Nathan

@dantemendes Interestingly, if you try Zeewolf, and then Zeewolf 2 on the same Amiga, you'll see that Zeewolf 2 will achieve a better frame rate. Both games are great fun. (It's like Virus, but you don't crash into the ground if you sneeze.) 😋 youtube.com/watch?v=1Ne4W5…

Zeewolf for the Amiga by Binary Asylum (1994) is a nice polygon-based helicopter shooter. It's reminiscent of the game Virus (aka Zarch). ~68030/FastRAM here - I got a faster machine but I don't think it goes faster there: these old Amiga 3D games tend to run in ChipRAM rather than FastRAM ('bottlenecked' to run on stock models). #AmigaReposts

@exQUIZitely Also, the C64, since it only had a 1MHz processor, feels a bit slow and sluggish compared to most of the other 8-bit versions. But some enterprising chap converted the game to the Commodore +4. With its 2MHz CPU, it feels just about right. 😊 youtube.com/watch?v=AZmtLK…

@exQUIZitely I played Elite on the C64 for so many months.. I'm not sure how that flicker didn't do something to me. (Maybe it did.) 😄 An amazingly vast game in a small memory footprint. And a fun game too. That was quite the achievement. 👍 A revamped version of the code, with no flicker:

I often think about the technical limitations that game designers of the 80s had to work with - both in terms of software and hardware. The game that stands at the very top is Elite. Think about this for a second: The core game code on the BBC Micro version occupied roughly 22 KB of memory. Now think about what Braben and Bell turned that into: a universe with eight galaxies, each containing 256 star systems (for a total of 2,048 planets/systems). Each system featured unique details: government type, economy, technology level, population, commodity prices, and even descriptive text (e.g., a planet known for "carnivorous arts graduates" or similar quirky combinations). If you still need a bit more help to contextualize that, try this: Elite was smaller than many modern text files or desktop icons, yet it contained (and let you freely explore) a multi-galaxy-spanning universe that felt vast and limitless. Oh, and by the way, the game also rendered 3D wireframe ships, stations, and planets in real time on a 2 MHz 6502 processor. This is no slight on today’s game designers. They work with what they have, and that's okay. But when you think about the worlds that some programmers created with the tools they were given, it sometimes breaks my brain trying to understand how they did it. Elite is a true masterpiece on so many levels. I played the C64 version back in the day, and even 40+ years later it still feels like one of the most incredible programming wonders ever.

@gregnacu I'm in two minds as to whether the PET or the VIC-20 does the best-looking diagonal lines BASIC one-liner. (Which I typed on two lines.. because I do.) 😄

Well this is new to me!! I’ve never owned a PET before. And haven’t had much interest in emulating one. But output to a CRT with a C64’s real keyboard for input, this is actually pretty cool. #BMC64

@exQUIZitely I liked the extra bonus stage they added to the 16-bit version. But had to go back to the C64 version because then I didn't have to question why these Karateka's would be dyeing their hair-bands to match their belt. 😋

International Karate Plus (often just called IK+) was the sequel to the 1986 hit International Karate. Once again, Archer Maclean was behind another masterpiece from the golden era of 80s fighting games. The 1980s were easily the high point for karate and kung-fu style games, heavily influenced by popular martial arts movies of that decade. The three-player mode was an interesting twist on the standard 1v1 fights. It often led to hilarious 2v1 gang-ups when playing with friends. As always with Archer Maclean’s games, the music and graphics were excellent, the controls were tight, and the gameplay was simple but very addictive. I’m always torn between the original from 1986 and this sequel from 1988; I just can’t decide which is better. So, one point each - FIGHT!!

@GameStalgiaX I was hooked right up until the third or fourth achievement that made me go "is there no kerning in these fonts at all?" 😋 "T ail ga ting?"

Why don't they make racing games like this anymore?

@JamesPond47 Got the impression that some people who read the book were "this is the kind of detail we were missing from the movies!" But, I only ever saw the movies. I suspect that's true of much of the fan-base now. 🤔 But, eh. I'm not the target demo. I'm off to play GBA Harry Potter. 😋

@level106 ☝️👍 This absolutely! Struggle to find qhat exactly about the movies is now too "dated", even if I could nitpick what got cut from the books later...but then I would nitpick some of the book plots by the end anyways!!😋😂

Am I the only one who saw the new HBO Harry Potter TV series trailer and think their choice for the boy was more Dawn French than Daniel Radcliffe? 😋 Also, I know I'm at that age where my first reaction would be "It's too soon for a remake!" 👴 youtube.com/watch?v=9onI92…

@Indie_RetroNEWS @TheRetroAsylum @ClassicReplay @ZXDev2015 @zxspectrum_club I couldn't see the appeal of a high-def PC Jetpac, until they showed a mode with the original ZX Spectrum graphics and sound. 😄

Indie Retro News: Jetpac - Langford Productions Launches High-Def PC Remake of Ultimate Classic indieretronews.com/2026/03/jetpac… #retrogaming #gaming #zxspectrum #pcgaming @TheRetroAsylum @ClassicReplay @ZXDev2015 @zxspectrum_club

@exQUIZitely Choplifter (C64) I love the raster effects in the border that make it look like the horizon extends the entire width of the display — which isn't something computers of the day could ever do. 😄 Looks cool on the C64emu emulator with the CRT bezel. 📺 youtube.com/watch?v=X84Vhg…

One of the best early 80s games ever is Choplifter, from 1982, developed in a solo effort by Dan Gorlin and published by Broderbund. It also became one of the best selling games ever for the Apple II. The game simulated "realistic" helicopter flight with inertia, gravity, lift, drag, and momentum, resulting in the chopper feeling "sloppy and unstable" like a real one, yet remained playable after Broderbund helped tune it down from an overly realistic (and probably too frustrating) simulator. For 1982 standards this was very innovative. My earliest memory of this was at a friend's house; he had a C64 on which we played it into dust. It was literally the only game we played for months. We had a handrittwen "Highscore" list that we updated after each session, signed by all players present when we played it (yes, very nerdy). One simple rule was that highscores only counted when at least one other person was present and signed it off. I wished that list didn't get lost in time. Early 80s gaming included so many things that don't exist anymore today... handwritten high score lists, drawn dungeon maps, the coastal line for Pirates, level codes...

I don't exactly *need* another Atari-to-USB joystick adapter, but I saw these ones on iCode dot com for a good price and thought "why not?" 😊 I'm surprised at just how much I like the wee display that shows the directions and button-presses it sees. 😄 icode.com/product/icode-…

@OldManThatGames I think that's a good example of how just about everyone plays that game for the first time. hehe. Zarch/Virus is so beautifully designed. It needs real concentration, but when you're "in the zone" is quite rewarding. 😎 I only ever played the Amiga version:

The A3000 lives , time for zarch

@retrokatg Commando Arcade on the C64 is a great recompile of the original Elite release. 👍 ..Back in the day it looped after only three levels. But it had such excellent Hubbard music that I didn’t mind at all. 😁 (Sometimes the sprite multiplexor would glitch out.. glad they fixed that.)

After 40 years, today is the day I clocked Commando on the Commodore 64. I didn’t know how many levels there were, or that it loops after 8. Realising the furniture is your friend at the end is each level was the key!

@rhayadercompute Though I like the original, after the beautifully designed camel sprites on Revenge of the Mutant Camels, Sheep in Space, etc, I find it a bit hard to go back to these portly beasts. 😊 That said, the re-imagined version of this game in Batalyx in a fun stroboscopic thang. 😎

Attack of The Mutant Camels C64, Shooting camels that are Mutant #c64 #commodore

@oldyzach Oh.. 🤔 I suddenly feel I need to return to base, immediately. 🚗

Hello retro folks 😎 How you doin' ? ☕🔊

@000Angus000 🤔

@level106 I didn't even know there was an Emmerdale computer game. 😉

I think it's fair to say that I categorically don't need joystick buttons in either silver or gold. And yet I still clicked "buy". (I regret nothing.) 😄

@FrontierAstro Yeah. Elite on the C64 was excellent. (Some BBC versions were better. But I never had a BBC.) 😄 But the Amiga/ST versions.. they looked pretty. But there was something not-quite-right about the gameplay. 😐

Elite for the #CommodoreAmiga improved on the original in virtually every way, with fast, colourful graphics, secret missions and exciting gameplay. Somehow though, it lacked both the x-factor and wow factor of the 8-bit versions, probably because games had moved on by 1988.

@gamesyouloved Ah, he found one of the shootemogenous zones. 😉 (And I'm once again reminded just how much mine needs to be retro-brighted.) 😋

What’s this Wrong answers only! 🤪😂

@000Angus000 It's big and it's gold and it feels great in the hand.. 😊

@level106 Hmmmmm.....

@gamesyouloved Pew pew pew! 😎

What’s a “save state”? 🤔 Back in the arcade… you had ONE life No saving No checkpoints No second chances You either got good… or you lost