Western Games
(Magic Bytes, 1987)
Compete against the computer or a friend in six cowboy-themed events. Arm wrestling is self-explanatory, while in beer shooting, you shoot beer glasses from someone’s hand – dangerous! In quid spitting, you chew tobacco and fire it into your opponent’s spittoon. Then there is milking, in which you must milk a cow, and eating, in which you must eat a bowl of stew. Finally, in the dancing game, a woman performs a dance, and you (as a burly cowboy) have to perform the same moves! The arm wrestling, beer shooting and dancing are quite good, but the other three events have very complex controls which totally spoil the fun. The graphics are really colourful, and the animation and presentation have to be seen to be believed, but it’s a shame that only three of the events are worth playing.
Once again, a single soldier faces a whole evil army. This is a Commando clone, with graphics that are a bit more detailed, although not as cute, and no scrolling. The gameplay is more or less what could be expected, but nevertheless, the aforementioned absence of scrolling makes the game less amusing than other arcade games of the same style, like Guerrilla War, Ikari Warriors or Mercs. It’s worth a few tries, but you’ll forget about it quickly.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Xyphoe.
Who Said That?
(Radical Software, 1994)
We’ve all heard some classic quotes made by the rich and the famous, but do you know who actually said them? This game contains hundreds of sets of quotes, and you get a new set on each round. In each round, you are given three or four quotes, one at a time, and you have to guess who said them, out of a list of several people. Getting it wrong earns you a fault – make four faults, and the game’s over. It does get hard pretty quickly, and if you want to progress, you’ll need a good memory!
Nice loading screen, an impressive options screen. Colourful graphics. Limited sound. This game seems to involve avoiding groups of nasties or shooting them. It all moves along in a sluggish manner, and you soon lose all your lives. You will become bored within 30 seconds of trying to play this game.
Wibstars
(A’n’F, 1987)
Can you earn a living by delivering computer equipment to your customers? Starting at the warehouse, you load your van with cassettes, floppy discs, or Spectrums (ugh!). You then have to collect them as they fall down some chutes and then drive across town avoiding the debris left behind by the van in front of you. Having reached your destination, you now have to select the goods and move them around a series of platforms and conveyor belts, and try not to smash them. It sounds like a bizarre game, but play it and you’ll see... that it’s awful – really awful. The graphics look like your CPC has turned into a Spectrum, the sound is mediocre, and it’s far too difficult to make a profit.
If you like westerns then this is definitely worth a play, and if you like adventure games, then even better. It’s got a very clever plot – nothing complicated, but I don’t want to spoil things for new players. All the western tropes are present. You can gamble and you will need to be quick on the draw. There are graphics in the game and although they are simple they are full of character (check out the wanted posters). For such a simple game a lot of additional details have been included to bring the Wild West alive for players. You can tell that a nice bit of effort has been made in creating this game. This is the Amstrad equivalent of your favourite classic western appearing on TV on a Saturday afternoon.
Wild Streets
(Titus, 1990)
The head of the CIA, John Steven, has been kidnapped, and you have been sent to rescue him. You also have a companion in the form of a panther called Black Virgin – although as you’ll find out, he (she?) is of almost no use! There are five levels, each one filled with gang members to beat up, but you can simply jump over them to the next screen without having to fight them. The only criminals you will need to kill are those on the last screen of the level, and you can use your gun to dispose of them easily. Once you’ve rescued Mr Steven, you must retrace your steps. The graphics and music are both of a high standard, but it’s far too easy to complete. As for the cartridge version, the choice of colours is better and the game is a bit faster, but it’s not much of an improvement and is just as easy to complete.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
Novabug (cartridge version),
Xyphoe (cartridge version).
Wild West Seymour
(Code Masters, 1992)
Seymour is starring in his second movie, but once again, the film has been sabotaged by a mysterious man called El Bandeeto, and all of the studio team’s equipment has gone astray! You have to find all of it and then travel across America to shoot the rest of the film. Unfortunately, many of the objects have rather obvious uses and the puzzles aren’t exactly taxing, although there is one crafty trick in Act 3! The inclusion of the Game Genie only makes things even easier, and the tunes soon become rather grating to listen to. It is a reasonable game while it lasts, but it’s just that bit too easy.
See also: Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop, Seymour Goes to Hollywood, Seymour Stuntman, Super Seymour Saves the Planet.
Willow Pattern
(Firebird, 1986)
Can Chang find his way to the Mandarin’s palace and flee with the beautiful princess, Koong-Shee, or will he killed by the many samurai warriors within the maze? This is a nice, simple little maze exploration game which involves wandering through a maze which is decorated with Oriental scenery, eventually reaching the palace. There are a lot of swords scattered throughout the maze, but it’s better to coax the samurai warriors into throwing their swords at you, getting out of their way, and collecting their sword. There is a little sub-game which involves jumping over stepping stones which disrupts the flow a bit, but this is a minor annoyance. The graphics are very colourful indeed and there’s some Oriental music as well. Overall, this is a wonderful game.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Metr81.
Set in the old Wild West, this is a run-and-gun, shoot to kill-style game which was only released in France. The objective is to run to the end of each level while trying to avoid losing your five lives. Along the way you must avoid enemy cowboys shooting bullets and throwing knives at you. There are five levels but the gameplay is very repetitive; nothing changes between levels except some of the backgrounds. If the game wasn’t hard enough, a large vulture sometimes appears and drops a stick of dynamite above you which is difficult to avoid. The graphics suit the style of the game but the movement and scrolling are jerky and slow. The controls are not very responsive, which meant I was losing lives quite easily. There is a French-style Wild West tune playing but it doesn’t add much improvement to the game.