BBC / Electron Mastertronic Checklist

While not as popular as the other 8-bit systems in the 1980s, Mastertronic still catered for Acorn’s BBC and Electron computers. Even though both were mainly dominant in the education sector, they were both still well supported in the games department from a number of developers. In fact many gaming classics started on the platform. So it’s no surprise that Mastertronic supported them for so long.

In fact, they not only released games on their main range, but a couple of their sub-labels as well, and even games on disk. As with all our other lists, this will now also include titles released by Melbourne House and Virgin Games.

Thanks to members of the Acorn Computer and BBC Micro Enthusiasts Facebook group for assistance with this list.

Updated: 23rd April 2025

Mastertronic

Number	Title	Author	Format	Sales	Cover Art
IB0002	Vegas Jackpot	Mark J Brady (cover)	BBC/Electron	17,022
IB0012	Starmaze 2	R Elsom, Mark J Brady (cover)	BBC	17,081
IB0012	Starmaze 2	R Elsom, Mark J Brady (cover)	Electron	9,413
IB0021	Spectipede		BBC	14,818
IB0021	Spectipede		Electron	9,576
IB0041	Thunderball		BBC	9,989
IB0047	Challenger	John Walsh	BBC	10,639
IB0096	Kane	Mike Woodbridge, John Smyth (cover)	BBC	25,439
IB0097	Walk The Plank		Electron	9,739
IB0107	Galactic Patrol	A G Cartlidge	BBC/Electron	25,752
N/A	Megaplay Volume 1 (tape)	Various	BBC/Electron	1,843
N/A	Megaplay Volume 1 (disk)	Various	BBC/Electron	1,481

Americana

Title	Author	Original Publisher	Format	Sales	Cover Art
Beach Head		US Gold	BBC/Electron	1,482
Bounty Bob Strikes Back			BBC
Questprobe featuring The Hulk	Scott Adams	Adventure International	BBC
Questprobe featuring The Hulk	Scott Adams	Adventure International	Electron
Questprobe: Spider-Man	Scott Adams	Adventure International	BBC

Ricochet

Number	Title	Original Publisher	Sales	Cover Art
RB 001	Geoff Capes Strongman	Martech	7,707
RB 002	Gisburne’s Castle	Martech	6,544
RB 004	Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge	Martech	7,560
RB 005	Eddie Kidd’s Jump Challenge	Martech	8,082
RB 009	Jetpac	Ultimate Play The Game	5,620
RB 010	Knight Lore	Ultimate Play The Game	3,183
RB 011	Alien 8	Ultimate Play The Game	721
RB 012	Nightshade	Ultimate Play The Game	2,910
RB 018	Way Of The Exploding Fist	Melbourne House	5,371

PAL Developments

Number	Title	Author	Format	Sales	Cover Art
PAL 8	Tetris		BBC/Electron	1,198

This range has Mastertronic Plus branded packaging but uses a unique numbering system prefixed with “PALxx” for all the titles. It is relatively small, with under 20 titles and some gaps that we are aware of but covers 8-bit and 16-bit games. While it has no formal name, we have named this after the software company PAL Developments who were contracted by Virgin Mastertronic to develop a number of games for them. They created most of the games for this range although there were a number of licensed titles amongst them as well. The company underwent numerous name changes during it’s lifetime, including Palmer Acoustics Ltd where the initials would have originated.

Virgin Games

Number	Title	Author	Format	Cover Art
VGA 2001	Bug Bomb	Simon Birrell	BBC B
VGA 2002	Landfall	Gregory Trezise	BBC B
VGA 2003	Space Adventure		BBC B
VGA 2004	Trench	Phil Wilkes	BBC B
VGA 2005	‘Owzat	Charlie Withall	BBC B
VGA 2006	Chieftan	Andrew Newton	BBC B
VGA 2007	Microbobe	Simon Birrell	BBC B
VGA 2008	Plankwalk	Neil Cannon	BBC B
VGA 2009	Cruncher	Malcolm Ripley	BBC B
VGA 2010	Noc-A-Bloc	Richard Bygrave	BBC B
VGA 2011	Checkout	Mike Cooke	BBC B
VGA 2012	Brainstorm	Greg Choppen	BBC B
VGA 2013	Sea Adventure	Mike Woodham	BBC B
VGA 2014	Sinbad	Dennis Ibbotson	BBC B
VGR 2015	High-Rise Horror	Simon Birrell	BBC B
VGA 2801	Jungle Jive	Dennis Ibbotson	BBC B / Electron

Melbourne House Books

Title	Author	Cover Art
BBC BASIC For Beginners	David Smith
BBC Hardware Projects	Don Thomasson
BBC Software Projects	Rudolf Smit
Building Blocks For BBC Games	Bruce Bayley
Guide To The BBC ROMs	Don Thomasson