Alien ant buys the farm

Gremlin's Sonic-squishing hopeful, Zool, was in the '90s to be converted to run in coin-op arcade cabinets destined for seaside towns around the nation. Despite evidence of a prototype appearing on the Bad Influence TV tech show and in several gaming magazines, the finished product ultimately failed to materialise. I track down some of the key developers commissioned to make it happen and investigate why it didn't.

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A page right out of history

Junior, Son of Chuck, demonstrates he's a chip off the old block in the sequel to Core Design's prehistoric platformer, Chuck Rock. As before, it's hard to play without imagining being trapped inside a vintage Flintstones cartoon, except now we're in charge of a nappy-clad, further regressed Bamm-Bamm, wielding a club taller than he is on a quest to save his kidnapped dad from the clutches of the stony-hearted Brick Jagger. It's hardly a chore when the audio-visual presentation is so enticing, exquisitely crafted by esteemed professionals who clearly had their hearts invested in this passion project. Much like living in Bedrock, endless comedic touches keep us amused throughout while we bash and crash our way to a poignant family reunion.

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The sea will grow larger with our fall

For reasons that now escape me, I explain and review the most popular and ubiquitous puzzle game of all time. One that certainly needs no introduction or explanation, Lemmings. Who knows, maybe some aliens who have been living under a distant rock in a galaxy far away will find it interesting.

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Ground control to Major Pond

James Pond 3, the covert ops sequel to RoboCod you never knew existed, is faster and more technically sophisticated, yet failed to Take the Biscuit (TM, probably). Maybe the 007-cyborg-cop parody's expiry date had passed by 1993. Maybe the design mechanics are overly complicated, sabotaging its pick-up-and-play potential. I ruminate over the possibilities, mesmerised by Operation Starfish's tasty visuals.

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Waking up the neighbours

Some games are so ubiquitous they are even familiar to non-gamers; Atari's Paperboy is a prime example. That's why I put off writing about it for so long, assuming there would be nothing remotely fresh to say about the classic, isometric newspaper-delivering sim that - against the odds - took suburbia by storm. I did eventually hit upon something... and it wasn't a stout-looking bulldog or obliviously reversing car. Well, it's different, I ticked that box.

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There's Something About Calamari

Chasing the mass appeal of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario in the '90s, some game developers devised blatant clones, whilst others assimilated the best elements of each, expanding upon the concepts that make them so engaging. Vectordean's contribution was the lovably ubiquitous James Pond 2: RoboCod. It takes Sonic's foot-blurring velocity, seamlessly blending it with the platforming antics of Mario. What RoboCod delivers over and above homage is his telescopic torso manoeuvre, platform-underside-gripping shimmying, endearing enemies you can't decide whether to pet or kill, charming wit, in large part courtesy of the unrelenting James Bond/RoboCop parodies, nostalgic throwbacks to the inaugural James Pond game that fans of the series will recognise and appreciate, and more artistic variety than Sonic and Mario mushed together. Of course, they all feature fantastic music, finely-tuned, responsive controls and addictive gameplay too.

My enduring affection for RoboCod no doubt contributed greatly to my lack of interest in SEGA and Nintendo consoles at the time. A controversial stance that explains Roger Moore's raised eyebrows. In what must be the most comprehensive article ever written about RoboCod, I explore the abounding reasons our fi5hy friend left such a lasting impression on my psyche and was sufficiently well-regarded to break free from the niche of Amiga gaming to earn a license to gill on almost every game and computer system worth its sea salt.

In a separate article, I discuss with Chris Sorrell - RoboCod's creator - the curious inclusion of Bertie Bassett in the original title and many of its subsequent ports.

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I am Zuul. I am the Gatekeeper.

Any gamers who lived through the Sonic the Hedgehog era and didn't own a SEGA console will vividly remember their perpetual yearning for an official, authentic port, or failing that, a clone that could match the blue speedball's extreme pace and effortlessly nonchalant attitude. For Amiga owners et al, the closest we ever came to achieving this lofty ideal was prescribed by Gremlin Graphics' Zool; the ninja hailing from the Nth dimension. Note that I didn't for a second allude to the Formicidae family because I wouldn't dream of planting that absurd notion in your minds. He's definitely not an ant of any kind. Bearing any remote similarity to attributes that constitute antness are purely coincidental, so should be relegated to the attic of your brain where you store cobwebs, dead bluebottles and repressed memories of childhood trauma.

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I see a purple door and want it painted red, no purple anymore, I want them to turn red

There won't be many Amiga fans who aren't already familiar with Imagineering's 1991 licensed Simpsons video game, Bart vs. the Space Mutants. It featured amongst the titles included in Commodore's Cartoon Classics Amiga 500 bundle, so for many gamers would have been one of the only three games they owned until the next birthday or Christmas rolled around bearing presents. Its plot and game mechanics patently inspired by John Carpenter's sci-fi horror movie, 'They Live', starring former wrestler, Roddy Piper, I simultaneously wind them through the industrial review machine in the hope that some common ground will emerge.

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Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come

The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy is an appropriate title for the most aesthetically appealing and technically sophisticated entry in the Oliver Twin's exhaustively sweeping franchise. Not a bad place at all then to begin exploring the legacy of the anthropomorphic egghead that captivated so many adventure-hungry gamers back in the '80s and '90s. I lift the lid on its themes, gameplay mechanics and artistry, interview the developers who originally conceived the character, and endeavour to provide an overview of Dizzy's irrepressible oeuvre. Hold the omelette, I'll never make it back in time for breakfast!

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Believe it or not, it's Ripley

Ellen Ripley and a facehugger are the only survivors following an inferno that guts her Colonial Marine spaceship, Sulaco. Ejecting from an escape pod, she crashlands on prison planet Fiorina 'Fury' 161 where she encounters hostility from the deranged inmates and an even less welcome reception upon reuniting with her enduring nemesis, a descendent from the Xenomorph lineage.

In 1992 Probe produced a gaming tie-in for the Amiga, Game Gear, Genesis, and SEGA Master System that ignores the crux of the third movie; that Ripley must face the alien threat unarmed. It's a 2D, side-scrolling shoot 'em up platformer that blends core elements of the franchise in general rather than strictly adhering to the nuances of Alien 3. A solid, albeit insanely difficult, tribute to the source material.

I assess the merits of each, drawing parallels where possible.

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Indiana wants me, Lord, I can't go back there

On the trail of his father, Sean Connery, currently being held hostage by the Nazis, Indy discovers that the key to his rescue is inextricably entwined with a coincidental quest to track down the holy grail.

Tiertex's officially licensed platform game attempts to replicate the most significant scenes from Steven Spielberg's celluloid classic, translating them for almost every home computer and console system on the planet in 1989. I investigate how close they came to snagging the ancient riches and escaping with their sanity, fedoras and lives intact.

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