06-03-2023, 08:49 PM
Still juggling between sprite ripping and clearing out yet more games...
It's been a while for another Commodore 16 rip, this time Olympic Skier by Shaun Southern. Weirdly enough it got a port a couple of years ago to the Game Boy Color that I only just found out after the rip was done. More strangely a boatload of C16 games got ported to the GB/GBC... Everything from Kikstart and Monty on the Run to blooming Super Gran and World Cup (Carnival). Have to admire the dedication.
Green Beret
Just two words to say about this game, "absolutely horrible". It feels like a game that had a few hours of work done and left it as it is, obviously missing a lot partially due to the restrictions and partially because the programmer couldn't be bothered. This is one of the few games that Ocean brought out for the C16 and it shows (to the point that this game is on many worst games lists). The C16 can do better...
Daley Thompson's Star Events
As for why Day 1 and Day 2 have different sprites, well... The C16 version was rushed out hence why Star Events rather than Decathlon (and weirdly not done by Ocean but outsourced to Micro Projects who had done stuff for Gremlin). According to a scener who later did an improvement hack, Day 2 was "a complete and professional product" while Day 1 felt like "a derivative hack" and was badly programmed to the point where if you fail, you go straight to the next event because it doesn't take account for any record. Hence why Day 1 has glitchy graphics because it was unfinished. I think this was released when Hyper Sports and its Daley Thompson counterpart Super Test were on other systems, the two things Ocean loved milking along with licensed games.
World Cup / World Cup Carnival
What's left for me on the C16 are: Hustler, Hyper Sports, Wimbledon, Airwolf (1 or 2), SQIJ! (almost had it done but accidentally lost the sheet), TV Jatek, Patric (plus4), Speed King and will try Ghosts 'n Goblins, World Series Baseball but no guarantees on those.
I won't be ripping any more after those are done. Besides there isn't much of a decent library and there are a load of Italian hacks/re-releases of existing games. Honestly, if it's a football game it's either a hack of World Cup (Carnival) or rarely Indoor Soccer, if it's an athletics/track & field game then it's Daley Thompson.
Amstrad
Even with a backlog, sometimes you find a game that you can rip quickly. Getting the palette cycle for the win on the machine (that's still WIP) and arranging the cards took the longest.
Chicago 30's
This game cannot decide whether it's Chicago 30's, Chicago's 30 or even Chicagos's 30. Same thing for the playable character being either Elliot or Eliot. Anyway this game originally appeared in a compilation however US Gold picked it up outside of Spain as a standalone release.
Funnily enough, it feels a bit like The Untouchables but the game didn't come out until a year later (yet the game hints of being inspired by the movie due to a detective called Eliot and Al Capone being mentioned in the original Spanish instructions). Wonder whether Ocean played this game for ideas...
Cosa Nostra
Finally the backlog is going down, started the player sheet as far back as August 2022. The first lot of walking sprites were layered by hand by checking the game, the walking sprites with the gun however figured out their position to do it more automated. Would have done the enemies too but the game is far too hard where getting killed on the second screen just happens nearly all the time. Then again any game these days is far too hard (even easy games like Kirby)
Crazy Cars 2
This is for the Plus/GX4000 version, compared to the standard CPC version it has a map and in this game, you'll need it. New versions of Caprice Forever can actually load GX4000 cartridges providing that they are in the folder but also used CPCEC as well (mainly because it has the correct resolution to check yet due to the scrolling of the game itself, a pixel row seems to be cropped off on the map so I had to check that...). Reason why I chose to rip the map and the new title screen was really a bit of practise for Burnin' Rubber. Also the Start/Finish markers are actually sprites so technically these are the first completed sprite rips for the entire computer range/console (since the Plus/GX4000 has hardware sprites but not many games took advantage during its lifespan) and as mentioned on the sheet, the sprites are glitched.
Still got a massive backlog to get down. Did get a bit of Trigger and WEC Le Mans done, the latter have to find those dust sprites and just can't find them. There's still quite a lot to go that might take up to a year to finish.
Commodore 64
Managed to find some original disks however they were in nib format and had to use nibtools to convert them to g64 so VICE can read them. Nothing on this computer is ever straight forward...
I've also decided due to the palette debate that Pepto NTSC (SpritePad default), Pepto PAL (VICE and Hoxs64 default), Colodore (on default settings as listed on the website since it's configurable) and CommunityColors (CSFEC default) are going to be included in most rips covering all the major palettes from this point. Only the former gets excluded if the game is PAL only and vice versa. Some existing rips have been updated to reflect this.
Grand Prix 500cc / Superbike Challenge
While I'm still ripping the original Amstrad version (or is the Thomson version the original?), at least the first Microids game to be released outside of France is ripped. This was also one of the few Microids games that were released in the US until the modern era so yeah a bit of a jump going from this to say Toki and Garfield Kart... Having 2 player vertical split screen in a racing game was novel since it didn't became much of a thing until the PS1 era but sadly there's lots of input lag in this version making it unplayable...
A theme for the C64 is that a game gets exported with a completely different name, usually from PAL to NTSC even if the game didn't get renamed on other systems. In many cases, the PAL version is the original in this case and even includes series. e.g. Crazy Cars 2 was called F40 Pursuit in the US but Crazy Cars 1 & 3 weren't released, Lamborghini American Challenge the updated version of the latter did get an US release wasn't released on the C64 at all. Even this game got a sequel on the Amstrad. I don't recall many where the NTSC original changes its name for the PAL release on the C64 (Super Bowl Sunday to just Super Sunday, Road Raiders to Motor Massacre but debatable which one is the intended name since it was a co-production between Gray Matter and Gremlin) but on other systems it has happened many times.
There's a list here but this one seems to be missing from that list...
Roland's Rat Race
Who ever thought that a licensed game could be in a way considered a prototype Metroidvania? It also used layering between 2 colour and 4 colour modes for the Roland Rat sprites.
Had to use a scene release because the original tape won't get past the loading screen on both CSFEC and VICE.
Now I have a massive C64 backlog to get down... Some of these are about 50% or more complete in terms of ripping progress while others are either stuck, need sorting out or ripped some of the sprites but have yet to sheet. A few are going to be a big surprise once they're done. There were a few that I did try to rip out of experimentation but not good news... John Madden Football doesn't use sprites at all, The Amazing Spider-Man uses compression so only a couple of sprites get loaded in at a time. Just can't play Castlevania at all...
Spectrum
Dick Tracy
One on One
Considered a classic on the C64 and the Apple II that put EA on the map but on the Spectrum? One of the worst commercially released full priced games on the computer to the point that it is one of the few games on Spectrum Computing that is voted a 0. Yep even beating the likes of Renegade 3, Count Duckula 2, the disappointing arcade ports (Out Run, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master), HKM, BMX Ninja, Ninja Master aka the bad Spectrum games that you hear about. Only game that's worse is SQIJ!
It was a quick rip to do. Don't know where the man and the woman come from, they look more detailed compared to the other graphics in the game. Now for some el Spectrum rips.
The Blues Brothers
Not the Titus game but a Spanish homebrew that is clearly inspired by it since the original game wasn't on the Spectrum. According to the author, it was mostly done in BASIC with a bit of machine code to move the sprites using a tool from MicroHobby magazine and as for how it ended up on the Internet "the lord works in mysterious ways" since it was never published and wondered how people got to play the game. Usually don't do homebrew rips but since it's nearly 28 years old and not too far off from the end of the commercial life, thought of ripping something simple. Plus The Blues Brothers is one of my favourite movies of all time so...
Oh and the second part of the game is broken. The password that's listed to load that part doesn't work and resets back to the 1982 Spectrum copyright message since it's a 48k only game. (It is rather common for 8-bit Spanish games to be split into 2 or even 3 parts. Ironically many of these games are actually easier than the first part.)
Cosa Nostra
Unlike the Amstrad version, this version is much easier to rip from due to no layering. I think if Emulicious supported tape then would have ripped from the MSX version too, well... since most Spanish MSX games were Speccy ports done in a weekend (not just the Amstrad CPC that this affects) yet this game and a few other Opera Soft games used more of the hardware, a couple were even MSX 2 and that alone was rare (most MSX2 games were Japanese with the odd Dutch game/homebrew).
Chicago 30's
Since I've ripped from the Amstrad version, might as well rip the Spectrum version since it was doable... Yet more or less an instant Game Over if I do try to play it.
Grand Prix Master / Aspar GP Master
Around 14 or so Spectrum games left for me to rip. Hopefully going to be finishing my rips of Emilio Butragueno Futbol, Fantastic American Football, Championship Run, Grand Prix Circuit, Super Hang-On, Video Olympic, Joe Blade 3, Pole Position, Speedboat Assassin, Angel Nieto Pole 500, City Connection, Galaxian, Overlander, Dalek Attack and maybe a few others that are wait and see such as the Desperado games, Bionic Commando or... giving too much away.
I've decided to sunset on the Spectrum after this. Many games haven't had any luck at all. While there are a LOT of games, it's getting towards the point where it's not fun to rip. At one point even considered to rip the unused Linda Barker from Popeye 3 but just have so many problems with Spectrum games. They LOOK easy to rip but much of the time, just isn't.
Skier
It's been a while for another Commodore 16 rip, this time Olympic Skier by Shaun Southern. Weirdly enough it got a port a couple of years ago to the Game Boy Color that I only just found out after the rip was done. More strangely a boatload of C16 games got ported to the GB/GBC... Everything from Kikstart and Monty on the Run to blooming Super Gran and World Cup (Carnival). Have to admire the dedication.
Green Beret
Player & Enemy
Just two words to say about this game, "absolutely horrible". It feels like a game that had a few hours of work done and left it as it is, obviously missing a lot partially due to the restrictions and partially because the programmer couldn't be bothered. This is one of the few games that Ocean brought out for the C16 and it shows (to the point that this game is on many worst games lists). The C16 can do better...
Daley Thompson's Star Events
Daley Thompson
As for why Day 1 and Day 2 have different sprites, well... The C16 version was rushed out hence why Star Events rather than Decathlon (and weirdly not done by Ocean but outsourced to Micro Projects who had done stuff for Gremlin). According to a scener who later did an improvement hack, Day 2 was "a complete and professional product" while Day 1 felt like "a derivative hack" and was badly programmed to the point where if you fail, you go straight to the next event because it doesn't take account for any record. Hence why Day 1 has glitchy graphics because it was unfinished. I think this was released when Hyper Sports and its Daley Thompson counterpart Super Test were on other systems, the two things Ocean loved milking along with licensed games.
World Cup / World Cup Carnival
Players
What's left for me on the C16 are: Hustler, Hyper Sports, Wimbledon, Airwolf (1 or 2), SQIJ! (almost had it done but accidentally lost the sheet), TV Jatek, Patric (plus4), Speed King and will try Ghosts 'n Goblins, World Series Baseball but no guarantees on those.
I won't be ripping any more after those are done. Besides there isn't much of a decent library and there are a load of Italian hacks/re-releases of existing games. Honestly, if it's a football game it's either a hack of World Cup (Carnival) or rarely Indoor Soccer, if it's an athletics/track & field game then it's Daley Thompson.
Amstrad
Cards
Even with a backlog, sometimes you find a game that you can rip quickly. Getting the palette cycle for the win on the machine (that's still WIP) and arranging the cards took the longest.
Chicago 30's
Elliot / Eliot
Enemies
This game cannot decide whether it's Chicago 30's, Chicago's 30 or even Chicagos's 30. Same thing for the playable character being either Elliot or Eliot. Anyway this game originally appeared in a compilation however US Gold picked it up outside of Spain as a standalone release.
Funnily enough, it feels a bit like The Untouchables but the game didn't come out until a year later (yet the game hints of being inspired by the movie due to a detective called Eliot and Al Capone being mentioned in the original Spanish instructions). Wonder whether Ocean played this game for ideas...
Cosa Nostra
Mike Bronco
Finally the backlog is going down, started the player sheet as far back as August 2022. The first lot of walking sprites were layered by hand by checking the game, the walking sprites with the gun however figured out their position to do it more automated. Would have done the enemies too but the game is far too hard where getting killed on the second screen just happens nearly all the time. Then again any game these days is far too hard (even easy games like Kirby)
Crazy Cars 2
Map (Plus/GX4000)
This is for the Plus/GX4000 version, compared to the standard CPC version it has a map and in this game, you'll need it. New versions of Caprice Forever can actually load GX4000 cartridges providing that they are in the folder but also used CPCEC as well (mainly because it has the correct resolution to check yet due to the scrolling of the game itself, a pixel row seems to be cropped off on the map so I had to check that...). Reason why I chose to rip the map and the new title screen was really a bit of practise for Burnin' Rubber. Also the Start/Finish markers are actually sprites so technically these are the first completed sprite rips for the entire computer range/console (since the Plus/GX4000 has hardware sprites but not many games took advantage during its lifespan) and as mentioned on the sheet, the sprites are glitched.
Still got a massive backlog to get down. Did get a bit of Trigger and WEC Le Mans done, the latter have to find those dust sprites and just can't find them. There's still quite a lot to go that might take up to a year to finish.
Commodore 64
Managed to find some original disks however they were in nib format and had to use nibtools to convert them to g64 so VICE can read them. Nothing on this computer is ever straight forward...
I've also decided due to the palette debate that Pepto NTSC (SpritePad default), Pepto PAL (VICE and Hoxs64 default), Colodore (on default settings as listed on the website since it's configurable) and CommunityColors (CSFEC default) are going to be included in most rips covering all the major palettes from this point. Only the former gets excluded if the game is PAL only and vice versa. Some existing rips have been updated to reflect this.
Grand Prix 500cc / Superbike Challenge
Rider
While I'm still ripping the original Amstrad version (or is the Thomson version the original?), at least the first Microids game to be released outside of France is ripped. This was also one of the few Microids games that were released in the US until the modern era so yeah a bit of a jump going from this to say Toki and Garfield Kart... Having 2 player vertical split screen in a racing game was novel since it didn't became much of a thing until the PS1 era but sadly there's lots of input lag in this version making it unplayable...
A theme for the C64 is that a game gets exported with a completely different name, usually from PAL to NTSC even if the game didn't get renamed on other systems. In many cases, the PAL version is the original in this case and even includes series. e.g. Crazy Cars 2 was called F40 Pursuit in the US but Crazy Cars 1 & 3 weren't released, Lamborghini American Challenge the updated version of the latter did get an US release wasn't released on the C64 at all. Even this game got a sequel on the Amstrad. I don't recall many where the NTSC original changes its name for the PAL release on the C64 (Super Bowl Sunday to just Super Sunday, Road Raiders to Motor Massacre but debatable which one is the intended name since it was a co-production between Gray Matter and Gremlin) but on other systems it has happened many times.
There's a list here but this one seems to be missing from that list...
Roland's Rat Race
Roland Rat
Who ever thought that a licensed game could be in a way considered a prototype Metroidvania? It also used layering between 2 colour and 4 colour modes for the Roland Rat sprites.
Had to use a scene release because the original tape won't get past the loading screen on both CSFEC and VICE.
Now I have a massive C64 backlog to get down... Some of these are about 50% or more complete in terms of ripping progress while others are either stuck, need sorting out or ripped some of the sprites but have yet to sheet. A few are going to be a big surprise once they're done. There were a few that I did try to rip out of experimentation but not good news... John Madden Football doesn't use sprites at all, The Amazing Spider-Man uses compression so only a couple of sprites get loaded in at a time. Just can't play Castlevania at all...
Spectrum
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy
One on One
Dr. J
Larry Bird
Man & Woman
Considered a classic on the C64 and the Apple II that put EA on the map but on the Spectrum? One of the worst commercially released full priced games on the computer to the point that it is one of the few games on Spectrum Computing that is voted a 0. Yep even beating the likes of Renegade 3, Count Duckula 2, the disappointing arcade ports (Out Run, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master), HKM, BMX Ninja, Ninja Master aka the bad Spectrum games that you hear about. Only game that's worse is SQIJ!
It was a quick rip to do. Don't know where the man and the woman come from, they look more detailed compared to the other graphics in the game. Now for some el Spectrum rips.
The Blues Brothers
Joliet Jake Blues
Elwood Blues
Not the Titus game but a Spanish homebrew that is clearly inspired by it since the original game wasn't on the Spectrum. According to the author, it was mostly done in BASIC with a bit of machine code to move the sprites using a tool from MicroHobby magazine and as for how it ended up on the Internet "the lord works in mysterious ways" since it was never published and wondered how people got to play the game. Usually don't do homebrew rips but since it's nearly 28 years old and not too far off from the end of the commercial life, thought of ripping something simple. Plus The Blues Brothers is one of my favourite movies of all time so...
Oh and the second part of the game is broken. The password that's listed to load that part doesn't work and resets back to the 1982 Spectrum copyright message since it's a 48k only game. (It is rather common for 8-bit Spanish games to be split into 2 or even 3 parts. Ironically many of these games are actually easier than the first part.)
Cosa Nostra
Mike Bronco
Ruddy Bulldog
Johnny Fandango
Tony Spaguetty
Franky Frondasio
El Padrino
Enemies
Unlike the Amstrad version, this version is much easier to rip from due to no layering. I think if Emulicious supported tape then would have ripped from the MSX version too, well... since most Spanish MSX games were Speccy ports done in a weekend (not just the Amstrad CPC that this affects) yet this game and a few other Opera Soft games used more of the hardware, a couple were even MSX 2 and that alone was rare (most MSX2 games were Japanese with the odd Dutch game/homebrew).
Chicago 30's
Elliot / Eliot
Enemies
Since I've ripped from the Amstrad version, might as well rip the Spectrum version since it was doable... Yet more or less an instant Game Over if I do try to play it.
Grand Prix Master / Aspar GP Master
Rider
Around 14 or so Spectrum games left for me to rip. Hopefully going to be finishing my rips of Emilio Butragueno Futbol, Fantastic American Football, Championship Run, Grand Prix Circuit, Super Hang-On, Video Olympic, Joe Blade 3, Pole Position, Speedboat Assassin, Angel Nieto Pole 500, City Connection, Galaxian, Overlander, Dalek Attack and maybe a few others that are wait and see such as the Desperado games, Bionic Commando or... giving too much away.
I've decided to sunset on the Spectrum after this. Many games haven't had any luck at all. While there are a LOT of games, it's getting towards the point where it's not fun to rip. At one point even considered to rip the unused Linda Barker from Popeye 3 but just have so many problems with Spectrum games. They LOOK easy to rip but much of the time, just isn't.