Southern Belle
(Hewson, 1985)
The Southern Belle was a steam locomotive that carried passengers from London’s Victoria station to Brighton. This is a realistic simulation which faithfully recreates the 51-mile journey and allows you to take control of this famous train. Although there is a daunting range of controls, you can choose which ones you can manipulate, and leave the computer to work the remaining controls. In addition, there are several runs which vary in difficulty, and in order to pass them, you must achieve a rating of at least 70% overall. Starting with a training run, you can then try to cope with speed limits, maintenance works, stopping at stations, and attempting to beat the record of 48 minutes from Victoria to Brighton. The vector graphics are excellent, and even if you’re not a trainspotter, you may find the game to be a nice diversion once you’ve got the hang of it.
Soviet
(Opera Soft, 1990)
Soviet citizens are being kidnapped on the orders of a dictator from a neighbouring country. The KGB has sent its best agent, Igor, into the country to rescue the hostages. You have to drive around each of the two levels (only two?), collecting the hostages as they run towards your vehicle. Unfortunately the dictator’s army is out to get you! You’ll be assaulted by a barrage of bombs and bullets, and while you’re dodging them, the hostages are being killed; if too many die, the game is over. The graphics are detailed and well drawn, although the rendition of the Soviet national anthem on the menu is mediocre. The game itself is OK, but the constant bombardment that you face makes it very difficult indeed.
Space Ace
(Players, 1987)
Here’s an Asteroids clone without any of the playability. Shoot the aliens as they zoom across the screen, while trying frantically to stay out of their way at the same time. It’s not easy at all, and if you can survive for two minutes, you’re doing really well! My main complaints regarding this game are that the controls are unresponsive and the movement of your spaceship is sluggish, whereas the aliens move much faster than you and are therefore difficult to avoid. The graphics are fairly good, but the game is so frustratingly difficult that you’ll want to throw something at your CPC in sheer anger.
Space Cowboy in Lost Planet
(VoxelTower, 2020)
Dante, the space cowboy, has crashed on an alien planet. Fortunately he has landed near a hangar that should contain the tools he needs to repair his spacecraft – but there is also a strange vehicle that he must use in his search for the tools. This game was an entrant in the 2020 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest and finished in ninth place. The concept is simple; explore a maze of rooms, collect the tools, and avoid the aliens in each room. There is also a time limit of 30 minutes, and the vehicle is armed with a cannon that can be used to stun aliens temporarily. It’s quite tricky to control at first as it behaves like it’s on ice, but there is a brake to slow it down. The graphics are simple but functional, the music is repetitive without being irritating, and it’s a fairly decent game to play.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Saberman.
Space Crusade
(Gremlin Graphics, 1992)
During the War of Strife, which lasted for 5,000 years, an army of fighting men called the Space Marines were assembled to take on the alien forces of Chaos. These aliens reside in large spaceships, and there are twelve missions to be undertaken. There are three chapters of Space Marines which you can control – the Blood Angels, the Imperial Fists, and the Ultra Marines. On each mission, you control four marines led by a commander. Completing a mission successfully earns the commander honour badges which allow you to obtain better equipment – but your commander has to return alive! The rules are rather complex and take some time to understand, and the game will seem difficult at first as all your marines are killed by the aliens! Stick with it, though, and you’ll discover an absorbing and highly tactical strategy game.
Written in compiled BASIC using Sprites Alive to demonstrate its capabilities on the CPC, Space Froggy is a stunning platformer which appeared on an Amstrad Action covertape. Controlling a very cute and cool-looking frog wearing sunglasses who finds himself in space with nine lives, you set out to collect nine ROM chips and some keys that will open doors, all while avoiding enemy space monsters so you can upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC6128. Having played my fair share of commercially released budget games, Space Froggy puts most of them to shame. Colourful, big sprites, really good use of Mode 0, an atmospheric space feel, pleasant in-game sound effects, easy movement and controls, with a detailed playing area. It’s all very professionally presented, a fun and absorbing game, and quite an achievement.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
GameHammer Classic Gaming.
A rather underwhelming shooting gallery; even the game’s name seems to have been conceived with the minimum of effort. Line your crosshairs up and blast away at enemies (in the form of TIE fighters, again) and asteroids. Be careful not to hit any friendly ships. It looks fine enough in screenshots, but in practice it chugs about and the sound effects are very average. You’ll see if you can get on to the high score table and then load up 3D Starfighter, which is much better.
Space Gun
(Ocean, 1992)
It’s the year 2039 AD, and your spaceship receives a distress call from a crippled starbase which is being overrun by aliens. You have to explore the corridors of the starbase, rescue as many hostages as you can, and blast lots and lots of slimy, monstrous aliens. The game is viewed in pseudo-3D, with you looking down the corridors, and the effect is fairly impressive. Unfortunately, the pace of the game is sluggish, which spoils the atmosphere of what should really be an action-packed game. Interestingly, this is one of very few non-cartridge games to exploit the Plus’ extra colours and other facilities, and for some reason, it was only released in France. However, the slow pace and the unresponsive controls make this a frustrating game to play.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Xyphoe.
Three-dimensional shoot-’em-up conversion of the popular Sega arcade game. Fly across the surface of different planets across the galaxy at breakneck speed, destroying the waves of enemies that come at you. Face and destroy the guardian aliens such as double-headed dragons at the end of every stage, in order to progress to the next with only your trusty laser gun to aid you. While the music and sound effects are nice, the gameplay is ruined by the somewhat hit and miss graphics. The backgrounds and your own character are more than adequate but the ‘transparent’ enemies and planet obstacles make it too difficult to pinpoint them, something that the sequel amends with solid sprites.
See also: Space Harrier II.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe,
ZEUSDAZ.
An evil force has taken control of the Fantasy Land and imposed a cruel tyranny upon it. Yet again, shoot your way past the scores of enemies that come at you and carefully weave your way through opposing surface structures. Blast the end of level monsters in order to face the next round and battle your way through to the ultimate level to meet and destroy the Dark Harrier. In spite of the fact that this lacks any originality – it’s exactly the same as its predecessor – it’s a superior game as the improved graphics beef up the gameplay considerably.
See also: Space Harrier.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe,
ZEUSDAZ.