Wriggler on the ZX Spectrum 48K

When it comes to weird and wonderful games, the ZX Spectrum has everything else beat. At time of typing, I've now reviewed 450 Speccy games and it is always a delight when I stumble upon some weirdness I never before knew existed.

And so we find Wriggler. A game published by Romantic Robot in 1985, a company better known for their hardware than software accomplishments. Have a watch of the full game play review below. It is watchable either through this blog screen or clicking through to YouTube.

The character you control is a worm... or is it snake?  Or a maggot?  I'm happier thinking it's a worm. A worm is a lot more wholesome.

Wriggler is a unique maze game. The idea is simple. You must wriggle your way from the Garden, through to the Scrub land, through to the Underground and then to the Mansion. Sounds simple eh? Well... it's a substantially large maze consisting of 250 locations. The maze is also full of energy sapping nasties. One of these nasties is a rather large spooky looking spider which is the stuff of nightmares. Ok then... this makes it trickier.

Wriggler is a really well designed game with charming graphics and beautiful animations of the main character and varied enemies. I particularly like the underground fly. A Map here would be really beneficial. Any contact with enemy insect life depletes your energy, but this can be replenished by picking up a number of items including Iced Buns and Cups of Tea. Worms love tea right?

You start the game alongside three other fellow worms who seem to have the same objective as you to get to the Mansion. This gives you hope then. Without a Map, you can opt to follow one of them. They may not all take the same route. There are several ways through the maze. If you fall too far behind, those sneaky fellows may well give you the slip.

Playing Wriggler is a very pleasurable experience. The action moves at a leisurely pace and I found it to be very relaxing... apart from when that spider showed up!

Nick :o)

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Master Blaster - ZX Spectrum 48K - A Cover Tape

Back in the day, when a ZX Spectrum magazine come with a Cover Tape sellotaped to the front, I always got a bit excited. Staring at it as a kid in the newsagent, the mag was just screaming out, Buy Me! My mind just raced. What greatness was inside? How good was the free game on it?

Well... more often than not, it was a bit rubbish. There was a lot of disappointment back then. That's why the game was often on a Cover Tape in the first place and not a commercial release. There were exceptions though. Thankfully this can be said for Master Blaster given away with Crash Magazine in 1990. Click on my video review below hosted on YouTube.

Master Blaster is a cracking little vertical shooter. Very hard at first, but practice is rewarded as you slowly learn the enemies wave patterns. Those aliens do tend to come at you kamikaze very fast. It's just a question of being in the right place at the tight time. Once you've learnt that, you could probably make you way without having to shoot hardly any of them.

Many Shoot 'um ups on the speccy of this era and before had very monochrome graphics, but not so with Master Blaster. The game is awash with colour and some of the background is even animated giving the game so amazing style. The attention to detail in all the graphics is outstanding.

You control a ship that looks very much like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek and you can tell that movie franchise has had a healthy influence over the games creation. The first end of level boss you come to will look very much a Klingon Warbird. Bosses after this tend to go their own way and all are impressively animated.

If it is so good, why was this not released as a commercial game then?

I'm not sure of the answer to that one. Maybe by 1990, the author Cybadyne, thought the game would do better through a popular magazine than sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for people to buy. 1990 was quite late in the Spectrum's run.

As far as cover tape games go, this is one of the best ones I've come across and well worth tracking down. An awesome shooter !!!

Nick :o)

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GTA V - Actually doing Missions... oh dear

GTA V by Rockstar games. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's one crazy place.

In the game you eventually can control any one of three main characters in this sprawling open-world. They are Michael, Franklin and Trevor. At the start, Michael is the only playable one. The others need to be unlocked.

Admittedly, up until now, I haven't really got the best out of this masterpiece. Never perfected my skills or the controls, never experienced the true Los Santos and all it has to offer. Which is a shame. Most the time I have just run around the map as Michael (the start character) in the same clothes he starts with, just generally causing mayhem.

Missions are where the real action is at. Missions are where the character stories slowly introduce you to the finities of the game. Teaches you new skills. Makes the World become more alive. Thought it was high-time I started doing them then! Check out the video below.  Noob alert !!!!!!!

Father / Son : If you complete this mission, you unlock Franklin as a playable character. I think there are other missions also which would achieve the same thing.

Basically, your stupid lazy Son, Jimmy, has attempted to sell your boat to get some much needed cash. The deal has gone bad, and the Boat has instead been stolen and driven off on a big truck. Great. Jimmy phones Micheal (that's you) and lets him know. So... now a big chase ensues and this is where you jump into the action... or try to in my case!

Taking your wife Amanda's sports car, which I hope is heavily insured for damage, you drive to the seafront with Franklin and make chase along the road. You must get the car close enough for Franklin to climb out of your car and onto the boat being pulled along. There is traffic getting in the way everywhere making it particularly treacherous for someone with super noobie skills.

Once Frankin is aboard, you then have a shoot a thug off him from your moving car. Yes... I did say moving. Is super tricky. The Boat boom suddenly swings out with you son Jimmy holding onto it! You must drive underneath and catch the fool.

It's not over yet.

Once you've caught Jimmy, you then need to drive to the rear of the boat again so Franklin can jump back aboard.It's a complicated business and this is one of the early missions! Think I could be in a bit of trouble here. :P

What happens next? Am I succesful. Well... I'll let you watch the vid. Los Santos is a dangerous place... but of course, that's why we love it.

Nick :o)  

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Super Off Road on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive

Super Off Road was one of my favourite racers from back in the day. Used to play the game a lot on the Commodore Amiga. That version had a license on it for Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart'. Was very interested to see how the game played on the Sega Mega Drive in comparison.

Super Off Road is a racing game published by Virgin in 1992 and based on the arcade coin-op from Leland Corporation in 1989.

How does this one play then?

Well, I'm pleased to say it plays wonderfully. This version is a bit different from the Amiga version I was previously used to and you can sort of look at this as an enhanced arcade version. Very pleasing indeed!

You control a small red car in this oblique top down racing game. It's kind of like a dirt-version of Super Sprint. You race three other opponents and the aim is to progress to as many different courses as possible without getting knocked out.

Prize money is awarded depending on your finishing position which you can use to upgrade your car. Upgrades available are Nitros, Acceleration, Tyres, Speed and Shocks. All are vital to ensure your successful progress. Finishing fourth means no prize money at all meaning you can't upgrade your car for the next race... when this happens a few times in a row you know GAME OVER is imminent.

It seems there are a lot more courses available here than on the Arcade and Amiga versions which is fantastic. The game play is very welcoming for the beginner new to the game, but can rank up quite quickly due to a kind of in-built rubber-banding system.

After each race, you hopefully see yourself on the podium with scantily clad bikini girls. Erm yes... this was probably okay for 1992, but nowadays the Political Correctness police would be heavily on your case. Grid Girls being no longer used in Formula One of course. Changing times. When looking at Retro Games, you have to take yourself back to the era they were originally produced.

Super Off Road is a magnificently fun game. Would highly recommend this version for people both new to the game and those who only had other versions such as myself. It's like a Super Off Road Enhanced Edition!

Check out the Youtube video review above!!

Nick :o)

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Continental Circus - Commodore 64 - F1 Racing !!!

This ported F1 racing game should have been called Continental Circuit... but it wasn't... due to a typo. I know... amazing!

It was an error which was to earn the game the esteemed accolade of 'Cock up of the Year' from magazine Spectrum User in 1989. This unfortunate typo was carried to the Spectrum version also you see. As Darth Vader would probably have said if one of his Officers had gifted it to him on his birthday, "Your failure is complete". Oops!

So here we have it then. Continental Circus on the Commodore 64 published by Virgin in 1989 and based on the Arcade coin-op from Taito in 1987. A Formula 1 game of sorts. Below is the Channel's Youtube review.

Beyond the naming boo boo, what we have here though is a fairly decent racer. Much better than Wec Le Mans which we reviewed a little earlier and was attempting a similar thing.

Set over 8 different tracks, the objective of the game is to qualify your car up the ranks within a single lap to progress to the next circuit. It's not direct racing, but more of a trial. There are no points awarded or World Championship to win against named F1 drivers.

You start with a ranking of 100 and this decreases by 1 each time you overtake one of the drone cars on track. Get to the required rank within the lap and hooray, you've qualified. If you fail, it's not all doom and gloom as there are a few continues available to you and the good news is, you keep your rank from the previous attempt. This is most welcome and adds to the playability greatly.

Any collision with another car or the scenery results in the car smoking and then eventually catching fire, then game over. The car can be repaired by pulling into the pits, but this of course will cost you time and valuable qualifying positions. You are up against the clock as well so Continental Circus does present somewhat of a challenge which will take quite a few goes to master.

The sound is good, but he main sprite of the car could perhaps have been a bit better. The changing weather conditions are a very nice thing to see on an 8 Bit system which adds to the fun. This feature was also present on the ZX Spectrum version previously reviewed.

Overall Continental Circus is a solid game I would have enjoyed back in the day. There are better racers out there, but this is well worth a play.

Nick :o)

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The Channel has now reviewed over 50 Commodore 64 Games !! Hooray !!!

It doesn't seem that long ago that the channel started reviewing Commodore 64 games, but already we have completed 50 of them. Amazing!

The experience has been both enjoyable and educational comparing the system with the ZX Spectrum I owned growing up which I am ultimately more familiar with. Every time fifty game reviews are completed, we have a fun recap with a special video! Here it is !!!!

Lots of fun seeing them all in a row like this!

I have to say, I am very impressed so far. Had very little knowledge of the C64 before this point and I certainly missed out back in the day. Wouldn't swap this for my childhood memories with the ZX Spectrum of course. Nostalgia is a very strong thing.

What's impressed me most is the sound this 8 bit machine is capable of. It has a designated SID chip where in comparison, the Spectrum just had a basic beeper. It can really kick out some impressive tunes. I later owned a Commodore Amiga so have been finding it very interesting comparing the same games to it's immediate predecessor.

One of the first games I reviewed was The Great Giana Sisters and I was absolutely gobsmacked at how close they got it to look, sound and play like the Commodore Amiga version. Coders back then were capable of some truly wonderful things.

There's been a couple of stinkers along the way too of course. Being new to the system, I've been able to pick the cream of the crop so undoubtedly the quality of the games will drop ever so slightly. Still a vast treasure trove of games to look at though with people recommending new ones in the comments section on a regular basis. When this happens, I certainly add them to the list to cover. Will get to them eventually !!!

Hope you liked the recap video and this trip down memory lane. Here's to the next 50 !!!

Nick :o)

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Road Rash 3 on the Sega Genesis / Megadrive

Road Rash 3, you won't be surprised to hear, was the third instalment of the Road Rash Series which began on the system in 1991. Road Rash II arrived in 1993, then this third game in 1995. All were published by Electronic Arts.

The first game was outstanding, the second built off the same gaming engine and gave us tougher opponents and more bikes, so what does the third give us? Is it any better? Below is the Youtube video review.

Road Rash games consist of racing with a difference. That difference being comical violence. It's all clean fun. No pixels get injured... I think.

Simply, you start on a Skill Level of 1, must finish in the top 3 on each of the tracks to increasingly level up and face better and stronger AI opponents. It's racing meets fighting. Ace! You have the ability to punch fellow riders off their bikes, club them, hit them with chains, anything to hinder them finishing in front of you. Seems fair.

Road Rash 3 again builds on the greatness of the previous games to offer us slightly more.

You start off with quite a weedy bike, a leaf blower, but by completing races and earning money, you can eventually upgrade. So a bit of grinding. Continuous play will be rewarded. There are three Bike Classes with the highest one being Super Bikes which we must all aspire to. This is where the addictiveness builds. The game is already heaps of fun, but you just want to get enough money for the next bike upgrade. Just one more race...

This time you are racing through 5 different countries. Oncoming traffic in each is not always on the same side of the road which means you have to adjust your tactics a bit depending on where you are. Those evil crossroads are still in place.

The sprites of the rider have been updated from the first two games which isn't a bad thing. The playability is still there. It's still Road Rash. It's manic racing fighting action all the way !!

Overall, I'd rate in on Parr with Road Rash II. It offers a bit more, but not a massive amount. If you enjoyed the first two games, you will absolutely love this one. I sure did!

Nick :o)

Please share and spread the word on social media platforms!  :)   #njenkin