R - Roland on the Ropes! He's the Prince of the Swingers...

Amsoft's attempt to create their very own mascot saw the emergence of the ever-changing Roland, in which over the course of several games became an expert at space exploration, caves diving and tomb raiding. Roland on the Ropes see's him in a more human and appropriate form, dodging the ghosts, rats and spooks to find the treasure and escape the rope laden tomb. With sound instantly recognisable SFX and colourful if a little flickering of the graphics, playing this 1984 adventure is a good laugh. Hard as hell in places, with seemingly endless mazes and tunnels and ropes, and ghosts which true to folklore appear out of the walls in an instant. Squeaky rope amusement ol' rollie-boy!

Honourable Mentions - Rampage, R-Type, Rastan.

Amstrad Coverart - Tape Version

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O - Oh Mummy! Treasure maze and monsters...

Maze games were hugely abundant after the success of PacMan, so its no surprise one of the release titles from Amstrad's own software house was going to hang on the coat-tails of Mr Man. A grid layout shown in various colour swaps, Oh Mummy has you running around a room (pyramid) a a digger to find the treasure and escape the mummies by circling the tombs. Endlessly playing to the tune of 'The Streets of Cairo', this is a simple game both graphically and in gameplay, but it is weirdly addictive. One of the best Amsoft titles in all honestly, CPC gamers far and wide have most likely played this into the wee hours until the parents said ' bed time now!' to which the response would have been...'Oh Mummy....'

Honourable Mentions - Operation Wolf, Operation Thunderbolt, Outrun.

Amstrad CPC Coverart - Tape Version

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H - Harrier Attack! - Jump Jet Japery...

New CPC owners were often found playing parts of the bundled 8-pack of Amsoft games, and Harrier Attack is one, if not the best one. Yes it's crude, it's shaky, but it's also quite a bit of fun in short sessions. Harrier jump-jets have near impossible maneuverability in reality so putting one in a simple scrolling shooter didn't take much doing. Missiles and bombs ahoy, just get on with the mindless destruction, who cares if the visuals and audio are as basic as they can get. A fondly remembered early title for me, and proof that Amsoft did sometimes have a good un' in their lexicon.

Honourable Mentions -  Head Over Heels, How to be a Complete Bastard, Hard Drivin'

Amstrad CPC Coverart - Tape Version

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