British Super League
(Cult, 1990)
This is a football management game in which you are the manager of one of 16 teams competing in the British Super League, which consists of a mixture of teams from the English and Scottish leagues. It quickly becomes clear that it’s yet another poor game from Cult. There are no graphics worthy of the name; in the match highlights, the players are represented by asterisks, and big black boxes flash on the screen to show where the ball is being passed to. There are no detailed statistics for each player, so you can’t tell how good they are, and it’s not possible to find out how good players from other teams are, either. It is actually written in machine code, but it gives the impression that it’s written in BASIC, and as a result, it’s best that you avoid it.
Manny Lopez, leader of the Sharks, is going to fight against other gang bosses for the title of King of the Bronx. To help you in this task, you’ll start each stage wearing armour and carrying different kinds of weapons. Bronx has big and colourful graphics, including a great loading screen, a good background story (that is, in the game inlay) and a sense of humour. Maybe you’ve seen some of your opponents before. Nevertheless the game is a bit slow, due to the size of the sprites, and once you manage to combine offensive and defensive moves, it’s a bit too easy.
Bronx Street Cop
(Mastertronic, 1989)
Life in the Bronx district of New York must be tough with all the muggings, robberies and other crimes that occur each day. You’re a new recruit and have to show the bosses that you’re the meanest cop around. The game starts with target practice where you must achieve a certain score; if you do this, you can go on to the streets and shoot criminals – but don’t shoot any grannies or you’ll be disciplined! The graphics and sound are somewhat basic, and for that matter, so is the gameplay; the missions basically consist of more target practice, and the game is a bit too easy.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: ChinnyVision, Xyphoe.
Is there any need to introduce this game? Based upon the movies of the famous kung-fu actor, this early platform game is one of the funniest ever released on our computer. Technically, there is nothing amazing. The graphics are average and the sound effects are sufficient, no more. What makes the gameplay excellent is the design of the levels. Each screen is different and the difficulty of the (many) traps perfectly studied. You must collect golden lanterns and climb nets and ladders. Two opponents will try to stop you; a green sumotori (!) and a ninja. It’s really funny to watch them fry as they walk on the traps you have triggered...
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: ChinnyVision, jgonza, Metr81, Xyphoe, ZEUSDAZ.
The Brush Brothers
(21bloques, 2023)
Carmelo and Gloria are a brother and sister team who like to paint. One day, they find themselves in a strange world, and in order to escape from it, they have to paint the floors of all the levels. This is a simple platform game that can be played by either one or two players, and in two-player mode, there is the additional option of playing either co-operatively (working together to complete each level) or against each other in a ‘versus mode’ (reaching a target amount of floors painted before your opponent). The graphics are colourful, and while the sprites are quite small, they are still recognisable and well animated. The music is quite jolly and fits well with the pace of the game, which can become somewhat hectic. The first few levels are fun, but the method of jumping from platform to platform feels rather odd, and on later levels, it becomes an annoyance that detracts from the enjoyment.
Bubble Bobble
(Firebird, 1987)
This is regarded as an all-time classic, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a simple platform game where Bub (and Bob if another person is playing) kill all the enemies by blowing bubbles at them and then bursting the bubbles. Bonus points can be obtained if you collect all the letters of the word ‘EXTEND’. There are also a range of monsters and 100 tough levels to get through. The graphics look very dated, and while there aren’t many sound effects, they do their job. This is still a fun game to play after all these years.
See also: BB4CPC, Puzzle Bobble, Rainbow Islands.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: jgonza (final encounter), jgonza (main game).
Bubble Dizzy
(Code Masters, 1991)
Dizzy has decided to go diving and collect some pearls from the bottom of the sea. On each level, you start at the bottom of a well and try to reach the surface again before your oxygen runs out by using bubbles, as well as collecting as many pearls as you can. Of course, there are also creatures to watch out for, which decrease your oxygen. This is one of the better Dizzy arcade games but it is much too easy; you’ll probably be able to complete it on your second or third go! Even so, the graphics are pretty good (although there are some awful colour schemes in use) and it’s OK to play it occasionally.
See also: Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, Dizzy, Dizzy Down the Rapids, Dizzy Panic, Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk, Fantasy World Dizzy, Fast Food, Kwik Snax, Magicland Dizzy, Spellbound Dizzy, Treasure Island Dizzy.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by: ChinnyVision.
Bubble Ghost
(Ere Informatique, 1988)
Here’s a cute and original puzzle game in which a ghost must blow a bubble from one side of a room to the other, ensuring that the bubble does not come into contact with anything. Naturally, other hazards have to be negotiated; there are candles that have to be blown out, and fans that have to be turned off. Naturally, the rooms become trickier and the passages become narrower as you progress. While there’s hardly any sound, the graphics aren’t bad, and it’s really a rather addictive game. It’s really amusing to see the ghost’s anger and frustration when the bubble bursts – something that you will also feel after playing this game for a while!
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: Amstrad CPC World, Novabug.
Bubbler
(Ultimate Play the Game, 1987)
Vadras Prison consists of five 3D worlds full of platforms, ramps and ledges. Each stage also contains several ‘bubblers’ which have to be corked to stop them from releasing bubbles, and you must cork all of them to go to the next stage. In a further twist, the thing you control is also a bubble, and it’s very awkward to control; you need to move the direction gauge and then make the bubble move or jump in that direction. This takes a lot of getting used to, and you’ll find the rest of the game rather difficult. It’s too easy to fall off, and dodging the bullets fired by some of the enemy creatures is entirely down to luck.
Buccaneers
(Matranet, 2020)
You are a buccaneer whose crew has been captured by pirates, and you must liberate your comrades who are being held on two Caribbean islands. This is a beat-’em-up based on an obscure Spanish coin-op game that was actually a modified (or should that be pirated?) version of Vigilante. There are eight levels – four for each island – and it contains all the ingredients of a typical beat-’em-up. It’s very well presented indeed, with beautiful graphics, parallax scrolling, and several wonderful tunes that play throughout the game. However, the controls can be unresponsive when there’s a lot of action on the screen, which often proves frustrating, and most players will probably find the end-of-level bosses to be too difficult to defeat, and they may only get to see fewer than half of the levels of what is an otherwise fine game.