Paul Gascoine, aka “GAZZA”.  Loved and hated footballer of the 1980s and 1990s era, proved a very marketable commodity, in particular selling football / soccer video games. Gremlin graphics saw the opportunity to cash in and license Paul Gascoine’s name to some football / soccer games, one such game that is proving to be surrounded in mystery is the 1991, Amstrad CPC, cartridge release of GAZZA 2.

Gazza’s instantly recognizable picture appeared in many computer magazines of the time it received a great deal of hype and fanfare. French magazine, Amstrad Cent Pour Cent, gave GAZZA 2, cartridge, an overall rating of 60%, CV+G in 1991, gave it an overall rating of 74%, while Amstrad Action #65 gave it a 2 page spread, calling it a “STUNNER”, giving it an overall rating of 88%.

So what’s the mystery ?  A game with a great deal of hype, a well known world wide marketable personality, some pretty decent ratings in the magazines, so what’s the issue?

The problem with GAZZA 2, Amstrad CPC cartridge, is it doesn’t seem to exist.

No one has ever seen the cartridge. Claims abound social media it has been seen, but where is it?

While the actual Amstrad CPC cartridge game was reviewed back in 1991 by various magazines, an actual, pyhsical cartridge has never been seen.

Reviews of the game in the magazines depict some difference of the game’s screenshots, leaving some to wonder was GAZZA 2, Amstrad CPC cartridge even reviewed? The question has to be asked, were screenshots of other platforms such as the Atari St or Amiga computers used in the Amstrad CPC cartridge reviews? It is possible.

Maybe, maybe not, as coders of GAZZA 2, Amstrad CPC cartridge, the Pickford Brothers website http://www.zee-3.com/pickfordbros/softography/index.php?game=44 states, that the Amstrad CPC cartridge was actaully completed and had over 10,000 units sold, but as the disclaimer on their website states, it is only an educated guess relating to sales figures.

Gazza 2, did come out on disk for the Amstrad CPC in 1990, and showed some interesting coding techniques for the time.

According to website CPCPOWER.com, GAZZA 2 on disk, uses the Multi- Mode technology which allows to mix graphics modes. The playing area is in MODE 1 and the area with the title of the game is MODE 0 . The color palette is changed by the use of rasters between the playing area and the area of the scores.

Was there much difference between the disk and cartridge versions?  Until a physical cartridge is found we will never know.

From magazines screenshots i viewed, there does appear to be major differences in sprites and minor differences in colour or pallette between the two versions.

Does Gazza 2 cartridge exist ?
The short and unfortunate answer is NO.

I searched online website, CPC POWER (http://www.cpc-power.com/) there is a question mark and “unreleased” next to the GAZZA 2 info page.

I looked for a download of GAZZA 2 on The Amstrad Computer Games Resource or TACGR website (http://tacgr.emuunlim.org/downloads/downloads.php), while Gazza 2 is listed, when you click on it error 404 not found is returned.

Some people even believe they have seen a copy, Mark Latham Hall, who runs the retro gaming, “Classic Replay”  Facebook page and blog http://classicreplay.blogspot.com.au/, believes he saw a copy of the GAZZA 2 cartridge for sale on the shelves back in the day but he stated he cant be 100% certain as it was more than 20 years ago.

If you believe you have a copy of Gazza 2, Amstrad CPC cartridge, or you know someone who does, then let people know at AMSTRAD CPC CLASSIC GAME FB page  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1066160190075999/

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