Cursor - abandonware area

Hello all and sorry for this long-break but real life has its own twisted way on messing up with my virtual plans

Now’s the time for some spinach and lets all saaaiilll awwaaaaayyyy with Popeye, yeaah.. Popeye The Sailor had his own private appeareance on ZX Spectrum. Good lord it was some fine days & night then, im just turning out a little bit nostalgic and blue ‘cuz i guess i had about 14 of 15 years old when Popeye cartoons run on national tv station every sunday and boy whatta pleasure was to watch that frenzzy adventures and then jump on my Sinclair, start the tape and play Popeye for hours.

Popeye was released by DK’Tronics in 1985 but it was first scheduled for the Christmas of ‘84.. nevertheless it came out as a big hit mainly from its glorious graphics wich resembled pretty much with a cartoon and also the game-play (yes, we had gameplay that days).

The essence of Popeye is to find all the hearts and return them to Olive before her lovemeter runs out. He must also collect spinach cans, keys and an assortment of objects to aid him during his journey.

Spinach is the only way to revive Popeye following a blow from Bluto, vultures, witches on broomsticks and so on. Keys are needed to gain access to the chambers and rooms where more objects and obstacles lie.

To reach the various objects Popeye can jump, climb up and down ropes and hitch lifts. Be bold and adventurous and you will be rewarded with even more locations to explore.

At first the game is tedious. Popeye is so slow in response to your commands that he is mowed down even as he is recovering from a blow. Once you have adjusted to the slightly slow reactions and cracked the correct sequence to avoid Bluto, you can really start getting into the game.

The graphics are excellent and very large. Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto are all perfect reproductions of the famous cartoon characters.

"quote from Sinclair User No. 43"

Download Popeye.tzx.zip (Original Release - Perfect TZX tape image)

Download Popeye.tap.zip (Original Release - TAP tape image)

At that time this game received 4 out of 5 stars beeing considered a hit and because of its succes Popeye 2 and Popeye 3 we’re relesead shortly after.

But as almost all remakes this two didnt manage to have the popularity of original Popeye, first remake was almost like a Donkey King Kong with clumpsy graphics and Popeye 3 even if it had been refurbished with 128K style graphics and sound, turning Popeye the Sailor into a wrestler.. well.. some people really apreciate it (i guess it was the remains of WrestleMania..) but for me, the humble and in-loved with my sparky sailor.. that was enough.. i’ll forever stick to Popeye 1.

Anyway.. loading screen from Popeye 2 

 

and here’s the Popeye 3 (the wrestler) 

Hi all and sorry for the luck of updates but i’ve just found that next spring i’ll be father iuuuupiii! well, im speachless.. give me sometime to simply wipe out this stupid smile that have been printed on my face and i’ll put my feet on the ground

Since this was among the first games that i’ve ever played on my Z80 (and boy whatta playing was there) i will make the first step to a complete Saboteur article.. completed with a few surprizes such as in-game sprites, separate graphical elements (you know the ladders, dog-guards.. ).. just alow me a few days and i’ll be back.. until then.. this guy rocks!

Part One

The original Saboteur game was released in 1984 by Durrel Software and was the first production on programmer and artist Clive Townsed made to commercial area. Durin those times, Saboteur receive only top-scores as we could find in the Crash Issue nr. 25.

Mr Saboteur, Clive Townsend has been a dedicated follower of Sinclair since ZX81 days, when he wrote a Tarot Card program on the little beast. As soon as the Spectrum came out, Clive put his name down for one and quickly got to grips with the BASIC side of programming. "I wrote a couple of games - one ran rather slowly because it was all in BASIC and the other was much quicker, because I used a compiler… I took them both to Robert, and he liked the slow one because of the graphics and the fast one on account of its speed."

The summer holidays followed, and Clive hung around the Durell offices learning machine code, making tea and wearing his cool-dude sunglasses. In May this year Durell decided to take him on fulltime, and he was set the task of writing a game called Death Pit on the Spectrum - mainly so he could learn how to apply the machine code he’d learnt. Death Pit has never been released - although halfway through the project there was a moment when it looked like the game might make a commercial release, it didn’t come up to scratch.

Saboteur came together slowly, and almost by accident. "I was doing graphics for other people on the Spectrum between sessions in Death Pit and I was playing around at home with some graphics of my own. I’m interested in Karate, and designed a Ninja who just ran around in a building on a scrolling screen. I showed what I had done to Robert in the office one day, and he liked the idea - only he wanted the screen to flip rather than scroll."

Basically, Saboteur rose from the ashes of Death Pit which was cannibalised for the routines it contained. Thanks go to a couple of Clive’s mates: Rich, and Mat the Fat. They playtested the game all the way through while it was being written, and Clive did promise he’d give them a credit. So now he has. No-one at Durell bothers too much with storyboards. Game ideas are bounced around the office, with everyone chipping in ideas and suggestions until the basic idea becomes a fairly detailed plan. Then it’s a matter of convincing Robert, the Big Cheese, that the idea is worth turning into a game. Stephen Parker, Durell’s marketing consultant also plays a part: "Steve advises me what he feels the market wants. Generally, as a result of Steve’s work, I think the more High-Tech scenarios involving vehicles and futuristic equipment are what people want," Robert mentioned. Conversions are done in house. Nick Wilson was responsible for the BBC version of Combat Lynx and Mineshaft and is currently embroiled in the Amstrad version of Turbo Esprit. Ron Jeffs, who joined the company in its early days with Mike Richardson, began with the Oric, writing Harrier Attack and Scuba Dive and is currently converting Critical Mass for the Commodore. And Dave Cummings shouldn’t be left out of the namecheck - he’s the guy who replaced Clive on the graphics front. Watch out for him - he’ll be writing games soon, no doubt… (www.crashonline.org.uk)

 

Advertising / posters /adds / packaging: 

Saboteur printed advert used to promote the game. You may notice that the ninja character is jumping from a bunker with a machine-gun in his hand but in the actual game the player dosnt have acces to this weaponry, only the guards (bad guys) are using machine guns and those are firing rubber bullets since they preffer to take intruders alive for later tortures.

I have’nt been able to find the original inlay that Durrel published so for the moment you may view a photo with the tape that Elite re-relesead in 1988.

Also here are some high resolution scans of front and back covers (via GameBox64)

 

 

 
Download Saboteur:

Windows 95 (PC) version 

ZX Spectrum 48K release  or you could try Saboteur for ZX 128K

Commodore 64K version 

Amstrad CPC release 

To Be Continued… 

(If anyone could help me with more information about what does Clive Townsed do in the present days.. as much as i know is that we had been involved with/on Pukkagames & Bam! Entertainment but both of them are ‘out of action’.. so inf you know or have any information about Clive please contact me) 

 

Producer: Crack dot Com

Published: Electronic Arts, Red Hat

Game description 

The year is 2009, and Nick Vrenna has just been sent to a secret underground prison where horrible and illegal genetic experiments have been taking place, a la Alan Blake. Blake has just found the human gene, known as Abuse, which causes aggression and hostility. You assume the role of Vrenna, and must escape. That is the easy part. Bad news: the prisoners have turned into freakazoid alien monsters, so of course, you will have to blast your way out. Sound exciting? It is. In the grand tradition of 2D action platformers, Abuse has it all. Everything from dark, side scrolling prison levels filled with perplex puzzles, switches, and alien monsters, to a massive assortment of special items and weapons. Throw on your thinking cap and grab a flamethrower, because you are going to need them! ~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide

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