Ballblazer (Epyx, 1985)

Designed by David Levine, Peter Langston, David Riordan and Garry Hare.

Originally developed by Lucasfilm Games, Ltd.
Main programming by David Levine
Atari 65XE programming by Aric Wilmunder
Atari 7800 programming by Josh Littlefield and David Payne
Graphics by David Levine and Gary Winnick
Atari music and sounds by Peter Langston
Atari 400/800/65XE version published by Epyx in 1985.
Atari 5200 version published by Atari Corporation in 1986.
Atari 7800 version published by Atari Corporation in 1987.

Commodore 64 conversion by K-Byte, with additional programming by Ron Gilbert, and music by Russell Lieblich.
Published by Epyx in North America, and Activision in Europe in 1985.

Converted for Apple II by K-Byte, and published by Epyx in 1985.
Converted for Sinclair ZX Spectrum by Graeme Devine for Program Techniques, and published by Activision in 1986.
Converted for Amstrad CPC by IC&D, and published by Activision in 1986.
Converted for the MSX computers by Mr. Micro Ltd., and published by Activision in 1987.
Converted and published for Nintendo Famicom by Pony Canyon Inc. in 1988.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

This one has been a long, long time in coming, since a comparison of Ballblazer was first requested by a reader by the handle of "cubamanuel" many years ago. Sorry for the delay, but here it is. The thing is, for the longest time, I couldn't figure out, how to play this game, but some time ago, I realized my mistake being to only try to play the C64 version, which would usually be the most natural and logical choice for me to try out first. Of course, Ballblazer was developed for the Atari computers, and should be played there first, but my "a-ha!" moment actually came through playing the Famicom version after getting that one into my collection a few years ago... which might seem a bit weird, in hindsight, but there's a perfectly good explanation for this, which might become clear eventually.

Being as heavily occupied as I am these days, I found myself in luck, because Gaming History Source had made a video comparison of Ballblazer a long time ago for their YouTube channel, but then I found to my utter horror, that the game Masterblazer on the Amiga and Atari ST is basically an updated version of the same game, but with some new elements, so I have to include a separate segment for Masterblazer near the end of this thing.

Thanatos (Durell Software, 1986)

Designed and programmed for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC by Mike Richardson.
Original graphics by Mike Richardson, with title screen by Jane Richardson.
Music for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad versions by Julian Breeze.

Converted for the Commodore 64 by Rod Barrington, with music by Rob Hubbard.

All versions published by Durell Software in 1986.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

While the majority of my time is still taken by work, and will likely do so for the near future, I have at least settled down enough to start writing some proper comparisons again, but just to ease myself back into the action, I decided to dig up another Durell classic that hadn't been compared on the blog yet. In the case of Thanatos, I was introduced to it through the Commodore 64 version, which I have to admit, didn't hold my interest for very long, mostly due a lack of understanding since my copy didn't have instructions with it - what a shock, eh? Anyway, some 20+ years later on, I bought the original Spectrum version into my collection, and finally started to understand the game's reputation a little bit better.

FRGR #19: Turboraketti (Heikki Kosola, 1992-1993)

Originally written by Heikki Kosola for the Commodore Amiga between 1991 and 1993, and fully published as shareware in 1993.

The game was eventually released as freeware into public domain in 1998.

A PC remake called "Turboraketti Remake 2020" was developed by TapanilanKTT, and released through itch.io in 2020.

NOTE: The floppy disk picture on the left is my personal estimation of what a professionally manufactured disk of the game could have looked like. No such thing exists.

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INTRODUCTION/PRELUDE

Thanks for your patience. Now that I finally have my things set up more or less as they should be, I figured it might be a good idea to get back to blogging with something light-weight, so here's another Finnish Retro Game Review to start things off at my new blogging headquarters. This one puts more weight on the attempt to keep the balance more in the 1990's, and out of all the plausible choices for the Finnish Retro Games I have left to review, Turboraketti is one of the more important and influential ones, making way for an astounding number of cave flying games to pop up from the Finnish independent game developing scene for many years to come.

Xybots (Atari Games, 1987)

Designed by Ed Logg
Programmed by Ed Logg and Bob Flanagan
Art by Sam Comstock and Mark West
Music by Hal Canon, Brad Fuller and Earl Vickers
Originally released as an arcade game by Atari Games in 1987.

Commodore 64 conversion by John Scott for Tengen, and released by Domark in 1989.

Amstrad CPC, MSX and Sinclair ZX Spectrum conversions by Teque Software Developments Ltd: Programming by Barry Costas and Dave Colledge. Music by Matt Furniss. Released by Domark in 1989.

Atari ST conversion by Teque Software Developments Ltd: Programming by Barry Costas. Music by Ben Daglish. Released by Domark in 1989.

Commodore Amiga conversion by Teque Software Developments Ltd, and released by Domark in 1989; no further credits are known.

Atari Lynx version by NuFX, Inc:
Programming by Patrick Quinn
Music and sound effects by Matt Scott
Released by Atari in 1991.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Because April has in the blog's recent history been dedicated to American games, I decided to try and work on this comparison of Xybots, an Atari arcade classic, during April, in the hopes of getting it out before the end of the month. You can see by the date of this comparison's publication, whether or not I succeeded in my mission.

Anyway, the comparison of Xybots has been a long time in my to-do list, because it was originally suggested by my gaming and podcasting colleague, Bob Engstrand, too many years ago to count, and besides, the blog seemed to be in sore need of another title for the archive starting with the letter X. It just so happens, that Xybots has also become one of my all-time favourite Atari arcade games in the last 15 years, which is why it took a while to gather the courage to write this one. For all I know, Xybots is a rare example of a brilliant, if somewhat misunderstood, arcade game, because it never really seemed to get a home conversion that would do it proper justice, so a clone of it has never really been attempted, either.

Super Cars (Gremlin Graphics, 1990)

Designed by Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris
Developed by Magnetic Fields

Commodore Amiga version:
Programming by Shaun Southern
Graphics by Andrew Morris and Jeremy Smith
Music by Ben Daglish

Atari ST version:
Programming by Shaun Southern and Dave Makin
Graphics by Andrew Morris and Jeremy Smith
Music by Ben Daglish

Amstrad CPC version:
Programming by Steve Marsden and Dave Cooke for Spidersoft
Music by Ben Daglish

Sinclair ZX Spectrum version by Spidersoft; no further credits are known.

The Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX Spectrum versions
were all published by Gremlin Graphics in 1990.

Commodore 64 version:
Programming by Jason H. Perkins
Music by Ben Daglish
Published by Gremlin Graphics in 1991.

Nintendo Entertainment System version (uncredited):
Produced by Gremlin Graphics
Graphics by Paul Gregory
Music by Barry Leitch
Published by Electro Brain Corp. exclusively for the North American market in 1991.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Here's a relatively big one to finally start the year 2026 here at FRGCB. At least, Super Cars was a relatively big series in our small Amiga-based community back in the olden days, and of course, the first sequel was an even bigger thing than the original game was. To be honest, most of us didn't even know Super Cars even had a third game, because it was only ever released on the PC's in 1996, by which time most of us had already moved on to more advanced racing games. Anyway, since Super Cars II was only released on three 16-bit platforms, the original game seemed like the more interesting choice to do a comparison of. Besides, having found out only recently about the existence of the NES version, I was rather interested to know, how these six versions line up. I suppose it's only inevitable, that I find myself also comparing the two games to each other occasionally.

SITREP Feb 2026

Hi folks, I figured it might be good to let you inform that FRGCB won't be activated to its full potential in the near future. This is because I'm currently in the midst of packing all my gear and moving to another location, and it takes time to get everything in order again, which means that any unemulated YouTube activity will be on hold until further notice. The process will likely stretch until June, but we'll see. As things are now, I might be able to squeeze in a comparison per month, starting in March, but even that will have to pause when the final stretch of the move is taking place. So I guess this is the year of the long-planned cool down at the blog, only now due to an unforeseen situation, but after six long years of blogging and YouTubing simultaneously, this enforced quieter period is welcome. Thanks for the patience; see you next month!

NGOTY: Yoomp! (Public Domain, 2007)

Designed by Marcin Żukowski
Main programming, tile graphics and level design by Marcin Żukowski
Main graphics by Bartek Wąsiel
Music, main level design and tile graphics by Łukasz Sychowicz
Compression and music routines by Piotr Fusik
Originally developed for the Atari 8-bit computers, and released to public domain in 2007.

A limited edition physical copy of Yoomp! was released in 2008 through the team's website.
https://yoomp.atari.pl/

PC remake called Yoomp! 4K was developed by Jetset Entertainment in 2007. (download link)

Commodore 64 conversion was written by Zbigniew Ross with music by Michał Brzeski, and published by Psytronik Software and RGCD in 2018.
https://rgcddev.itch.io/yoomp-64

Atari 2600 demake called Zkeep! was written by Krzysztof Kluczek and released to public domain in 2023.

Commodore Amiga conversion was written by zr-games, and released through itch.io in 2024.
https://zr-games.itch.io/amiga-yoomp

Atari ST/STe conversion was developed by Dekadence:
Programming by Peter Halin
Graphics by Terho Tanskanen
Music by Johan Halin
Released as a "pay what you will" through itch.io in 2025.
https://dekadencedemo.itch.io/yoomp

A Commodore Amiga 1200 version called Jump! has been in development since 2019 by Machinery Software, with programming by Kefir/Union and music by XTD/Lamers.
http://www.amigajump.com/

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Things seem to have gone a bit weird on the new-games-for-old-systems front, because it's getting increasingly difficult to come across new games that would be even potentially interesting to do comparisons of, since the most obvious candidates seem to suffer from too much of balanced quality. So, for this year's New Game Of The Year comparison, I decided to dig up a game that is already considered a classic on the 8-bit Atari computers, since Yoomp! was originally released 18 years ago. The reason for the sudden need for a comparison is, because in the last few years, there have been a few conversions/remakes/demakes/whatever of the game, that make it a good game to finally be featured on the blog in this context.

And with this slightly more special entry to end this year, I wish you all a very happy Christmastime (or at least, what's left of it), and the bestest of new years, and further announce that I will be taking time off from the blog at least until February, if not further.

FRGR #18: Ski Jump International trilogy (PD/Ville Könönen, 1994-2000)

Lartzan Skijump (1994-1996)
Written by Ville Könönen
Graphics by Mikko Aalto and Janne Heinonen

Ski Jump International 2 (1997-1998)
Concept, design, programming, graphics, music, the works: Ville Könönen
Additional Programming: Mikko Aalto and Janne Heinonen
Additional Art: Johannes Lahti, Simo Virokannas, Toni Välitorppa

Ski Jump International 3 (2000-2011)
Concept, design, programming, graphics, webpages and what not: Ville Könönen
Additional programming and graphics: Lasse Makkonen
Account managers: Morten Indahl and Stas Szczurek
Also a throng of people credited for translations and beta testing.

The first game was released as freeware, and the latter two games as shareware for MS-DOS based PC's.

(NOTE: The picture for the floppy disk was found through an article on Matti Nykänen, written and published in 2019 on the Guardian's Sportblog, for which the picture was found through Shutterstock.)

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INTRODUCTION

Because the Finnish Retro Game Reviews series has mainly focused on games from the 1980's and a little into the early 1990's, there hasn't been much of a chance to talk about all the amazing Finnish PC games before things started taking a more commercial turn. To me, my absolute favourite era of Finnish game development is still the mid-1990's, when eager hobbyist programmers did all sorts of non-sensical and often inappropriate DOS games with little focus on anything other than humour. This time period did produce plenty of higher quality games, too, such as Slicks 'n' Slide, which I did write about at length as an earlier FRGR entry, as well as Mine Bombers, Ultimate Tapan Kaikki and Pro Pilkki, just to name a few, and the Ski Jump trilogy - regardless of its humble beginnings - belongs to this top tier group.

YouTube update: My Nostalgia Trip Games' season 7 ends with a bang!

Yes indeed, and for a reason too, because it just so happens, that the final episode of this season was the 100th episode of the series, so I had to think of something properly extravagant and different from the usual. So, I decided to make an episode dedicated almost entirely on the graphical adventure games by Sierra On-Line, because I realized, it didn't really matter, which platform they were ever played on, they would always be equally nostalgic for me. And I suspect, for many of you, as well.

In all likelyhood, My Nostalgia Trip Games will continue the usual pattern again come next February, unless something drastic and unexpected happens. Until then, enjoy this little monster of an episode!

Hunchback II: Quasimodo's Revenge (Ocean Software, 1984)

Sinclair ZX Spectrum version:
Written by Paul Owens and Mike Webb.
Published by Ocean Software in 1984.

Amstrad CPC version:
Programming by Simon Cobb
Graphics by Jonathan M. Smith
Music by Martin Galway
Published by Ocean Software in 1985.

Commodore 64 version:
Programming by Tony Pomfret
Graphics by Bill Barna
Music by Martin Galway
Published by Ocean Software in 1985.

Loading screen by Frederick David Thorpe.
Cover art by Bob Wakelin.

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GAME STATUS

Back in 2022, I wrote a comparison of the original Hunchback, whereupon I touched the subject of other games featuring Quasimodo, the protagonist, and mentioned that a comparison of Hunchback II might be coming up sometime in the not too distant future. Well, that future is now, at the 41th anniversary of the release of the first sequel to Hunchback, which was only ever released for the usual trio of 8-bit computers. Oddly enough, this is the first comparison of a game starting with the letter H since the first Hunchback. Go figure.

The Great Escape (Ocean Software, 1986)

Designed and written for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum by John Heap.

Amstrad CPC version by James Software Ltd.

Commodore 64 version by Denton Designs:
Programming by Trevor Inns; Graphics by Trevor Inns and Steve Wahid.

All the above versions released in Europe by Ocean Software in 1986, and the C64 version released in North America by Thunder Mountain in 1986. Also released as "Escape" in Germany.

Enterprise 128 version also released by Ocean Software in 1986, but no details are known.

IBM-PC conversion by Malcolm J. Herd for Denton Designs, and published by Ocean and Thunder Mountain in 1987.

Unofficial Atari 400/800 conversion based on the C64 release written and released to
public domain in 2015.
Programming by Mariusz Wojcieszek
Loading screen and graphics by José Pereira
Title screen by Filippo Santellocco
Music by Marek Pešout
Sound effects by Bartlomiej Wieczorkowski

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

In further attempt at bringing more balance out of the C64 reign on this blog, I decided to take a deeper look at The Great Escape, which was among the first games I ever had for my own C64. Because at the time, I was disappointed in the game being black-and-white, slow and almost soundless, I never really got to enjoy the game for what it does offer. Later on, I have become to appreciate the design choices, but I have yet to fully understand what makes The Great Escape tick. So, this is also an attempt at finally getting my head around and into the game that is considered a classic by many.

Mr. Wimpy: The Hamburger Game (Ocean Software, 1983)

Acorn BBC Micro version written by Richard Kay.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum version written by Paul Owens.
The BBC Micro and Spectrum versions were published by Ocean in 1983.

Commodore 64 version written by David Selwood.
Tangerine Oric 1/Atmos version written by John Woods.
C64 and Oric versions were published by Ocean in 1984.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

It's time for another Ocean-themed October, and because the previous entry went so badly awry in terms of bringing balance to the blog, I decided to bring in another game from the early 80's with Mr. Wimpy - a game largely based on Data East's classic BurgerTime, acting as a promotional device for the Wimpy fast-food restaurant chain. Whether this might actually bring more balance or not, remains to be seen.

TWO-FER #28: Zeppelin Games from the 1990's!

AMERICAN 3D POOL

Commodore 64 version:
Programming and graphics by Stephen Walters; Music by Thomas Mogensen. Published by Zeppelin Games in 1991.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum version:
Programming by Andrew J. Richards; Graphics by David "Tink" Taylor. Published by Zeppelin Games in 1992.

SLEEPWALKER

Commodore 64 version:
Programming by David Sowerby; Graphics by Neil Hislop; Music by Andrew Rodger. Published by Zeppelin Games in 1991.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum version:
Programming by John Carlyle and Steven Turner; Graphics by Clive Thompson. Published by Zeppelin Games in 1992.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS, PLURAL

To bring some more 1990's games into the blog's archive, I had to think of something really out of the ordinary to make an interesting two-fer, and eventually came up with another publisher that had not been featured too many times on the blog. Eventually, I found two games from Zeppelin Games that were both released in 1991/92, that would fit a two-for-one comparison entry nicely, particularly as Sleepwalker and American 3D Pool couldn't be much more different from each other. Not a high profile publisher by any means, but they do have some interesting titles, these two included.

UpDaTeS sChMuPdAtEs...

As much as I would have wanted to continue doing comparisons, I had to resort to doing this quick Updates entry because of one rather considerable and inconvenient reason. One of my external hard drives broke down completely all of a sudden, without it having taken any physical damage or anything of the sort, and this particular hard drive had most of my work files for FRGCB's YouTube material (along with plenty of irreplaceable work-in-progress music stuff and videos), so I'm only able to finish this season of My Nostalgia Trip Games, before having to redo all my previous plans. Right now, I'm trying to salvage things from my other USB hard drives, which are even older, and on surface, in an even worse condition than the one that broke down, so it'll take a week or two before I'm able to put all my usual focus on blogging and making videos. So, just to get something out to get this month started, I took the time to do this Updates entry to mention a few previously undocumented game things worth mentioning, some of them quite recent, too.

First off, some of you might have noticed from the comparison of IK+ having been updated a few days ago, that the retro gaming YouTube channel WORG - World of Retro Gaming - has given permission to link their comparison videos to my text comparisons, whenever possible. This means FRGCB is now collaborating with five different YouTube channels: WORG, Gaming History Source, Theshadowsnose, mikroman01 (the Mikroview series) and Retrocore. Thanks again to each of you for the permissions, if you're reading! ;)

Now, for the actual game updates that have been waiting to be done. As far as I've been able to dig into the blog's past, I can only update four entries now, but it's all better than nothing, so let's get on to them.

World Series Baseball (Imagine Software, 1985)

Designed and written by Ian Morrison and David J. Anderson for Platinum Productions, with music by Robin Muir, and loading screen by Frederick David Thorpe. Originally published for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum by Imagine Software in 1985.

Commodore 64 version written by David A. Collier, with loading screen by Frederick David Thorpe. Originally published by Imagine Software in 1985, and re-released in North America as "The Slugger" by Mastertronic in 1986.

Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 versions have no detailed credits. Amstrad CPC and C16/+4 versions published by Imagine Software in 1985.

IBM-PC conversion written by Randall Don Masteller, and published as "The Slugger" by Mastertronic in 1986.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Quite possibly the first baseball game that I ever played was this classic from Imagine Software, just released around the time the company was being bought by Ocean Software at the end of 1985. If I have understood correctly, World Series Baseball and its only sequel, the Spectrum-only World Series Basketball, were the last titles published under the original Imagine flag, so now being the game's 40th anniversary, I thought it a good time to finally make its comparison.

(CORRECTION, 30th of August: As was pointed out to me at the Spectrum Computing forum, I quote: "Both were published by Ocean in 1985, but development had started before Imagine went under in 1984. The original Imagine's last titles were Cosmic Cruiser and BC Bill." Thanks to StooB for the correction.) 

IK+ (System 3, 1987)

Designed by Archer Maclean
Programming and graphics by Archer Maclean
Loading screen by Paul Docherty
Music by Rob Hubbard
Originally published on the Commodore 64 by System 3 in 1987.

North American C64 version includes loading music by Russell Lieblich, and was published as "Chop 'N' Drop" by Activision in 1988.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions written by Dan Michek, with music by Rob Hubbard. Published by System 3 on the ZX Spectrum in 1987, and on the Amstrad CPC in 1988.

Commodore Amiga and Atari ST versions written by Archer Maclean, with music by Dave Lowe. Published by System 3 in 1988. Also published on the Amiga CD32 in 1994.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Sony Playstation versions developed by Ignition Entertainment:
PS1 programming by Jim Bagley
GBA programming by Jim Bagley and Adrian Scotney
GBA music and sound effects by Steve Cowell
Published by Ignition Entertainment in 2003.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Planned to be included on the comparison blog since the beginning, International Karate Plus was, similarly to Pitstop II, one of those games that felt like a last resort thing. Now that the blog has turned 12 years old, I thought the time is right to have some of more bigger 8-bit classics to get their place in the comparison blog, while I'm attempting to take the blog more towards the 16-bits. Archer Maclean's second game, International Karate, became a massive hit in 1986, which prompted a swift development for a sequel. IK+ had nothing international about it, as such, but it made the arena fighting game genre one of the biggest things at the time, thanks to a couple of rather unusual, and still rarely seen innovations.

Pitstop II (Epyx, 1984)

Written by Stephen H. Landrum and Dennis Caswell for the Commodore 64.

Converted for the Atari 8-bit computers by Lloyd D. Ollman Jr. for Synergistic Software.

Converted for the IBM-PC compatibles by Lauren Guimont for Synergistic Software.

Converted for Apple II by Ivan Manley, R. Clardy and D. Stinnett for Synergistic Software.

Also converted for TRS-80 Color Computer, but no credits are known.

Published by Epyx in 1984, except Apple II and TRS-80 CoCo versions in 1985.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

Doing a comparison of Pitstop II always felt to me like the last resort - such an obvious choice of a C64 classic to tackle, that it wouldn't even make sense to compare it. However, thanks to the Reset64 magazine's request for a racing game comparison for their now to be the final issue, I took the chance to do a comparison of both Pitstop games, just to see how they compare against each other. Although the first Pitstop comparison ended up as the last comparison to be written for, and (still to be) published in the Reset64 magazine, I decided to release the two Pitstop comparisons on the blog almost back-to-back, just to get it done.

FRGR #17: Elfmania (Renegade, 1994)

Developed by Terramarque:
Main programming by Antti Toiviainen and Jani Askolin
A.I. programming and supervision by Stavros Fasoulas (uncredited)
Graphics by Antti Kallioinen
Music by Aleksi Eeben
Sound effects by Ville Hyvönen

Published by Renegade Software for the Commodore Amiga in 1994.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

It's time to exploit this blog's Finnishness once again, by doing another review of an old Finnish game. This summer's selection is the last game ever to be published with any notable input from the C64 legend, Stavros Fasoulas, and simultaneously, the first and only game to be published by Terramarque, who would later join forces with Bloodhouse of Stardust fame to become Housemarque - the oldest still active Finnish game developing company, who turns 30 years old exactly today, on the 19th of July, 2025.

Pitstop (Epyx, 1983)

Developed and published by Epyx for Atari 400/800, ColecoVision, Coleco ADAM and Commodore 64 in 1983.

Atari 400/800 version designed and written by Action Graphics.

ColecoVision & ADAM version by the Connelley Group and Action Graphics: Programming by Richard Ditton; Sounds by David Thiel; Graphics by Action Graphics.

Commodore 64 version written by Jamie Faye Fenton.

(Credits taken from Colecovision.dk)

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

I have to start this entry with a sad note. This comparison was originally written almost two years ago for the 16th issue of Reset64 magazine, which at that time was still in all appearances going strong and healthy. All sorts of real life events for the Reset64 staff were behind the initial delay, but then, a series of more or less unfortunate happenings started ringing the bells of doom for the magazine, with people stepping down from their roles in the magazine and even a death of a beloved member. So, in the end, issue 16 is still to be released, and is in the works by the remaining people. I asked for, and received permission to publish this comparison whenever I felt like (due to my personal scheduling problems) from the original editor of the magazine, who goes by the handle Unkle K at the Lemon64 forum, so I decided to dedicate this entry to all the current and past people at Reset64, and I hope to see the final 16th issue some day soon. Now, onto the comparison itself.

Just about 42 years ago, the happily straight-forward genre of racing games would be disturbed by the release of a game that would introduce something other than driving a car into the mix. The game, Pitstop, was the first to bring in actual pit stops into racing games, but of course, this was received with mixed reviews. In hindsight, the racing part of Pitstop probably could have been better, seeing as Pole Position was still considered the yardstick, but at least it was different, and became successful enough to have a sequel.

Another SPECIAL video on FRGCB's YouTube channel!

Just so this special occasion wouldn't escape you readers out there, here's a little notification about the new special video just published on the FRGCB YouTube channel.

No more than five years after the first "n00b's look" video, the same friend who borrowed his Videopac G7000 to get looked at for a video, borrowed his Sharp MZ-700 to get the same treatment. While I have tried the MZ-700 out through emulation a few times, the real thing is a different beast entirely to handle. So obviously, this is a much longer video, because computers with cassette drives are a bit more complicated to use than cartridge-driven consoles. I just didn't realize, how much more complicated the MZ-700 would actually be, because my experiences through emulation weren't very memorable.