A while back, I looked at the sound ratings for the original release Mastertronic games, as awarded by Zzap! 64. It was interesting to see (and hear) which had been highly rated by Zzap! 64, with the sound rating not being for the music, but also including any sound effects too – which can be just as atmospheric for making a game what it is. This was especially the case for original releases as often games would be purchased just to hear the epic SID tune that may have been in the game – after all, two quid for say a memorable Rob Hubbard track, a bargain.
Following on from that, in this article I am going to concentrate on the sound ratings given to re-release Mastertronic games for the Commodore 64 only – which includes the likes of Ricochet, Americana, Mastertronic+ and even Tronix later on. Once again, my many thanks to Mort and all the maintainers of the Zzap! 64 website, as their resources were invaluable when writing my original article for Remix64 and indeed this one too.
Some Notes about the Ratings
It is important to note that there are some caveats around the Zzap! 64 reviews and indeed the sound ratings, which we will be concentrating on. More so for re-releases, it would be notable that:
- The sound ratings are all based on what the original review for the original release had – as not all re-releases got a full review, often just an overall rating only.
- No adventure game got a sound rating.
- No strategy game got a sound rating either.
- Many other budget re-release companies came along (such as The Hit Squad owned by Ocean and Kixx by US Gold) which meant that the Mastertronic library for re-releases were not as extensive from the late 1980s onwards.
- Not every single original game got a Zzap! 64 review, so there may be some favourites missing – simply because they were not reviewed first time and so even if the re-release was reviewed, there may not have been a sound rating.
- Sound ratings also dealt with sound effects as well as the music, so if the game has superb sound effects or speech (for example Impossible Mission) that would up the rating considerably too.
So, without further ado, and in reverse order, here are the top 10 Commodore 64 Mastertronic re-release games by their Zzap! 64 sound ratings:
10 – The Way of the Exploding Fist (Neil Brennan, Ricochet, 92%) – originally released by Melbourne House
Listen to The Way of the Exploding Fist via DeepSID
Although the Ricochet re-release of The Way Of The Exploding Fist did not have the opening Bruce Lee sample during the game’s load, the distinct and gorgeous Oriental soundtrack was still there in abundance. The lovely flow to the version of Dance of the Yao People sets the scene perfectly for the action, and the two in-game pieces (for the one player and two player modes) are beautiful background pieces which add to the game, along with those crunching samples when you hit an opponent. The whole soundtrack feels very atmospheric and proved why Neil Brennan was, in my view, a hugely under-rated musician on the Commodore 64. Listen, relax, and then kick your opponent down with a well-timed leg sweep. Gorgeous.
=7 – Golden Axe (Tronix, Jeroen Tel, 93%) – originally released by Virgin
Listen to Golden Axe via DeepSID
Whilst the arcade conversion was raved about in the Zzap! 64 review at the time, I was not sure that the game itself deserved that rating – it just seemed a little dull and too repetitive to score as high. What was not in doubt though was that Jeroen Tel excelled here with some excellent renditions – the title theme (Death Adder) being particularly well done, with four minutes of flow, key change, and a beautiful introduction with bass line that gives you that feeling of wanting to get straight into it. The character select and main in-game themes set the tone well too, and there are some good solid hack and slash sound effects which really do sound meaty when taking on an opponent.
=7 – Knight Games (Mastertronic+, David Whittaker, 93%) – originally released by English Software
Listen to Knight Games via DeepSID
As the Epyx Games series had already proved to be popular, other software companies would give the genre a go, with English having eight themed games around medieval knights for you to have a go at. Six of them though were just beat-em-up variations with only archery and crossbow offering something different, so may have been over-rated. However, the David Whittaker soundtrack for the title theme and indeed each of the events is very well done, and sets the tone perfectly for the battles ahead. They are for me amongst his finest Commodore 64 works due to the variety and the musicality involved.
Did You Know?
Mastertronic released Knight Games in the USA on disk, and the cover art for that release was produced by none other than Oliver Frey, famous for all the superb covers on Zzap! 64. The game soundtrack was based on two session musicians’ work, Yekao and Spiz, the former of which had also a big hand in another English software game, Elektra Glide.
=7 – Rock ‘n’ Bolt (Ricochet, David Thiel, 93%) – originally released by Activision
Listen to Rock ‘n’ Bolt via DeepSID
I quite like Rock ‘n’ Bolt and the gameplay element of being more of a puzzle game to get the bolts into the right place was quite addictive and fun to play, more so if you made an error and had to undo the bolt, thus spending valuable time, and having to panic slightly. This is further accentuated by the music from David Thiel – the pieces of music are not very long before they repeat, but they add plenty of character to the game’s action, and are also quite funky to bop along to when playing, making the game much more enjoyable. It is a classic case here of how it was all about the way that the sound fitted the game here, which it does very well.
6 – Beach Head II (Americana, Electronic Speech Systems and Unknown, 96%) – originally released by Access/US Gold
Listen to Beach Head II via DeepSID
Whilst the original Beach Head was an early Commodore classic, the sequel made for a much tougher mission, complete with tricky sections such as getting the soldiers past the Dictator’s machine guns and the knife battle to the death in the final level. What did make the game even more enjoyable was not the version of the Marines’ Hymn on the title screen, but the sound effects sound war-like and the superb speech courtesy of Electronic Speech Systems. Even today people remember the phrases of “Follow me, men!” “Medic!”, and “Hey! Don’t shoot me” amongst many others as you tried your best to overthrow the dictator (or be the dictator and shoot the lot). A classic case of the speech providing the superb atmosphere and contributing massively to the sound rating. Talking of which…
continues…
A mention too for the sound effects in Little Computer People – the doorbell chimes, the alarm clock rings, the shower and the toilet sound very watery, the bell on the typewriter when your LCP completed a line of text… There’s also the brilliant pseudo-speech, long before Simlish existed. Oh, and the classic “breaking the fourth wall” moment when the LCP knocks on your screen to get your attention!