Spindizzy
(Electric Dreams, 1986)
GERALD is on Hangworld, and he has to explore all 386 locations and collect more than 200 jewels in his mission. There are all sorts of puzzles to solve – you’ll need to hunt for the right switches to open doors and cross chasms, for instance – and tricky terrain to negotiate, and you’re battling against the clock, too! What makes this game so truly irresistible is that urge to explore a little more of Hangworld with each go. It’s one of the all-time classics, and yes, I think it is one of the best games ever to be released for the CPC.
Spindrone
(Atlantis, 1988)
The planet Fungii 7 contains lots of barrels of plutonium, and it’s your job to guard them. However, the green alien Kermatoids are intent on getting their hands on it and have launched an invasion. You must shoot them and prevent them from stealing the barrels – once they’ve got them, it’s too late! If all 27 barrels are stolen, then the game is over. There are three screens, and while you’re guarding one screen, the Kermatoids are taking advantage on the other two, so it’s quite difficult, although you have a radar to show you where the aliens are. Basically, it’s a mediocre space shoot-’em-up which won’t interest you for long, although the graphics are brilliant and the Kermatoids are quite cute!
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
GameHammer Classic Gaming.
There’s a really nice touch at the beginning of Spirits where the credits fade in just like you’re about to start watching a film. There’s some nice music as well. Then the game begins and you notice colour clash and slowdown – never mind. The game at least has a unique concept of splitting the screen in two, which allows you to see the location of the items you need to obtain in this arcade adventure. The graphics are nicely drawn but the gameplay is only accompanied by the slightest of sound effects. There are quite a few arcade adventures on the CPC, to say the least, and this is a solid example.
Spitfire
(Encore, 1989)
Take to the skies in a Spitfire fighter plane and shoot down as many German Me 109 and Ju 88 planes and destroy as many of their bases as you can. A display at the bottom of the screen warns you of incoming enemy planes, and then you can engage in a dogfight with them, manoeuvring your Spitfire and weaving around the screen in order to take it down. Your plane isn’t armed with bombs, so enemy bases and ships need to be destroyed by swooping downwards and firing your guns continuously while trying not to crash. First impressions are good; the graphics are average but your Spitfire is well animated, and the sound of gunfire is fairly realistic. However, there isn’t much variety and there are no real goals to achieve, and it soon becomes repetitive.
An early, yet surprisingly accurate, flight simulator on the CPC. In terms of gameplay it treads the fine line between simulation and arcade shoot-’em-up well. Strap into your World War II Spitfire plane, select a pilot and shoot down the enemy fighters. You’ll be asked to take off and land, as well as use your instruments to judge speed and height and a map to find your prey. Having to toggle between the instruments and cockpit view can be tricky at first. There are more ambitious-looking CPC flight simulators but the instruments look particularly nice and the cockpit view is good enough. On the aural front the music tries to invoke the Battle of Britain spirit, while the sound effects are to be expected. Dogfighting is enjoyable and good fun in this but perhaps the game lacks a little depth.
Spitting Image
(Domark, 1988)
The greatest war the world has ever seen is about to commence. It’s so great that even the Swiss are getting involved this time! This is a beat-’em-up based on the British TV show of the same name, which lets you match six of the world’s leaders against each other – Maggie Thatcher, Ronnie Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Ayatollah Khomeini, and P. W. Botha. Of course, each of them has their own ways of fighting. You select an opponent and a champion, with you playing the opponent, and if you defeat the champion three times, it’s on to another one. The graphics are brilliant and there are some jolly jingles to be heard, but it is after all a novelty game, and although it’s funny at first, the novelty will wear off before long.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Splat!
(Amsoft/Incentive, 1985)
Zippy the spider is stuck in a maze which is constantly scrolling within a section of the screen, and if he touches the edges of the screen, he loses one of his three lives, which can happen if you’re trapped within the walls of the maze and there’s no escape! It’s probably not easy to understand this explanation, but it is an original idea, although the aptly named Zippy can be a little bit too fast, for you can sometimes run into the edges when you didn’t mean to. The graphics are very basic and the colour scheme is garish, and there are no sound effects worth talking about, but it’s still a fun game to play every now and then.
Split Personalities
(Domark, 1986)
This game was originally entitled Splitting Images, but its name had to be changed for legal reasons. This is a variation of those sliding tile games, although in this game, the board is initially empty. The tiles are stored at the top left corner and you can release them as necessary. The aim on each of the ten levels is to recreate the face of a famous person shown elsewhere on the screen – but with a tight time limit and numerous hazards to face, it really isn’t easy. Many famous faces of the 1980s are in the game – Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock, Clive Sinclair (boo!) and Alan Sugar, to name a few. The caricatures are well drawn and very colourful, and even though the constant white noise is irritating, it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable game.
Spooked
(Players, 1989)
An eerie mansion full of ghosts and other strange creatures... and you’re inside it. As well as avoiding the nasty ghosts and skulls, you have to collect the insects that roam and fly about, and use them to cast spells. Each spell requires different insects – there’s a book that’ll reveal everything, but you’ll need a spell to open it! Watch the hourglass at the corner of the screen; if it runs out too many times, you’ll be hanged! Sadly, this is an awful Spectrum port with flickery, monochromatic sprites and hardly any sound, and the game itself is frustrating.
Spooky Castle
(Atlantis, 1990)
King Michael’s daughter, Princess Clare, has been kidnapped by evil ghosts and taken away to a castle, and as Gary, you must free her. The main hazards to watch out for are bats, fire and ghosts. Contact with bats depletes your energy, while touching fire or the ghost that wanders from right to left across the screen loses one of your lives instantly. You can collect vases to replenish your energy, and ankhs to give you extra lives. However, they reappear every time you enter a room, which makes the game rather easy to complete. The graphics aren’t bad, but the castle is too small (it has fewer than twenty rooms) and once you’ve completed it, it’s not something you’ll want to play again.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
Amstrad CPC World,
Xyphoe.