Games - Reviews by Folker

Games - Reviews by Folker

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Folker 20th Jun 2021		Video Game Elite - Acornsoft (1984)	Review This was a really big deal, when it was released. Acornsoft pretty much threw the kitchen sink at it, marketing and packaging wise. The computer press duly took the bait and raved about it. The game won all kinds of awards. It was the first (and probably only) major-player video game which actually started life on the Beeb, rather than getting an after-thought port from some other platform. It was a remarkable programming achievement and demonstrated what could really be achieved on the Beeb, despite its oft-criticised lack of memory. So why do I dislike Elite so much ? Maybe it's because I expect to be able to actually get started with a game I've paid an arm and a leg for. The game appeared to demand that you learn how to slot a flying parcel through a rotating letterbox with millimetre accuracy, before you were allowed to discover what you shelled out all that cash for. My vivid recollections of Elite are not of the vast universe it opened up or the complexities of trading which it simulated, but of endlessly crashing into that bloody docking bay. (This rather reminds me of when my wife spent about 40 quid on a copy of Return To Castle Wolfenstein as a present and I couldn't get past the first 4 or 5 locations.) I suppose alarm bells should have been ringing when I opened the Elite manual. Software which comes with a 64-page (!!) manual isn't a game, it's a job of work. Even the novella was only 48 pages long! Any supposed game which needs a "quick reference guide" and a wall chart, because the manual is so fat, has clearly lost the plot. After a long day at work (ironically, writing computer software), I wanted much more instant gratification from my games. Unfortunately the trend to ever more "immersive" gameplay seems to have been one that the games industry has followed ever since. Now, where's my copy of Space Invaders ... 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 19th Jun 2021		Video Game Twin Kingdom Valley - Bug-Byte (1983)	Review This game received a lot of column inches and had plenty of marketing effort behind it. No doubt that it was a significant achievement to squeeze in all those pictures, to supplement the basic game. However, it all seemed like so much hype. Essentially, a text adventure, with some nice pictures to punctuate your progress. I don't remember playing this very much at all. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 16th Jun 2021		Video Game Galactic Firebird - Kansas City Systems (1983)	Review One of the best space invader shoot em ups ever to grace the BBC Micro, though not nearly as well known as equivalents from competitors with much fatter marketing budgets, like Superior Software and Program Power. Given its release date of 1983, most original copies were on tape, but here is a rare version on floppy disc. Reflecting the small scale/budget of the publisher, I seem to recall that the floppy disc (pictured) was all you got. No "retail" packaging for the disc version. That said, the contents more than made up for the lack of fancy artwork. I wasted hours on this, back in the mid 80s. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?