Unique Games! - The Second Encore (Part 12)

Well, I guess five years is long enough a break in the lifetime of this blog to bring back its most interesting series for a one-off. If you don't remember what the Unique Games series was all about, the idea still continues to be, for the duration of this one more bonus chapter, to list a bunch of games that were not only at least a little bit unique in their presentation or style of gameplay, but also completely exclusive for the platform it was released on. Some mistakes were made in the course of the original 11 parts of the series, so I'm not exactly expecting this list to be completely accurate, since internet sources are too numerous and often contradicting in their information to have a 100% chance at getting everything correct here. But anyway, with this second encore entry of Unique Games!, I bid you another happy Christmas and a better next year!

TWOFER #24: Aasipelit Special!

1. Juhannussauna 2016

Programming and graphics by Arto4000. Music, sounds and cover art by Nutshell. Originally published for the NES by Aasipelit in 2016.

2. Juhannusolumppialaiset 2017

Programming and graphics by Arto4000. Music, sounds and cover art by Nutshell. Originally published for the NES by Aasipelit in 2017.

Commodore 64 versions written by Joonas Niinistö. Juhannussauna C64 published by SopuisaSopuli in 2020, and Juhannusolumppialaiset C64 published in 2021.

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INTRODUCTION

Happy Finnish Independence Day 2022, everybody! This is going to be a really short one, because this comparison was made first and foremost as a "wing it" kind of a video test for both versions of both games, and also featuring Aasipelit's third game, written in honour of Finland's 100th Anniversary of Independence five years ago. That game will not be mentioned in this text, but there's plenty of footage in the video below. So, without further ado, check out the video below, before you continue any further.

Buggy Boy (Tatsumi/Taito, 1985)

Developed by Tatsumi Electronics Co. Ltd., and published by Taito Corp. for the arcades in 1985.
Published in North America as "Speed Buggy" by Data East.

Amstrad CPC version written by Andrew G. Williams, with graphics by Peter Tattersall. Published by Elite Systems Ltd. in 1987.

Commodore 64 version written by Dave Thomas, with graphics by Bob Thomas. Published by Elite Systems Ltd. in 1987, and as "Speed Buggy" in North America by Data East in 1988.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum version designed by Dented Design: Programming by Maz H. Spork, Graphics by Paul D. Walker, Music by Mark Cooksey. Published by Elite Systems Ltd. in 1988.

Atari ST version written by Martin W. Ward, with music and sound effects by Jason C. Brooke. Published by Elite Systems Ltd., and as "Speed Buggy" in North America by Data East in 1988.

Commodore Amiga version written by Martin W. Ward and Richard Frankish. Published by Elite Systems Ltd. in 1988, and as "Speed Buggy" in North America by Elite Systems Ltd. in 1989. (North American release distributed by Keypunch Software).

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

It's been a while since the blog featured a game from Elite, a publisher that had a strong presence in my gaming youth, and the last comparison from a game from Elite's catalogue was posted in August 2017 - that being Overlander, a game that cannot honestly be considered one of Elite's finest. So, it's high time to finally do a comparison of my all-time favourite game release from Elite on the Commodore 64.

Hunchback (Century Electronics, 1983)

Developed and released for the arcades by Century Electronics in 1983.

Commodore 64 conversion written by Jon Steele, and published by Ocean Software in 1983.

Tangerine Oric-1 & Atmos conversion written by Philip Hulme, and published by Ocean Software in 1983.

Acorn Electron and BBC Micro conversions written by J.M. Dyson, and published by Superior Software in 1984.

Dragon 32/64 conversion written by Béla S. (Bill) Barna, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Commodore VIC-20 conversion written in-house at Ocean Software, with no details ever disclosed. Published by Ocean Software in 1984.

MSX conversion by Paul Carter, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum conversion by Christian Urquhart, with loading screen by Frederick David Thorpe, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Amstrad CPC conversion written by Christian Urquhart for Ocean, and published by Amsoft in 1985.

Unofficial conversion for IBM-PC compatibles written by Robert Schmidt, and published by Fireball Software Ltd. in 1988.

Another unofficial conversion was written for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A by Joe Morris, and published by Retrospect Games in 2021.

Cover artwork for the Ocean Software release by Bob Wakelin.

Also written for the Atari 8-bit computers by Steven MacIlwee for Ocean Software, but was unreleased. A prototype is available online, but the year of conversion is not indicated.


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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

I would hazard a guess, that one of the earliest gaming memories for any 80's child would have been Hunchback, or any of its unofficial variants, since it was an arcade classic ported to almost every imaginable 8-bit home computer during the first half of the decade. I certainly got to experience Hunchback on the three main 8-bit platforms of my childhood, but principally on the Commodore 64, since that's what I, and most of my friends had in our area.

Daley Thompson's Decathlon (Ocean Software, 1984)

 

Written by Paul Owens and Christian Urquhart for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, with loading screen by F. David Thorpe.
Published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Commodore 64 version:
Programming by David A. Collier, Bill Barna and Tony Pomfret.
Music by David Dunn.
Published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Amstrad CPC version by Choice Software, and published by Ocean Software in 1985.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

After years of waiting, it is now possible for me to do a reliable comparison of one of these joystick-killing sports games that have been sorely missing from the archives of FRGCB. The reason for this is, that I finally have an actual Amstrad CPC in my collection, as well as a Sinclair ZX Spectrum and a Commodore 64, and because in my experience, emulation hasn't been accurate enough to get a realistic sense of how each version plays. Now, Daley Thompson's Decathlon has been made possible to compare from the trilogy, and therefore, has the honour of starting our Ocean October of 2022.

Jack the Nipper II ...in Coconut Capers (Gremlin Graphics, 1987)

Game concept by Greg Holmes

SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM version:
Programming and sprite graphics by Greg Holmes
Other graphics by Terry Lloyd
Music by Ben Daglish
Odds & Ends by David K. Pridmore, Andrew Green, Chris Shrigley and Robert Toone

MSX version:
Programming by Greg Holmes, Andrew Green and David K. Pridmore
Graphics by Terry Lloyd and Andrew Green
Musical bits by Ben Daglish, Greg Holmes and David K. Pridmore

AMSTRAD CPC version:
Programming and sprite graphics by Greg Holmes
Additional programming by David K. Pridmore
Other graphics by Terry Lloyd
Music by Ben Daglish

COMMODORE 64 version:
Programming by Andrew Green
Graphics by Terry Lloyd
Music by Ben Daglish
Assistance by Rob and Chris

All versions published by Gremlin Graphics in 1987.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Some time ago, a reader observed that a game featured on this blog, that would have a series of other games to look into, are rarely featured as more than footnotes at the end of the comparison at hand. This is true enough for good reasons, as most games that would have a larger series to choose comparisons from, are usually too similar to be bothered with. There have been exceptions to this rule, such as the Epyx sports games series, Blue Max (the sequel was handled with the original in a two-fer), the Way of the Exploding Fist (Fist II was compared first), two Horace games were also compared as a two-fer, Saboteur and its sequel also had a two-fer entry; and now, the comparison of Jack the Nipper from 2013 shall finally have its companion, even though back then, I solemnly swore not to do this one, because I'm utterly bollocks at it.

Lazy Jones (Terminal Software, 1984)

Designed and written by David Whittaker for the Commodore 64 in 1984.
Ported to Sinclair ZX Spectrum by Simon Cobb in 1984.
Ported to the MSX computers and Tatung Einstein by David Whittaker in 1985.
All versions published by Terminal Software.

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GAME STATUS

Time for another lightweight comparison again, this time a cult classic that most C64 and Spectrum gamers seem to know, even though it could hardly be called a hit game. Lazy Jones was, however, the most successful game released by Terminal Software, and is one of the most memorable games from that time period for those who have ever had the chance to experience it - regardless of when they experienced it. With this game, FRGCB will have its first comparison featuring the rare and neglected Tatung Einstein, and with a 99% possibility, will also remain the last.