Introduction
It would be remiss of us here at The Mastertronic Collectors Archive if we did not celebrate what was clear success in terms of games sold, and indeed just how many were sold over the years. Clearly selling games cheaply and making them affordable so that everyone could feel included playing games was huge, especially when you consider the 1980s here in the UK and how little money some of us had. What you may not realise is just how many of these games became pretty significant sellers, not just for the big three 8-bit formats such as the Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, but also other formats which Mastertronic supported well, notably the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 and Atari XL/XE series.
So in this article we will break down some of the big hitters in terms of numbers of games sold but also how that compared across all the formats, and delve into some other notable stats along the way. Our huge thanks as ever goes to Anthony Guter, whose meticulous record keeping has enabled us to show you just how popular the games were, but also what that potentially meant for viable support for systems maybe longer after some other software companies had ceased support. One final thing: we are only covering the games released at budget price here, so anything that was Melbourne House, Leisure Genius and so on at full price do not feature. On we go..
The Top 10 Sales by Title on Format
By this we mean the games that sold the most numbers on one format. You will see in this list some games feature twice, because the games sold well on more than one format (for example Spectrum and Commodore 64.) What you may be surprised with is that what game comes out on top.
| Game | Label | Format | Sales |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 173,498 |
| Ghostbusters | Ricochet | ZX Spectrum | 168,626 |
| Ghostbusters | Ricochet | Commodore 64 | 147,108 |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 138,161 |
| Kikstart | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 136,355 |
| Kikstart 2 | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 130,676 |
| BMX Racers | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 126,854 |
| Chiller | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 121,874 |
| BMX Racers | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 120,227 |
| Finders Keepers | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 117,209 |
Yes, Formula 1 Simulator, but not the format you might think. The Commodore 16 and Plus/4 version sold shedloads, and this potentially was all down to timing. Christmas 1985 in the UK saw many High Street stores sell off the Plus/4 Pack for £100 or less, which included the Plus/4, cassette deck, joystick and 10 bundled games so you could get started. I myself received a Plus/4 that Christmas as part of the same deal. So, naturally when you then had some money for Christmas, you would want to purchase a game, and so if there was a cheap affordable game and with Formula 1 being very popular even then, naturally that helped a fair bit.
In fact, four of the ten are re-releases: the two versions of Ghostbusters of course, but also Formula 1 Simulator on the Spectrum, a reissue of a Spirit Software game with an infamous steering wheel add-on, and Kikstart, which had been released by Mr Chip Software themselves before it then got a re-release on Mastertronic after that. It is perhaps notable that Kikstart 2 also sold more on the Spectrum than it did on the Commodore 64, which was the source version of that game. Only the Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Commodore 16 and Plus/4 feature here.
Of course, not all sales were necessarily those of quality games. BMX Racers is the obvious case in point here, with the two different versions on the Commodore 64 being notably awful. However, no one could argue that both Kikstart on the Commodore 64 and Finders Keepers on the Spectrum would both be considered budget classics even now.
The Top 10 Original Games Sales by Title on Format
So what if we took out the re-releases from this list? Well, it would be interesting. We would need to remove both instances of Ghostbusters, Formula 1 Simulator for the Spectrum and Kikstart for the C64. So there would still be six of the top ten remaining, and then four added towards the bottom of the list, like this:
| Game | Label | Format | Sales |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 173,498 |
| Kikstart 2 | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 130,676 |
| BMX Racers | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 126,854 |
| Chiller | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 121,874 |
| BMX Racers | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 120,227 |
| Finders Keepers | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 117,209 |
| Kikstart 2 | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 107,869 |
| Vegas Jackpot | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 100,651 |
| Speed King | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 100,151 |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | Amstrad | 98,436 |
Note how the Amstrad CPC creeps in here with sales of Formula 1 Simulator, which was also the biggest selling game on that format as well as the Commodore 16 and Plus/4. It is also a surprise that Kikstart 2 sold more on the Spectrum than on the Commodore 64 – especially as the latter is so highly regarded as a classic. Maybe Spectrum owners were seeing how good the original was and hoping theirs was. Well, you will find out when we review those.
Top Original Game Sales on Each Format
So we do know what the best selling original titles are for the C16, Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad. But if we include the rest, it is interesting to see which game was the one that sold the most. Some were unique to that system, and we’ve also excluded Duck Shoot for the Vic-20 because that is also a re-release of Kwazy Kwaks by Mr Chip Software (and sold 53,210 copies – an impressive total all round.)
There were a number of Amiga and Atari ST games which were also excluded for the same reasons due to them being re-releases – games such as Silkworm and Gemini Wing as well as Double Dragon featured in those cases. What is surprising apart from those is that the 16-bit budget game sales never really matched the 8-bit games – even in the late 1980s and early 1990s in some cases.
| Game | Label | Format | Sales |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 173,498 |
| Kikstart 2 | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 130,676 |
| BMX Racers | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 126,854 |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | Amstrad | 98,436 |
| Formula 1 Simulator | Mastertronic | MSX | 61,222 |
| Action Biker | Mastertronic | Atari XL/XE | 59,670 |
| Undermine | Mastertronic | Vic 20 | 48,489 |
| Galactic Patrol | Mastertronic | BBC Micro | 25,752 |
| Space Ranger | Mastertronic | Amiga | 13,494 |
| Bug Diver | Mastertronic | Dragon | 12,787 |
| Knight Tyme | MAD | ZX Spectrum 128 | 7,403 |
| Sidewinder | Mastertronic | Atari ST | 6,757 |
| 5 A Side Soccer | Mastertronic | IBM PC | 5,272 |
| The Last V8 | Mastertronic | Commodore 128 | 5,122 |
Super Selling Single Format Games
By this, we mean games that were only ever published on one format and no other, so there are ten unique titles here. And some of them are pretty good games too. The top ten is like this:
| Game | Label | Format | Sales |
| Speed King 2 | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 95,900 |
| Tutti Frutti | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 91,656 |
| Mr Puniverse | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 75,522 |
| Empire Fights Back | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 74,774 |
| Street Olympics | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 73,978 |
| The Exploits of Fingers Malone | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 67,601 |
| BMX Trials | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 67,050 |
| Agent X | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 63,400 |
| Wing Commander | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 59,891 |
| incredible shrinking fireman | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 58,167 |
Again, three formats feature here: the Spectrum and Commodore 64, but also the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 once again, with four out of the top six being on that format. Mastertronic’s excellent support for those systems really were rewarded with significant sales, especially with good quality programmers such as Shaun Southern, Tony Kelly, Doug Turner and Patrick Strassen around – one game from each of them is featured here. My personal favourite of the four, Tutti Frutti, is excellent. There are also some notable Spectrum releases such as Agent X and incredible shrinking fireman – yes, it appears uncapitalized on the front cover and so we have kept it that way here.
To round out the top five for the C16 and Spectrum, these were in fifth place in terms of their single format sales:
- The Return of Rockman (Mastertronic, Commodore 16) – 51,040
- Video OIympics (Mastertronic, ZX Spectrum) – 55,900
But what of the best selling single-format game on each system? Well, we know the Spectrum, C16 and C64 of course, so these are at the top here, but as for the others…
| Game | Label | Format | Sales |
| Speed King 2 | Mastertronic | ZX Spectrum | 95,900 |
| Tutti Frutti | Mastertronic | Commodore 16 | 91,656 |
| BMX Trials | Mastertronic | Commodore 64 | 67,050 |
| Undermine | Mastertronic | Vic 20 | 48,489 |
| The Apprentice | Mastertronic | Amstrad | 43,007 |
| Crystal Raider | Mastertronic | Atari XL/XE | 35,163 |
| Galactic Patrol | Mastertronic | BBC Micro | 25,752 |
| Space Ranger | Mastertronic | Amiga | 13,494 |
| Bug Diver | Mastertronic | Dragon | 12,787 |
| Chopper X | Mastertronic | Atari ST | 3,855 |
| California Pro Golf | Mastertronic | IBM PC | 2,814 |
A number of Vic-20 games that were unique to that format sold relatively well, with Under Mine just topping that list. Others were considerably ahead such as Galactic Patrol, and for the Dragon, Bug Diver was one of only two games for that format – nice that they did get a unique title mind you.
The top five for some of the formats in terms of single format sales makes for interesting reading. Let’s start with the Vic-20 as I mentioned it – and the likes of Phantom Attack are in there, which is a superb game and well worth checking out.
| Game | Label | Sales |
| Undermine | Mastertronic | 48,489 |
| Bullet | Mastertronic | 45,415 |
| Phantom Attack | Mastertronic | 45,210 |
| 3D Maze | Mastertronic | 43,834 |
| Psycho Shopper | Mastertronic | 42,383 |
Next up, the Amstrad – and Flyspy is particularly a noteworthy game amongst this lot, as it was an early Richard Aplin game. He would go on and of course produce Invade-a-Load on the Commodore 64 for plenty of games that used that system.
| Game | Label | Sales |
| The Apprentice | Mastertronic | 43,007 |
| Into Oblivion | Mastertronic | 37,241 |
| Radzone | Mastertronic | 32,199 |
| Flyspy | Mastertronic | 27,177 |
| Dr Scrime’s Spook School | Mastertronic | 14,673 |
On to the Atari XL/XE, and some notable games here too. Two are re-releases of Jeff Minter games, and another (Henry’s House) is a conversion from an old English Software title that had been released for the Commodore 64 several years earlier, making its Atari debut here.
| Game | Label | Sales |
| Crystal Raider | Mastertronic | 35,163 |
| Despatch Rider | Mastertronic | 30,512 |
| Henry’s House | Mastertronic | 25,990 |
| Hovver Bovver | Mastertronic | 18,795 |
| Attack of the Mutant Camels | Mastertronic | 18,551 |
As for the Commodore 64, this proves an interesting top five, not least as there is an Entertainment USA label release in there, as well as two of the five games also having Rob Hubbard soundtracks (Hunter Patrol and The Human Race.)
| Game | Label | Sales |
| BMX Trials | Mastertronic | 67,050 |
| Wing Commander | Mastertronic | 59,891 |
| Hunter Patrol | Mastertronic | 57,346 |
| The Human Race | Mastertronic | 55,963 |
| Street Surfer | Entertainment USA | 52,078 |
Total Sales by Format
What if you took all the original games and re-releases that were released at a budget price by Mastertronic across all their labels? How would the numbers stack up? Well, you would be surprised by some of the numbers for some of the formats. Here goes:
| Format | Total Sales |
| Commodore 64 | 6,110,532 |
| ZX Spectrum | 5,027,334 |
| Amstrad | 2,462,163 |
| Commodore 16 | 2,196,906 |
| Atari XL/XE | 887,928 |
| Vic 20 | 634,562 |
| MSX | 511,001 |
| ZX Spectrum/Amstrad (Flippy releases) | 476,751 |
| Amiga | 209,649 |
| BBC Micro / Electron | 205,352 |
| Atari ST | 126,489 |
| IBM PC | 79,961 |
| Dragon | 15,120 |
| ZX Spectrum 128 | 15,104 |
| Commodore 128 | 9,704 |
| ZX Spectrum +3 | 180 |
| Grand Total | 18,968,736 |
Six million for the Commodore 64 and five million for the Spectrum are impressive numbers. But perhaps the most impressive is the 2.19 million sales for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4, which showed just how well the format was supported by loyalty for those users, and the ratio of good games over bad was considerably decent. What is also notable that the flippy releases (Spectrum on one side, Amstrad on the other) sold decent amounts for the re-releases more so than the original games. And for those that were curious, the 180 sales for Spectrum +3 disks were not for the game 180, but for the re-release of Gemini Wing.
So that’s some the big sales summarised then. Stay tuned for more stats where we’ll be looking further into re-releases, the biggest difference between games sales between formats and also within each format, sales by sub-label (cue Entertainment USA klaxon here) and so much more!
Special thanks to Anthony Guter, former Financial Controller for Mastertronic, for all of the statistical information used in the creation of this feature.
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