I have also replaced my review of Epimetheus with one for the slightly enhanced version, Epimetheus+, that was released a couple of months after the 2019 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest.
One thing I forgot to state in yesterday’s update was that Mickael Lucas asked me to mention his site BZH Games, which hosts many games that you can play in your browser – including dozens of Amstrad CPC games. The games are played via the CPCBox JavaScript CPC emulator, albeit without sound, and you can submit screenshots to the site and have your name added to high score tables for your favourite games. Anyone fancy trying to beat 270,100 on Chuckie Egg?
It’s still difficult for me to comprehend that a new decade has begun! Since my last update, a lot of new games have been announced or released.
Screenshot of Toki
Screenshot of Hexavirus v0
Screenshot of The Curse of Rabenstein
Title screen of Unhallowed
Toki
A French development team called GGP are working on a conversion of the arcade game Toki – a platform game in which you control an ape and kill enemies by spitting at them. DJL Software were working on a conversion to the GX4000 console and Plus machines, but in the end, it proved to be too ambitious and development was abandoned (although the game was released for the Commodore 64).
GGP’s version is being developed for the old CPC range, although it will require 128KB of memory. It has very colourful graphics and great music. You can download a beta version of Toki from GGP’s site.
Hexavirus v0
Kevin Thacker released a puzzle game called Hexavirus v0 at the end of December 2019. The game is played on a board made of coloured hexagons, and you have to ‘infect’ the entire board by changing all the hexagons to the same colour in as few turns as possible. Kevin started development of the game in 2011, but decided to release this version as he couldn’t find a way to make the gameplay more interesting and varied. You can find more information and download Hexavirus v0 from Kevin’s site. It’s still a reasonably entertaining way to spend a few minutes, but as Kevin himself acknowledges, it has rather limited replay value.
The Curse of Rabenstein
Stefan Vogt is working on two text adventures at the moment – Hibernated 2 (which has unfortunately been delayed for a while), and The Curse of Rabenstein, which should be ready for release fairly soon. Stefan has shared somescreenshots of the Amstrad CPC version on his Twitter feed, and the artwork (courtesy of Dylan Barry) is probably the best I’ve ever seen in any CPC text adventure!
Unhallowed
Stefan has also helped to convert Blerkotron’s acclaimed text adventure Unhallowed from the ZX Spectrum to the Amstrad CPC, thanks to DAAD and a suite of conversion tools. Unhallowed is a Halloween-themed adventure that takes place in your own house, after you’ve arrived back from a tiring day at work – but there is something evil lurking in your home... You can download Unhallowed from Blerkotron’s site.
The Sword of Ianna
Retroworks announced at the end of December 2019 that they are converting their ZX Spectrum and MSX2 game The Sword of Ianna to the Amstrad CPC. It’s an epic hack-and-slash platform game in which you play a barbarian called Jarkum. Evil has returned to your land, and you must travel to the fortress of Kashgar and reclaim the Sword of Ianna – the only weapon that will defeat the evil. There is a preview video available on YouTube (which you can also watch below), and RetroManiac magazine has also published an article with several screenshots. Unusually for a ‘modern’ CPC game, the in-game graphics are drawn in four-colour MODE 1 rather than the more commonly used MODE 0, which offers sixteen colours.
Preview of The Sword of Ianna on YouTube
Galactic Tomb
Cover of Galactic Tomb
OK, Galactic Tomb isn’t a new game (it was released in 2018 and I reviewed it and gave it 9 out of 10), but Bitmap Soft is releasing a physical cassette edition of this fantastic game. You can now order a copy for £10.00 excluding shipping, and copies should be sent to customers in the first week of February 2020.
New reviews
I have reviewed four games, including the top three entrants in the recent 2019 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest:
I’ve added links to videos on Saberman’s YouTube channel on my site. Although his avatar suggests that he focuses on ZX Spectrum games, his channel features videos of ‘modern’ games for various 8-bit systems, including the Amstrad CPC, of course!
#CPCRetroDev 2019
The 2019 edition of the annual #CPCRetroDev game development competition saw 35 entries. There were noticeably fewer submissions from what I call ‘professional’ development teams such as 4MHz, Retrobytes Productions and CPC-POWER, which I personally thought was a bit disappointing, but this is to the benefit of the students of the University of Alicante, who had a much better chance of winning prizes for their efforts. Here are the winners:
5th best game: Hey Sailor! (Marine Developers) – €70 prize
UA category (for games developed by students of the University of Alicante)
Best UA student game: Bike Masters (S.I.L.O. Industries) – €100 prize
2nd best UA student game: Super Tongue Dino (Peanut Games) – €50 prize
Special mentions
Best soundtrack (awarded by Gominolas): Ludic Break the Loop – €150
Most entertaining game (awarded by Carlos Abril): Miss Input – €150
Best technical development and AI (awarded by Pablo Ariza): Epimeteo – €150
Best arcade game (awarded by Arcade Vintage): Epimeteo – €150
Best artificial intelligence and technical quality (awarded by RiDiVi and Cátedra Estratégica): MANPAC – €150
Best “Opera Prima” (awarded by Blast Annual): Bike Masters – €50
Congratulations to all the winners!
SonicGX
BG Games set a new standard for extracting the maximum potential from the Amstrad CPC’s hardware with last month’s release of Pinball Dreams, and now another group called Condense is converting Sonic the Hedgehog to the GX4000 and Plus machines! A preview of the game, which is currently titled SonicGX, was demonstrated at the Alchimie 13 event in France. It looks utterly stunning and amazingly similar to the Sega Master System and Game Gear versions, and screenshots are available on the CPCWiki forum. However, don’t expect to see a final version any time soon; you’ll have to wait until the end of 2020 before it’s released.
You can watch a preview on YouTube below, and if you’re not convinced that it’s running on real hardware, NoRecess has published another YouTube video that shows SonicGX being played on a real Plus machine!
Preview of SonicGX on YouTube
Hibernated 2
Box artwork of Hibernated 2
Stefan Vogt has revealed the box artwork for his forthcoming text adventure Hibernated 2 in a recent tweet. Hibernated 2 is a two-part sequel to the highly acclaimed Hibernated 1: This Place Is Death, which was reviewed on this site and received a rating of 8 out of 10. poly.play will be handling the physical release of the game, which is planned for release before the end of the year. If it’s anything like the first game, it’ll be well worth the wait.
Screenshot of Cheman
Spanish developer The Mojon Twins have released a new platform game for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and NES called Cheman. A rock concert is due to be held tonight, but another group has organised a batukada festival that is being held at the same time (batukada is a type of samba music). Your objectives are to collect medallions and get rid of the batukada fans by jumping on them. The game is rather short – there are only two levels – but it features colourful MODE 0 graphics and music and is fun to play. You can download Cheman from The Mojon Twins’ site.
Title screen of The Curse of Rabenstein
Stefan Vogt has tweeted that he is developing a Halloween-themed text adventure called The Curse of Rabenstein, which should be ready for release by the end of October on the Adventuron platform, with other platforms (including the Amstrad CPC) following later. The beautiful title screen (see the image on the right) has been drawn by Railslave.
Meanwhile, another of Stefan’s text adventures, Hibernated 2, should be released by the end of the year, and he has also released Eight Feet Under as a free download. This is a bonus adventure that was previously only available to people who had purchased physical copies of Hibernated 1: This Place Is Death, and it reveals some of the events that aren’t explained in that game.
Screenshot of Pinball Dreams
I’ve been on holiday for two weeks without any Internet access, so no doubt all of you who are CPC fans will be aware of one of the biggest new releases that the Amstrad CPC has seen in years. Yes, BG Games has finally released the full version of Pinball Dreams!
A playable preview of Pinball Dreams was released back in October 2016, and in February 2019, BG Games announced that the game was finished and they were in negotiations with Rebellion, who hold the intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, while those negotiations ultimately didn’t conclude successfully (which BG Games have documented in a Twitter thread), BG Games have decided to release the game anyway, on the understanding that it is strictly an unofficial conversion of the Amiga classic, it has not been formally endorsed by Rebellion, and it is not to be offered for sale.
I have no hesitation in stating that Pinball Dreams is by far the best pinball game to be released for the CPC, and it’s arguably one of the best games to be released for the CPC, full stop. BG Games can be thoroughly proud of themselves for this conversion. If you haven’t tried it already, you can download it from pouët.net.
ESP Soft are planning to celebrate their 15th anniversary with the release of a compilation called Acción y Aventura, which will include three of their games – one text adventure and two platform games:
The compilation will initially be available only at the RUN”AUA event in Madrid on Saturday 19th October 2019. I don’t know if they will release additional copies after the event.
I have spent the Easter holidays reviewing six games, most of which were released fairly recently:
