CODE NAME MAT
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87
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Or Mission: Alien Termination, which doesn't convey the amount of brainpower called for in this second-generation Star Trek game which was probably the first to put you in control of more than one ship or character at one time. In many ways it was more complex than, say, Elite, it could still be played more or less as a straight 3D space shoot-'em-up, and it was this instant playability that made it such an enormous hit in its day. Yes, you too could blow up the entire solar system with Codename MAT.
ELITE
16
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Were you deadly? the all-time classic space trading and blasting epic, Elite combined Star Trek with Minder (that's what it boils down to) in a game for which the word 'legendary' seems like a severe understatement.Deeper than space itself, Elite created such a believable world that players immersed themselves in iut totally, and the sneering ranking system ('What do you mean, I'm "Harmless"?') added a compulsion to prgress that was, well, incredibly compulsive. It was big, it was hard, and it was clever. That's good enough for me matey.
KNOT IN 3D
60
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New Generation were one of the first software houses to write for the Sinclair machines. For me, this is the very pinnacle of their achievements. A kind of Tron light cycles game (you know the type), but set in a 3D spherical cube (look, play the game, you'll understand), Knot looked incredibly bizarre. To play it though, all you needed was a keen sense of spatial relations and fast reactions, and your reward was a gameplay experience which could be nothing short of breathtaking. Completely unique and absolutely gorgeous.
MERCENARY
39
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Jon Pillar recently reviewed this as a budget re-release and gave it 99%. I'm not arguing. Paul Woakes' epic of espionage, sabotage, trading and blasting has an atmosphere of electric tension and suspense which belies the simplistic look of the vector graphics. Mercenary is clean, sharp, fast and deep enough to keep you playing for weeks. What's more, it was visually indistinguishable from the 16-bit versions but with the kind of playability that you only ever seem to get on the older machines. Now, more than ever, don't miss it!
STARSTRIKE 2
24
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Realtime made a name for themselves in the Speccy world with Starstrike, their excellent clone of the arcade game Star Wars. This sequel was so good that it improved on even the coin-op. honest. The fast moving solid #D graphics are, with the possible exception of the Freescape games, still the most impressive the machine's ever boasted, and the game itself took Star Wars a step further and added a non-intrusive strategy element to the space blasting. Stunningly impressive, stunningly atmospheric, just stunning really.
TIME GATE
50
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The first 3D arcade game for the Spectrum was brought out in 1982 and produced a mixed reaction from reviewers. It has, however, continued to be a popular with gamers which is surprising in a market which is so flexible and prone to changes in taste and moods. The plot involves an attempt bz the plazer to locate the base of the evil aliens who are intent on taking over the galaxz. That involves flight up and down the time gates which can be accessed after all the aliens in a sector have been destroyed.