Games that remind me of my childhood Number 19 : Astro Wars (Grandstand)

My Mum and Dad bought me my first computer game in 1983.  It was a mini table top electronic arcade console called Astro Wars, released by Grandstand.  The game was a simple shoot 'em up and I remember spending hours playing it as a young child, (and getting through quite a few C size batteries in the process!)

These style of games were quite popular in the early 1980s, although out of all the ones I've played, Astro Wars was (and still is) by far the best.  The console looks like a mini arcade machine, with a small joystick, fire button, select and start buttons, and a large LFD (Vacuum fluorescent display) screen.

As mentioned earlier, the game is a typical shoot em' up, in the style of Galaxians and is made up of three sections :-

Section 1 : - You control a space ship at the bottom of the screen and can move left, right and fire.  Squadrons of enemy fighter ships attack you from the top of the screen, and occasionally one will fly towards you.  You must shoot all the enemy ships, while at the same time avoiding their fire.  Apologies for the poor pictures, but it is extremely hard to play this game, and hold a camera at the same time!

Section 1 - Check out those awesome LED graphics!

Section 2 : Three enemy ships remain at the top of the screen and fire a stream of lasers at you.  Avoiding the lasers is one thing, shooting the ships is another (and is quite difficult) because they keep moving from left to right.

Section 2 - It gets a bit crazy now!

 

Section 3 : Bonus stage - Your space ship separates, and the top half of your ship launches to the top of the screen.  Using the fire button and the joystick, you must guide the top of your ship so that it docks perfectly with the bottom half.  Holding the fire button gives your ship thrust, and left and right moves your ship.  There is a timer so you must perform the docking manoeuvre before it runs out.  If it does, your ship falls, causing it to crash.  If you manage to successfully complete this section, the game then returns back to the beginning again.

Section 3 - Not as easy as it seems.  Using your thrust to dock your space ship

One good feature is that the game features several difficulty settings (press the select button at the start of the game to choose your skill level).  This extends the lastability of the game since it is very easy to complete on the easiest setting. 

The game ends once the player has lost all of their 5 lives, or when their score reaches 9999, at which point the game is won and the player is treated to a very basic electronic fan-fare as a reward!

Astro Wars was a marvellous game, and is still fun to play 30 years after it was released!  They go for good money on eBay too, which is good to know since I have two of them - although I don't think I'd ever sell.

Stuart's Panoramic World 7 - Leigh-on-Sea

Another 360° panorama, another game of "Spot Kieran".  A path along the seafront between Leigh-on-Sea and Chalkwell.  When I was younger we would walk along here all the way to Southend.  A really pleasant stroll.

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Leigh-on-Sea Date : 19th April 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Sea side path between Leigh-On-Sea and Chalkwell Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 6 - Fenchurch Street Railway Station

Another 360° panorama - The last railway station (for the moment anyway) is Fenchurch Street, located on the London end of the c2c line (formerly the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway)

 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

View Larger Map

Location : Fenchurch Street, London Date : 19th February 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Station used by c2c and the London Terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend line. Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 5 - Malvern Link Railway Station

Another 360° panorama - Malvern Link railway station.  Located on the Cotswold Line, and which is served by both First Great Western, and London Midland trains.

I use this station whenever I go to visit the Malvern Hills.

Can you spot Kieran?

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

View Larger Map

Location : Malvern Link Railway Station Date : 16th March 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Railway station located on the Cotswold Line, in Worcestershire. Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 4 - Upminster Railway Station

Another 360 panoramic photo - Upminster Railway Station, a National Rail interchange, linking c2c with the London Underground (District Line), and Greater Anglia services to Romford.

The station was originally opened in 1885 as part of the London, Tilbury and Southend line.

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

View Larger Map

Location : Upminster Railway Station - Essex, UK Date : 19th February l 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Station used by c2c and tne London Underground Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Games that remind me of my childhood Number 18 : Formula One Grand Prix (Commodore Amiga)

If I can blame my below average GCSE results on someone (other than myself), then it would have to be Geoff Crammond.  Why I hear you ask?  Because he made the amazing Formula One Grand Prix on the Commodore Amiga!

For my first Amiga game that reminds me of my childhood, I bring you this wonderful title, from the creator of some of my favourite Commodore 64 games (namely, The Sentinel, and Stunt Car Racer).

Riding at the back of the pack with Stuart Wilson!

 

During study leave at school, I spent countless hours playing this with my friend Philip when I should have been revising for my exams.  It was without a doubt one of the best, and most realistic racing games on the Amiga, featuring detailed and very fast polygon graphics.  In fact, the game ran amazingly fast on a stock A500, although later on I was lucky enough to get a GVP A530 Turbo accelerator, turning my Amiga 500 from 7mhz into 40mhz.  This game ran super fast! 

 

Customise your racers and teams.

 

Featuring the sixteen grand prix tracks from the 1991 Grand Prix season, the game was not officially affiliated with the FiA which means that although the car liveries and driver helmets were accurate, none of the drivers were real people and were all fictional.  This was great though because the game gave you the option of naming the drivers and teams yourself.  We had great fun naming the racers after people at school, or famous celebrities.

Each track has an excellent image which you can view and plan your race

Along with practice mode, qualifying and single races, players could also take part in a full season.  The game did allow for more than one player using a unique system that allowed each player to play on their own before the computer took over the car, thus allowing the next person to take control of their car.  A novel idea, but very annoying if your car crashed or span out of control when under control from the computer!

Spinning out of control

F1GP (as it was known) also had to ability to play the game from different camera angles – a feature not seen in many racing games on the Amiga.  Interior and external views were available, and trackside cameras were positioned around the track so that replays could be viewed from almost any angle.  All great stuff.

 

About to overtake.

 

The game was simple to get in to thanks to some great features including “brake assistance”, “steering help”, “damage on/off” and “throttle assistance”.  These could be enabled or disabled using the function keys.  Some of these made the game too easy, but at least the option was there to turn them off for a much tougher experience.

 

View from behind - note the white 'guide' lines on the road.  These could be turned off.

 

I love this game.  I’m not really that interested in Formula One racing, but this game was fantastic.  Geoff Crammond made several sequels after this, and although graphically they are far superior, the original was and always will be the best. 

 

External view

 

AND, it was always fun to race round the track the wrong way, smashing in to the computer controlled cars.  Once they had all been smashed and taken out of the race, I could then turn around and finish the race, knowing I would win because I was the only car on the track!

 

The famous Monaco track, in all its polygonal beauty.

 

The box

The box