd. A.C.G., as they were known, were the team behind the famous Ultimate Play the Game brand and this is one of the games they made before launching Ultimate.
Blue Print, Arcade
Blue Print is a strange arcade maze game developed by Ashby Computers and Graphics (A.C.G.). It was licensed to Bally Midway in North American and European markets, and Jaleco in Japan, in 1982. A.C.G. would later became famous for their Ultimate Play the Game home computer games (Atic Atac, Sabre Wulf, Knight Lore, et cetera), and became even more famous as Rare (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, et cetera).
Defenders of Oasis, Game Gear
Not to be confused with Beyond Oasis on the Sega Megadrive, Defenders of Oasis is a turn-based Role-Playing Game for the Game Gear that is based on the “One Thousand and One Nights” middle-eastern folk tales, also known as “Arabian Nights“. It was developed and published by Sega in 1992.
Nonterraqueous, ZX Spectrum
A game with a strange name – actually the name of the planet you’re on: Nonterraqueous.
You control a robot ‘seeker drone’ on a mission to destroy the master computer that is threatening destruction of the entire planet.
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.
The King of Grabs 