Retro News - Classic Game, New Conversion!

The Spectrum was my main source of gaming for so long that it's really hard to pick one single favourite game for it, but one title that has always been up there is Head Over Heels. It was originally made for the Speccy and remains associated with the system more than any other despite being converted to many other formats of the day. There was a fancy remake for the PC a good few years ago now (available here if you're interested) but it's the conversions for the older systems that I've been looking at. One was for the MSX and that version, like many others, looks very much like the original, but now there's a version for the mighty MSX2 as well.

It arrives courtesy of FX Software, a Spanish homebrew developer I believe (I haven't really been able to find much info on him/them) who have already remade Batman, the spiritual predecessor of this game. This latest project has been followed with much interest by the MSX community and recently came to my attention as well, simply because it's Head Over Heels. And Head Over Heels is well awesome. But it also looks like a really nice version of Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's wonderful game. The latter's lovely monochrome graphics were positively brimming with creativity and character and suited the Speccy perfectly but, as alluded to earlier, most of the other versions were not really adapted to utilise that system's strengths and were instead very close to the Speccy version. Some had the odd splash of colour here and there while others were seemingly direct ports, and consequently, despite being universally adored, it's not really a game that's been regarded as much of a looker.

Steam / GOG Downloads #1

Pang Adventures (2016)
By: DotEmu / Pastagames Genre: Shooting / Puzzle Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: PS4, Xbox One, Android, iOS

As you may recall from the preview here a few months back, one of the numerous retro-flavoured indie projects I've been looking forward to is the latest game to feature the Pang name. Some of you may be more familiar with the series by its rather annoying American name, Buster Bros, but whatever you knew it as (and I'd like to applaud the use of the correct name here), it sure is great to see it back. Unsurprisingly it's more of a reboot than a sequel and follows a similar format to the original game: aliens have invaded and unleashed their devastating 'attack balls' on the world's major cities. It's your job (and an optional friend's) to take them all out by bursting them with your harpoon gun.