=5 – Street Surfer (Entertainment USA, David Whittaker and Unknown, Sound 65%, Overall 29%, Difference 36%)
Listen to Street Surfer via DeepSID
In terms of the overall game rating, Street Surfer for me personally was way too low – it was a decent 3D racer and endless runner at that, with the emphasis on collecting cola bottles and then getting to the end of each stage to recycle them, whilst avoiding cars, oil slicks and chickens. The enhancements were from Binary Design when the game by Sculptured Software reached the UK, and this included a very catchy David Whittaker soundtrack during the game, where it sped up and slowed down as your skateboarder would do – a nice touch that. The game over theme’s composer is unknown, but is a version of Taps – synonymous these days with those who fail to complete the Barkley Marathons course.
Did You Know?
Sculptured Software were responsible for a significant number of original releases that were released by Mastertronic’s Entertainment USA label. On the flip side, they were also commissioned to convert some of Mastertronic’s popular UK games over to the Atari XL and XE systems, including Kikstart, Vegas Jackpot and Speed King.
4 – Hollywood or Bust (Mastertronic, Rob Hubbard, Sound 84%, Overall 46%, Difference 38%)
Listen to Hollywood or Bust via DeepSID
This was a typical John Ferrari game in that it was just too hard for so many people, which was a shame really, as the idea was at least an original one. This was rightfully mentioned in the Zzap! 64 review, and we came to the same conclusions in our review. The only saving grace of this game were the three main themes, which have a different pace and feel with versions of the Dill Pickles Rag and the Twelfth Street Rag amongst them. They are catchy and suit the feel of the game (think the likes of Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin film eras) and even if the game was not very good, this was one of those games that you would purchase for the Rob Hubbard tunes alone.
3 – Amaurote (MAD, David Whittaker, Sound 80%, Overall 39%, Difference 41%)
Listen to Amaurote via DeepSID
The city of Amaurote is infected by insects, and you must clear each district by locating the queen and using the weapons to destroy her and stop her breeding other insects along the way. The plot and game idea is sound, but unfortunately like several Binary Design’s Commodore 64 versions (see also Feud), numerous bugs got in the way making the game far less enjoyable – and the game is not even isometric like the original Spectrum version either. The real shame here is that both the title music and in-game soundtrack by David Whittaker is really brooding and gives a superb sense of atmosphere – one of his better C64 works that is overshadowed by how spoiled the game is. The middle section of the in-game theme with the almost creeping like noise of insects really does show attention was paid to the plot and works well.
2 – The Last V8 (MAD, Rob Hubbard, Sound 91%, Overall 34%, Difference 57%)
Listen to The Last V8 via DeepSID
Well, if anyone says “I bought this game for the music” they would not be in the minority, would they? This is the perfect example of where this would most definitely apply. The Last V8’s soundtrack by Rob Hubbard is excellent, especially the futuristic sounding atmosphere it creates, and having a bug free version to listen to (unlike in the original game) really does show how well it has stood up over the years. However, you then come to the game – and those awful controls. Worse is to come if you do master them, as the two levels can be completed in under five minutes, which offers very little value for money. So, you either get frustrated or fed up, or both. We said the same in our review of the game, and even the Commodore 128 only version, with its extra level, does not fare that much better either.
1 – Las Vegas Video Poker (Entertainment USA, Rob Hubbard, Sound 70%, Overall 11%, Difference 59%)
Listen to Las Vegas Video Poker via DeepSID
Las Vegas Video Poker, like a lot of Entertainment USA releases, had some enhancements when the game hit the UK – and in this case, some Rob Hubbard music and sound effects, with a nice version of Scott Joplin’s The Easy Winners on the title screen and some neat effects during play. Unfortunately, the game itself was just a video version of poker without a two player mode, and so got very boring and dull quite quickly for the Zzap! 64 reviewers, and indeed it does not have much longevity when played now. In fact, the sound effects each time a card is dealt also slows down the game somewhat, which may have been unintentional, but certainly makes it play even slower. One that, without any doubt, got purchased only for the music.
Did You Know?
This would not be the only poker game with music by Rob Hubbard in. In the same year, Martech released Samantha Fox Strip Poker, based on the model and occasional pop star, and as you can imagine, the game was just as tacky. The game credits a certain John York for the music, but it is by Rob Hubbard. Rob himself explains: “Sam Fox Strip Poker was such a cheesy title and they wanted that cheesy lame music along with it – I didn’t want to admit that I did it just for the money! John York was the first name that I thought of and used as an alias….”
Final Thoughts
Even without all the games reviewed by Zzap! 64 where the music is much better than the game on offer, there are some surprises here, and certainly may mean that there are some soundtracks which may have been overlooked because the game was poor, and rightly slated in the magazine press at the time. Certainly, for me, Amaurote is atmospheric and well worth a listen, and the fact that there are five Rob Hubbard and three David Whittaker soundtracks shows how often they were used to effectively make a game sound more polished than it may have been.
In Part 2, we will look at games that were re-released by Mastertronic, and using the original full price Zzap! 64 review to see if the adage of nice music, shame about the game, rang true even more so when some of those were involved.
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