Spectrum Computing

It got great reviews and had two sequels but I remember them being bad games.

Well programmed, but it was just negotiating a maze while jumping over most enemies.
The environment was almost totally empty,no sense of progression,no upgrades.

The combat for example. You have a side view so you can't miss. The enemies don't jump or duck or shoot back.
They respawn so you might as well just jump over them.

Enjoyed all of them tbh. The load-a-game was pretty cool if unplayable
I got in contact with Colin Swinbourne a few years ago, but he lost interest (think he became disillusioned with the games industry) and the interview never happened sadly.

I think they are great games in their own price category, even if I haven't really played them. Also, the loading game was fun too.

Back in the day review scores were also based on price. Nowadays reviewers don't care about pricing any more, and that's the one of the main reasons why there are no more budget games.

It's true they were quite terrible, I even thought so back then, and yet - also oddly addictive and satisfying (at least in short bursts).

For us behind the Iron Curtain the price of all games was "free" (unless you had to buy something from computer fair pirates), so that did not factor in.

I didn't much like Joe Blade II but I enjoyed 1 & 3, along with Prison Riot, which might as well be Joe Blade 4. A lot of Spectrum games, even full-price ones, boil down to simple maze games but at least these looked pretty and played smoothly.

My only problem with Colin Swinbourne games was the bloody harsh mini-games that he always threw in. I'd have liked games like Deviants a lot more without them.

The first and third instalments were quite enjoyable, good for their price. But the second... nice graphics and presentation, but lacking in substance.

I never got into Joe Blade games.

Can't say they were bad. Just uninteresting for me. It didn't help that they were monochrome and all looked the same. And required mapping.