Double Dragon, one of the most popular arcade games of the 1980s, but poorly converted to home computers. The original arcade game on the left and the CPC conversion to the right.
from the car in the process. As well as being able to choose which route to take through the game, players can also choose from one of three different songs to listen to while driving. These are 'Magical Sound Shower', 'Passing Breeze' and 'Splash. Before the end-of-stage goal is reached, players are presented with a fork in the road - a unique innovation that, for the first time in the history of racing games, gave players a choice of which route they wished to take through the game. OutRun's game-play was both tight and instinctive and, together with the superb stage design and wonderfully realized sprite-scaled graphics, would completely revolutionize not just racing games, but arcade games in general. It is still regarded as perhaps the finest arcade racer of all time. This was especially true of the deluxe cabinet version, which featured a fully hydraulic tilting cabinet (resembling a red Ferrari Testarossa) and a powerful speaker system situated directly behind the player's head. U.S. Gold had the rights to distribute Outrun to home computers, they employed Probe Software (before Dave Perry & Nick Bruty) to code the Amstrad CPC conversion. The game was a poor conversion not just on CPC but on all
formats. Much of what made the game great was missing in the conversion - the map was absent, there was no in-game music (although it was available via an audio tape) and the car-flip was gone. AA gave it an overall rating of 37%. Such a disappointing result for the coolest game at the time. The OutRun experience became an important lesson for gamers - one that heeded a message "don't believe the hype". What was so much fun to play in the arcades had mixed results when converted to our beloved CPC. There were absolute cracking conversions to CPC such as Arkanoid, Bomb Jack, Chase HQ, Continental Circus, Gauntlet, Gryzor, Ikari Warriors, Operation Wolf, Powerdrift, Pang, Renegade, Smash TV, Shinobi, Space Harrier, WEC Le Mans, Yie Ar Kung Fu and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Coin op. These CPC games oozed playability and staying power. They were colourful, fast paced, and looked just like the arcade version. Some didn't completely replicate the arcade such as Paperboy and Bubble Bobble which didn't have in game music or sound, Yie Ar Kung Fu was missing two CPU opponents. Some coders might argue that the CPC didn't have the
Paperboy, another popular mid 1980s arcade game. Converted to the CPC to some good response.
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memory to make complete conversions yet other coders found ways to get the most out of the CPC's memory. Chase HQ, Smash TV, Operation Wolf and Gryzor are examples of stunning arcade conversions to CPC. Then there were the turkeys. Some of the most dreadful arcade conversions to CPC include Altered Beast, Bionic Commandos, Enduro Racer, Green Beret, HKM, Stun Runner, Street Fighter, Rolling Thunder, Rastan Saga, R-Type and Pit Fighter. The problem with arcade conversions is that they were mostly developed and published by people who were not involved with the original arcade version, but who had acquired the rights to produce home computer versions. Unlike later console conversions that were often produced by the original developers of the arcade title, producing a greater accuracy in translation. This was most evident in the conversions of Street Fighter II. The Super Nintendo and Mega Drive versions produced by Capcom themselves were highly acclaimed. The home computer versions were, however, less successful, with US Gold converting the game, not having access to the original source code and being forced to "imitate" the game.