Screenshot of Turbo Out Run

Turbo Out Run

(US Gold, 1989)

Time for some more racing action across America in a Ferrari F-40. Like Out Run, the game is divided into stages, and you must reach the end of each stage before your time runs out. However, this time there are 16 stages, which are completed sequentially, and your car is now equipped with a turbo booster – but it overheats, so you can’t use it often. You can upgrade your car after every four stages as well. If you fail to reach the checkpoint in time, you return to the start of the current stage and lose one of your five credits. This allows you to see quite a lot of the game even on your first go, although this doesn’t mean that it’s easy to complete. This game is a big improvement compared to the awful Out Run. The graphics are quite good and the scenery varies dramatically as you pass through each stage, and while the scrolling isn’t all that fast, it’s not sluggish either.

See also: Out Run, Out Run Europa.

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Screenshot of Turbo the Tortoise

Turbo the Tortoise

(Hi-Tec Software/Code Masters, 1992)

The scientist Dr Mulliner has sent Turbo the Tortoise on a mission through six time zones, to collect some ingredients for one of his latest experiments. This is a very good platform game, with all sorts of enemies, power-ups, chasms, and even hidden platforms which allow you to reach seemingly inaccessible locations. Most enemies can be killed by jumping on them once or twice, although if you find some missiles, you can shoot them instead. Hi-Tec Software originally released this game for the CPC, but they went bust shortly afterwards, and so Code Masters continued to sell it instead. Turbo is easy to control, and together with the colourful cartoon-style graphics and relatively easy gameplay, this is a thoroughly enjoyable game.

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Screenshot of Turbo-Girl

Turbo-Girl

(Dinamic, 1988)

Another average game with a sub-average plot. It’s the usual futuristic shoot-’em-up, and the heroine who’s out to save the day is some leather-clad biker chick – well, the loading screen certainly suggests that. Waves of spaceships and meteorites come at you, but you’ve also got to negotiate the network of platforms, pipes and walls. The breathtaking graphics and the nice music don’t cover up the fact that it’s ridiculously difficult, and completing the first level seems to be almost impossible.

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Screenshot of Turlogh le Rôdeur

Turlogh le Rôdeur

(Cobra Soft, 1987)

  • Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.

Turlogh has been summoned by Ydahaut, king of the land of Thoz. With the aid of his magical sphere, Ydahaut knows of a great threat to the kingdom. The citadel of Nuch’Quaryat is under attack by an army, and if the Kula Kangrih – the sacred tables – are stolen, the dark forces can be commanded and Thoz will fall! This adventure is based on a French cartoon strip, and the game is played like an interactive cartoon as well. Every so often, you must decide which of two options to choose, which affects the course of the game. There is also a lot of combat which is determined by the computer rolling dice for you. However, while the graphics are undoubtedly stunning, combat is much too difficult, which will eventually impede any further progress and lessen your enjoyment of the game.

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Screenshot of Turrican

Turrican

(Rainbow Arts, 1990)

Reviewed by Chris Lennard

An evil demon, Morgul, has returned from another dimension to haunt humankind. Your mission is to destroy him. You have to traverse levels filled with mutant hordes, jumping around exploring large areas, shooting enemies with a large arsenal available to you, while picking up various extra weapons along the way, all against the clock. Face some nasty bosses at the end of each stage and sometimes halfway through in order to proceed. Finding secret rooms laden with power-ups is a joy, as is unleashing your awesome special weapons on everything around you. Nothing in the way of music, but some nice sounds nonetheless. As it was converted by Probe, it’s a very attractive game and a pleasure to play.

See also: Turrican II.

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Screenshot of Turrican II

Turrican II

(Rainbow Arts, 1991)

Reviewed by Chris Lennard

As Ben McGuire of the USS Freedom Forces, you must once more strap on your Turrican Assault Suit to destroy The Machine – a cyborg dictator who threatens galactic peace with his vast army of space mutants – and wreak revenge upon him for killing your fellow crew. Essentially following the same format as before, within a time limit our hero has to steer through more large levels consisting of various worlds with secret bonus-filled rooms and destroy some bad ass bosses at various stages, which as before have to be killed in a particular way. Again, you have a bevy of powerful upgraded weapons to utilise against the marauding aliens that come in all shapes and sizes and from all directions. Superb graphics, nice menu music, good effects and solid fun.

See also: Turrican.

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Screenshot of Tusker

Tusker

(System 3, 1989)

Reviewed by John Beckett

In this side-scrolling adventure, you take the role of a brave explorer as you follow in your deceased father’s footsteps on a quest to find the legendary Elephants’ Graveyard, and lay claim to all that lovely ivory. You start your journey in a desert, and from there, you must find objects to help you in your quest (knife, gun, bullets etc.) while also solving puzzles along the way and fighting many a bad guy, from sword-wielding Arabs to scary zombies. Overall, the game has a nice Indiana Jones feel to it, but it’s a tad too hard (you’ll be walking along and a bad guy will leap at you with no warning, or a rock will just fall on your head!), and the graphics, while detailed, look like they’ve been ported straight from the Spectrum. Still, it’s quite enjoyable, and there aren’t many games like it on the CPC. Worth a blast.

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Screenshot of Tut’s Pyramid

Tut’s Pyramid

(Artic Computing, 1986)

Reviewed by Pug

Your name is Mohamed, and with your flying carpet, off you must venture, searching for six stone blocks. Placing these in the Valley of the Kings forms a mini-pyramid and will save the Pharaoh’s life. Tut’s Pyramid is a clone of the CPC classic Sorcery. The graphics are of a similar quality, and enemy sprites move smoothly, following fixed paths. Sound-wise, a pleasant tune plays throughout with some odd effects included. It’s easy to play, and with six lives, you see a lot of the game, even though there is a time limit. A decent offering but nothing like the game it tries to be.

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Screenshot of TVBALL

TVBALL

(Geco, 2016)

There are plenty of Breakout clones for the CPC, and this one is a conversion of a game that was originally released in Hungary for the Enterprise and Videoton TVC computers. First impressions aren’t positive; the graphics are very Spectrum-like and a lot of the colour schemes used in the levels are extremely garish. The speed of the bat varies depending on how far it is to the left or right of the ball, which makes it quite difficult to control. Power-ups are offered on a regular basis, but they appear in an alcove which closes after a short period of time, so be careful not to get yourself trapped! Once you complete the first level, all the remaining levels are selected randomly, but they all seem to be very difficult to complete, even with the abundance of extra lives offered. Although the game may feature some novel variations on the Breakout theme, it remains mediocre overall.

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Screenshot of Twice Shy

Twice Shy

(Mosaic, 1986)

Reviewed by Robert Small

A novel game in more ways than one. Firstly, it’s set in the world of horse racing. Secondly, you get two games for the price of one (the main text adventure and a horse race betting game). Finally, the game is actually based on a novel by Dick Francis, who was a highly successful jockey before he retired and turned to writing crime novels. A nice little plot is backed up by some good graphics that perhaps could have featured a little more colour. The screen layout is helpfully done but progress can be tricky to make as you work out what inputs can and cannot be accepted. The betting game can be used in conjunction with the adventure or played separately and is a nice distraction. There are not many sports-based text adventures on CPC but this is a good one.

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