Retro Magazine 1

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001 

GAMER is the UK’s first regular retro magazine. 2004 

* 

RETRO 

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insides 01 

| ❙❋❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | | 

06 

Retro News 

66 

Horror Movie Licences 

73 

1983 Advertising Gallery 

08 

Sinclair Researched 

John Southern fawns over 

Sir Clive Sinclair’s range of 

classic micros 

30 

The Top 100 Retro Games! 

10 games on 10 formats. Do 

you agree with our choices? 

**4** 

52 

Mastertronic, a History 

Anthony Guter looks at the 

history of the classic budget 

software publisher

18 

Return of the Rings 

A fascinating look at the 

many games based on 

Tolkien’s epic novel 

24 

Hall of the Miner King 

Martyn Carroll walks down 

Surbiton Way in search of 

Miner Willy 

84 

Emulation Nation 

92 

Coverdisc 

98 

Next Month 

60 

Street Fighting Clan 

Charles Brigden takes an 

swipe at the long-running 

Street Fighter series 

**5**

| ❙❋❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | news | 

The latest news from the 

world of retro gaming 

Get Your Rocks 

Off 

Nope, it’s not a long overdue reworking of Asteroids sadly, but the almost 

comparably exciting news that grubby little seed-meister Leisure Suit Larry is pulling 

on his raincoat once more and sinking into the murky underworld of sex shops, 

brothels and ladies of the night for another close-to-the-bone adventure! 

This seventh Larry adventure, dubbed Magna 

Cum Laude, (which is actually some sort of Yankee 

award for being the biggest swot in a particular 

university, but also has the word cum in it, making it 

naturally ‘hilarious’ LSL fare), introduces Larry to the 

younger, hipper 

scene of PS2 and 

The lewdster returns in a brand new 

Xbox, and also 

adventure, the seventh to date 

reacquaints him 

with his old friend 

and sleazing 

buddy, the PC. 

Taking its 

inspiration from such high-brow art house films as 

American Pie, we can expect lots of leching and 

leering, but not a whole lot of actual lovin’, as 

Larry gets knocked back time and again by the 

lovely ladies in the game. While no one on the 

Retro Gamer team can imagine what that must feel 

like, we’re looking forward to finding out. So, get 

your leisure suits dry-cleaned, pressed and ready 

Retro 

for action when this one arrives later 

Zone 

this year! 

The second Micro Mart Computer Fair took place at the NEC in November, and 

once again the star of the show was the Retro Zone. Like an island of tranquillity 

in a hall full of sweaty bargain hunters, the Retro Zone gathered together the 

cream of the current retro scene. Allan Bairstow from Commodore Scene magazine 

was in attendance, showing off both classic and contemporary Commodore 

machines. Ever seen an accelerated C64 with a 4Gb hard drive? You would have if 

you were there. Other attendees included representatives from QUANTA, showing 

several generations of the Sinclair QL, Colin Piggot from Quazar (issue six of his Sam 

Revival magazine is on sale now) and Colin Woodcock, editor of the ZXF online 

Spectrum magazine. As an added treat, Arcade Warehouse supplied several arcade 

machines for the day, including the classic Dragon’s Lair. 

The Retro Zone event was expertly organised by Micro Mart column writer Shaun 

Photographs from the recent 

Retro Zone event 

Bebbington, who 

also showed off rare computers from his 

extensive collection. Overall, the fair was a 

success, and the Retro Zone a highpoint. Here’s hope that it goes ahead again next 

year, and if it does, don’t miss it! 

**6**

Buried Treasure 

If you’re too thick to figure out the emulation stuff (or just irritatingly honest), then 

don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out on your retro fix. Companies like Midway 

are realising that “there’s gold in them thar cupboards”, so they’re busy dusting off 

their back catalogues and repacking them as anthologies of loveliness. The latest 

is Midway Arcade Treasures for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube. 

Featuring 22 classic titles, MAT is a trip down memory lane that will moisten 

the eyes of anyone who’s got a lifetime of gaming experience behind them. Here’s 

a list of what’s on it (deep breath) – Spyhunter, Defender, Gauntlet, Joust, 

Paperboy, Rampage, Marble Madness, Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Joust 2, 

Bubbles, Roadblasters, Stargate, Moon Patrol, Blaster, Rampart, Sinistar, Super 

Sprint, 720, Toobin’, KLAX, SPLAT!, Satan’s 

Hollow and Vindicators! 

Now if there’s nothing in there to get you 

drooling you must have sold your soul to EA. 

And believe us, you’re going to hell for that. 

Codemasters 

Honored 

Founders of Codemasters, Richard, David and father Jim Darling, have all been 

honoured recently by the UK computer and videogames industry. At the industries 

annual dinner the father and sons, who formed the company in 1986, were 

presented with the ELSPA Hall of Fame award. 

Richard and David were teenagers when they launched Codemasters with father 

Jim acting as Chairman. The brothers had already been creating games for some 

years, firstly selling via mail order before working as developers for publishing 

companies, which provided the funds to form Codemasters in 1986. Since their first 

release ‘BMX Simulator’, Codemasters 

has had over 60 number one bestsellers 

and published some of the 

games industries most popular titles. 

David Darling, CEO of Codemasters said 

“We’re honoured to receive the award. 

We’ve always been passionate about 

creating games and to be recognised by 

ELSPA is immensely pleasing”. 

Play these classic Midway games on 

your next-gen console 

Fashion 

victims 

Half 

Fish. 

Half 

Machine. 

All Cop 

Thirteen years after he first made his debut, 

James Pond has returned. Originally 

appearing on the Amiga ST and then 

gracing the likes of Sega’s Megadrive, the 

chubby-faced mecha-fish finally slinks his 

way onto the PSone, a machine that in 

itself could be deemed as retro. 

Robocod was the second outing for 

James Pond, who proved to be one of the 

most memorable platform characters of the 

16-bit era. Purists will be pleased to note 

that the game is exactly the same as the 

1992 Atari ST version, apart from a slight 

reworking of the intro sequence. Dr Mebbe 

has hijacked Santa’s Lapland toy factory and 

kidnapped all the little elves. What a 

horrible little sod! Fortunately our hero 

Robocod, with his magically expanding 

stomach (it goes up instead of the one 

you’ve got, that goes out), is on the case, 

sure to bring scaly justice and free the 

dynamite-bound elves. What follows is 36 

levels of platform mayhem for the 

bargain price of £9.99. All we wonder 

know is what happened to the PS2 

update of Robocod, originally 

announced a couple of years ago? 

Robocod has been released by budget 

specialists Play It, and is out now. 

We’ve come a long way (baby). Games are in fashion – 

literally. No longer the preserve of the spotty kid with a 

pasty pallor even Steve Davis would snigger at, 

suddenly the world is realising what we’ve always 

known – games are cool! And now you can wear your 

obsession with pride. Fashion labels are springing up all 

over the place, each desperate to cash in on the craze, 

but in our opinion none are doing it with more style than 

the Joystick Junkies (www.joystickjunkies.com). 

With a whole range of eye-catching t-shirts (and yes, 

hotpants!) that you really wouldn’t be ashamed to be 

seen wearing down your local roller disco, there’s 

something for everyone – from Space Invaders to 

Defender and all the way up to perhaps the greatest 

video game ever, the mighty Sensible Soccer. And all at 

more than reasonable prices. So get along to their Web 

site for a look and smarten yourself up! 

**7**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | sinclair researched | 

**8**

Sinclair 

Researched. 

We simply couldn't 

launch a retro magazine 

without running a 

feature on the Sinclair 

range of computers. 

John Southern, our 

resident Sinclair 

expert, looks at every 

model, from the ZX80 to 

the QL, and brings us 

up to date with what's 

happening in the 

Sinclair scene right 

now 

**9**


The ZX80/81 

In the beginning 

drawback and very soon, Sinclair started to sell 3K RAM expansion packs. As 

prices for memory started to fall at the beginning of the 80s, Sinclair later 

brought out a 16K expansion module. Around the world, the ZX81 price mark 

broke barriers at $199 in the USA and Dmk 498 in Germany. 

Version 2.0 

It all really got started in January 1980. This was when Sinclair 

Research announced a new computer engineers had been working on 

since May the previous year. The Sinclair ZX80 came to life in 

February, when the first kits started to sell at computer fairs. This was not Clive 

Sinclair’s first venture into selling computers; his previous MK14 kit had sold 

well, but nothing like the demand for the ZX80. In total, some 50,000 of these 

first stepping stones to modern computers were sold. Not as many as you would 

perhaps imagine, but enough to start the computer craze in the UK. 

In white moulded plastic, the ZX80 could be bought in kit form (£79.95) or 

pre-built and ready to run (£99.95). Advertising in major national newspapers 

brought the computer to the attention of many who saw it as the future and 

something educational to buy for their children. Sales took off and hundreds of 

children throughout the country got their first taste of BASIC programming. 

However, all was not as you would expect. The ZX80 could only do integer 

mathematics. Decimal points where unheard of. Although this sounds strange 

today, the Sinclair BASIC, which was written by John Grant of Nine Tiles, had to 

be squeezed onto a 4K ROM chip. The machine’s limited memory was a real 

1981 saw the release of Sinclair’s improved ZX81. It was launched in March, in a 

blaze of television and media publicity. Similar in looks, the black-cased ZX81 

had hardware mainly designed by the ZX80 designer, Jim Westwood. The 

upgraded 8K ROM finally had a decimal point for its mathematics routines. For 

those who had bought a ZX80, they could buy an 8K ROM upgrade, although it 

was the end of Autumn before the final maths bugs had been sorted out. The 

new machine retailed for an unprecedented £69.95. This low price was mainly 

due to the Ferranti-produced ULA (Uncommitted Logic Array) which reduced the 

number of components and, therefore, the overall cost. The ZX80 contained 21 

chips, whereas the ZX81 contained just four chips, including the RAM and 

processor. 

The ZX81 possessed 1K of RAM, but for £29.95 you could purchase a 16K 

RAM pack. However, these expansion packs had one major design fault. To save 

money, the computers did not have a socket for expansion. They relied on the 

circuit board itself. Copper circuit tracks ran to the edge of the board. The 

expansion packs had to grip the original board and make a connection. During 

>Official 

add-ons. 

The Sinclair ZX Printer came to market in time for Christmas 1981, costing a 

very reasonable £49.95 (this later rose to £59.95 because of rising 

production costs). At the time, 9 pin dot matrix printers typically sold for 

£200 to £300. The printer used aluminium coated black paper. The stylus 

was electrically charged and this burnt away the aluminium, leaving the 

black paper to show through. At 32 characters wide (about 4in), the black 

on silver output was mainly used for printing program listings. The printer 

may have been cheap, but the paper was not, costing £12 for five small 

rolls. Fortunately for businesses attempting to use the ZX81, third party 

manufacturers produced interfaces that allowed a standard Centronic printer 

to be connected. By the time the Spectum arrived, the ZX Printer had almost 

been phased out, but it could still be connected to the new computer. 

1983 saw the launch of the Sinclair Interface 1. This was a small 

expansion module that raised the back of the spectrum. Along with two 100 

baud network ports and a real RS-232-C port for either printers or modems, 

the Interface 1 had a new connection port. This port allowed the connection 

of up to eight Sinclair’s Microdrives. The ZX Microdrive was a cheap mass 

storage device using an endless loop of 1.9mm video tape. Each unit was 

priced at £49.95, although £79.95 got you one plus the Interface 1. Between 

85k and 100K could be stored on a cartridge, and at 15k per second, that 

meant that games could be loaded very quickly. At the time it was seen as a 

cheap, reliable form of storage, but the new 3.5in disks slowly ate the 

market and third party manufacturers produced floppy drive interfaces. 

The Sinclair Interface 2 was also released in 1983. This was Sir Clive’s 

answer to the boom in console sales, and the small unit (priced at £19.95) 

contained two joystick ports and a ROM cartridge slot. Several cartridge 

games were released, including a quartet of classics titles from Ultimate, but 

they were priced at £15 each! Granted, they loaded quicker than their 

cassette-based counterparts, but who would pay three times more for that 

privilege? Another blow was that the ROM cartridges could only store 16K 

games, so the growling library of 48K games was not supported. 

**10**

the design phase, this was reasonable, but in practice, the memory expansion 

was prone to lose some contact, so your carefully typed-in program was at risk 

if anything was to knock the pack. And as the keyboard was nothing but a 

membrane, it was possible to press a key just a little too hard and the whole 

machine would move enough to crash. Although a major headache for users, this 

did lead to the creation of many a small company, attempting to solve the 

problem. These solutions ranged from blu-tak or velcro fasteners to metal strips 

and screws which bolted onto the expansion pack. 

The ingenuity of users started to show too. Tired of a black and white 

television screen? Just buy a sheet of green plastic film and you have a green 

screen monitor just like the expensive business computers! Hardware peripheral 

manufacturers sprung up in almost every garden shed, which was remarkable 

because most were garden sheds. Memory could be added to a massive 1Mb, 

although this relied on memory paging. Memotech produced a hi-resolution 

expansion box. Moving-key keyboards were popular, along with joysticks and 

even digitising tablets. 

Gathering pace 

The success of the ZX81 snowballed. After sales reached a certain point, there 

were enough young wannabe programmers desperate to make the next big 

selling hit. These programs increased the software catalogue and so in turn 

persuaded others to buy the machine. Christmas 1981 saw thousands of parents 

spending the whole of the festive season trying to get the level on a tape 

recorder just perfect to be able to load in a program off a cassette tape. 

Magazines sprung up quickly to try and cater for the demand, with many 

printing program listings. Nobody thought it was strange to type in a 

hexadecimal computer listing that was an obvious photocopy from someone’s 

Sinclair thermal printer, save it to cassette and hope it did something useful 

before the machine crashed and lost everything! 

Pre-recorded software was the wise alternative. The Sinclair ZX Software arm 

produced a range of cassette-based teaching aids but these were not successful. 

Games, however, did rule. With its very limited graphics, it was possible to play 

Space Invaders as long as you had no problem pretending the chunky graphics 

were alien-like. There was some innovation though, with 3D Monster Maze being 

one of the original first-person adventures. 

Within two years, over one million ZX81 computers had been sold, some 

300,000 via Sinclair’s own mail order service. Of course, some people never give 

in. You can still buy original kits, so never mind collecting, start using! The ZX 

Team are a user group of (friendly) fanatics who still support the ZX80/81 and 

their clones. Fancy making a portable? Visit their site (www.zx81.de) and go to 

the projects page. 

A selection of official Sinclair 

peripherals 

**11**


The ZX - 

Spectrum 

The glory days 

Having turned the nation into a computer literate frenzy, 1982 saw Sir Clive Sinclair 

reach a pinnacle. He had been snubbed by the BBC, who chose Acorn Computers 

(set up by Chris Curry who had once worked for Sinclair) to build a computer 

endorsed by the national TV broadcaster. At £400, the Acorn BBC models A and B 

were a little beyond the reach of most, and Sinclair planned his revenge. In another 

glare of camera lights, he announced the new Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The first 

noticeable feature was colour. Then there was the price. £125 bought the 16K RAM 

version or £175 for the 48K model (within six months, the 16K model dropped to 

£99.95, making the first colour computer available for under £100). Although not 

equipped with all the interface ports of the BBC, the price difference was to be a 

huge factor. 

At the launch, Sinclair’s marketing team had learned some new tricks. They 

constantly referred to the educational software that would be available; a brilliant 

move as every child in the country could try to persuade their parents that the 

computer could help with school work. What parent could take the chance that their 

child could be left behind? The first few days saw such a buying frenzy that the 

>Sinclair 

overseas. 

Sinclair mail order department could not keep up with demand. These delays were 

to become part of folklore and the mail order department was never able to shake 

its less than stellar image. 

Almost immediately, industries sprung up to support the Spectrum. Magazines 

were launched, software companies created almost nightly, and hardware add-ons 

flourished. Most people bought the 16K version as you could later upgrade to 48K 

by slotting in extra RAM chips for about £50. Programmers had by now spent two 

years learning how to cram code into 16K. This was the machine they had been 

waiting for. 

After Christmas, school playgrounds became a battle field of rivalries. Parents 

who had paid extra to buy a BBC or one of the newly imported Atari computers 

found their child outnumbered by the Spectrum-owning kids. This rivalry intensified 

with each new machine launched, forcing the owners to become inventive in their 

programming. Other computers could boast better hardware features and facilities. 

Spectrum users made up for this by using brilliant software hacks. Every time a new 

program hit the shop shelves it was eagerly bought and carefully reverse-engineered 

to learn just how the programmer had implemented the new features. Disassembler 

programs were common, and no-one thought anything wrong with taking other 

programmer’s code to pieces in pursuit of learning. 

Profit from piracy 

No-one worried about reverse engineering because a much bigger existed. 

Software was sold and stored on cassette tape, and any child could connect a 

Starting with the ZX81, the machines were being manufactured by the 

American Timex company in their Dundee factory. This gave Sinclair a way 

into the American market. Timex re-badged the ZX81 and Spectrum and sold 

them in the States as the TS1000 and TS2000 respectively. 

Other countries saw the success and a few started to make their own 

cloned versions. Brazil and Argentina were not part of the official Sinclair 

distribution and many unofficial clones were produced. These ranged from the 

MicroDigital TK82 clone of the ZX80 to the Argentinean Czerweny Electronica 

CZ2000+ Spectrum clone. Hong Kong followed with a Spectrum derivative 

called the Lambda 8300. However, most clones came from behind the iron 

curtain. The cold war meant that Sinclair could do little about copyright. From 

Slovakia came the Didaktik Gama. It is actually still possible to find versions 

for sale, with the Didaktik Kompakt having a built-in disk drive! Russia 

naturally went a little further and produced the Hobeta or Hobbit Personal 

Computer in Leningrad, with a high degree of compatibility and a 

considerably improved spec: 64K RAM, dual 5.25in disk drives, three joystick 

ports, both TV and RGB monitor output, parallel and serial ports. It was 

mainly sold for use in Russian schools. 

The ultimate Spectrum though was the Scorpion ZS-256 – a Z80B 7Mhz 

CPU with a huge 256K of RAM. It came with a disk drive controller and TR- 

DOS. More recently in 1996, an upgraded Spectrum called the Sprinter arrived, 

which could run both TR-DOS and MS-DOS! 

MicroDigital released a whole 

host of unofficial Spectrum 

clones 

**12**

couple of tape recorders together and run off a copy or two. You could buy the 

latest game and within a day, have swapped it at school for dozens of other 

games. Although illegal, everyone knew that you could quickly have a huge 

library of programs. Buy a Spectrum and stock up on C90 tapes, and you could 

end up with hundreds of the cutting edge programs for a fraction of the price 

compared to BBC owners. Acorn hit back the only way they could – by 

introducing add-ons such as 5.25in disk drives. Sadly these were so expensive 

that third party manufacturers produced their own, adding to confusion over 

single or double sided and single or double density. Spectrum users just bought 

double tape players – so their parents could also copy music – and more C90s! 

The early days saw a host of innovative games as each new feature of the 

Spectrum was discovered. Having thousands of bedroom programmers meant 

that the market was ruthless. Thousands of games were written, and as piracy 

was rife, only the very best sold. For all of the features of modern computer 

games with extensive graphics and dialogue, the ultimate test is playability. 

Limited hardware meant that, to survive and make a million, the games had to 

grab your attention and be instantly playable. The list is impressive. Early 

success came to companies like Imagine, with tales of young programmers 

earning thousands. After its spectacular collapse, many left to form other 

companies such as Ocean. Probably the best known software house was Ashby 

Computer Graphics which traded under the name of Ultimate Play The Game. It 

produced classics such as Jetpac, Atic Atac and Knight Lore. As a typical game 

took some six minutes to load, it soon became common for a splash screen to 

be loaded before the rest of the program. Many software houses at the time 

hired artists just to produce these images, which due to the limited palette and 

resolutions, were in fact real works of art. 

Third party hardware manufacturers flourished, and fought to out do one 

another with inventive add-ons, including graphics tablets, full-sized printers, 

alternative storage media and, due to the popularity of games, joysticks. Where 

the rival BBC had analogue joysticks requiring expensive potentiometers, the 

Spectrum made do with cheaper contact switches. 

When it came to the keyboard, Sinclair had learned valuable lesssons from 

the previous computers. The flat membrane keyboards had been poorly thought 

of, and in an effort to reduce cost but improve features, the Spectrum used a 

membrane as the contacts, but this time had rubber blocks for the keys. The 

‘Dead Flesh’ keyboard gave a little response back, but many add-on keyboards 

were developed and sold. With so much potential for third party fixes, the 

system was as cheap as you were willing to pay. You could live with the basic 

model or spend as much as your piggy bank could afford to buy yourself a 

better computer. 

>Super 

Spectrum. 

No, not the SAM Coupe, but rather the Spectrum +3e. This souped-up 

Speccy is the work of Garry Lancaster. He’s basically upgraded the +3 

ROMs, fixing bugs and adding new features. The improvements range from 

the small (you can now change the colours in the editor) to the significant 

(the introduction of user-defined text windows). Best of all, the enhanced 

ROMs allow you to connect a standard IDE hard drive to your Spectrum +3 

(or +2A)! Obviously you need to construct a suitable interface, but if your 

soldering skills are up the scratch, the new software will do the rest. It’s 

even possible to build an interface that plugs directly into the Z80 socket, 

so the connector sits neatly inside the casing. Lancaster reports that he’s 

connected drives as big as 8Gb, and he sees no reason why you can’t 

connect even bigger drives. For more information about the Spectrum +3e, 

including details on how to upgrade your ROMs with the new code, visit 

Garry’s Web site at www.zxplus3e.plus.com. 

Upgrade your Spectrum +3 to support 

a standard IDE hard drive 

**13**


Broadening the range 

Sinclair was on a roll, with Spectrums being shipped as fast as they could be made. 

The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, presented one to the Japanese leader, and 

Clive Sinclair was knighted in 1983. 

In October the following year, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ was produced. This was 

similar to a software patch. It was still the same machine but had a working 

keyboard, where the keys actually moved. By 1985, sales started to slide and so the 

Spectrum+ was again improved to produce the ZX Spectrum 128. This new machine 

had the keyboard of the Spectrum+ and a new sound system, with three channels 

and seven octaves, plus the ubiquitous 128K RAM. The new 128 BASIC did away 

with the one-touch entry system of the original version, although you could still 

switch to 48K compatibility mode if needed. Britain finally saw the model in 

February 1986, but by then Sinclair was on the way out. A few months later, Amstrad 

took over Sinclair after the company sustained heavy financial losses, accredited to 

the doomed Sinclair C5. The Spectrum 128 was soon dropped as Amstrad 

consolidated the operation, making it something of a rarity today. 

In 1987, Amstrad sold the Taiwanese-manufactured ZX Spectrum +2. This was 

basically a Spectrum 128 stuffed inside Amstrad’s own CPC 6128 case. With the builtin 

tape player, it was perfect for playing games and marketed more as a console 

than a computer (early packs even came bundled with a light gun). Development 

continued but at a slower pace. 1988 saw the release of the Spectrum +3. This was 

basically a +2 with a built-in disk drive replacing the tape player. It also included an 

upgraded version of BASIC, complete with new disk operating commands. At £250, 

the +3 was not a big seller. This was partially due to the unusual choice of disk 

format. Amstrad opted for its own 3in disk drive rather than the standard 3.5in 

floppy drive that is still used today. The +2 was still popular though, and the 

upgraded +2A model also appeared in 1988. This was basically a +2 with +3 BASIC, 

and a port to connect a standalone disk drive that was never released. This model 

outlived 

The 

the +3 and remained 

Sinclair 

on sale well into the early 90s. 

QL 

Sir Clive gets serious 

Riding on the wave of success from the ZX Spectrum, Sinclair decided that the 

business market was the next big thing. This time, it was not to be a super 

Spectrum, but rather a leap forward. The Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) was 

marketed as the first 32-bit business machine to retail for under £400. 

The first improvement was the memory. Chip prices were slowly falling so 128K 

on-board was possible. Ending Sinclair’s use of the Z80 processors, the QL used 

the new Motorola 68008 chip, although once again with only a 16-bit bus. The 

ability to connect a real computer monitor or television offered the best of both 

worlds, while the twin Microdrives would provide rapid storage for programs and 

data. How could it go wrong? 

The launch was dogged by the fact that the hardware was not quite complete. 

The new QDOS operating system did not fit into the ROM and so initial models 

had a ‘Dongle’ circuit board. This was complicated by a disastrous mail order arm 

>Software 

support. 

Every QL was sold with four business programs written by Psion, who itself 

went on to produce handheld computers. Quill was the standard word 

processing package while Archive was a database, capable of real business 

use and scripting. Abacus introduced spreadsheets, only to be let down by 

Easel for graphical output. This was not really down to the software, but the 

fact that QLs only had four colours (Black, White, Red and Green) made 

graphics somewhat limited. 

Games did not take off for the QL, which was both its downfall and its 

saving grace. Without games it failed to hit the mass market. No games 

meant that it was used in businesses throughout the country and further 

afield. Software was written and is still being improved. The latest commercial 

software, released just a few weeks ago, is called Launchpad. This is a 

program 

The 

launcher and 

Z88 

general GUI for all the differing operating systems. 

After Sinclair had been bought by Amstrad, Sir Clive was not quite out of the 

market. He formed Cambridge Computers which manufactured the very 

portable Z88. This was really a follow on to the Grundy NewBrain designed 

by the Sinclair Radionics company, which was released in 1980 and would 

possibly have been the BBC computer had ownership not changed before 

launch. The Z88s are still favoured by some researchers as the rubber 

keyboard is silent, so it can be used in libraries and recording studies 

throughout the world. Oddly, the operating system is very similar to that of 

the Acorn BBC. 

**14**

which failed to supply machines. The independent user group (QUANTA) was 

formed before anyone managed to get hold of a machine and even produced a 

magazine before machines were shipped. At the same time, the 3.5in disk drive 

arrived. Previously, the Microdrive was seen as a viable alternative to cassette 

tape, capable of holding 100K on each continuous loop of tape. Drives of 3.5in 

killed this idea so that very soon, any self-respecting QL user had upgraded by 

adding a third party disk interface. 

Launching the Sinclair C5 tricycle around the same time did not do the name 

of Sinclair any favours. Slowly, the rise of the Intel/IBM PC eroded the market. 

Over 100,000 QLs were eventually sold. BT, with Merlin, produced a clone called 

the Merlin Tonto, and ICL, which later became part of the Fujitsu empire, made a 

version called the One-Per-Desk. These two models had built in telephones and 

modems along with being made in a dark beige colour, rather than the now 

standard Sinclair black. Other compatibles followed including the CST Thor. By 

1986 Sinclair’s fortunes had reduced to the state where Amstrad took over its 

business. Amstrad, ever one to market a good idea, stopped production of the QL 

and focused on improved versions of the Spectrum. 

The QL lives! 

The network sockets never worked as stated, but the added RS-232-C ports did 

leave an opening for attaching a modem as well as a printer. Cheap 1200/75 baud 

modems allowed many people to use bulletin boards for 

communications. Online communities developed and dedicated users 

grouped together. Just like a PC has evolved from an XT to the modern 

3GHz machine, the QL has since evolved both in hardware and software. 

The user group is still going strong, with monthly meetings in various 

parts of the country. 

After disk drive interfaces and memory expansions, the QL really 

took the hearts of its users with accelerator cards from Miracle Systems. 

Upgrading the processor and RAM was then usually followed by ROM 

changes. Full keyboards, mice and proper disk drives followed. Never 

mind 1.44Mbs per disk – later QLs used ED disks capable of storing 

3.2Mbs each! Hard drives eventually came and the latest models now 

being produced are the Q40 and Q60, which use faster processors and 

are housed in standard PC cases. These can run either the QDOS 

operating system or Linux. 

QDOS survived because the SuperBASIC was more like a Pascal 

language in some respects. Multitasking was the norm. Improved 

ROMs became available along with additional software toolkits. 

Finally, a replacement operating system was produced which is now 

called SMSQ/E. ✺✯* 

Down but not out. Sir Clive strikes 

back with the Z88 portable computer 

>Sinclair 

model 

specs. 

ZX80 

NEC 780C-1 (Zilog Z80A compatible) 

3.25MHz 

4K ROM 

32x24 characters 

64x48 (Quarter Character blocks) graphics 

Black and white via a UHF TV aerial adapter 

No Sound 

Microphone and earphone sockets at 250 baud 

Expansion bus 

Touch-sensitive, smooth-membrane keyboard 

ZX81 

NEC 780C-1 (Zilog Z80A compatible) 

3.25MHz 

4K ROM 

32x24 characters 

Black and white via a UHF TV aerial adapter 

No Sound 

Microphone and earphone sockets at 250 baud 

Expansion bus 

Touch-sensitive, smooth-membrane keyboard 

ZX Spectrum 

3.54MHz Zilog Z80A 

16K or 48K RAM 

32x22 text 256x192 8 colour graphics 

1 channel 5 octave range sound 

Dead Flesh Keyboard 

ZX Spectrum+ 


48K RAM 



Tactile Keyboard 

ZX Spectrum 128 


128K RAM 




Joystick ports 

RS-232-C 

Midi Out 

ZX Spectrum+2/+2A 


128K RAM 



Tactile Keyboard, Grey casing 

Built-in tape recorder 


RS-232-C 

Midi Out 

ZX Spectrum+3 


128K RAM 




3in disk drive 


RS-232-C 

Midi Out 

Sinclair QL 

7.5 MHz 

Motorola MC68008P 

128K RAM 

48K ROM 

42x25 text, 256x256 8 colours, 512x256 4 colours 

2 joystick ports 

2 RS-232-C ports 

TV and monitor connections 

2 100K Microdrives 

2 network sockets 

**15**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | lord of the rings | 

**18**

With The Return of the King 

 

>return 

of the 

rings. 

From simple arcade 

games to complex 

adventures and sprawling 

battle sims, The Lord 

of the Rings has been a 

major source of 

inspiration for software 

developers for over 20 

years. Martyn Carroll 

sets off on a journey 

to uncover the many 

games based on 

Tolkein's epic work 

movie still raking in cash at 

cinemas up and down the 

country, and the extended DVD 

release due in November, it seems 

that no mere mortal will be able to 

escape the Lord of the Rings for the 

foreseeable future. 

You won’t find respite by 

playing videogames either, 

because EA has recently 

released its Return of the King tiein 

and are following it up later in 

the year with Lord of the Rings 

Trilogy, a game based on all 

three films. 

In a separate licensing deal, Vivendi 

Interactive are also releasing 

PC games based on the 

original book; the War of 

the Ring is out now 

and The Battle for 

Middle-earth is due out 

in the summer. The 

games are coming thick 

and fast, but it’s not 

the first time players 

have stepped into the 

shoes of their favourite 

Tolkien character and 

walk the world of 

Middle-earth. 

**19**


Two early games that were 

loosely based on The Lord 

of the Rings 

The bold and 

the not so 

beautiful 

Back in the early 80s, long before 

the fledgling computer games 

market could be classed as an 

industry, publishers could not justify 

licensing costs so they dreamt up 

unofficial yet blatant titles. Games 

with titles like Return of the Jedy 

and Invasion of the Body Snatchas 

were common place. In 1982, 

Postern Software released the 

more subtly titled Shadowfax, an 

arcade game named after 

Gandalf’s horse. Originally 

released on the Vic 20, and later 

appearing on the Spectrum and 

C64, the game saw the player 

ride the titular beast into battle 

against a never-ending stream of 

Black Riders. By hitting the fire 

button you could zap Sauron’s 

servants with well-placed 

lightning bolts. There was no 

level structure as such, and the 

riders just kept on coming, 

making Shadowfax something of 

a one trick pony. The animation 

of the horses was excellent, however, 

being based on Eadweard Muybridge’s 

famous photographs. 

Shadowfax is a solid gold classic 

when compared to Moria – a game 

released in the same year on the 

Spectrum, C64 and Oric-1. You played 

Gandalf in this too and your aim was 

to retrieve Durin’s ring from the mines 

of Moria. It sounded intriguing until 

you realised Moria was depicted as a 

11x11 square grid and your position 

was marked with a letter G. As you 

moved from square to square you 

would stumble upon enemies. Here 

you could choose to fight or run and 

that was about as interactive as the 

game ever got. 

As Moria shows, developers were 

never going to successfully visualise 

Tolkien’s tale with these primitive 

machines, so the best games came in 

the form of text adventures. These 

games where often characterised by 

their complexity, although half the 

time, players struggled with the syntax 

rather then the puzzles themselves. 

Many games required you to enter 

exact phrases to progress, resulting in 

much thesaurus thumbing. 

The very first text adventure, 

cunningly entitled Adventure, was 

loaded with Tolkien references. This 

influential game toured University 

campuses throughout the 1970s, 

eventually turning up on home 

computers (as Colossal Adventure) in 

1981, courtesy of Level 9 Computing. 

By now it had gathered even more 

Tolkien lore, including trolls, elves 

and a volcano that was strikingly 

similar to Mount Doom. The game 

spawned two sequels, Adventure 

Quest and Dungeon Adventure, and 

the three adventures came to be 

known as the Middle-earth Trilogy. 

The games were later re-released 

under the Jewels of Darkness title 

and all of the Tolkien references were 

removed. This was no doubt due to 

the fact that Melbourne House had 

licensed Lord of the Rings from the 

Tolkien estate. 

Following on from their successful 

adventure game based on The Hobbit, 

Melbourne House released Lord of the 

Rings Game One in 1985 on Spectrum, 

C64, Amstrad CPC, BBC, PC, Apple II 

and Mac. The game covered The 

Fellowship of the Ring (in the US the 

game was released as The Fellowship 

of the Ring Software Adventure), and 

was split into two parts like the book. 

In what was a first for an adventure 

**20**

The rather cheeky Middle-earth Trilogy from Level 9 Computing 

game, you could choose which 

character you wanted to play from 

Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry. Your 

selection didn’t make a great deal of 

difference, but if you managed to 

complete the game (no small feat) you 

could play through again from 

different perspectives. 

The game began in The Shire, 

where you were able to explore the 

Hobbit’s homeland before setting off 

on your journey to Rivendell. In fact, it 

was possible to stray from the story 

and head in the opposite direction, 

over the Blue Mountains towards the 

forested planes of Harlingdon and the 

ocean beyond. So while the game 

followed the plot closely, it was 

possible to explore some of the places 

only mentioned in the book (or 

included on Tolkien’s map of Middleearth). 

The game threw in a number of 

unique plot twists too, so even fans 

were in for a few surprises. Saying 

that, at the time of release many fans 

were disappointed with the game, 

possibly because an in-depth 

knowledge of the book was not 

assumed. The text was riddled with 

grammatical errors too, making it look 

like a rushed job rather than a game 

that had been in development for 15 

months. On a more general note, the 

game cost a staggering £16! However, 

it did come in fancy packaging with a 

paperback copy of The Fellowship of 

the Ring thrown in. 

In 1988, Melbourne House released 

Lord of the Rings Game Two on the 

Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC, PC, 

Apple II and Mac. It was subtitled 

Shadows of Mordor and specifically 

covered book four of The Two Towers, 

following Frodo and Sam’s quest 

rather than Aragorn’s plotline. While 

not a great departure from the first 

game, it was certainly a lot more 

polished, with far fewer typing errors 

and improved graphics used to 

illustrate the text. Characters also 

displayed more independence. They 

would go off and do their own thing 

rather than follow you dumbly whilst 

singing about gold. 

The company always intended to 

release a trilogy of games and the 

final instalment duly appeared in 

1989. Subtitled The Crack of Doom, it 

covered the events in book six of The 

Return of the King, climaxing in the 

ring forging scene on top of Mount 

Doom. Unlike the first two adventures, 

you could only control Sam Gamgee 

but overall the game was a marked 

improvement over its predecessors. It 

was only released on the C64, PC and 

Mac, and rather strangely, the game 

was never released outside North 

America, The Tolkien Trilogy, released 

in 1989, actually consisted of The 

Hobbit and the first two Lord of the 

Rings games. 

Speaking 

volumes 

The PC and Amiga were home to the 

first fully graphical adventure game 

based on the book. It was entitled 

At £16, Game One was almost three times more than standard 

games at the time! 

**21**


Game Two improved on its 

predecessor with better 

graphics and clearer 

descriptions 

One of the rarest 2600 

prototypes is now 

available for download 

The third game in the trilogy 

was only ever released in the 

US, making it something of a 

novelty for UK fans 

Lord of the Rings Vol 1 and was 

released by Interplay in 1990. It was 

similar to the early Zelda and Final 

Fantasy games in many respects. The 

action was viewed from overhead and 

the gameplay revolved around slaying 

enemies (wolves and wargs at first, 

spiders and sorcerers later on) and 

solving tricky puzzles. If you were 

stumped, you could always gain clues 

by engaging the local inhabitants in 

conversation. You started out 

controlling just a single character 

(Frodo) but as you progressed you 

were able to enlist the services of 

various dwarves, elves and humans. 

With a party of up to ten in tow, you 

could stage some spectacular battles 

later on. Lord of the Rings Vol 1 was 

an entertaining game which has aged 

far better than the earlier text 

adventure. However, like the 

Melbourne House games, the plot was 

not too linear, meaning that the player 

was not forced to complete tasks in a 

strict order (some tasks could be 

avoided completely). 

Interplay followed up the game 

with an enhanced CD version (which 

featured scenes from Ralph Bakshi’s 

animated movie), a SNES version and 

a very similar PC-only sequel titled 

Lord of the Rings Vol 2: The Two 

Towers. The follow-up shifted the 

emphasis from combat to puzzle 

solving and was better for it. This 

SNES version was interesting 

because while it shared the same 

name as the PC/Amiga version, it 

was a completely different game. It 

supported up to five players for a 

start, and there were loads of silly 

errands to run and mind-boggling 

mazes to explore. You could interact 

with non-playable characters, and 

level-up the members of the 

fellowship, but this was very much a 

light RPG. The game ended abruptly 

too, and the proposed SNES sequel 

never appeared. 

The same fate befell the final part 

of the PC trilogy. Work was well 

underway on Vol 3 when it was 

unceremoniously pulled. The third 

game was to be more of a strategy 

game than an RPG, and it was very 

nearly released as part of Advanced 

Dungeons and Dragons’ Forgotten 

Realms series before it was canned 

altogether. 

**22**

war games. 

Melbourne House marched out War in Middle Earth in 1988, shortly before 

the release of The Crack of Doom. This turn-based strategy game was 

developed by Mike Singleton, author of Shadowfax and The Lords of 

Midnight (which was heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings itself). 

Using an icon-driven interface, you had to guide Frodo and the fellowship 

from The Shire to Mount Doom. Along the way you would become 

embroiled in battles with Sauron’s armies. The removed perspective 

distanced the player from the characters, who were, after all, just pixels on 

a huge playing field, yet the game certainly emphasised the epic nature of 

the novel. It was ahead of its time too, predating the similar Dune games 

by at least two years. The game was originally released on 8-bit machines 

(including the MSX) but later appeared on the PC, Amiga and Atari ST. 

These later versions benefited from enhanced visuals, including graphic 

sequences which showed the characters preparing for battle. 

Beam Software, the Australian owners of Melbourne House, released Riders 

of Rohan on PC in 1990. This strategy game was similar to War in Middle Earth 

and began with the battle for Helm’s Deep. There were a number of units you 

could utilise, including Frodo and Aragorn, but the battle engine was on the 

simplistic side. Besides making tactical decisions, there were also several action 

scenes in which you battled against orcs, either firing arrows as Legolas or 

swinging your axe as Gimli. 

The Interplay games used a series of stills to drive 

the story 

Dead and 

buried? 

There is hope that Vol 3 may 

surface some time in the future, 

especially as a Lord of the Rings 

game written for the Atari 2600 has 

recently surfaced. This unreleased 

prototype, subtitled Journey To 

Rivendell, was originally scheduled 

for release in 1984 by Parker 

Brothers but never materialised, 

even though box artwork and screen 

shots appeared in one of their 

release catalogues at the time. 

Excited fans who phoned Parker 

Brothers were told that the game 

had sold out to cover up the fact 

that it had never been released. The 

prototype available on the Web is 

clearly unfinished, although some 

gameplay elements have been 

implemented. For instance, when the 

black riders attack, you can wear 

the ring to become invisible and 

dodge their attack. 

All this is a long way off the 

licences available now, but then 

again, both The Two Towers and The 

Return of the King games from EA 

are little more than polished versions 

of Golden Axe. Perhaps we haven’t 

travelled that far after all! ✺✯* 

These turn-based strategy sims 

were a welcome departure from 

the adventure games 

**23**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | miner willy | 

**24**

Hall of 

the Miner 

King. 

Miner Willy is one of 

the most recognisable 

game characters ever, 

having starred in Manic 

Miner and Jet Set 

Willy, two of the most 

successful and 

influential games of 

the 8-bit era. Martyn 

Carroll takes a walk 

down Surbiton Way, 

following in the 

footsteps of the 

intrepid explorer 

**25**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | miner willy | 

When we first considered putting together a retro magazine, talk about content, 

readership and the business side of things always led, in a roundabout 

fashion, to Miner Willy. Nostalgia is infectious, and meetings would be filled 

with musings about back in the day, when games were good. The frequency with 

which Miner Willy entered the conversation was alarming. Indeed, talk to any 

videogame veteran about classic games and they’ll nearly always remember Manic 

Miner and Jet Set Willy with fondness. Miner Willy seems to strike a chord that cannot 

be ignored. And ignore it we won’t. 

Manic Miner 

Manic Miner was originally written for the Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by 

Bug-Byte Software in 1983. Smith was 18 at the time, and it was only his second 

commercial game (Styx being the first). His main inspiration was a game written for 

the TRS-80 called Miner 2049’er. 

Miner Miner was immediately a huge hit, and perhaps the first Spectrum megagame. 

It was released at a time when many Spectrum games were simple affairs, often 

written in BASIC. In contrast, Miner was a stunningly smooth machine code creation. It 

was also big, featuring 20 screens, an almost unheard of number. And the best bit – 

each screen was completely unique, and home to a variety of weird and wonderful 

enemies. There were no alien ships or ghosts here. Smith introduced clockwork robots, 

mutant telephones and man-eating toilets! 

The game delivered a succession of firsts. It featured in-game music in addition to 

standard spot effects. Granted, the stunted version of In The Halls Of The Mountain 

Kings was continually looped, but it worked brilliantly. The game also featured an 

animated loading screen, with “Manic Miner” flashing as the tape played. Although this 

was a simple trick using flashing attributes, it was still a first for a Spectrum game. 

However, Manic Miner is perhaps best remembered for being the first very difficult 

game! You couldn’t complete this in an afternoon. In fact, you probably would never 

complete it. There was a fair chance you’d lose your three lives before Eugene’s Lair, 

and that was only a quarter of the way through the game. You could cheat, but this 

prevented you from completing the game properly. 

Following the success of Manic Miner, Smith left Bug-Byte and formed Software 

Projects with two associates. A legal loophole allowed Smith to take Manic Miner with 

him and re-release it as a Software Projects game. Subtitled Second Edition, the game 

was virtually identical. A small number of character sprites were changed, and some 

excellent new inlay art was created, but it was the same game. But fans needn’t have 

worried, as the true sequel was just around the corner. 

Jet Set Willy 

Jet Set Willy was scheduled for a Christmas 1983 release, but it slipped and eventually 

appeared in April 1984 (this would probably explain why the inlay says 1983 and the 

tape says 1984). 

>Perils of 

WillY. 

Neither Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy could be squeezed onto the Vic 20, so 

Software Projects set about creating a brand new Miner Willy adventure for the 

Commodore computer. The result was Perils of Willy, a Manic Miner clone with 

much cruder visuals. The aim was to jump from platform to platform, grabbing 

musical notes. Collect all the notes and you’d be taken to the next screen. It 

was a good step back from Manic Miner, and is only worth seeking out if you’re 

a Miner Willy completist. 

**26**

Jet Set Willy was not so much a sequel as a completely new game, in which Willy 

was let loose in a mansion containing 60 unique rooms. Unlike the original, there was 

no need to complete one screen in order to move onto the next. You could now 

explore! If one room looked a little tricky, why not leave it and come back later. If you 

were having trouble grabbing a tricky object, why not enter the room from the other 

side. The level of freedom offered was unprecedented, and the sheer scale was 

unparalleled. Jet Set Willy received rave reviews in the gaming press. Crash magazine 

called it “a high point in the development of the Spectrum game” and gave it 95% 

overall. 

Like Manic Miner, it was very unlikely that you would ever complete the game, 

despite the seven lives you began with. Just visiting every room in the game was 

sufficiently challenging. Software Projects sensed this, and offered a prize to the first 

person to telephone their offices and tell them how many glasses needed to be 

collected to complete the game. The winner would receive a case of Don Perignon 

champagne and a helicopter ride with Matthew Smith. The winners were Ross Holman 

and Cameron Else, who realised that the game couldn’t be completed, because an 

object in the First Landing couldn’t be collected. So you could only collect 82 objects 

instead of the required 83. 

Holman and Else won the prize nevertheless, and Software Projects released a 

Manic Miner. Perhaps the only 

game in existence with three 

different covers! 

**27**

series of POKEs that fixed the game. This is generally regarded as the first ever 

software patch! In order for the POKEs to work, Software Projects disclosed 

information on how to MERGE the basic loader. This opened up the possibility of 

changing the game in other ways, and quickly Jet Set Willy became the most hacked 

game ever. Your Spectrum magazine even included a special feature on hacking the 

game, including information on how to add a new screen in the place of a previously 

empty room. In fact, the game’s room format was so easy to exploit that two 

publishers, Spectrum Electronics and Softricks, released Jet Set Willy editors in 1984. 

These editing tools allowed users to design their own rooms, and many used them to 

create complete Miner Willy adventures. The best were Jet Set Willy III, an unofficial 

sequel by Michael Blanke and Arno P. Gitz, and Join the Jet Set, a surprisingly faithful 

spin-off by Richard Hallas. 

Jet Set Willy topped the charts throughout most of 1984, and rumours about secret 

rooms and the emergence of new hacks meant that it was never far from the pages of 

the specialist press. A sequel was inevitable, so it was no surprise when Software 

Projects announced that Smith was working on a new Miner Willy game. It was to be 

called the Megatree. 

Jet Set Willy II 

The Megatree (aka Willy Meets the Taxman) went on to become the stuff of legend. 

Some rumours suggest that Smith never even started work on the game, while others 

claim that a single screen was created before Smith walked out on Software Projects, 

The foot that squashed Willy 

was influenced by Monty Python's 

Flying Circus 

**28**

The Gaping Pit? 

apparently after an argument over royalty rates. The fact is that Matthew Smith never 

wrote a sequel. That job was left to Derrick Rowson. 

You can imagine the situation. The fans are crying out for a sequel and the man 

behind the series has gone AWOL. Software Projects needed something quick, and the 

solution was Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier. Released in July 1985, just over a year 

after the original, part II is best described as an enhanced version of Jet Set Willy. 

Rowson took all 60 of Smith’s rooms and added a further 71 rooms of his own, 

bringing the total number to 131. New rooms are dotted throughout the house, with 

the majority lying in the rarely-explored area beyond The Forgotten Abbey. However, 

the majority of new rooms were not in Willy’s house at all. In the original game, if you 

made your way to the very top of the house, and jumped up from The Watch Tower, 

you’d be looped back around to The Off License. But in the sequel, you’d appear in 

The Rocket Room. This would then take you to a space ship from which you could 

beam down to an alien planet. 

The main problem with Jet Set Willy II was that the new rooms were largely dull 

and boring. The author shared little of Smith’s imagination, and apart from a few nice 

touches (Willy in a space suit being one of them), the sequel was something of a 

missed opportunity. Crash agreed, giving the game 61% overall and saying “Good, but 

not much progress.” 

However, the sequel’s greatest strengths lay behind the scenes. Smith has 

squeezed every last byte out of the Spectrum to produce the original, and yet Rowson 

somehow managed to cram over double the amount of screens inside the 48K 

memory. To achieve this, Rowson created a compression algorithm that he used to 

scrunch the size of each screen. On the downside, this made the game much harder to 

hack, and very few modified versions of the sequel have appeared. ✺✯* 

Many rumours surrounded Jet Set Willy, with the main ones relating to 

supposed secret rooms. This seems to stem from a reference in Smith’s 

original code to a room called The Gaping Pit. Imaginations were on fire 

and the whole thing boiled over when Your Spectrum printed this letter 

from Robin Daines in issue seven: 

“Seeing your article in issue 4 about Jet Set Willy I felt 

compelled to write to you about some locations you’ve missed 

out. The Gaping Pit seemed the most obvious one, though 

even I haven’t visited it. Secondly, and more importantly, you 

omitted three major locations; here’s how you get to them. 

Wait on the bow till 11.45pm (Smith time), which may seem an awful long time to you 

swashbuckling Spectrummers. At that moment, a raft will get tossed up on a large wave and 

you must then jump on. It takes you to Crusoe Corner (a desert island to us landlubbers). 

Then you shin up a palm tree to arrive at Tree Tops – The Sequel, from which you catch the 

bird that travels up towards In The Clouds. From there you can control yourself all over the 

house (funny things happen when you try to enter 

the water or the Master Bedroom) and from that 

point, it should be possible to find The Gaping Pit 

(though I’ve not tried it myself). It also clobbers the ‘Attic 

Attack’ and makes it possible to go through baddies (fire puts 

you down where you are, so be careful) whereupon the bird 

disintegrates.” 

Your Spectrum countered with a sarcastic reply, about how they 

themselves had found even more secret rooms, but this was no doubt lost on 

countless readers, who waited and waited for that raft like Crusoe himself. 

This hoax became so famous that Derrick Rowson actually included the desert 

island in Jet Set Willy II. If you flick the trip switch, and then make it to The Bow 

without losing a life, the yacht will take you to The Deserted Isle. 

>Surbiton secrets. 

• The JSW in-game tune is “If I was a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof, 

although the version of JSW that appeared on the They Sold a Million 

compilation features In The Halls Of The Mountain Kings from Manic Miner. 

JSW II also features the Grieg’s movement. 

• There’s a room in JSW called We Must Perform a Quirkafleeg. In case you’re wondering, a Quirkafleeg is an act that involves 

lying on the floor and kicking your legs out. It comes from a comic Smith used to read called The Furry Freak Brothers. 

• In the original JSW, you would die instantly if you entered We Must Perform a Quirkafleeg after visiting The Attic. It seems that 

the large caterpillar messed up some of the graphics, causing the crash. Software Projects released a POKE for this problem, 

although they claimed it was part of the game’s design! Apparently, after visiting The Attic, Quirkafleeg filled with deadly gas, 

forcing you to find an alternative route. 

• In JSW, the screen Nomen Luni is a mikey-take of the Nomen Ludi legend that appeared on Imagine’s plane-shooting game 

Zzoom. And if you look at that particular screen, you’ll see that a plane has indeed crashed into Willy’s mansion. 

• If you do manage to collect all 83 objects in JSW, Maria will let Willy retire to bed. But as soon as his head hits the pillow, he 

dashes to The Bathroom and throws up in the toilet! The ending to JSW II is even more devious, because it transports Willy to 

The Central Cavern. That’s right – the first screen from MM. Perhaps it was a recurring dream after all. 

• MM, JSW and JSW II were ported to many different machines, with some minor but interesting changes. For instance, the BBC 

Micro version of MM completely replaced the Solar Power Generator with a new screen called The Meteor Shower. 

Similarly, the Amstrad CPC version changed the layout of Solar Power Generator but the name remained the same. 

However, Eugene’s Lair was renamed Eugene Was Here. 

• The Commodore 16 version of Jet Set Willy only featured 20 screens, even though it was labelled “Enhanced 

Version”. The furthest to the left you could go was the Back Stairway and the furthest to the right was The Bridge. The 

C16 version of JSW II included over 80 screens, but the game was a four part multi-load 

• The Commodore 64 and Spectrum versions of JSW II were identical, expect that in the C64 port you could jump into 

the toilet at the start and visit several additional screens. 

• Software Projects commissioned Atari ST and Amiga versions of JSW in 1989. The company later canned both 

versions, but the Atari ST version was finished, and has since found it’s way onto the Web. It’s a very faithful remake of 

the Spectrum version, although there are two new rooms – Buried Treasure and Zaphod Says: DON’T PANIC! 

• Jester Interactive now own the rights to MM and JSW. A jazzed-up version of MM appeared on the GameBoy Advance in 

2002, and there are plans to port both games to mobile phones. 

**29**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙*| issue one | mastertronic | 

>mastertronic, 

a history. 

It was announced in August last year 

that Mastertronic would be reborn as 

a software re-publisher. As its new 

owners look forward, we take the 

opportunity to look back at this 

classic software label. Anthony 

Guter, employee at the company from 

1985 to 1991, takes us back to the 

beginning, revealing how Mastertronic 

ripped up the rulebook and redefined 

the UK software market 

astertronic was 

founded in 1983 

by Martin 

Alper, Frank Herman and Alan Sharam. 

Based in London, the three businessmen 

had some financial backing from a 

small, outside group of investors. Unlike 

many of the company’s competitors in 

the games software market, the 

company was not set up by 

programmers seeking an outlet for their 

creations. Nor was it part of an 

established business with money to 

spare, dipping its corporate toe in the 

games industry’s rising tide. 

Mastertronic’s founders committed 

themselves to succeeding as publishers 

by selling games as cheaply as possible. 

Other publishers seemed to be 

concerned only with the process of 

creating the software and marketing an 

image – a strategy aimed directly at the 

consumer, with the hope that customer 

demand would somehow bring the 

games into the shops. In contrast, 

Mastertronic aimed its strategy at the 

distributors and retailers. If the games 

could be put on the shelves then a low 

**52**

selling price would do the rest. 

To this end, the core of the strategy 

was budget software – games priced at 

no more than £3, at a time when most 

decent software was priced at £6 or 

more. In fact, Mastertronic opted for 

£1.99 as the basic price. Both Alper and 

Herman had experience in the video 

distribution business, and they believed 

it possible to build up a reasonable 

market share at this low price. With the 

strategy in place, the company began 

trading on April 1st, 1984. It initially 

operated out of the back room of 

Sharam’s office, in the heart of London’s 

West End. 

Trading blows 

After the infamous videogame crash 

of 1983, a new generation of cheap, 

programmable computers emerged. This 

was led in the UK by Sinclair, with fierce 

competition from Commodore. At this 

time, the retail end was poorly 

organised, with console games being 

sold through a variety of outlets 

including electrical stores, photography 

shops and some of the high street 

chains. When the console market 

collapsed, these retailers pulled out. And 

as there were virtually no specialist 

games shops, publishers were forced to 

take out adverts in computer magazines 

and sell their software by mail order. 

The problem was one of classification. 

Were games merely toys, or published 

products like books and records, or did 

they rightly belong with consumer 

electronics alongside the computers on 

which they ran? There was no obvious 

answer. 

One certainty was that the trade was 

in disarray. The failure of the first 

consoles made retailers suspicious. The 

buyers for the larger high street chains 

like Woolworths and Boots were 

confused by the many different types of 

home computer. They did not know how 

to cope with suppliers who might 

produce a good game one month, then 

nothing but failures thereafter. They 

were afraid to commit to buying product 

unless they could be sure of returning 

unsold stock for a refund, but who 

knew how long the new games 

publishers would be in business? 

And how the hell do you sell a 

computer game anyway? A customer 

could flick through a book, listen to a 

record, play with a toy. Games were 

slow to load and needed some 

understanding which sales staff usually 

lacked. It seemed crazy to stick a tape 

into a computer, wait five minutes for it 

to load and then watch the potential 

customer play with it for ten minutes 

before deciding not to buy. Retailers 

were unsurprisingly sceptical and 

reluctant to believe there was any 

money to be made. 

Distribution 

deals 

Mastertronic was started by men 

who understood distribution and 

marketing. They knew nothing about 

computer games and were proud to 

boast that they never played them. 

When programmers came in with 

demos, someone would have to set up 

the machines, load the games and even 

plug in the joysticks for the directors. 

Mastertronic rarely advertised 

in the specialist press, but 

there were exceptions 

**53**


>Masterwhat? 

Why was it called Mastertronic? As part of a general marketing plan, the word 

‘master’ was to be used with a variety of other words in order to distribute 

various electrical products. The company briefly published music under the name 

Mastersound and videos as Mastervision. These were not particularly succesful 

ventures. It also used the name MasterAdventurer for marketing interactive 

fiction. This was partly due to a deal with Carnell Software to publish an 

elaborate adventure game for the Spectrum called Wrath of Magra. Carnell 

Software fell into financial difficulties and ceased trading in the summer of 1984, 

although Mastertronic republished two of their earlier releases, Volcanic Dungeon 

and Black Crystal. 

>Where are they 

now? 

Mastertronic agreed publishing deals with many programmers, yet records show 

that some of them never returned to collect their royalties! Those who vanished 

without trace include Nigel Johnstone (The Captive, Spooks), M&S Srebalius 

(Rockman, Rest in Peace), Paul Ranson (converted Bump Set Spike to Amstrad and 

Spectrum) and Raymond Tredoux (Star Force Nova). One cheeky chap who 

probably had good reason not to return with cap in hand was Sean DeBray, who 

sold the same game as Ghettoblaster to Virgin, and as Streetbeat to Mastertronic! 

Mastertronic's re-release carries the familiar colourcoded 

packaging design 

The same game, but with a different title and a different 

publisher 

directors. They never employed 

programmers directly. Everything was 

bought in from outside, either directly 

from the authors or from other games 

publishers. Once established, 

Mastertronic was deluged with games 

from enthusiastic amateurs and actually 

published quite a few of them. 

Before the company started trading, 

the business strategy had been clearly 

defined. Each of the separate elements 

(distribution, sourcing and pricing) were 

vital to success. 

The founders fell back on their 

backgrounds in video retail and used 

their contacts to set up distribution 

deals. In the beginning, the high street 

chains were not interested. But because 

the games were cheap, it was easy to 

persuade smaller retailers to take them. 

Mastertronic set up a network of selfemployed 

distributors, with some 

knowledge of merchandising, to reach 

outlets that the mainstream wholesalers 

overlooked. A key figure in setting up 

these networks was Richard Bielby, an 

ex-professional cricketer with 

Leicestershire. Bielby and his wife kept 

in touch with dozens of shops and 

traders, bought in bulk from 

Mastertronic and broke the stock into 

manageable units for their subdistributors 

and merchandisers. Many 

had experience of the video distribution 

business, which was now rapidly 

consolidating as large high street 

operators took over. Computer games 

software was a welcome alternative. 

They targeted newsagents, 

sweetshops, garages, video shops, 

groceries and even motorway service 

stations. Shops were encouraged to take 

‘dealer packs’ – 100 games at a time 

mounted on cardboard racks. They were 

asked only to give the products some 

floor space. Sale or exchange agreements 

meant they undertook no risk. 

Rallying the 

retailers 

The nervousness of the retail 

trade about the continuity of software 

products was profound. Buyers did 

not want to rely on publishers who 

might not deliver new product on 

time. They wanted the same sort of 

assurances that the long established 

music and book publishers could 

supply, with guaranteed releases of 

new titles and buyback arrangements 

for overstocks. Mastertronic set out 

to provide these assurances. While 

other publishers based their 

marketing strategy on the output of 

one or two key programmers, 

From left to right, Martin 

Alper, John Maxwell, PR 

person Alison Beasley and 

Alan Sharam 

Mastertronic cast its net wide and 

looked to release a constant flow of 

new titles. 

Unlike its competitors, 

Mastertronic did not entrust the 

storage and distribution of its 

products to wholesalers. Determined 

to control the distribution process, 

the directors set up their own 

warehouse. In the early days this was 

a cellar in Paul Street, on the edge of 

the City of London. Most of the 

employees were casual labourers. To 

take on the overheads of a 

warehouse was a bold step, and one 

which very few publishers would ever 

do. But for Mastertronic, the key was 

to keep promises about delivery. No 

publisher working through a 

wholesaler could guarantee when 

products would be issued. A retailer 

buying from Mastertronic could, if 

they wished, go to the warehouse 

and collect the goods there and then. 

Running the warehouse kept the 

directors in touch with the physical 

side of the business too. By listening 

to retailers, they were forced to 

understand how to pack games, what 

sorts of packaging broke in transit, 

what sort of labelling was required, 

and just about every aspect of 

distribution. Furthermore, the three 

key suppliers – the tape copier, the 

arthouse and the printers – were all 

geared to fast responses. They 

understood that it was often crucial 

to get a certain number of titles out 

each month. 

Mastertronic also pioneered 

colour coded packaging. All games 

had a coloured triangle on the top 

right hand corner of the inlay and a 

coloured rectangle on the spine. 

Spectrum games were yellow, 

Commodore 64 games were red and 

Amstrad games were orange. This led 

many software houses to use 

variations on this theme. Retailers, 

who understood very little about 

computer games, liked this system 

and it enhanced the professional 

image of the company. 

**54**

One Man and 

His Droid II. 

>Formats of 

the future! 

Lurking just outside the top 10 best selling Mastertronic games is One Man & His 

Droid, the world’s first alien sheep-herding simulator. Clive Brooker, its 

programmer, wrote a 128K-only sequel in 1991 and approached Virgin 

Mastertronic. The company told him that the Spectrum market was all but dead, 

but if the game was good enough, they’d convert it to other formats. In the end 

the game was never published, but Clive has made it freely available for 

download from his site (www.autolaunch.freeserve.co.uk). 

Mastertronic was one of the few publishers to sell dedicated software for the more 

powerful Spectrum and Commodore 128 machines. The Enhanced versions of The Last 

V8 and Kikstart on the C128, only sold around 5,000 copies – very poor compared to 

the standard machines. It was a similar story on the Spectrum where the 128K 

versions of the Magic Knight sequels suffered badly against their 48K counterparts. In 

fact, the 128K version of Knight Tyme was released a couple of months before the 

48K version, yet still only shifted 7,400 copies. 

The unpublished sequel, now available as a free 

download 

Poor sales forced Mastertronic to can its dedicated 

128K games 

Sourcing 

software 

Because Mastertronic was a 

publisher and not a software house, 

its first problem was to source the 

product. One important source was 

Mr Chip (later Magnetic Fields), a 

software house run by Doug Braisby. 

The games he sourced in the first 15 

months of Mastertronic’s life (up to 

June 1985) sold a staggering 395,000 

copies. But this achievement was 

eclipsed by another key source, the 

Darling Brothers. Having mastered 

the art of quickly developing games 

for the Vic20 and C64, David and 

Richard Darling set up a partnership 

with Mastertronic which gave them 

both a royalty payment and a share 

of the profits on the sales of their 

games. It was astonishingly 

successful. In that first 15 months, 

nearly 750,000 games written by the 

Darlings were sold, netting them 

some £85,000! For two boys of 

school age, this was evidence 

enough that games would earn them 

more than any nine to five, and they 

soon terminated the deal with 

Mastertronic and established 

Codemasters, their own budget 

software company. 

To put these two sources in 

perspective, about 2.1 million units 

were sold of all titles in that first 15 

months. Thus the deals with Braisby 

and the Darlings secured 55% of 

early Mastertronic sales. Later on, as 

Mastertronic became better known, 

many people approached the 

company with finished games, or 

just ideas, and were keen for 

Mastertronic to publish their work. 

Early hits 

The early games were produced for 

the dominant computer formats of the 

time. The Vic20, C64 and Spectrum were 

the main machines. The marketing 

strategy required a flow of titles so that 

retailers had compelling reasons to keep 

the games prominent in their shops, 

and attracted and held the interest of 

the consumer. 

Between April and June 1984, 

Mastertronic launched 32 titles: 13 on 

the C64, nine on the Spectrum, seven 

on the Vic20, two on the BBC Micro and 

one on the Dragon. Eight titles were 

developed by Mr Chip, seven by the 

Darlings and four by CME Software. 

Almost all were derivative, based on 

popular arcade games. Hence there was 

a Centipede clone called Spectipede on 

the Spectrum and BBC Micro, and a Pac- 

Man rip-off named Munch Mania on the 

C64. But a couple of titles stood out – 

the Darlings’ BMX Racers on the C64, 

and Vegas Jackpot by Mr Chip on the 

C64 and Vic20. BMX Racers was not 

based on an arcade game and it was 

the first of a number of extremely 

successful games aimed specifically at 

young boys. 340,000 copies of BMX 

Racers were sold. Vegas Jackpot sold 

nearly 300,000 units, including a rare 

version for the Dragon. 

Great care was paid to the 

appearance of the games and to the 

image of the publisher. Quality artwork 

was commissioned for the inlay covers. 

Some of these pictures, particularly 

those with science fiction themes, 

undoubtedly helped many an 

undistinguished game to sell. 

Pricing 

In 1983/4, most computer games 

retailed in the UK at prices between £5 

and £8. Retailers disliked cheaper 

games because they made less profit 

and the public were suspicious of the 

quality of budget games (rightly so in 

the majority of cases). Despite this, 

Mastertronic games were priced at a 

mere £1.99. 

At the time, all computer games in 

the UK and Europe were distributed on 

cassette tape. Computers using floppy 

disks were available, most notably the 

C64 and the models aimed at business 

users, such as the Apple, Commodore 

PET and Tandy ranges. But these were 

mainly sold in the US. In Europe, the 

cheaper tape-based machines were 

much more common. Games were short, 

reflecting the limited memory capacities 

of the computers. Code that filled the 

memory would fit onto a short length of 

tape that could load in around four or 

five minutes. For a reasonable print run, 

a tape duplicator could produce copies 

for about 25p each. Mastertronic, 

aiming for large product runs, bought 

its tapes at 22p (some assistance was 

gained in the directors having part 

ownership of the tape duplicator). Inlay 

cards cost around 3p each, with the 

cover artwork costing anything up to 

£1,000; assuming a print run of 20,000, 

this worked out at around 5p per unit. 

Other distribution costs might add 

another 5p in total. So a game could 

be duplicated and put out to market for 

a total cost of 35p. 

The other main cost was the 

software itself. Games could be 

purchased outright but most authors 

wanted royalties, so as not to lose out 

**55**


>Mastertronic’s 

all-time best 

sellers. 

The top 30 sales across 

all formats, including 

all Mastertronic labels. 

>LOAD"BMX" 

>LOAD"SWAT" 

>SYNTAX ERROR 

>SYNTAX ERROR 

>LOAD"VEGAS" 

>LOAD"KANE" 

>SYNTAX ERROR 

>LOAD"VEGAS" 

>LOAD"FORMULA1" 

>SYNTAX ERROR >LOAD"BMX" 

30 

NONTERRAQUEOUS 

SQUIRM 

121,533 123,006 

29 

24 

SPELLBOUND 

LA SWAT 

MASTERCHESS 

MILK RACE 

152,378 161,672 167,601 174,110 

23 22 21 

in case of success. The standard deal 

that was offered in 1984 was an 

advance of £2,000 and a royalty rate of 

10p per unit. Many young authors were 

very happy to take this, especially when 

Mastertronic usually went on to sell 

50,000 copies or more. 

Profitability 

Having set the costs, the profit 

depended on the wholesale price. Here, 

the calculations work backwards. From a 

retail price of £1.99, VAT (15% at the 

time) took 26p. Retailers expected to 

make a margin of 30%. They would, 

therefore, not buy at prices higher than 

about £1.30. Between this price and the 

production cost of 35p was a margin 

wide enough to cover advertising, 

overheads, the profits of distributors 

and, provided there were not too many, 

the costs of failed titles. 

In practice Mastertronic sold to 

distributors at about 90p per unit, 

reduced to around 80p in the more 

competitive late 1980s, and at about 

£1.30 when they were able to distribute 

directly to retailers. This pricing structure 

would generate good profits provided 

sales were high enough. If the total 

sales of a title were just 10,000 units, 

then raw material and distribution costs 

might be £3,000, inlay artwork and 

advance to the author a further £2,500, 

and the receipts about £9,000. So this 

would bring a reasonable gross margin 

of 38%. But in the early days, the 

company easily exceeded 10,000 units 

per title. The ten C64 titles released in 

Mastertronic’s early days sold (on 

average) 40,000 in the first year, then 

over 50,000 before being withdrawn 

from sale. The Vic20 titles achieved 

44,000 on average. Surprisingly, the 

early Spectrum releases did less well, 

but still averaged 28,000. Budget pricing 

proved to be perfectly viable provided 

that the majority of titles achieved good 

sales, and in the fast growing market of 

the mid 80s, at the pocket-money price 

of £1.99, they did just that. 

Growing pains 

Rapid growth required more staff 

and the development of internal 

systems for accounting, sales, stock 

control and royalties. The company left 

George Street for a flat overlooking 

Regent’s Park. By now there was a 

games buyer, John Maxwell (with two 

assistants) and some PR, accounting 

and secretarial staff. 

The flat soon proved too small for 

the expanding business, so in 

September 1985, Mastertronic found 

new offices in Paul Street (where the 

warehouse was situated). This became 

the company’s home until it merged 

with Virgin Games in September 1988. 

But long before then, the 

emergence of new computers slowly 

began to complicate the business. The 

company now had to consider whether 

it was worth making conversions of 

existing hits for different machines and 

models. The more types of computer, 

the less shelf space available for each 

individual format. In a way, this 

reduced the range of different games. 

The Amstrad CPC, Atari XL, MSX and 

Commodore 16 computers all became 

established in this year. Few of the 

competitors took much notice of the 

C16, and for a while, Mastertronic was 

the only company with a range of 

games for this machine. Each title sold 

in huge quantities. For example, 

Squirm on the C64 sold 41,000 copies, 

but one year later, the C16 version 

sold 82,000. 

**56**

28 

VIDEO POKER 

THE LAST V8 

BIG MAC 

ROCKMAN 

127,174 127,331 139,946 143,882 

27 26 25 

20 

WAY OF THE 

SPECTIPEDE 

FEUD 

STORM 

EXPLODING FIST 

178,115 191,381 193,074 

19 182,407 18 17 

MAD for it 

In late 1985, the company launched 

the MAD label. This stood for 

Mastertronic Added Dimension, and was 

the first, deliberate, step away from the 

pure budget market. MAD games 

retailed at £2.99 and were intended to 

be of better quality than their cheaper 

counterparts. The label was launched 

with a boat party on the Thames, where 

the authors demonstrated the first 

games in the range – The Last V8, 

Master Of Magic, Hero Of The Golden 

Talisman and Spellbound, sequel to the 

very popular Finders Keepers. The MAD 

launch was an exception to the 

company’s policy of not spending a lot 

on marketing. Its competitors spent 

plenty on advertising, mainly in 

magazines. Mastertronic rarely 

advertised. This probably reduced the 

amount of editorial coverage it received, 

but overall the game reviews were fair. 

The press had been fairly contemptuous 

of the publisher at first, but in 1985 

there was a grudging acceptance that 

budget games were at least value for 

money, with some as good as full price 

products. 

In 1986 Mastertronic became cool. It 

began to be deluged with games, game 

ideas and propositions. Sample tapes 

arrived daily and were stacked up for 

evaluation. People would walk in off the 

street and if they had something 

promising, they’d be signed up there 

and then. The TV show Jim’ll Fix It 

received a letter from a youngster, 

asking if his idea could to be turned 

into a game, and Uncle Jim duly obliged 

(with a little help from Mastertronic and 

Icon Design). The game was called 

Supertrolley and featured a cartoon 

Jimmy Saville on the cover. 

Programmers visited the company 

regularly, including David Jones (Magic 

Knight series), Clive Brooker (Empire 

Fights Back, One Man & His Droid, Lap 

of the Gods), Kevin Green (Skyjet, Flash 

Gordon, Space Hunter), Jim Ferrari (King 

Tut, Human Race, Hollywood or Bust). 

Now and then Rob Hubbard would pop 

in and hand over his latest tune. Jeff 

Minter, the shaggy-haired one himself, 

also visited. Several programmers 

worked for the company for a while as 

technical advisors. These included 

Stephen Curtis (Nonterraqueous, Soul of 

a Robot, Into Oblivion), Richard Aplin 

(Destructo, Fly Spy, Ultimate Combat 

Mission) and Tony Takoushi (Frenesis, 

Hyperforce). 

Tomorrow the 

world! 

From the beginning, Mastertronic 

software had been sold in the USA by a 

local distributor. In 1986, Alper went to 

California to set up Mastertronic Inc. 

Primarily, this company could only 

distribute C64 games because all the 

other 8-bit computers were virtually 

unknown in the US. Gradually, Alper 

introduced games for the new 16-bit 

machines and Mastertronic Inc began to 

take on a different profile to the UKbased 

business. Links with US software 

houses provided a new source of games 

and the label Entertainment USA was 

created to showcase these in Europe. 

This was balanced by another label 

named Bulldog (‘Best of British’). 

The growing business also found 

exclusive distributors in the major 

European markets and thus created the 

impression of a truly international group. 

The UK company was now managed by 

Herman, whilst Sharam increasingly 

specialised in sales and logistics. Around 

the late summer of 1986, Mastertronic 

**57**


16 

NINJA 

180 

MOLECULE MAN 

194,897 196,155 210,693 

15 14 13 

ONE MAN & HIS 

DROID 

212,722 

08 

KIKSTART 

DOUBLE DRAGON 

SPEED KING 

VEGAS JACKPOT 

286,256 289,510 304,499 306,957 

07 06 05 

recruited Geoff Heath as Director of 

Marketing. Geoff had run both Activision 

and latterly Melbourne House. He was 

something of a heavyweight in the 

games industry, and his long-term target 

was to publish full price software under 

the Mastertronic name. 

16-bit computers became 

increasingly popular, and for the first 

time, the quality of games for home 

machines such as the Amiga and the 

Atari ST seemed similar to those found 

in arcades. The 16-bit range was 

launched, appropriately enough, on a 

new label called 16-Blitz, although the 

name was not used for very long. 

Mastertronic Inc began to develop a 

range of new arcade games that would 

run equally well on home computers. It 

agreed to buy a large number of Amiga 

chips from Commodore to power the 

new arcade machines. This venture, 

called Arcadia, nearly killed the company 

because the project developed slowly, 

with games of poor quality not well 

suited for arcades. 

On the other side of the coin, the 

success of the budget range and the 

growing influence of the company led to 

it becoming the main supplier of both 

budget and full price software to a 

number of major retailers in the UK, 

notably Toys R’ Us and Woolworths. 

Some full price publishers were happy 

to let Mastertronic re-release their older 

games at a budget price, and of course, 

this was very easy business. The 

Richochet label was born, featuring 

games from Activision, Martech and US 

Gold. 

Mergers and 

buy-outs 

The business had always steered 

clear of full price software, but that 

changed radically in 1987 when it 

purchased struggling UK publisher 

Melbourne House from its Australian 

holding company, Beam Software. 

Melbourne House kept its label identity 

and a few of the staff joined the 

Mastertronic team, notably Rachel 

Davies the marketing manager, and 

general manager Martin Corrall. Ironically 

they were reunited with their old boss, 

Geoff Heath. 

This move meant that Mastertronic 

had first refusal on re-releases of classic 

games such as the Hobbit, Lord of the 

Rings and Way Of The Exploding Fist. 

However, the main justification for the 

purchase was to provide a vehicle for 

the sale of full price games, and in 

particular as a sales outlet for the home 

versions of popular arcade games. 

In 1987, following negotiations 

between Herman and Richard Branson, 

Virgin Group purchased the 45% of 

shares held by the outside investment 

group. In that year, Mastertronic’s 

turnover was about £8 million, with pretax 

profits standing at £1 million. The 

deal valued the group at around £10 

million. The remaining 55% was held by 

Alper, Herman and Sharam, who 

eventually sold out in 1988. The 

company was renamed the Mastertronic 

Group Ltd, and later merged with Virgin 

Games to create Virgin Mastertronic. 

In September 1988, the staff left 

Paul Street and joined forces with the 

Virgin Games staff in offices just off 

Portobello Road. This signalled the 

beginning of the end to the key 

Mastertronic budget business. 

While the buy-out shifted the focus 

of the company, the budget end of the 

business had been in general decline 

since 1986, the year in which 

Mastertronic peaked. From then on, 

sales declined almost as fast as they 

**58**

12 

ACTION BIKER 

KANE 

CHILLER 

KIKSTART 2 

251,515 262,829 280,173 283,585 

11 10 09 

04 

FINDERS KEEPERS 

BMX RACERS 

GHOSTBUSTERS 

330,758 345,423 412,922 

03 02 01 

FORMULA 1 

SIMULATOR 

568,013 

grew. The number of titles released 

actually increased in 1987/8, so the unit 

sales per title were falling rapidly, 

The Japanese 

giant 

came from Sega products. Full price 

games such as Golden Axe and 

Supremacy were achieving significant 

Looking back 

The Mastertronic name may have 

eroding the profitability of the business 

It was Herman who, in early 1987, 

sales, making the budget business 

died over 10 years ago, but it continues 

to the point that there seemed little use 

spotted that Sega had no UK 

irrelevant. 

to bring back memories. There’s surely 

in continuing. 

distributor for its Master System 

In early 1991, Sega expressed an 

thousands of kids who could not afford 

This decline had several reasons, the 

range. Mastertronic applied and was 

interest in taking over the 

the more expensive games and who 

first being new and intense competition 

appointed distributor for one year. 

distribution business (but not the 

were able to enjoy gaming thanks to 

in the budget market. Codemasters has 

Martin Corrall, who was somewhat at 

publishing side). Virgin Group sold, 

Mastertronic. The business really was 

established itself as a very successful 

a loose end after the absorption of 

and as a result, the staff moved over 

unique – it could not be replicated 

company, and full price publishers like 

Melbourne House, was the ideal 

to Sega. Only a handful of Virgin 

today. Games are now developed by 

US Gold began to release their own 

manager for this new line of 

programmers stayed with the 

teams, with typical retail prices being 

budget labels. The growing market for 

business. The company sold all it 

publishing side (quickly renamed 

between £30 and £40. Gone are the 

16-bit computers was another 

could get its hands on that year, and 

Virgin Interactive Entertainment, or 

days when a teenager could walk 

contributory factor. Mastertronic 

the UK distributorship was renewed. 

VIE). 

unannounced into a publisher’s office, 

produced budget games for these 

In addition, Mastertronic were 

After the Sega takeover, Herman 

load up their game and instantly be 

machines but there was never the same 

appointed as distributors in France 

became deputy Managing Director of 

offered a publishing deal. But there 

buoyancy in the market. The console 

and Germany, and thus was born the 

Sega Europe and Sharam was 

really was a time when this happened. It 

market was bouncing back too, 

huge business that was to become 

appointed Managing Director of Sega 

is beginning to feel like a legendary era, 

spearheaded by the NES and the Sega 

Sega Europe. 

UK. Alper stayed with Virgin and 

but it was only twenty years ago. 

Master System. This was one pie that 

In 1991, the group turnover was 

continued to head up VIE for several 

For further insight into Mastertronic, 

Mastertronic most definitely had its 

almost £100 million. Nearly all of the 

years. Around 1993, VIE pulled out of 

visit Anthony’s website at: 

finger in. 

sales, and certainly all of the profit, 

the budget games market altogether. 

www.guter.org ✺✯* 

**59**

Street 

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | street fighter | 

Clan. 

Fighting 

It's 15 years since 

Street Fighter first 

arrived on home 

consoles. To celebrate 

this anniversary, Capcom 

is to release Hyper 

Street Fighter II, the 

ultimate version of its 

seasoned brawler. Our 

resident fight fan, 

Charles Brigden, likes 

the odd scrap now and 

then, especially if it 

involves Hurricane Kicks 

and Dragon Punches. 

Stand guard as he 

presents a timely 

history of this 

legendary series 

**60**

**61**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | street fighter | 

>The New 

Generation. 

After a long, long, long wait, Capcom finally released a true sequel to Street 

Fighter II in 1997. Street Fighter III: New Generation received a lukewarm 

reception from fans, being viewed as a step down from the excellent Street 

Fighter Alpha series. Capcom did away with every character except Ken and 

Ryu, and introduced a whole new cast of bizarre fighters who really left a lot to 

be desired. Improved versions called Second Impact and Third Strike 

followed, addressing the character issue by bringing back Akuma 

and Chun-Li. 

The main problem with Street Fighter III was its 

sheer depth. This game was simply too complex to be 

enjoyed in the arcades. The Dreamcast version fared 

better, because you could take a copy home and 

devote the time required to master the game. 

>Pocket 

fighters. 

Unsurprisingly, Street Fighter has also had its fair share of outings on handheld 

consoles, the first of which appeared in the form of Champion Edition on the 

portable version of the PC Engine. Hot on its heels was a version of The World 

Warrior on the original GameBoy. Better versions have appeared on Nintendo’s 

handheld successor, the GameBoy Advance, with the mouthful that is Super 

Street Fighter II Turbo Revival, and the single best portable version of the 

game, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Advance. 

Over the history of video and computer games, there have always been groundbreaking 

titles that have defined – or redefined – a genre and become 

instantly synonymous with that particular category. So much so, that when you 

think of that type of game, you immediately recall that one specific title. With 

platformers you immediately think of Super Mario Brothers, and with driving, you think 

of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. With 2D one-on-one beat-em-ups though, there’s only 

one game that smacks you in the face – Street Fighter II. 

First strike 

The legacy of Street Fighter II and its legions of modifications, sequels and prequels 

began in 1987, with Japanese publisher Capcom, who had previously been responsible 

for such classic arcade titles as 1942 and Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts. Street Fighter arrived, and 

while it was not the game we have come to love so much, it had all the signs of things 

to come. For instance, there were only two selectable characters, Ryu and Ken. The 

final boss of the game was Sagat, who would wear the scar given to him by Ryu at the 

end of this game in later entries in the series. 

Capcom employed a new gimmicky fighting system, with strange pads on the 

machine that you would hit to punch or kick. The harder you hit the pads, the more 

damage you did to your opponent. These pads inevitably broke, forcing Capcom to 

replace them with two separate sets of buttons for light, medium and hard attacks. The 

six button fight system was born, and the rest was history. While not hugely popular, 

and still forgotten amongst the mainstream public that would later eat up its sequels, 

Street Fighter had sown the seeds for Capcom, and its advance on the beat-em-up 

market would soon be coming up full force. 

In 1990, they released Final Fight, a side-scrolling beat-em-up that would advance 

the work in Street Fighter further, with better animation and smoother moves. The 

game was a huge hit, and while its simple storyline and fighting were no match for 

Capcom’s later beat-em-up successes, its characters, both good and bad, would later go 

on to appear in Street Fighter sequels. After the popularity of Final Fight, the stage was 

set for Capcom to unleash its newest title on the world. 

World beater 

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was released into arcades in 1991 and immediately 

became a smash hit. Word spread through schools and playgrounds with the news of 

this incredible game. With eight fighters to choose from, hailing from all around the 

world, and the reinstated six-button control system, The World Warrior effectively 

created a new genre in which combos could be pulled off with ease, and amazing 

special moves could be achieved by a simple combination of buttons. However, while 

everybody ate it up, we all wanted more. 

In return, Capcom decided to give it to us, over and over, and over again. After the 

release of the original Street Fighter II, there were more than five different updates to 

the game, with dozens more added to the series. Naturally, this was seen as overkill by 

**62**

Ken was one of the only 

characters to appear in all 

three games 

even the most ardent fan, and the later releases in the series were not met with a 

huge amount of commercial success or fanfare. 

With Marvel vs Capcom 2, the last Street Fighter release in recent times, Capcom 

seems to have gone onto pastures new, with series’ such as Resident Evil and Mega 

Man selling millions. So is this the end for Street Fighter? You’d think so, but Capcom 

aren’t about to let it slip from memory just yet. But just what is it that has made Street 

Fighter II still a household name 12 years after its release, and that made the title a 

genre-defining game in the first place? 

Birth of a legend 

just about every other fighting game at the time. While everyone else was putting out 

games that still had the basic structure of Double Dragon, Capcom was taking the 

genre by the scruff of its neck and shaking it up for all to see. 

Street Fighter II also made a reasonable breakthrough in the treatment of its 

characters. At the time, most story-based beat-em-ups were the typical revenge dramas 

that basically set them up as game adaptations of Death Wish. SFII still had this angle, 

but split itself across eight different characters that, while being stereotypical, all had 

refreshingly different stories. Ryu was the essential warrior, searching not for glory or 

prizes but to satisfy his spirit, while Ken was the arrogant and egotistical one out to 

show everyone that he was the best. Dhalsim fought to transcend his spiritual plane, 

Video gaming wasn’t particularly exciting at the beginning of the 1990s. We still had 

Mario and the usual Nintendo, sugar-coated suspects, and Sonic was about the most 

exciting thing around, but there was nothing out there that was ready to grab us by 

the throats and make us take notice. At least, not until Capcom unleashed Street 

Fighter II in 1991. Here was a game that was so deceptively simple that anyone could 

just pick it up and play, and also enjoy it. Each character has an abundance of special 

moves, and they could be learned in a very short time. The use of combo moves was 

actually an accident on the developer’s part. They discovered there was a split-second 

gap between most of the moves – just enough time to sneak in another attack. This 

introduced an element of skill, elevating it above the button-bashing tactics required by 

and Blanka fought because he didn’t know any different, bless him. There were two 

characters, Guile and Chun Li, who did embrace the revenge motive, but neither of their 

scenarios were as straightforward or cheesy as something like a kidnapped girlfriend. 

But where the game really made headway was the gameplay. Never before had a 

fighting game really had such an impact to a point where it was imperative for 

everybody to know every single move for every single character. Sure, people picked 

their favourite characters and ran with them, but it was still important to know moves 

for everyone, so if someone got to Ken or Ryu first you could easily play with Zangief 

or Guile. That was the whole dynamic of Street Fighter II. And it was all inherently 

linked to the incredible two-player mode. 

The one-player mode of Street Fighter II was always excellent and it was one of 

**63**

those 

games where one 

man against the 

machine always drew 

a crowd of people. 

But what was great in 

one-player was expanded 

exponentially in two-player, with the satisfaction 

of beating the machine itself not half as much as 

defeating the man standing next to you, destroying his 

pride and scarring his soul. Whether it was your best friend or some random kid 

you met in the arcade, nothing mattered except sending that person home licking 

their wounds and hanging their head in the wake of your bare-knuckle skills. 

Attack of the clones 

chance to finally play as one of the four bosses, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and the big 

baddie M. Bison. While the ending sequence for each boss was essentially the same – 

with the evil hordes taking over the world – the attraction of being able to finally use 

moves like the Tiger Uppercut and Bison’s all-powerful Psycho Crusher was a big draw, 

and unsurprisingly, Champion Edition was a big hit. 

The success of Champion Edition brought on a whole host of illegal pirate versions 

of the game, with faster speeds and some outrageous moves. Now every man and his 

fish could walk into a seedy arcade, funfair, or takeaway and experience a more 

intense, if illegal, Street Fighter experience. Now Ryu could shoot a volley of fireballs 

that covered the whole screen, any character could teleport, and you could switch 

between characters mid-game. The games had titles like Rainbow Edition and Blackbelt 

Edition, and while they looked cool, the lack of any kind of rules to these special 

moves rendered them unplayable. 

As a result, Capcom went back to the drawing board, and beat the pirates at their 

own game by releasing Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. This version had similarly 

Never one to overlook a potential franchise, Capcom released a new version of Street 

Fighter II in 1992. Champion Edition wasn’t that different to the original game, with 

Capcom keeping the tried-and-trusted formula but making some small alterations. On 

the visual side, each character had some brand new threads, but everyone also had 

their moves beefed up. Ken’s Dragon Punch had a further range, Ryu’s fireball was more 

powerful, and every character was stronger. However, the biggest addition was the 

radical moves, but was much more stable. The main attraction of Hyper Fighting was its 

increased speed, but Capcom again gave all the characters new outfits and another 

increased level of power and strength. Now Ken was able to fly across the screen with 

his Dragon Punch, and he and Ryu could reach higher with their Hurricane Kicks. 

Blanka received a new cannonball attack and Dhalsim was blessed with the best move 

of all – the ability to teleport. Hyper Fighting was, expectedly, a huge success, but this 

wasn’t the end for the series just yet. Capcom was only just getting started. 

**64**

The new Hyper Street Fighter II 

game includes every fighter from 

the long-running series 

In 1994, Capcom performed a total overhaul of Street Fighter II. They refined the 

look of the characters, gave the game much-improved graphics, and added four brandnew 

characters – Fei Long, DeeJay, Cammy, and T.Hawk. This took the total number of 

playable characters to 16. Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers was another 

huge hit, as was the special Tournament Edition in the arcades. Basically, this included 

four machines that were connected up, and as soon as you won a fight, you were told 

which machine you had to go to next in order to continue the tournament. It was a bit 

strange, and a bit like musical chairs, but it foreshadowed the tournament modes now 

seen in every one-on-one fighting game available. Just as before, Capcom would later 

refine the proceedings again and update with Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Turbo X, 

but while the game was well-liked, the popularity of the series was beginning to wane. 

Homeward bound 

The series may have been suffering in the arcades, but it was thriving at home. Street 

Fighter II appeared on just about every viable platform, including a pretty horrible 

monochrome version on the humble Spectrum! The Amiga, Atari ST and PC versions 

were better, but they suffered from long loading times between fights. 

No such loading problems plagued the excellent SNES version though. Even at a 

hefty £64.99, it was a massive hit. Naturally, SNES owners spent most of the time that 

they weren’t playing it taunting the Street Fighter-less Megadrive fans, although this was 

short lived as Capcom announced it was releasing Champion Edition on Sega’s console. 

But Sega fans didn’t have the upper hand for long, as Hyper Fighting was quickly 

announced for the SNES. In the end though, both consoles essentially got the same 

game, with the SNES having a brilliant conversion of Street Fighter II Turbo, while the 

Megadrive got Street Fighter II – Special Champion Edition, which was just Turbo with a 

different name. The last sign of the game on a home console was at the end of the 

SNES era, when Capcom and Virgin released Super Street Fighter II. It was only released 

in limited quantities, and while a good conversion, signalled the end of Street Fighter 

II. Well, for the time being... 

Fighting fit 

In the latter half of the decade, Capcom released a whole host of Street Fighter 

games, the best of which were Street Fighter EX + Alpha and Street Fighter Alpha 3. 

Sadly, the series never regained the popularity it had in the early 90s. However, if 

you’re an SF fan and in need of a new fix, you’ll no doubt be happy with the latest 

news coming out of Capcom HQ. With 2003 being the 15th anniversary of the 

series, the publisher has seen fit to issue a new version of the game. Hyper Street 

Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition will yet again have a graphical overhaul and will 

feature every single character from every edition of Street Fighter II. This means 

you’ll be able to pit Ryu from Champion Edition against Ryu from Super Turbo X, 

and all kind of combinations. It’ll also be released in a special box-set complete 

with a DVD of the fantastic animated movie and a whole host of other goodies. 

Rest assured it’ll probably be lapped up by an army of fans in no time. But, 

aside form nostalgia, just what is the future of the Street Fighter series? Any 

chance of a new SF game will no doubt depend on the success of The Anniversary 

Edition. Will Capcom take the leap and do a new title in the style of the mighty 

Soul Calibur II? Will they stick to 2D? Will anyone but the most ardent Street 

Fighter fan buy it? Whatever happens, Capcom can be safe in the knowledge that 

few games have been more influential in the games industry than Street Fighter. 

Sho-ryu-ken! ✺✯* 

**65**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | horror movie licences | 

**66**

>Licence 

to Kill. 

Horror is hot once 

again, with recent 

movies like Freddy vs 

Jason, Jeepers Creepers 

2 and The Texas 

Chainsaw Massacre 

surpassing all 

expectations at the box 

office. In time-honoured 

tradition, hit 

films lead to licensed 

games and, indeed, 

Vivendi Interactive is 

to release a game 

based upon the upcoming 

Van Helsing movie. 

Martyn Carroll casts a 

Marty Feldman-style eye 

over the history of 

horror licences, 

beginning with games 

that played the death 

march when your three 

lives had expired 

The original Texas 

Chainsaw Massacre 

movie spawned several 

sequels, last year’s hit remake, 

and, in 1982, a game for the 

humble Atari 2600. Cited as 

“The First Violent Video 

Game!”, it invited you to “play 

the part of the vengeful 

Leatherface or an innocent 

victim looking for safety”. 

Considering the emotive 

advertising, it was no surprise 

to learn that distributor Wizard 

Games was headed by low 

budget-movie producer Charles 

Band. This title was followed 

by Halloween (“The game 

where HE comes home!”), 

in which you helped 

babysitter Laurie save 

kids from the hands of 

her brother Michael. 

While these games 

sound intriguing, the 

graphics were 

extremely basic and 

the sound was awful, 

even by 2600 

standards. It was 

kind of hard to be 

scared of a beeping 

chainsaw or a 

shapeless ‘shape’! 

TCM and Halloween are two of the rarest 2600 games 

because many shops refused to stock them! 

**67**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | horror movie licences | 

Just keep repeating "it's only a 

game, it's only a game..." 

Jason lives 

After five film outings, Jason Voorhees finally 

made his digital debut in Domark’s Friday the 

13th: The Computer Game. Released in 1985 

on the Spectrum, Commodore 64 and 

Amstrad CPC, the game featured the striking 

Final Chapter artwork on the packaging and 

came complete with free ‘blood’ capsules 

containing red sugar water. In the game, you 

controlled the female lead as she tried to 

protect her 10 fellow campers from the 

menacing Jason. Your first job was to take 

a cross from the nearby graveyard and 

place it in the barn, the library or the 

church. This then became the sanctuary 

where the campers could shelter as Jason 

would not dare enter. The only problem 

was that the campers soon became bored 

and wondered out into the open 

(presumably to have sex, smoke dope or 

go skinny dipping by moonlight). 

Unjustifiably trashed by critics at the 

time of release, the game featured a 

number of redeeming qualities which 

overshadow its crude visuals. One nice 

touch was that you could also become 

a killer by locating one of Jason’s 

discarded weapons and attacking your 

friends. Another excellent feature was 

the thud of your heartbeat which 

increased rapidly when Jason was 

lurking nearby. 

Better still was the Friday 

the 13th game that appeared on the 

NES in 1988, courtesy of LJN. Taking 

control of one of six playable 

characters, your aim was to destroy 

Jason while protecting the kids in 

the camp (which, rather strangely, 

was also home to a hoard of 

zombies). As you searched the 

**68**

One, two, Freddy's coming for you! The Dream 

Master invades consoles and computers 

local area for useful weapons, an alarm would signal that Jason was stalking one of 

the cabins. You then had only 60 seconds to stop Jason before the bodycount 

started to rise. As in the films, defeating Jason was downright difficult and on some 

occasions, you even had his mad mother to contend with! The game was certainly 

challenging, but also a lot of fun and probably preferable to sitting through one of 

the Friday the 13th movie sequels. 

Here's Freddy! 

Predictably enough, LJN released A Nightmare on Elm Street on the NES the 

following year. While the game was standard platform fare in which you had to find 

Freddy’s bones and burn them in the boiler-room furnace to banish him, the 

development diary was slightly more interesting. Apparently, the player originally 

controlled Freddy but the idea of having a comedic child killer as a playable 

character did not sit well with Nintendo. LJN were forced to switch things around at 

the last minute, although screenshots of the original concept appeared in the 

gaming press, suggesting that a prototype of the game may once have existed. 

At around the same time, Monarch Software released an Elm Street game on the 

C64 (and later ported it to the PC). Unlike the LJN game, this version was far more 

episodic and followed the plot of the third film quite closely (it was subtitled Dream 

Warriors in fact). You began by selecting one of the five character from the film to 

play, all of which had their own specific ‘dream power’. You then had to rescue the 

others from Freddy’s house which, once inside, turned out to be a series of complex 

mazes containing monsters and traps. The action was viewed from a top-down 

perspective but ‘action’ is probably the wrong word as much of your time was spent 

solving increasingly perplexing puzzles. Only the most determined and deft gamers 

would make it through to the final battle with Freddy. 

Universal appeal 

Due to the graphical limitations of the 8-bit computers, the better horror 

conversions came along in the form of text adventures. Although the standard ‘get 

key, go north’ approach was often associated with bespectacled young males and 

blokes with beards, many of these adventures were extremely literate and featured 

fiendish puzzles. Software house CRL excelled in their quartet of horror film tie-ins 

for the Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad CPC, yet they insisted on submitting each 

game to the BBFC. As the guidelines state that all video games are exempt from 

classification unless they depict “gross violence towards humans or animals to any 

significant extent”, CRL’s actions were viewed purely as a bid to attain some free 

publicity. 

While featuring no explicit text, their first release, Dracula (1986), included a 

small number of gory screenshots which were intended to offend the BBFC and 

therefore warrant an 18 rating. However, our beloved censors were obviously made 

of stronger stuff and only a 15 rating was issued. Programmed by acclaimed 

adventure author Rod Pike, the game itself was an atmospheric mix of gothic 

descriptions and fiendish puzzles. Taking on the role of Jonathan Harker, you 

began the game in a Transylvanian inn the night before your trip to deliver the 

deeds of Carrfax Hall to the Count’s 

castle. After signing the register and 

obtaining your room key, you were 

provided with a seat at the dinner table. 

An interesting problem here was that the 

food you chose from the menu would 

have a direct effect on your dreams when 

you retired later in the evening. A dodgy 

combination often resulted in a gory 

death as your nightmares became reality, 

especially if you failed to light your 

bedside lamp and close the bedroom 

window before you slept. 

Naturally, CRL followed Dracula a year 

later with Frankenstein, another excellent 

text adventure that proved to be similar in 

style and content to its predecessor. You 

began the game as Victor Frankenstein and 

your mission was to locate the monster 

that you created four years previously. 

When you eventually tracked him down, 

you were provided with the dubious 

pleasure of controlling the creature’s 

actions yourself. Using the original novel 

for references, Rod Pike attempted to 

emphasise the monster’s inherent humanity 

by trying to make the player sympathise 

with its plight: “There are no bolts though 

his neck”, he explained, “I wanted to get 

the atmosphere and pathos of Mary Shelly’s novel rather that the gore of the 

Hammer films”. As a result, the small number of detailed illustrations still only 

received a 15 rating. 

Undeterred, CRL finally succeeded with their version of Jack the Ripper (1988), 

the first game ever to receive an 18 certificate. Playing the part of a Victorian gent, 

the game began when you accidentally bumped into the Ripper as he fled from a 

Whitechapel crime scene. As you investigated his handiwork, the police arrived 

and accused you of the murder. Naturally, you were coerced into proving your 

innocence by trailing and exposing the man (or indeed men) involved. 

Through its vivid use of prose and the subtle accuracy of the murder 

descriptions, the game succeeded in recreating both the atmosphere of Victorian 

London and the horror generated by the killer’s unmotivated attacks. Programmed 

by Irish authors St Brides, CRL added the gory illustrations prior to release in their 

commercial aim to secure that elusive 18 rating. Deemed “unnecessarily 

distasteful” by Sinclair User magazine at the time of release, the graphical 

limitations of the 8-bit machines meant that apparent acts of “gross violence” 

were merely poor depictions of bloody corpses. 

In the same year, Rod Pike developed Wolfman, his third horror text adventure 

**69**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | horror movie licenses | 

Oh the horror! Someone protect 

us from this sick filth! 

for CRL, but this well-written three-part title became lost in the ratings hype 

surrounding Jack the Ripper and was sadly overlooked by the press and public 

alike. As the title character, you awoke in a strange hovel, covered in blood and 

with no memory of the previous night’s events. A mob of incensed villagers had 

surrounded the house, proclaiming that the Mayor’s daughter had been killed – 

her throat ripped out. As the guilty party, your first task was to cover your tracks 

before escaping the village in search of a faraway temple where you could be 

cured of your bloodlust. Along the way you met a young girl named Nardia and 

you had to play from her perspective on several occasions. 

Bloody bits 

Ariolasoft seized the opportunity to capitalise on CRL’s Frankenstein by releasing a 

game based on the Bride of Frankenstein movie. Neglecting the serious text-driven 

approach, Bride was a comical graphic adventure in which you controlled the title 

character in her hunt for the perfect husband. Set in Castle Frankenstein, you had 

to dodge various ghosts and skeletons as you searched the crypts and corridors 

for various body parts. Upon locating the brain, you could spark off the 

honeymoon by unlocking the laboratory and electrifying your man’s vital organs. 

Considering the inordinate cost of licensing fees, many software releases relied 

on unofficial yet blatant titles. Ariloasoft (under the guise of Viz Design) followed 

Bride with Werewolves of London (1988), a game evidently based on An American 

Werewolf in London. Adopting a similar 2D viewpoint to Bride, Werewolf saw you 

wandering around nondescript streets solving simple puzzles. These tasks were 

hindered because a full-moon signalled your transformation into the snarling title 

character, allowing you to release your repressed frustrations upon London’s 

policemen, traffic wardens and underground commuters. 

Another unlicensed product was Ubisoft’s Zombi (1990), which proved to be a 

faithful interpretation of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, right down to the 

zombie-infested shopping mall (with a helicopter on the roof) and the impending 

attack of the Hell’s Angels. You took control of four characters and the main aim 

was to escape the mall by helicopter. From a first-person perspective, you had to 

search the mall for precious food while fending off the lumbering living dead. As 

in the film, looting the various shops for food and ammunition was the key to 

survival. Originally written for 8-bit computers, Zombi later appeared on the Amiga 

and Atari ST in a better-looking version. 

Barking mad 

The work of Clive Barker has been represented in several computer games, the 

most well-known being Ocean’s Nightbreed games. The first one, Nightbreed: The 

Action Game, appeared in 1988 on 8-bit and 16-bit machines. Based on Barker’s 

epic movie, which in turn was based on his book Cabal, the game placed you in 

control of Aaron Boone as you ventured into the underground city of Midian in 

search of your girlfriend Lori. Standing in your way were the Nightbreed 

themselves and a bunch of rednecks who have stumbled upon Midian. Your chief 

adversary, though, was a mass-murderer known as The Mask. 

As the title suggests, Nightbreed: The Action Game saw you kicking and 

punching your way down into the depth of Midian. The sequel, however, was 

subtitled The Interactive Movie and only released on PC, Amiga and Atari ST. Like 

many of Ocean’s film licences, the result was an uneven mix of several mini-games, 

each based on a certain scene from the film. In fact, the game adhered to the plot 

of the film so closely that the player was forced into following a strictly linear 

path. The Interactive Movie was a step down from the first game and it sold 

poorly, canning the third game in what was originally slated as a trilogy of titles 

based on the film. 

Two titles based on the Hellraiser films befell the same fate. The first, simply 

entitled Hellraiser, was developed in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System 

(NES) by Color Dreams. Uniquely, the Hellraiser cartridge was rumoured to contain 

extra memory and an additional processor chip, allowing the game to display 16- 

bit style graphics and run three times faster than standard NES titles. 

Unfortunately, the cost of producing such a cartridge was judged to be too great 

**70**

Something evil. 

Palace Pictures shot to fame in the early 80s when they picked up The Evil 

Dead for UK distribution. The cheaply made horror movie was a huge cult hit, 

and it wasn’t long before Palace’s software arm released a tie-in game for the 

Spectrum, C64 and BBC Micro. All three versions were generally the same, 

although the Spectrum version supported the Currah Speech hardware add-on. 

It was used to good effect, voicing lines from the film such as the Evil Dead’s 

plea of “Join us...join us”. 

The gameplay took place within the cabin and the action was viewed from 

above. As Ash, you had to keep the Evil Dead out by moving from room to 

room closing the windows. If, or rather when, your friends became possessed, 

you had to destroy them using a variety of weapons (axe, spade, chainsaw and 

so on). The head, torso and legs of each body would then attack! When you 

had disposed of all these parts, the Necronomicon appeared and you had to 

throw it onto the fire. The game then began again, but the difficulty level was 

increased. 

Extremely simplistic by today’s standards, The Evil Dead is nevertheless fun 

to play (for about five minutes anyway). It is also rather rare so count yourself 

lucky if you come across a copy. The Spectrum version is particularly 

uncommon as it was never actually released as a main title. Instead, it was 

sneaked onto the b-side of Palace’s excellent Cauldron game. 

Descend into the depths of Midian in 

Ocean's gruesome twosome 

and this ambitious project was scrapped with no prototype produced. As a result, 

very little is know about the game except that Color Dreams planned to cut the 

costs by releasing Hellraiser on the PC. The title was to be based around 

Wolfenstein (the forerunner to Doom) and it would even use Id’s 3D engine, 

suggesting that Hellraiser was a first-person action adventure. 

In 1995, Magnet Interactive Studios secured the licence and they set about 

developing Hellraiser: Virtual Hell for the PC. It too was a 3D adventure game 

in which you had to escape from the fiery depths of Hell. Along the way you 

encountered Pinhead and Pinball – a new Cenobite who could throw steel 

spheres, Phantasm-style. Doug Bradley lent his voice to the game during a day 

off from filming the fourth Hellraiser movie, and a rolling demo was produced 

that showed Pinhead emerging from a computer screen to swallow up the 

player, but Magnet could not find a publisher and the plug was pulled on 

Virtual Hell. 

Although it is unlikely that the games mentioned here will ever become 

collector’s items, they prove to be an intriguing element of the modern movie 

package. Who knows – perhaps one day we’ll see an old licensed game turning 

up as a bonus item on the film’s DVD release. ✺✯* 

The Evil Dead game appeared on 

home computers in 1985, after the 

movie had been banned under the 

Video Recording Act! 

Virtual Hell failed to materialise, but 

many screens are floating around the 

Web 

**71**

advertising gallery 

20 years ago and computer 

magazines were very 

different to the ones you 

read today. Besides pages 

and pages of program 

listings, there were 

always a number of classic 

adverts. We've selected 

our favourites from this 

classic year. Some signal 

the arrival of important 

milestones in computing 

history, while others just 

made us smile... 

**73**

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | 1983 advertising gallery | 

**74**

**75** 

The original ZX Spectrum advert. 

All this for £125!


Oric looked to cash in on the 

success of the Spectrum 

**76**

**77** 

Down in price, but probably still 

too expensive for most parents


A classic C64 advert. It's not 

just a games machine you know 

**78**

**79**


Wow! It's like something from 

the original Star Trek series! 

**80**

**81** 

Brings new meaning to the 

term multitasking


Ultimate arrives on 

the software scene 

**82**

**83** 

Ah, Kevin Toms. His bearded face 

was a reassuring sign of quality

**84**

Emulation 

Nation 

Reading and reminiscing 

about retro games is one 

thing, but what if you 

want to walk the full 

length of memory lane and 

actually play these 

classic titles? The 

easiest and least 

expensive way is through 

emulation. Martyn Carroll 

looks at the many 

emulators available for 

your home PC

| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | emulation nation | 

Emulation is very popular. One of the very first emulation Web sites, 

Emulators Unlimited (www.emuunlim.com), is fast approaching the 15- 

million hit mark! The site is home to hundreds of different utilities that 

collectively emulate any old console or computer you could care to mention. 

Whether you want to play Atari 2600 games on your PC, revisit the Amiga 

Workbench or test-drive the Gameboy Advance before you buy one, you’ll find an 

emulator that will do just the job. 

Because there are generally many different programs that emulate the same 

machines (there are over a dozen Spectrum emulators for example), the obvious 

question is which one do you opt for? The choice is often complicated because 

emulators often stem from the source code of other emulators. First and 

foremost, you require a program which faithfully replicates the machine in 

question. That means it emulates each hardware component and runs all of the 

available software – compatibility is key. Secondly, as the software is usually 

written by enthusiasts rather than professional programmers, you require a 

program which is easy to set-up and use (and includes relevant user information). 

Last and least, you’ll be looking for an emulator with a few bells and whistles – 

one which lets you control games using your PC joystick, for instance, and allows 

you to save your progress while playing. 

The aim of the article is to look at each popular platform of yesteryear (and a 

few not so popular) and pick out the best emulators for each computer or console. 

All of the programs mentioned can be found on the Retro Gamer * coverdisc. 

Emulating 

computers 

A number of readers will fondly remember the Sinclair ZX81 (and perhaps its even 

more primitive forerunner, the ZX80). For many enthusiasts, these cheap and 

cheerful machines were single-handedly responsible for igniting their interest in 

computers. If you’re looking to relive a little bit of computing history by emulating 

a ZX80/81 on your PC then you can use either Xtender2 or NO$ZX81. 

The Xtender2 readme goes out of its way to ward you off by stating that the 

program is “NOT user-friendly” and “NOT intended for regular users”. NO$ZX81 

does at least include common sense documentation but development has ceased 

and the emulator has been discontinued. Serious bugs, and there are several, are 

seemingly there to stay, although it does work with the majority of programs I 

tested. Despite the warnings in the readme, Xtender2 isn’t too difficult to use and 

it also runs native software without a hitch. The main difference between NO$ZX81 

and Xtender2 is that the former does not support high-resolution graphics whereas 

the latter supports all graphics modes. 

How far back can you go? How about a 

game of 3D Monster Maze on the ZX81? 

ZX80/81 emulators are rare 

but if you’re looking to emulate 

the subsequent Sinclair machine, 

the ZX Spectrum, you’ll be spoilt 

for choice. There are literally 

dozens of Spectrum emulators 

available and some of them have 

been in development so long 

that they emulate the host 

machine perfectly. One such 

example is ZX32, which emulates all of the 

Spectrum models from the humble 16Kb 

version right up to the 

floppy disk-driven +3. 

The program will even 

check the software you 

want to load and 

The irrepressible 

default to the best 

Sinclair Spectrum. 

model for running it. 

Perhaps the most 

ZX32 supports all of the 

emulated machine 

popular file types, 

in existence 

including the .tzx file 

format which is 

regarded as the best 

way of preserving Spectrum software in its 

original form. 

Development of ZX32 appears to have 

stopped, so if you’re looking for a cuttingedge 

Spectrum emulator you should take a 

look at RealSpectrum. It runs all Spectrum 

software without a hitch and yet also 

expands upon ZX32 by emulating various 

hardware add-ons such as the ZX Interface 1, 

the DISCiPLE/+D disk interface and the Kempston mouse. You can even use it to 

set up Spectrum network over the Web! Note that there are several versions of the 

emulator, each one optimised to work with different processors. 

There are several emulators available for Sir Clive’s last Sinclair machine, the 

rather grand sounding Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap). The majority are shareware 

though (meaning you must pay if you want to use the emulator after the free trial 

period). One completely free QL emulator is QLAYw. It is no longer developed and 

therefore slightly lacking in some departments, but it’s easy enough to set up 

(don’t forget to assign the ROM file you want to run to a Microdrive port!) and 

offers faithful QL emulator. 

More 8-bit 

micros 

The Spectrum’s main 

competition in the homecomputer 

market came from 

the Commodore 64 and the 

Vic 20. WinVICE emulates both 

machines, as well as other 

models in the Commodore 

range, including the original 

PET computers, the CBM-II and 

the Commodore 128. The 

program is extremely stable 

and the latest version simply 

WinVICE is a one-stop shop for 

fixes a few bugs caused by 

your Commodore emulation needs 

individual games. WinVICE is so 

popular that other Commodore emulators are generally ignored. However, if you’re 

looking for a dedicated C64 emulator you should try Frodo, a program which 

focuses on reproducing special graphical effects exactly and includes support for 

various peripherals. 

WinVICE also offers support for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 models, but if 

you’re looking for a dedicated emulator then try either Minus4w or Artifex. Both 

emulators are very similar and they run all software I tested (including dedicated 

Plus/4 games). They even include the 3-in-1 office suite built into the Plus/4! 

**86**

Loading disk images in WinAPE can be tricky 

- this screenshot shows you how 

Due to their relative lack of popularity at the time, Amstrad’s range of CPC 

computers are not as well supported in the emulation scene. There are, however, a 

couple of good emulators in the form of WinAPE and Arnold. WinAPE accurately 

emulates the entire CPC range (including the CPC+ models) but it can be difficult 

to get up and running, especially if you’re unfamiliar with Amstrad BASIC. 

Thankfully, the Running Programs chapter in the Help text steps you through the 

process. Similarly, Arnold can be confusing to use but all the help you need is 

included in the readme file. There is very little to choose between the two 

emulators except that Arnold features a number of configurable options, including 

one which allows purists to change to a green screen display (CPCs were originally 

purchased with either a green screen or colour monitor). 

The Spectrum, Commodore and Amstrad computers dominated the European 

home-computer market throughout the 1980s and any other manufacturer that 

dared enter the fray was immediately fighting a losing battle. Three early computer 

casualties were the Jupiter Ace, the Oric-1 and the Atari 800. While largely ignored 

and rare as a result, there are dedicated emulators available to download. Ace32 is 

a Jupiter Ace emulator that runs under DOS. It works fine under Windows too – 

just refer to the readme for the various keyboard commands. Development of this 

program appears to have discontinued but it runs the small amount of software 

available for download from the Web without a hitch. 

Euphoric allows you to emulate the Oric-1 and its lesser known successors, the 

Atmos and the Telestrat. Unusually, this emulator installs itself on your system but 

this does mean that you can easily launch tape and disc files by simply doubleclicking 

them from within Windows Explorer. This saves you from having to use Oric 

Extended BASIC to launch programs. If you’re looking to emulate the Atari 800 

computer you can use Atari800Win – a program which accurately emulates all 

hardware aspects of the machine and can also be configured to behave like any of 

the Atari 8-bit models (including the XL and XE variations). If features full sound 

support and is able to emulate both the Atari disk drives and cartridge slot. Unlike 

many of the programs mentioned here, the ROM files required to run the emulator 

are not provided so you’ll need to obtain them from the Web. However, the 

accompanying readme file 

tells you exactly which 

files you need, where to 

get them and what to do 

with them. 

The Atari 800 was 

home to one of the 

very best versions 

of Pitfall 2 

Mac attack! 

Ask anyone who works in a design department if they prefer to work 

on PCs or Apple Macs and they’ll unanimously opt for the latter. It 

seems that designers prefer to use Macintosh software over Windows 

software. Compared to PCs, Macs are more expensive and less 

popular, but you can use an emulator to run Mac OS on your PC. 

Emulators, Inc. produce three different Macintosh emulators 

designed to handle all versions of Mac OS on different types of PCs. 

Fusion is a free emulator aimed at DOS users that is recommended for 

use on 486 and Pentium systems. It runs System 7.0 and 7.1 as well 

as Mac OS version 7.5, 7.6, 8.0 and 8.1. Gemulator 2000 is a basic 

Mac Classic emulator that is capable of running System 6.0, 7.0 and 

7.5. It is especially useful for running old Mac Plus and Mac Classic 

games which may not even work on newer Macs. Finally, SoftMac 

2000 emulates the Mac Classic, Mac II, Mac LC, Mac Quadra and all 

versions of Mac OS up to 8.1. 

Here’s the best bit – all three programs deliver around 70% of 

the clock speed in emulation. This basically means that a 500MHz 

Windows PC will emulate the equivalent of a 300MHz Macintosh 

running Mac OS 8. 

You can emulate old or new Apple Macs (and 

even the Lisa) using various emulators 

**87**


16-bit models 

Atari enjoyed greater success with its 16-bit ST machine. WinSTon is branded as 

the definitive Atari ST emulator for Windows as it’s very stable, offers excellent 

software compatibility (especially with games) and features full sound support. It’s 

ideal for beginners too because it’s very easy to set up and yet packs in enough 

features to satisfy experienced ST users. You can use it to emulate an ST hard 

drive with up to four partitions and it is possible to read original ST disks using 

you PC’s floppy disk drive. Earlier versions required you to locate the TOS (Tramiel 

Operating System) ROM but the latest release includes the file, so you can revisit 

the familiar green desktop without searching the Internet beforehand. WinSTon 

only emulates the standard ST machine. If you’re looking to emulate the expanded 

model, the Atari STE, you will need to use Steem. This new emulator runs all of 

the standard ST software as well as the rarer STE releases. You do need to obtain 

a TOS ROM though. 

Relive the delights of Robocod using 

the excellent WinUAE Amiga emulator 

Let WinSTon and Steem take you back 

to the ST's lovely green desktop! 

The ST was eventually overshadowed by the very popular Commodore Amiga. 

Despite it’s prevalence, there are very few Amiga emulators available. By far the 

most popular is WinUAE (Universal Amiga Emulator) which, as the title suggests, 

emulates every home model from the A500 to the A1200. It can be quite confusing 

to use it first – you have to configure the program correctly and point it to both the 

Amiga Kikstart ROM and program ROM before emulation – but it does offer 

authentic emulation and runs all programs tested. At the very least WinUAE requires 

a P200 to run. If your machine can’t cut the mustard, we recommend WinFellow – 

an excellent, if slightly simplistic alternative for users with less-powerful PCs. 

I couldn’t move on to consoles without briefly mentioning the Acorn range of 

computers. A number of emulators cater for the BBC Micro, although we 

recommend BeebEm (Windows) and B-EM (DOS) above the others as they are the 

most advanced. Electron emulation is taken care of with ElectrEm (which is great 

despite a dodgy GUI), while for the Archimedes you can choose from either Archie 

or Red Squirrel. The latter is classed as alpha software and we experienced 

problems running some games. Archie, on the other hand, ran all software tested. 

However, the RISC OS ROMs are required to run both emulators. 

GBA emulation 

When a new console is released, programmers fall over themselves to be 

the first to emulate it. In the case of the GameBoy Advance, emulators 

began to surface before the handheld was even released! Much to 

Nintendo’s chagrin, it seems that resourceful writers got their hands on 

development kits and began to see what was making the machine tick. 

While the some of these emulators only run home-made demos, several 

will actually run the latest commercial games. Boycott Advance is one 

example that originally had problems emulating some 3D games but with 

the latest release runs all games without a hitch or a graphical glitch. Better 

still is the excellent VisualBoyAdvance which allows you to use cheats and 

save your progress. It also emulates the Pocket, Super and Color GameBoys, 

making it the definite GameBoy emulator. 

Emulating handheld games may seem nonsensical, especially as the 

whole point of the GBA is that you can play it while one the move (or, 

more appropriately, while sitting on the toilet). But at least you can 

preview games before you go out and buy them. 

Squint at a small screen no longer - 

run GBA games on your PC! 

**88**

Arcade at home 

MAME can 

emulate a 

stunning 

range of 

arcade 

systems, 

giving you 

access to a 

massive 

back 

catalogue 

of games 

So far we’ve looked at home computers and consoles, but emulation doesn’t have to stop 

in the home. Several older arcade machine boards are the focus of a few emulators out 

there and the need to track down that old arcade favourite and pump it full of 10p pieces 

is no longer necessary. 

When it comes to emulating arcade games many people turn to MAME, the Multiple 

Arcade Machine Emulator. This is a multiple-format emulator that can replicate a large 

range of arcade boards from a variety of manufacturers. The easy-to-use Windows port, 

MAME32, includes support for over 3,000 arcade games, and the number is growing with 

each new release. Besides MAME there are other arcade emulators of worth. RAINE, in 

particular, is recommended as it features one of the friendliest interfaces of any emulator 

and supports hundreds of popular arcade games. If you can’t get a game working with 

MAME then try RAINE. If you’re a fan of fighting games then don’t miss Callus. This 

Capcom arcade system emulator lets you play all of the major Capcom titles, including the 

Street Fighter II series and its many spin-off games. 

It seems the only old arcade games that neither of these programs can emulate are 

the classic laserdisc titles, such as Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. You can, however, use 

DAPHNE to achieve this aim, providing you have a supported laserdisc player and the 

original game laserdisc. As that’s something of a tall order, it’s also possible grab the 

games from the Web as MPEGs (they’re pretty large mind) and play them using your PC. 

Emulating 

consoles 

If there was one single program which drew attention to the emulation scene it 

would have to be UltraHLE (High Level Emulator). This tiny, freeware program was 

the first playable Nintendo 64 console emulator and it caused a storm, mainly 

because the machine it emulated was retailing for £200 at the time! Legal threats 

were issued and development of the program was immediately discontinued. The 

original release still stands up well with the glut of N64 emulators which have 

appeared since, although it will not play some of the more recent games. One 

active N64 emulator which expands its compatibility list with each new release is 

Nemu64. Most games run smoothly even when in full-screen mode, but success 

The N64 may 

have been 

superseded 

by the 

GameCube, 

but you can 

relive some 

of its 

finest 

games on 

your PC 

generally depends on your 

system setup and the 

graphics card you are using. 

With N64 emulation, if one 

program doesn’t work for you 

just try another from either 

Blade64, Project64 or 1964. 

The popularity of the 

Sony PlayStation has also led 

to several emulators of 

debatable legality. At the top 

of the pile, in terms of 

infamy at least, are bleem! 

and Virtual Game Station – 

two commercial emulators 

which have been hindered 

by legal threats and 

Strangely, bleem! even went on sale as 

a boxed product for a short time 

lawsuits. In fact, all assets 

before its untimely demise 

relating to Virtual Game 

Station have since been 

acquired by Sony and development has ended with version 1.4. It still runs the 

vast majority of PlayStation games straight from the CD, although it renders the 

visuals in software using DirectDraw capabilities. bleem!, on the other hand, 

supports Direct 3D compatible graphics cards and actually enhances the visuals. 

Both programs play original games, backup copies and imports – just pop the disc 

in the drive and the game will load. In the demo version of bleem! sound is 

disabled and you cannot save your progress while playing games. Note that due 

to copyright issues, we are unable to include these emulators on the coverdisc. 

If you’re looking for a free alternative, then ePSXe and FPSE are the best of 

the bunch (once you’ve taken time to configure them correctly). A PlayStation BIOS 

ROM is required to run both emulators however, so you’ll need to scour the 

shadier side of the Web before beginning. 

**89**


Games galore 

If anything, console emulation is more popular than computer emulation and just 

about every gaming platform has been emulated. The classic Atari 2600 is no 

exception and there are several excellent emulators available. StellaX is certainly 

the most popular, mainly because it runs all 2600 cartridge games and the rarer 

Supercharger cassette games. The only downside is that you can’t configure your 

own keyboard controls, although you can use a PC joystick to play the games. 

Atari has always commanded a cult following and all of their subsequent 

machines have been emulated, including the unsuccessful 5200 SuperSystem and 

7800 ProSystem models. If you wish to emulate these machines, then Daniel Boris 

is your man because he’s written emulators for both! Virtual Super System and 

v7800 are somewhat basic and run in DOS, but beggars can’t be choosers. 

Everything is run and configured from the command line so be prepared to fiddle 

around with various options before getting any results. ROM files are also required. 

If the thought of using a DOS-based program makes you turn green, try out Jum52, 

an excellent new emulator that runs under the relative safety of Windows. Like 

Virtual Super System, a 5200 BIOS ROM is required. Similarly, you’ll need an 

appropriate ROM file to run Handy – the Atari Lynx emulator. The final Atari console, 

the psuedo-64-bit Jaguar, is proving difficult to emulate. Several promising projects 

are afoot and furthest down the development line is Project Tempest – the first 

Jaguar emulator to actually run commercial games. At present, only some games 

include support for sound, and a fairly fast PC is required to run games at a steady 

frame rate. 

A great feature of this emulator is the rarity display. 

This shows how rare the original cart currently is 

Besides Sony and Nintendo, Atari’s other rival in the console market was Sega. 

Programming teams are struggling to emulate the two most recent Sega consoles, 

the Saturn and the Dreamcast, but the earlier machines are well represented in the 

emulation scene. In particular, there are many Megadrive emulators available to 

download and lots of debate over which is the best one. If you’re looking to play 

The various Megadrive emulators throw open the door to 100s of classic games

Sharing your wares 

While using emulators is not illegal, downloading the games to play on them is. You see, someone owns the copyright to just about every game ever 

released. Unless you own an original copy of the game or the copyright holder has declared that the game can be freely distributed, it is technically theft 

to download it for free. And don’t be fooled by the disclaimers on Web sites that claim that it’s OK to download games as long as you delete them after 

24 hours. No such law has ever been introduced. 

This includes old games too, because even if the original publisher no longer exists as a company, you’ll often find that the rights fall to the original 

programmer. If the publisher has been bought out by another company, the rights will belong to them, lock, stock and back catalogue. 

Shades of grey do creep in when considering old games however. To be found guilty of copyright theft it must be proved that downloading games is 

done at the expense of the copyright holder. So while this would obviously cover downloading PlayStation and GameBoy Advance games from dodgy Web 

sites, it can’t be realistically levelled against those who download old Spectrum and Commodore games. After all, these games have not been commercially 

available for between 10 and 20 years! We do not condone piracy in anyway whatsoever, but it’s a matter of fact that no one has ever been prosecuted for 

downloading and playing old games. 

full speed on low-end systems. When it comes to emulating the Super Nintendo 

system, you are generally limited to either SNES9x or ZSNES. Both programs offer 

fast, faithful emulation and actually expand upon the original machine by allowing 

you to play multiplayer games over the Internet! 

Finally you can emulate the Atari Jaguar, 

the world's first 64-bit console, on your PC 

standard Megadrive games, we recommend Kgen as Sega itself is using the 

program to re-release some of its older titles. However, to emulate the Mega-CD 

and the 32X add-ons use Gens and Retrodrive respectively. Moving back in time 

further, you can emulate both the original Sega Master System and the handheld 

Sega Game Gear using either ChaSMS or FreezeSMS. The latter now includes 

additional support for the Colcovision console. 

The Master System’s main competitor was the Nintendo Entertainment System 

(NES) and there are literally dozens of emulators available for this, with new ones 

surfacing regularly. The NES had a strange system of mappers that determined 

how the game ROMs were accessed and each one has to be coded separately 

when writing an emulator, so the more mappers, the higher the compatibility rate. 

At present, fwNES supports the most mappers, with RockNES running a close 

second. However, many argue that Nesticle, the first ever NES emulator, is still the 

best as it supports all sound channels, allows you to save your game and will run 

Enjoy an online game of Super 

Bomberman using SNES9x or ZSNES 

To be continued... 

In this introductory feature I’ve looked at emulators designed to run on a 

home PC. In issue two of Retro Gamer, I’ll take a closer look at other host 

machines, including the GamePark 32, Xbox and PlayStation 2. That’s right – 

you can run classic games on the very latest consoles! 

**91**

april 2004 

issue 2 hits the shelves

Retro Magazine 1

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