Part of the 100 Games That Have Affected Me series.
My favourite 16-bit era Arkanoid-style game. It certainly has its flaws though (namely: nasty powerdowns like the frequent R for reverse and the green ball of death, and invisible bricks). It also features terrible but catchy music that feels like you’ve known it all your life after three minutes of hearing it.
The ball rarely goes very fast, which is nice. You can relax and play this game unlike most bat and ball games, which become a bit manic (I don’t really believe that matching a fast ball’s horizontal position with a shaky input device is all that fun).
I played this game in lunch breaks in the last year of primary school. I wonder how/if the game ever made any money; it was released for an expensive platform that was seldom seen outside of schools (and so was rarely used for gaming) and there isn’t much written about it on the web, even though I’m sure it was one of the more popular Archie games! If Simon B. Heather/SB Heather ever happens to read this, perhaps you could give me an email or a quick interview about your experiences with the gaming industry and where it all led.
A lingering, mysterious memory I have about this game is playing it one lunchtime and hearing speech and music coming from the speaker. It sounded like a clip from a radio broadcast, but I could easily be misremembering that. We were all quite spooked about it and couldn’t figure it out. On playing the game again today I was able to make it speak when I turned the sound off (it played a clip from a film or something) so perhaps there is more sampled speech in there and we triggered it with a high score. Fun!
2 games posted since June 18, 2011. At this rate the 1000 Games That Have Affected Me series will be complete on October 4, 2227.
#1 by Eq on September 5, 2011 - 10:14
You have known that music all your life because it’s a version of Comic Bakery from the Commodore 64.
#2 by wm on September 5, 2011 - 10:21
Interesting! I hadn’t heard that before. A little YouTube research shows a legacy of plagiary; NES Jurassic Park stole the music too, and apparently Kanye West later stole it (ugh). Some people are suggesting that Comic Bakery is inspired by a Level 42 song or a Jean Michel Jarre song. Phew!
#3 by Simon Heather on December 1, 2011 - 18:57
Hi – yes it’s me the author – someone forwarded me a link to this page. I wrote the game just before Uni and made a few grand from it which paid for my Archimedes. I still have a copy of the game but sadly no machine to play it on though you can find a video on YouTube of someone playing it. I’ve attached a link to my LinkedIn profile.
#4 by wm on December 29, 2011 - 18:24
Wow, thanks for contacting me Simon. It’s great to hear about somebody who developed a game on such a fringe platform and the circumstances behind it. I think there would be a lot of interest from enthusiasts if you were to write up your experiences; if you get around to doing this please let me know!