The game Berserk is probably best known on the Atari 2600, which appeared on the video games console in 1982 after the arcade machine was launched in 1980. And after almost three decades, it's being faithfully converted to the Commodore 64. It's a simple 'run and gun' affair in which there's a humanoid trapped in a massive evil maze filled with deadly roaming robots. Armed with a simple laser, the player must navigate screen after screen of deadly foes, while hoping not to run into the evil Otto who is immune to the player's arsenal and able to travel through walls. Oddly, for such a menacing character, Otto is represented by a smiling face.

In the original arcade version, there are some 64,000 mazes to work through, and the game becomes more difficult as the player's score is amassed. It doesn't start off too difficult, as failure early on is usually down to human error, but the robots within become more aggressive (though no more intelligent) as progress is made. And there's no definite map as each screen is randomly generated from the last. However, fans of the game will be pleased with the efforts made by the coder (or coders) of this C64 version. The PRG file (which will work on any good emulator, or a real machine), can be downloaded directly from tinyurl.com/berserkc64.

Previous Next

It seems that even sewer rats can be made homeless, if you believe the story-line to the latest piece of entertainment software for the Amstrad CPC. In the game Sewer Rat, by Lachlan Keown, you take control of the unfortunate rodent Gordon, who has been kicked out of his childhood abode by his mum. He now must survive in the big, bad and rather unusual world. Living on a diet of cheese, your task is to guide Gordon around each screen while avoiding creatures that are out to get you. These include cats, snakes and, for reasons best known to the game developer, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. There's also a warning that the Earth has been invaded by an alien species that needs cheese to survive. This throws up yet more problems for the hapless rat.

This game can be downloaded and discussed on the CPCWiki site, over at www.cpcwiki.com/index.php/Sewer_Rat, along with the famous range of colour computers and many other new releases for the technology.

Previous Next

The New Dimension has teamed up with Inferior Software in a new shoot-'em-up release for the Commodore 64. In the game Trash Course 2009, you control a waste disposal lorry tasked with collecting the trash cans along probably one of the most dangerous roads in existence. You must avoid hazards such as giant mutant rats, trees and adverse camber and, fortunately, the mobile refuge collector is armed with a deadly cannon that will obliterate a lot of the hazards before you. It's a fairly unsophisticated but fun horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up, which is ready to download from https://csdb.dk/release/?id=80279