Showing posts with label 80s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 80s. Show all posts

Thursday, January 06, 2022

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 21 - Doctor Doctor (Thompson Twins)

Today's song comes from a tune that was playing on my car stereo during the drive to work this morning.

There are a few songs/groups which I think are the epitome of the New Wave/New Romantic scene of the 1980's.  Groups such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, ABC define the popular music (and the look) of this decade, and whether you like them or not, their impact on my generation was massive and will forever be remembered.

Doctor Doctor, by the Thompson Twins is another example of this.  The simple 4 note electronic intro sets the mood for a fantastic bit of 80s nostalgia.  Released in February 1983 and reaching number 4 in the UK charts (back in a time when listening to the UK charts was actually an enjoyable experience),  Have a listen to this...  and enjoy. 


Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 20 - Sun Street (Katrina and the Waves)

I love this song, and in my opinion, it is so much better than their more popular hit, Walking on Sunshine. 

Released back in 1986, it reached number 22 in the UK charts between 8th June to 30th August.  A very underrated classic from the 80s. 

Enjoy...



Saturday, January 01, 2022

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 17 - Do You Want To Be A Hero (Jon Anderson)

I don't care what anyone says...   I was probably one of the very few people who thoroughly enjoyed the 1986 movie  "Biggles - Adventures in Time", and this was the main theme tune from it.  I remember it being one of the very first films which I watched on a cable channel called "Premiere" probably around 1987/88...  This was back in the day when most households only had 4 channels to choose from.  We were fortunate enough to have Sky quite early on, and Premiere was the only movie channel on offer before Sky did their own.

I watched this movie over and over again.  Not sure why though as when I look back at it, the film isn't particularly special.  It's just a fun ol' time travelling romp - I mean, where else can you see a modern Metropoliton Police Helicoptor fight in World War 1?   I believe it was also Peter Cushing's last acting role before sadly passing away a few years later.

Anyway, the song is sung by Jon Anderson (the lead vocalist from Yes).  Enjoy,  and try and watch the film if you've never seen it before.  It's not THAT bad.

Friday, August 09, 2019

Game Covers - Knightmare (Commodore 64)

Welcome to the game....

This is the Time to end Time
This is the Time out of Mind
This is the Game out of Time
And the game to blow your Mind!

Knightmare - The Cover

Knightmare - The Inlay

Knightmare - The Tape


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Sunday, June 23, 2019

Game Covers - Kikstart 2 (Commodore 64)

Now this was a blinder of a game, and a real bargain for £2.99.  I would've been happy to pay full price for this.  24 courses of motorcross/trials fun, based on the BBC television series Kick Start, but what made this stand out from the previous Kikstart game (besides the better graphics) was the inclusion of a powerful, and very easy to use course editor.  I spent countless hours designing my own fiendish tracks and saving them to tape.

An amazing game, made by the same team that would like go on to make the Lotus series on the Commodore Amiga.

Ride your bike over the 24 all action courses in this new improved version of Kikstart.  Devise your own mindbendingly tortuous test with the course designer or make things really easy - the choice is yours!

JOYSTICK OR KEYBOARD
PROGRAM FROM MR CHIP SOFTWARE

Kikstart 2 - The Cover

Kikstart 2 - The Inlay

Kikstart 2 - The Tape


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Game Covers - Space Hunter (Commodore 64)

A fun romp in space, featuring two styles of game play (3D space flight simulator, and 2D maze/map exploration).  Well worth the £1.99 which I paid for this back in the day.

"The world is starving and the only food available is in space.  You must search through 15 star systems to feed the world.  This complex 3-D simulation takes you from rookie pilot to the hero of the world...  If you're good enough!"

Space Hunter - The Cover

Space Hunter - The Inlay

Space Hunter - The Tape


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Game Covers - Strike (Commodore 64)

"Superbly playable, addictive and challenging.  This game will have you hooked in minutes and playing for hours trying to achieve that elusive STRIKE".

More like...

"Completely unplayable, dull and impossible.  This will have you bored in minutes and throwing your controller at the screen within hours before switching off the computer because you cant be arsed to achieve the elusive and near impossible STRIKE"

What could have been a fantastic game, ended up being rather 'meh' with awful controls.  The graphics look great, but the king of Commodore 64 bowling simulators has to stay with the amazing '10th Frame'.  

Oh well, what did I expect for £2.99

Strike - The Cover

Strike - The Inlay

Strike - The Tape


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Game Covers - Zzzz (Commodore 64)

Not one of my favourite Mastertronic cheapos.  Zzzz was released way back in 1985 and was a text based adventure game but had a unique icon system included.  

You are trapped in your dream and to escape from this graphic, text and icon driven adventure you must find and cross the border or wander lost in the land of 'Zzzz' forever.

Yes...  being lost in the land of 'Zzzz The Computer Game' is indeed a fate worse than death!

Zzzz - The cover! 

Zzzz - The Inlay 

Zzzz - The Tape

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Saturday, June 22, 2019

Game Covers - Agent X II The Mad Prof's Back (Commodore 64)

The second encounter between super sleuth Agent X and his old adversary the Mad Professor.  There's no peace.  Even though you foiled the Mad Prof's attempts to kidnap the President, you failed to defeat him totally, and he is back with a vengeance.  No more small fry for him, this time it's total world domination, and beyond!  Only you can foil the Mad Professor!

A thrilling fight against his minions followed by a climactic confrontation for the future fate of freedom.  Long awaited sequel to the classic Agent X

A fun three stage game, featuring an amazing soundtrack, especially on level 1 by Tim Follin

 Main Cover

Inlay (Featuring handwritten codes for the levels!)

The Tape!


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Tuesday, April 02, 2019

Game Covers - Street Beat (Commodore 64)

 
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Game Covers - Ghost Town (Commodore 16 & Plus 4)

Original cover (click to enlarge)

Cleaned cover (click to enlarge)

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Monday, April 01, 2019

Game Covers - Mercenary & Mercenary The Second City (Commodore 64 & Commodore Plus 4)

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Game Covers - Total Eclipse & Total Eclipse II The Sphinx Jinx (Commodore 64)


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Sunday, January 13, 2019

Songs that remind me of my childhood Number 45 - Heaven In My Hands (Level 42)



My first STRMOMC for 2019 is this classic from Level 42, called Heaven In My Hands, and was appropriately chosen because I finally reached my own personal Level 42 yesterday. Yes, I've reached 42 years old, and another year closer to getting my pension.  Woohoo!

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Mastertronic - What if? : Resident Evil VII

Mastertronic brings you "Resident Evil VII" on cassette for £1.99, only for Commodore, Amstrad, Spectrum and Atari  - Available from all good newsagents, chemists and game shops!

If only..... :o)

Because I have WAY too much time on my hands, I thought I'd mess around with putting together some fake Mastertronic covers for modern computer games in an attempt to give them the retro 1980's 8-bit cassette look.

Remember...  These are just for fun, and are obviously NOT real and NOT available, (although I'd love to see an 8-bit version with blocky graphics and cool chip-music).

In case you are not aware (or can not remember), Mastertronic were big in the mid to late 1980s and were a major budget software label in the United Kingdom and produced a large number of cheapo games and re-releases for the Commodore/Spectrum/Amstrad/Atari 8-bit computers (and some 16-bit too) - most at a pocket-money-friendly £1.99!  They're still going now, but dare I say it I doubt anyone from the original days is still running things.

Anyway, remember this is just a bit of fun, but what would modern games look like if Mastertronic still released games like the good ol' days? Well, here you can find out!

As always, click the images to enlarge.

 
 
 
 

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Retro Game Boys Episode 6 - Outrun (Arcade and Playstation 2)

Just me, Kieran, a Ferrari Testarossa, an open road, and some random bloke who keeps getting hit by his abusive girlfriend whenever he crashes.  Yep, it's Outrun.
 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Alive and Kick'Starting'

Kickstarter is addictive....  There I said it.

Last year, I backed my first Kickstarter...  a book called "Commodore 64: a visual Commpendium", by Sam Dyer, and published by Bitmap Books.  It surpassed all expectations and became quite a hit with fans of the Commodore 64 (including me).

So, when I heard that Sam was producing a follow up book entitled "Commodore Amiga: a visual Commpendium", I just had to back it immediately.


The book had a target goal of £25,000 so I think it came as a bit of a surprise to most when the total amount pledged to the project came in at just short of £130,000.  Wow.  It just goes to show how much love there is for the old Commodore computers.

Anyway, after several months of waiting, the book finally arrived through the letterbox today, and WOW.

The book is fantastic, and considerably larger than the Commodore 64 one.  The graphics on each page depicting various well known games are truly remarkable, with a small piece of text from well known people from the Amiga days (game/demo programmers, designers, graphic artists and fans)

AND due to the massive success of the project, backers also get loads of cool extras with the book as standard.
  • Shadow of the Beast 2015 Remix CD by Tim Wright (CoLD SToRAGE)
  • I Love Commodore Amiga Sticker
  • Metal Amiga engraved bookmark
  • Amiga pen
  • Amiga Ball Pin
  • 6x Demoscene postcards (one signed by the author of the book)
  • Another World poster
  • Ask Me About Loom badge (from The Secret of Monkey Island) Limited to first 100 Backers
I highly recommend this book (and the Commodore 64 one) to any person who has an interest in old computer games - even if you never had a Commodore computer.  I cant wait for Sam's next book which I hear may be about the Spectrum.

Amiga Book - http://www.funstock.co.uk/commodore-amiga-a-visual-commpendium-book
C64 Book - http://www.funstock.co.uk/commodore-64-a-visual-commpendium-c64-book

Now, I've just got to wait for the other Kickstarter projects I've backed to arrive, including Matt Gray's "Reformation" C64 music project, From Bedrooms to Billions : The Amiga Years, Marcel Donne's "Project Sidologie" CD Box set, and Uncle Art's Elite 2 (Frontier) Orchestral and Retrogaming Music Remakes.

Both Books - the Amiga Commpendium and the C64 Commpendium.

Both Books - the Amiga Commpendium and the C64 Commpendium.
 
Remember this from The Secret of Monkey Island?

Demoscene Postcards

A3 Poster from the cover of Another World

Shadow of the Beast 2015 Remix CD by Tim Wright

Sticker!

The full booty!

Oh yeah, I got my name in the book as an official backer!