• Tag Archives CPC

  • Advanced Computer Entertainment (April 1991)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Advanced Computer Entertainment – Issue number 43 – April 1991

    ACE, short for Advanced Computer Entertainment, is a gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It primarily covered computers but also had some coverage of consoles as well. The April 1991 issue includes:

    Reviews

    • On Computer and Console
      • Chuck Rock – A platform game featuring a cave man for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Colditz – A strategic spy game set during World War II for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64.
      • Flames of Freedom – Sequel to Midwinter for the Atari ST and Amiga.
      • Gods – An action adventure game set in ancient Greece.
      • Gynoug – A side-scrolling shooter for the Megadrive (Genesis).
      • Lemmings – The classic real-time strategy/puzzle game in which you must save as many lemmings as possible as they mindlessly march to their deaths for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS.
      • Muds – A fantasy sports sim for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS.
      • Navy Seals – A game based on the movie of the same name for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum.
      • Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe – A World War II combat flight sim from LucasArts.
      • Super Monaco Grand Prix – Racing sim for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum. Looks a bit like Grand Prix Circuit from Accolade.
      • Star Control – The classic sci-fi strategy game. It’s interesting that this game is generally a well regarded classic but it gets a pretty horrible review here.
      • Turrican 2 – The classic side-scrolling shooter for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum.
      • Zany Golf – A fun miniature golf game for the Megadrive (Genesis).
    • On CD
      • Sherlock Holmes – A bit about the making of Sherlock Holmes.

    Features

    • Coin-Op Breakthrough – A look at upcoming arcade technologies including increased memory, digital video, and more. This article talks a bit about the Intel i750 graphics processing unit but this was ultimately a failure in the market.
    • CD Report – A look at early CD systems like the TurboGrafx-CD as well as some of the CD based games expected to be in stores for the holidays.
    • Actual Reality Exclusive – Despite the name, this was a virtual reality system under development at the time.
    • The ABC of CD – A brief look at upcoming CD-ROM hardware for the Amiga, Atari ST, PCs, as well as the FM Towns.

    Regulars

    • ACE Tech News – New ‘camera on a chip’ technology, model rocket sales soar (I used to love building and launching these), Socrates Educational Video System from Vtech, and much more.
    • ACE Games News – Sonic the Hedgehog, Alien Storm arcade game, G-Loc, Lemmings II, and much more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about after sales service for hardware and software, F-29 Retaliator, multiplayer gaming, and more.
    • Tricks’n’Tactics Returns! – Tips and tricks for Rise of the Dragon, Captive, Night Shift, Supremacy, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Gremlins 2, Kick Off II, and more.
    • Pink Pages – Game charts, high scores, classified ads, and more.

    …and more!


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  • ACE (January 1991)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    ACE Advanced Computer Entertainment, Issue Number 40, January 1991

    ACE, short for “Advanced Computer Entertainment” is a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It mostly covered computer games on various platforms but also covered video game systems. the January 1991 issue includes:

    Massive Xmas Gameplay Section

    • Gunship 2000 Sneak Preview – A preview of Microprose’s combat helicopter (AH-64 Apache) sim for the PC (DOS). It would later be ported to the Amiga, CD32 and (much later) the PlayStation.
    • ACE Updates – A look at the latest game conversion including Midwinter for the PC, Rick Dangerous 2 for the Commodore 64, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday for the CPC 64, and Rick Dangerous 2 for the Spectrum.
    • Tricks and Tactics – Tips, tricks and cheats for Captive, Shadow of the Beast 2, Xenomorph, Drakkhen, and Xiphos.

    Specials

    • Far Out! – A detailed look at the first VR arcade game, the Virtuality 1000. It was actually a platform for which several games were ultimately available. It was powered primarily by an Amiga 3000. Later iterations were power by a 486 based PC and a Pentium based PC though in all cases there was additional hardware for graphics.
    • That’s Intertainment – The first of a two-part report on the Intertainment ’90, an interactive entertainment convention based in New York. It featured advanced game design, hyperfiction, interactive cinema and more.
    • Journeys in Virtual Reality – A report on the U.K.’s Computer Graphics exhibition, the UK’s premier showcase for the latest in digital art. Virtual Reality seemed to be a big topic this year.
    • DVI Workstation – The upcoming CD revolution and full motion video were all the rage. This is a look at Empruve’s Cornucipia which was a compact workstation which was CD based and sort of resembled a black and white tablet with a secondary smaller color screen all mounted to a base with a CD-ROM drive. It was based on Intel’s DVI chipset and also featured a 386 processor, 1 MB of RAM, a 20 or 40 MB hard drive and an optional 4 MB floppy drive of some kind. A cursory web search revealed absolutely nothing other than an old Popular Science article about the same device. I’m not sure these even made it to the prototype stage…
    • Gold Digging – ACE hosts a conference with U.S. Gold in which topics such as Mean Streets, CD-ROMs and Cybercon II are discussed, among other things.
    • Phone Power – ACE launches a phone (voice) based service that provides gaming news, tips and more.

    Regulars

    • ACE News – Castle of Illusion coming soon for the MegaDrive; Captive 2 in development; rumors of an imminent release of the Atari Panther…this was a 68000 based gaming system that was basically complete when cancelled in favor of the development of the Jaguar; Sega and IBM develop a combined PC/MegaDrive; Laser Games International develops a life role-playing system for amusement parks called LaserQuest; and more.
    • Letters – Letters this month include topics such as the Amiga CDTV, and complaints about console coverage.
    • In the Pink – A special Christmas section which includes a guide to gifts, this month’s top games, a look at games on store shelves for Christmas, a hardware buyer’s guide, a competition, a crossword puzzle, and more.

    Reviews

    • On Computer
      • 4D Sports Boxing – A blocky boxing game from Mindscape
      • 4D Sports Driving – A game similar to Stunt Driver for the PC, Atari ST and Amiga.
      • Alpha Waves – A sort of 3D puzzle game for the PC.
      • ATF 2 – A strategy/sim/arcade game in which you fly an advanced fighter jet for the PC, Atari ST and Amiga.
      • B.A.T. – A sci-fi themed adventure game. The ST version comes with a sound card.
      • Battle Chess 2 – A sequel to the classic animated chess game for the PC, Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Carv-Up – A cartoony action game for the Amiga.
      • Chip’s Challenge – A puzzle game for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Death Trap – An arcade adventure game (reminds me a little of Heroes of the Lance) for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Dragon Breed – A horizontal shooter for the Atari ST and Amiga.
      • Gauntlet 3 – A 3D version of Gauntlet for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Gunship 2000 – See the sneak peek above.
      • Hard Drivin’ 2 – Sequel to the 3D polygon low frame rate classic for the Amiga.
      • James Pond – A platform game featuring a secret agent fish for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Lemmings – The classic puzzle game for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
      • Line of Fire – An Operation Wolf type game for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Nitro – An overhead racing game from Psygnosis for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Obitus – An arcade adventure game pretending to be an RPG for the Amiga.
      • Operation Com Bat – A turn-based strategy game featuring tanks and other vehicles for the Amiga and Macintosh.
      • Prince of Persia – The classic follow-up to Karateka for the Amiga.
      • Rogue Trooper – A four level action game for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Sorcerors Get All The Girsl – A humorous adventure game written by ex-Infocom employees for the PC.
      • Speedball 2 – A futuristic cross between football and rollerball for the Atari ST, Amiga and PC.
      • Spindizzy Worlds – A Spindizzy game that plays a bit like Marble Madness for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • SWIV – Basically a sequel to Silkworm but played from a top down view…for the Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum, and Commodore 64.
      • Team Suzuki – A motorcycle racing game for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
      • The Ultimate Ride – A motorcycle racing game from Mindscape.
      • Wings of Death – A vertically scrolling shooter similar to Dragon Spirit for the Amiga and Atari ST.
    • On Console
      • Boulderdash – The classic action/puzzle game for the Game Boy.
      • Burning Force – A mediocre 3D shooter similar to Space Harrier for the MegaDrive.
      • Cyberlip – A side-scrolling platform shooter in which you hunt droids for the Neo Geo.
      • Hellfire – A shooter for the MegaDrive.
      • Pipe Dream – A decent puzzle game for the Game Boy.
      • Rabid Rabbit – Rabio Lepus, an interesting shooter for the PC Engine.
      • Strider – An excellent platform game for the MegaDrive.

    …and more!


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