Micro Natters Part 1: A Mastertronic Re-Release Guide – Commodore 64

Although many of you may associate Ricochet as Mastertronic’s primary re-release label, followed later by the likes of Mastertronic+ and Tronix, what may not be apparent is that in the early years of Mastertronic, prior to Ricochet, they did re-release games that had been released before, and sometimes these were under a different name.  Of course, the original releases may not have been so easy to find or lacked the distribution channels that Mastertronic had, and as such, it was only over time that an awareness to the original releases was noted.

Here in this guide, we will try and put the pieces together and detail which games in the initial classic range (and indeed one of the MAD variants) were in fact re-releases, and what happened to the game on other formats.  This first part of the guide here deals with those games which originally had a first release on the Commodore 64 in the UK and Europe before being re-released by Mastertronic, and may prove useful if you wish to search for the original releases.

To summarise: this guide will cover any re-releases by Mastertronic up to the date of the launch of the Ricochet label in mid-1987. Any subsequent re-releases also used the MAD and Mastertronic+ labels as part of the standard range as well as Ricochet.

Jackpot (Mr Chip)

Back in 1983, one of Shaun Southern’s earliest game was a fruit machine simulator called Jackpot (the cassette labels it Jackpot 64, but effectively the same game.)  This was a fairly colourful fruit machine game overall and even had little jingles such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire when the game started.  Naturally, it was a prime contender for re-release, and so Mastertronic re-released it as Vegas Jackpot (1C 0002) accordingly.   This game ended up being converted by Shaun himself for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4, and by Peter Adams of Sculptured Software for the Atari XL/XE, all three using the same look and feel.  Other versions were released for the Vic-20, Dragon, BBC Micro and Spectrum but these had different rules and look and feel compared to the original.

Westminster (Mr Chip)

Based on more what a board game would be like rather than a computer game, this would try and simulate you canvassing for votes in a number of electoral constituencies, and then once the number of rounds of canvassing selected by yourself was up, you would then have the votes counted and the number of seats you had would determine if you won, along with random money gains and incidents along the way.  Sadly, it is a not a very good game, but was re-released as The Election Game (2C 004) in a 299 Range type that became the only game.  If that was not enough, the game appeared to be modified further to suit the American market, and had a second re-release over there, albeit with a loading screen, as Candidate (ICD0035) – and both games acknowledge the original Westminster release on their instructions and inlays.

Did You Know?

There is actually a board game called Westminster, which was released by Gibson and Sons in 1983.  This had thirty-two constituencies and you needed to head around the board ensuring you collected enough votes to become the MP for that constituency and sit in Parliament. The recommended playing time for the game was two to three hours with a comprehensive rule sheet, and may well have been the inspiration for this game.

Pigs in Space (ACE)

Several of the Games Creator games by the Darling brothers were issued twice, on ACE and then Hitech Games Plus. before being re-released by Mastertronic.  This was effectively a clone of the arcade game Pooyan, but a least meant that it was reasonably playable, with the name being a nod to a sketch from the television series The Muppet Show – we would love to know if that was intentional or not.  The game was re-released by Mastertronic (IC 0039) with a slightly faster loader and the intro screen showing the Mastertronic logo.  There were no conversions to other formats.

Mind Control (ACE)

This was the second of the Games Creator games issued on ACE and Hitech Games Plus first of all.  In the two levels you explore the mind and try to make sure that you keep the energy levels up.  It is in truth not that good a game and was subsequently re-released by Mastertronic (IC 0040) with similar speed loader and different intro screen.  There were no conversions to other formats, and probably sensible.

Dark Star (ACE)

This was the third of the Games Creator made games which had a first issue on ACE and a second on Hitech Games Plus.  Unlike the first two, where there is at least a playable game, this is terrible, and should never have been issued even in its original form.  It is a pointless vertical shooter with one life, randomly placed enemies and one route through with poor scrolling.  For completists only, it was re-released by Mastertronic (IC 0041) and due to it being such a poor game can still be located relatively cheaply.  There were no conversions to other formats, thankfully.

Magic Carpet (ACE)

This was the fourth and last of the Games Creator made games which had first issue on ACE and a second on Hitech Games Plus.  This game is effectively three screens of tedium which you will either complete very quickly, in under two minutes, or you will be stuck at one part of the game and you cannot progress any further than that, especially the start of the second screen.  It was re-released by Mastertronic (IC 0042) and later the game also received a ZX Spectrum conversion, which was just as awful and, again in both cases, ones for completists only.

Did You Know?

There were other ACE releases which were also made using The Games Creator, but none of these games were picked up for re-release by Mastertronic.  They were Krypton, Niterider, and Westworld.

Kikstart (Mr Chip)

The original BBC television series Kick Start was massive in the 1980s, with millions tuning in to see Peter Purves present from Easton Neston, near Towcester in Northamptonshire, and a muddy estate being perfect fodder for motorcycle trials over hills, bunny hops and cars.  Clearly inspired, Shaun Southern wrote a side on horizontally scrolling game, with a two-player option, where you could ride over the obstacles on several courses that came into its own in two player mode especially.  Mastertronic re-released Kikstart (IC 0056) and it became one of the biggest Commodore 64 games they sold.   A Commodore 16 and Plus/4 conversion by Shaun Southern himself followed, but this was a different game based on the arcade game Superbike instead of the TV series, whilst Peter Adams coded the Atari XL/XE version that resembled the original game.  Shaun Southern then went back and coded a Commodore 128 only version with more courses and different obstacles (ICD 1282).

Did You Know?

The music to the game Kikstart is based on the theme tune to the TV series Kick Start, called Be My Boogie Woogie Baby and performed by Mr Walkie Talkie, an alias for the German musician Drafi Deutscher.  One of the music videos to this song from a German television show of the time is very bizarre, and vastly different from the confines of Easton Neston.

BMX Stunts (Jetsoft)

Jetsoft were a games company who originally were creating games based on a Galaxian arcade board and modifying the code so to run their own games on it.  Although you can play the games on MAME, we are not sure if a cabinet ever came to fruition.  As the game was in assembler code, it was relatively easy to convert, and so a Commodore 64 version was made by them.  We believe the programmer may have been John Hutchinson, who had coded Cavelon (released by Ocean) but are awaiting confirmation of this.  Mastertronic re-released this game as BMX Trials (IC 0079) with a new loading screen added, and a couple of the challenges in the game are different from the original, so well worth noting.

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