• Tag Archives 1988

  • ActionSoft (1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: The Games Machine – February 1988

    This ad is sort of odd in that it is more of an introduction to the company making the games than an ad for the games themselves. This ad appeared in the U.K. based magazine The Games Machine in 1988. ActionSoft (or Action Soft…it is written both ways in the ad) was a U.S. based companies and their first two games, Thunderchopper and Up Periscope were originally released in 1986. As far as I can tell, these are the only two games released by ActionSoft though here they are two years later selling them in the U.K.

    Both of these games are simulations and that seems to be what ActionSoft was going to be all about. Thunderchopper is a flight simulator. The ad says that it “simulates the flight characteristics of high performance scout/rescue/attack helicopter”. In addition to being grammatically incorrect, it’s also sort of vague. This doesn’t appear to be a simulation of a specific helicopter. I never though flight sims worked very well on 8-bit or even 16-bit computers. The graphics weren’t really good enough and more importantly the frame rates were usually pretty abysmal. Having said that, there were a number of pretty realistic ones at that time given the hardware that was available. This one seems to have been a pretty average one overall.


    Thunderchopper (Commodore 64)

    Up Periscope! is a World War II submarine simulator. Like Thunderchopper it is kind of non-specific in terms of what is being simulated. It is a generic World War II sub that has the equipment and weapons of subs of that era but if it is simulating a specific sub, it isn’t specified. This game is somewhat similar to the earlier Silent Service. It isn’t a bad game and I think this kind of simulator works a lot better than flight simulators on computers of that era.

    I don’t really know what happened to ActionSoft. I remember their ads in the U.S. for these two games but I don’t remember any other games coming from them nor can I find a reference to any. They seemed to have milked these two for a while and even marketed them internationally (at least in the U.K.) but they just sort of disappeared after that. I did find a reference that says ActionSoft licensed the graphics for Thunderchopper from subLogic. Also, there is a later DOS version of Thunderchopper that seems to have been released by subLogic and is compatible with Flight Simulator scenery disks. So perhaps subLogic acquired them….


    Up Periscope! (Commodore64)

    Thunderchopper was available for the Commodore 64, Apple II and DOS. Up Periscope! was available for the Commodore 64 and DOS. The screenshots above are from the Commodore 64 versions of Thunderchopper and Up Periscope! If you want to play either one you’ll have to find original copies or resort to emulation. While it matters less for Up Periscope!, DOS is probably better for simulations during this time. At least you will get better graphics and frame rates.


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  • R-Type (Sega Master System)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    R-Type (SMS, 1988)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/165867458682/mastersofthe80s-r-type-sms-1988

    R-Type is arguably one of the best, most famous and influential and most difficult horizontal side-scrolling shooters of all time. As such, it received a number of home ports over the years and this includes a port to the Sega Master System.

    The original arcade game was released by Irem in 1987. R-Type for the TurboGrafx-16 was one of the earliest games for that system released in the U.S. in 1989. The Sega Master System version came out slightly earlier in 1988. Oddly, while there was a Super Nintendo version there was no Genesis version.

    My first experience with R-Type was actually with Super R-Type on the Super Nintendo. It was basically R-Type with a mixture of old a new levels. Despite the slow down on that platform, I always loved the game, especially the Geiger-esque graphics. I think I only ever beat it on the easiest difficulty level.

    When the Sega Master system version came out, it was considered one of the best games on that platform. It too has slow-down problems and in addition, graphics detail is somewhat reduced, especially in terms of the number of colors displayed. Despite this, it is still a very good if difficult game.

    The best home port of R-Type is the TurboGrafx-16 version. At one point, both the TurboGrafx-16 version and the Sega Master System version were available on Nintendo’s Virtual Console for the Wii. While the SMS version is quite good for that system, there aren’t very many reasons you would want that one over the TG-16 version. The graphics, sound and gameplay were all vastly superior on the TurboGrafx-16 version and if you had to pick only one then that would be the one. For completists though, there might be one reason you would want the Master System version. It had a bonus hidden level that was only available on that system.


    bonus level

    In addition to the ports mentioned above there were also several home computer ports as well as numerous clones and other shooters heavily influenced by R-Type. More recently in 2009, R-Type and R-Type II became available on Xbox Live Arcade in the form of R-Type Dimensions which was also released for the PS3 in 2014. In 2010 and 2011 ports were also released for iOS and Android. If you want the Sega Master System port, you will have to track down the original cartridge or fire up an emulator. This version was delisted from Nintendo’s Virtual Console in 2011 due to licensing issues.

    Screens above are all for the Sega Master System version.





    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games Sega Master System 📎and tagged