Screenshot of Cerberus

Cerberus

(Players, 1986)

You are the captain of the Cerberus, a pirate spacecraft. You’ve heard news of a freighter which contains lots of treasure, and you fly your spacecraft towards it – but then you are surrounded by the Starfleet Police. It’s a trap! Now you must shoot your way out of this situation. A nice story, but this is just another standard space shoot-’em-up, and it’s not a very good one. The graphics are quite good, although there’s no scenery – just vast, empty space. The game moves at a fairly leisurely pace and there isn’t much action. All you do is encounter the same waves of aliens; there are no levels or targets to reach, so there’s not much point in playing it.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Screenshot of Cero Absoluto

Cero Absoluto

(ESP Soft, 2016)

  • Knowledge of Spanish is required in order to play this game properly.

In the last few years, the climate on the icy planetoid of ANTARCTIC-1982 has worsened significantly, and now contact has been lost with the McMurdo 18 mining station on the planetoid. You are able to interface remotely with an antiquated android that is located inside the station, and you must control it and find out what has happened. This is a two-part text adventure that has been developed using DAAD, which was used in Spain to develop several other adventures in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Initially the game can be frustrating, as the android can’t seem to examine anything, but there is something in the station that will overcome this problem if you examine it. Other than that, it isn’t too difficult to progress, and there are few problems finding the correct choice of words to use (providing you can understand Spanish, of course).

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Screenshot of Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction

(Durell, 1988)

The Anti-Nuclear Party has infiltrated a nuclear power station and programmed the robots so that they are now running amok inside it. In just 30 minutes’ time, the entire station will explode! You must prevent this by collecting 18 fuel rods and disposing of them in the pit that lies at the centre of the first floor of the station, which has seven floors. Despite a nice loading screen and some good music on the menu, this is a mediocre game with horrible and garish Spectrum-style graphics. You can only collect one rod at a time, and if you’re on one of the higher floors, it’s a pain to go all the way down to the first floor to dispose of it, and then go all the way back up. Also, the time limit seems to be too tight to allow the game to be completed.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Screenshot of Challenge of the Gobots

Challenge of the Gobots

(Reaktör, 1987)

Reviewed by Pug

Gog, the evil Gobot, is mining Moebius with the goal of creating an army of transforming killers. Gog’s goal is to take over Earth. There is only one Gobot left on Moebius who will stop at nothing in preventing Gog’s plans. You play Leader 1 and fly along a scrolling landscape taking out the miners in a Defender-style game. The controls can be tricky at times, but overall it’s an easy game to get into. OK graphics with dual-plane scrolling is a rare thing on the CPC, but you get it in this game!

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Screenshot of Chamonix Challenge

Chamonix Challenge

(Infogrames, 1987)

Reviewed by Robert Small

Now here’s something you don’t see every day – a mountain climbing game. It’s definitely scoring at least one point for originality. It’s well presented too, with good music and some nice use of Mode 0 graphics throughout. You select a route and pack what you think will be needed. Firstly you will tentatively edge your way forward and avoid any crevasses. Next comes your first ascent where your climbing technique will be put to the test. Then things get serious – proper climbing up a sheer cliff face. This game isn’t for everyone and that shouldn’t be surprising given the subject matter. It’s pretty novel with the way it tries to replicate the sport of mountaineering, especially the controls, which will take practice to master. Maybe it doesn’t scale the peaks of the best CPC games but it’s worth a play to see something different.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

Screenshot of Championship Baseball

Championship Baseball

(Gamestar, 1987)

Baseball is popular in America, but not all that popular elsewhere, and this game is a very poor representation of it. The graphics aren’t the problem here – although the players are badly drawn, the game switches to an excellent animation sequence, shown from behind the batter, when it’s time to pitch the ball. It’s not that there’s almost no sound, either. It’s just that the game is very slow indeed, and it seems to be impossible to hit the ball without fouling. Even the computer can’t hit the ball!

See also: Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two, GFL Championship Football.

More information on CPCSOFTS

2

Screenshot of Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two

If you’re thinking that this is a ‘proper’ simulation of basketball, think again. It’s a two-on-two game – in other words, there are only two people in each team, and rather than being able to travel up and down the court, the game is always played in one half of the court, and each team takes it in turns to aim the ball into the net. The graphics are small with a bad choice of colours being used, and there doesn’t seem to be any sound. Anyway, it’s an unexciting game that is awkward to play.

See also: Championship Baseball, GFL Championship Football.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

Screenshot of Championship Jet Ski Simulator

Championship Jet Ski Simulator

(Code Masters, 1989)

This is essentially a cut-down budget version of Code Masters’ earlier full-price release Jet Bike Simulator. There are still two difficulty levels, but now there is only one set of courses in each difficulty level (lakes for the easy level, and docks for the hard level). The only other differences are that the digitised speech has been re-recorded using a female voice, and the order of the courses on the hard difficulty level has been rearranged. Everything else about the game remains identical to Jet Bike Simulator, which means that while the lakes courses are quite enjoyable to play, completing just the first of the eight docks courses within the strict time limit and avoiding finishing last is a real challenge. It’s better to play Jet Bike Simulator instead.

See also: Jet Bike Simulator.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

Screenshot of Championship Sprint

Championship Sprint

(Electric Dreams, 1988)

This is supposed to be the sequel to Super Sprint, but in reality it’s just a re-released version with a built-in track editor. Other than that, there is literally no difference between the two games at all – at least, there were no differences that I could detect. OK, you can design your own tracks, and there are no on-track hazards such as oil slicks, but the game is still as boring as its predecessor and the graphics and sound effects are exactly the same.

See also: Super Sprint.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Screenshot of Championship Water-Skiing

Championship Water-Skiing

(Infogrames, 1987)

As far as I know, this is the only simulation of water-skiing for the Amstrad CPC, and it was released as Les Dieux de la Mer in France. The title screen depicts the French water-skiing champion Patrice Martin, and you can take part in three disciplines – the jump, freestyle, and the slalom. The graphics and animation are very impressive indeed, and there are several jaunty tunes that play on the menu. However, playing the events isn’t much fun. In the jump and slalom, there’s no feedback to show how fast you’re going as you approach the ramp, or how tight your rope is, and the slalom is particularly frustrating to play. It’s easier to control your skier in the freestyle event, but it soon becomes boring. In summary, this game is nearly all style with little substance.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5