The game actually chosen by Selectron™ today was ‘Beam Rider’, a C64 game that’s part of a compilation called ‘Soft Aid’ - nothing to do with impotence awareness - this was actually launched in 1985 to coincide with the original Band Aid and Live Aid projects.
It features 10 games all donated to the compilation so that the proceeds could go to charity, although I came to own it as part of a stack of games I got from eBay many years after the original release.
As this compilation is on a cassette the inlay helpfully indicates the position of the tape counter for each of the games, but when I fast forwarded to the position shown and tried load 'Beam Rider' it wouldn’t work.
I tried all the other counter-positions for the other titles until eventually one started to load, albeit not the one I was expecting.
It turns out none of the numbers on the inlay bear any relation to the actual positions of the games on the cassette.
Even even the counter-number for the first game is wrong as each side of the tape starts with a copy of the ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ Luckily I was able to work out the true starting position by leaving the tape playing for 3 minutes and 50 seconds (the playtime of the single) and from there I worked my way through the whole compilation noting the new counter digits as I went.
And thus, one write up became ten.
Right, so, from the top; Side one, game one:
Gumshoe is up first game and, as much I love retro games, this is just bad. In fact, a huge amount of old games from the seventies to mid eighties are just bad, and on this compilation Gum Shoe, China Miner, and Gilligan’s Gold are such basic platform games that they offer no entertainment to anyone who might load them up today, beyond 30 seconds of nostalgia. Fred is similarly pointless, although the big colourful sprites and merciful lack of terrible music immediately put it in my good graces - but sadly this kind of 2 dimensional maze game is never going to hold the attention long. Four down, six to go.
Beam Rider, the game that started this whole thing, is actually rather good. It immediately put me in mind of obscure arcade gem ‘Juno First’ in the way it evolves Space Invaders.
Enemy movements are fixed to a grid and they flit around at the top of the screen before choosing a titular beam to descend and attack upon. The sound effects are pretty obnoxious but the graphics are clean and move smoothly. I actually got a bit hooked on this one.
Star Trader has far too many options and far too much faffing around in what is clearly a poor man’s ‘Elite’ (and I don’t even like rich man’s ‘Elite’). Not for me this one, although it’s heritage (and that of its namesake) is pretty interesting.
Kokotoni Wilf is almost as bizarre as it is unplayable. You play the eponymous Wilf, who bounces around history collecting items before being whisked off elsewhere. The first level is the Prehistoric age, no idea what the other levels are. Did I mention Wilf has wings? Wilf has wings. Bonkers.
China Miner, Gilligan's Gold, and Fred - See above (Gum Shoe).
Gyropod is another slightly weird one, although not without merit. It starts as a horizontal shooter as you attempt to lower the defences of a planet from orbit. Following this you launch a lander which begins a completely different style of level, one which brings to mind ‘Jet Pac’, as you collect items from the surface. I'd need to dig up some instructions to understand all the nuances (and gauges) and I’m probably just curious enough to do so.
Falcon Patrol is an incredibly basic version of ‘Defender’ that I actually have vague memories of playing back in the day. It was originally released in 1983 and looks every one of it’s 37 years of age.
Flak, along with Beam Rider, is what makes the compilation worth owning. It’s interesting for being a vertically scrolling shooter when there really weren’t many of those on the C64 (or any home computers) back in 1984.
It’s style brings to mind ‘Xevious’ and I particularly like how the lives system works.
Rather than starting from the beginning or even just respawning where you left off, the game shows the next available craft (clearly modelled on the beautiful Grumman X-29, obscure aircraft fans) launching from your base. From there it blasts over all of the area you’ve already attacked, bypassing the defeat foes, until it reaches the part where you died, at which point you take control and continue. It’s a very simple detail but exactly the kind of thing I love to see in old games.
Update (25/5/20)
I've had a comment asking for the counter numbers I discovered in the process of making this post. You'll find them below!
Side One
Side Two
It features 10 games all donated to the compilation so that the proceeds could go to charity, although I came to own it as part of a stack of games I got from eBay many years after the original release.
As this compilation is on a cassette the inlay helpfully indicates the position of the tape counter for each of the games, but when I fast forwarded to the position shown and tried load 'Beam Rider' it wouldn’t work.
I tried all the other counter-positions for the other titles until eventually one started to load, albeit not the one I was expecting.
It turns out none of the numbers on the inlay bear any relation to the actual positions of the games on the cassette.
Even even the counter-number for the first game is wrong as each side of the tape starts with a copy of the ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ Luckily I was able to work out the true starting position by leaving the tape playing for 3 minutes and 50 seconds (the playtime of the single) and from there I worked my way through the whole compilation noting the new counter digits as I went.
And thus, one write up became ten.
Right, so, from the top; Side one, game one:
Gumshoe is up first game and, as much I love retro games, this is just bad. In fact, a huge amount of old games from the seventies to mid eighties are just bad, and on this compilation Gum Shoe, China Miner, and Gilligan’s Gold are such basic platform games that they offer no entertainment to anyone who might load them up today, beyond 30 seconds of nostalgia. Fred is similarly pointless, although the big colourful sprites and merciful lack of terrible music immediately put it in my good graces - but sadly this kind of 2 dimensional maze game is never going to hold the attention long. Four down, six to go.
Beam Rider, the game that started this whole thing, is actually rather good. It immediately put me in mind of obscure arcade gem ‘Juno First’ in the way it evolves Space Invaders.
Enemy movements are fixed to a grid and they flit around at the top of the screen before choosing a titular beam to descend and attack upon. The sound effects are pretty obnoxious but the graphics are clean and move smoothly. I actually got a bit hooked on this one.
Star Trader has far too many options and far too much faffing around in what is clearly a poor man’s ‘Elite’ (and I don’t even like rich man’s ‘Elite’). Not for me this one, although it’s heritage (and that of its namesake) is pretty interesting.
Kokotoni Wilf is almost as bizarre as it is unplayable. You play the eponymous Wilf, who bounces around history collecting items before being whisked off elsewhere. The first level is the Prehistoric age, no idea what the other levels are. Did I mention Wilf has wings? Wilf has wings. Bonkers.
China Miner, Gilligan's Gold, and Fred - See above (Gum Shoe).
Gyropod is another slightly weird one, although not without merit. It starts as a horizontal shooter as you attempt to lower the defences of a planet from orbit. Following this you launch a lander which begins a completely different style of level, one which brings to mind ‘Jet Pac’, as you collect items from the surface. I'd need to dig up some instructions to understand all the nuances (and gauges) and I’m probably just curious enough to do so.
Falcon Patrol is an incredibly basic version of ‘Defender’ that I actually have vague memories of playing back in the day. It was originally released in 1983 and looks every one of it’s 37 years of age.
Flak, along with Beam Rider, is what makes the compilation worth owning. It’s interesting for being a vertically scrolling shooter when there really weren’t many of those on the C64 (or any home computers) back in 1984.
It’s style brings to mind ‘Xevious’ and I particularly like how the lives system works.
Rather than starting from the beginning or even just respawning where you left off, the game shows the next available craft (clearly modelled on the beautiful Grumman X-29, obscure aircraft fans) launching from your base. From there it blasts over all of the area you’ve already attacked, bypassing the defeat foes, until it reaches the part where you died, at which point you take control and continue. It’s a very simple detail but exactly the kind of thing I love to see in old games.
Soft Aid - A bit of a curio by its very nature, but there's a couple of games on here that make a worthwhile cause worthwhile to play.
Update (25/5/20)
I've had a comment asking for the counter numbers I discovered in the process of making this post. You'll find them below!
Side One
- Gum Shoe 074
- Beam Rider 140
- Star Trader 238
- Gyropod 338
- China Miner 366
Side Two
- 074 Kokotoni Wilf
- 223 Gilligan's Gold
- 261 Fred
- 300 Falcoln Patrol
- 359 Flak
can you post the new counter numbers you found out about. I also have the tape.
ReplyDeleteHi, I've update the original post to include them.
DeleteLet me know if they work for you.
Enjoy!