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8-bit Home Computer Games of Note

  • schema: Video game

This is a list of video games of note that were developed for one 8-bit home computer system and then ported to other 8-bit home computer systems.

Dynamite Dan

screenshot

  • written by: Rod Bowkett
  • published by: Mirrorsoft
  • genre: Platformer, Graphic Adventure
  • available for: ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1985
  • wikipedia: Dynamite Dan
  • entry @ lemon64
  • video @ youtube
  • video @ archive.org
  • play online @ archive.org (C64)

Beautiful graphics. I believe the antagonists were implemented with "soft sprites" (groups of programmable characters), so that all(?) 8 hardware sprites were free to be used for the protagonist in a composite fashion that is both hi-res and multicolour. The music is also good. The game itself is quite hard.

Pharaoh's Curse

screenshot

  • written by: Steve Coleman
  • published by: Synapse Software
  • genre: Graphic Adventure(?)
  • available for: Commodore 64, VIC 20, Atari 400/800
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1983
  • wikipedia: Pharaoh's Curse
  • entry @ lemon64
  • entry @ c64-wiki
  • video @ youtube
  • play online @ archive.org (C64)

It's difficult to say what contributes to this game's overall charm.

You can shoot the mummy, but the mummy can shoot back.

The triggers trigger traps on a delay which is perfectly predictable, so it adds a nice element of timing to the game.

Also: the bird!

Necromancer

screenshot

  • written by: Bill Williams
  • published by: Synapse Software
  • genre: Action
  • available for: Commodore 64, Atari 400/800
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1982
  • wikipedia: Necromancer
  • entry @ lemon64
  • entry @ myabandonware
  • video @ youtube
  • video @ archive.org
  • play online @ archive.org (Atari 400/800)

It's a good example of a game which combines fast-pacing with variety while maintaining coherence across the variety. The Wikipedia article explains it better than I can.

Zeppelin

screenshot

  • written by: William Mataga, David Barbour
  • published by: Synapse Software
  • genre: Maze-runner
  • available for: Commodore 64, Atari 400/800
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1984
  • entry @ lemon64
  • entry @ c64-wiki
  • video @ youtube
  • play online @ archive.org (Atari 400/800)

Notable because you can shoot out bits of wall, or rather, bits of force field and Futuristic Domed City, and in this way it feels a bit like an airborne version of Cloak & Dagger. Also notable because it involves flying a dirigible in a cave.

Also notable for being a multi-directional scroller, but one in which you have only limited influence over which direction it scrolls in. Once you maneouver to a particular point in the cave, the direction will change apropos to that point. You don't seem to be able to get into a dead-end this way, which is probably good (much less frustrating than games in which you can,) but you do seem to be able to go in circles quite easily.

Everyone's a Wally

screenshot

  • available for: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1985
  • wikipedia: Everyone's a Wally
  • entry @ lemon64
  • play online @ archive.org (C64)

If there was an award for Best Representation of a British High Street in an 8-bit Video Game, this would be a contender. It's worth noting that "being a wally" is British slang for "being a fool" (approximately speaking).

There were also versions for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC but it's not clear to me if the Commodore 64 version was a later port or if they were developed simultaneously.

Slinky!

screenshot

  • written by: Unknown
  • published by: Cosmi
  • genre: Q*Bert
  • available for: Commodore 64, Atari 400/800
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1984
  • entry @ lemon64
  • entry @ mobygames
  • video @ youtube
  • play online @ archive.org (Atari 400/800)

This one's pretty memorably weird, and deserves comment.

Once upon a time there was a game called Q*Bert which was quite famous and inspired a number of clones, and each of these clones tended to have their own idiosyncratic mechanics. And Slinky is one such clone.

The 2013-06-14 comment by zaphod77 on the Lemon64 entry linked to above explains those mechanics far better than I could. It does not, however, help them seem less arbitrary. I don't think anything could do that.

Cauldron II

screenshot

The graphics are really good. The bounce-as-you-move mechanic is interesting, but also a bit frustrating. It's sometimes hard to visualize how the screens connect. It's a very hard game. But the graphics are really good.

Whistler's Brother

screenshot

  • written by: Louis Ewens
  • published by: Brøderbund
  • genre: Platformer(?)
  • available for: Commodore 64, Atari 400/800
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1984
  • wikipedia: Whistler's Brother
  • entry @ atarimania
  • entry @ lemon64
  • video @ youtube
  • play online @ archive.org (C64)

Notable for gameplay mechanic: the player controls one character directly with a joystick, but also a second character indirectly, by influencing where they go, by whistling for them.

However, despite this interesting mechanic, I must admit I never really got into this game. Something about it failed to appeal to me — perhaps it was that the graphics felt kind of uninspired.

Equinox

screenshot

The internet thinks the theme music for this game was written by Nick Jones, the main(?) developer of the C64 version of this game. This is entirely possible.

However, I swear I've also heard this song on radio/muzak while I was in Paris, twice. French synthpop?

It's entirely possible it was merely a similar tune, or that they are the same song but which came first?

Game-wise, it's an okay game.

Starquake

screenshot

  • published by: Bubble Bus Software
  • available for: Commodore 64, MSX, Amstrad CPC, Atari 400/800, others
  • controls: joystick and 1 button
  • date released: 1985
  • wikipedia: Starquake (video game)
  • entry @ lemon64
  • play online @ archive.org (ZX Spectrum)

Perhaps a classic, or perhaps not well-known enough to be a true classic, I'm not sure.

The graphics in the C64 version are really good.