Any serious gamer would no doubt remember games like Pacman, Space Invaders, Galaga, Asteroids and Frogger. Created around the 1970s to early 1980s, these video games are still highly revered to this very day, the so called ‘Golden Age’ of the arcade video games industry. Ah, it was a time when video game arcade machines would be released at your local hangout the video game arcade centre, or as they were so popular within everyday culture of the time, they were just as likely to be found at your local milk bar or fish and chip shop.

Video arcade games took over from mechanical  pinball machines, you could say they disrupted the pinball machine industry forever as it was known. Young boys and girls and adults alike spent much of their spare time and earnings to kick back and enjoy playing the latest and coolest arcade game machines.

During the 1980’s, due to its popular culture, the video arcade appeared to sprout up everywhere.  I remember within my local area, where i grew up, there were at least 10 different arcade gaming centres. The games developed quickly from table tops to uprights to games you could sit in and feel the exhilaration of a moving car, such as in games like WEC Le Mans.  You sat in a small cockpit and it moved whenever you turned a corner.  Other games like Super Hangon and Enduro racer depicted you sitting on a mock motorbike and pulling or swerving to give you the feel of realism as the games got more advanced they had bigger and brighter more stunning, bigger, bolder sprites and graphics and even more amazing sounds and tunes.

The video gaming industry worldwide was in a massive growth phase, new video games seemed to be released at will, at the same time the home computer market began to grow steadily, more and more of the coolest arcade games where being converted to home computers such as the Amstrad CPC, C64, Sinclair / Spectrum, MSX, Atari’s, Amiga etc etc.

Perhaps the most anticipated and biggest hyped up arcade game conversion to the home computer was car racing game called Outrun. This game was so hot, it wasn’t just hot it was the coolest, most awesomeness, most fastest arcade racing game ever released at that time. Released in November 1986 by Sega, Out Run puts the player behind the wheel of a red Ferrari Testarossa.

Players must test their driving skills to reach the end-of-stage ‘goal’ before the tight time limit expires. Out Run’s lush, colourful levels are all packed with civilian traffic that, in addition to the tracks themselves, must be carefully negotiated. Upon crashing, the player’s car doesn’t explode or come to a sudden halt as with other games of the time; it flips into the air before crashing to the ground and eventually rolling to a stop; throwing the driver and his gorgeous blonde female passenger from the car in the process.

As well as being able to choose which route to take through the game, players can also choose from one of 3 different catchy songs to listen to while driving. The 3 songs are : ‘Magical Sound Shower’, ‘Passing Breeze’ and ‘Splash.

Before the end-of-stage goal is reached, players are presented with a fork in the road; a unique innovation that, for the first time in the history of racing games, gave players a choice of which route they wished to take through the game. Out Run’s game-play was both tight and instinctive and, together with the superb stage design and wonderfully realized sprite-scaled graphics, it would completely revolutionize not just racing games, but arcade games in general.

Out Run is still regarded as perhaps the finest arcade racer (and certainly the finest sprite-driven racer) of all time. This was especially true of the deluxe cabinet version, which featured a fully hydraulic tilting cabinet (resembling a red Ferrari Testarossa) and a powerful speaker system situated directly behind the player’s head.

U.S. Gold had the rights to distribute Outrun to home computers, they employed Probe software (before Dave Perry & Nick Bruty) to code the Amstrad CPC conversion.

It was such a disappointment, the game was a poor conversion not just on the Amstrad CPC but all computing formats.

Popular Amstrad magazine,  Amstrad Action (AA mag)  gave it an overall rating of 37%, an extremely disappointing result, for the coolest arcade game ever made upto that time.  Much of what made the arcade game so cool and so great was missing on the home computers especially on 8 bit machines.  The Amstrad CPC conversion was missing the awesome graphics, the map, in-game music (although available through audio tape), the car-flip, the awesome speed and superb animations.

In AA mag issue 30, game reviewer GBH said “As far as arcade conversions go this is probably one of the worst ever.”

The Outrun experience became an important lesson for gamers worldwide – one that heeded a message “dont believe the hype” and “try before you buy”.

Even though Outrun was such an awful arcade conversion, it didn’t stop software companies continuing to buy the rights to arcade games and converting them onto home computers.  The reason for this is pure and simple –  money and big sums of it.  The old economics 101 lesson of supply and demand.

More and more arcade games were being made and played and more and more arcade games were being converted to home computers to cash in on that demand, which established a new, cash cow market within the gaming industry.

Software companies and coders seemed to get better from the Outrun experience.  There were absolute cracking conversions to the Amstrad CPC such as Afterburner AA 81%, Arkanoid AA 89%, Bomb Jack 84%, Chase HQ AA 90%, Continental Circus AA92%, Forgotten Worlds AA 80%, Gauntlet AA 93%, Gryzor AA82%, Ikari Warriors AA 91%, Operation Wolf AA89%, Powerdrift AA91%, Pang AA93%, Renegade AA90%, Smash TV AA96%, Shinobi AA87%, Space Harrier AA 90%, WEC Le Mans AA 82%, Yir Ar Kung Fu AA 92% and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Coin op AA91%.

These cpc games oozed playability and staying power.  They were colourful, fast paced, and either looked or played every bit like their arcade versions.  Some didn’t completely replicate the arcade machine game, such as Paperboy and Bubble Bobble as they didn’t have in game music / sounds.  Yie Ar Kung Fu was missing two CPU opponents and the bonus stage.

Some coders might say that the Amstrad CPC didnt have the memory to make a complete conversion, yet other coders found a way to get the most out of the Amstrad CPC’s 64 / 128k memory which are showcased in stunning arcade conversion games such as Chase HQ, Smash TV, Operation Wolf and Gryzor.

But we can’t forget there were also even more turkeys…..

Some of the most dreadful arcade conversions to the Amstrad CPC include Altered Beast AA 50%, Bionic Commandos AA 39%, Enduro Racer AA79% & Green Beret AA 83%(what were they thinking ??), HKM AA65%, Outrun AA37%, Stun Runner AA56%, Street Fighter 51%, Rolling Thunder AA37%, Road Blasters AA 69% Rastan Saga AA no review,  R-Type AA 57%, Pit Fighter AA11%

CPC4EVA