Avalanche (VIC20/ZX81/CBM PET)

It's been a year since we last featured Revival Studios here at RGCD, and over the past 12 months they’ve released a staggering number of games across a number of retro platforms. I knew that they were an active publisher, but quite frankly Martijn's little self-run label puts RGCD's own activities to shame, with 12 new games developed in-house for a number of platforms and released this year alone. So today we’re going to have a look at Avalanche, a neat little reaction title for the VIC20, PET and ZX81 based on a earlier Revival Studios title (ColorClash), and a game that I should have written about last month when it was still the studios newest release.

Kweepout (VIC20)

Breakout – one of the earliest videogame archetypes. Effectively one-player Pong, the game originally arrived in the arcades in 1976. Since then it has appeared in various versions for every platform imaginable - so how does Steve McCrea's new interpretation for the VIC20 hold up?

Dragonwing (VIC20)

[Originally reviewed by SirClive in RGCD Issue #01, February 2007]

The VIC-20 is something of an unsung hero in the home computer world. Launched in 1981, it was Commodore's answer to the Atari VCS and Intellivision consoles. But with the addition of a real keyboard it offered a colour computer at an amazing price (under $300 in the US). It was the first home computer to sell one million units and at the height of its popularity they were churning out over 9,000 units a day. So why is it now treated like your embarrassing uncle with the ill-fitting wig? Well mostly it's because of it was overshadowed by it's flashy little brother the Commodore 64, but it really is criminal to miss out on some classic games from the dawn of home computing.

If we fast-forward 20 years to Finland, we find a near legendary coder/musician from the Amiga Demo scene going through some form of electronic regression back to the (8-bit) womb. Moving backwards through the Commodore hardware catalogue, Aleksi Eeben creates a game on the humble unexpanded VIC-20 and it is quite simply hard to believe that it could all be done in just 3.5k!

Retro News Update

Time for another round-up of news from the retro scene! With the results (and downloads) from the 2011 ABBUC Software Contest due any day now, the focus today is on the Atari 8-Bit scene, but there's also a couple of 2600/VCS games, one for the VIC20 and even a Videopac/Odyssey title thrown in this update for good measure. As always, full reviews will follow soon.

Mighty Jill Off Preview (Atari XE/XL)

Probably worthy of a news update all by itself, we at RGCD expect Morons Of H.A.R. to win this year's ABBUC Software Contest with their 8-Bit remake of Auntie Pixelante's acclaimed BDSM-themed hardcore platformer. Loosely based on Mighty Bomb Jack (the home computer sequel to the coin-op classic), Mighty Jill Off is a extreme test of old-school jump 'n' run skill and it'll be interesting to see if the difficulty of the Mac and PC version is matched on the Atari. Check the video and let us know what you think!

The Keep (VIC20)

       
First Person Shooters have come a long way, baby. From the early, ceiling-texture-free days of Wolfenstein 3D, through the grime and darkness of Quake, the headcrab infested territory of Half Life and the melancholy anticlimax of Duke Nukem Forever all the way to the Commodore Vic-20.

    

Yes indeed. The Keep weighs in at a tiny 3.5 kilobytes, boasts Wolfenstein 3D style graphics and gameplay and runs on a humble, unexpanded, Vic-20.