13th August 2009
Shaun has once again been delving into the wonderful world of the 8-bit developments for your reading pleasures
Retro Mart: Something To Get Your Teeth Into
Amstrad CPC guru and 8-bit games developer Paul Kooistra is busy putting the finishing touches to a 128k version of his game Star Sabre, which will be released through the fast-growing independent publisher Psytronik Software.
Psytronik already has a strong portfolio of C64 games, and boss Jason Mackenzie is looking to expand the range to cover all 8-bit formats. With this superb scrolling shoot-'em up, he has the best possible start for Alan Sugar's colour personal computer.
Set in the year 2384AD, our future sees the Earth colonise many hundreds of lifeless planetary systems after the development and discovery of 'space folding'. In the process of expanding the intergalactic empire, the ruins of extraordinary extra-terrestrials are discovered, although their time has seemingly long since passed. Humanity finds itself alone in the galaxy.
Picking up a distress signal in your $922 Sabre scout craft, you head out to the nearby Xeno-archaeological site. On arrival, there's a relentless onslaught of attacking alien foes that greet you. Attack is the best form of defence in this instance.
As you would expect, the game will be available on 3" disk, and the extra memory available on the 6128 has been put to good use, adding extra fire power, bigger levels and bosses to attack, as well as a cosmetic and audible overhaul. All of this without distracting from what made the original binary blaster so good in the first place. It's currently my most-played game right now.
Expect Star Sabre 128 to be ready to buy by the autumn, with pricing and further details to be announced at www.psytronik.net.
Whatever Gets In Gets Out
A playable preview of the C64 platform game, Hoc Init Exit (which isn't some sort of street slang, by the way), has been announced through the website www.oldschool-gaming.com (OSG). Its developer, Simone Bevilacqua, was working on this simple, single-screened platform game during the development of a retro-flavoured title called BOH for more modern platforms such as Windows XP, Linux and Amiga OS4.
You take control a very hungry pig on a quest to eat as much of the passing food as possible, with the game mechanic reminding me very much of early C64 titles such as Fast Eddie and Frantic Freddie, but some modern sprite overlaying techniques to provide a more colourful main sprite. The direct download is available from tinyurl.com/HoclnitExit, and a discussion about this production is hidden away in the OSG forums, so point your browser to its home page to follow any further developments.
The Wild Bunch
A final beta of Jon Wells' conversion of The Wild Bunch for the C64 is currently doing the rounds. This project is a remake of a well-known Sinclair ZX Spectrum game released in 1984 by Firebird Software, and created by Kevin Smith. Although it was due to be released on cassette earlier in the year, it has been held back to fix some final bugs.
Jon's original efforts started back in early 1988, and with a full listing of the code for the Speccy original, he began his efforts in Commodore's rather slow BASIC language. Without the bit of assembly language knowledge, his work halted when it was around 80% finished and playable, and in early 2008 he dusted it off and began a complete overhaul. And now, 25 years after the original game was published and 21 years after Jon's own efforts to bring it to the C64, the Wild West-inspired binary world will finally see the light of day. Pre-orders are available at www.gamesplaygames.co.uk/thewildbunch.
