Category: 19xx

19xx Archives | Category for grouping a collection of posts for topics covering the years 1970-99.

Krakout: Commodore C64 March Review

Posted by  on March 1, 2021

Krakout: March featured game

No, not the answer to “What’s the first thing you associate with a builder’s trousers?” Krakout is a Breakout clone with a difference.

Krakout C64

We’ve seen this type of game a lot on various systems. Names such as Arkanoid and Batty will be familiar to many old skool gamers but Krakout stands out because it’s different. All those other games play vertical whereas Krakout plays horizontal. One benefit of playing horizontal is a handy little option where you can swap the side your bat resides on, presumably for left-handed players.

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Escape from Atlantis Game: A Childhood Favourite

Posted by  on February 8, 2021

Escape from Atlantis was one of my favourite childhood board games

For 1-4 players, Waddington’s Escape from Atlantis allows you to play as one of four colours, blue, yellow, red, or green. There are twelve of each colour pieces (people) to get to safety.

Escape from Atlantis

Escape from Atlantis consists of the playing board, a sea surrounded by four small islands, playing pieces, Atlantis pieces, sea creatures, boats and a spinner. The aim of the game is to get as many of your people to the safety of one of these four islands as Atlantis crumbles into the sea.

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Solomon’s Key: Sinclair ZX Spectrum February Review

Posted by  on February 2, 2021

Solomon’s Key: February featured game

Solomon’s Key is a single player arcade/strategy platformer conversion from the arcade game of the same name.

Solomon's Key Loading ScreenLoading Screen

The aim of the game is to escape each level by collecting a key to unlock the exit. You are equipped with a magic wand which can be used to create or destroy blocks to help you do this. To reach the key you will need to arrange blocks so you can move yourself around enemies. To stop you reaching your goal there are various enemies roaming around each level. There are fairies to save while attempting to collect your key and reach the exit. You can rescue fairies by collecting the bells. If you think that sounds a little too easy then you should know there is also a time limit for each level so, while you’re working out the best path in your head the timer is ticking down.

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Bomb Jack: The Board Game (a COVID Lockdown project)

Posted by  on January 17, 2021

With COVID Lockdown still in full effect I decided to make “Bomb Jack: The Board Game”

During this lockdown we’ve played our board games A LOT. It’s no secret that I’ve always liked Bomb Jack, specifically the Spectrum and Arcade versions. Three things have driven me to make Bomb Jack: The Board Game: –

  1. I needed something fresh and nothing in the shops really took my interest.
  2. I’ve always wanted to make my own board game.
  3. I like the idea of classic video games turned into board games, if done properly.

So I set out to create Bomb Jack: The Board Game. I wanted to try and stick to the basic premise of the video game so ultimately the goal is to collect “Fire Bombs”. Now, 23 fire bombs seem a little excessive for each player to collect in a board game so I opted for 5 (this may change depending on how the beta testing goes). The game is for 2-4 players, each playing a variation of Bomb Jack or Bomb Jill (Bomb Jack Twin).

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COVID Lockdown: 180 (Mastertronic Added Dimension)

Posted by  on January 11, 2021

The last on my COVID Lockdown retro gaming list is another Spectrum favourite, 180 by Mastertronic.

While we’re in our third lockdown I decided to revisit some old favourites, but with a twist. The plan is to take a look at some of my all time favourite retro games but on a different system. Tonight I played 180 on the Atari XE.

Spectrum 180 cassette

Spectrum version information is taken from the World of Spectrum archive.

180
Usual Version Played Current Version Played
System: Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128K Atari XE
Publisher: M.A.D M.A.D
Release Year: 1986 1986
No. Players: 1-2 (alternating) 1-2 (alternating)
Genre: Sports Sports
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