The Spy Who Loved Me
(Domark, 1991)
Both the British and the Russians have had some of their submarines stolen by Karl Stromberg. The British have sent out James Bond to recapture their sub, while the Russians have sent the attractive Anya Amasova. The last of the five James Bond games to be released for the CPC has five levels taking place on both land and sea, and all of them involve steering your car or boat and avoiding the scenery (you can try shooting the enemies, but it does little good). You have to collect tokens in the first three levels to buy the equipment to go to the next level. All the levels see you doing the same thing each time, and there’s very little variety.
See also: Licence to Kill, Live and Let Die, The Living Daylights, A View to a Kill: The Computer Game.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe.
Sram
(Ere Informatique, 1986)
You have been transported to the mysterious planet of Sram, where the high priest Cinomeh has imprisoned the King Egres IV. (If you wonder where these strange names come from, they’re based on the names of the game’s authors.) You must free him – but first, you will need to find the hermit, and all the ingredients for a special potion that he will make for you. This text adventure comes from France and is regarded as a classic there, although you can also play the game in English or German. Certainly the graphics are fairly impressive, but I found the parser to be lacking in some areas, and finding the exact combination of words to perform particular actions is frustrating. I suppose it was good for its time, but nowadays it isn’t as good.
See also: Sram 2.
Sram 2
(Ere Informatique, 1986)
Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.
Now that Egres IV is in power again, he repays your kindness by ruling through tyranny, oppressing his people and using sorcery. The only way to stop him is to kill him – but in a rather unusual way, by making what is known in France as ‘la galette des rois’, or ‘the kings’ cake’ – a cake with a bean hidden inside it. You start in a crypt, where the only ways out are to open the tombs contained within it. I wasn’t particularly satisfied with Sram, but this sequel is much better. The graphics are as good as, if not better than, the original game, and there are no problems finding the right combination of words to solve puzzles. On the other hand, it is slightly too easy, but that doesn’t worry me too much.
See also: Sram.
Stainless Steel
(Mikro-Gen, 1986)
The evil Dr Vardos has devised a plan to take over the whole world, and the only person who can stop him is Ricky Steel and his Class A101 flying car, Nightwind. However, Ricky has left his car on the other side of town, so in the first level, you’re on foot, shooting Dr Vardos’ androids and helicopters. Once you find your car, you fly across a desert, again shooting everything that moves, and then fly over a river, trying to bomb submarines. The graphics are monochrome – although I’m not saying they’re bad – but the sound effects are OK, and there is a nice tune that only plays at the start of the game. However, even on the easiest of the four difficulty levels, most players will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to progress beyond the second level.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Stairway to Hell
(Software Invasion, 1986)
Venture through 15 screens of platforming action, taking you through mines, ice caverns, jungles and deserts, before reaching hell itself. Each screen is filled to the brim with perilous obstacles to avoid and gaps to jump. With only five lives, you’re going to need them all, and indeed, you could do with more, because the game is unbelievably tough, as well as being slow and jerky. Each screen overwhelms you with obstacles, and if you make a mistake (which is all too often), you’re sent right back to the start of the screen. The graphics are OK, albeit garish at times, and the sound effects are simple, but the rest of the game stinks.
Remember Scramble? That game where you pilot a spaceship through caverns collecting fuel and dropping bombs, etc.? Well, this is an early attempt at bringing the game to the CPC. For the year it was released, this is not a bad attempt. Sure, the scrolling is a little jerky and you can’t actually drop bombs, but it’s fun and makes good use of the CPC’s colour palette. It’s presented well and you can choose which stage you wish to start at. A pleasant but primitive tune plays on the title screen, with in-game effects doing their job. A hidden gem from the early days of the CPC.
Star Bowls is a really good little action game featuring platforming, exploration, item collection and shoot-’em-up action. The game features well drawn backgrounds and satisfying explosions when you destroy enemies. I particularly liked the ability to change direction in mid-air while firing as this helps improve the gameplay. To help you traverse the environment you have a a jet pack and you can use hooks to ascend and descend to different locations. The game does have some poor music at the start but the in-game effects are good enough.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
jgonza.
Star Commando
(Amsoft/Terminal, 1984)
Aliens have invaded several galaxies and you must stop them. Each galaxy has sixteen sectors, all of which must be cleared before you can go to the next galaxy. In each sector, you must simply blast waves of aliens until the ‘danger level’ reaches zero. If the going gets too tough, you can warp out of danger by holding down the fire button for several seconds. Your ship’s power can be restored by visiting the mother ship, but you can only do this once per galaxy. This shoot-’em-up was released early in the CPC’s life, so the graphics and sound effects are quite basic, although the scrolling is rather fast. The gameplay is very straightforward, and while it will eventually become repetitive, it’s actually not a bad game if you’re looking for a quick blast.
Star Control offers something to both fans of arcade games and those looking for deeper strategy and I think that’s a really good thing. It’s like having two games in one. You’re not stuck with one type of game, so you can fulfil your starship captain fantasies as you see fit. Going toe-to-toe with the enemy is a bit like Asteroids. It’s all about circling each other and finding the best way to strike. There is a nice variety of craft for you or a friend to choose from. The strategy element offers a change of pace and adds a bit of depth. The graphics are functional but I don’t think this game needs anything fancy as it plays so well.
Star Driver
(Radical Software, 1994)
After the asteroid mines were abandoned, the runways and roads were used as racing tracks instead, in the Asteroid Championships. The rules are simple; stay on the road and complete an orbit of the track in under 60 seconds in order to qualify for the next round. If you are successful (and extremely good), you have the option to try a ‘double orbit’ in under 100 seconds to get a massive bonus, but if you fail, you’re knocked out of the Championship. Graphically, the game is very impressive and the scrolling is very fast, but controlling your car is quite awkward, and the game is very unforgiving with regard to the time limit and the width of the track.