Spectrum Computing

Posted: **Thu Apr 06, 2023 12:06 pm**

R-Tape wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:24 pm

Saboteur: Deep Cover. It took me longer than it should to solve the initial part that leads into the main game, and the chaos that ensued just after (if you've played it you'll know what I mean) certainly got the pulse going more than any horror game I've ever played. Now that I've sussed out what to do I can relax a bit and enjoy what can be summed up as an action graphic text adventure with a bloody big map. Nice work Andy and Clive.

I like those graphics!

Posted: **Fri Apr 07, 2023 12:07 pm**

worcestersource wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 12:06 pm I like those graphics!

Yeah, when I first saw the screenshot, I though it was a Next game!

Posted: **Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:54 pm**

Amaurote, thanks to the cover tape poll I remembered this game. At the time the graphics were so alien. The game is still as tough as I remember.

Posted: **Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:59 pm**

R-Tape wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:24 pm

Saboteur: Deep Cover. It took me longer than it should to solve the initial part that leads into the main game, and the chaos that ensued just after (if you've played it you'll know what I mean) certainly got the pulse going more than any horror game I've ever played. Now that I've sussed out what to do I can relax a bit and enjoy what can be summed up as an action graphic text adventure with a bloody big map. Nice work Andy and Clive.

This isn't preserved on the forum due to still being on sale. Is it possible to add a link in the DB for games that are still on sale?

Posted: **Fri Apr 07, 2023 8:17 pm**

EdToo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:59 pm This isn't preserved on the forum due to still being on sale. Is it possible to add a link in the DB for games that are still on sale?

It's the Clive Townsend page link (in the "Authors" section). Should be clearer.

Posted: **Sat Apr 08, 2023 9:10 am**

EdToo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:59 pm This isn't preserved on the forum due to still being on sale. Is it possible to add a link in the DB for games that are still on sale?

yeah, I wondered this

Posted: **Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:05 pm**

Main Course by @Quantum Sheep. It's short and mostly free of text adventure pitfalls (though I did struggle at one point with USE and UNLOCK, but maybe that's just me). Initially I thought the main character's 'dumb talk' was going to annoy, but far from it - the only problem I has was the thin letters, which would only look right as a proportional font IMO (I patched with the ROM font!).

Enjoyable and worth a shot. Maybe not one for cat lovers...

Posted: **Fri Apr 21, 2023 11:43 am**

All Hallow's Eve 1881 (scroll down to itch.io link for download)

Another text adventure - with an occult theme in a deserted (or is it?) house again. It's rare to see a custom parser and it works perfectly well. I'm ambivalent about whether 'the best pictures are on the radio', but the no frills appearance of this one makes me think they are, for today at least. It's another one I'd add to the 'mostly fair text adventure' category. Recommended.

I looked at the solution (in the comments the itch.io page) twice - both due to stupidity on my part. First I just missed an exit and became selectively blind to its existence, the second I'd actually solved all the puzzles but didn't realise. A hint would have been nice at the point, but the intro blurb did tell me what the endgame should be.

There's only one verb that people may find hard to guess.

Spoiler

EXTINGUISH

Posted: **Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:14 pm**

The House on the Other Side of the Storm.

I'm still riding a text adventure wave, and this is another good one. The 'empath' mechanic is really cool and a good way to open up the puzzles. It's also compact and distinctive enough to build the map in your head, so no spilling off the edge of a sheet of A4. I finished it, but as usual looked at the solution a couple of times - I gave up too quickly on the first one, the second one less so. I think BITD, without the lure of an online solution, I would have stewed more on each puzzle and hopefully solved them myself, without resorting to sending a stamp addressed envelope to the author!

Posted: **Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:10 pm**

Taking a quick break from text adventures for a bit of frenzied reaction based action. I decided to fire my Next up (it's been a while, and Jim's tinkerings reminded me I still had the thing!), so what better to show off the Next's high colour resolution, extra sound capability and megabyte of memory?

Patrick Paddle.

Reached level 12 and made about 25 quid, which back in 1982 (when this was surely coded), would have bought me a few Marathon bars.

Posted: **Sun Apr 30, 2023 9:11 pm**

Patrick Paddle is a good simple game. Reminds me of that high score contest we did a couple years back. This was one of the games we played.

Posted: **Sun Apr 30, 2023 11:25 pm**

This one's nice. It's the first time I'm playing Mag Max from Imagine. It's a smooth side-scrolling shooter and I'm really enjoying it even though I can just make it to level 2. When you get hit, you don't lose a life. Instead you lose one of the add-ons that you pick up along the way. So far the only complaint I have is the lack of redefinable keys.

Posted: **Sun Apr 30, 2023 11:53 pm**

Turbo the Tortoise [Hi-Tec Software, 1992]
Smooth platformer in the style of Super Mario, with end level bosses needing to be stomped on the head a few times.
Nothing original, but ok.

Posted: **Mon May 01, 2023 9:14 am**

cmal wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 11:25 pm This one's nice. It's the first time I'm playing Mag Max from Imagine.

I love Mag Max. I think it's an underrated game.

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2023 10:25 am**

Two Days to the Race

I've played them in a funny order, but I had to complete the Emilia Vittorini series (Two Days > Queen's Footsteps > Silk Dust). It's another hergé-esque adventure involving steam, plus a bit of chemistry this time. The descriptions are a bit more mechanical than the later games, so I assume @DarwinNE was employed by the Italian tourist board after this game. It's still engaging and fun to play (and completable).

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2023 10:56 am**

My wife and I are playing the Bards Tale every Friday evening. We get the beers in and get stuck in to one of the most difficult dungeon crawlers ever devised... quite amazing that this was ported to our humble Spectrum. The game itself is party based, has multiple classes, hundreds of spells and items, many locations to explore and provides hundreds and hundreds of hours game play, one for the absolute masters. The Bards Tale, I salute you!

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2023 9:30 pm**

Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone [1991, Storm Software]
It's a pretty decent gang beat'em up with interesting black and white graphics.
Not Renegade level, of course.

Posted: **Thu May 04, 2023 6:45 pm**

WIWC wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 9:30 pm Not Renegade level, of course.

That depends… if you're comparing Double Dragon III with Renegade III, that's a different story!

Posted: **Tue May 09, 2023 9:29 pm**

***DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME***

Some days ago I've watched a streaming where some retro nerds loaded one by one all the games from an old italian pirate tape I used to own, one of the best I bought at the newstand in the eighties, with renamed classics as "I draghi" (Thanatos), "Ninja" (Saboteur),"Ranger" (Deathchase) and others.
The last game was one of the lesser titles of the compilation, an absurd title that I've played from time to time, but never tried to fully understand.
It's structured in three repetitive mini games in the context of a grid where you must move in order to reach the opposite corner and save your beloved princess. A frog princess turned into a repulsive human. Yes, it's the demented Cosmic Wartoad.
So, I wanted to try it again and test its silliness again. And, yes, the game was still an absurd collection of repetitive mini-games. Only, this time I couldn't stop. I wasn't able. I started to find the items I needed to free the princess. The repetiveness of the mini-games put me in a trance. I wasn't in command. The game was commanding me. And, incredibly, I seemed to approach its solution. I had found seven items out of eight, and located the last one: it was in a square next to my final destination. It was virtually done. If it wasn't for the time limit, that ended right while I was in the middle of the final mini-game, one inch away from the finish line. So, it was time to leave the game. Or to become even more obsessed by it and spending more hours to try again and finish it.
But luckily Cosmic Wartoad has no more power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no...

Posted: **Wed May 10, 2023 8:39 am**

"All glory to the Cosmic Wartoad"

Posted: **Wed May 10, 2023 10:55 am**

WIWC wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 9:29 pm ***DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME***

Some days ago I've watched a streaming where some retro nerds loaded one by one all the games from an old italian pirate tape I used to own, one of the best I bought at the newstand in the eighties, with renamed classics as "I draghi" (Thanatos), "Ninja" (Saboteur),"Ranger" (Deathchase) and others.
The last game was one of the lesser titles of the compilation, an absurd title that I've played from time to time, but never tried to fully understand.
It's structured in three repetitive mini games in the context of a grid where you must move in order to reach the opposite corner and save your beloved princess. A frog princess turned into a repulsive human. Yes, it's the demented Cosmic Wartoad.
So, I wanted to try it again and test its silliness again. And, yes, the game was still an absurd collection of repetitive mini-games. Only, this time I couldn't stop. I wasn't able. I started to find the items I needed to free the princess. The repetiveness of the mini-games put me in a trance. I wasn't in command. The game was commanding me. And, incredibly, I seemed to approach its solution. I had found seven items out of eight, and located the last one: it was in a square next to my final destination. It was virtually done. If it wasn't for the time limit, that ended right while I was in the middle of the final mini-game, one inch away from the finish line. So, it was time to leave the game. Or to become even more obsessed by it and spending more hours to try again and finish it.
But luckily Cosmic Wartoad has no more power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no power over me. Cosmic Wartoad has no...

Not their best for game play, but still the usual quality I expect from Denton Designs. Silly but appealing.

Posted: **Thu May 11, 2023 10:20 am**

I'm dipping in and out of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

There's a few games inspired by the book, but this one is faithful to Douglas Adams's game. There's also a 'solid gold' version, but on the speccy that seems less functional than the original!

Even with a limited word count, Douglas Adams manages to get his trademark humour in there. Trouble is, I don't think I can remember the book well enough to play this through.

Posted: **Wed May 17, 2023 7:50 pm**

Mirror Mirror. I previously really struggled with the reverse typing and logic in 'mirror world', but it's only a short game and I ploughed though it pretty easily this time (well 180 turns, but it's possible in about 30).

That's the great thing about the CGC, it frees up the shackles to allow an author to make something inventive that would normally seem totally barmy! Definitely deserves the Hi-Quality CGC membership.

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 8:56 am**

Ravina 2.0, because I like to whip myself into a furious, stressed rage before heading out for the day's tasks. Keys 5678, you have to land on the boat, get the jetpac, and fly (vertically only) up to the edge on the other side. It's quite addictive to manage to do it once. Doing it consecutively is another matter...

Thanks to @Andre Leao and @filipe.veiga and the team for this recovered type-in and MOD. What's the crack with the MOD by the way? As far as I can see it plays the same as the original, but with an intro added.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2023 7:11 pm**

Dragon Ninja.

I played it to death on the Miggy back in the day, so the speccy version had a lot to live up to. It's okay. The game engine is decent and everything moves fast enough, but the controls could be more responsive. It's pretty easy to make early progress too—I made it to level 4 on my first try. It's a shame the AY sounds aren't made better use of on the 128K version. It would be a big ask, but I really miss the Amiga sounds... Euuurr, Ohwahhh!, and Hotttt....DURR!

Spectrum Computing

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