3D Pinball (C64) Most 8 bit pinball games did the simple top-down view. But you could still feel it struggle to keep up with the ball calculations. 3D Pinball (AKA Pinball Power) manages to do a little faux-3D trickery while keeping the game-play beautifully quick-paced. 😎

The youth of today don’t know those stressful times when you’re doing *so* well on {insert-game-title-here}, but you have to pause to switch the TV to watch Buck Rogers.. But it’s on a channel the computer strongly interferes with. 😮

Raid Over Moscow (C64) Probably obvious to say, but: Raid Over Moscow is still a great game. It makes liberal use of "well that doesn't make sense" 8-bit game logic. But it's like Independence Day. Just switch off your critical thoughts and you'll enjoy it more. 😊 www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eVP...

The Hobbit (C64 disk) 💾 And lets not forget that there's a *disk* version of The Hobbit too. For years I'd seen screen-shots of the fancier graphics of the disk version and assumed it was bitmap graphics. But no! They're vector, like the graphics of the tape version. Just a lot more detailed. 😮

Operation Wolf (C64) This is where the rare option for mouse control really comes in handy: a cross-hair shooter. Operation Wolf was never going to translate perfectly to the C64. But they've done a sterling job, with large sprites and the iconic vertical split screen, which isn't easy to do. 😎

The book "The Hobbit" was read to me in primary school when I was around ten. I'd never heard Tolkien or any fantasy world story before and I was fascinated by it. Then my family shifted house when the party was at Beorn's great hall and I needed to know the rest! Finally got the book at Xmas. 😍

I picked up a second-hand gaming monitor, to pair with the same model that I already have. 📺 It's got an impressive number of refresh rates it's capable of. But if it had a personality I bet it would be disappointed that I got it mostly because it can show C64 and Amiga stuff at a perfect 50Hz. 😋

ElfMania (Amiga) People think Elves are serene characters at one with nature. ElfMania lets us explore the idea of what happens when they just need to beat the crap out of one another. 😋 A beautifully presented beat-em-up that I thought was AGA, but works on A500. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuwd...

Arkanoid 2 (C64) The latest version of C64emu introduced basic 1351 mouse support, so I had to try it out. Feels like it could do with a tweak in sensitivity, but my "arkanoidability", as we like to call it 😉 was way up over yer basic joystickery. If only I was better at breakout-type games. 😎

Big Mac (C64) It's quite possible some of y'all have never tried the budget platformer "Big Mac: The Mad Maintenance Man". That would be a deficiency in your upbringing. Fix it now. A cool game, with an over-the-top death sequence that you know is coming, but may still make you jump. 😄

A new version of the CRT-look C64 emulator ("C64emu" by Daemon Pig Productions) has appeared! Basic joystick and 1351 mouse support are in, as is an NTSC mode and ways to save images/video, bug-fixes, etc. Tried it out with a few different titles, just to enjoy that simulated CRT glow. Gorgeous. 😄

Elevator Action (arcade) More adventures in making my beautiful crisp LCD screen look like an old CRT. This time it's in MAME and viewing it through ShaderGlass to create "the look" — that thing that Roxette tells us that we have, that we know we don't have. 😉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=au3w...

Battle Squadron (Amiga) For the past few years I've been happily retrogaming in emulators with sharp blocky pixels and all the clarity that could never be achieved, back in the day. But here's WinUAE fuzzed-up by ShaderGlass and I dunno.. I kinda like it. 😊 www.youtube.com/watch?v=128K...

Karateka (C64) Steadily fighting through scene after beautiful scene as you get closer to the evil warlord. It's like John Wick, without the guns. ..or the dog. 😋

Skool Daze (C64) Who ever thought you'd finish your school day, go home and start playing a game where you're a kid at school! Crazy! Actually, the number of tasks you had to do was crazy. I never got close to doing them all. But it was fun all the same. Let the school shenanigans commence! 😊

Elevator Action (arcade) Still love revisiting this game. I worked out how to put basic aperture grille and dot mask like effects on screen. A simple trick, but I like the extra fuzz it adds to lines of pixels. Curious how much YouTube might munch the detail. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJy4...

I think AliExpress algorithm has worked out the kind of stuff I like.. 😊 A USB wireless version of the old Amiga tank mouse. With a scroll wheel and all! Yeah, the colour could be better. But still. www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009...

Radar Scope (arcade) Nintendo's first arcade game doesn't really have anything that hooks me. Might explain that it didn't sell well. (Many of the cabs were later converted to Donkey Kong.) But it's got the kind of polished presentation that fits a Shigeru Miyamoto game. 😎

Oh yeah.. I've done it again. I bought a thing. 😳 I regret nothing. 😋

Tapper (C64) There's nothing quite like a nice cool beverage on a hot day. What could be better? Going out and enjoying the sun? 🌞 Oh no no no! 😮 Sitting down at the C64 and slinging cold beverages while enjoying a cold beverage. That's the way we do it son. 😊

Okay, so yeah.. I bought a thing. 😋 I've resisted buying retro stuff I don't need for a while. But it's a Saitek. And it's got this excellent damped throttle. I've got some other good analogue joysticks, but none of them have such a good throttle control. 😄

Airborne Ranger (C64) What did kids do when they wanted to be Solid Snake without having to invent a whole new gaming genre? Airborne Ranger scratched that itch: parachute into enemy territory, approach the objective, take it out, call in an osprey to extract. 😎 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHZb...

C64emu (Windows) You know, I didn't think I needed another C64 emulator in my life. But then I tried the first release of C64emu from Daemon Pig Productions. 🤔 It may be early days, but it's remarkably complete. My gods is that a gorgeous CRT view he's got going on there. It's like a warm hug. 😋

Games Creator (C64) Mirrorsoft and the Darling bros came out with a single-load games creation tool in 1984. Sure, you weren't going to create any multi-screen arcade epic here. In fact, it would all be on a single screen. But I sure as heck had fun creating my own startlingly average games. 😊

Espial (arcade) Like any arcade addict, Xevious was a landmark game, setting the template for vertically scrolling shooter+bomber games for years to come. I really enjoyed Espial. It looks very much like it was made by Xevious fans. Feels so similar, but definitely has it own style to it. 😎

MegaRace (DOS) Was the CD-Rom drive finally going to free us from the shackles of small kb-capacity floppy disks? Would our gameplay be expanded? MegaRace showed how we could overlay the most basic of games on FMV movie backgrounds behind endless movie chatter. (Though I love the presenter.) 😄

Space Invaders (arcade) Some of the very first arcade games out there were incredibly well thought out. Space Invaders is a perfect example. And definitely google the original sketch art. They're based around squids and crabs! Such an iconic design. I just love their final pixelated look. 😎

Green Beret (C64) Lets not beat about the bush: Green Beret wants to kill you. Some games are hard. Green Beret just wants you dead. Now. But, with practice, that "duck at the mere sound of a gunshot" reflex becomes well honed. You'll forget its unyielding cruelty and even start to have fun. 😊

Skull and Crossbones (arcade) With a name like that you can be sure there will be pirates, swordplay, and skulduggery and.. ninjas? Ah yeah, pirate ships, parrots, and wenches.. and undead skeletons.. medusa.. and wizards? Quite a mix. Can't complain about an unimaginative story at least. 😊

Burnin' Rubber (C64) Known as Bump 'n Jump in some places, Burnin' Rubber didn't play to any of the C64's strengths. No hardware scrolling? Questionable graphics. The sound is ghastly too. And yet, back in the day, I was happy to have a version of my favourite arcade game to play on the C64. 😄

Circus Charlie (arcade) I remember seeing a Circus Charlie cab at my local fish+chip🍟 shop for a long time. I was quite young, so loved the look of it, but couldn't get far at all. I like the odd-ball experimental concepts that made it out into the arcades in the early 80's. 😎

Winter Games (C64) The greatest thing that I learned from Winter Games is that there's an event called the Hot Dog. No other Olympic event will ever sound so cool. 😎 A really fun event too. It's easy to get a score. Hard to get a high score. Real hard to get a perfect score. 😊

10th Frame (C64) What's the point of ten pin bowling if you can't order some fries and wander around the arcade games after? You might think that taking the power/aiming tool from Leaderboard and dropping it into 10th Frame is a bit lazy. But it works really well. The best C64 bowling game.

Deactivators (ZX Spectrum) Controlling a squad of bomb-disposal robots is an underrated job. Several bombs on a timer have been placed in a building. Rooms may have a different orientation/gravity. Throw the bombs between robots then outside to dispose of them. (No-one important out there!) 😂

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad (C64) Always wanted to run naked through the forest and throw rocks at the local mutated fauna? The Sacred Armour of Antiriad gives you that chance! 😮 Theres also a flying suit of armour you can use and an alien base to destroy, in the mines under a volcano. 👍

Put a hard-drive in my PC on Saturday morning. Figured half an hour to do it. Slipped and gave the tower a good knock. Beeps indicate a faling power supply. 😐 Messed with hard drives, optical drive, graphics card, memory, and power supply.. Up and running again in the evening. 🙄 This PC is cursed.

Juno First (arcade) For some strange reason I never got into Juno First back in the day. Somehow it reminds me of Defender in its design. Love the reverse thrusters and the radar which merges seamlessly into the playfield, creating a sense of anticipation. 😎

Huh, so it seems to be the Amiga's anniversary. A great machine. I had an A500, A1200, then A4000. It was always fun seeing what would work better, and what wouldn't work at all, with each new expansion I added to them. 😎 It's final form: A4000 112MB Apollo 040/40MHz Picasso IV

9 Fingers demo (Amiga) The Amiga's not just a games machine you know! The 9 Fingers demo, released by Spaceballs at "The Party 1993". That's got to be a fair bit of work to convert all those frames to polygons. Impressive. 👍 www.youtube.com/watch?v=rumx...

Car Race (VIC-20) It’s Rally-X, but with the blandest “please don’t hurt us Namco/Midway” branding applied. 😉 First the VIC had Rally-X (Japan only) then this was their ‘generic’ one for wider distribution? I suspect sensible legal advise steered them towards the safer Radar Rat Race theme. 🐭

Banshee (Amiga) How am I supposed to pick just four screenshots for Banshee? I looked through my snaps for four. I wound up with fifty! Take the game 1942, add a second player, power-up's, huge bosses, some gorgeous bitmap-bros-like graphics and this is the result! Nice. 😎

Mario Kart 64 PC (Windows) Last month we finally had Mario Kart 64 running on Windows (and Mac and Linux.) Now SonicDcer has it integrated with GhostlyDark's HD texture pack and it's just gorgeous. 😎 Looks really good on an ultra-wide screen. It-sa true! 😊 www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnqP...

Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja (arcade) Ninjas have kidnapped President .. Ronnie? I don't know about you. But I think, if you're gonna be a ninja, stick with the traditional black. It's hard to melt into the shadows if you're dressed in bright blue or red! A fun beat-em-up for one or two players. 😋

Rally-X 64 (C64 + REU) I love some of the modern remakes the C64 has received of late. Rally-X 64 was a good one. But then they did a faster-scrolling version if you have a RAM expansion cart (which can do fast memory transfers.) It's just a bit fast for my reactions. 😄

Conan (Apple II) It's a puzzle platformer where Conan can pretty much be killed by anything that moves. Which does make for an appropriately challenging platform game. But I don't imagine he's especially muscle-bound or speaks with an Austrian accent. 😊

Back to Skool (ZX Spectrum) I was about done with my Skool Daze. No way I could be convinced to go back. But then I heard there was gonna be girls! Girls no less! Well, you don't have to tell me twice.. 😉

Zoo Keeper (NDS) The Nintendo DS was the quirky handheld that, quite rightly, was very successful. I didn't predict at all that Zoo Keeper would be the game to hook our family. A cutesey match-3 puzzle game. Making animals with attitude the puzzle pieces was a genius move. 😎

Nodes of Yesod (C64) Nodes of Yesod is my favourite mega-maze platformer with a weaponised mole, no doubt. Also, brownie points for its quirky title, that tells you exactly what the game's about, without telling you anything at all. 😊

Matrix (VIC-20) Gridrunner and Matrix/AMC are beautiful sci-fi takes on the arcade game Centipede. If you're quite high, it seems like the logical progression. 😉 Gridrunner gets the core game into an unexpanded VIC. Matrix adds lots of extra animation, strobing, and more alien-types.

Sprint 1 (C64) I wanna hop on my 1980's computer and race like it's the 1970's. ..But I had to wait until the 2000's to do it. 😋