The original Knight Games box art was a bit rubbish. The tapestry idea is certainly fun, but Mastertronic's rerelease using Oli Frey's original art was about eight billion times more exciting and eye-catching.

40 years ago, Knight Games made for a superb noggin' boppin' cover. We scored the game 90%. Other top reviews: Ghosts 'n Goblins 97%, Arac 93%, Mercenary: The Second City 95%, Hercules 92%, and Split Personalities 93%. A brilliant month for top quality games, it must be said!

40 years ago, I reviewed these very interesting joysticks. You had a glimpse of the future (Wiz Card joypad), the cool and innovative Joyball, and a selection of sticks, the best of which was a new version of the legendary all-time-great Competition Pro (with microswitches).

40 years ago, Commodore was playing the shopkeeper in the equivalent of Monty Python's "dead parrot" sketch. C128 dead? Nah. It's only sleeping. mate. Meanwhile Acorn was planning a games comeback for its Master Compact, which unfortunately very, very few people actually bought.

40 years ago, the ZZAP! team was being wowed by Chris Butler's C64 Ghosts 'n Goblins port. It was remarkable all things considered, with excellent audiovisuals and gameplay that reflected the original coin-op surprisingly accurately with just a few acceptable compromises.

40 years ago, Ocean marketed Miami Vice with this absolutely killer Bob Wakelin piece. As was unfortunately often the case with Ocean games during this period, the ad was a million times better than the game - which was kinda okay on Speccy and effin' terrible on C64/Amstrad.

40 years ago the Cold War was all the rage, so why not sell your games with a good old fashioned nuclear Armageddon theme? These hits just keep on coming. Nuke your competition from orbit. You'll be blown away by these amazing games. Etc etc. 🤣

35 years ago I was playing Mega Drive Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. This platformer didn't feature the greatest audiovisuals, but was still really entertaining to play. Notable villains, fun mechanics, and a cool photo mode (perhaps the first ever) made this a really solid buy.

40 years ago, Saga planned a "cheap" (£920 in today's money) Z80 computer "aimed at the serious user." Which meant no games/software and launching into a market already saturated with cheap 8-bit systems. 😬Other than that, a total slow news midsummer snooze fest.

35 years ago, I was playing Mega Drive Starflight. Looked utterly boring, but was totally the opposite. It was basically a top tier, super-fun Star Trek game (without a license). An absolute hidden gem that would probably be more appreciated by adult you than 12-year-old you.

35 years ago, Game Boy Choplifter II was keeping me highly entertained on my morning and evening commutes into London. Fun and challenging gameplay made this a neat little hand-held special.

40 years ago, Ocean was marketing this text adventure based on Century Electronics' Hunchback coin-op. The original port sold well, and Hunchback II: Quasimodo's Revenge did okay. But a Hunchback text adventure? At least they were trying something different, but what an odd game.

40 years ago, a marketing person at Ocean was scratching their head, wondering how the hell to peddle this quartet of completely different, disparate games. I guess they all feature heroes and villains, so box well and truly ticked. But what an oddball selection!

40 years ago, Ocean was advertising Sensible Software's Parallax with this iconic ad. Just a very cool and distinctive piece of art that really jumped off the page.

40 years ago, Acorn's proposed "baby BBC" sounded expensive and uncompetitive (and didn't happen). Meanwhile, Beyond licensed Star Trek and promised "a most significant step in the evolution of the computer game." Unfortunately, Star Trek: The Rebel Universe did not deliver that.

35 years ago, we had a double dose of SNES shoot 'em up glory. I already posted our UN Squadron/Area 88 review, so here's Super R-Type, which we also thought was terrific. This game also helped cement the SNES' credentials as a console that could handle arcade action very well.

Eastern vs. Western box art. I much prefer the stylized approach to the realistic one. Your milage may vary of course.

35 years ago, I was playing an import copy of UN Squadron/Area 88 on SNES. This adaptation of Capcom's 1989 scrolling shooter coin-op added new features and remixed levels - and was top class. Fantastic audiovisuals and highly challenging gameplay made it an absolute winner!

In the early 80s, these things were what hand-held gaming was all about. Cheap and fun? Well, almost. Those prices might look low these days, but that Frogger is £87 in today's money, those £20 specials are £70 a pop, and even those £15 cheapies were the equivalent of £50!

40 years ago, the QL was still headline news. Would it be sold? What about the QL-compatible Amiga rival? All just hot air. The real story was IBM cutting its prices to compete with "PC clones" - highlighting what was fast becoming a massively important sector of the market.

Donkey Kong is 45 years old this month. This terrific, highly innovative platformer was a huge arcade hit that put Nintendo on the map. It featured the eponymous ape, Jumpman AKA Little Mario the carpenter, and "Lady" - the yet unnamed Pauline. Absolute all-time Golden Age great.

Here are four other takes on Green Beret/Rush 'n Attack. Imagine's ad, Nintendo's (effin' terrible) ad, the original Japanese arcade flyer, and the alternative US arcade flyer.

40 years ago, this Green Beret cover was one of ZZAP!'s all-time greats. Just fan-freakin'-tastic stuff. Really stood out on the newsstands. Top reviews: Green Beret 93%, Tau Ceti 93%, Kik Start II 96%, Infiltrator 92%, Murder on the Mississippi 89%, and Superstar Ping Pong 85%.

40 years ago, I was enjoying Imagine's conversion of Green Beret (AKA Rush 'n Attack) on the C64. Despite being extremely difficult, it was nevertheless fun to play. Add in the game's decent graphics and excellent music and you had a must-have game for arcade fans.

35 years ago, I played Battletech at a facility in Chicago. It was absolutely incredible: Proper first-person multiplayer mech combat using high-end networked PCs and played from inside enclosed pods. Difficult to articulate just how astonishing this experience was. Years ahead of its time.

40 years ago, a new CPM-compatible DOS OS was headline news, but these days is a long-forgotten historical footnote. Meanwhile, there was a programmer shortage, and Acorn's new RISC system was ready to roll - but it was its chips that were the big thing, not the machine itself.

35 years ago, Mean Machines' cover featured Mega Drive Ice Hockey. We rated the game 95%. Other top reviews: NES Boulderdash 92% and Kabuki 90%, Game Boy Hunt for Red October 90%, SMS Psycho Fox 90% and Spider-Man 87%, and Mega Drive 688 Attack Sub 84%. A decent summer issue!

35 years ago, I compiled these Mean Machines tips. Nothing super-special, but this spread is a great example of how we used art and screenshots to make an otherwise boring page feel really vibrant and exciting. This is what happens when you employ excellent designers/artists.

BTW, this game had terrific box art. Brilliantly painted, tons of crazy stuff going on, and an accurate representation of what you were about to get yourself into. Definitely a classic!

35 years ago, I was brawlin' 'n' ballin' with Streets of Rage. Brilliant graphics, fantastic techno music, challenging and fun two-player beat 'em up action, and a horde of varied and interesting enemies to kick the crap out of made this a Mega Drive must-have. Absolutely superb!