
Cylu
(Firebird, 1985)
Cylu the Otsan has been chosen as a future leader, but must prove his worthiness by collecting 24 objects hidden in a maze on the planet Vole. These have to deposited at the computer where you started the game. Other objects in the maze include fuel canisters, CPUs to disable forcefields, and teleport keys (which bear the names of 1980s pop stars and groups!). The graphics are extremely garish with some really hideous colour schemes, and the sound effects – well! The game itself is tricky, with awkward controls, a fuel supply that decreases too fast, and an ability to see only a very tiny part of the maze at a time.

Cyrus II Chess
(Amsoft, 1985)
Of the many chess games on the CPC, this definitely gets my award for the best-looking one – that blue colour scheme is so nice, and the pieces look really good as well. Mind you, it still makes for a tough opponent, although this is because I’m no good at chess and never have been. There are twelve difficulty levels, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference to the computer’s moves. Nonetheless, the game features a useful array of options to set up the board and save, load and print out games, and if you don’t like the 3D view, you can always change to a 2D view (with horrible colours thrown in).
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
jgonza.