THE MAKING OF storm
DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS
BRIDGE TO THE EAST
SYSTEM: BBC MICRO
YEAR: 1984
BALL CRAZY (PICTURED)
SYSTEM: AMSTRAD CPC, C64, ZX SPECTRUM
YEAR: 1987
BIGFOOT
SYSTEM: AMSTRAD CPC, C64, ZX SPECTRUM
YEAR: 1990
IN THE KNOW
» PUBLISHER: MASTERTRONIC
» DEVELOPER: THE FIRM
» RELEASED: 1986
» PLATFORM: AMSTRAD CPC, VARIOUS
» GENRE: MAZE GAME
God bless Mastertronic, purveyors of bargain-budget gems. In the Eighties, when the cost of 8-bit games was creeping towards (and sometimes beyond) the £10 mark, Mastertronic came along with a catalogue of titles costing just £1.99. The pocket-money price meant that the games secured floor space in the smaller retailers that the main wholesalers ignored, such as newsagents, convenience stores, video shops and petrol stations. It was a classic disruption strategy and it saw Mastertronic sell more than 2.1 million units between its launch in April 1984 and July 1985.
The business model meant that Mastertronic was also incredibly agile and was often able to beat the bigger publishers to the punch. A textbook, a two-player clone of Atari’s which went on sale several months before US Gold’s official conversion. The effect of this was perfectly illustrated in the September 1986 issue of magazine, where it was revealed in the news that US Gold had commissioned Gremlin Graphics to develop the 8-bit conversions of , while in the same issue received a glowing review. “ is by far and away the best budget game I’ve ever seen on any micro,” commented editor Tim Metcalfe. “As good as many full-price offerings around right now… a budget game that thinks it’s worth nine quid!” The game scored a ‘Rave’ award in , with Andrew Wilton singling out the co-op gameplay, saying, “If this was a one-player game it would be pretty good – it earns its Rave with the two-player option.” magazine also praised in a review that casually dropped truth bombs at US Gold’s door. “That this game should appear before is surprising, that it should be at a budget price is truly amazing.”
