Retro Rumble: Round 9

[Leon Retro]

Buggy Boy
Commando
Enduro Racer
Gauntlet
Rastan
Rygar

Six random retro games face off against each other to see which ones are the most popular.

Choose 3 that you like the most.

[wheelaa]

Ooh, interesting list.

Commando - I was so impressed by this back then. Still have my Acorn tape. Mercs was far better though. Revisited it a few years ago, so so.

Rastan - hack, slash, platform, barbarian etc, what's not to love. I even enjoyed the SMS version which got mixed reviews iirc.

Rygar - had/has a charm to it I guess. I do like the Lynx port

(Gauntlet never grabbed me back then but I enjoy later titles in the series, much prefer Hang-On to Enduro, don't recall ever playing Buggy Boy.)

[JazzFunk]

Commando, Rastan, Rygar. The Gauntlet 4P cab was amazing, though, and sounded brilliant in attract mode across an arcade, it sounded so cool. Just a pity the game itself is so repetitious.

Commando was the game I found the most exciting, as a kid. It was SO cool, me n my bro used to emerge from seaside arcades feeling like army men and we'd even 'sing' the choonz.

We even pooled our paper round money together to buy the Acorn Electron version on tape.

It was more upsetting than when our grandma popped her clogs. Truly a sad, sad moment and possibly THE worst coin-op convo ever shat from a developer's bowels.

[JazzFunk]

(Speccy version of the latter my fave, btw. The C64 version looks great until its brief length and overly jaunty choonage start to nark me. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautifully made bit of music but it just feels too 'bouncy' to me, even now, I just think it detracts from the cool arcade atmos. Nah, Speccy version by a mile. Even had the 'thin bullet' feel of the arcade. 64 version just felt blobby...if slick like Rick).

[Gradius]

Rygar is my favourite here. It has fast paced action and requires quick reflexes rather than learning levels.

Gauntlet as an arcade game in 1985 with 4 players around a single machine was brilliant. It’s not really stood the test of time but I still enjoy it (currently on MiSTer FPGA)

Buggy Boy is my last choice. I did play the 3 screen arcade a bit but I mostly played it on the c64 - great fun.

Honourable mention to Rastan just for the Zuntata music.

[Leon Retro]

Rygar - had/has a charm to it I guess. I do like the Lynx port

It's easily my favourite game for the Lynx -- such a nice port.

The Gauntlet 4P cab was amazing

An unforgettable cab. I also really enjoyed Gauntlet on the Spectrum, Amstrad and Amiga.

Nah, Speccy version by a mile. Even had the 'thin bullet' feel of the arcade. 64 version just felt blobby...if slick like Rick).

Yeah, the Speccy version is excellent. The C64 port is also fun to play, but maybe a bit "blobby."

Buggy Boy is my last choice. I did play the 3 screen arcade a bit but I mostly played it on the c64 - great fun.

I don't think it was a very common coin-op, but I managed to play it a few times. As much as I enjoyed the Amiga port, the C64 version is better. It's still one of my go-to C64 games.

Honourable mention to Rastan just for the Zuntata music.

Such a classic tune.

[QualityChimp]

I do enjoy these, Leon. Stirs up some right memories!

The Buggy Boy cab had that sweet triple screen setup.
I never really played it, back in the day.


I confuse Rygar and his yo-yo and Black Tiger. The latter was one of the challenges faced in Ready Player One!

I'm going with Commando. Always liked the look of it, but it was too tough as a kid and your 10p never lasted long.
Played it at one of those retro shows about 5 years ago and got hooked. I really enjoyed it.
I loved how the trees flexed at the start as the downdraft from da choppah drops you off.

Rygar is my second choice. Proper chunky sprites and the way he swings the sword if proper Conan.
Great soundtrack too.

Going to go with Gauntlet as my last choice. It's so iconic and it's a great dungeon crawler too.

[Atticus]

Commando, Enduro Racer and Buggy Boy.

Commando is probably my fave, even though I was RUBBISH at it ... and the other two were a couple of pleasant seaside treats.

[phillv85]

Commando, Rygar and Gauntlet. None of them are games I love this time, but all the games on the list are at least ok.

[monel]

I died so many times on Commando, it's no joke. When I saw the whole area printed in a magazine I felt a total failure. I was nowhere near the end.

[JazzFunk]

Mate, COMMANDO still is brill!!!! Total, twitchy Capcom classic, gameplay is so pure.

Sadly, me n' my bro's attentions were soon seduced by IKARI WARRIORS...

...if you weren't around at the time, you'd never realise how cool that game was, especially if one had a sibling. 2P COMMANDO-style action with rotatable joysticks that allowed for fully-360 degree shooting.

What a game. Blew our fookin' minds, it did.

[JazzFunk]

(we used to pronounce it "ichor-eye" and abbreviated it to that name).

Anyone for a two player on Ichor Eye???

[Leon Retro]

I do enjoy these, Leon. Stirs up some right memories!

I'm glad you enjoy them. Stirring up memories and creating discussion is what it's all about really.

The Buggy Boy cab had that sweet triple screen setup.
I never really played it, back in the day.

I played the three-screen cab a few times and it was really impressive. Also a fun game that didn't have any rivals.

Sadly, me n' my bro's attentions were soon seduced by IKARI WARRIORS...

Ikari Warriors felt like an 80s action movie, where some musclebound guy would be a one-man army. Being able to get in a tank and go on the rampage was really exciting back then. I loved it on the Amstrad and then the Amiga.

[Leon Retro]

My votes:

Gauntlet: I would agree that it feels very repetitive after a while, but I just love the old school D&D vibe and brilliant overall design. It's such an iconic game that fills me with nostalgia whenever I return to it.

Rygar: The ultra slick gameplay and beautiful pixel art make this a very compelling action game. The music and sound effects are also memorable. A golden classic.

Commando: It may be quite a simple game, but every aspect of the design is well crafted. The combination of attractive graphics and tight gameplay always make this a fun game to come back to.

[Leon Retro]

The votes so far:

Commando: 6 votes
Rygar: 6 votes
Gauntlet: 4 votes
Rastan: 2 votes
Buggy Boy: 2 votes
Enduro Racer: 1 vote