Twinworld
(Ubi Soft, 1990)
Ulopa Cariken’s family once owned a powerful magical amulet, but when he was just two years old, an evil druid called Maldur massacred his family and stole the amulet. It was then broken into 23 pieces which are scattered across the land of Gaspary. Ulopa is now 16 years old, and as Ulopa, you must retrieve all the pieces of the amulet. With 23 levels of platform action, and one piece to collect on each level, it won’t be easy. The graphics are fantastic and there is a fairly wide variety of monsters to kill, although it can be difficult to spot them against the very detailed backgrounds. Sound effects are sadly lacking, but this doesn’t detract from what is a really rather good platform game.
Two Days to the Race
(Davide Bucci, 2021)
It’s July 1902, and you are Emilia Vittorini. Your father Augusto has developed a prototype car that is due to participate in a race in two days’ time, but you learn from your uncle Tullio that it has been stolen! You must find out what has happened to the car and who has stolen it. This is the first in a trilogy of text adventures starring Emilia as the protagonist, although curiously, it was the last of the three games to be released for the CPC. The game begins in the family villa, where a vital clue can be obtained with some searching and a little help. From there, the trail will lead you to other locations to meet with a friend of your family and uncover further clues. This is a relatively small adventure and it’s fairly easy to complete, but while it may be lacking in challenge, it makes up for it by instilling an atmosphere of intrigue and suspense, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
See also: The Queen’s Footsteps.
Typhoon
(Imagine, 1988)
Take on the alien hordes in an F-14 fighter and a helicopter through five levels of destruction. It’s strange how the aliens also use planes and helicopters just like those on Earth, but never mind. You’re in a fighter plane for the first and fourth levels, flying into the screen and shooting a few formations of planes. These levels are fairly easy, although the collision detection is very dodgy. You’re in a helicopter for the other three levels, which are vertically scrolling affairs. These levels are a bit tougher, with more enemies to contend with and bullets to avoid, although you can use bombs as well as bullets. The graphics are OK and the sound and music are both pretty good, and overall, it’s a nice, albeit easy, shoot-’em-up.