As the World Cup begins tomorrow, I have reviewed two World Cup-themed management games:
New footage of Vespertino released
Back in 2019, Batman Group uploaded a teaser of their racing game Vespertino to YouTube. It was so impressive that some people (including me) struggled to believe – or indeed, denied – that they were witnessing an Amstrad CPC game, and the footage was fake.
Well, Batman Group has released some more footage of Vespertino being developed and the code being assembled in WinAPE, in response to recent claims that the project is a hoax. The video shows the car selection menu with the 3D rendered rotating cars, and a car driving slowly along the race track. It’s enough to convince me that, yes, Vespertino is real and the original footage wasn’t faked. There’s still no indication of when it will be released, but Batman Group has tweeted that they have a surprise for the CPC community before the end of the year and to “stay tuned”.
The new raw footage can be viewed at files.fm, and Xyphoe has also uploaded a video with his thoughts on the new footage, which you can watch below.
#CPCRetroDev 2022 results
The results of the #CPCRetroDev 2022 contest were announced in an awards ceremony that was streamed last Friday, which you can watch on YouTube. There seemed to be more of a competition this year, with Penguin Attack, Castaway, Dire Dare and Druid & Droid all battling it out and exchanging positions throughout the ceremony. For a long time it looked like Penguin Attack was going to be the winner, but right at the end, Castaway sneaked ahead to claim first prize!
Here are the results and prizes:
PRO category
- Best game: Castaway (The T Team) – €400 prize
- 2nd best game: Penguin Attack (Pat Morita Team) – €300 prize
- 3rd best game: Dire Dare (CNGSoft) – €200 prize
- 4th best game: Druid & Droid (Leosoft) – €100 prize
- 5th best game: Deep, Deeper, Deepest (Carlos Pérezgrin) – €50 prize
UA category (for games developed by students of the University of Alicante)
- Best UA student game: Half Rest (panetonent) – €200 prize
- 2nd best UA student game: Abyssal (Cabbage Corp.) – €100 prize
- 3rd best UA student game: Farming Spirits (Truncado Studios) – €50 prize
Special mentions
- Best music (awarded by César Astudillo, aka Gominolas): Druid & Droid – €200
- Best gameplay (awarded by Relevo): Deep, Deeper, Deepest – €200
- Best artificial intelligence and technical development (awarded by Pablo Ariza): Dire Dare – €200
Sponsored awards
- Most popular game, as chosen by public votes (awarded by AUA): Deep, Deeper, Deepest – €200
- Best arcade game (awarded by Arcade Vintage): Penguin Attack – €100 and 5 tickets for the Arcade Vintage museum
- Most innovative product (awarded by Trusiga): Goatfish 2 (Ervin Pajor) – €100
- Best multiplayer game (awarded by Genesis8bit): Tiny Deathmatch (Francesc Alcaucer) – €100
- Best newcomer game (awarded by Ready and Play): Farming Spirits – €80
- Best “Opera Prima” (awarded by Blast Annual): Be Witched or Be Dead (Hinaman) – €50
- Best game made in BASIC (presented by AmstradSakis and Somos de Amstrad): Tiny Deathmatch – €60
All of the entries can be downloaded from itch.io.
New reviews
Robert Small has reviewed The Adventures of Bond… Basildon Bond.
I have reviewed three games, all of which were released in the last few weeks:
I’ll try to review some of the #CPCRetroDev 2022 entries soon.
#CPCRetroDev 2022
Members of the public can take part in voting, although you will need both an itch.io account and a Google account to do this. The winner of the public vote will receive a prize of €200 courtesy of AUA.
CPC Jewels
CPC Jewels can be purchased and downloaded from itch.io – yes, you will have to pay to download the game, but it only costs $1.00 (excluding VAT), and in my opinion, it’s well worth a dollar, even at current exchange rates. If you’re interested in a physical copy on cassette, you can purchase a copy from Matranet for €8.75 – although shipping costs an additional €10.70 for most European countries outside Spain.
Ramiro el Vampiro III
As with most of the Mojon Twins’ other games, this is a platform game, but there is a clever gameplay mechanic. As you play a vampire, you can only remain in sunlight for a short period – so while you collect the mushrooms, you have to find one as quickly as you can and then find somewhere dark to shelter and restore your energy before you can venture out again.
You can download Ramiro el Vampiro III from itch.io.
Toki released
Yes, the full version of Toki is finally here, and you can download it from AmstradGGP! I say it’s been well worth waiting for. I’ve been playing it for hours and it really is amazing – definitely a candidate for “game of the year”, unless the #CPCRetroDev contest throws up a massive surprise when the entrants are announced next month. Toki is not an easy game, and it took me a while just to complete the first stage, but it’s beautifully presented and very playable indeed. Take a look at the gallery of screenshots below to see how gorgeous it looks.
There is also a hall of fame on AmstradGGP’s site. You can e-mail a screenshot or photo showing your high score to GGP (the e-mail address is on their site) and your name and score will be added to the hall of fame.
Toki
Amstrad GGP are due to release their conversion of Toki next Saturday 29th October. It’s been in development for over two years and its release is highly anticipated. However, the French YouTube channel Oldschool is beautiful has managed to obtain the game in advance and has given CPC fans an exclusive preview! You can watch it below or on YouTube.
New reviews
Robert Small has reviewed two games:
Robert Small has reviewed two games:
I have reviewed two games:
I have reviewed two games:
Spaceman Kerl on Rescue Mission
Spaceman Kerl has been developed using the 8 Bits de Poder RSX library, and it’s a great demonstration of what it is capable of. You can download Spaceman Kerl on Rescue Mission from itch.io.
New reviews
Robert Small has reviewed two games: