Chopper Squad
(Interceptor Software, 1985)
This is a simple game in which you control a helicopter and build an aeroplane by collecting the necessary parts for it. The parts appear one at a time on the screen, the next part appearing after you have collected the current part and moved it to the bottom right of the screen. To make life more difficult, there are four aliens which float around the screen; if you touch any of them, you lose a life. At first it’s a rather enjoyable game to play, even though the graphics are rather basic and a bit flickery. Unfortunately, this enjoyment doesn’t last; by the third level, things become much more difficult, and there’s very little variety between levels, anyway.
La Chose de Grotemburg
(Ubi Soft, 1987)
Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.
The village of Sadiphinrol has being terrorised by – well, something. Your partner’s blood-covered body is lying in the kitchen, and you want revenge, but you learn that many other villagers have also been massacred. This French text adventure is rather good, although there are few characters to meet (which is perhaps not surprising!), and your ability to interact with them is very limited. The pictures that accompany each of the many locations are very well drawn indeed and really add atmosphere to the game, and the excellent music on the loading screen is also worth mentioning. The game isn’t too difficult, either; just make sure you search locations thoroughly in order to reveal hidden objects. This is definitely one of the better French adventures I’ve seen.
The great and wise Chen Heung wrote the original manuscript that teaches a warrior the hidden arts of Choy Lee Fut. A great demon has made its way out of the deepest chambers of hell and stolen the manuscript. As an apprentice in these fine arts, you must first train in using your fists, and then weapons. You are also influenced by one of five animals that determines the scope and skill of your attack. This is a beat-’em-up with a difference; you train first and then move on once your master is pleased. The visuals are detailed, colourful and well animated, with sparse in-game effects.
Chronos
(Mastertronic, 1987)
This is a horizontally scrolling shoot’-em-up located on the planet of Chronos. The aim of the game is standard; shoot the enemies approaching you and avoid crashing your spaceship into the landscape. There is a range of enemies on each level and some of them aren’t easy to avoid, but the game itself is rather slow and boring, and the monochrome graphics only serve to add to this. The sound effects are nothing special either.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Chubby Gristle
(Grandslam, 1988)
The team behind this mediocre platform game based it around a traffic warden who made their lives a misery – really! Playing it made me miserable as well. You control Chubby Gristle, the fat traffic warden, and you must collect as much food as you can before dinner time. The main reason why I don’t like this game is that it totally lacks any semblance of originality; it’s just another collect-the-objects platform game and has no merit at all. Neither the graphics nor the music are anything special, and it’s too difficult, as well as being dull.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Chuck Yeager was arguably the world’s most famous test pilot and the first person to break the sound barrier. Although he had combat experience, this particular game celebrates the joy of flight. The majority of flight simulations focus on one or a very small number of aircraft. Here we have a relatively large selection to choose from – propeller-driven to jet engine, civilian planes to experimental aircraft. The variety is also seen in the mode selection which includes flight instruction, formation flying, racing, and aptly, test flights. It’s also worth mentioning the many camera views that can be selected. As this is a flight simulation, the learning curve is pretty steep, but is alleviated by the good controls. Graphically it’s colourful with well drawn instruments but has a low frame rate. Still a joy to take to the sky.
Chuckie Egg
(A’n’F, 1985)
This is one of the all-time classics on the 8-bit machines; if you’ve never played this game, you don’t know what you’re missing! You basically have to collect all the eggs on each level within the generous time limit, and also avoid the blue flamingo-like birds – they are flamingoes, aren’t they? The idea is rather simple, and the graphics may not be state of the art, but remember the saying, “graphics do not make a game”? This is certainly true for this game; it’s amazingly addictive and fun to play.
See also: Chuckie Egg 2.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
Amstrad CPC World,
GameHammer Classic Gaming,
Novabug,
Xyphoe,
ZEUSDAZ.
Unlike the first episode, this game looks and plays much more like Jet Set Willy. There are many objects to collect and to use to open doors and solve puzzles. The rooms are more open than in the initial game. The game area is huge, with many ladders and stairs to climb. Visually, unfortunately, there hasn’t been much change. Chuckie is really tiny and his world is nearly colourless. The gameplay is rather good but it’s difficult to avoid the numerous traps and animals that patrol the rooms. You must be pixel-perfect to have a chance to see more than three or four screens.
See also: Chuckie Egg.
El Cid
(Dro Soft/Mastertronic, 1987)
Rodrigo Díaz, a gallant knight also known as El Cid, is searching for a scroll that contains a spell with the power to unleash Satan’s hordes. You control Rodrigo, and you must find the scroll and give it to two men of pure heart who can neutralise the spell. However, you must find your imprisoned wife Doña first, and then you must find three other objects – a lamp, a bag of gold, and a key. There are lots of enemies to battle, which will reduce your energy and strength. Your energy can be replenished easily, but you can’t replenish your strength until you find Doña – and as there are so many enemies to fight and she is a long way from your starting position, reaching her is very difficult. The graphics are lacking in colour and the sound effects are poor, and the game lacks variety.
Roll up, roll up! The circus is in town and you’re the main attraction! If you can steel yourself to enter the looming night-time big top on the intro screen, you’ll find four events await: tiger training, trapeze, tightrope, and trick horse riding. The events are divided into three or four tricky mini-events, but thankfully you can quickly restart each one so practising is unhindered. Once you have a grip on them, you can enter the international circus competition, or compete against a friend. I enjoyed most of the events, especially the trapeze, although the tiger training was unconvincing. The graphics and animation are respectable, and there’s a medley of circus tunes. Unfortunately, four events is not really enough and the gameplay lacks variety. With a couple of extra events (maybe human cannonball or knife throwing?) this could have been much better.