Moto Driver
(Loriciels, 1985)
You’re cruising around town on a motorbike and the police are pursuing you. This is actually a Pac-Man-style game in which you must wander around the town collecting dots and pearls while avoiding enemies, and of course, police officers who attempt to close in on you and your motorbike on each screen. It’s a really simple game with colourful but basic graphics, and if you’re playing it on anything other than a CPC464, there is only silence during the game. That said, it’s still decent enough to play, and you can configure the speed of the enemies, police officers and your motorbike to adjust the difficulty, but I’m surprised that Loriciels published it when you compare it with many of their other CPC releases from around the same time.
Moto X Simulator
(Code Masters, 1989)
Fancy testing your skills on an off-road scramble bike? Then try this. On each level there’s an obstacle course where you jump over logs, rocks and chasms, and a time trial section where you have to complete the course within a time limit. The graphics are all right, although the colours used are horrible, and the music is OK too. The sound effects are limited to the humming of your engine, and in fact, it looks like you’re doing about 10mph on the obstacle courses! It is let down by the game not being at all easy to get into – just getting your bike over the first obstacle can be a feat in itself.
Motor Massacre
(Gremlin Graphics, 1988)
Dr A. Noid has turned the Earth’s inhabitants into zombies by feeding them with the addictive food substitute Slu. A reward has been offered to stop him, so you decide to stop him. You must drive around three cities in your All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and explore buildings to find food, ammunition, extras for your ATV, and ultimately, a pass to enter the arena, where you participate in an all-out demolition derby and knock cars out of the arena. Survive this, and you can go to the next city. The graphics aren’t up to much, and for some reason, there are no sound effects on 64K machines (although there is a tune). There’s also quite a contrast in the difficulty; the city sections are easy, but the arena is quite tough, and making a single mistake in the arena can often mean the end of the game.
Motorbike Madness
(Mastertronic, 1988)
This game’s all about time trials, as you negotiate your dirt bike through an obstacle course within four minutes. Among the obstacles to be cleared are ramps, ladders, planks, rough ground, steep hills, and the odd Volkswagen Beetle as well, and there are seven courses. However, getting off the first course is impossible – your bike is difficult to control, and some of the obstacles require a ridiculous degree of precision. The isometric graphics are nice, and there’s a picture of your bike falling apart as you keep crashing, but the game is so difficult that it’s not worth bothering with.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Motos
(Mastertronic, 1987)
This is a game where you must bounce all the enemies off the platforms on each level, but they’ll also try to bounce you off! On later levels, you can collect power parts and jump parts to make things a little easier, and if your time gets short, holes will start appearing in the platform as you are shot at! The graphics are fairly colourful but still garish, and there’s a cool tune to go along with it. The range of enemies is also quite satisfactory, and all in all, it’s quite a lot of fun to play.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Amstrad CPC World.
Mountain Bike 500
(Code Masters, 1991)
Take to the mountainous terrain as you try to complete several gruelling courses within the time limit. Your mountain bike has all the latest technology, including an ultra-tough frame – and you’ll need it, as mastering the courses (and the controls) takes some time. The graphics are extremely detailed, although they’re in Spectrum-like monochrome, and the tune is irritating. It’s not a bad game by any means, but you do need a lot of perseverance if you’re going to see what the other courses are like.
Mountain Bike Racer does what it says on the tin... kind of. In this side-scroller, you compete against other bike riders along various kinds of terrain. Certain types of terrain affect your bike’s performance, but strangely leave the other racers unaffected. Certain bystanders can help improve your performance if you stop to meet them, while others hinder you. The graphics are detailed, but the use of colour could have been better, and the game plays in silence.
Mountie Mick’s Deathride
(Reaktör, 1987)
The McCluskey gang have ambushed the Trans-Canadian Express train. Only you, Mountie Mick, armed with a pistol, can stop the gang from escaping with their loot. You start at the back of the train and must work your way to the front by shooting gang members, climbing on to the roofs of the carriages, and leaping over the gaps between the carriages. When you reach the front, you must waggle the joystick or hit the up and down keys to reach the next train. First impressions of this game are favourable, with great graphics, a scenic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, and good sound effects. However, it doesn’t last. It’s far too easy to die, and the collision detection is very unforgiving indeed.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe.
In this game you play a private investigator who has been paid to find and recover an audio tape kept somewhere inside Bug Maloy’s headquarters. But first you’ll have to find a girl that will give you some valuable clues. However, beware of her twin sister, who’s a member of the mob. Movie is a highly playable game, which combines Filmation-style isometric graphics with a powerful and easy to use icon-based contol system. You can perform several actions, even talk to other characters, in a way that drives the gameplay quite close to graphic adventures (as close as a CPC game could be, that is). Movie is only let down by a lack of sound effects and the Spectrum-like graphics, but it’s still a great game.
Moving Target
(Players, 1989)
An operation to destroy an underground lair in Colombia belonging to a drugs baron went wrong when your team was gunned down by his henchmen. Four bombs were smuggled in and were supposed to be connected to generators to activate them, but they never managed to do this. You are the only surviving member of the team and must activate the four bombs yourself. You are faced with an overwhelming amount of gunfire directed at you by the baron’s many henchmen and gun turrets, and mines and barbed wire also deplete your strength. The lair is very large indeed, and when you combine this with the number of enemies, it makes the game very difficult indeed. The graphics are pretty good, and the music is OK as well, but getting anywhere is really tricky.