The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
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The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Those MIA games where they do actually exist... as a fraction of their intended product!
I've always wanted to do this. These six playable demos are all that exists (as far as we know) of the full games. But which is the best? You have seven days to choose.
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech
Dominion (playable demo) by Pandora
Sensitive (playable demo) by Peter Gordon
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel
I've always wanted to do this. These six playable demos are all that exists (as far as we know) of the full games. But which is the best? You have seven days to choose.
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech
Dominion (playable demo) by Pandora
Sensitive (playable demo) by Peter Gordon
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
The Tilt screenshot Is wrong. The MIA Is the other Tilt.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Oops! And so is the link too. I can't edit posts after an hour has gone, so here's the next best thing...
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel
Thanks for pointing out that error!
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
missing in this list game ThunderJaws
Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Is it possible that I played a version of Circus Circus but with the cannon-man instead?
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Uh-oh. Another poll that's gonna have to be re-run! Thanks for informing me though.
I do publish the shortlist a week in advance for it to be checked over, just like the 'discussion' phase for the 'Best game by...' threads.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
You did!
You see, the only traces of Circus Circus are on Sinclair User's Megatape 11, which had Beach Head and Beach Head 2 on side A, while side B had two demos of Circus Circus, followed by Poke City.
The first demo was a rolling one - totally unplayable, just a slideshow of static screenshots. Then you got prompted to load the second demo, which is the playable one of the human cannonball.
The ZXDB entry here that I'm using to illustrate these items has taken the 'in game' screenshot from the rolling demo. That unicycling tightrope guy, it looks cool, but you've never been able to actually play it.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Quite a difficult choice between two, for me...
Atomic Robo-Kid looked fantastic, and played pretty well as far as the demo went, so I was surprised and disappointed that it wasn't completed and published. Could have been another R-Type level conversion.
Dominion seemed like it could have been an awesome Aliens-like game, and the guy who did the Spectrum port of Reckless Rufus worked on it, so I was very interested in that... but the demo didn't seem to do much.
The former gets my vote on this one.
Atomic Robo-Kid looked fantastic, and played pretty well as far as the demo went, so I was surprised and disappointed that it wasn't completed and published. Could have been another R-Type level conversion.
Dominion seemed like it could have been an awesome Aliens-like game, and the guy who did the Spectrum port of Reckless Rufus worked on it, so I was very interested in that... but the demo didn't seem to do much.
The former gets my vote on this one.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
1 Circus Circus
2 Atomic Robo Kid
3 Tilt
2 Atomic Robo Kid
3 Tilt
Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
PeteProdge wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:53 am You did!
You see, the only traces of Circus Circus are on Sinclair User's Megatape 11, which had Beach Head and Beach Head 2 on side A, while side B had two demos of Circus Circus, followed by Poke City.
The first demo was a rolling one - totally unplayable, just a slideshow of static screenshots. Then you got prompted to load the second demo, which is the playable one of the human cannonball.
The ZXDB entry here that I'm using to illustrate these items has taken the 'in game' screenshot from the rolling demo. That unicycling tightrope guy, it looks cool, but you've never been able to actually play it.
This is interesting, the demo was bundled in one of the (legal) pirated compilation as a full game.
In Load'n'Run magazine's last years of life they stuffed more and more demos into cassettes instead of cracked full games. I wonder why, but the reasons could be multiple: easier to copy, no fuss in removing piracy checks, less space thus smaller tapes, and anyway no one was going to pass the test level and complete the demo due to the staggering difficulty of games back then.
In fact I think I've never lasted more than a few seconds with that human cannonball.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
It does look like they were still cramming the tape with a few full price games without authorisation: https://www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk/ent ... n_issue_58Oloturia wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 8:50 am This is interesting, the demo was bundled in one of the (legal) pirated compilation as a full game.
In Load'n'Run magazine's last years of life they stuffed more and more demos into cassettes instead of cracked full games. I wonder why, but the reasons could be multiple: easier to copy, no fuss in removing piracy checks, less space thus smaller tapes, and anyway no one was going to pass the test level and complete the demo due to the staggering difficulty of games back then.
https://archive.org/details/loadnrun/Lo ... ew=theater
Interesting to see them pass off the Circus Circus demo as an actual "GAME", using the name of Cannone.
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
1. Atomic Robo-Kid
2. Armalyte
3. Circus Circus
2. Armalyte
3. Circus Circus
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Atomic Robo-Kid has won this (faulty) poll (that'll be re-run a few months from now), with six votes!
In second place we have Circus Circus, with four votes.
Joint third place goes to Armalyte and Dominion.
It's roughly mirrored in the proportional results:
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision 5
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech 4
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus 2
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel 1
In second place we have Circus Circus, with four votes.
Joint third place goes to Armalyte and Dominion.
It's roughly mirrored in the proportional results:
Atomic Robo-Kid (playable demo) by Activision 5
Circus Circus (playable demo) by Martech 4
Armalyte (playable demo) by Thalamus 2
Tilt (playable demo) by Linel 1
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New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
I've only just clocked that the Action Farce II demo is marked in ZXDB as "never released" so I guess that could be another one to add to the poll when it's re-run!
(The "best budget game demo" poll that it was recently included in should be unaffected since it got 0 votes there)
(The "best budget game demo" poll that it was recently included in should be unaffected since it got 0 votes there)
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Re: The best playable demo of a MIA game on a YS/Crash/SU covertape: vote
Ah yes... an odd one really as it's reader/homebrew. But I'll get it in the poll rerun, so thanks for that!
I think it's the only playable demo of a reader game, ever.
Yeah... the thing to note about that, is that it's an MIA game where I'm not exactly waiting for a full version. A really half-hearted thing made in some tacky game creator, which is noted in ZXDB as only having spawned this effort and a totally MIA mod called Mission Venom. Dismal!
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