This game wasn't released in the UK until 1988. I can't understand why it wasn't released earlier, because the quality of the graphics is beyond description – how people must have gasped in awe of them back then! Erm, oh yes, the game... Bob Winner is on a quest to find a lost civilisation, and has to collect three keys which are being held by three opponents that he meets on his journey – two boxers and a gun-wielding cowboy. To fight them, Bob has to find the right object. There are only about twenty screens, but they all feature stupendous digitised backgrounds. The graphics and animation are without a doubt the best I've ever seen on a CPC, although the game ultimately lacks depth and isn't that big.

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More Tolkien spoofing in this text adventure game from Delta 4, the creators of Bored Of The Rings. Guide the hapless Boggit, Bimbo Faggins, and the kooky wizard Grandalf, along with Thorny and his band of dwarves, to vanquish the Dragon Daug and steal back the treasure. Well, that's supposed to be the plot, as no opportunity has been missed to poke fun at The Hobbit in this rather amusing parody. While it suffers the same drawbacks as its predecessor – the graphics are not exactly top notch and the sound effects and music are lacking – the game more than makes up for this with its irreverent humour. Some of the puzzles are tricky, but aren't outrageously difficult, and the gags to be found in almost every corner of the game make this a gem.

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Here's a bizarre game where you control a bloke on a spring or pogo stick of some sort, who has to reach the exit of each screen by jumping from platform to platform, avoiding the monsters that fly around the screen. You have to get the strength of the jump just right, or you'll miss the platform and fall off the screen. The graphics are pretty crude and very flickery, and there are hardly any sound effects. There are 20 screens, but most people will be screaming in frustration by the time they reach the third screen.

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Terrorists have broken into the Sellerscale nuclear power plant and planted bombs all over it. You must defuse them, and at the same time, guide used fuel capsules into the crate. They're automatically controlled by the computer, and when you move over them, they will follow you – unless they touch the Balloid which also roams around the screen. The amount of radioactivity increases when a bomb goes off or you touch the Balloid. At first, it seems that the game is OK, despite the rather simple graphics and almost total lack of sound. However, it's a bit boring, mainly because it's too easy and extra lives are easy to obtain.

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This was a fun and unique game that was a rave in the arcades back in the mid-1980s. It's still fun to play today, and the CPC conversion is a good one too. The aim is to jump into flight and collect all the bombs on the screen. Collecting lit bombs in sequence rewards you with bonus scores and special abilities. Several nasties begin to appear as you fly around, making progress a little tricky. This is a great game with good graphics displaying various scenic backgrounds, smooth sprites and varied sound effects. Sadly, there is no music, which is a shame.

See also: Bomb Jack II.

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I'm not usually one for puzzle games, but I make an exception for Bomb Jack II. Much like its predecessor, the aim is to fly around platforms, collect things and avoid bad guys, but where it differs is that you can only fly to platforms that are directly above, below or beside where you are. This adds a lot more strategy to the game, as you try and work out the best route, while the bad guys get faster the longer you take. The difficulty curve is perfect, the sound is decent, and the graphics are above average, with some nice little background drawings of pyramids, Stonehenge etc. Unfairly forgotten in the face of its classic predecessor, Bomb Jack II is one of my favourite puzzle-style games ever, and the game I play the most. It really is that addictive!

See also: Bomb Jack.

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A space station orbiting Neptune has been taken over by aliens. They have planted a massive bomb in it, and unless it can be deactivated fast, it will blow not only the space station, but Neptune as well! You control a rather odd-looking bomb disposal droid and must wander the station looking for the four pieces of equipment that will deactivate the bomb – or you can find the exit and take the coward's way out, leaving Neptune to its fate. The rooms are shown in an isometric layout, and although the game has a Spectrum-like feel to it, this can be forgiven once you become immersed in the game. It will take a while to get the hang of controlling the droid, but once you do, you'll discover a rather neat game.

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Robo and Mobo are the Bonanza Brothers – two robot burglars out to grab treasure. Their targets are ten buildings, each containing eight pieces of treasure, but they're all guarded by security guards and dogs. You can knock them out with your stun gun, but you must make sure that the guards don't see you, or you'll lose one of your eight lives. The graphics are below average and there's almost no sound, although the tune on the menu is great. However, the game is let down by the awkward controls – to jump, you have to hold down the fire button, and then release it and then move in the direction you want to jump.

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This is one of those puzzle games in which you have to swap the colours or states of tiles so that they all match. However, this game is made more difficult in that if you click on a tile, some of the adjacent tiles may not be changed, and the connections between the tiles are invisible – although it is possible to see them briefly by pressing a key. Furthermore, there are 150 levels and three stages in each level... that's enough to keep the most hardened fan of puzzle games baffled. The graphics are good (although the backgrounds are garish) but there are very few sound effects, and if you don't like puzzle games, you should give this game a miss.

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You're a cabin boy called Jim, who has to collect treasure (or booty if you want to call it that) from an old galleon. There's lots of it to collect in the holds of the ship, but you'll need the correct numbered keys to open the holds. Then there are the ghosts of the pirates who used to sail the ship; touch them and you lose a life. And finally, some of the rooms contain platforms and lifts. This is a simple platform game with colourful graphics and a short tune that repeats itself constantly and soon becomes quite irritating. At first it seems good, but the collision detection is dodgy, particularly when getting on and off lifts, and when you lose a life, you go all the way back to the first screen, which is very annoying indeed.

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