Conversion Capers

Commodore 64

The only 8-bit computer version that ended up being released by Ocean, this C64 cartridge isn’t particularly pretty but does a decent job of replicating the original. However, it is missing the full intro sequence, only has one music track and is missing an entire level.

atari ST

Converted by Ocean France the ST port is incredibly impressive indeed. In fact, it’s pretty hard to find any fault with it at all as it features excellent graphics, a cracking rendition of the soundtrack and gets the original gameplay almost perfect.

Lynx

Arguably the best home port of the game, Lynx Toki stays incredibly close to the arcade in almost every regard. The graphics are excellent, the soundtrack is among the best on the Lynx and it controls really well. It’s certainly not an easy game, though!

amiga

You’d expect the Amiga version to be pretty similar to the ST, but actually it’s clear to see that they were programmed independently. We wouldn’t say this version is any better or any worse than the ST version, it just has a slightly different look and feel.

NES

Taito’s 1991 NES port, like so many others on the system, makes quite a few changes from the original arcade game. The graphical style is quite different, some of the level maps have been modified and you now have a health bar making it much easier.

iphone

Perhaps the most obscure port of all is this one released by Magic Team for the iphone in 2009. It’s a pretty faithful reproduction of the game that rather unusually displays the game in portrait mode with a large virtual controller in the bottom third of the screen.

mega drive

Subtitled Going Ape Spit, Sega’s own Mega Drive version is more like a sequel rather than a straight conversion. While many of the main themes are carried over here, Mega Drive Toki has new level designs, a different power-up system and more stages in total, too.

atari 7800

Until a few years ago it wasn’t even known that an Atari 7800 port had been developed, and then suddenly this pretty much complete prototype showed up. This conversion is surprisingly close to the original and it’s a real shame it never got a commercial release.