Wednesday 16 November 2016

Holy 8-Bits! A Commodore 64 Bundle?


Right, so this is something you don't see every day. A short while ago we were approached by Denis 'Remute' Karimani on behalf of RETURN Magazine and Groupees, enquiring if we'd be interested in participating in a Commodore-64-themed games bundle. You know, like those various bundles on PC where you pay a couple of dollars or so for a whole bunch of games - but this time for the Commodore 64(!)

Seeing an opportunity for more people to be exposed to the scene surrounding our favourite 8-Bit computer, after a brief negotiation with the developers we agreed to give it a go; meaning that you can (for a limited time) play and own TIGER CLAW, POWERGLOVE, GRAVITRIX, JAM IT and the recently-released MOONSPIRE for a ludicrously low price!

Of course, that's not all; in addition to our games, our friends at PSYTRONIK have also joined the bundle with MY LIFE and SOULLESS - and for those of you into glitched-up chip-funk - DATADOOR have made the contents of their awesome DUBCRT available to download for the first time (worth the entry fee alone IMO).

So what are you waiting for? If you've missed out on any of these games in the past, now's the time to complete your collection for $1.99! On the flip-side, this *is* for a good cause (supporting our fave 8-Bit mag and developers!), so if you already own them all but still want to chip in, it would be hugely appreciated.

At the time of writing you have just under two weeks to get involved. Check it out!

Monday 7 November 2016

Moonspire and C-2048 Available on Cartridge Now! (Commodore 64)


Well, look at that! No new C64 releases from us for nine months, and then suddenly three within a few weeks of each other!

Today we're happy to announce the cartridge release of both MOONSPIRE and C-2048, two games that (like JAM IT) were a looooong time coming. But hey, now they are finally here. Details on each game follows.

Tuesday 1 November 2016

Moonspire Available Soon! (Commodore 64)


"Attacking under the cover of night, the Draxx strike force hit the human settlements of Arcturus 7 hard. Thousands of lives were lost in the initial attack, and hundreds more in the chaotic aftermath. The remaining colonists rallied and began to strategize a retaliation, but it was too late. The Draxx had called back their forces to the far side of the planet's only moon - taking with them the control orbs from the now rapidly cooling thermal-boosters. They weren't going to waste resources on a ground assault, instead they were simply going to put the planet back into deep freeze.

There were only two options available. We could abandon the planet and retreat back to the safety of one of the United Federal star-systems, but that would risk leading the Draxx directly back to the core worlds of mankind. Or, we could fight back... YOU volunteered for the second option."


Whilst catching up with releases on CSDB at the end of 2014 I came across a game preview for Moonspire by Victory, a demo group who were last active back in 1997. New releases from old C64 crews always pique my interest, so I grabbed a copy for my Ultimate 1541-II and booted up the C64. Much to my surprise, the preview was of a flip-screen labyrinthine shmup with a really unique visual style; loads of metallic looking textures, bold outlined robotic sprites and some fantastic animation work. Sure, it didn't push any boundaries, but as an obvious tribute to Cybernoid it was really nicely done - and most importantly - a load of fun to play.