Screenshot of Munch-It

Munch-It

(Tynesoft, 1985)

One of the reasons why Pac-Man is so enjoyable is the need for quick reflexes as the ghosts whizz around the maze. Unfortunately the speed is taken out of this game, so that you’re left with a slow and boring version of Pac-Man that’s no fun at all. The backgrounds change with each level, which is something of note, but the graphics and sound effects are nothing special, and when you lose one of your three lives, you have to start the entire maze again, which is extremely annoying by the time you reach the third level.

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Screenshot of Mundial de Fútbol

Mundial de Fútbol

(Opera Sport, 1990)

This is a Spanish football game that was released to coincide with the 1990 World Cup. The graphics and sound effects are both very good, and passing and shooting are really easy, thanks to some generous collision detection. Your opponents also seem to collect a lot of yellow and red cards as well, for some reason! However, there are some complaints. Scoring goals is very difficult; the goalkeeper can save even when the ball is nowhere near him! You also can’t view the group tables, and in one match, I encountered a bug which meant that I had to restart the game. Despite these problems, the game is still fairly good. There’s also a brilliant intro where you can watch the opening ceremony with the national anthems of all the teams being played!

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Screenshot of The Munsters

The Munsters

(Again Again, 1989)

At 1313 Mockingbird Lane live the Munster family, and Marilyn has been kidnapped. You start the game controlling Lily and have to look for other family members before rescuing Marilyn. You’ll need to spend some time shooting ghouls in order to build up your spell power, which is essential for killing the more powerful ghosts and monsters. Furthermore, some ghouls can’t be killed unless you have picked up the correct object. A great adaptation of the theme tune to this well known TV series plays constantly, and the graphics are reasonably good as well, but the game is so hard that you’ll never get anywhere! You only have one life, and your energy can be totally depleted instantly upon contact with many of the ghouls. It’s probably one of the most difficult games I’ve ever come across.

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Screenshot of Murder Off Miami

Murder Off Miami

(CRL, 1987)

Detective Officer Kettering has been sent to investigate the death of the wealthy British financier Bolitho Blane on a yacht that was offshore near Miami, which was owned by his rival Carlton Rocksavage. The initial evidence points towards it being suicide – but is that really the case? Well, the game isn’t called Murder Off Miami for no reason! This is a text adventure based on a very innovative book of the same name that was originally released in 1936 that included photos and physical objects for you to inspect. You have to ask for statements and alibis from the crew and guests who are on board and search for clues in an attempt to solve the case. It isn’t really played in the same manner as a traditional text adventure once you arrive on the yacht, but as a murder mystery it works rather well.

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Screenshot of Mutan Zone

Mutan Zone

(Opera Soft, 1988)

Reviewed by Javier Sáez

Mutan Zone has everything you’d expect to find in a good game concercing graphics, sound and gameplay. Unfortunately, all these features become spoiled by a frustrating level of difficulty. The game is divided in two different parts that are loaded separately. On the first one you take a perilous walk through the mutant zone, while on the second one you ride a sort of flying bike. You start the game with a ridiculous amount of lives. Nevertheless, you’ll find a mini-game on each part that allows you to gather more lives, but then again, these mini-games are too hard and rather than increase the lives counter, you’ll lose lives even before playing the game itself.

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Screenshot of Mutant Fortress

Mutant Fortress

(Players, 1989)

Reviewed by John Beckett

Surely a contender for the manliest game ever, the basic storyline for this game is nicely summed up in its tag line; “Muties have stolen his truck... and now he’s well hacked off!” And you play said trucker as he walks and blasts his way through several very difficult mutant-filled levels, before reaching the Mutant Fortress and retrieving his beloved 18-wheeler. How manly can you get! Anyway, the graphics are good and detailed, though suffering from a lack of colour, and the sound is decent; it’s just that – like so many games of this type – it’s far too hard. This is a shame, because it’s a fun game with lots of different enemies to kill and weapons to find. Sadly, the game goes beyond challenging into frustrating.

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Screenshot of Mutant Monty

Mutant Monty

(Amsoft/Artic Computing, 1984)

Can Monty work his way through 40 levels in order to rescue the princess, while collecting all the gold on each level to open the door that leads to the next one? It’s a big challenge. The levels are filled with monsters which you must avoid touching, or you’ll lose one of your five lives. It’s a very old game and it shows. The graphics are rather primitive, and so is the music, which plays the same 20-second tune over and over again – although the tune isn’t actually that annoying. No doubt there is a lot of nostalgia in this game for some people, but since I never owned it when it was released back in the CPC’s earliest days, I have no strong feelings for it.

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Screenshot of Mutants

Mutants

(Ocean, 1987)

The Survivor Zero Corporation has developed a range of biological weapons known as Macro-Genetic Mutoids, or mutants, and you have been chosen to enter the sector where they are held and destroy them. Each mutant is contained within one of fifteen zones located in outer space. You must enter each of the zones in your spaceship and retrieve a component of a self-destruct mechanism which must then be assembled in the control zone. The mutants themselves are little more than pretty, psychedelic, swirling patterns, which are fairly interesting to watch. However, the controls can be unresponsive, and some of the mutants are so deadly and so difficult to avoid that it seems practically impossible to complete all fifteen zones.

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Screenshot of Myrddin Flight Simulation

Myrddin Flight Simulation

(Myrddin Software, 1985)

This was one of the first 3D flight simulators to be released for the Amstrad CPC, so it’s rather basic as a result, with everything being drawn on the screen in wireframe 3D – and very slowly indeed, with a lot of flickering. Compared with later flight simulators, it is rather lacking in features, although this means that it is relatively easy to start the engines and take off – but landing the plane will take a little practice! Flying around the landscape, searching for the various objects marked on the map, is fun at first, but there is no objective or series of missions to complete, so exploring the landscape is all that you can do. It may have been good in its day, but much better simulations have been released for the CPC since then.

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Screenshot of Le Mystère de Kikekankoi

Le Mystère de Kikekankoi

(Loriciels, 1985)

Reviewed by Guillaume Chalard

  • Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.

Another text/graphics adventure from Loriciels. You find a message in a bottle written by a young woman who is being held by a mad scientist, and you decide to go and help her! Your adventure starts in a cave, and you must find the appropriate objects in order to progress. You must think quickly because your energy decreases every second and as soon as it reaches 25%, you’re dead! Every wrong step means death too, and it’s really trial and error, because there are a lot of traps, holes, etc. A good map will prove useful to survive more than 5 minutes... The graphics are cute, but it isn’t enough to save the game from mediocrity.

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