This is yet another of those games I read about when I was young, but didn’t play until recently. I remember thinking Airborne Ranger looked absolutely fantastic, with an exciting list of missions, supplies to collect, terrain to negotiate and enemies to evade. A veritable wonderland of boyhood adventure from the comfort of a bedroom chair. Today, the graphics look a bit sketchy, the playing area seems tiny and scrolls jerkily, and the sound effects don’t impress. The missions are varied but the gameplay is simplistic; first throw your supplies and yourself from a plane, then trek back to your objective to complete the mission. Most of the tension comes from the fact that the controls are so unresponsive. I can’t help but wonder what I would have thought had I played this in the late 1980s – actually, I probably would have loved it, but times have moved on...
Airwolf
(Amsoft/Elite, 1985)
You’ve got to rescue five hostages held in an underground base somewhere in the Arizona desert, and you have to destroy some defence boxes as well. However, you have to do all of this in a very expensive helicopter – no, I can’t work that one out either. The graphics are nothing special and the only sound effects are the constant drone of your helicopter blades, although a nice rendition of the theme tune of the TV series plays throughout. The game is far too difficult, though; I mean, how on Earth are you supposed to fly a helicopter through such tight confines?
See also: Airwolf 2.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe.
The programmers surely wanted to do something very different from Airwolf. And indeed, they managed to do so, but the result is still far from amazing. This game is a shoot-’em-up (which curiously scrolls from left to right), looking like Salamander or R-Type. But it’s much less fun, as the playing window is very small and the graphics are Spectrum-like. You just have to blast your way through a bunch of aliens, guns and blocks that stand in front of you. Well, that’s an average game, which can be rather enjoyable for a (short) while.
See also: Airwolf.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe.
Akalabeth is the first commercial game by Richard Garriott, a role-playing game originally programmed in 1979 in BASIC for the Apple II. After buying some food and weapons, you start at ground level. You can descend into dungeons, fight monsters or enter shops, but first, it is best to visit Lord British’s castle where he will ask you to kill some kind of monster; you must kill ten monsters to complete the game. All graphics are drawn with lines, and the dungeons are displayed in first-person perspective with no sound effects. The graphics are drawn quickly, except for the global map, which draws quite slowly, so it’s better to draw it on paper. The game comes with instructions, and overall, this is a piece of history you have to play.
Aladdin’s Cave
(Artic Computing, 1985)
A wizard has trapped Aladdin in a network of caves, and he must find his way out again. This is a platform game consisting of 16 screens, and in most of them, there are one or more objects to be collected. If you collect all of the objects in a room, you may be able to gain new powers, allowing you to transform into other creatures, such as a monkey, a bird or a genie – but although it is necessary to use these powers to complete the game, you can only use them in certain screens! This is a rather old game, so the graphics and sound effects are rather basic. However, the music is absolutely awful, although thankfully, it can be turned off, leaving you with a simple but enjoyable platform game.
Take on the role of an Allied League of Cosmic Nations (it’s the name, right?) pilot in an SW464 fighter and take on the alien invaders of the planet Theron. Wait, this sounds familiar... It’s Slap Fight! Originally released for the CPC in 1987, this faithful remake surfaces on the trusty CPC, boasting compatibility with all CPC machines thanks to its use of the X-MEM cartridge. It’s incredibly faithful to the arcade original and the only thing more beautiful than the scrolling would be the music. Of course, you’ll need to be pretty skilful to hear all the tunes. There’s a tricky but fair learning curve to the game. The only fault is that the power-ups have been replaced with icons instead of words (like Nemesis) so it can be easy to choose the wrong power-up in the midst of battle, but other than that, it’s a flawless and worthy remake.
See also: Slap Fight.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
Saberman,
XeNoMoRPH,
XeNoMoRPH (25fps version),
Xyphoe (25fps version).
Alex Higgins’ World Pool
(Amsoft, 1985)
You and a friend can see how you fare at pool with this game – there doesn’t seem to be an option to play against the computer, which is unfortunate – but at least you’ll save money by not playing pool down the pub. You take shots by aiming a cursor and then selecting the force and spin. It’s quite a well implemented version of pool, and the game claims that it conforms to the rules of 8-ball pool, but the music on the title screen is rubbish!
See also: Alex Higgins’ World Snooker.
Alex Higgins’ World Snooker
(Amsoft, 1985)
Like Alex Higgins’ World Pool, you can’t play snooker against the computer, which again is a bit of a shame, and you also take shots by aiming a cursor and selecting the force and spin. You can choose to play either 6-ball, 10-ball or 15-ball snooker if you want a shorter game. I like the score bar at the top of the screen; it’s just like the real thing! However, actually putting the balls in the pockets is difficult and you’re unlikely to score large breaks here – and once again, the music is awful!
See also: Alex Higgins’ World Pool.
Alien
(Amsoft, 1985)
An alien is lurking somewhere within the spaceship Nostromo. The alien has hatched from the body of one of the seven crew members on board, but can the other six crew members kill it in time, before the ship returns to Earth or their oxygen supply runs out? This is a strategy game, and there is more than one way to complete the game. You can kill the alien using the weapons scattered throughout the ship, which is rather tricky; you can try to entice it to enter one of the airlocks and then hurl it into outer space; or you can rescue the ship’s cat, Jones, set the auto-destruct sequence, get at least three crew members into the lifeboat, the Narcissus, and escape. The choice is yours. Thankfully, there’s a short, easy scenario to let you learn the mechanics of the game. It’s one of those games that takes time to learn, but the effort is worth it.
See also: Aliens, Aliens: US Version.
Alien 8
(Ultimate Play the Game, 1985)
A ship is heading towards a distant planet and its inhabitants, the Cryonaughts, have been frozen during the journey. You have to find 24 valves and the cryogenic chambers that they are to be plugged into before the ship reaches its destination. The ship contains lots of rooms, often filled with hazards and obstacles that you have to negotiate, and you might need a valve to climb over some walls. There are also several types of enemy, such as Dalek-like mice and clockwork mice, that you must avoid too! This is an old game, but it has stood the test of time well and is just as good today. The difficulty level might put people off, but perseverance will be rewarded in the end.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Amstrad CPC World.