CHRIS’ CANON
Five games to play that Chris had a hand in
THE CASTLE
■ Originally coded by Chris for the Oric-1, this text adventure follows a familiar format, as you find yourself seeking treasure and then escaping from a fortress full of lethal hazards. The humour and sweet touches, including some unlikely Morse Code, help ease the brutal deaths you suffer on a regular basis.
TWIN KINGDOM VALLEY
■ A groundbreaking adventure, not just because of the pretty graphics and sprawling setting, but due to the independence and intelligence of the many NPCS which wandered the game world. You weren’t the only one scrapping and stealing in the valleys, which in 1983 was quite an achievement.
MANIC MINER
■ The game that gave us
Miner Willy and introduced us to the mercurial Matthew Smith. Chris introduced Matthew to Bug-byte, the game’s original publisher, and also contributed ideas during development.
He is especially proud of the stepladder monsters, inspired by his dad’s DIY skills.
THRUSTA
■ One of the games Chris reviewed during the tail-end of his time at Bug-byte and decided it was worth sneakily passing on to his soon-to-be employer Software Projects to release. Crush monsters with rocks, blast baddies with your laser and struggle with the slightly awkward controls.
JUMPING JACK
■ A cheeky inclusion here as Chris’ connection to the game is that he turned it down for publication by Bug-byte. You can sympathise, as at first glance it looks crude and repetitive, but play for a while and its addictive charms are revealed. See Martyn Carroll’s excellent piece in
RG 146 for the full story.