Game Review – Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge (1987)

Probably the biggest motorbike sprite in the world!

‘Fists of Fury’ Game Review – Way of the Exploding Fist (1988)

Rounding off my ‘Fists of Fury’ mini-series with another game from the Melbourne House back catalogue, but this one is a bona fide classic…

‘Fists of Fury’ Game Review – Knuckle Busters (1988)

This Melbourne House re-release may have been marketed as a fighting game, but you actually end up doing more running than fighting!

Collection Update – One Game Found and One Removed

Edging ever closer to completing the collection, with another hard to find title knocked off the list...

The latest addition is the Ricochet re-release of the Lucasfilm Games classic The Eidolon. This was another Ebay purchase, costing £4.88.

Also, as I mentioned in my last collection update, I had a strong feeling that two of the remaining games I need to find were never released on cassette. Of those two, I am now 100% confident that Shogun was only ever released by Mastertronic on disk in the USA, and never received a cassette release. Therefore I am dropping that game from the list, leaving just seven to go for.

The other game I suspect only ever got a disk release is Five-a-Side Soccer but I’m not totally sure about that yet so it remains on the list for now.

Finally, this week I got my first glance at what is certainly one of the rarest Mastertronic releases – Ski Writer. This word processing package sold less than 2,000 copies on cassette, and a similar number on disk, so is sure to be one of the hardest titles to find. Unfortunately the one that popped upon Ebay this week is the disk version, but at least I now have an idea what the packaging might look like!

So the quest continues. I’m hoping to at least pick up a couple more games before Christmas so if you can help, please send me a message!

Total games: 203

Average cost: £1.23

Game Review – Hacker (1989)

Another Ricochet release, and another Activision classic. It may not be my preferred style of game but you can’t deny its originality and quality.

Game Review – Geoff Capes Strongman (1987)

This multi-event sports game has some interesting ideas but falls flat due to complex gameplay mechanics and poor graphics.

Collection Update – A ‘Holy Grail’ Discovered!

Nope, not the Quest for the Holy Grail game (I’ve had that for a while) but I have in fact found one of the few games in the Mastertronic line-up that is so rare it can be considered a Holy Grail of sorts…

Yes, as the video shows, I have picked up How to be a Complete Bastard (Ricochet) for £5.00 after spotting it in an Ebay bundle. This goes to show that it sometimes pays off to scan through all Ebay listings in case something you’re looking for is listed as part of a larger bundle.

The second title picked up recently is Frenesis (Mastertronic), which was also part of a bundle of four games, the other three of which I already had. Since I can’t see myself recouping any of the cost of these, I’m just putting this game down as costing £3.24, which was the price for the whole bundle.

That now leaves just nine games on my list to find, though I have a strong feeling that two of those were never released on cassette so may be dropped.

Total games: 202

Average cost: £1.21

Game Review – Blackwyche (1987)

Shiver me timbers, ‘tis a pirate themed adventure from the Ultimate archives.

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 – Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge (1987)

Witness a joystick-waggling frenzy and some noises that sound like I’m enjoying myself a bit too much in this next review...

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 – Toy Bizarre (1989)

Another Ricochet release and another Activision classic…

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 – Erebus (1988)

This Ricochet re-release is an enjoyable if moderately frustrating blaster. Check it out...

Game Review – FA Cup Football (1988)

It’s FA Cup final day! So what better excuse to play this official FA Cup game?

Collection Update – Ricochet rarities and more...

Another 8 games added to the collection this week, most of which came from Ebay. Check out the video for all the details...

The highlights of this week’s arrivals were the three Ricochet games, all of which are fairly hard to come by – Toy Bizarre, Jet Set Willy and Starquake. I’m very pleased to have picked all of these up for under £2 each.

The remainder are all commonly occurring titles but it’s still good to be adding a few of these to the collection. In classic Mastertronic grid-style packaging we have The Human Race and Space Hunter, plus Back to Reality in the second-wave Mastertronic packaging.

Rounding off this update comes two Mastertronic Plus games – 3D Pinball and the re-release of Activision’s Hacker II.

As always I’m keeping the average purchase price under £2 a game and I now only have around 50 games to acquire...

Total games: 163

Average cost: £1.02

‘Screen Stars’ Game Review – Aliens (1988)

This Time It’s War... Actually, this time it’s a game that involves getting lost in lots of similar-looking rooms whilst trying not to be killed by marauding xenomorphs!

‘Screen Stars’ Game Review – Ghostbusters (1988)

Moving to the big screen with another Activision re-release, but this time a really classic game!

Unfortunately the speech didn't come out too well on the video, but I'm sure you all know what was being said anyway!

‘Screen Stars’ Game Review – Knightmare (1988)

Time for another themed mini-series of reviews, this time featuring games based on Movies and TV shows. Kicking things off is the re-release of Activision’s game based on the classic British children’s programme.

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