Poll: Ocean early games

General software. From trouble with the Banyan Tree to OCP Art Studio, post any general software chat here. Could include game challenges...

Your fave Ocean early game?

Armageddon
5
15%
Cavelon
3
9%
Chinese Juggler
0
No votes
Digger Dan
0
No votes
Eskimo Eddie
1
3%
Frenzy
1
3%
Gillingan's Gold
6
18%
Hunchback
4
12%
Hunchback II
1
3%
kong
2
6%
Kong Strikes Back
0
No votes
Moon Alert
5
15%
Mr. Wimpy
2
6%
Pogo
2
6%
Pud Pud
1
3%
Royal Birkdale Championship Golf
1
3%
Transversion
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 34

Wall_Axe
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Wall_Axe »

is there a way of ordering search results by release date?
then I could just see all the screen shots at once to remind me of the games
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Morkin
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Morkin »

Went for Kong - not the best conversion in the world but the most playable. (After Krazy Kong by C-Tech of course). :lol:
My Speccy site: thirdharmoniser.com
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blucey
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by blucey »

From that lot my fave was Hunchback 2. However, playing that recently I realised it was a load old bollocks.

I did play a LOT of Gilligan's Gold. Never got past the first level. It was the original Dark Souls.
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Mike Davies
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Mike Davies »

Out of that list, only played Moon Patrol back in the day. Played Armageddon recently and was surprised how good it was. Voted for the latter.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

Since I have played fewer than half of these games, and even those I have played have not been touched since the mid 1980s, I thought I would quickly play through them all.

I'll post short reviews below. Feel free to play along!

I'll be playing on an emulator on a touchscreen. I know that's as inauthentic as it gets, but that's all I have time for right now.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

ARMAGEDDON

I always liked the artwork on this one. The red sky, the strangely phoenix-shaped mushroom cloud... it all created quite an apocalyptic feel. By the standards of the day, it was pretty slick packaging.

The other thing to note before I get onto the game itself is the loading screen. All the Ocean games I have played from this time had variants of the same loading screen. To me it looks like a horizon and a number of roads. But I feel like I must be failing some sort of Rorschach test, because I have no idea what this has to do with Ocean.

The game starts with a funky menu, which is dragged across the screen by a matchstick man. The end sequence shows similar polish, with a large THE END message, destroyed by explosions. This might not sound impressive now, but in 1983 this was reasonably slick stuff.

In between is a competent and playable Missile Command clone. It's hard to play on a touchscreen, but it's pretty much as I remember it. I can see why I found it playable back in the day, especially with Kempston support.

Overall, a good game and so far I feel happy with it as my first choice.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

CAVELON

This one's from 1984 and it shows. It's much slicker. The loading screen, based on Bob Wakelin's art, is superb. The menus are polished. There is a cut scene at the start.

The game's nicely presented, with tidy graphics and a beepy in-game tune. The scrolling is a bit jerky, but this is the Speccy, after all. It's quite fun to play. Unusually it's reasonably playable on a touch screen. But it's too hard for me, just as it was back in the day (yes, that probably marks me out as a gaming dunce).

So the leaderboard is so far as I expected:

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon (not far behind)
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Surprised Gilligan's Gold is winning!
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

CHINESE JUGGLER

This is from the same period as Cavelon and has a similar loading screen replicating the cover art. That's a bit unfortunate, as its depiction of Chinese plate spinner would probably not be considered appropriate today.

This is the first of the games I have never played before. And sadly it stayed that way. No matter what control method I used, I could move but not perform any actions. Perhaps I am being thick, or there is a problem with the emulator I am using (Marvin). But I got nowhere with this one. From the demo I can see it is a passable Game-and-Watch-style game. The graphics are fine. The sound, though, is insanely annoying: a bleepy tune that runs non-stop through the game and menu. There is an option to disable it, though.

The new leaderboard:

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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R-Tape
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by R-Tape »

Rorthron wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:04 am DNF - Chinese Juggler
Nay DNS?
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

R-Tape wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:36 am
Rorthron wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:04 am DNF - Chinese Juggler
Nay DNS?
You're quite right.

Neigh.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

DIGGER DAN

This is a very basic Space Panic clone. The graphics are simple and crudely animated, moving in whole character squares. Sound is almost non-existent.

The rough edges wouldn't matter so much if the game was fun, but I found it all pretty dull.

Updated rankings:

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Digger Dan
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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R-Tape
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by R-Tape »

Aye Sam Spade is a much better Panic clone. Not that it redeems the game but Digger Dan has the coolest inlay art.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

ESKIMO EDDIE

This has another very good loading screen, but the game does not match it. There is a simple Frogger-like section where you have to rescue a penguin a few times. Then you take the role of the penguin in a top-down maze, where you have to kill the enemies by pushing blocks against them.

The graphics are neat, but not spectacular. Sound is actually decent with a simple polyphonic tune. The gameplay, though, lets it down. It is simple and repetitive, and while there are plenty of simple, repetitive games that manage to be fun and addictive, Eskimo Eddie isn't one of them. There just doesn't seem to be much to the game.

It's a step up from Digger Dan, but still not great.

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Eskimo Eddie
4. ‎Digger Dan
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

FRENZY

I'm sorry, but this one is just rubbish. I'm not going to waste much time on it. Graphics and sound are poor. The enemy that appears if you stay too long on a screen arrives far too quickly. Next!

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Eskimo Eddie
4. ‎Digger Dan
5. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

GILLIGAN'S GOLD

I'd never played this before and was quite looking forward to it, since it is currently leading the poll. The loading screen is once again pretty good, but that's not necessarily a good omen, as some of the other games have shown. Ocean mastered the packaging before it mastered the content.

But it's actually not at all bad. The graphics aren't spectacular, but they are pretty smooth. The sound is quite good, with a very warbly in-game tune that isn't too annoying.

There's quite a lot going on in the game, at least compared with the last few games I've looked at. So overall one of the better early Ocean games.

Still, I wouldn't place it top.

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Gilligan's Gold
4. ‎Eskimo Eddie
5. ‎Digger Dan
6. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

HUNCHBACK

Now to my bete noire: Hunchback. This used to drive me mad and I can see why: it is unforgiving and difficult to read. But it's not as bad as I remembered and, although infuriating, it has that one-more-go quality. So perhaps I was harsh on it.

Now to try and get on that bloody rope again....

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Hunchback
4. ‎Gilligan's Gold
5. ‎Eskimo Eddie
6. ‎Digger Dan
7. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

HUNCHBACK II

I have a guilty secret to confess. The first version of this that I played was on a C64. And I loved it. My cousin had got it as soon as it came out (or possibly even pre-release, as his dad managed an electronics retailer) and I tried it at his house. So as soon as I could (and before any reviews) I went to WH Smith to buy the Spectrum version. I was able to try it in store first. And I hated it.

I haven't revised my opinion now. I haven't replayed the C64 version (that would just be wrong), but the Spectrum version is still fiddly and infuriating. Like the original game, but worse. The graphics aren't great, either.

So, revised rankings:

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Hunchback
4. ‎Gilligan's Gold
5. ‎Hunchback II
6. ‎Eskimo Eddie
7. ‎Digger Dan
8. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I think Chinese Juggler is the most 'obscure' game of the lot, isn't it?
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:29 am I think Chinese Juggler is the most 'obscure' game of the lot, isn't it?
Possibly. Personally I'd go for Frenzy (Robotics). Until this thread I was only aware of the Quicksilva version.
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

KONG

I've always loved Donkey Kong and I played this version a lot when it first came out. It's not a great copy. Kong is badly animated and there are a lot of sloppy touches ("1 LIVES LEFT", one digit of the score being a different colour, pixels left behind when Kong stamps). But it's reasonably playable. Not the conversion I was looking for, but not too bad.

Kong goes in 4th place:

1. Armageddon
2. ‎Cavelon
3. ‎Hunchback
4. ‎Kong
5. ‎Gilligan's Gold
6. ‎Hunchback II
7. ‎Eskimo Eddie
8. ‎Digger Dan
9. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

KONG STRIKES BACK

Now for the other of Ocean's big 1984 sequels. Hunchback II managed to be worse than the less-than-stellar original. But Kong Strikes Back is a big improvement on the first game. The graphics are smooth and neatly animated. The sound isn't up to much, but the game is fun. I had never played it before, but I think it's actually my favourite so far.

There is a new (and to me quite unexpected) leader:

1. Kong Strikes Back
2. ‎Armageddon
3. ‎Cavelon
4. ‎Hunchback
5. ‎Kong
6. ‎Gilligan's Gold
7. ‎Hunchback II
8. ‎Eskimo Eddie
9. ‎Digger Dan
10. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler

(I'm assuming Kong Strikes Back's lack of votes in the poll is because people haven't played it. Either that, or I've had a brainfart.)
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Rorthron
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Rorthron »

MOON ALERT

This feels like a game from the future. I don't mean the science-fiction setting. I mean that is a side-scrolling auto-runner very much in the mould of modern smartphone games. And it's really quite good.

You control a moon buggy which can jump over hazards and shoot at aliens vertically and horizontally. The graphics are good. The moon buggy is well drawn and moves smoothly, albeit with flicker. There's a smooth parallax scrolling effect. There are decent spot sound effects and a basic polyphonic tune. The game itself is a simple concept, but well executed and enjoyable.

It's been worth wading through some of the dross to discover the last two games.

The new leaderboard is:

1. Kong Strikes Back
2. ‎Armageddon
3. ‎Moon Alert
4. ‎Cavelon
5. ‎Hunchback
6. ‎Kong
7. ‎Gilligan's Gold
8. ‎Hunchback II
9. ‎Eskimo Eddie
10. ‎Digger Dan
11. ‎Frenzy
DNF - Chinese Juggler
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Pud Pud no votes. Unfair. I've always thought it's an interesting game.
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Re: Poll: Ocean early games

Post by redballoon »

The thing is, I know all of them are pretty poor, but each and every one of those games in that poll mean something to me. I played them all in the early days of having my Spectrum and they were all something! Seeing the loading screen appear for Pogo. The wonderful abstract landscapes of the loading screens of Armageddon and Kong. Buying Cavelon and Eskimo Eddie from Tesco with my hard earned £5.95 and playing the living sh*t out of it. Playing Hunchback II at around 4am on Christmas morning because, according to my mum and dad, it was too early to get up and open the presents.

Each and everyone of those bad boys are special to me.
Would I play them now? Oh Sweet Moses, no!
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