3rd December 2021
Robert Small has reviewed two games:
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Introduction and FAQ
Text only version List of games reviewed List of advertisements AMTIX! reviews list Links to other CPC sites Acknowledgements
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25th November 2021Robert Small has reviewed the top two games from the 2021 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest: 16th November 2021Robert Small has reviewed two games: With these latest additions, CPC Game Reviews has now reviewed 2,200 games! 13th November 2021#CPCRetroDev 2021 resultsThe results of the 2021 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest have been announced, and they are as follows: PRO category
UA category (for games developed by students of the University of Alicante)
Special mentions
Sponsored awards
Shovel Adventure was the clear winner with 523 points and €1,030 in prizes, well ahead of Wireware, which obtained 430 points. I watched the livestream of the awards ceremony, and in the early stages I thought Wireware had a good chance of winning, but I'm still pleased that CNGSoft did better than in last year's competition, where he only came fifth with Fire Tyre. All 36 games can be downloaded from itch.io, and you can watch the awards ceremony on the University of Alicante's YouTube channel. 7th November 2021
#CPCRetroDev 2021The deadline for submission of entries to the #CPCRetroDev 2021 contest was the 2nd of November, and 37 entries were submitted (although one of them has since been disqualified for not strictly adhering to the rules of the contest). You can view and download all the entries for #CPCRetroDev 2021 on itch.io, and this year, members of the public can also rate the games via itch.io, and the winner of the public vote will receive a prize of €200. Voting closes on Tuesday 9th November at 23:00 GMT, so you don't have long to cast your votes! The awards ceremony is due to be held on Friday 12th November at 18:00 GMT (19:00 CET). YouTube videos by Classic ReplayClassic Replay has asked me to publicise a couple of his YouTube videos that relate to the Amstrad CPC. Both of them are very well produced and worth watching. The first one – Classic Replay's top ten Amstrad CPC games – dates from 2015, but it includes a great choice of games, and if you're new to Amstrad CPC retro gaming, this is a good place to start. Classic Replay's Top 10 Amstrad CPC games on YouTube The second video – Amstrad CPC Ultimate Gaming Guide – features gameplay footage and commentary on dozens of CPC games from various genres. It's nearly 1¾ hours long, though, so you'll probably need to watch it in several sessions if you want to see all the games. Amstrad CPC Ultimate Gaming Guide by Classic Replay on YouTube 30th October 2021I was away for a few days, and I have come back to find that four new games have been released! Puzzle BobbleAs promised in a post earlier this month, Crazy Piri have now released their conversion of Puzzle Bobble for the CPC. Puzzle Bobble (also known as Bust-A-Move) is a coin-op game by Taito in which you fire coloured bubbles and match them with other bubbles of the same colour to remove them. It features Bub and Bob, the dragon twins from Bubble Bobble. Crazy Piri's conversion retains the cute graphics of the original coin-op version and features colourful backgrounds and music from various Taito games and digitised sounds - and there are 100 levels to complete! You can download Puzzle Bobble from itch.io, and you can also make a donation to Crazy Piri to show your appreciation. The current version is 1.0, but the author, Miguel Vanhove, has stated that version 1.1 is in progress and should be released soon. Gem JamA user on the CPCWiki forum called Arnolde has released Gem Jam - a clone of the tile-matching game Bejeweled, in which you swap different shapes of tiles around in order to match at least three tiles of the same type in a horizontal or vertical line. He's been working on it as a project for several months during COVID-19 lockdowns. A preview was released in May and the final version has now been released. You can download Gem Jam from the CPCWiki forum. Jewel Warehouse IIEgoTrip has released Jewel Warehouse II. Unsurprisingly, it's a sequel to his 2016 game Jewel Warehouse, which was well received (such as an 8 out of 10 rating on this site). Jewel Warehouse II contains 50 more levels of platforming and collecting jewels, and you can download it from the CPCWiki forum. JoshCPC-POWER has released a puzzle game called Josh. In each of the 99 single-screen levels, Josh has to push fragments of gems around and recombine fragments of the same colour. These gems have amazing powers of healing, and Josh must find them so that people around the world can be cured of a highly infectious and deadly disease before it's too late to save them. You can download Josh from CPC-POWER.
Throne Legacy
Cover of Throne Legacy One of the entrants in last year's #CPCRetroDev contest, Throne Legacy by Arnaud Bouche, is now available to purchase from Bitmap Soft for £10 excluding shipping costs. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a graphic adventure that sees you exploring a castle in search of three objects – a sceptre, a crown and a ring. Retrieving all of these objects will lift a curse and restore your family's right to rule the land. Throne Legacy was reviewed on this site and received a rating of 9 out of 10. New reviewsRobert Small has reviewed two games: 21st October 2021Robert Small has reviewed two games: Fumigator is a really mysterious game – so mysterious that no one seems to know what its correct name is! It was originally uploaded to the NVG FTP archive under the name The Polluting Bacteria, after a message that appears on the attract mode screen. Somewhere along the line, it also became known as Fumiga, after a filename on the disc. A few years later, a cassette version was found with an Amsoft title screen naming it Fumigator – although it's uncertain if this was a genuine Amsoft release, as no one had seen a physical copy of the game. Finally, in 2016, the ZX Spectrum version, released by Microbyte and known as Exterminator, was recovered. The search for a physical copy of the Amstrad CPC version of this game continues, but in the meantime, CPC Game Reviews will use Fumigator as its name – mainly because calling it Exterminator could cause confusion with Audiogenic Software's game of the same name. I have reviewed Attentat, and I have also rewritten my review of Les Pyramides d'Atlantys. I had given it a rating of only 1 out of 10, but that was largely due to the fact that I didn't understand how to play it. Someone – it may have been the game's author, Luc Thibaud – posted a link to a walkthrough of the game many years ago on my guestbook (which is long gone now) but I never got round to playing it again. Now I have finally played it again and given it a rating that it deserves. 5th October 2021I have reviewed six games:
A note about CPC Soccer 22 – both CPC-POWER and CPCRulez combine it with CPC Soccer in their respective databases, but the author, VoxelTower, treats it as a separate game on his itch.io page, and I have done likewise and kept Missas' review of the original game. 4th October 2021There's been so much news about new and forthcoming games recently that it's difficult to know where to begin! 
Title screen of Los Amores de Brunilda Los Amores de BrunildaRetroworks has released a new game called Los Amores de Brunilda. This graphic adventure was released for the ZX Spectrum in 2013 and the MSX2 in 2019. You control Fray Gonzalo, one of two monks who are making a pilgrimage. During their journey, they stop at a village to get some rest, but Fray Gonzalo's companion falls victim to the curse of Brunilda – the ghost of a woman who committed suicide in the house where they are staying. Like Retroworks' most recent CPC release, The Sword of Ianna, Los Amores de Brunilda is designed to run only on the Dandanator hardware device, which enables the creation of games that use up to 512KB of ROM. Because of this, you can only play the game on a CPC that has this device, or on an emulator that supports the device, such as CPCEC or Retro Virtual Machine. It is an excellent game with cute and beautiful graphics and very atmospheric music, and you should definitely try it out if you haven't done so already. There's even a choice of seven languages, including Basque and Galician; I don't recall ever seeing any other Amstrad CPC games that support these languages! You can download Los Amores de Brunilda from Retroworks' site, or watch their trailer for the CPC version on YouTube. Bug's Quest for TapesIt was announced on one of Novabug's livestreams very recently that Yellow Belly's game Bug's Quest for Tapes is now available to download from CPC-POWER! As you may know if you visit CPC Game Reviews regularly, the original plan was that it wouldn't be made available to download for free until after Play Expo Blackpool, which is taking place on the 23rd and 24th October 2021. However, CPC-POWER accidentally made the cassette and disc images available for downloading – oops! Yellow Belly has said that he doesn't mind, though, so go ahead, download it and enjoy! Bubble QuestÉdouard Bergé (Roudoudou) recently released a YouTube video of a game he has been working on for the GX4000 and Plus machines called Bubble Quest. The footage dates from 2020 and development of the game has been delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but it looks amazing; it's hard to believe it's running on a GX4000! The gameplay is very similar to Bubble Ghost; you have to guide a bubble around the screen while avoiding any contact with walls and other hazards. Let's hope that Roudoudou can find the time to finish developing the game. In the meantime, you can watch the footage below, or watch it on YouTube. Video of beta version of Bubble Quest on YouTube (footage from 2020) Puzzle BobbleCrazy Piri has nearly finished their unofficial CPC conversion of Puzzle Bobble, and it is scheduled for release on 24th October 2021 (there's a countdown on their web site). You can watch a replay of a livestream of the game being played on YouTube. Arctic MovesRetrobytes Productions has released a short trailer on YouTube for Arctic Moves. After the release of Navy Moves, Arctic Moves was planned as a sequel, and while it eventually saw a release on the PC in 1995, a CPC version never happened – but it looks like Retrobytes Productions want to right that wrong! There's no gameplay footage in the trailer, but it looks like they aim to release a CPC version of Arctic Moves some time in 2022. OctopusThe Amstrad Eterno festival took place in Barcelona on the 25th September 2021 after being cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the games that was previewed at the event was Octopus by Cyrille Gouret. Octopus is a game for the GX4000 and Plus machines that is based on Nintendo's Game & Watch handheld game of the same name. As far as I can tell, it can emulate the LCD look of the original Game & Watch handheld, but there will also be a deluxe version with much better graphics. You can watch a preview of Octopus for the CPC on YouTube. New reviewsAs well as all that exciting news, there are also some new reviews to read. Robert Small has reviewed two games: 25th September 2021
Screenshot of CPC Soccer 22 CPC Soccer 22Last year, VoxelTower released CPC Soccer to much acclaim (including a 10 out of 10 rating on this site) and comparisons to Sensible Soccer, which is widely regarded as an excellent football game for 16-bit machines. Now he has released an updated version called CPC Soccer 22 with many improvements. The most obvious of these is that the action is now presented in the CPC's 16-colour Mode 0 instead of the four-colour, but higher resolution, Mode 1, so teams and players now have more appropriate colours of shirts. Other additions include five different types of pitch that affect the behaviour of the ball, cutscenes where the referee approaches a player to give him a yellow or red card, and a cursor to show where you're aiming when you're taking, for example, a goal kick or a corner. Even with all of these new features, the game still fits into 64KB of memory. You can download CPC Soccer 22 from itch.io and offer an optional donation. A review should be coming fairly soon. New reviewsRobert Small has reviewed two games: 13th September 2021
Cover of Siemb Chronicles: Arkos the Traitor ESP Soft has released a new game called Siemb Chronicles: Arkos the Traitor. It's based on events from two previously released games – Dinamic's Game Over, and Galactic Tomb – another game from ESP Soft. In Game Over, Arkos faithfully served the evil ruler Gremla until he decided to revolt against her increasing lust for power. Now that she has been defeated, you, the hero of Galactic Tomb, have travelled to the planet of Hypsis, where Arkos is based, in a mission to overthrow him. Siemb Chronicles features the same excellent style of graphics and music as Galactic Tomb and is well worth downloading and playing. You can download the game from ESP Soft's site, and you can also buy a physical cassette release from Hobbyretro for €8.75 excluding shipping costs. Video of Siemb Chronicles: Arkos the Traitor on YouTube 31st August 2021Bug's Quest for MacmillanAs previously mentioned on this site, Novabug held his second charity fundraising stream for Macmillan Cancer Support on YouTube, auctioning 20 copies of Yellow Belly's new platform game Bug's Quest for Tapes, with every penny going to the charity. The target was £664, but it was easily smashed, with a total of £2,500 raised! One bidder even donated an utterly astonishing £464! Once again, congratulations to Novabug and Yellow Belly for raising so much for a very good cause. You can watch a replay of the YouTube stream below, and you can still make a donation via JustGiving. Novabug's Bug's Quest for Macmillan fundraiser on YouTube 28th August 2021
Cover of issue 1 of AmtixCPC Micro Action Amtix! magazine relaunchedChris Wilkins of Fusion Retro Books has relaunched the Amstrad CPC magazine Amtix! Originally published by Newsfield Publications from 1985 to 1987, Amtix! focused on games, but it was less successful than its ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 counterparts, Crash and Zzap!64, and it only lasted for 18 issues before merging with Computing with the Amstrad. Now Chris is planning to relaunch Amtix! as a quarterly publication called AmtixCPC Micro Action, with each issue containing 60 A5-size pages. The first issue should be available from Fusion Retro Books now, priced at £3.99 excluding shipping costs. You can also subscribe to AmtixCPC Micro Action via Patreon to show your support. New reviewsRobert Small has reviewed two games: I have reviewed Dr. Roland. 21st August 2021New reviewsShaun Neary has reviewed two games: Bug's Quest for TapesNovabug has uploaded a video to YouTube that shows what the physical copies of Yellow Belly's game Bug's Quest for Tapes will look like. All of these copies will be auctioned on a YouTube livestream that is scheduled to take place on Saturday 28th August 2021 at 21:30 BST (20:30 GMT), and all the proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support. This is intended to be the only opportunity to purchase a physical copy of the game – once they're sold, that's it! However, images for use with emulators will be available to purchase at a later date, probably at the end of October 2021. YouTube video showing the production of copies of Bug's Quest for Tapes 15th August 2021Robert Small has reviewed two games: I have reviewed four games, and given that the English football season has now started, I thought I would include a couple of football management games (even though I'm not a fan of the genre): 8th August 2021Yellow Belly has released a promotional video for his game Bug's Quest for Tapes, which you can watch below. It's looking very promising, although some of the sprites shown in the later part of the video are of a somewhat, er... dubious nature! Promotional video for Bug's Quest for Tapes on YouTube 25th July 2021New reviewsRobert Small has reviewed two games: Bug's Quest for TapesYellow Belly is in the process of developing a platform game called Bug's Quest for Tapes, and it's getting close to completion. It's based around Novabug's YouTube livestreams where he tests and plays a few cassettes from his collection of Amstrad CPC games every Saturday evening. In Yellow Belly's game, you control Novabug and you have to collect as many tapes on each screen as you can. Once the game is completed, the plan is that Xyphoe will play and attempt to complete it on one of his YouTube livestreams every Friday evening, and if you would like to purchase a physical copy of Bug's Quest for Tapes, Novabug will be auctioning twenty copies on one of his livestreams, and all proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support. In the meantime, a few screenshots of the game are shown below.
12th July 2021Robert Small has reviewed two games: Incidentally, the British astronaut Major Tim Peake stated in an interview in The Guardian newspaper that Tomahawk on the Amstrad CPC is his favourite computer game. Cool! 8th July 2021Robert Small has reviewed two games: I have rewritten my review of One Man and His Droid and given it a higher rating. It was originally one of the first reviews I wrote for this site, and at the time I didn't really understand how to play it! Now that I do, I can appreciate it better and give it a fairer rating. 1st July 2021
Screenshot of Dr. Roland John Lobo has released a new game called Dr. Roland. It's a clone of the Nintendo classic Dr. Mario that was originally submitted to the 2020 #CPCRetroDev Game Creation Contest. However John's entry was disqualified, probably due to the organisers of the contest being worried about potential ligitation from Nintendo. If you've never played Dr. Mario before, it's quite similar to Tetris or Columns; you have to manoeuvre falling capsules and destroy viruses by aligning them so that there are four elements of the same colour in a row or column. Dr. Roland can be downloaded from itch.io for free. 13th June 2021AeonAnother new game has been released! This one is called Aeon and it has been developed by VincentGR and Kukulcan, who is better known as the maintainer of CPC-POWER – a site that I'm sure all Amstrad CPC fans will be familiar with. The game has been developed using Multi-Platform Arcade Game Designer and consists of four parts, and it features several marvellous tunes that have been converted by Jonah Ship from the ZX Spectrum, and cutscenes before each part with Mode 1 screens that use a lot more than four colours, thanks to some clever technical trickery. If you want to see what the game is like, you can watch a YouTube video of Xyphoe playing all four parts, and you can download the game from CPC-POWER. I have also written a review (continue reading below for the link). Xyphoe's playthrough of Aeon on YouTube New reviewsRobert Small has reviewed two games: I have reviewed three games: E-mail: nich <AT> durge <DOT> org |
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