The best magazine-commissioned exclusive game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote

[PeteProdge]

Eight covertape exclusive games which I believe were commissioned by Your Sinclair/Sinclair User.

SU started out very strong on this area when they launched their covertapes. Go Bear Go is an awesome Pengo clone, plus it has a screen editor. What more could you ask for?

Bear A Grudge struck a chord with me on the music and graphics. It's a commendable Space Harrier clone, although I personally don't like Space Harrier. However, it's a really good technical achievement.

Then there's Advanced Lawnmower Simulator, which surely was CSSCGC before CSSCGC existed! You can't hate this crap game because its crappiness is the entire point. It's the home computer equivalent of a novelty song, a sharp witted novelty song at that, ridiculing the shovelware punted out by Code Masters.

Sadly, there is the utterly toe-curling gubbins that is the Electro Bingo series made up by Sinclair User. The mag turned to the 'reader bingo' tactic on their front covers, an idea copied from the UK's national newspapers at the time, to shore up flagging sales. The first accompanying BASIC game was atrocious and the next two were simply the same with more things removed from it. Definitely horrific trash. At least Advanced Lawnmower Simulator and Pathetic Pablo Bros had a self-awareness about their BASIC origin, the latter being an exercise to teach readers about the possibilities of BASIC game programming.

The outlier here is the 'remix' of Gold Mine, which may or may not have been SU's idea, but they were certainly desperate to count this supposed upgrade to what was literally an existing item on the same covertape, as part of their 'Great Eight'.

Advanced Lawnmower Simulator by Gardensoft


Bear A Grudge by Sinclair User


Electro Bingo by Sinclair User


Electro Bingo 2 by Sinclair User


Electro Bingo 3 by Sinclair User


Go Bear Go! by ODE


Gold Mine - Sinclair User 48K Remix by DK'Tronics


Pathetic Pablo Bros by Steve Anderson

[AndyC]

Well I'm going for Pathetic Pablo Bros, something about it just appeals and I loved the idea of tutorials for game development in the magazine (even though it was clearly too little by that point)

#2 place can go to Advanced Lawnmower Simulator - purely for the absolute ludicrousness of actually making a "game" out of an April Fools joke.

#3 could be anything else really, I don't specifically remember them much as SU was always my least favourite magazine. Let's go with Bear A Grudge, which was a reasonable Space Harrier clone I guess.

[Hank Scorpio]

1 Go Bear Go
2 Gold Mine
3 Bear A Grudge

[Stefan]

Bear a Grudge - for the brilliant music

[Matt_B]

Nothing can compare to the legend that is Advanced Lawnmower Simulator, but to judge them as games:

1. Go Bear Go - The best of these by a mile, and it's not even close. Probably the best Pengo clone for the Spectrum, too.
2. Gold Mine - Pretty simple, but it's a game that you can play.
3. Bear A Grudge - Looks the part and great music, but it all goes rapidly downhill when you try to play it. Gets third because the bar isn't high.

[Lee P]

1. Go Bear Go - fairly decent Pengy clone.
2. Bear A Grudge - mostly for the J Dave Rogers music (which even us poor 48K owners were treated to) although the game isn't terrible.
3. Advanced Lawnmower Simulator - made me laugh for five minutes.

A special mention to whoever programmed Electro Bingo and gave us the option to quit the whole game after dying by pressing the Q key, which is also the "up" key - so if you're travelling up and hit one of those lightning bolts, if you're not careful the game will reset. Although that's probably a good thing.

[Nick]

1. Bear A Grudge
2. Go Bear Go
3. Gold Mine

[worcestersource]

1 Advance Lawnmower Sim (I wrote a conversion for the Mac in HyperCard)
2 Pathetic Pablo

and…
3 Electro Bingo

[Joefish]

Go Bear Go.
Bear a Grudge failed as a Space Harrier clone as the main sprite was just too big and blocky and obscured any view you might have of what you were about to hit, and everything came at you in straight lines along that blocked view. At least in Space Harrier the enemy attacks came in arcing waves to give you plenty of warning and a chance to shoot first. In this you just played for a few seconds then randomly exploded.

[PeteProdge]

and…
3 Electro Bingo

That should be in position 9,999,999.

[R-Tape]

1 - Go Bear Go
2 - Bear a Grudge
3 - Advanced Lawnmower Sim

I think their polish puts the Bear games in a different weigh class, and the rules don't apply to ALS—that's in a class of its own.

That said - I got a lot more enjoyment from the games I didn't vote for - Electro Bingo most of all!

[PeteProdge]

That said - I got a lot more enjoyment from the games I didn't vote for - Electro Bingo most of all!

C Nonsense in BASIC, 0:1

[Timmy]

ElectroBingo was probably the most educational cover game at that point.

A lot of it was written in BASIC, after all.

It was certainly the first time I learned how these sweepstakes algortihtms work.

And learned that all the export editions of the magazines had a different first digit.

Took me months before I bought any SU again.

====

No, I haven't played that much of the other games to give a good classification right now. I'm also a bit too busy this week, I hope.

[PeteProdge]

Unsurprisingly, Go Bear Go! has stormed this, with 11 votes. I mean, it did win the Pengo stage of the Clone Wars poll, quite rightfully, so this is a good thing.

In second place, we have Space Harrier clone Bear A Grudge - six votes.

Third place goes to the quirky and satirical Advanced Lawnmower Simulator, written by the late Duncan McDonald - four votes.

Then in fourth position, we have Pathetic Pablo Bros, with one vote.

It's a similar situation in the proportional results:

Go Bear Go! by ODE 14
Bear A Grudge by Sinclair User 10
Advanced Lawnmower Simulator by Gardensoft 7
Gold Mine - Sinclair User 48K Remix by DK'Tronics 5
Pathetic Pablo Bros by Steve Anderson 5
Electro Bingo by Sinclair User 1