The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

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PeteProdge
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The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Plundering the WOS top 100 games, some contenders...

Dun Durach by Gargoyle
Dragontorc by Hewson
Deathchase by Micromega
Dynamite Dan by Mirrorsoft
Dan Dare by Virgin
Dynamite Dan II by Mirrorsoft

I'd also like to add in the 10 million Daley Thompson licensed games by Ocean...
Daley Thompson's Decathlon
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge
Daley Thompson's Supertest

There are also other notable titles...
Dandy by Electric Dreams - seriously ace game, often falsely-yet-understandably called a Gauntlet clone when in fact it directly inspired Gauntlet.
Deviants by Players - a fantastic Dan-Dare-ish budget title
Druid by Firebird - admittedly I've not played it, but heard good things

Oh and then...
Dizzy by Codemasters
...which makes me wonder how many of the 10 millions sequels and spin-offs legitimately start with D.

Well, that's a few to get started. (Let's hope we have a properly great winner this time, unlike the travesty of C where the true victor was diminished to second place.)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Another bunch of great games.

I'd add:

The Dambusters
Dictator
Death Wish 3
Dustin
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

PeteProdge wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:09 am Let's hope we have a properly great winner this time, unlike the travesty of C where the true victor was diminished to second place.
It can be worse this time, Dizzy might win...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Ralf »

I would add:

- Dan Dare 2
- Dan Dare 3
- Draconus
- Deus Ex Machina

So, if we include 1st Dan Dare then the next parts are no worse and should be included too.

Draconus is a nice, polished game and I have a feeling that it's important in game history.

Deus Ex Machina seems for me historically important too. It's a fail as a game and doesn't have a chance to win but just to show respect for the brave and innovative idea...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Ralf wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:42 am
Deus Ex Machina seems for me historically important too. It's a fail as a game and doesn't have a chance to win but just to show respect for the brave and innovative idea...
Agree. It was a great merit to release a game like that in 1985. It tried to overtake the limitations of videogames of those years.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by hitm4n »

Driller
I don't have anything cool to put here, so i'll just be off now to see a priest with yeast stuck between his teeth and his friend called Keith who's a hairpiece thief...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by hitm4n »

Death Star Interceptor - i loved this game...

and.

Don't Say It, Spray It

That's it from me....
I don't have anything cool to put here, so i'll just be off now to see a priest with yeast stuck between his teeth and his friend called Keith who's a hairpiece thief...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by MatGubbins »

Deactivators
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by bob_fossil »

Deflektor in all seriousness and Danger Mouse In Double Trobule as my wildcard entry. :)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Morkin »

Doomdark's Revenge?
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Spud »

Does "Day in the life, A" by Micromega count? On old WOS it was filed with the D’s!
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Spud wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:48 pm Does "Day in the life, A" by Micromega count? On old WOS it was filed with the D’s!
Yes! Same for "D..., The" titles too.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by AndyC »

PeteProdge wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:09 amOh and then...
Dizzy by Codemasters
...which makes me wonder how many of the 10 millions sequels and spin-offs legitimately start with D.
I'm pretty sure only Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk and Dizzy down the Rapids legitimately start with D (unless you start including homebrew hacks or demos)

But honestly, is there any point voting on other D entries? ;-)
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

AndyC wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 9:45 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:09 amOh and then...
Dizzy by Codemasters
...which makes me wonder how many of the 10 millions sequels and spin-offs legitimately start with D.
I'm pretty sure only Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk and Dizzy down the Rapids legitimately start with D (unless you start including homebrew hacks or demos)
You're right (although maybe the Dizzy 3 And A Half for Crash's cover tape is also canon?). And we don't do the homebrew/hack stuff in these classic game polls, which would have caused a lot of effort with J (Jet Set Willy) and M (Manic Miner).
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Ralf »

Dark Sceptre

Another important game that we would forget. Very distinctive with these huge colourful characters and big 8 pixel masks around them. I never played it much myself unfortunately It seems to be RPG game but people say it's rather some kind of strategy with lots of options.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by stupidget »

How about:

- Don't buy this ;)

To be honest though I loved

- Doomsday Castle

One of my all time favourite games.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

stupidget wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:42 am How about:

- Don't buy this ;)
Pfft, compilations don't count!
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Joefish »

Definitely Deflektor. Any fans of Dominator?

Looking for Ds I did come across Demon's Revenge, which I've never seen before. I have to say, that is a good-looking game. A lot more could have been done with that style of graphics.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by AndyC »

PeteProdge wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:42 am
AndyC wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 9:45 pm I'm pretty sure only Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk and Dizzy down the Rapids legitimately start with D (unless you start including homebrew hacks or demos)
You're right (although maybe the Dizzy 3 And A Half for Crash's cover tape is also canon?). And we don't do the homebrew/hack stuff in these classic game polls, which would have caused a lot of effort with J (Jet Set Willy) and M (Manic Miner).
I filed that under "demo" as it's really just a little intro to Magicland and doesn't really feel like it should count (there was also a slightly modified Dizzy on Crash which I lump into the same category).
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Okay, as it stands, these lot are going in - well, maybe with the exception of one of them...

Daley Thompson's Decathlon
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge
Daley Thompson's Supertest
Dambusters, The by US Gold
Dandy by Electric Dreams
Danger Mouse in Double Trouble by Creative Sparks
Dan Dare by Virgin
Dan Dare 2 by Virgin
Dan Dare 3 by Virgin
Dark Sceptre by Firebird
Day In The Life, A by Micromega
Deactivators by Reaktor
Deathchase by Micromega
Death Star Interceptor by System 3
Death Wish III by Gremlin
Deflektor by Gremlin
Demon's Revenge by Firebird
Deus Ex Machina by Automata UK
Deviants by Players
Dizzy by Codemasters
Dictator by DK'Tronics
Don't Say It, Spray It by Pirate Software*
Dominator by System 3
Doomdark's Revenge by Beyond Software
Doomsday Castle by Fantasy Software
Draconus by Zeppelin
Dragontorc by Hewson
Driller by Incentive
Druid by Firebird
Dun Durach by Gargoyle
Dustin by Dinamic
Dynamite Dan by Mirrorsoft
Dynamite Dan II by Mirrorsoft

* = This is a title 'written' by Harry S Price. I'm fairly sure we're all familiar with Harry's Machiavellian ways of producing games (if not, click that link). Don't Say It Spray It is literally a hack of Mastertronic's One Man And His Droid. Yes, it was commercially released in the classic era, yes, he appears to have got away with it, but do we acknowledge this? (Even if it's unlikely to win.) I have mixed feelings on this digital magpie.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Morkin »

Haha - that'd be taking the p1ss really :lol: ...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Morpheus »

Doomdark's Revenge
DarkStar
Dark Sceptre

But Doomdark's Revenge would be my #1
R Tape loading error, 0:1
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by namco »

I'll just throw this one in:

Death Stalker
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by PeteProdge »

Right then, as it stands, the list now is...

Daley Thompson's Decathlon
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge
Daley Thompson's Supertest
Dambusters, The by US Gold
Dandy by Electric Dreams
Danger Mouse in Double Trouble by Creative Sparks
Dan Dare by Virgin
Dan Dare 2 by Virgin
Dan Dare 3 by Virgin
Dark Sceptre by Firebird
Dark Star by Design Design
Day In The Life, A by Micromega
Deactivators by Reaktor
Deathchase by Micromega
Death Star Interceptor by System 3
Death Stalker by Code Masters
Death Wish III by Gremlin
Deflektor by Gremlin
Demon's Revenge by Firebird
Deus Ex Machina by Automata UK
Deviants by Players
Dizzy by Codemasters
Dictator by DK'Tronics
Dominator by System 3
Doomdark's Revenge by Beyond Software
Doomsday Castle by Fantasy Software
Draconus by Zeppelin
Dragontorc by Hewson
Driller by Incentive
Druid by Firebird
Dun Durach by Gargoyle
Dustin by Dinamic
Dynamite Dan by Mirrorsoft
Dynamite Dan II by Mirrorsoft

Genuinely fascinated by [mention]namco[/mention]'s citation of Death Stalker - which I have never heard of before. I looked it up, it's a Code Masters's game, which looks like a budget version of Saboteur or Prince Of Persia (yeah, I'm judging solely from that screenshot). This YouTube video shows that it's got the atmosphere of Ghouls And Ghosts, and has a nice 128K soundtrack. It's pretty easy to obtain a download of this Distribution-Denied title (although I won't provide such links), I think I'll give it a go tonight...

ImageImage

I've decided to omit Don't Say It, Spray It by Pirate Software. It's one of Harry S Price's notorious hacks of existing games (Mastertronic's One Man And His Droid, fact fans), and although it's a definite release during the Speccy's high street commercial lifetime, I feel it'd be like allowing a drug cheat to enter the Olympics. Mind you, if you have a compelling argument for keeping it in, do voice your concerns. Before 10am Monday, mind, that's when we begin the week-long poll...
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with D: discussion

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I've never heard of Death Stalker too, looks impressive.

But it won't change my vote! ;)
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