| Bobby Bearing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | The Edge |
| Designer(s) | Robert Figgins Trevor Figgins |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1986 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Bobby Bearing is an isometric action-adventure game released by The Edge in 1986 for the Sinclair Spectrum. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 by Trevor Inns.
Bobby and his family are ball bearings who live in Technofear, "a land of the future made of steel, and inhabited by things of steel." [1] Bobby's brothers have been led astray by their rogue cousin and are now lost in the Metaplanes outside their home - stunned and captured by the evil Bearings that inhabit the Planes.
The player controls Bobby Bearing in his search for his four lost brothers and their cousin. He must avoid the evil Bearings, find his missing and unconscious relatives, and roll them out of the Metaplanes to safety.
The mission must be accomplished before the time limit runs out, otherwise the game ends and Bobby's relatives are lost forever. A time penalty is incurred each time Bobby dies or is stunned. If Bobby is trapped and unable to leave a screen, pressing 'Q' will reset the screen at the cost of a time penalty.
Air vents, Elevators, switches, crushers and evil Bearings can help or hinder Bobby in his quest.
Robert Figgins and Trevor Figgins, the developers:
It's hard to believe now so many months after the project began, but Bobby Bearing began life as an action-packed arcade-style game inspired by Q-Bert ! In fact originally it wasn't intended for commercial sale at all. Even though the game didn't have much resemblance to Q-Bert, we were really pleased with the final result. The funny thing is, though, that there was no sense in which Bobby was based on Marble Madness , or any home micro game such as Gyroscope , and especially not Spindizzy ! Bobby was more than 50% finished and looking very much as it does in the final commercial version almost a year ago now, and was around 18 months in the making. In fact we hadn't heard of Marble Madness and Spindizzy until we spoke to The Edge. In fact, acknowledgements for inspiration are really due to Knight Lore by Ultimate. [2]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Amtix | 93% [3] |
| Crash | 94% [4] |
| Computer and Video Games | 37/40 [5] |
| Sinclair User |  [6] |
| Your Sinclair | 9/10 [7] |
| Zzap!64 | 93% [8] |
Bobby Bearing was positively received by critics. The game debuted at number nine on the sales charts in October 1986. [9] The Spectrum version was rated number 46 in the Your Sinclair "Official Top 100 Games of All Time" list. [10]
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies: it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware, the first to be programmed in the C programming language, and one of the first to use true stereo sound.
Knight Lore is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in video games. In Knight Lore, the player character Sabreman has forty days to collect objects throughout a castle and brew a cure to his werewolf curse. Each castle room is depicted in monochrome on its own screen and consists of blocks to climb, obstacles to avoid, and puzzles to solve.
Underwurlde is a 1984 action-adventure platform video game in the Sabreman series by Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. The player controls the adventurer Sabreman as he jumps between platforms in a castle and its caverns to find an escape past the exit guardians. Underwurlde features about 600 flip screen areas. Unlike other games of its time, Sabreman is not injured when touched by enemies and is instead knocked backwards. Underwurlde is the second game in the series, between Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore, and released shortly before the latter for the ZX Spectrum in late 1984. Another developer, Firebird, ported the game to the Commodore 64 the next year.
Nebulus is a platform game created by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants in the late 1980s for home computer systems. International releases and ports were known by various other names: Castelian, Kyorochan Land, Subline, and Tower Toppler.
Cauldron is a video game developed and published by British developer Palace Software in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC home computers. It contains both platform game and horizontally scrolling shooter sections. Players control a witch who aims to become the "Witch Queen" by defeating an enemy called the "Pumpking".
Spindizzy is an isometric video game released for several 8-bit home computer formats in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software. It combines action and puzzle game elements. Players must navigate a series of screens to explore a landscape suspended in a three-dimensional space. Development was headed by Paul Shirley, who drew inspiration from Ultimate Play the Game games that feature an isometric projection.
Deactivators is a 1986 puzzle video game designed by David Bishop and Chris Palmer, developed by Tigress Marketing and System Software, and published by Ariolasoft's action game imprint Reaktor. The player controls bomb disposal robots known as deactivators and must use them to deactivate bombs planted by terrorists in five research complexes. The concept for the game came from a brainstorming session between Bishop and Palmer; its design and development took five to six months to complete. It was released for the Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms in October 1986.
Enduro Racer (エンデューロレーサー) is an arcade racing game from Sega. It was released in 1986 with two arcade cabinet versions, a stand-up cabinet with handlebars and a full-sized dirt bike cabinet. It is often seen as a dirt racing version of Hang-On, as it uses a similar engine and PCB. The game was later released for the Master System in 1987, the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1988, and the Amstrad CPC and Atari ST in 1989.
Zub is a 1986 platform video game designed by Ste and John Pickford, developed by Binary Design, and published by Mastertronic for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The game has the player control Zub, who has to travel to different planets to retrieve the Green Eyeball of Zub. A parody of the game Light Force, called Lightfarce, was added in as an easter egg. The music on all computers was composed by David Whittaker.
Cobra is a 1986 platform game based on the film of the same name. It was developed and published by Ocean Software, and was released in Europe for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 (C64), and ZX Spectrum. By 1990, it received a budget re-release.
Highlander is a video game tie-in to the Highlander franchise released in 1986, the same year as the film, published by Ocean Software for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. Highlander was panned by reviewers.
Edge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pasadena, California, best known for the practices of its founder and chief executive officer, Tim Langdell, in enforcing trademarks relating to the word "edge", which sources have described as "litigious".
Equinox is an action video game released by Mikro-Gen in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64.
Heartland is a platform game for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64 released by Odin Computer Graphics in 1986.
Light Force is a 1986 vertically scrolling shooter designed by Greg Follis and Roy Carter, developed by their company Gargoyle Games, and published under their Faster Than Light imprint. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms.
Hercules is a platform video game written by Steve Bak for the Commodore 64 and published by Interdisc in 1984. It was reissued in 1986 by Alpha Omega and ported to the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Plus/4, and ZX Spectrum. Alpha Omega changed its name to The Power House shortly after publishing the game.
Top Gun is a 1986 combat flight simulation game based on the film of the same name. It was developed and published by British company Ocean Software, and was released for several computer platforms. In the United Kingdom, it was released for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum in December 1986. The following year, it was released for Atari ST. In the United States, it was published by Thunder Mountain. In 1989, it was published by The Hit Squad as a budget re-release for ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
Yabba Dabba Doo! is a 1986 video game developed by British studio Taskset and published by Quicksilva for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 (C64), and ZX Spectrum. It is based on the television series The Flintstones and is the first Flintstones video game.
Judge Dredd is a platform shoot 'em up video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by Beam Software and published by Melbourne House. It was released in Europe in 1986, for Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.
Judge Dredd is a 1991 platform shoot 'em up video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by Random Access and published by Virgin Mastertronic. It was released in Europe in 1991, for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Critics found the gameplay repetitive.