Games for your family

General software. From trouble with the Banyan Tree to OCP Art Studio, post any general software chat here. Could include game challenges...
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PeteProdge
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Re: Games for your family

Post by PeteProdge »

DouglasReynholm wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 6:07 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:22 pm My dad never touched the Spectrum at all. My mum played Bubble Bobble with me, once, at that was at my insistence.
I'll play Bubble Bobble with you anytime Pete, but only the arcade version!
Pfft, Bubble Bobble is one game where practically every conversion of it is damned good. I've never come across a bad version, and I've tried it on old consoles and all sorts.

Yeah, the Speccy only has 80 of the 100 levels, but still, it plays very much like the arcade.

Obviously, the arcade is king, but I can't find a version that sucks - unless it's when they try to 'update' it.
DouglasReynholm wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 6:07 pmThe only time my dad ever touched my Speccy was to unplug it if ever unattended (more than 30 seconds). He was the original 'like Blackpool illuminations in here', which is British for 'you are using too much electricity'. He finally learned to stop doing it after pulling the plug on a program I had just spent 2 hours putting into a rubber keyed 48k. :x
I could get away with that by having the telly switched off. You forget how quiet a Spectrum is. Come the 1990s, with 'serious' computers, the fan made it clear it was definitely on.
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DouglasReynholm
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Re: Games for your family

Post by DouglasReynholm »

PeteProdge wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 7:02 pm Pfft, Bubble Bobble is one game where practically every conversion of it is damned good. I've never come across a bad version, and I've tried it on old consoles and all sorts.
Sorry to sort of get off topic momentarily, but yes and no. The conversions were mostly good at getting the base gameplay, (dare I say it) the C64 being 'best'. The problem was that some (caveat - I haven't played all the conversions, but a few, including the Spectrum) of the ports didn't get the feel of the original's 'if this then that' (edit: or 'state machine' if you will) specifically when it came to the current score, and the order of collection and placement of the special objects. Most the ports IIRC didn't get the source to work from (as we know, rare then anyway) and replaced quite a subtle gameplay system with something much more random. I've played a lot of the arcade and none of the ports I played truly hold a candle, solely for that reason.

Possibly the X68000 version might be most faithful? I know Taito have certainly lost the code since, but I don't know if any of the port developers back then got it anyway.

Sermon/rant over.. ;) but to broadly bring this back on topic, I love playing the game with my son 33 years after I first played it just not on the Speccy
Last edited by DouglasReynholm on Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PeterJ
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Re: Games for your family

Post by PeterJ »

When my late father and I built the ZX81 he took an interest in BASIc. Those official manuals are just the best! We also got an input output card from Maplin again as a kit which we controlled some relays with.

Once I got the Spectrum he was not interested in it at all. I was the 'mistake' so my siblings were much older and not interested either. Dad was pleased that I enjoyed the Spectrum though.

Maybe surprise is a better word than mistake!
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Joefish
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Re: Games for your family

Post by Joefish »

My brother and I once got two joysticks and a DK'Tronics interface for Christmas. Then later my brother had a strop and pulled the interface out while I was playing Sabre Wulf and said it was his (he got to unwrap it on Christmas morning). It locked up the Speccy, but fortunately it was alright after a reset. Close one.

Most exasperating was my Gran when she was with at Christmas one year. She gave me Jason's Gem as a present, then when I put the Spectrum on the telly to play it started complaining loudly for my Mum to hear, "Do we have to have this rubbish on?". I'm guessing now that Mum actually bought the game and Gran hadn't the faintest idea what it was she had actually given me that year.
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Klepto
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Re: Games for your family

Post by Klepto »

I remember my Dad became obsessed with a budget Choplifter type of game. I don't remember the name of it but it scrolled left and right, had a helicopter and I think you were flying over a landscape with sand and palm trees. I would like to know the name of it to be honest. Then, when I had moved on the Master System he developed an obsession with Out Run (best 8-bit version I think).
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Re: Games for your family

Post by uglifruit »

Oh, you've just reminded me - as a family we also played the Mastertronic shooting gallery game "Rifle Range". I remember my dad being very enthusiastic about it, and me wondering why he didn't order JetPac.
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Klepto
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Re: Games for your family

Post by Klepto »

It's strange how most Dad's didn't really care about games but would develop a strange fascination with one particular game. Usually one you would not expect.

Back in 84is I wanted a Speccy because my friends across the street had one. My birthday was coming up and they knew I wanted a computer. So they got me the Commodore 16 :cry: . I did have some fun with it, although I think I only had it about 6 months and my friends across the street sourced me a rubber 48k :D . But I remember my dad being obsessed with the painting program that came with the C16, which as you can imagine was very basic.
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popeymon
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Re: Games for your family

Post by popeymon »

My Dad liked Tank Trax by Mastertronic and nothing else, although he would have liked Galaxians by Artic if I had it then - because it was such a good version of the arcade Galaxian, which he played. He liked the two player game where we could fire at each other's tanks using the simple controls. Sort of relaxing game. He wasn't good at the fast controls (including Galaxian) so Tank Trax was ideal.

My sister liked Atic Atac, I think because of the graphics and sound.
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popeymon
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Re: Games for your family

Post by popeymon »

uglifruit wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:13 pm Oh, you've just reminded me - as a family we also played the Mastertronic shooting gallery game "Rifle Range". I remember my dad being very enthusiastic about it, and me wondering why he didn't order JetPac.
Not a bad game that, for the £1.99. Perhaps he liked it because it reminds him of the real thing?

I hope that you did not miss out on Jetpac!
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Re: Games for your family

Post by dfzx »

When I spent my teenage life savings on a 48K rubber key model from Boots my Dad looked at it and said "well they had bigger ones than that in there!" He was genuinely annoyed I'd spent my money on a physically smaller computer than was necessary. That was the only comment he ever made on it, other than to repeatedly tell me I'd never get a career in computers and I should learn a proper trade. I'm typing this from my desk at IBM. :lol:

My Mum loved playing Space Raiders. That was the only game she ever played, and she always used the same strategy: sit behind a block, blast a hole in it, and keep firing until the enemy fire destroyed the block and she got hit. Time and again I tried to teach her to play out in the open and dodge incoming bullets, and time and again she scuttled back behind a block to do it her way. I recall being interested in how she always got a very similar final score, determinism of computers not being something I was familiar with back then.
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