Having reviewed Harrier Attack Reloaded and Oh Mummy Resurrected, I have also rewritten my reviews of Harrier Attack and Oh Mummy and given them higher ratings. In hindsight, the original reviews were pretty unfair (both games were rated only 4 out of 10) and didn’t really properly take their age and ‘nostalgia factor’ into account.
I was visiting my family for a few days over the Christmas period, and I was unable to update the site during this time – which was a pity, because three new games, and three older but previously unreleased games, have been released!
The Key: Episode 3
Screenshot of The Key: Episode 3
The third episode of The Key was released on Christmas Eve. As with the previous two episodes, it’s a point-and-click adventure. The game begins where the second episode finished; you are beside Jorge’s corpse, and you must explore Carfax Mansion and find the third and final relic, and the second part of the Ritual of Eternal Peace, in order to free the spirit of a young girl named Luna.
The Key: Episode 3 is available in English and Spanish and it can be downloaded from Pakete Soft’s site – but like the previous two episodes, you will need to solve a puzzle to work out another URL that you need to type into your browser to actually download the game. It is available in both cassette and disc formats, but I was unable to get either of the CDT cassette images to work on an emulator, although there are no issues with the disc versions.
Casimiro en la Casa Encantada
Screenshot of Casimiro en la Casa EncantadaESP Soft released their latest game on Christmas Eve as well. It’s called Casimiro en la Casa Encantada. Casimiro is renowned among his peers for solving puzzles, so they have set him the ultimate challenge – solve all the puzzles within a haunted house in order to escape from it. As Casimiro, you have to find a way to obtain the key in each room of the basement in the house, and then escape from the room, within a time limit. If you escape before the timer runs out, any remaining time will be added to the amount of time you have to escape from the following room. You can retry any room you’ve attempted as many times as you like, but you can only complete the game properly if you escape from all of the rooms in a single session.
Casimiro en la Casa Encantada is available from itch.io, and unlike some of ESP Soft’s recent releases, it’s free – possibly because it’s Christmas – so there’s no excuse for not downloading it and trying it out!
Two games by Alternative Software recovered
Screenshot of Sooty and Sweep 2Screenshot of Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race
The fantastic Games That Weren’t site (GTW) revealed that two games that were developed by Clockwize for Alternative Software in late 1992 – Sooty and Sweep 2 and Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race – have now been made available, after Alternative Software finally granted permission for them to be distributed. The games were advertised and inlays were produced, yet despite both games being complete, neither of them were released due to a dispute between both parties, the details of which have become lost in the mists of time.
Sooty and Sweep 2 sees the two puppets take on new roles; Sooty is now Sherlock Sooty, and Sweep has become Superdog Sweep and has gained the ability to fly. The duo must work together and wander around Creaky Castle to try to capture burglars who are stealing treasure for Wicked Weasel. You can download Sooty and Sweep 2 from Games That Weren’t, although it’s currently only available in cassette format, and you may encounter problems loading it on certain emulators.
In Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race, Thomas has challenged Bertie the bus to a race. You can choose either of these two characters, and depending on who you’ve chosen, you have to negotiate a rail- or road-based obstacle course and reach the finish line within a time limit. Every so often you must remember to stop at a station to refuel. The graphics are much more colourful than the first game, which was a bland Spectrum port. Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race can also be downloaded from Games That Weren’t, but again, it’s currently only available in cassette format and some emulators won’t load the CDT file correctly.
Hill 19
Screenshot of Hill 19
The aforementioned Alternative Software titles weren’t the only Amstrad CPC games that Games That Weren’t managed to recover recently. They also managed to find a prototype of a game called Hill 19, which was being developed for Gremlin Graphics, on some development discs that Lance Abson, the programmer of the CPC version, still had in his possession! According to GTW, Gremlin decided to focus on a similarly themed game with a different design, which became Butcher Hill. However, Hill 19 wasn’t entirely abandoned, and Imagitec Design took over the project. At some point the game was renamed Shell Shock, but it isn’t known how much further the game progressed before it was cancelled for good.
You can read the full story on Games That Weren’t, and download the recovered development discs, which contain an assortment of other assets from Lance. Hill 19 doesn’t have any sound effects or music, but it’s fascinating to see an unfinished game revealed to a wider audience.
Machu Picchu Battle
Screenshot of Machu Picchu Battle
Tony Ruiz Cabezón has released Machu Picchu Battle, which has already generated some controversy on the CPCWiki forum due to the historical background on which the game is based – the conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro in the early 1530s, during which thousands of Incas were slaughtered. The loading screen, which depicts the Inca ruler Atahualpa about to sacrifice a baby, is also in rather dubious taste.
What about the game itself, though? You play the role of Francisco Pizarro, and you must collect 16 coins and give them to an Inca shaman, who will give you the Sacred Leaf in return. This leaf lets you gain access to the Mountain of Sacrifice and stop Atahualpa from carrying out his plan to sacrifice a baby to retain his power. The graphics are fairly simplistic, and there is no sound or music at all. You can download Machu Picchu Battle from itch.io.
Following yesterday’s announcement of the release of Reginald and the She Vampires, I have reviewed Dave Moore’s two other games for the Amstrad CPC:
Screenshot of Reginald and the She Vampires
If you’ve played Mr Weems and the She Vampires, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s an ugly and mediocre game. I certainly think so (I rated it 4 out of 10 on this site), and after ChinnyVision slated it in a YouTube video earlier this year, Dave Moore decided to remake it, and it has now been released as Reginald and the She Vampires.
The background story is that the She Vampires have kidnapped Mr Weems, and his nephew Reginald must rescue him and destroy the Vampire Queen before he too becomes one of the Undead! The level designs are almost exactly the same as those in the original game, but the gameplay is much improved. Movement is much faster, you can’t accidentally shoot keys or bottles of blood, and you can walk over coffins to reach other areas of the screen – although this makes the game too easy, in my opinion. You also have the choice of playing as either Reginald or his female counterpart Regina.
Screenshot of Rollerball 464
RetroGamebloke has released a game called Rollerball 464, which is a conversion of his ZX Spectrum game Rollerball. It’s been developed using Multi-Platform Arcade Game Designer, and you control the cleaning robot Robo_1, which is shaped like a sphere. The aim is simple – clear the screens of cobwebs and avoid contact with enemies and other robots! You can download Rollerball 464 from itch.io.
I have reviewed three games, all of them text adventures:
I’ve chosen to review Zork I because Microsoft (who now own the intellectual property rights to Infocom’s range of text adventures) have officially made the Zork trilogy open source.
Impetus+
Screenshot of Impetus+
Inufuto has released a new version of one of his games, Impetus. The original version was graphically quite austere, but Impetus+ features much more colourful and appealing graphics, although the scrolling is rather jerky. The influence of shoot-’em-ups such as Xevious and Slap Fight is much clearer now!
Impetus+ can be downloaded from Inufuto’s site as a CDT cassette image, or if you’re looking for a disc image, you can download it from CPCRulez. Despite the ‘Plus’ in its name, the new version works on all CPC machines and doesn’t use the extra facilities of the Plus machines.
ChinnyVision – an hour of Amstrad CPC game reviews
If you visit this site regularly, you’ll have seen that many of the reviews link to YouTube videos by ChinnyVision. He may not be as active as he used to be, but he released an excellent hour-long video earlier this month in which he reviews nearly 40 classic Amstrad CPC games. If you’ve got the time to spare, this is well worth watching, and if you’re new to the CPC and unfamiliar with its range of games, this is a great way to help you decide which games you should try out first.
Chinnyvision - An Hour Of Amstrad CPC Game Reviews
Pitfall II
Screenshot of Pitfall II
Iván Ávila, also known as 21bloques, has released another game. Pitfall II is an adaptation of the Sega coin-op game of the same name, which in turn is based on the (perhaps better known) Atari 2600 console game released in 1984. You control Pitfall Harry, and you must dodge enemies, leap and swing across lakes, and explore underground caverns and rivers. You’ll even come across an active volcano spewing rocks which you must avoid! Pitfall II features colourful graphics and a wonderful rendition of the music from the coin-op game, and you can download it from itch.io.
