Screenshot of Motorbike Madness

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.

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Screenshot of Motos

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.

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Screenshot of Mountain Bike 500

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.

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Screenshot of Mountain Bike Racer

Mountain Bike Racer

(Positive, 1990)

Reviewed by Pug

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.

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Screenshot of Mountie Mick’s Deathride

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.

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Screenshot of Movie

Movie

(Imagine, 1986)

Reviewed by Javier Sáez

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.

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Screenshot of Moving Target

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.

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Screenshot of Muggins the Spaceman

Muggins the Spaceman

(Firebird, 1987)

Reviewed by Robert Small

A spaceship has crashed and Muggins the Spaceman has been sent to repair it in order for it to be retrieved. Not bad work if you can get it – or is it? There’s a good loading screen and that’s even followed by a little sequence of the spaceship crashing. On board the spaceship there are security robots of different types to be avoided or shot. Holes in the hull will need to be repaired and items found, identified (using an object identifier found in some rooms) and used. The items are often bizarre and not what you would expect to be tasked in finding. I liked the sci-fi doors linking each room and the way a small version of Muggins keels over when you lose a life. It’s a cute little game but the graphics and sound could be better and chasing down items doesn’t hold the player’s interest for long.

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Screenshot of Multi-Player Soccer Manager

Multi-Player Soccer Manager

(D&H Games, 1990)

This football management game stands out in a league consisting mostly of mediocrity. Unusually, all the text is displayed in the CPC’s low-resolution, multi-colour mode, although it is easy to read, and the icon-based menu is very beautiful. More importantly, the game is packed with statistics about all 64 teams and players taking part in the four divisions. There is also the option to train your players, and the auction-based transfer market system works well. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to obtain the necessary money to buy better players and ultimately be promoted to the 3rd Division or become the manager of a 3rd Division team, but there are no match highlights, so you won’t have to wait ages between matches. It may be mostly text only, but if you’re a fan of football management games, this is one of the best for the CPC.

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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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