The best YS/SU/Crash covertape item of a certain type

[PeteProdge]

No, it's not actually Covertape Wars again, but I am delving back to that era. This time, I'm not portraying it as a YS vs SU vs Crash battle, but breaking it down into a 'best covertape [thing]' of a certain type.

I do try to keep my polls objectively configured and there'll always be a few grey areas. Anyway, this is a discussion phase and I'm showing my plan. Consider it as a first draft and do correct me and debate what should be changed...

• Playable demo: Pretty straightforward. Any playable demo really, like the one for Cybernoid II: The Revenge or Altered Beast.
• Unplayable/rolling demo: I'm sure I'm not alone in hating these, but they're a part of covertape history. Most of Crash's 'Sampler' covertape was made up of these - Driller, Athena, Slaine, etc.
• 'Special Edition' Games That Are Like Playable Demos Yet Offer An Experience Fairly Exclusive From The Full Game: Yeah, that needs a snappier title, doesn't it? A bit hard to be succinct, but I'm referring to Dan Dare II: Special SU Edition, Dizzy 3 And A Half and that demo of Lords Of Chaos.
• Exclusive Game From Recognised Brand: Road Race; Hyper-Active; Moley Christmas; Batty... a game from a recognised brand that got its first outing on a covertape or was never commercially released.
• Reader-Submitted Games: Earthshaker; Egg Head; Rockfall; Ethnipod - that kind of stuff!
• Magazine-Commissioned Exclusive Games: Go Bear Go!; Bear A Grudge; Advanced Lawnmower Simulator - games conjured up by the magazine.
• Re-released Full Price Game: Beach-Head; Army Moves; Phantom Club; Deathchase, etc. Pretty straightforward.
• Re-released Mail Order Game: Homebrew games that appeared somewhere before their covertape appearance - Hyperlane; Bulbo And The Lizard King and just about anything by Andy Remic.
• Re-released Budget Or Compilation Game: The budget bit is straightforward: Amaurote; Deviants; Zolyx, etc. Previously part of a compilation can apply to Escape; The Red Door; Behind Closed Doors, etc.
• POKEs: Er, forget about every single POKEs program, maybe just pit the main 'brands' against each other: Poke City; Pokemania; Practical POKEs; Captain Poke, that kinda thing. But not Tips Amazing, obviously.
• Educational: Henrietta's Book Of Spells and Countries Of The World. Yeah, not that exciting, but hey, part of covertape history.
• Audio: Well, straight away, coin-op soundtracks like Afterburner; Silk Worm and Gemini Wing. But also the genius that is Hold My Hand (Very Tightly, Very Tightly). And unfortunately, Mel Croucher's Pub Jokes Reformatted To Appeal To Anyone Daft Enough To Ring That Premium Rate Phoneline or whatever it was called.
• Application: My IT teacher classified an application as something that primarily benefits the user whereas utilities are a direct advantage for computing - it's a tricky one to define, I admit. The Graphic Adventure Creator fits in here, as do those numerous sound-to-light things where you played music in your tape deck and some graphics would jump about, a few font creators and graphics packages (Icon Graphix for example).
• Utility: The various sound samplers, disk copiers, memory monitors, that kinda stuff.
• Scene Demo: No More Intelligence 3; Bicie and all those many jukebox things.
• Electronic Magazine: YS2; Enigma Tape Magazine; Tips Amazing, etc.

Does that make sense? Do hit reply and argue about the parameters here, tell me what should be dropped/added where necessary. I like to think I got it right, but here's your opportunity to do a sense check on the above.

I'll show some lists for the categories at a later date...

[PeteProdge]

Playable demo (of a full price game)

Phew, the first category I'm suggesting and it's a very long list! 104 entries in this proposed list:

19 Part 1: Boot Camp (playable demo) by Cascade Games
Addams Family, The (playable demo) by Ocean
Adidas Championship Football (playable demo) by Ocean
Altered Beast (playable demo) by Activision
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus
Astroball (playable demo) by Revelation Software
Athena (playable demo) by Imagine
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision
Avalanche (playable demo) by CCS
Back To The Future Part II (playable demo) by Image Works
Back To The Future Part III (playable demo) by Image Works
Bard's Tale, The (playable demo) by Electronic Arts
Basil The Great Mouse Detective (playable demo) by Gremlin Graphics
Batman: The Movie (playable demo) by Ocean
Battle Command (playable demo) by Ocean
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (playable demo) by Tynesoft
Cabal (playable demo) by Ocean
Captain Blood (playable demo) by Exxos
Chase HQ (playable demo) by Ocean
Chip's Challenge (playable demo) by US Gold
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech
Cisco Heat (playable demo) by Image Works
Conman The Barbaric (playable demo) by Elven Adventurers
Cromwell At War 1642-1645 (playable demo) by CCS
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge (playable demo) by Ocean
Dark Side (playable demo) by Incentive
Destiny Mission (playable demo) by Williams Technology
Devastating Blow (playable demo) by Beyond Belief
Dominator (playable demo) by System 3
Dominion (playable demo) by Pandora
Double Dragon III: Rosetta Stone, The (playable demo) by Storm Software
Duel, The: Test Drive II (playable demo) by Accolade Inc
Football Manager 3 (playable demo) by Addictive Games
Gazza II (playable demo) by Empire
Gazza's Super Soccer (playable demo) by Empire Software
Hammerfist (playable demo) by Activision
Hero Quest (playable demo) by Gremlin
Hotshot (playable demo) by Addictive Games
Hunt For Red October, The (based on the movie) (playable demo) by Grandslam
Ikari Warriors (playable demo) by Elite
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (playable demo) by US Gold
Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road (playable demo) by Virgin Games
LED Storm (playable demo) by Go!
Last Duel (playable demo) by Go!
Last Ninja 2 (playable demo) by System 3
Lemmings (playable demo) by Psygnosis
Mad Mix Game (playable demo) by Topo Soft
Match Of The Day (playable demo) by Zeppelin Premier
Maze Mania (playable demo) by Hewson
Megaphoenix (playable demo) by Dinamic Software
Midnight Resistance (playable demo) by Ocean
Mystical (playable demo) by Infogrames
NARC (playable demo) by Ocean
Navy Moves (playable demo - part 1) by Dinamic
Navy Moves (playable demo - part 2) by Dinamic
Night Breed (playable demo) by Ocean
Night Shift (playable demo) by US Gold
Operation Thunderbolt (playable demo) by Ocean
Operation Wolf (playable demo) by Ocean
Pac-Land (playable demo) by Grandslam/Quicksilva
Pang (playable demo) by Ocean
Passing Shot (playable demo) by Image Works
Pipe Mania (playable demo) by Empire Software
Pit-Fighter (playable demo) by Domark
Playdays (playable demo) by Friendly Learning
Power Drift (playable demo) by Activision
Predator 2 (playable demo) by Image Works
Puzznic (playable demo) by Ocean
Rambo III (playable demo) by Ocean
Rasputin (playable demo) by Firebird
Real Ghostbusters, The (playable demo) by Activision
Rex (playable demo) by Martech
Robocop (playable demo) by Ocean
Robocop 2 (playable demo) by Ocean
Robozone (playable demo) by Image Works
Rod-Land (playable demo) by Storm Software
SWIV (playable demo) by Storm Software
Sanxion (playable demo) by Thalamus
Savage (playable demo) by Firebird
Scramble Spirits (playable demo) by Grandslam Entertainments
Shadow Of The Beast (playable demo) by Gremlin
Skate Crazy (playable demo) by Gremlin
Skate Or Die (playable demo) by Electronic Arts
Space Crusade (playable demo) by Gremlin
Space Harrier II (playable demo) by Grandslam Entertainments
St Dragon (playable demo) by Storm
Stormlord (playable demo) by Hewson
Street Fighter (playable demo) by US Gold
Switchblade (playable demo) by Gremlin
Techno Cop (playable demo) by Gremlin
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (NES game conversion) (playable demo) by Image Works
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles - The Coin-Op (playable demo) by Image Works
Thunder Blade (playable demo) by US Gold
Thunderjaws (playable demo) by Domark
Titanic Blinky (playable demo) by Zeppelin Games
Total Eclipse (playable demo) by Incentive
Toyota Celica GT Rally (playable demo) by Gremlin
Turrican II (playable demo) by Rainbow Arts
Typhoon (playable demo) by Imagine
Untouchables, The (playable demo) by Ocean
Viz - The Soft Floppy Demo (playable demo) by Virgin Games
War Of The Roses (playable demo) by CCS
World Class Rugby (playable demo) by Audiogenic Software
Xenon (playable demo) by Melbourne House

Now I think I've got that right. I probably might have made a mistake or two. Let me know before I start the poll of this next Sunday! Hope this all makes sense.

[Stu]

There’s a handful of games originally from outside the UK that might need a little thought about the category they go into.

Eg. Dustin was originally released in Spain as a Spanish-language game; the only English-language release it got was on a YS cover tape. So it’s technically a re-release of a game, but it’s kind of an exclusive version too.

Another example is Black Beard, which had an initial Spanish-language release, then English-language compilation release, then SU cover tape. So, is that a re-release of a standalone game or a re-release of a compilation game?

[PeteProdge]

Eg. Dustin was originally released in Spain as a Spanish-language game; the only English-language release it got was on a YS cover tape. So it’s technically a re-release of a game, but it’s kind of an exclusive version too.

You're right that it's technically a re-release of a game. I've categorised it as 'Re-released Full Price Game'. I hope that's right. I know it was 'new' to us in the UK and certainly felt exclusive at that time.

Another example is Black Beard, which had an initial Spanish-language release, then English-language compilation release, then SU cover tape. So, is that a re-release of a standalone game or a re-release of a compilation game?

I've also got this down as 'Re-released Full Price Game'!

Thanks for getting involved!

[Morkin]

I already know which one of these I'm going to vote for...

[PeteProdge]

I already know which one of these I'm going to vote for...

Putting up a selection of playable demos for a vote is mostly going to mean fans of a game will vote for it, unsurprisingly. I mean, if such a thing as a Chaos playable demo existed, of course I will go for it immediately over anything else!

Ideally, I'd like the playable demo - literally a cutback version of the full game - taken properly into consideration. Of course, my usual method of depicting games in polls is to link to their ZXDB entry and show an in-game screenshot. This will mean some playable demos won't be depicted correctly (the Altered Beast playable demo is literally level 2, for example, and the in-game screenshot is taken from level 1), but I can't really spend much more time in getting a true depiction, creating these polls is already a time-consuming process!

Plus, there are times when an AWFUL playable demo has genuinely helped. Like Pac Land and Viz being utterly horrific - that meant I never wasted money on them! In a way I'd like to vote for them, but, um... I try to think of the positives. Like the awesomeness of Cybernoid II, Hero Quest, Rex, Hammerfist, Lemmings and TMHT Coin-Op. Maybe an 'inverse' poll ("What playable demo helped you avoid wasting money on the actual game?") is needed for the future? Oh and there are a few efforts here where the actual game is MIA, so the playable demo is literally the only way you can sample (SOME OF) the game!

Also, I noticed mistakes in my shortlist above, with a few budget games accidentally included, and the accidental exclusion of Cybernoid II! I've fixed that now.

All being well, on Sunday we'll use this list of 102 playable demos of full price games:

19 Part 1: Boot Camp (playable demo) by Cascade Games
Addams Family, The (playable demo) by Ocean
Adidas Championship Football (playable demo) by Ocean
Altered Beast (playable demo) by Activision
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus
Astroball (playable demo) by Revelation Software
Athena (playable demo) by Imagine
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision
Avalanche (playable demo) by CCS
Back To The Future Part II (playable demo) by Image Works
Back To The Future Part III (playable demo) by Image Works
Bard's Tale, The (playable demo) by Electronic Arts
Basil The Great Mouse Detective (playable demo) by Gremlin Graphics
Batman: The Movie (playable demo) by Ocean
Battle Command (playable demo) by Ocean
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (playable demo) by Tynesoft
Cabal (playable demo) by Ocean
Captain Blood (playable demo) by Exxos
Chase HQ (playable demo) by Ocean
Chip's Challenge (playable demo) by US Gold
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech
Cisco Heat (playable demo) by Image Works
Conman The Barbaric (playable demo) by Elven Adventurers
Cromwell At War 1642-1645 (playable demo) by CCS
Cybernoid II: The Revenge (playable demo) by Hewson
Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge (playable demo) by Ocean
Dark Side (playable demo) by Incentive
Destiny Mission (playable demo) by Williams Technology
Dominator (playable demo) by System 3
Dominion (playable demo) by Pandora
Double Dragon III: Rosetta Stone, The (playable demo) by Storm Software
Duel, The: Test Drive II (playable demo) by Accolade Inc
Football Manager 3 (playable demo) by Addictive Games
Gazza II (playable demo) by Empire
Gazza's Super Soccer (playable demo) by Empire Software
Hammerfist (playable demo) by Activision
Hero Quest (playable demo) by Gremlin
Hotshot (playable demo) by Addictive Games
Hunt For Red October, The (based on the movie) (playable demo) by Grandslam
Ikari Warriors (playable demo) by Elite
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (playable demo) by US Gold
Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road (playable demo) by Virgin Games
LED Storm (playable demo) by Go!
Last Duel (playable demo) by Go!
Last Ninja 2 (playable demo) by System 3
Lemmings (playable demo) by Psygnosis
Mad Mix Game (playable demo) by Topo Soft
Match Of The Day (playable demo) by Zeppelin Premier
Maze Mania (playable demo) by Hewson
Megaphoenix (playable demo) by Dinamic Software
Midnight Resistance (playable demo) by Ocean
Mystical (playable demo) by Infogrames
NARC (playable demo) by Ocean
Navy Moves (playable demo - part 1) by Dinamic
Night Breed (playable demo) by Ocean
Night Shift (playable demo) by US Gold
Operation Thunderbolt (playable demo) by Ocean
Operation Wolf (playable demo) by Ocean
Pac-Land (playable demo) by Grandslam/Quicksilva
Pang (playable demo) by Ocean
Passing Shot (playable demo) by Image Works
Pipe Mania (playable demo) by Empire Software
Pit-Fighter (playable demo) by Domark
Playdays (playable demo) by Friendly Learning
Power Drift (playable demo) by Activision
Predator 2 (playable demo) by Image Works
Puzznic (playable demo) by Ocean
Rambo III (playable demo) by Ocean
Rasputin (playable demo) by Firebird
Real Ghostbusters, The (playable demo) by Activision
Rex (playable demo) by Martech
Robocop (playable demo) by Ocean
Robocop 2 (playable demo) by Ocean
Robozone (playable demo) by Image Works
Rod-Land (playable demo) by Storm Software
SWIV (playable demo) by Storm Software
Sanxion (playable demo) by Thalamus
Savage (playable demo) by Firebird
Scramble Spirits (playable demo) by Grandslam Entertainments
Shadow Of The Beast (playable demo) by Gremlin
Skate Crazy (playable demo) by Gremlin
Skate Or Die (playable demo) by Electronic Arts
Space Crusade (playable demo) by Gremlin
Space Harrier II (playable demo) by Grandslam Entertainments
St Dragon (playable demo) by Storm
Stormlord (playable demo) by Hewson
Street Fighter (playable demo) by US Gold
Switchblade (playable demo) by Gremlin
Techno Cop (playable demo) by Gremlin
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (NES game conversion) (playable demo) by Image Works
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles - The Coin-Op (playable demo) by Image Works
Thunder Blade (playable demo) by US Gold
Thunderjaws (playable demo) by Domark
Total Eclipse (playable demo) by Incentive
Toyota Celica GT Rally (playable demo) by Gremlin
Turrican II (playable demo) by Rainbow Arts
Typhoon (playable demo) by Imagine
Untouchables, The (playable demo) by Ocean
Viz - The Soft Floppy Demo (playable demo) by Virgin Games
War Of The Roses (playable demo) by CCS
World Class Rugby (playable demo) by Audiogenic Software
Xenon (playable demo) by Melbourne House

Playable demos of budget games will be the second poll in this series (substantially smaller, as you'd expect).

[Stu]

Thanks for getting involved!

np. I should've known you'd already be on top of it

[PeteProdge]

For 14th March 2024:
Playable demo (of a budget game)

More Tea, Vicar? (playable demo) by Cronosoft
Sensitive (playable demo) by Peter Gordon
Motorbike Madness (playable demo) by Mastertronic
F14 Tomcat (playable demo) by Players
Shanghai Warriors (playable demo) by Players
Street Cred' Football (playable demo) by Players Premier
Task Force (playable demo) by Players Premier
Dizzy - Crash Special Edition by Code Masters
The Gordello Incident (part one) by Tartan Software
Action Farce II: Special Crash Edition (playable demo) by Nutty Software
Shark (playable demo) by Players Premier
Treasure Island Dizzy - Crash Special Edition by Code Masters
The Race (playable demo) by Players Premier
Ruff And Reddy In The Space Adventure (playable demo) by Hi-Tec
Top Cat In Beverly Hills Cats (playable demo) by Hi-Tec Software
Double Dare (playable demo) by Alternative Software
Chevy Chase (playable demo) by Hi-Tec Software
Tai Chi Tortoise (playable demo) by Zeppelin Games
Double Dare (playable demo) by Alternative Software
Titanic Blinky (playable demo) by Zeppelin Games
Road Runner and Wile E Coyote (playable demo) by Hi-Tec Software
Devastating Blow (playable demo) by Beyond Belief
Pro Speedboat Simulator (playable demo) by SPS Designs
Potsworth & Co (playable demo) by Hi-Tec
Steg (playable demo) by Code Masters
Biff (playable demo) by Beyond Belief
Snare (playable demo) by Beyond Belief
Captain Dynamo (playable demo) by Code Masters
Turbo The Tortoise (playable demo) by Hi-Tec
Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop (playable demo) by Code Masters

That's the proposed list. Any issues with it? Do alert me!

[PeteProdge]

For 21st March 2024:
Playable demo (of MIA games)

You'll have deja vu as you read this list, as they're derived from the previous 'playable demo of a full price game' poll and one's from the 'playable demo of a budget game' poll:

Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech
Dominion (playable demo) by Pandora
Sensitive (playable demo) by Peter Gordon
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel

As the title says, these are (currently) the only traces of the titles which are labelled MIA. So, not quite MIA if like me you believe in the maxim "something's better than nothing".

Anyway, that's going to be the six entries which will be in the poll this time next week, unless you can point out any inaccuracies here. Did I get anything wrong or omitted something? Do let me know!

[PeteProdge]

For 28th March 2024:
'Special Edition' promos AKA Games That Are Like Playable Demos Yet Offer An Experience Fairly Exclusive From The Full Game

Cybernoid II: The Revenge (playable demo) by Hewson
Dan Dare II: SU Edition by Virgin Games
Dizzy 3 And A Half by Code Masters
Lords Of Chaos (playable demo) by Blade Software
Rex (playable demo) by Martech
Seymour - Take One! by Code Masters
Stormlord (playable demo) by Hewson

The above seven titles will be the poll next week, unless you've spotted something wrong with it. Let me know before then!

[PeteProdge]

For 5th May 2024:

Exclusive game from a recognised brand

Games that were gifted from commercial brands, sometimes made specially for the magazine (Moley Christmas, The Muncher Compo); were just games they had hanging about that didn't quite make the grade for a shop shelf release (Flashpoint; Quondam) or never saw the light of day despite intended to be a commercial release (Bobby Yazz Show).

Batty by Hit-Pak
Blind Panic by Martech
Blob The Cop by Players
Bobby Yazz Show, The by Cybadyne Software
Brat Attack by Players
Flashpoint by Ocean
Hyper Active by Special FX
Iron Soldier by Players Premier
Moley Christmas by Gremlin Graphics
Nightmare On Robinson Street, A by Players Software
People From Sirius by US Gold
Play For Your Life by Imagine
Quondam by Ocean
Road Race by Ocean
Soldier One by Beyond Belief
Muncher Compo, The by Gremlin
Turbulence by Beyond Belief
Vatman by Players Premier

Let me know before then if there are any mistakes in this poll, any omissions or owt like that. Please don't leave it until the poll has started!

[PeteProdge]

For 12th May 2024:

Reader-submitted games

Here's a biggie! Reader games on covertapes! I think this shortlist of titles is right, but let me know of any omissions or errors.

A Whole New Ball Game by Pete Cooke
A.T.A.C. by Gadtek Games
Ano Gaia by Simon Tillson/Andy Mills
Bite The Dust by John Armstrong
Block-Dizzy by Arno van der Hulst
Bomb Ed by Theo Develegas
Brain Sport by Arno van der Hulst
Captain Pytron by New Breed Developments
Ceasefire 2: Night Run by Divide By Zero
Ceasefire by Divide By Zero
Chiron by Lee Briggs
Church Of Death by Guy Palmer/Larry Horsfield
Confused by Simon Everest
Cosmic Chaos by Michael and Craig Holdstock
Countdown To The Death by Mario de Paula Leite Gouvea
Cricket Coach by Robert McSherry
Death Zone by Paul Breed/G Howard
Deja Vu by Andrew Daly/Huw Bucknell
Deja Vu: The Remix by Andew Mark Daly
Demon Slayer by Pyschaedelic Hedgehog
Destrux by David Alderson
Doomskulle by Richard Hutchison
Earth Shaker by Michael Batty
Egghead by Grafix Wizards
Egghead To The Rescue by Jonathan Cauldwell
Ethnipod by Paul Angel
Exiled by Andrew Hall
Gunhed by Theo Develegas
Haunted House by Jonathan Cauldwell
Head The Ball by Cybadyne
Hexcellent by Nigel Grange
Hunter by Scope Design
International Kickboxing by Brian Cross
Liberator by Psychadelic Hedgehog
Logo: Part 1 by Rainbow Dreams
Mango Jones by Psychadelic Hedgehog
Manic Mower by Brendan Alford
Master Blaster by Cybadyne
Master Brain by Eric Auterith
Megablast! by Jonathan Cauldwell
Mental Block by Mark Hutchings
Mission Fallout by Mark Thompson
Monster Munch by Psychadelic Hedgehog Software
Non Compos Mentis by Nigel Grange
Non Compos Mentis II: Pleasure Beyond Pain by Nigel Grange
Nous by Theo Develegas
Olympus (AKA Gods) by Simon and Julia Barnsley
Omega Zone, The by Peter G Curtis
Peking by Dave Sanders
Pieces Of Eight by Mike Westlake
Piggy Punks by Theo Develegas
Pipework by Jonathan Cauldwell
Pixy The Microdot 2 by David Box
Pizza Bar by Redwood Designs
Pop Stars by Hellenic Software
Portals of P'Thaal by Martin Page
Qarx by Greg Jackson
Rikosphere by Tim Blacklock
Riptoff by Rick O'Neill
Rockfall by Ian M Collier
Rockfall II by Ian Collier
S.A.S. Combat Assault by Mike Westlake
Seven Parchments of Kandos, The by Martin Page
Shuriken by Xplosive
Snare by Enigma Software Developments
Soccer Cup Quizmaster by The Shaw Brothers
Solaris by Theo Develegas
Space 7 by Graham D Shaw
Specimen by Andy Remic
Specimen II: The Apple Quest by Psychaedelic Hedgehog
Spirit Of Ninja, The by Mark Crumby
Star Trip by Thundersoft
Starburst by Jim Gardner
Stars & Stripes by Ceri Williams
Super Fruit Machine by Jonathan Cauldwell
Surface Tension by Paul and Damian Scattergood
Talisman by Terry Stygall
Talking Hedz by Theo Develegas
Termination by Psychaedelic Hedgehog
Tetroid by Paul Markham
Lost City, The by Martin Page
SU Crew, The by Theo Develegas
The Top Fruitmachine, The by Arno van der Hulst
Trailer 2 by IQ Software
Twinz! by Theo Develegas
Ultimate Warrior by Airline Software
Venturama by Graham Shaw
YS Capers by Damian Scattergood
Zanthrax by W.A.S.P.

[Lee P]

I'm not sure where else you'd put their games, but do Pete Cooke and Cybadyne (Christian Urquhart) count as readers?

[PeteProdge]

I'm not sure where else you'd put their games, but do Pete Cooke and Cybadyne (Christian Urquhart) count as readers?

Hmm... you're right to highlight that. They kind of sit between a software house and a reader - like some halfway point. It's quite a grey area, they are not software companies and they could be considered readers, but they have that commercial history behind them. Lone developers, in this context.

My feeling is to side with them being reader games, but I'll listen to others' suggestions.

[Timmy]

I also wonder if anything from the Shaws, or the Shaw Brothers should be here either.

Especially as we just had the Iron Soldier thing in the other poll already.

[PeteProdge]

I also wonder if anything from the Shaws, or the Shaw Brothers should be here either.

Especially as we just had the Iron Soldier thing in the other poll already.

We're covering EVERY ITEM from the three main magazine covertapes in these polls.

The covertapes have rereleased games developed by The Shaw Brothers and also exclusive games developed by the Shaw Brothers. They'll be covered in upcoming polls.

[PeteProdge]

For 26th May 2024:

Unplayable demos (AKA rolling demos)

Yeah, probably my most loathed thing on a covertape. "Look, but don't touch!" is pretty much the ethos of these things. Okay, so they have the purpose of effectively being magazine screenshots on your equipment, with the advantage of being animated (well, in most cases), but no opportunity to truly try out the gameplay. Ugh.

Crash's first covertape was riddled with these things - five of the seven items were unplayable demos.

Anyway, I've gone through all the covertapes of the three major Speccy mags and found these thirteen unplayable demos.

Barbarian II: The Dungeon Of Drax (rolling demo) by Palace
Circus Circus (rolling demo) by Martech
Driller (rolling demo) by Incentive
G-LOC (rolling demo) by US Gold
Mean Streak (rolling demo) by Mirrorsoft
North & South (rolling demo) by Infogrames
Popeye 3: Wrestle Crazy (rolling demo) by Alternative Software
Robocop 3 (rolling demo) by Ocean
Shadow Of The Beast (playable demo) by Gremlin
Slaine (rolling demo) by Martech
Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper (rolling demo) by Go!
Virus (unplayable demo) by Firebird
WWF Wrestlemania (rolling demo) by Ocean

Let me know if that's all correct and then I'll run the poll on Sunday.

[Timmy]

I'm not going through all the tapes again, but pretty sure "Street Cred Football" had a rolling demo too.

[PeteProdge]

I'm not going through all the tapes again, but pretty sure "Street Cred Football" had a rolling demo too.

You are correct, I've had it marked as a playable demo but yeah, just fired it up off a tape image and it's definitely not playable, thanks for pointing this out. It'll be now included in next weekend's poll.

[PeteProdge]

For 26th May 2024:


Magazine-commissioned exclusive games


Exclusive games because they came from within the magazine or the magazine commissioned them from a dev team. I've come up with a shortlist of eight items:


Go Bear Go! by ODE
Bear A Grudge by Sinclair User
Electro Bingo by Sinclair User
Electro Bingo 2 by Sinclair User
Electro Bingo 3 by Sinclair User
Advanced Lawnmower Simulator by Gardensoft
Gold Mine - Sinclair User 48K Remix by DK'Tronics
Pathetic Pablo Bros by Steve Anderson

Have I got this right? Let me know of any errors before the poll begins.

[PeteProdge]

For 2nd June 2024:

Rereleased full price games

Oh yes, here is what is possibly the most appealing type of covertape item! I reckon this is the kind that shifted most magazines.

Now, here's a dilemma I'm facing with this shortlist. There are 191 different titles in it, and yet the phpBB forum poll has a maximum limit of 127 titles.

I've already counted the drip-feed-of-serial games (3 parts of Bored Of The Rings; 3 parts of Karyssia; 3 parts of The Boggit; 2 parts of the Very Big Cave Adventure) as complete games. I've removed duplicates (games like Tir Na Nog; Super Soccer and Lords Of Midnight had more than one outing on a covertape). Also, a note about Bugsy: only part 1 of Bugsy was issued on the YS covertapes, on the penultimate issue. The Big Final Issue (#93 Sep 1993) had no covertape. If it had one, I strongly suspect Bugsy's part 2 would have been on it.

This is my very long list:

10th Frame by US Gold
2112 AD by Design Design
3D Lunattack by Hewson
Ad Astra by Gargoyle Games
Alien Evolution by Gremlin
Alien Highway by Vortex Software
Aliens by Electric Dreams
Amaurote by Mastertronic Added Dimension
Android One by Vortex Software
Android Two by Vortex Software
Ant Attack by Quicksilva
Army Moves by Dinamic
Astroclone by Hewson
Backgammon by Hewson
Ballbreaker II by CRL
Beach-Head II by US Gold
Beach-Head by US Gold
Bedlam by Go!
Biggles by Mirrorsoft
Black Beard by Topo Soft
Boggit by CRL Group
Bored Of The Rings by Delta 4 Software
Boulderdash Dash IV Construction Kit by Databyte
Bounces by Beyond Software
Bounder by Gremlin
Bugsy (part 1 only) by CRL Group
Bumpy by Loriciels
Butch - Hard Guy by Advance Software Promotions
Captain Blood by Exxos
Chaos by Games Workshop
Chubby Gristle by Grandslam
City Slicker by Hewson
Cosmic Wartoad by Ocean
Covenant, The by PSS
Crosswize by Firebird
Crystal Castles by US Gold
Cyclone by Vortex Software
Dark Sceptre by Firebird
Dark Star by Design Design
Deathchase by Micromega
Defenders Of The Earth by Enigma Variations
Delta Wing by Creative Sparks
Desperado by Topo Soft
Di-Lithium Lift by Hewson
Doomdark's Revenge by Beyond Software
Double Take by Ocean
Dragontorc by Hewson
Dream Warrior by US Gold
Dun Darach by Gargoyle
Dustin by Dinamic
Dynamite Dan II by Mirrorsoft
Dynamite Dan by Mirrorsoft
Eliminator by Hewson
Emlyn Hughes Arcade Quiz by Audiogenic
Empire! by Firebird
Eskimo Eddie by Ocean
Evening Star by Hewson
Explorer by Electric Dreams
Falcon Patrol 2 by Virgin Games
Fat Worm Blows A Sparky by Durell
Fernandez Must Die by Image Works
Final Mission, The by Incentive
Firefly by Ocean
Firelord by Hewson
Flying Shark by Firebird
Forbidden Planet by Design Design
Forest At World's End by Interceptor Software
Foxx Fights Back by Image Works
Galivan - Cosmo Police by Imagine
Gift From The Gods by Ocean
Gilligan's Gold by Ocean
Gladiator by Domark
Glider Rider by Quicksilva
Gold Mine by DK'Tronics
Gothik by Firebird
Grumpy Grumphrey Supersleuth by Gremlin
Gunrunner by Hewson
Gutz by Ocean
H.A.T.E. by Gremlin
Halls Of The Things by Crystal Computing
Heartland by Odin Computer Graphics Ltd
Heavy On The Magick by Gargoyle Games
Heroes Of Karn by Interceptor Software
Highway Encounter by Vortex Software
Hijack by Electric Dreams
How To Be A Complete B--tard by Virgin
Human Killing Machine by US Gold
Hydrofool by Faster Than Light
Ice Temple, The by Bubble Bus
Impossaball by Hewson
International Rugby by Artic Computing
Invasion Of The Body Snatchas! by Crystal Computing
Jewels Of Babylon by Interceptor Software
Jungle Trouble by Durell
Karyssia: Queen Of Diamonds by Incentive
Kat Trap by Streetwise
Knight Driver by Hewson
Knightmare by Activision
Krakout by Gremlin
Legend Of Apache Gold, The by Incentive
Light Corridor, The by Infogrames
Lightforce by Faster Than Light
Lone Wolf - The Mirror Of Death by Audiogenic
Lords Of Midnight, The by Beyond
Mach 3 by Loriciels
Mailstrom by Ocean
Mantronix by Probe Software
Marsport by Gargoyle Games
Maze Mania by Hewson
Mean Streak by Mirrorsoft
Metabolis by Gremlin
Micronaut One by Nexus Productions
Mined-Out by Quicksilva
Mission Omega by Mind Games
Moon Cresta by Incentive Software
Moonlight Madness by Bubble Bus
Mountains Of Ket by Incentive
Movie by Imagine
Mutants by Ocean
N.E.X.O.R. by Design Design
N.O.M.A.D. by Ocean
Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix by Martech Games
Nightmare Rally by Ocean
Ninja Hamster by CRL Group
On The Run by Design Design
Orbix The Terrorball by Streetwise
Phantom Club by Ocean
Pi-R Squared by Mind Games
Piggy Tales (AKA Oink!) by CRL
Pogo by Ocean
Pool by CDS Microsystems
Premier League by E&J Software
Quazatron by Hewson
Quest Adventure by Hewson
Rampage by Activision
Rebel by Virgin Games
Return Of The Things by Design Design
Revolution by US Gold
Robot Messiah by Alphabatim
Roller Coaster by Elite
Rommel's Revenge by Crystal Computing
Rygar by US Gold
Sam Stoat Safebreaker by Gremlin
Samurai by CRL
Scuba Dive by Durell
Shockway Rider by Faster Than Light
Side Arms by Go!
Silent Shadow by Topo Soft
Skull & Crossbones by Domark
Solomon's Key by US Gold
Sophistry by CRL
Southern Belle by Hewson
Spectral Panic by Hewson
Spindizzy by Electric Dreams
Split Personalities by Domark
Spy vs Spy II: The Island Caper by Databyte
Spy vs Spy III: Arctic Antics by Databyte
Spy vs Spy by Beyond Software
Star Raiders II by Electric Dreams
Stardust by Topo Soft
Super Soccer by Imagine
Super Sprint by Electric Dreams
Survivor by Topo Soft
Sweevo's World by Gargoyle Games
T.L.L. by Vortex Software
Tai-Pan by Ocean
Tank by Ocean
Tau Ceti by CRL
Technican Ted by Hewson
Tempest by Electric Dreams
Temple Of Terror by US Gold
Temple Of Vran by Incentive
Terra Cresta by Imagine
Terror Of The Deep by Mirrorsoft
Test Cricket by Bug-Byte
The Famous Five 1 by Enigma Variations
Tir Na Nog by Gargoyle Games
Total Eclipse 2: Spinx Jinx, The by Incentive
Tour de Force by Gremlin
Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper by Go!
Very Big Cave Adventure by St Bride's/CRL
Virus by Firebird
Wanted: Monty Mole by Gremlin
Warlord by Interceptor Software
Winter Wonderland by Incentive
Wizard Warz by Go!
Wizard's Lair by Bubble Bus
Wonderboy by Activision
Xeno by A'n'F Software
Z-Man by DJL Software
Zythum by Mirrorsoft

What I'm going to do:

To narrow this down, I'm going to create two checkbox polls later on today. One for the games beginning with #-O, and one for the games beginning with P-Z. I think I'll attribute users with five games they can pick out as being VERY GOOD. They don't have to pick five, it can be four, three, whatever, but a maximum of five will be the poll option. When the polls are completed a week from now, I'll pick the most voted games to an amount that fits 127 or fewer. I hope that makes sense!

And of course, I may have made mistakes with the above shortlist. Any that's pointed out here will be revised when I start the poll properly a week from now. Right, now to spend ages getting the links and screenshots...