Th e Amstrad Revolution
» [Amstrad CPC] Released into the public domain in 1989, Croco Magneto fast became a classic homespun title for the CPC.
» [Amstrad CPC] Vespertino may redefine CPC racers with a jaw-dropping game that BG Games says will crown the CPC as the best ever platform – with 16-bit performance, full overscan, a 3D CRTC-FX Engine, enhanced video modes and ultra-fast-drawing sprites.
Is the Amstrad CPC finally emerging as the best 8-bit computer of all time? As homebrew developers continue to push the technological boundaries of Lord Sugar’s machines amid massive interest in the scene, the platform is staking a strong claim
Words by David Crookes
You may have a preconception about the Amstrad CPC – the computer often scorned as the greycased black sheep of the 8-bit family. But so too did some members of BG Games, the developer of the CPC’s jaw‑dropping version of Pinball Dreams. It was 2009, and the team – whose origins go back to the Amiga demo scene in 1991 as the Batman Group – had rediscovered its motivation to develop for old platforms, having
become inactive some 14 years earlier. The crew began a debate over which 8-bit machine was the most powerful. “There was a great consensus that the C64 was the winner, but I started coding on an Amstrad CPC which was the computer I’d learn to program when I was a child,” recalls team member Alejandro Del Campo Gomez. Two years and three months later, and a dramatic 11-minute demo called Batman Forever emerged. It proved to be a watershed moment for the CPC. Kicking off with a bold claim that commercial software had not taken advantage of more than 6% of the computer’s real capacity, the demo boasted a cracking soundtrack which continued to play while sections loaded, as well as 50Hz overscan, stunning scrollers and an abundance of colourful, fluid graphics – including a wonderful rotating Batman symbol.
But there was some criticism. “Some of the feedback proclaimed the Amstrad CPC didn’t have the ability to make smooth-scrolling games and that the techniques applied in Batman Forever couldn’t work in a game,” Alejandro says. This set the group another challenge, hence the creation of Pinball Dreams. “We decided it had to run at 50 frames per second and that it would be a good way to show the Amstrad can run games that other 8-bit computers cannot,” Alejandro continues. “So we used scrolling techniques to take advantage of the Amstrad CPC’s architecture capabilities that were not officially documented.” The resulting game is a smooth, spectacular-looking technological triumph with superb physics and responsive controls. It’s not a million miles away from the Amiga version and
STOCK UP ON THE KEY GAMES THAT HAVE HELPED DEFINE THE CPC HOMEBREW SCENE
GALACTIC TOMB
Getting through the three distinctive-looking levels of ESP Soft’s smooth scrolling run‑and‑gun platformer from 2018 may prove to be too short a blast for some gamers. But the exciting variations of the different worlds, combined with the title’s gorgeous graphics and superb sound, nevertheless make each jump an absolute joy.
BABA’S PALACE
Much thought has gone into the 100 levels of this intelligent puzzler which makes it no surprise to learn that it won the CPCRetroDev contest in 2017. It involves moving blocks in order to reach a henchman – a simple premise that progressively becomes more difficult, particularly when an extra character is introduced.