Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.
You’re locked in a strange house, and you have only six hours to find the way out. Next time, think twice before accepting an invitation... There are several keys and weapons hidden in the rooms, but searching costs a lot of time. To make it harder still, you’ve got company – there are rats, ghosts, dogs and other creatures. The graphics are cute, but there is no sound. Well, this game isn’t really exciting; you can’t progress because objects are placed randomly when you begin a new game. It’s a question of luck, and of keeping your self control...
Iron Lord
(Ubi Soft, 1990)
- Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.
Despite the fact that it was reviewed in British CPC magazines, this game was ultimately never released in the UK for the CPC, and shame on Ubi Soft for not doing so, because this is one of the most amazing CPC games ever! As the heir to the throne of your father’s kingdom, you have returned from the crusades to find that your evil uncle Zolfkar has overthrown him and brought terror to the land. It is your task to gain respect among the people by performing various tasks, and to gather an army to fight Zolfkar. When you have defeated Zolfkar, you are then taken to an arcade section where you explore dungeons and fight monsters. This game takes up two whole discs – it’s that big – and everything about it is beyond words. You’ll have to be able to understand French to play it, though...
Iron Sphere
(Cronosoft, 2006)
Professor Roland Ironsphere was working in his secret laboratory one stormy night when a bolt of lightning struck the laboratory and transported him into one of his own experiments. He is now trapped in an iron sphere and must traverse 100 hazardous screens collecting diamonds. At least one diamond must be collected from each screen in order to win, but if you don’t collect all of the diamonds on a screen, they will turn into bombs the next time you visit. Your sphere’s power is also limited and will need to be recharged regularly, so you must try to learn where recharging points are located. The concept is extremely simple, but this is a nice little game which is fairly addictive as well and has that “one more go” factor.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
XeNoMoRPH.
Iron Trackers sees you riding a quad bike in a post-apocalyptic future. The presentation is up to the usual high standards of other games by Microïds. There is a nice world map and even the ability to customise your character. The action is presented in split screen. Graphically the game is a mixed bag. It uses Mode 0 with some nice backgrounds. Your rider and quad bike look good and so do some of the hazards. The scrolling isn’t great, though. The sound effects are about what you would expect. The big problem is the handling. It’s all over the place. You spend your time wrestling for control and that hurts the gameplay.
IsaacMaRaMa
(TheQproyect, 2026)
Isaac Peral was a Spanish engineer who designed the first electrically powered submarine, the Peral, which was launched in 1888. In this arcade adventure, you have to build the submarine and find the necessary components. Lots of objects are scattered around, although some of them can’t be picked up unless you find the right object to use with it – but you can only carry two objects at a time, so there’s a lot of going back and forth between rooms. You’ll also have to dodge spiders, insects and other creatures that will drain your energy. You may have guessed from the game’s title that it’s inspired by Pyjamarama – but the presentation is much better thanks to the beautiful graphics, and there are some pleasant tunes that play throughout. It’s a decent game and the puzzles aren’t too taxing to solve.
See also: PERAL.
Ishido is a puzzle game and its title means “The Way of Stones”. It is a tile-matching game where you need to match colours and symbols in order to score points. The graphics are well drawn; there is a satisfying degree of detail and the colours used produce nice visuals. The sound is good too. The in-game tune, in conjunction with the graphics, creates a Far East atmosphere. The background is dominated by dragons and Buddhist symbols. The gameplay is pleasant and rather simple, but the player should be careful not to make mistakes because they cannot be easily corrected. Thus, the challenge level is quite high. The grab factor depends on whether you decide to progress, or just resign from the start. If the answer is the former, then Ishido will grant the player many pleasant and challenging moments.
ISS
(Electric Dreams, 1989)
Colonel-in-Chief Matt Ridley was bored with his desk job, and decided to enter the Sangfalmadore Run – a training arena and maze that has now become unstable. However, he has become totally lost, so you have been sent to rescue him in your Incredible Shrinking Sphere. The arena consists of four levels, which in turn consist of four plates stacked on top of each other. Each plate is made up of tiles, some of which affect your sphere in different ways, making it smaller or larger, or lighter or heavier. You can also make the sphere invulnerable for a long time, allowing you to save ammunition. There is a strong puzzle element to this game, which I like, and the isometric graphics are good. However, the action is a bit slow, and it is really annoying having to go back to the very start of the level if you lose a life.
It’s a Knockout is based on the 1980s TV show of the same game. Six European countries compete in six mini-games where you have to score as many points as possible. The games on offer are mostly simple affairs with hardly any grab factor. The joystick controls are a little sluggish at times, making some of the games very tricky indeed. The visuals include poor presentation and crude-looking graphics, with only a few sound effects to liven things up. Once you complete the competition you’ll look for something better to play instead.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Italian Super Car
(Code Masters, 1990)
Like one of Code Masters’ earlier games, Super Stunt Man, you have been hired by a film company to drive a fast Italian sports car for some action-packed thrills in a new film. This time there are five scenes, including another jump across the Grand Canyon. As before, cars and helicopters also take part in the film to impede your progress and make life difficult for you, as well as shooting at you. Many scenes also contain mine sites, so you must be careful where you drive. The graphics have been improved considerably and the music on the menu is also good, but the gameplay has worsened; it’s simply too difficult. There are too many obstacles and the time limit is too small.
See also: Super Stunt Man.
Italy 1990
(US Gold, 1990)
Recreate the 1990 World Cup in this fantastic football game. Choose your favourite team out of the 24 available and attempt to reach the World Cup final. It’s obvious that great care has been taken with this game; it’s fast, the music is great, and the graphics are wonderful, particularly the players themselves, who even wear the right colour of kit for their country – you don’t find that in many football games! The only problems are that it’s too easy to win against the computer, and when you do win the final, there’s a bug which tells you that the losing team won the World Cup (which was corrected in a later release – Italy 1990 Winners Edition). It’s still great fun, though.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
jgonza,
Xyphoe.