CONVERSION CAPERS
HOW DID THE BLACK TIGER FARE OUT OF THE ARCADES?
AMSTRAD CPC
Alas, another poor Spectrum port plagues the Amstrad CPC, reducing Black Tiger to a rather dull and unsightly platform game. There’s at least a tune to enjoy but it’s fairly unrecognisable to the arcade ditty, and the choppy, erratic scrolling is the rotten cherry on the top of this very disappointing slice of gaming cake. The Amstrad deserved better than this.
AMIGA
This Commodore 16-bit port looks the business but things start going badly wrong as soon as you start to play the thing. Disappointingly, the fast pace of the C64 version is totally lost with a jerky framerate that completely hampers play. Sacrificing visuals for a smoother game would have been much better, but no doubt that wouldn’t have looked as good on the back of the box…
ATARI ST
A sharp, beefed-up display makes this the most attractive of
Black Tiger home conversions, and it probably just about edges it in terms of gameplay, too. Weak sound effects and lack of in-game music aside, the hero bounces around the levels satisfactorily despite the uneven scrolling, and it’s the best of the home ports, even though that’s not saying much given the competition.
COMMODORE 64
The dreaded multiload is inevitably back for this conversion, and no doubt gamers back in the Eighties felt like there was more time waiting around than actually playing. Yet while there’s still a large portion of the game missing, it actually moves at a good lick which at least replicates the frantic pace of the arcade original, despite the muddy visuals. The best of the 8-bit ports.
ZX SPECTRUM
First previewed in the summer of 1988, it was almost two years before this US Gold game finally surfaced. It’s an admirable attempt to squeeze in the colourful and busy arcade original, and while lacking the aforementioned colour, the game does at least move at a decent pace, and the graphics are detailed enough to be recognisable.