‘Behind Enemy Lines’ Game Review – Terminus (1987)

There were no system exclusives from Mastertronic for the MSX, with almost every title being a conversion of a Spectrum offering. Terminus is one such game...

Game Review – Hero of the Golden Talisman (1985)

Mr Chip Software comes up with the goods once again with this early M.A.D. release, coded by the always-reliable Shaun Southern.

Game Review – Octoplex (1989)

This M.A.D. offering is somewhat derivative in the sound and graphics stakes, but it’s a pretty original and playable game nonetheless.

‘Olympic Sports’ Game Review – Grand Prix Tennis (1987)

Well it’s the last day of the 2012 Olympics, so here’s my last review of a game based on an Olympic sport!

‘Olympic Sports’ Game Review – Superstar Ping-Pong (1987)

The next Olympic sport I’m looking at is Table Tennis, and this M.A.D. release is a pretty good simulation of the game with plenty of options.

Collection Update – Edging Closer!

My latest acquisitions from Ebay add another five games to the collection...

One bundle consisted of three relatively hard to find games that worked out at £2.00 each – Alcazar (Mastertronic), Octoplex (M.A.D.) and Psycho Hopper (Mastertronic Plus). A good haul for the price!

The other two games in this update were individual purchases. Actually one of them isn’t a game at all - Make Music with Mistertronic was a relatively early release and has unique white grid-style packaging. Finally for this update is the last of the Mastertronic Plus games in the yellow packaging, Super Stock Car.

I now have just 15 titles left to collect, which are as follows:

Ballblazer (Ricochet)

Barry Mcguigan's Boxing (Mastertronic Plus)

Die! Alien Slime (Mastertronic Plus)

The Eidolon (Ricochet)

Five-a-side Soccer (M.A.D.)

Frenesis (Mastertronic)

How to be a Complete Bastard (Ricochet)

Kentilla (Mastertronic)

Leviathan (Mastertronic Plus)

Pigs in Space (Mastertronic)

Shogun (Mastertronic)

Ski Writer (Mastertronic)

Starforce Fighter (Mastertronic)

Trailblazer (Ricochet)

UCM: Ultimate Combat Mission (M.A.D.)

If you can assist with any of these please let me know!

Total games: 196

Average cost: £1.15

Game Review – Angle Ball (1987)

Ever wanted to play a computer simulation of pool on a hexagonal table? If so then this is definitely the game for you...

Collection Update – Filling the Gaps

Yet more games have arrived for the collection, gradually building towards the 200 mark...

It’s now a case of waiting patiently for the rarer titles whilst still filling the odd gaps with the missing common titles. All the games in this update came from Ebay, with the cost ranging from £1.90 to £2.95 per game. Inevitably now I’m having to be more choosy with what I bid on, the average cost per game is increasing a little.

First up we have three ‘grid style’ Mastertronic offerings - Mind Control and Sub Hunt are both relatively hard to come by, while Spectipede is a lot more common.

Next there are four games in later Mastertronic packaging, three of which are not too hard to find. They are Bosconian '87, The Curse of Sherwood and Molecule Man. The last one is less frequently seen – The Quest for the Golden Eggcup.

Finally we have a variety of titles, some of which I would class as uncommon based on my experience thus far - Impossible Mission (Ricochet), Rad Ramp Racer (Mastertronic Plus), plus Vectorball and Lazer Wheel (both M.A.D.)

So that’s another 11 games crossed off the list, which leaves just a handful of common ones before the inevitable long search for the really rare stuff.

Total games: 191

Average cost: £1.10

Game Review – Con-Quest (1987)

Next up we have this M.A.D. release, a flick-screen adventure that is quite blatantly ported direct from the Spectrum.

Collection Update – 180!

Yes, it’s 180 in more ways than one with my latest update…

Firstly, and most significantly, my latest batch of games brings my total to 180 Mastertronic titles, meaning there are less than 40 left to complete my collection.

Secondly, one of the games in this batch is the darts simulation 180 in the M.A.D. packaging, donated by my good friend and Retro Gamer forum stalwart SirClive. This is an extra special version of the game as the packaging has been signed by one of the developers, Ste Pickford!

The remainder of this batch consists of more Ebay purchases. First up are three of the rarer offerings – Rugby Manager (Mastertronic Plus), Geoff Capes Strongman (Ricochet) and Pulsoids (Mastertronic) – I’ve only seen these once or twice on Ebay so they are certainly welcome additions!

The rest of this batch are far more common and all cost less than a quid each. From the M.A.D. range comes Strike, and in second-wave Mastertronic packaging I have Master Chess, S.O.S. and Rasterscan.

That’s it for this update but more games have been purchased so expect another one very soon...

Total games: 180

Average cost: £1.03

Game Review – Zub (1986)

Platforming action from the Pickford Brothers and some shameless Star Wars plagiarism on the cover art!

Collection Update – Nine New Additions

Another week and another bunch of games join the collection.

First up came a bundle of five games donated by one of my YouTube subscribers, Retroid64. For just £3 to cover postage I got two Mastertronic games, Hyper Force and Jungle Story, two M.A.D. games, Hole in One and Master of Magic, and also Cage Match which is an Entertainment USA release that completes my collection of games in that packaging.

Also this week came more games from Ebay. For a combined price of £4.22 came three games - Big Mac and Quest for the Holy Grail (both Mastertronic) and Hero of the Golden Talisman (M.A.D.) And finally for this update is a Ricochet offering, the re-release of Ultimate’s Outlaws, which at cost of £2.06 is my most expensive purchase so far!

That brings the total number of games past the 170 mark, with a little over 45 still to go.

Total games: 172

Average cost: £1.02

Game Review – Ball Crazy (1987)

You may find that you’ll bounce yourself to sleep with this M.A.D. offering...

‘Screen Stars’ Game Review – Droids (1988)

This is actually the only game in this series of reviews that wasn’t a re-release of a full-price game. One for Star Wars fans!

Collection Update – So much for slowing down!

Despite my best intentions to ease off on the purchases, the collecting bug has bitten hard and I continue to find deals too good to pass up...

First up this time is another trade with Retro Gamer forum member simes. I sent him half a dozen unwanted games from some of my earlier C64 bundles, and in return I got no less than 14 Mastertronic titles, including a few of the harder to find ones. The net cost to me worked out at a very generous 30p per game!

The bulk of the bundle was games in standard Mastertronic packaging, including The Captive, Munch Mania, Prowler, Rollaround, Starlifter, Super Nudge 2000, Super Trolley and Vegas Jackpot.

Also in the lot were four M.A.D. titles - Angle Ball, Superstar Ping-Pong, The Wizards Pet and Zub – and rounding things off came FA Cup Football (Ricochet) and Yes, Prime Minister (Mastertronic Plus).

I also picked up some more games from Ebay, mostly from the same seller thus saving money on postage costs. Again this was a mixed bag, covering most of the different brands. In Mastertronic packaging came Beat It, Street Beat and Treasure Island, and there was also Fighting Warrior (Mastertronic Plus).

Finishing things off for this update were Ball Crazy and On Cue (M.A.D.) and Las Vegas Video Poker (Entertainment USA). None of these games cost more than £2 so my average price paid has actually dropped below a pound again!

Even more games are on their way, so this won’t be the last of the collection updates this month!

Total games: 155

Average cost: £0.98

Game Review – Ice Palace (1986)

An early M.A.D. offering here, an interesting action/adventure hybrid with a rather peculiar control system.

Collection Update – More Ebay buys and a big bunch of rarities!

Yet more additions to the collection, starting with a small selection of Ebay purchases and ending with a great bundle...

As the collection grows, the chances of getting large bundles of games to fill in the holes is diminishing, so instead I’m looking at reasonably priced one-offs. Where possible I’ll try to get them from the same seller to save on the postage costs.

So from Ebay this week I’ve received three packages. The first had two games that cost just 50p each plus postage – Rapid Fire (Mastertronic) and Continental Circus (Mastertronic Plus). The other two featured one game each from the Ricochet range, the re-releases of Aliens (£2.00) and the first Dan Dare game (£1.74)

My other purchase this week was quite substantial. I discovered the online store Retro Gaming World had a vast number of games from my hit list for £1.99 each, including quite a few of the hard to find titles. It turns out that the store is based just down the road in Stafford, and although the stock isn’t on display there, I agreed to pick the games I wanted up from there to save myself the cost of postage. So a few days later and with the help from my better half (who works in Stafford) I received a bag of ten games, several of which I haven’t seen on Ebay yet!

In Mastertronic packaging came Phantom of the Asteroid and Rogue, while from the M.A.D. range I got Grand Prix Tennis and Jeff Minter’s Revenge II.

There were also two games from the Mastertronic Plus range, Fist II and Micro Mouse, and another three from Ricochet – Blackwyche, Judge Dredd and Skate Rock Simulator.

Last but by no means least came a real rarity – a promotional cassette featuring a rolling demo of Darling Brothers game screenshots on one side, and an exclusive game on the other side from Mr Chip Software, called Aqua. I’m not sure if this was originally a covermount or was given away at computer shows, but it’s a really interesting addition to the collection featuring a game that was never released at retail!

So that’s another 14 games added to the collection and some of the uncommon titles crossed off the list. Clearly I have plenty to be getting on with now so I expect to slow down on the buying for the next couple of weeks unless I see something too good to miss.

Total games: 134

Average cost: £1.01

Game Review – Voidrunner (1987)

My latest review takes us on a trip... to the psychedelic world of Jeff Minter!

Apologies for the occasional focus problems on this one - all those colours cause funny things to happen with the camera!

Collection Update - Various Bits and Bobs

Over the past week I’ve received a number of small bundles through the post, including some of the harder-to-find Mastertronic titles.

First up was a copy of the M.A.D. re-release of the classic Manic Miner. This was an Ebay purchase costing £1.99 including postage. Also on the same day came a donation from Retro Gamer forum member Bub&Bob. There were three games in the package, all from the Mastertronic range – two new additions in the form of Motorbike Madness and Wing Commander, plus another copy of Kikstart that had a better quality inlay than the one I already owned. These cost me absolutely nothing!

A few days later came three packages. Two were Ebay purchases, containing two games in each. First were titles that I’ve thus far only seen on Ebay once (and these were them!) – Street Hassle from Mastertronic Plus and Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge from Ricochet. They cost £1.99 each with free postage. The second pair were more common but the Ebay seller had a 20% off sale so I picked them up while they were a bit cheaper than usual – Rebel (Ricochet, £1.59) and Pulse Warrior (Mastertronic, £1.43)

The third package contained five games courtesy of tachi from Retro Gamer forum. These cost £7.00 for the lot and included several uncommon titles. From the Mastertronic brand came Kobayashi Naru and Venom, the Ricochet range was represented by Dragonskulle and Little Computer People, and finally there was Bump Set Spike! from Entertainment USA.

And finally, yesterday came another couple of games via Ebay – Silkworm (Mastertronic Plus) and Scout (Mastertronic) which cost £3.28 for the pair.

So the collection grows once again and the average cost has increased a little, but with under 100 games remaining I’m well on course to keep below that £1.99 per game target.

Total games: 120

Average cost: £0.91

Game Review – Sport of Kings (1987)

This game offers all the thrills and excitement of horse racing, apparently. Witness my most apathetic review to date...