Best magazine covertape

[PeteProdge]

Instantly, I'd say this goes to Chaos, what with it being The Best Computer Game Ever On Any Format. (Heretics will be roasted by my undead Golden Dragon)



For the rest of this initial message, I guess I'll have to give a nod to noteworthy also-rans...

Batty

Another one where Your Sinclair got it right. This superb Breakout clone was promoted by Elite as part of their second 6 Pac compilation of games. Batty was the only original game in those re-releases, so I'm not sure why they saw it as something to be given away free by YS.



Released around the same time as Arkanoid, this magazine freebie knocked Imagine's coin-op conversion away. Objectively superior. There, I've said it.

Go Bear Go

It's a shameless Pengo clone, featuring Sinclair User's ursine frontman, Kamikaze Bear. The early megatapes featured a lot of original games tailored for SU. Go Bear Go may have been primitive for its time, but it's surprisingly likeable and addictive.



Now, did anyone make a level designer for this?

Micronaut One

A re-issuing of this game, out on a Crash covertape.



There weren't a lot of great games on the Crash tapes, many of the reissues were outdated digital fossils from the early 80s.

Whole New Ball Game

Of course, this original title for Crash is a massively redeeming feature.

[Alessandro]

For me, it was the covertape which came with the December 1988 issue of SU, with Finders Keepers, Spellbound and Knight Tyme. I loaded that tape so many times, it's a miracle it still works.

Go Bear Go! was also quite nice, and the fact you could create your own levels with the supplied editor was a big plus.

[ZXDunny]

Crash's first Crash Sampler. That was a revelation and I spent ages playing (and watching) the demos.

[PeteProdge]

For me, it was the covertape which came with the December 1988 issue of SU, with Finders Keepers, Spellbound and Knight Tyme. I loaded that tape so many times, it's a miracle it still works.

Oh, that was a lovely touch.

Go Bear Go! was also quite nice, and the fact you could create your own levels with the supplied editor was a big plus.

Ah yes, my memory was playing tricks on me! There was, and level editors typically doubled a game's addictiveness.

[Dark]

Batty is the one that instantly springs to mind for me. In fact other than that I have no recollection of being impressed by any cover tape game I played. Some of the demo's got me to purchase the game when it came out, I remember playing the demo of Bubble Bobble many times before I got my hands on the real thing.

[Spud]

Wot, no Moley Christmas?

[ToonTeddy]

Whistlin' Rick Wilson Hold My Hand Very Tightly Very Tightly - CRACK UP THAT VOLUME!

When I saw the subject header I instantly thought of Chaos, and I had forgotten all about A Whole New Ball Game, I played the heck out of that when I first saw it.

[PeteProdge]

Batty is the one that instantly springs to mind for me. In fact other than that I have no recollection of being impressed by any cover tape game I played. Some of the demo's got me to purchase the game when it came out, I remember playing the demo of Bubble Bobble many times before I got my hands on the real thing.

Ah yes, the first-five-levels demo of Bubble Bobble for Spectrum (and I think Commodore or Amstrad) was on the front of ACE, and it was a fantastic treat. A near accident at the duplicators almost had the cassettes containing the full game, according to the editor. Now that would have been a collector's edition and then some!