The best Speccy game by Bug-Byte: discussion

[Morkin]

I have fond memories of a few of these early games.. Styx, Cavern Fighter, The Birds and the Bees and Aquarius were all playable and enjoyable.

Will probably still end up voting for 'you-know-what' (as long as it's not going to appear under Software Projects.. We all remember 'Deathchasegate'). I think it's stood the test of time the best.

[PeteProdge]

Will probably still end up voting for 'you-know-what' (as long as it's not going to appear under Software Projects.

It won't. Someone else in this thread wisely pointed out that the Software Projects issue is in effect, a re-release, and I won't count re-releases in these polls, they'll always be attributed to the software house that first published the game.

[WIWC]

Antics is the second best.

[uglifruit]

I think Turmoil is excellent fun, and well worth returning to for a play now. I wrote a review of it a few years ago, and I submit it here now, as evidence as to why Turmoil is the best one on this list. (Okay, okay, ... everyone knows that Willy wins, but still...)

Years before Grand Theft Auto corrupted our youth, there was David Turner’s arcade-platformer teaching us to steal cars. As scouser Mic Mechanic your aim is to rob Sheikh Abdul Al Kohol of his prized vehicles – by navigating through 26 increasingly difficult single screen levels containing trampolines, conveyer belts, swinging ropes and moving platforms. You’ll need to collect an oil jug, fill it with stolen oil from the leaky tank, and then drop it into the (increasingly expensive looking) cars, which will then drive away to the next stage. This would be easy if it weren’t for a couple of angry Arabs patrolling the play field. These could well be the most unintentionally hilarious characters of the era - they frantically wield sticks and rush around menacingly – but at each junction they change direction randomly. This causes them to behave very erratically, and they could often appear to spend more time playing on the ropes and trampolines then dealing with you. When cornered, Mic was not completely helpless if he’d previously filled his jug. He could drop a little oil for the Arabs to fatally slip on, although Mic himself was similarly vulnerable, so care needed to be taken.

Graphics were very nicely drawn and animated and although colour clash and flicker were present it was never enough to spoil the fun – and the lenient collision detection allowed for nicely fluid fast-paced play. Throughout the action a musical accompaniment of ‘March Of The Toreadors’ played – but as it is only 24 bars long you’d soon be pressing ‘enter’ and replacing it with sound effects or silence (and speeding up the action slightly by doing so).

Helpfully a ‘training mode’ was offered which enabled starting the game at level 9 (‘I’) or 19 (‘S’) but played without keeping score. This was great way to see some of the later stages, which would otherwise have been a gargantuan task.

We now live in politically sensitive times where this kind of game and inlay blurb would never be created for fear of offending someone. That’s a great shame as this game is immensely good fun with inventive level design and excellent gameplay. It has consequently aged far better than many of its more famous contemporaries.

David Turner was just 18 when he wrote this, and I take my oil-stained hat off to him.

[toot_toot]

Ahhh, Turmoil! My very second Spectrum game! Except it stopped working after a few days and I had to return it. Unfortunately they had no other copies so I made do with Pitfall II instead.

Rapscallion is a real forgotten gem. Written by Albert Ball of Jumping Jack fame, it feels like a more arcade version of Adventure for the Atari 2600. My friend had it when I was young and I remember being amazed by the graphics at the time!

[WIWC]

I hate Turmoil

[AndyC]

Will probably still end up voting for 'you-know-what' (as long as it's not going to appear under Software Projects.

It won't. Someone else in this thread wisely pointed out that the Software Projects issue is in effect, a re-release, and I won't count re-releases in these polls, they'll always be attributed to the software house that first published the game.

JSW will inevitably win the Software Projects one anyway.

[PeteProdge]

It won't. Someone else in this thread wisely pointed out that the Software Projects issue is in effect, a re-release, and I won't count re-releases in these polls, they'll always be attributed to the software house that first published the game.

JSW will inevitably win the Software Projects one anyway.

Gah, I hate that the first two polls I've planned for software houses, are pretty much forgone conclusions! As I say though, we can all turn our eyes to who comes second...

[DouglasReynholm]

Gah, I hate that the first two polls I've planned for software houses, are pretty much forgone conclusions! As I say though, we can all turn our eyes to who comes second...

Well, I'd decided not to go for the obvious MM, but for what likely will come second - Turmoil. My earlier pun aside, I always thought it was one of the most slick/professional titles Bug Byte put out.

Though granted, it's no Zythum (by Mirrorsoft).

[PeteProdge]

Gah, I hate that the first two polls I've planned for software houses, are pretty much forgone conclusions! As I say though, we can all turn our eyes to who comes second...

Well, I'd decided not to go for the obvious MM, but for what likely will come second - Turmoil. My earlier pun aside, I always thought it was one of the most slick/professional titles Bug Byte put out.

I'll have to stress that I don't want people voting for any plucky underdogs for the sake of it. If you think Manic Miner is the best of Bug-Byte's arsenal (and why not? It very probably is!), vote for it. I know I am.

In an ideal world, we'd have 2nd and 3rd voting preferences here.

Though granted, it's no Zythum (by Mirrorsoft).

Ah, Zythum could well top the Mirrorsoft poll. Well, if Tetris didn't exist...

[DouglasReynholm]

Ah, Zythum could well top the Mirrorsoft poll. Well, if Tetris didn't exist...

A couple of really odd ways to spell 'Dynamite Dan' there!

[djnzx48]

There's a nice article about Turmoil in Sinclair Programs:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 12&page=34

[Cosmium]

I've got the say Spectral Invaders. Not particularly for the gameplay but for the fact it was the first smooth (non character based) Spectrum game I ever saw and it was a game changer for me!

I distinctly remember seeing it demo'd on a table at an early ZX Microfair. It must've been on the Bug Byte stand and I remember it being at the far side of the hall. My friend and I bought a copy!

The "white-noise" explosion sound in Spectral Invaders was also a first. Up until then I'd only heard Spectrums emit musical beeps so this also opened up a world of sound effect opportunities that inspired me.

I think Spectres was also released around that time and it too featured hi-res movement that was so captivating in a Spectrum universe that had up until now only utilised character-based movement.

[Frankie]

My Top 3 would look like this:

1. Turmoil
2. Aquarius
3. Antics

[Juan F. Ramirez]

One of their weirdest games is Dogsbody. Weird plot and weird artwork:

[DouglasReynholm]

One of their weirdest games is Dogsbody. Weird plot and weird artwork:

You can just about see that this is only one Letraset/John Bull printing kit evolution from the earliest days. It's that ever-so-slightly tilted text..

Edit: the word 'just' 3 times within less than a paragraph is just obnoxious.

[toot_toot]

One of their weirdest games is Dogsbody. Weird plot and weird artwork:

Bomber Bob has a similar cover style, I think by that point Bug Byte had essentially become a budget label with the cover style and layout very similar to Mastertronic’s at the time (game description on the back, screen shots on the inside and I suppose almost a grid like background on the cover from the spider’s web!)

[toot_toot]

There’s a news item here about how Argus Press were making Bug Byte a budget label, along with the initial releases of Dogsbody, Bomber Bob and Zoot (which also has the same style of cover as Dogsbody)

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 587&page=6

There’s talk of expanding the budget range from Bug Byte, but I think that was disbanded and instead it was turned into a re-release label for Argus Press titles.