Developed and published by Synapse Software in 1983. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Al82_Retro Add me on Google+: http://bit.ly/1tPwL1u I remember getting Blue Max on a Commodore Format Power Pack tape many years after the game was originally released, and I remember thinking what a fantastic little game it was. Playing the game again today, my opinion hasn't changed. Blue Max is set during the First World War, back when aerial combat was in it's infancy. As a flying ace, you must pilot your biplane over hostile terrain on a mission to destroy key targets behind enemy lines. Marked targets either flash, or have a target symbol painted on them to make identification easy. Your plane is equipped with a machine gun, which can be used to shoot down enemy planes and can also be used to strafe ground targets if you're feeling brave enough. Strafing can rack up some impressive points, although getting hit by one of the many flak emplacements is much more likely. Alternatively, your plane also has a finite supply of bombs which can be dropped on targets, although you will have to account for inertia and height if you want to hit your target. Getting hit by flak won't necessarily destroy your plane outright, but it will damage parts of the plane. For example, if your fuel line gets damaged then your plane will start to leak fuel and the fuel counter will tick down at a faster rate, while damage to your bomb bay will prevent you from dropping bombs until you can repair your plane. The ending of each level is denoted by a warning at the bottom of the screen to indicate that you are approaching an airfield. Landing will refuel your plane, resupply bombs and repair a portion of any damage currently sustained; it's quite possible to miss the airfield altogether and this means that you'll have to hope that you can survive on whatever resources you have available. If you destroyed enough marked targets, you progress to the next level. However, in a novel twist, this is completely seamless and the only indication that you have progressed at all is the difference in level layout and additional elements to the battle field. The game's finale involves a bombing run down a corridor of tall buildings where the objective is to bomb a series of white government buildings, each surrounded by a dense cluster of flak emplacements. Survive this ordeal and make it to the next airfield and the day is won, upon which you will be awarded a flying ribbon and title. Perhaps the main reason why the game is such a gem is the attention to detail. The isometric perspective affords and inclusion of elevation, which means some frantic dogfighting with enemy planes as you try to find the correct height from which they can be shot down. Wind also affects your flight handlin ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruCZm2wLcb4

Developed and published by Rainbow Arts in 1991. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Al82_Retro Add me on Google+: http://bit.ly/1tPwL1u The Turrican games were some of the best games to grace home computers of the late 1980's and 90's. Most people will be familiar with the Amiga version by Factor 5, but the C64 also got a release by Rainbow Arts, helmed by Manfred Trenz. The game opens with an incredibly long intro sequence (15 minutes long!) that sets the back-story for the game. The crew of galactic cruiser, the Avalon 1, are about to journey beyond the reaches of the known universe on an exploration mission, when their vessel is attacked and hijacked by an enemy vessel belonging to The Machine. The crew are wiped out and the safety of Earth and all other colonies are jeapordised as the forces of chaos take over the ship. As a member of the Avalon 1's remaining crew, you manager to escape and don the all-powerful Turrican reinforced armour suit, determined to get revenge for your fallen comrades and to defeat the The Machine and his forces. What this boils down to is a a side-scrolling platform game with plenty of shooting, enemies to kill and power-ups to collect across a varied set of levels. The levels themselves are far from linear, with many secret areas to find and extra lives to be collected. I for one never played the C64 version before recording this video. It's something of a technical marvel, with amazing graphics, huge levels and great mechanics. Markus Siebold also produced some great music for the game, but this is present in only a select few levels, which is a real shame and the only disappointment with the game. For you eagle-eyed viewers, the score and lives counter changes somewhere around world 4 thanks to a game crash, which meant I lost my save states and had to start a new game at the last level I played. Trenz stated in the closing credits that Turrican 2 would be his last C64 game, although he went on to create Enforcer: Fullmetal Megablaster for CP Verlag a year later. Anyway, let's raise a toast to one of the best games to grace the C64! Enjoy! #retrogaming ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBdVV_BCZoA