Batch 31 : Famous Five ... On holiday in the sun ?

When I first saw the title Famous Five in the list of Mastertronic titles to collect, I instantly thought it might be connected to a graphic text adventure with a similar name. Of course Famous Five is purely a compilation of 'Five Superb Games in One Mega Pack ' and has nothing to do with Enid Blytons title of works.

And with another cool sub-label title, we have Sunburst. A shoot'em up with nice 360 degree movement and sound effects. Watch out for the asteroid showers though !

Mastertronic ::
Famous Five : Amaurote, Invasion, Knucklebusters, Milk Race and Motos.

Rack It ::
Sunburst

The next batch may contain some surprises. All pending until they arrive !

Batch 30 : Sport and Strategy ?

With sport, there is strategy. Both together, you have a winning combination, but that all depends on how you play.

Out of all the Tennis games on the Commodore 64, Grand Prix Tennis or Lawn Tennis as the Title Screen proudly states, is one of my favourites with cool music by Jason C. Brooke. Ironically, it is by Mastertronic as well. I think it's an easy game to get into and is fun to play. On Court Tennis by Activision is okay as well, but a favourite is a favourite. With Invasion, we have a sort of strategy type game. Again, I am not a big fan of these. But as with all the games, try them out ! You might just like them !

Bulldog ::
Invasion

Mastertronic Added DImension ::
Grand Prix Tennis ( Lawn Tennis )

Currently in transit, another batch for next time ...

Batch 29 : Sign-up, get funky, is it this one and what ???

We've entered 2012 ( twenty-twelve ) and continue I go, collecting all I can with ... " All Things Mastertronic ". Just a couple of tapes this time and a what ? Yes ! A what ! Something that I am trying to work out and reason to myself why this happened and was seemingly allowed. Slipped throught net and then possibly hauled in again ?

So, we have ... Raw Recruit ! A nice little Combat School type-clone with some cool music by Tim Follin. The game doesn't feel as difficult to play as Combat School, but worth a load-up and listen to. As with Street Beat, it's really Ghettoblaster ! Just a bit of a change with the title screen and music, all for the re-release on the Mastertronic label. Funky music too !

Mastertronic ::
Streetbeat

Mastertronic Added Dimension ::
Raw Recruit

Is it this one ?
Some of you might be aware, that I am collecting games occording to the list that Anthony Guter kindly sent me. Now that I have collected over 200 titles of the 230+, the availability of some are harder to come by. As with a concern from an earlier post, someone is bound to cash in on rarer titles knowing there are collectors out there or the title is rare because copies have been thrown out and only a few copies exist. Last week I found a copy of Talladega ( Richard Petty's ). It was originally release by Cosmi . U.S. Gold, but appears on the list. So, would this be on the Americana or Ricochet label ? Well, I found a copy of it on the " Top Ten " label. There is no Novaload or any other fancy loader, just a regular turbo loader with coloured lines.

So, perhaps Talladega was released three times or was it only twice ? Until another copy from a different label surfaces, I will never know or will I ?

What ???
Again, working through the list, I have been investigating some titles via emulation. One that took my eye was Ultimate Combat Mission. This was released by Mastertronic and coded by Richard Aplin, also famous for Island of Doctor Destructo and the fantastic loader games, Invade-a-load and Load'n Play. But what caught my eye more than most with Ultimate Combat Mission, was it had a few things that not many commercial games had, other parts of games or peoples work. What ??? Yes ! The Font from Rambo - First Blood Part II by Ocean and Sprites from Commando by Elite. There was also a bitmap font from another game, but the name passes me at the moment. The music was by Steve Barret. What a great tune it is !

The style of game and it's contents is rather like the Crackers Revenge style. Creative in taking contents from other games, but forming parts together into a commercial release is a bit cheeky. I would be very surprised that any software house would allow it, unless permission was granted ? I have a feeling the game may have been pulled off the market.

Just as I was finishing up this post, another tape arrived in the mail. Something for next time ...