Day 79 - Xeno and Eliminator (ZX Spectrum)

A Spectrum double-header is today's assault on my 555 game backlog. I'm still playing at least one a day, every day, on Covid-19 lockdown...

Xeno & Eliminator for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.

Another day, another Crash Magazine cover tape I’ve never played. I don’t even know where they all came from; I was a ‘Your Sinclair’ guy back in the day.

Along with the usual ‘pokes’ and a demo of ‘Potsworth & Co’, this tape had two games that were once ‘full price releases’ - meaning that in the mid to late eighties they would have cost a tenner each; top dollar for Spectrum games at that time.

I think by 1992, when Crash stuck this cassette to their magazine, other publications were getting low on material and had begun plumbing the depths of self published titles and music editing software. It’s quite refreshing to find a cover tape from the nineties that is devoid of all that tat.

In honour of this (and the fact I find it difficult to find much to say about these older games) I decided to dedicate this blog entry to the whole tape...

But then the ‘Potsworth & Co’ demo wouldn’t load so it’s just the two full games I’m afraid - I’m actually a bit disappointed because it genuinely looks pretty decent. Never mind. Onwards.

Day 68: To the Earth (NES)

Busting out the NES Zapper in my ongoing efforts to play one randomly selected title from my 565 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...

To the Earth for the NES
Previous days' entries can be read HERE

Did you know there are only seventeen games for the NES ‘Zapper’ accessory? That’s sixteen games that no-one has ever played because they aren’t ‘Duck Hunt’.

Okay. That’s not fair. 

I know there are fans out there of ‘Wild Gunman’, ‘Gum Shoe’, ‘Hogan’s Alley’, ‘Operation Wolf’, and ‘Freedom Force’. And a lot of people know of ‘Bayou Billy’, and ‘Barker Bill’.

But I reckon that about does it for the Zapper games that most people could name off the top of their head; not even half of them, by my maths.

Which is a shame because there’s a couple of games in the ‘other’ half that are better than most of the better known games. I don’t own SNK’s ‘Mechanized Attack’ as it’s US only, but I was able to play it at a game show a few years back and it’s definitely one of the better games for the peripheral and deserving of attention for more than it’s infamous debug screen. 

And then there’s ‘To the Earth’, which, incidentally, has possibly my favourite box art on the system; the lettering alone is pure joy to behold.

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 18: Burnout: Revenge (PS2)

I'm playing one title from my 629 game backlog every day that the UK is in lockdown. 

Previous days games can be found here, but today we have...

Burnout: Revenge on Playstation 2

I find myself wondering what to write about this game that could possibly be interesting, worthwhile, or new.

It was in my backlog because I hadn't played it - but then, after the VERY turn of the century music had played, and the VERY turn of the century intro movie had finished, and I actually started playing, it was... well... it's Burnout, isn't it?

Sandwiched between the breakout third entry 'Takedown' and the landmark 'Paradise' (Both of which I've played a lot), Revenge is much more an iteration on the former than a step towards the latter.

There are small tweaks to gameplay in a lot of areas and the titular Revenge mechanic is the largest of them - and it is a good one. Essentially you get extra points for taking out the car that last took you out. A different coloured icon over the vehicle is about as much as this amounts to, but it really works. I found myself desperate to put my rival in a wall and genuinely disappointed if I hadn't achieved this before the race was over - even if I had won.

As a polishing of the original Burnout formula it's a hard game to fault. It comes with EA's trademark sheen and there's an impressive sense of speed for a 6th generation game - with the sound effects of particularly of quality when it comes the all round atmosphere of careening through city streets. 

I'm in the minority that really can't be arsed with 'Crash mode' so for me nothing before Burnout: Paradise even comes close to that game's quality. But Revenge is the 'next best' in the franchise and if you hadn't played any of these games from the pre-HD era then this would probably be the best place to start.

Although, with that said, I'm quite partial to Dominator on the PSP. Let's face it, these are not deep games, it's a pure arcade blast from start to finish and that structure suits handheld gaming really well.

Burnout: Revenge - You've probably played it already, but if not, you should

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 15: Rebelstar (ZX Spectrum)

I'm playing one randomly selected title from my 631 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown. Todays game is...

Rebelstar on ZX Spectrum

"This is no ordinary game! There is no fancy story or scenario, just you against the computer. It is a fight to the death!"

So states the instruction manual for Rebelstar, 2nd of a four game series that started with Rebelstar Raiders in 1984 and ended with Rebelstar: Tactical command on the Game Boy Advance in 2005. There were 2 years between each of the first three games and 17 between the third and fourth. They were all created by the master of turn based strategy; Julian Gollop, who to this day is still polishing the genre to a fine sheen with the XCom series.

Rebelstar was the first time the series had a single player mode, although 'mode' isn't quite accurate as it and the two player game are entirely separate programs stored on different sides of the cassette. As an aside to this, there's another great line on the inlay where it bluntly states that: 'Because of memory restrictions, at the end of the game you will have to RE-LOAD before playing again'. Simpler times.

I started my journey with the series with Rebelstar II when it appeared on a cover tape back in about 1990. I played it a lot but I'm pretty sure I never completed it. Loading up Rebelstar the first thing that hits me is how similar it is - the Aliens 'inspired' characters and designs are absent, but the familar yellow, blue, and green palette is here and it plays very similarly indeed.

It's recognisable turn-based strategy stuff. Movement points, action points, stamina, morale... they're all here and presented for each individual unit and enemy. It even has a version of 'overwatch' - although here it is called 'Opportunity Fire'. In fact there is so much here that is completely familiar that it's difficult not to speculate that this game may have been be the genesis of the whole genre. I'm no games historian, I have no idea if that's true, but it's very rare to pick up a game 34 years after it was released and be immediately au fait (control interface aside) with most of it's ideas and structure.

Obviously there are frustrations that come with the age of the software too. There is no map, for example, making a search of the surprisingly large play area a laborious task. There are also a few details of which you have to rely on the manual to convey - not unusual for games of this vintage, but definitely worthy of note for anyone thinking of giving it a look today. 

This is a series for which I have a lot of nostalgia and a develop for whom I have a massive amount of respect, it isn't easy to put those things aside when appraising the game - but there is no doubt that I loved going back and seeing the early days of this genre again. It's a historically fascinating game that's still a lot of fun to play.

Rebelstar - Essential for turn based stategy fans and good fun for everyone else

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 13: Jungle Trouble (ZX Spectrum)

The latest in my attack on (at least) one title from my 631 game backlog every day that the UK is in 'lock-down'.

I'm not planning on completing them, just playing them for long enough to know: A) What they're all about and B) If they're good enough to continue playing ASAP

Back to the vintage days again as the randomiser chose...

Jungle Trouble on the ZX Spectrum

Mike Richardson is a name that means the same to me that Shigeru Miyamoto might mean to you.

As half of Durrell Software (interestingly wrongly credited as 'Elite' on the covertape I'm playing from) Mr Richardson was responsible for Turbo Esprit. A game I first played in 1987 and one I have loved ever since. It's easily in my top five games of all time. It turns out, 3 years before Turbo Esprit Mr Richardson was working with even less ram (16k) on a little game called Jungle Trouble - and it is delightful.

The entirety of Jungle Trouble is just a single screen divided into 4 'events' over 3 levels. First you have to hopscotch over the crocodile invested river, then you have to fell four trees, then rope swing over a pit of fire. Finally. You have to jump a chasm that opens in the ground just when you think you're 'Home'. There are also three monkeys who interfere with whatever you're up to.

This is it. This is the whole game. There are entirely two sound effects. Walking and dying, and there are 6 colours - including black and white. As video games go it doesn't get more basic than this, and that, usually, is a really bad sign.

I'm not really a fan of nostalgia. I'm not immune to it and I understand it's a powerful thing but too often I see it's rosy hue creep into peoples opinions - often without them noticing. Very old games are an area where I've seen this the most, so let me break this to everyone gently. The vast, VAST, majority of games from the early eighties and before are absolute rubbish. The majority of the Atari VCS library: Awful. 16k Spectrum games: Unplayable.

And yet there are always exceptions.

Jungle Trouble has it's idiosyncrasies... Without reading the instructions you would never find the axe required to chop down the trees. It takes trial and error just to realise that you have to release 'run' before you can jump. The keys are 5=Left, 6=Down, 7=Up, & 8=right - these were the cursor keys for the Spectrum and I've never seen them used before... Nevertheless, it kind of works. Still.

To get any longevity from the game you'd have to be obsessed with beating your high score on each of the speed settings (Charmingly, it literally just increases the speed that everything in game runs out) and I'm not pretending anyone is going to spend time doing that in 2020. But as an example of a properly vintage game that is actually playable - and enjoyable - nearly 40 years after it was made, Jungle Trouble is a lovely thing.

Jungle Trouble (ZX Spectrum) - Don't listen to me, play it yourself

Previously...

Day One was the excellent Luminees II on PSP

Day Two was the fun-but-probably-better-in-co-op Sanctum 2 on PC

Day Three was the pretty ropey but maybe worth a second chance on PS2 Dead to Rights 2 on Xbox

Day Four was the utterly stunning Pyre on PC

Day Five was the horribly aged but undeniably addictive skate it on the Wii

Day Six was the endearing and surprisingly competent Enduro Racer for the Sega Master System

Day Seven was the fun for a (very) quick burst Space Pirate Trainer in VR

Day Eight was the disappointingly awkward Draconus on ZX Spectrum

Day Nine was the idiosyncratic Ring of Red on PS2

Day Ten I lost half my text while trying to explain how Assassin's Creed Syndicate on PC was a pleasant, is simplistic, surprise.


Day Eleven was the utterly broken Perfect Dark on GBC


Day Twelve was the fun Rescue Raiders knock-off Glory Days on the GBA