Who programmed Wheelie? That’s a question I’d like an answer to.
Having played and enjoyed this side-scrolling motorbike game back in 1983, when it was originally released by publisher Microsphere, and having played it again recently, I would like to at least mention the person who made it.
Dave Reidy, and his wife Helen (a school teacher at the time), devised and made Skool Daze for Microsphere, way back in 1984.
This memorable ‘school simulator’ was an instant hit with gamers at the time.
First released in 1985, Roller Coaster – by S. Brocklehurst – is a fun and jaunty platform game in which you play a small, agile character who has to explore a huge theme park looking for bags of gold.
The humble ZX Spectrum was first released onto an unsuspecting public in 1982 and was an instant hit with gamers.
It initially came in two varieties – 16K and 48K RAM versions – and had a curious rubber keyboard and a built-in sound speaker.
In spite of that it managed to dominate the UK (and arguably European) gaming scene throughout the 1980s and also inspire a generation of computer users and game designers (some of whom still make games for it to this day).
Later versions of the ZX Spectrum had better keyboards and more memory, but the games were still unique and distinguishable.
This week I’ll be dedicating this blog to classic ZX Spectrum games and will be featuring some of my favourites in this ever-expanding gallery of grabs. Hope you enjoy!
Here are links to what was published:
Roller Coaster,
Skool Daze,
Wheelie,
Stop The Express,
Zynaps,
Trashman,
Auf Wiedersehen Monty,
Wizard’s Lair,
Dark Side,
Starstrike 3D,
Starstrike II,
Nosteratu the Vampyre,
Sir Fred,
Lords of Midnight,
Doomdark’s Revenge,
Starquake
More: ZX Spectrum on Wikipedia
See also: 100 Best ZX Spectrum Loading Screens:
Part #1, Part #2, Part #3, Part #4, Part #5
I’m going to use the Japanese and North American name for this game – Star Fox – rather than the European name (Star Wing, which was chosen because the name “Star Fox” was apparently too similar to a German company called “StarVox”!).
First released in 2015, CD Projekt Red‘s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a third-person, open world Role-Playing Game that is based on a series of novels by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.
Obviously it is the third instalment in the series (and last, according to the developers), and in it you play a monster-hunting detective badass called Geralt – a Witcher; a carrier of two swords (one steel, for killing humans, and one silver, for killing monsters); and a superhuman solver of problems with acute senses and no emotions.
This colour remake of Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge was released as part of the Konami GB Collection Vol. 4 compilation in 2000.
Continue reading Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge, Game Boy Color
SNK‘s Twinkle Star Sprites was released for the Neo Geo in 1996 and is an interesting mix of vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up and head-to-head puzzle game. Yes, I know that sounds weird, and this game IS weird, but weird in all the right ways…
The Game Boy Color has a brilliant remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It was first released in 1998 and features an added colour-themed dungeon not seen in the original monochrome release.
Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Game Boy Color
It would be remiss of me to celebrate the Nintendo Game Boy and not mention Tetris.
Tetris was the ‘pack-in’ game with the original black and white Game Boy, and probably helped sell a few million units in itself.
The King of Grabs 