Tag Archives: Ocean Software

Firefly, ZX Spectrum

Of all his Spectrum games, Firefly was the one that programmer Jonathan Smith said really “came together” during development.

Firefly is an eight-way scrolling shooter with light puzzle elements that was first released by Ocean Software in 1988.

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Batman: The Caped Crusader, ZX Spectrum

First released in 1988, Ocean Software‘s Batman: The Caped Crusader is not to be confused with Ocean‘s other Batman game, programmed by Jon Ritman. No, this one is the 2D, comic panel animated adventure programmed by Jonathan Smith.

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Cobra, ZX Spectrum

Loosely-based on the Sylvester Stallone film of the same name, Cobra is a legendary run-and-gun platform game programmed by the late Jonathan Smith for Ocean Software and first released in 1986.

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Street Hawk: Subscriber Edition, ZX Spectrum

We may never know the full version of events surrounding this notorious Ocean Software game, but legendary Spectrum programmer Jonathan Smith was almost certainly involved. It does bear a few of his hallmarks, but is a ridiculously simple and quite boring shoot ’em up.

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Daley Thompson’s Supertest, ZX Spectrum

Jonathan Smith followed-up his superb multi-event sport game Hyper Sports with this – another multi-event sports game! Except this time: an officially-licensed Daley Thompson sports game.

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Smash TV, Atari ST

On the face of it the Atari ST conversion of Williams Electronics‘ classic Smash TV looks pretty good, but scratch below the surface and you might realise that it has one or two major deficiencies.

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Kong Strikes Back, ZX Spectrum

Ocean Software‘s 1984 release for the ZX Spectrum, Kong Strikes Back, is an unashamed clone of Universal‘s Mr. Do’s Wild Ride, but with elements of Donkey Kong also thrown into the mix.

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Island of Death, Oric

Ocean‘s Island of Death is a game I remember seeing back in 1984 (because of the striking Bob Wakelin cover art), but have never played – until now.

And I’m quite surprised by how good it is…

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