You are flying a rocket when it is forced to land on a nearby planet due to a shortage of fuel. Fortunately you have detected that this planet contains reserves of energy, but you have decided to assign three robots – Xor, Rho and Sam – to explore underground and find these reserves. Each robot has a different function. Xor is designed to collect the energy reserves, Sam can repair the other robots if they break down (although it can't repair itself), and Rho transmits communications from the other two robots back to you, so all three robots must stay close together. Graphically, the game is excellent, but apart from exploring, there's little to see and do, and it is immensely frustrating when you crash any of the robots after playing the game for so long.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6

A very early game by the now legendary Oliver Twins, the aim of this game is to search the huge castle of the Sheriff of Nottingham and find all the hearts scattered around, and then to free Maid Marian and kill the Sheriff. Of course, out to stop you are the Sheriff's men, armed with bows and swords, but these can be picked off with your trusty arrows. The graphics are quite impressive considering when it was released, and very detailed – Robin fires his bow very realistically – and the sound is great. This is the first game I ever played which had real speech ("Help me Robin!") and this impressed me a lot back in the day. Overall, a good novel twist on a fairly well used idea, which is a fair bit easier than others of its kind, and as a result of this, it is a lot more fun.

See also: Robin Hood: Legend Quest.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Maid Marian has been locked in the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle, and Robin must rescue her. Hang on, didn't Codemasters release a game with exactly the same plot already? Indeed they did. This is a different game, although it plays very similarly to the other Robin Hood game, with lots of running around, shooting arrows, collecting keys and treasure, and jumping on to platforms. This was one of the last games that Codemasters released for the CPC, and frankly, one would think that they could have done better than this. The music is good, but it's a Spectrum port, complete with colour clash. There's nothing special about the gameplay, either.

See also: Robin Hood.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Replace Robin Hood with Sherlock Holmes, add a lot of humour, and you will have some idea of what this text adventure, written using The Quill, is about. There are some strange events going on in Sherwood Forest – Dorothy's dog, Toto, has been kidnapped; Friar Gorbuchetnik explodes after eating one burger too many; the cabbie's cab has been stolen; the Three Bears are about to hang Goldilox (!), and the local Smurphs are being turned into garden gnomes. The game is split into three parts, but unlike nearly all other multi-part text adventures, you can travel between these parts. There are a lot of locations, although most of them are very similar (which is humorously exploited by the authors!), and most of the objects that you can collect can't be examined, which frustrated me. However, it is still a reasonably good adventure overall.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

This adventure is based on the UK TV series from the 1980s. All the characters from the TV series are here, which helps to make the adventure more enjoyable. The adventure begins with Robin and friends held in a prison cell deep inside Nottingham Castle. Once you work out how to escape, you come across Hern the Hunter, who tells you about your mission. The text commands are simple two-word instructions such as GO DOOR or TAKE STAFF. Almost every location has graphics – some of which are well drawn and atmospheric. There's even animation too; check out the waterfall effect! Adventure fans and arcade gamers alike will find this game an interesting challenge.

More information on CPCSOFTS

8

Robinson Crusoe
(Coktel Vision, 1987)

Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel of the same name remains famous even today, and this is an adventure based on the novel. You must guide Robinson Crusoe as he tries to survive on the island that he has been shipwrecked on. The game consists of seven stages, with a beautiful illustration adorning most of the screen on each one, and some nice animation to accompany them. Throughout the game, you are given a choice of possible actions, and every choice you make affects the outcome of the story. Finding the exact set of choices to make is a frustrating exercise, since the animations and text are displayed very slowly indeed. The music is awful as well, but the game is still playable despite all of these problems.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Robocop
(Ocean, 1988)

I've never seen the film, but this is certainly a brilliant game. The first three levels take you out on to the streets on routine patrol, before identifying who was responsible for killing Murphy using a photofit. Once you've found a match, you raid a drugs factory. You'll also meet the robot ED209 at OCP headquarters, and then you must flee from OCP and the gang, before finally confronting Dick Jones, the leader of the gang, who has taken the President hostage. The difficulty setting is just right, the graphics are beautiful, and the music is excellent – and no one who has played the 128K version will ever forget the stunning digitised speech – "Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law". Everything about this game is just perfect!

See also: Robocop 2.

More information on CPCSOFTS

10

Robocop is back to clean up the streets of Detroit again, to close down the facilities that produce the addictive drug Nuke, and ultimately face his nemesis, Robocop 2. Seven levels of platforming and shoot-'em-up action await you in this game, which was only released on cartridge. First of all, let me say that no game demonstrates the extra features of the Plus and GX4000 machines better than this one; the scrolling is extremely smooth, and hardware sprites and the many extra colours available are used to great effect. It looks and feels like a 16-bit game! However, it is very difficult indeed, although if you persevere and don't lose your temper, you will eventually learn the full layout of the first level. If it were a bit easier, I would have no hesitation in giving full marks to this game – but it's not to be.

See also: Robocop.

More information on CPCSOFTS

9

Robotron: 6128 sends us back to the beginning of the video games era with its pure arcade-style gameplay. Your task is crystal clear: be the only one alive on the screen when the level ends. The graphics are simple and blocky (MODE 0), and there is no background. The sprites' appearance and attributes change from stage to stage. It would be much better if some background screens existed. In-game sound is composed of just the basic effects. However, the music on the options screen is one of the best I have ever heard on the CPC. The gameplay is fast-paced; you need to move and fire fast, and if you can, capture the girls! The brilliant control selection enhances this pure arcade experience and produces an addictive grab factor. Overall, although it is technically obsolete and improvements could have been made on graphics and sound, this is by all means an arcade treasure.

More information on CPCSOFTS

8

Robozone
(Image Works, 1991)

In the year 2067, the Earth's cities have become so polluted that they are patrolled by giant Wolverine robots. However, their numbers are decreasing, and you are the only one left to defend New York against another set of robots – the Scavengers. Your mission now is to destroy The Furnace, a building which is choking New York with even more pollution. There are three very different levels to this game. The first two involve exploring New York and its underground system, and aren't much fun to play, while the third is a much better space shoot-'em-up. The graphics are very nice, with detailed sprites and lovely explosions, but it's a shame that the gameplay isn't as good; the rather tedious first level will put a lot of people off.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5