Commodore 64

Classic sideways-scrolling shoot-em-up from Thalamus. The best game ever made on any format. Ever. In one player mode you have semi-control over an indestructible drone ship that follows you or can be left static in strategic positions. Like it says on the tin, shoot anything that moves or shoots back and shoot the power-ups as long as possible to get more guns or upgrades for your devastating special weapon. Great graphics, sounds and playability. You'll keep coming back for more, especially the 2 player mode. An essential game in anyone's collection and lifetime.

Spy vs Spy was based on the American MAD comic characters which were always trying to outwit each other in the world of espionage. Here you get to play a one or two player game pitting the white spy against the black spy in a scenario involving a race to the airport having once located all the relevant items of your spy kit. Various traps are at your disposal which can be set to foil the enemy and temporarily eject him from the game giving time to quickly look for the hidden spy items and any the enemy might have dropped on his demise. The traps are the fun part of the game. Bombs in cupboards, springs behind pictures, acid buckets on doors, guns strung up to doors or even a time bomb - all used to comical effect with the victim turning into an angel and floating away whilst the culprit chuckles. The music enhances the game with its spy-like jingle while the imminent escape of the opposing player heightens the excitement in the race to the airport doorway. Best of all is the winner escaping by the plane which not only takes off in the game but actually flies off out of the game!

Quite bizarre platform shooter. Control the "Aliens"-alike alien and run through various static screens of bouncing enemies and ominous faces with only your quick-fire gun and odd few rockets as defence. A very hard game to even get off the first screen but luckily the lack of flashy intros meant it was as quick to restart as it was to die. Originally a budget game release but a classic corker.

The sequel to the aptly named Turrican. A top-calibre platform romp involving a cyborg and lots of various enemies and power-ups. Basically a Metroid rip-off but with knobs on. The graphics were cutting edge for the C64 with parallax scrolling and animated backdrops, a myriad of menaces and a plethora of weapons. Bright lights and special effects sparkled over the screen as you unleashed all manner of destruction everywhere. Yeah, there was some kinda story and, yeah, you were supposed to collect some diamond things but who cared? Shooting shit was never so much fun. End of the level baddies were great huge sprites that filled most of the screen and were extremely difficult to avoid. Also available were several different special powers such as obliterate everything on the screen, wipe-out everything on the screen and blow everything up. You could even turn into a mine-laying star-ball to get into small spaces to blow shit up. One of the C64's must-have games. If you've got the emulator, get the game. Bloody Hell - I'm gonna put it on again right now.....

One of the first good sword hacking games featuring a semi-clad female; firstly in the background, a playing role in the sequel. Simple but effective, the controls used each direction of the joystick with or without the fire button for the different attacks and moves. You could fight the computer or another player, attempting to do the devastating neck chop which decapitated your foe in one blow. Comedy was provided by the goblin who would walk on to drag away the dead loser, frequently kicking the removed head off first. The game advertisement showcased the talent of Page 3's Maria Whittaker dressed in a few gold coins sewn together. A must for any C64 owner or emulator freak.

The prequel of the prequel of Armalyte. Stavros Fasoulas's simplistic yet difficult sideways shooter that spawned Delta and Armalyte. Rather than travelling at a fixed speed, you can accelerate or deccelerate to enable you to play the game at your level of ability. The speed ranged from kettle-boiling to faster-than-diarrhea. Occasionally, when each level was completed, a bonus level would allow you to fly against a rainbow coloured backdrop shooting enemies for bonus points. A very difficult game but complemented by the title music, Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet - who'd have thought it possible for the C64 to do classical music?

A superb arcade conversion from Elite very similar to their previous attempt, Commando. You and a mate can both tie a bandana around your head, rip your shirts off and smear mud across your faces then when you've finished your own fantasy you can maybe play this game together using your own joysticks. Run through the enemy infested jungle to try to save your old Commander who has been captured, Rambo III style. Watch out for bunkers, helicopters and tanks, and take-out the enemy in a blaze of machine gun fire and grenades. The most fun is to be had when you climb aboard a tank and become virtually unstoppable. Well, until your fuel runs out or someone grenades you. Top game, especially with another player, and brilliant supporting music to get you in the guerrilla mood.

A shooter-puzzle-strategy game. Move your droid around the multi-level space ship navigating an assortment of other droids and obstacles. Operate switches and take over other droids by remote control. Nice graphics with a good control system. Written by the famous Martin Walker. Famous in the computing world. In the Eighties. On the C64. It's the game Paradroid should have been.

One of the best of the Double Dragon style fighting games. You control a Ralph Macchio look-alike (and act-alike) and progress through many similar looking backdrops by beating up the other guys. The difference between this and many other games of the same type was that you could pick up weapons that the other poor sucker had dropped. Hey, I've got a flick-knife. Look at me, I've got a baseball bat. Often the enemy would gang up on you, grab you and kick the living shit outta you but you could get them back by knocking them off their motorbikes with a quick flying kick then stamp all over them. Overall, an average C64 game with very limited gameplay but still one that many fondly remember.

Film tie-in that has you running and gunning like Sly Stallone. Different weapons from hunting knife to bow and exploding arrow. Fantastic music and sound effects. All round good playability if only too short.

Bought as part of a 4 game compilation this was easily the best of the bunch. How can you beat a naked winged woman flying around attempting to save babies from being kidnapped by giant bees? A Defender clone with a twist - not only was there a landscape at the bottom that babies could fall down to, there was a landscape at the top that they could fall up to! This meant double the frenetic action of Defender. Hard to play due to the realistic bouncing of the heroine's breasts.

Sideways scrolling shoot-em-up straight from the Arcades. One of a plethora of R-Type wannabees. The usual upgrades appear after shooting specific aliens or waves of enemies. You could get upto 4 shooting bubbles defending your ship as you progress through increasingly difficult levels and bosses. Better than R-Type ? Controversial !

Cabal is an Operation Wolf impersonator. Rather than your soldier taking the 1st person perspective scrolling route to victory, here we stand alone at the bottom of the screen against hoards of soldiers and tanks. The crosshair is moved at a faster rate than your man so it is virtually impossible to stand still and fire across the screen meaning you have to keep an eye on your soldier while keeping your other eye on the enemy. Graphically good there are occasions which impress, such as the collapse of buildings to rubble when they've taken too much gunfire. The sound effects are as adequate as you'd expect. A good little shooter with more to think about than Operation Wolf.

Hard as nails spy racer. This game is impossible to do. Just try to manoeuver around corners following the road as quickly as possible. Don't know what happens next.... didn't get far. If you think you've got a long way through the game without crashing it's probably in demo-mode without you knowing ! Great use of speech though.

3D shooter. Based on the hit arcade game you control some yellow haired future boy armed with a rocket-pack come lazer gun. Shoot things and avoid the scenery in this fast moving blur of shabby graphics. Groovy music makes up for going blind.

Original game ideas were becoming obsolete in the late 80s. Game designers looked to the countryside and saw the manky old fox as a possible hero in the world of gun-toting beagles on motorbikes. Armed with the ability to run fast, jump on walls and fire your shotgun you realistically controlled the fox in his fight against beagle domination. Not only were the beagles very scary and dangerous whilst riding their motorbikes but also the occasional squirrel would chuck apples at you, the rascals. There was not a lot to do in this game and even though it looked quite nice it soon became tiresome. Bring back fox-hunting, on motorbikes.

Although this made its mark on the Amiga, it started its humble beginnings on the old 8 BIT. A pioneer in 3D games engines, this game had you hurtling around a raised rollercoaster stunt track against another driver. Boasting various tracks with inclined turns and huge jumps and suitably fit engine noises, Stunt Car Racer did exactly what it said on the tin. You raced in a car doing stunts. If boredom set in you could always do the highest jump possible and miss the track on the way down to see what damage was inflicted.

Based on the serious 'Nam hit movie starring Tom "Straight-to-DVD" Berenger and Willem Defoe, this graphically great game suffers from the fact that it was probably easier to win the Vietnam War than complete level 1. This is a shame because level 2 went underground for some third person perspective 3D action. Musically superb throughout though it lacked the sounds of jungle creatures, distant gunfire and the breathing of a Gook down your neck. At the time this was one of the best movie tie-ins available and is worth another tour of duty.