23rd September 2010
Before Shaun returns to his bedroom tutorials, here's another retro news round-up...
Retro Mart: Join The Elite
Ian Bell and David Braben's world-famous BBC Micro game Elite, which is - in my opinion at least - one of the finest computer games of all time, has been given the remake treatment for the Oric-1 and compatibles by the group Defence Force.
Called 1337 (hacker speak for 'L-EET', or 'Elite' in English], the game isn't an exact port or conversion of the original, which is only a good thing, as Elite is available to download for virtually every single format it was released on (and that's quite a few if you want to search for it). It does contain the original's secret missions, though, as well as ten whole plots to solve, along with the classic space-trading, dog-fighting and general exploring of the Elite universe.
It's completely open-ended as to how you want to play it, which is what made it so good in the first place. I personally prefer buying illegal items at knock-down prices from rather chaotic worlds and selling them at a premium to those planets run as stable corporations, because making big profits any other way takes too long in my experience.
1337 includes a handy tutorial, as the controls can take a short while to master, and there's no station to dock at; just head towards the planet and you automatically land at the trading base where you can get supplies and try to make a few credits along the way. I actually find the dog-fighting here a little more difficult than the original, so my advice is to start with legal trading, to avoid being noticed too early in the game, and when you can afford it, upgrade your ship's capabilities and then take on any space rogue that dares cross your path.
There isn't too much of a departure from the original, but there are enough new elements to 1337 to make this worth a look for even the most experienced of Elite players. To get hold of this gem, head over to 1337.defence-force.org, and feel lost in the universe once more.
New For The Spectrum
The virtual Sinclair ZX Spectrum label Retroworks has just released its latest game, Nelo And Qugo And The Last Butifarreison. The game tells the story of two down-and-out tramps who sleep in the most disreputable and unhygienic of places. They have a keen interest in digesting the cheapest possible alcoholic beverages as often as possible. Nelo woke with an appalling hangover to discover that his brother-in-arms Qugo has disappeared. And so begins Nelo's quest to find his drinking buddy before it's too late, a rather aesthetically pleasing cartoon-alike 2D platform game.
Your task is to guide Nelo to avoid the on-screen roamers as well as collecting the objects that will help (or hinder) you along the way. The website includes the source code for you to have a look at, if you're interested in that sort of thing, so to grab this release, head over to www.retroworks.es and click on the Union Flag for the English version of the site (unless you're fluent in Spanish). Please note that this game is 'adult-themed' and contains mild swear words, so it might not be ideal if you have younger children who take an interest in your old 8-bit, or like playing games through emulation.
Safecracker
Also available is a neat puzzle game called Safecracker, by Rafal Miazga, including some superb 'beeper' music on the title screen by Mister Beep. In this game, you're a master safe cracker (as the name would suggest) who must solve three challenging puzzles to break the code and grab the riches inside the safe. Each of the puzzles is different from the last, and it's not the biggest game ever, but it looks a very slick product. Those who are logically minded are likely to complete this game very quickly, but it's still worth ten minutes of your time regardless. Go get it from mister_beep.republika.pl/safecracker.zip.
