Friday, August 26, 2022

Hammer Down - Map for the Commodore 64

I recently purchased a copy of a fantastic little game on the Commodore 64 called Hammer Down as part of a Kickstarter called "The Commodore 64 Collectors Guide to Mastertronic" which I backed.  It is in fact the first proper 'brand new' Commodore 64 game that I have purchased in 30 years.

The book of course is a brilliant read, and a must for anyone who grew up with Mastertronic games in the 1980s, but over the past week or so I've been addicted to the game Hammer Down.  The best way to describe it is a top-down version of the classic Mastertronic game Action Biker.  In fact, I believe the author of the game (the late Jason Kelk) was trying to mix the gameplay of Action Biker, with the top-down-view graphic style of The Last V8.

Anyway, the game is wonderful and I can't praise it enough, with great graphics and an awesome SID rendition of "The Return of the Las Palmas 7" by Madness playing in the background.

Anyway, through a lot of playing I managed to beat the game and locate all the items and bonuses and I have included the map here.  Hopefully, other people will find it useful, especially if they're having trouble locating an item.

Items are identified as stars, and the bonuses are indicated by numbers in blue circles.  The map loops around, and you should be able to see where one end of the maps leads to the other end.


The game can be obtained from Psytronik's website here

The book (and many others) can be purchased from Fusion Retro Book's website here.

Game Covers - Computer Hits 3 (Commodore 64)





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Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Now That's What I Call Stuart's Favourite Music 66 - Sky (A Girl in Winter)

My choice of a song today is probably a more obscure track from progressive-classical rock band Sky.  "A Girl In Winter" is one of my favourite tracks, and was featured on their sixth studio album called Cadmium which was released way back in December 1983.

My Mum and Dad had an album or two of theirs and I quite liked their music growing up, but this one always stands out for me, especially the end bit (around the 2:17 mark in the video below).

Worth a listen if you've never heard it before and like instrumentals.

Monday, August 15, 2022

Game Covers - Street Surfer (Commodore 64)

Race the streets to the greatest West Coast soundtrack ever to pass your Commodores sound chip!  Avoid the bad guys, get the drinks when you can and watch out for oil slicks and chickens!

Great graphics, mind-blasting music, and fun, fun, fun!




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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Game Covers - Hollywood Collection (Commodore 64)

Robocop

Take on the role of avenging angel as you mete out rough justice to the perpetrators of evil and lawlessness. Some of the most exciting scenes ever to fill a computer screen confront you. The future is here and now when you take up this challenge - PART MAN - PART MACHINE - ALL COP.

Ghostbusters II

THEY'RE BACK! Weird things happen... The slime is on the rise. The Titanic has arrived. And after 300 years, Vigo the Carpathian won't stay dead. Who you gonna call? Get your bustin' business back on its feet. Hit the streets in your Ectomobile. Go underground to discover a river of slime... and rise above it all with the Statue of Liberty. All to turn evil to good and defeat Vigo at the Museum of Art. Action, adventure, strategy challenges - and great laughs. Ghostbusters II.

Batman The Movie

BATMAN is a shadow in the darkness, as elusive as a dream. High above the seamy streets of GOTHAM, he is a criminal's nightmare. The only hope for a desperate city... BATMAN. A LEGEND HAS RETURNED.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The chase is on... all the way to the greatest treasure in history, the Holy Grail. Have you got what it takes to tackle the 4 arduous Action Packed Levels???













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