Games That Weren't^®

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1988 Firebird

In 1987 Firebird released Arcade Classics, a compilation of (wait for it) four classic arcade games, namely Space Invaders, Asteroids, Snake and Space Wars. It was neatly packaged with a front-end title screen with each game represented by its own arcade cabinet. It also featured excellent music from the legendary Rob Hubbard, who I saw a picture of just now and he looks freakily like one of the brothers from The Sparks. Not the singer, the guy on the keyboards who looked a bit like Hitler and seemed completely mental. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1987 Diamond Software

Xtron was due to be released by Diamond Software, along with various other releases, Diablo, Hollywood Poker and Kaos. However, it seems only Diablo received a release, judging by entries on Lemon64 and the preservation site, GB64. That means that Xtron, Hollywood Poker and Kaos are all Games That Werent. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1988 Firebird/Maelstrom

Had it found its way onto the 8-bit market, Whirligig would have been that rare thing for the time, a game released on all the major gaming markets, the 8-bit, 16-bit and the PC. However, although it was released on the ST and the Amiga, and then later the PC, the 8-bit versions never saw the light of day. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1988 Gremlin Graphics

Combining comedy and, er, cycling, Tour De Force was due for release by Gremlin Graphics in 1988 yet never materialised on the C64, despite being released on the Spectrum and CPC.

Your objective is to cycle through various locations around the world, in an attempt to win the coveted yellow jersey. Various drinks are scattered across the road that you can pick up to keep your rider hydrated, (go easy on the wine though!), whilst sumo wrestlers, thugs, snakes and other riders will try to get in your way and stop you winning the race. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1988 Skyslip

Sabian Island seems to be yet another game that was advertised to buy through mail order from a software company, without actually having ever being released. I dont know how many games were released as such in the 1980s but it certainly provides Games That Werent a rich vein of material to search through!

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A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1987 Games Designers Workshop

Rommel: Battles for Torbruk by Games Designers Workshop (GDW) was planned to be a war strategy game, based around four battles fought between the WWII German commander Rommel and the British in North Africa.

Our evidence for the game comes from a full-page advert by the games designers, who give a detailed description of the game and the combat system used, detailing features such as hidden movement, tactical and strategic maps and details of your armies morale. An in-game screenshot is also present, suggesting the game at least reached a playable level.

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A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1989 Microstyle

Due to come out on the C64 in 1989, International Soccer Challenge was one of several games due for release by Microstyle in the 1989/90. ISC was also released on the Amiga, Atari ST and PC platforms, but the C64 version never came out why?

The game itself seems rather odd in presentation; the viewing screen of the game is a giant stadium screen, with information dotted around it on smaller screens. While an innovative attempt to stand out from the rest of the genre, it does seem to unnecessarily limit the screen space dedicated to actual game play. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1985 Artic Computing

Rugby sims have always been underrepresented in the computer gaming market. Football sims have dominated Europe, while in the USA its American Football that has dominated. It doesnt help that the rules of rugby are awkward to translate fluently to a computer whilst retaining the fast pace of the game. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

19xx Personal Software Services

Quark was due to be released by PSS (Personal Software Services) but for some reason it doesnt seem to have ever been released. Usually in these incidences you can look at the release list for a company and see that perhaps they were quite small and disappeared as quickly as they appeared, or that the game fell outside the boundaries of their usual released, but PSS released nearly two dozen games between 1983 and 1988 and although their main area of expertise seems to have been war strategy games, they released several arcade games, such as the famous Macadam Bumper, Hyper Biker and the brilliantly titled Bath Time. Continue reading →

A highlighted review from the http://www.gtw64.co.uk archives

1985 Activision

Initially released on the Spectrum by Activision, before being re-released by Mastertronic, Xcel is described by Sinclair User as Star Trek, Space Invaders and Centipede rolled into one. Sadly the game is denied so not available for download on World of Spectrum, so I have no idea how it plays but it did garner average to good reviews upon its release and seems to have fallen into the worth a look on the budget release category. Continue reading →