The unknown variable called time

Table of Contents
If there is one thing today that we have got in great quantities in
retrocomputing, it is resources to draw on. The Internet offers us ◊ Apple II Pag. 3
countless opportunities to retrieve documentation, books, magazines, ◊ NES - (un)protected Pag. 8
guides and manuals for our beloved computers. It’s so easy to find both
◊ Pandora's Box EX Pag. 11
digital and traditional material. And then there's the vintage hardware.
◊ The NanoComputer Z80 Learning System Pag. 18
For years, cellars, attics and car garages have been looted and
thousands of famous and widespread 80s/90s computer models have ◊ MAXIM, the arcade room since 1990 - Part 2 Pag. 22
emerged. This is all to the advantage of collectors and enthusiasts who ◊ Retro Interview: discovering new talents Pag. 26
bought them at modest prices, then they repaired and tested them and,
◊ Q&A with Bill Mensch Pag. 28
in some cases, got real in-depth use out of them, perhaps like they used
to, back in the day. Putting together a collection of respectable ◊ Amiga OS 3.2 - Test and installation Pag. 32
hardware does not take much in terms of money, after all, unless you ◊ ZX Master Mind Pag. 34
want to own those few models or peripherals of a certain rarity that
◊ Conversion of a number from binary to digital Pag. 40
have become an expensive investment. Certainly a few years ago the
prices of second-hand computers were (much) lower on average. But ◊ BASIC fractals in 8-bit sauce Pag. 44
with a little patience, a little constant research, a little technical ◊ Amiga, C64 and MS-DOS... shake hands! Pag. 46
knowledge, a little trusted knowledge (for example, subscribing to
◊ The importance of preserving software Pag. 51
Facebook groups or forums specialised in certain brands helps a lot),
all in all, you can also buy up some fun at good prices. Let’s not forget ◊ GALAGA on C64 by Arlasoft Pag. 54
the most important ingredient of all: caution, because fraud by real ◊ Turbo Out Run - justice is served Pag. 56
scammers or speculating sellers is always around the corner. Careful ◊ ListAmiga: top 10 esclusives Pag. 58
attention should be paid to prices that are too low or bids that are too
◊ ZAXXON Pag. 64
tempting.
All of us retrocomputing enthusiasts could limit ourselves to emulators. ◊ Souls Keeper (MSX/MSX2) Pag. 69
Why not? After all, many of these have reached an astonishing maturity ◊ Briley Witch Chronicles (C64) Pag. 70
and with the right resources and settings, achieving a look-and-feel
◊ Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams (Sega Saturn) Pag. 72
very close to the good old physical machines is basically guaranteed.
But it's not the same - it's not enough: nothing can replace the thrill of ◊ Dragonborne (GameBoy) Pag. 74
touching the plastic or metal of the cases, typing commands on a real ◊ Unmetal (Win/PSVita/PS4/Nintendo Switch) Pag. 76
keyboard, even smelling the overheating of the ICs and CRT monitors,
◊ The Swarm Is Coming (ZX Spectrum) Pag. 78
hearing the noise of the disk drive while loading the programs, admiring
the original colours of the games and so on. Not even the ◊ Empire Earth (PC) Pag. 80
"reproduction" (often absolutely faithful) and the flexibility provided by ◊ Inca Man (Amiga) Pag. 82
FPGA boards such as MISTer and MISTICA can compete with the ◊ Prince Of Persia (Atari XL/XE) Pag. 83
sensations provided by the real machines.
◊ Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (Super Nintendo) Pag. 84
And then, let's face it, the search for old hardware also provides its
share of fun. Dealing daily with the prestigious brands of a now defunct ◊ Magic Castle (PlayStation) Pag. 86
market, looking for models and accessories considered unavailable, ◊ Quest Forge: By Order Of Wings (NES) Pag. 88
discovering computers and consoles that survived for only a few years, ◊ Puzzle Bobble (Amstrad CPC) Pag. 90
following the innovations of modern peripherals that can be connected
◊ Street Warriors (C64) Pag. 91
to old machines and making the user experience comfortable and
efficient. All this is incredibly exciting and fun.
And all this takes time. So much time spent reading forums, attending Contributors to this issue of
groups of users to ask questions and provide answers, downloading and RetroMagazine World (in no particular order):
reading books and magazines that are three or four decades old,
scouring classified sales sites and much more. Of course, there is also a • Alberto Apostolo • Roberto Del Mar Pirazzini
downside: that sense of frustration for all the time that is needed and • Dr. Andrea Q. • Ingrid Poggiali
will probably always be needed in order to be able to deeply study and • Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini • Gianluca Girelli
make the best use of the computers that we have managed to • Daniele Brahimi • Roberto Zaffanella
accumulate. Think about it, any 8-bit computer in itself represents an
• Mic the Biker Novarina • Maurizio Diamanti
endless mine of ideas, resources, and possibilities of use both from a
• Francesco Fiorentini • Roberto Lari
software and hardware point of view. One life would not be enough to
• David La Monaca • Giorgio Balestrieri
go into every single aspect of it, let alone dozens of different machines.
• Leonardo Miliani • Alessandro Gatti
Time. The time variable that, even for this small hobby activity of ours,
turns out to be the most precious currency available. • Giuseppe Rinella • Cover & full-page image:
Giuseppe Mangini
• Christian Miglio
• Cover layout:
David La Monaca • Ermanno Betori Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

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Apple II
by Leonardo Miliani
After analyzing, in the previous articles, two of the three well and anticipate the needs of people. Jobs had helped
components of the so-called "1977 triad", that triptych Wozniak develop the computer and then convinced his
of computers, all released in the same year, then marked friend to produce some cards to sell to the participants
the history of computer science and opened the way in the Homebrew Computer Club meetings. Seeing the
towards the spread of home and personal computers that good feedback, Jobs realized the potential of the machine
we then witnessed in the following decade. So we could and proposed to Wozniak to get together in business to
not leave out the third member, perhaps even the one start a larger-scale production and sale. In 1976 they
that more than others has really marked a path followed founded a company they called Apple and Jobs made
by many others. We are obviously talking about the Apple arrangements with one of the first open computer stores
II, designed and built by two great "Steve", namely Steve in the area, the Byte Shop, to sell 50 cards of what they
Wozniak and Steve Jobs. called the Apple computer (only after the presentation
of the Apple II, it will be referred to as "Apple 1"). Once
Back in time the agreement was concluded, in a month of work they
To understand the genesis of the Apple II we must first produced the promised cards and the store began to sell
of all go back in time, to 1975. At the time, Steve Wozniak, them for 666.66 dollars each.
an electronics enthusiast, had started attending the
meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club, a club of The development
computer enthusiasts that had formed just that year after With the first money that went into Apple's coffers, Jobs
the Altair 8800 was put on sale. Wozniak had been so and Wozniak began to think about how to improve their
caught up in this new adventure that he decided to design product. Jobs studied the requests, suggestions, and
and build his own computer. The idea remained for a while criticisms of their computer buyers gathered from the
a mere project until, in the middle of 1975, MOS Technology Byte Shop while Wozniak thought about what was missing
released an economic CPU that he, a student without for that computer to run the Atari Breakout game. Jobs
money, could buy: we are talking about the 6502. Thanks understood that people wanted a computer that was even
to this microprocessor, Wozniak managed to make his easier to use. The Apple 1 was offered already assembled
computer, which he began to show at club meetings. And but it was not yet a ready-to-use computer: the buyer
this is where the other Steve mentioned earlier comes in: had to add a power supply, a keyboard, a television and,
Steve Jobs. Jobs and Wozniak had met a few years earlier
and shared some work experiences, including the few
months spent in Atari in 1974 where Jobs had helped
Wozniak make one of the early versions of the video game
Breakout. During these years Jobs had been able to
appreciate the incredible genius of Wozniak's manufacturing
solutions, capable of producing an electronic circuit using
as few integrated circuits as possible (a capacity he had
developed in the past since, being always short of money,
he had to minimize the integrated ones to buy). Wozniak,
for his part, had known the nose for business, the dialectical
arts and the great persuasive ability of Jobs, skills that Fig. 1: An Apple II with the dedicated monitor resting
made him a perfect "business man" able to treat business on the case (photo by Rama & Musée Bolo - source
Wikimedia Commons)
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Wozniak, on the other hand, had insisted that the computer

be expandable and had inserted, at the back of the
motherboard, as many as 8 expansion ports for as many
cards to be used to add functionality to the machine
(figure 2). The problem with these cards was that they
were housed vertically, forcing a fairly high house. The
container was therefore raised in the back but studied in
such a way that it formed a plane on which to place a
dedicated monitor. To give the idea of a compact case,
however, Manock inserted a series of slits in the back
that, in addition to facilitating cooling, slimmed the

Fig. 2 - Detail of the expansion slots of the Apple II container, and tilted the front part including the keyboard,
(photo by Erkaha - source Wikimedia Commons) obtaining two results with the latter solution: it made the
possibly, an interface to use a cassette recorder. Wozniak, container more streamlined, because the user had in
for his part, had identified some points to change: he front not the highest part of the machine body but the
wanted the computer to be able to run a Breakout clone lowest, and also the inclination of the keyboard made
game, so since the start of his project, he added sound typing easier, as on a typewriter.
management, a circuitry to connect game-pads and the
possibility of creating colour graphics with commands Technical Characteristics
able to draw easily and directly from the BASIC. The heart of the Apple II is the same as its predecessor,
the MOS 6502 that made the fortunes of many other 8-
Paul Terrell, the owner of the Byte Shop, had on his own bit computers of the time. Chosen for its cost-effectiveness,
made a wooden house to contain the computer, so as to Wozniak has nevertheless been able to build a highly
make it more palatable, so that he would lose that nerdy respected computer around it, capable of being used both
aura of product that had a plain board and make it look at home and in the business environment.
more like a real computer terminal. Jobs was enlightened
by this idea and decided that even their computer should The Apple II does not have a real graphics chip but is able
have an attractive but familiar case, so that even at first to handle a video image of 40x24 16-colour characters
glance it leaked the idea that it was a simple object to in text mode or 280x192 4-colour pixels (later brought
use, like any other device. to 6) in graphic mode. Wozniak exploited a peculiarity of
the 6502, namely to access the memory on alternating
To develop the computer with all these new ideas, the phases of the clock signal. In this way, access to the video
two Steve needed money. Jobs found them thanks to a data by the image generation circuit takes place during
financier, Mike Markkula, who managed to convince with the clock phase that the CPU uses for internal calculations,
his dialectical skills to invest in Apple. Markkula poured thus avoiding interruptions of the video flow that would
$250,000 into the company's coffers: thanks to this occur in the event that both the CPU and the video circuit
money Wozniak carried out the hardware development attempt to access the memory simultaneously. The video
while Jobs thought of the rest. He contacted Jerry Manock, buffer is also not separated from the main RAM: in other
who had previously worked as a calculator designer at contemporary Apple II systems the VRAM is static (SRAM)
HP, to whom he commissioned the construction of the and is separated from the system RAM, which is dynamic
case. Metal (too heavy) and wood (too rough) were (DRAM), because the latter type of memory was at the
discarded, choosing plastic, which allowed to obtain a time less expensive than the former. The defect of the
minimal design characterized by a crossing of curves and DRAM is that it needs a refresh circuit, which continuously
edges. Jobs wanted a container that contained all the accesses it for reading to keep the data stored, otherwise
hardware, including the power supply and the keyboard. it is lost. On Apple II, on the other hand, the computer

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from memory, disassembling programs in memory, and

loading and launching software from the cassette recorder.
The computer has also integrated into the computer a
BASIC interpreter, also developed by Wozniak, called
Integer BASIC, because it can only work with whole
numbers. The only whole numbers were certainly not the
best for a computer intended also for small companies,
and in fact later Microsoft will be involved in the creation
of a BASIC capable of handling even floating-point
numbers, the AppleSoft BASIC.

Fig. 3 - VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, initially

developed for Apple II The statement
(source Apple2history.org) The Apple II was presented at the first West Coast Computer
memory is all DRAM and the video buffer is distributed in Faire, held on April 16 and 17, 1977 in San Francisco.
several blocks among all the chips that make up the The event attracts many people and the Apple stand
system RAM. In this way, continuous access to the video features the new company logo, a bitten apple divided
data on all the memory chips performs the task of refreshing into 6 horizontal coloured bands, reminiscent of the ability
and eliminates the need for a special circuit. Colour to generate colored images of the computer, which stands
generation is also a small miracle of the image generation out in plain sight. But despite the efforts made, the media
circuit designed by Wozniak, who studied the exact timing coverage is not exciting: few magazines dedicate space
of the NTSC signal to obtain the coloured pixels on the to Apple II (even the note "Byte" does not mention the
screen. The computer, however, is equipped with video company in its report), and those few that do certainly
output only: if you want to connect it to a television you do not do so with enthusiastic tones, thinking of yet
need an adapter, which Apple had put on the market only another computer meteor. Yet, in the following months
after the computer was released due to the fact that the Apple received several hundred computer orders, thanks
TV tuner it had made had problems with electromagnetic to the fact that the stand was placed immediately at the
interference and it was therefore decided to have it made entrance and a large screen reproduced a colourful
by a specialized company. To generate the audio signal, kaleidoscope generated by an Apple II, attracting the
the computer uses a small internal speaker, always driven attention of all those who entered the fair.
by the CPU.
Because of the high costs of RAM, Apple II is initially
RAM varies from 4 to 48 KB, depending on configuration. offered for sale at prices ranging from $1,298 for the 4
Since the memories were very expensive at the end of KB model to $2,638 for the 48 KB model. Compared to
the 70s, the model initially put on sale was equipped with the prices of the Commodore pet and the TRS-80 Radio
only 4 KB but the computer was designed so that the user Shack (both marketed at around $600), the Apple II
could expand it autonomously even later, unlike, for seems to have no future, since the cost of purchase does
example, the other computers of the triad, which were not include either the monitor or a recorder, which the
more difficult to expand. other 2 systems offer integrated. Despite this, the Apple
II can play a super-winning card, which others do not
At the operating system level Wozniak expanded the Apple have: expandability. During the time that Wozniak had
I "monitor", the rudimentary program integrated into the worked at HP, he had learned that users always asked for
ROM that allowed the user to type the commands to launch features that the original machine did not offer, and that
the programs. On the Apple II, the monitor has been was why he had insisted (almost to the point of clashing
expanded and is here able to manage a slightly more with Jobs) to equip the computer with the 8 expansion
complex interface, capable of reading and writing to and slots, to allow users to add features not initially foreseen.

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calculations with endless rows of cells obtained on immense

whiteboards with a small computer screen where they
could move with the cursor keys and see the values of
the cells automatically updated as soon as a data was
changed or entered. Everyone wanted VisiCalc, and since
this was only available for Apple II in its first year of sale,
everyone wanted an Apple II. VisiCalc was the first "killer
app" in history (that is, software so desired that people
buy the system it runs on just to have it).

Fig. 4 - The Apple IIc Plus (photo by Mitchell Spector

- Source Wikimedia Commons) Subsequent versions, derived models and clones
Apple II gained a further boost from the presentation, in In 1979 the next model, the Apple II Plus, was introduced.
1978, of the Disk II floppy drive, also developed by Compared to the first model, the II Plus integrates a new
Wozniak, which allowed the computer to equip itself with boot system so if it finds a disk driver in one of the expansion
a fast and large storage system with which to compete slots, it automatically tries to start any disk present.
even in small companies, where the need to store large Thanks to the decrease in the cost of memories, the
amounts of data is more felt than in the home environment. standard RAM equipment is increased to 48 KB. It also
Still, the computer is the ideal model for the handsome: replaces the integrated Integer BASIC in ROM with the
Apple, unlike other manufacturers, makes available all new AppleSoft BASIC.
the documentation on the machine, so that anyone can
take advantage of every single feature hidden in its At the beginning of 1983 this model was replaced by the
integrated software or hardware. Thanks also to the Apple IIe, certainly the most successful and also the
available schemes, hardware manufacturers can realize longest-running version: it remained on sale until the end
any type of expansion card. Therefore, development of the computer's commercialization, that is 1993.
languages other than BASIC are brought, such as Pascal Compared to the previous one, it integrates the Language
or Fortran, various games and software are made, and Card as standard, equipped with 16 KB of additional RAM,
hardware cards are made to add memory, connect so the basic model is proposed with 64 KB of RAM as
peripherals, use additional graphics or sound chips and standard. Thanks to a couple of additional expansion
more. The computer is so successful in the market that cards (the 1KB-80 Column Card and the 64KB-80 Column
its widespread presence in homes, schools and offices Card) the Apple IIe can display 80 columns on a dedicated
leads to games and programs created exclusively for this monitor, a "must" for the new office software that is
computer, thus fuelling a flywheel that sees the affirmation spreading in that period. In 1985 this model was replaced
of the computer stimulate the production of software and by the enhanced IIe, which has some modifications to
hardware dedicated to it, which in turn push the sale of make it more compatible with the Apple IIc, such as the
the computer. WDC65C02 CPU instead of the MOS 6502. In 1987 comes
the Platinum IIe, a version with a case that takes up the
A striking case is VisiCalc, the first successful spreadsheet new stylistic lines of Apple, which offers an additional
to establish itself on the personal computer market (Figure numeric keypad and integrates the 64 KB 80-Column
3). It was initially developed for Apple II because this Card, graphics card to manage the 80 columns on screen
was the computer of its programmer, Dan Bricklin. Placed and also adds 64 KB of RAM, bringing the standard memory
on the market in 1979 at a price of less than 100 dollars, equipment to 128 KB.
it immediately became a popular program, cited by all
magazines as one of the most powerful and indispensable In 1984, the Apple IIc (Figure 4) was introduced, a
productivity software. On the other hand, it really was, compact and portable version of the computer, equipped
since for the first time analysts could replace the handmade with the WDC65C02 CPU with a 1.4 MHz capacity against
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the frequency of 1 MHz of the other models, a 5.25” floppy the Apple II with the Apple dos operating system and
drive integrated into the machine body, 128 KB of memory spread by copying from the boot sector of an infected
and the ability to display 80 columns. This model is disk to the computer's memory during the loading of the
replaced the following year by the IIc Plus, equipped with operating system. He then remained resident in memory
a 3.5” floppy drive and integrated power supply. and copied himself to each disk inserted in the player
whose list of files was asked for. The motivation behind
In 1986, the Apple IIgs was introduced, a completely the creation of the virus is quite sympathetic. Skrenta, at
different computer, based on the WDC65C816, a 16-bit the time, exchanged pirate copies of his favourite games
version of the WDC65C02 (but also capable of emulating with his friends but also inserted software that distributed
the 8-bit 6502). This computer remains on the market small "computer jokes", programs that made appear
until 1992 and represents Apple's response to the written on the screen during the games. His friends
Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST but, despite the eventually got tired of it and didn't want to trade games
interesting graphic and audio characteristics that distinguish with him anymore so Skrenta devised the virus so he
it, it will not be able to enter the market of 16-bit home could distribute his jokes even without his friends'
computers due to the overwhelming power of the others knowledge. He then wrote Elk Cloner and inserted it into
on the aforementioned systems. the school computer, making it spread in a silent way.
Only after several starts, in fact, the virus manifested
The spread of Apple II inevitably also led to the problem itself, blocking the system and causing a message to
of clones. During its long life, the Apple II has been copied appear on the screen. The era of bootable viruses was born.
to every part of the world and by many companies, to the
point that it is estimated that about 200 computer clones Conclusions
have been produced, of which only 2 officially authorized The Apple II, despite its relative simplicity, has become
by Apple, the ITT 2020 and the black model produced by an iconic computer, perhaps one of those that have most
Bell & Howell. Many of the clones copied every aspect of marked the history of computer science. In the early
the machine, changing only the label with the logo of the 1980s, it saw the birth of a lot of exclusive programs. In
machine (but often also copying that) and replacing it addition to the aforementioned VisiCalc, many games
with names of fruits such as "Lemon" or "Pineapple". were born or established on the Apple II: we can mention
the adventure "The Oregon Trail", which benefited from
The first virus the color graphics of the Apple II, or the platform game
A curiosity related to Apple is the authorship of the first "Lode Runner", born on an Apple II Plus. The computer
computer virus, the Elk Cloner (figure 5). Developed in was sold in more than 5 million copies and 50,000 copies
1982 by a then-sixteen-year-old Richard Skrenta, it hit a month were sold at its best. It is also the computer that
made Apple's fortunes: suffice it to say that in 1982 the
company was the first computer manufacturer to reach
the goal of a billion dollars in annual turnover. And it was
also the computer that on more than one occasion saved
Apple from bankruptcy, producing gains while Apple III
and Apple Lisa were failing in the market.

Presented in 1977, it remained on sale until 1993, making

it the oldest computer of all time, more than 15 years. I
mean, an old clam that deserves all our esteem.

Fig. 5 - Elk Cloner, the first computer virus in history

(Photo by Richard Skrenta - source Wikimedia
Commons)

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Nintendo Entertainment System - (un)protected

by Dr. Andrea Q. - www.retrofixer.it
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEw0CQ8LKyA9jVvWXkEwp4Q

If since childhood one of your favorite recreations was to consoles. The purpose for which it was produced concerned
open the toys to see how they were made inside, then the possibility for Nintendo to globally control the games
this column might be interesting for you! released for its platform, effectively avoiding the usage
of "pirate" cartridges and also being able to exclude the
The author is a graduate in Medicine and Surgery but has execution of games from different regions.
always cultivated a passion for electronics and modifying
things. NES was produced in 1983 but the CIC was introduced
I still remember when, armed with a hacksaw, I filed the by Nintendo to protect its intellectual property when the
corners of the slot for the Mega Drive cartridges to be company decided to launch the console in foreign markets
able to also insert the japanese cartridges and shortly in 1985. Probably the decision is linked to the experience
after I literally destroyed the now abandoned Master Atari had with its 2600 VCS which had a drop in sales due
System to try to understand the reaos for the the side to the development of poor quality games by third parties.
comb connector... This protection system is therefore not found in Japanese
consoles/cartridges and not even in the NES 2 or "top-
My curiosity for these things has never passed and over loading model" (NES-101), produced between 1993 and
time it has become a passion to learn the functionality 1995.
of the protection systems implemented in the consoles
released on the market while I was still a kid, especially The chip represents a ROM, so it is not possible to rewrite
those that I had never been able to have. it, and is located inside the console, which acts as a "lock",
combined with a corresponding chip, which acts as a
These systems, hardware and/or software, have been "key", present in the NES cartridges other than the
developed starting from simple implementations up to Japanese ones:
complex algorithms managed by dedicated hardware and
processed by as many devices.

The NES
Let's start with the first console produced by Nintendo,
the Nintendo Entertainment System, (code HVC-001
where the letters stand for Home Video Computer).

Its protection takes the name of CIC and represents a

chip whose acronym means Checking Integrated Circuit;
This chip, produced by Sharp, can be identified with the
following codes written on its envelope: 3193 - 3193A -
3195 -3195A - 3196 - 3196A - 3197 - 3197A - 6113 -
6113A - 6113B1 with the following characteristics
(unofficial but discovered by those who have studied it
over the years):
3193 - USA/Canada
6113 - similar to previous but slightly smaller layout with
some differences in initialization
here it is highlighted in red: 3194 - unknown, perhaps Korean
It represents a primitive form of cartridge protection for 3195 - pal B (France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, etc...)
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3196 - Asia / HK The PIN10 of the chip lock (in the console) is connected
3197 - PAL A (Great Britain, Italy and Australia) to PIN7 of the chip key (in the cartridge) and is able to
3198 - Famicombox lockout chip (found in both cartridges reset the console.
and "Box") PINs 11 and 12 (RESET_SPEED) are used to decide at
3199 - Famicombox coin timer (found only in "Box") what speed to "blink" the reset line (about 0.4s, 0.6s,
with different content depending on the region in which 0.8s, 1.0s each on/off) and then restart the console.
the console and games would be sold.
HOW TO BYPASS IT
HOW IT WORKS Over time, several systems have followed to have reason
Until 2010, no one had been able to publicly document for this protection:
its functions until Segher, a member of the then-known 1) Many third-party developers chose to send a rapid
Team Twiizers (currently known as team fail0verflow), electrical pulse (called a voltage spike) to temporarily
personally documented its characteristics. knock it out and allow the non-Nintendo-licensed program
to run. Nintendo reacted against this "technique" producing
As we have already said, the system consists of 2 parts: a hardware revision of the NES immune to the specific
- a Sharp SM590 4 bit microcontroller (in the console) "attack" (in particular those with the writing "NES-CPU-
that controls the inserted cartridge and acts as a "lock" 11" on the PCB)
- a corresponding chip in the cartridge capable of sending CURIOSITY: apparently older revisions (labeled as "NES-
the chip in the console a code that acts as a "key"; if the CPU-04" on the PCB) were instead substantially unable
key is not valid, the system resets. to support the protection so, if you have to buy a second-
handNES, try to know the hardware revision and look for
The chip pinout is as follows: an "old" one.
2) some developers (such as HES) instead developed a
"dongle" capable of connecting to an authentic cartridge
to bypass the control through it:

3) A company affiliated to Atari, called Tengen, managed

to obtain the patent "abusively" from the United States
Patent and Trademark claiming to have it to defend itself
in a lawsuit; this patent was used to produce a clone chip
that was called Rabbit (to know all about the legal tussle,
you can read this interesting paper: http://
www.patentarcade.com/2005/08/case-atari-v-nintendo-
nd-cal-1993-cp.html).
The software that runs in the chip is called 10NES (so 4) A small company called RetroZone produced, after the
the CIC represents the hardware while the 10NES represents expiration of the 10NES patent (ended on January 24,
the software that runs in the CIC). 2006) its own chip based on the reverse engineering of
the previous Rabbit and called it CIClone:
The PIN-lock is PIN4; PIN3 represents a "seed" and is
connected to a capacitor which does not always use the
same to discharge; the CIC records this time and uses it
as a pseudo-random generator to decide which of the 16
possible "streams" to use and communicates it to the key
chip in the cartridge.
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5) The chip was subsequently emulated in microcontrollers had smaller cartridges at 60 PINs while those in other
such as the ATtiny13A (in the photo the pins of the countries had 72 PINs:
microcontroller to be connected to the respective pins
on the NES cartridge):

6) Since in some cases the protection system could not Consequently, it was not physically possible to exchange
authenticate even the official cartridges (for example if them between consuls from different regions.
the cartridge contacts were not properly clean), a hardmod Obviously, adapters for both situations were created in a
to disable it is to lift or cut the PIN4 of the CIC: short time to overcome this regional "blockage", including
bypassing the CIC via integrated CIClone-style or an
original Sharp chip taken from an original cartridge:

or connect the chip PIN4 to the ground (in the photo

PIN14); in this way the chip works automatically both as
a lock and a key:

We are therefore at the dawn of protection technologies

but we have seen how ingenuity was not lacking both
from producers and from those who did not want to have
"restrictions" ! ^_^

LIABILITY DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this paper is provided

for disclosure purposes only. There is no guarantee
this documentation is error-free. If this information
is used for changes to the user’s hardware, it is the
responsibility of the user itself to take all necessary
emergency measures, backups, redundancy and
other types to ensure maximum safety of use.
RetroMagazine World disclaims all liability for any
PHYSICAL PROTECTION: PINS damage caused by the use of the information in this
To avoid using Japanese cartridges in consoles in other paper.
regions and vice versa, the Japanese console (Famicom)
Page 10 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 HARDWARE

Pandora's Box EX, an EXtraordinary EXperience

by Roberto Lari
In this article we are going to talk about a type of products
on the market for several years now. With the latest model
just released on the market, the EX "Home" version put
on sale by LeonArcade, has undergone a considerable
upgrade both in hardware and software (compared to the
previous DX Home version), becoming to all intents and
purposes, a great product. A nice machine to buy, connect
to a screen together with one or two USB joysticks /
gamepads, Just turn on and be ready to use it immediately
or as they say in these cases "out of the box", but let's
proceed step by step.

Two years ago I bought the DX version from the same Fig. 2: Folder structure of the SD supplied with the EX
manufacturer (Home again) and a couple of months ago to be available over time, and in parallel, several alternative
they contacted me to thoroughly test their latest product, versions (clones?) have also been developed by other
the Pandora's Box EX Home. just from the description of manufacturers, in both cases over time they have increased
its hardware characteristics, it was definitely very interesting. the number of games pre-installed and updated the
hardware of the consoles themselves.
For those who are not aware of the Pandora's Box, these
are mini computers of about 19 cm x 12 cm by 2 cm in To date, however, there are perhaps too many versions,
height, originally designed to run an emulator, the Final created by different manufacturers and this can lead to
Burn Alpha, with already installed on board hundreds of confusion, especially for those who would like to get closer
arcade games and Neogeo (those that were found years to this type of product for the first time, so I will try to
ago in the games room coin-ops). make a little clarity to help you better understand this
Several official releases of the same manufacturer (3A- world and untangle yourself in this jungle.
Game Electronic Technology, located in China) have begun
First of all, you should know that Pandora's Boxes are
divided into two types, which differ from each other by
the type of physical connection of the audio/video outputs,
the controllers and the power supply.
The first type called "Jamma", was born with a Jamma
connector and was created to be inserted into a game
room cabinet, which through this single connector,
originally allowed to connect to the PCB arcade board of
the single video game: the video (typically a 15 or 25 Khz
CRT TV), the power supply, the speakers and the joysticks
with all the related buttons including "coin" and "start".
In this way, the Pandora console replaces the physical
card where the single video game was present, however,
making available a large number of items (destined to
grow more and more over time), selectable when turned
on through a menu and using the joysticks themselves
Fig. 1: HW Comparison between EX, DX, and 3D
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 11 of 93
 HARDWARE

with its joysticks inside and connect us to a Pandora

purchased separately.

Even after deciding on which version to go to (Jamma or

Home, and in the case of Home, wit the dashboard or
not), there is still another problem to solve, who to contact?
Personally my experience is this, there are suppliers on
both Amazon and AliExpress, each with pros and cons.
Fig. 3 - Some 3D titles featured
On Amazon they can be very fast in shipping but they do
to scroll up and down, to do searches by type or by title, not provide the games supplied and you have to follow a
or you can select one of our favorites. series of complex instructions to be able to download and
insert them into the console, with some waste of time. It
The other family of models is the one called "Home", is not a ready-to-use solution out of the box, there are
which is the one we will talk about in detail in this article, several models but they are not up to date (the current
and differs by the fact that it does not have the Jamma model just released, the EX, is not present at the time of
connector, but is equipped instead with an HDMI output writing this paper), moreover they are almost all only
and a VGA, allowing with the first to connect a modern models with the dashboard and prices are on average higher.
TV or HDMI monitor while with the second allows us to
connect a CRT VGA screen or a VGA 31 Khz LCD (in this On AliExpress there is a wider choice of models and
case it is also necessary to connect speakers, headphones suppliers, on the price it is necessary to take into account
or a hifi system for audio). custom duties, as they are carrying out more and more
checks, for the products we buy from China, in fact, in
In the Home version, you can also opt for two solutions, the meantime that I was writing this article, I gotta pay
the first is to buy the console without a dashboard (but that for the EX, for an amount of about 16 euros (I also
with its power supply to be added to the shopping cart, got it for the DX at the time), but the games are already
which otherwise would not be supplied unless you already present.
have a 12V with round connector and 2/3 Ampere), Attention that now things are changing, in fact LeonArcade
connect it to a video compatible HDMI or VGA, and connect has set up a warehouse in Spain from where you can buy
one or two USB arcade joysticks (I recommend those that their products and this results into two great advantages:
mount a zero delay encoder inside them) with six or better no customs and shipping times and much faster delivery
eight focus buttons, alternatively you can connect one (in the order of one week at most).
or two gamepads via USB (as you typically do with current
modern consoles) between the compatible ones. Let's start by analyzing the software and hardware
The second involves the purchase of the Pandora directly differences between the previous DX and the new EX
inside a dashboard equipped with one or two arcade offered for sale by LeonArcade.
joysticks connected directly to the 40-pin comb connector The two products are aesthetically identical : a rectangular
on the Pandora. plastic body equipped with various connectors and
available in various colors.
Personally, I prefer something very small (so without the On the back we find: two USB ports (instead of three as
dashboard) connected near the screen, with the arcade
joysticks connected via USB and in addition to considering
this setup less cumbersome (the planks are just over 60
cm wide by just over 20 cm deep), when you happen to
switch to a new model, it's all easier; you disconnect the
few connections, replace it and reconnect the cables, and
it's done. Moreover, if you buy the ones with the dashboard,
there may be a limitation on the models for sale.
Nothing excludes that you can create the bridge itself Fig. 4 - Some titles for 3 and 4 players

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 HARDWARE

of a part of a frame with a part of the next, on the DX this

defect is so obvious and annoying to pass the desire to
play games like Flicky).

In Outrun instead, where at the start of the race the game

and the audio were very slow and the same thing also
manifested itself on the second level, when passing under
the stone bridges, with the EX thanks to the improvements
Fig. 5 - Available filters for searching games
applied on both fronts HW & SW, all this no longer exists,
in the previous model), the "Settings" button (used to making this console really remarkable and pleasant to
open the settings menu, we will analyze it later in detail), use. I underline all this "out of the box", that is you plug
the volume potentiometer, the 3.5"jack for external audio, and play, without worries, which I think is one of the most
the VGA connector, the HDMI connector and the female important reasons why it is worth having and using this
connector for the power supply. kind of product.
On the top there are pins on which it is possible to connect
an ON/OFF switch (not standard) and the 40-pin connector Although it can be easily connected to modern LCD
for connecting the arcade joysticks if the console is screens, the ideal would be to use it on a CRT (maybe not
mounted inside a bridge. more than 21/25"), because as you well know, these
video games were designed at the time to be used on
We analyze the differences between the DX version and cathode-ray tube screens with certain characteristics
the EX version (we always talk about Home), as many and really in my opinion lose a lot when used on other
people own , including me, the DX and wonder how and types of videos such as flat screens, especially with the
how the EX version, his worthy heir to the throne, can change. 16:9 that enlarge the image by distorting and distorting it.
A middle way might be to use a 4:3 VGA LCD that while
At the hardware level, it goes from a 1.5ghz 4-core A7 not a CRT, at least does not deform the image. Despite
CPU with a Mali 450 MP2 GPU, 2GB of 1866mhz DDR3 this, I still wanted to put myself in the shoes of the casual
RAM to a 2ghz 4-core A53 CPU, Mali-G31 MP2 GPU and gamer, that is, of those who want to buy it and connect
as many as 8GB of 2666mhz DDR4 RAM, a truly remarkable directly to the typical HDMI 16:9 TV from 40 or more
leap in power combined with a total software revision, inches of the living room, connect a couple of USB joysticks
now based on Android. (or gamepads), turn it on and immerse yourself again in
the atmosphere of the 80s and 90s game rooms, trying
This results into two big advantages, the first is clearly a some games with another player and the result was a fun
greater power and more than enough now to run the so high that I even forgot that I was using a 46" LCD
games in 3D, you see a lot in games already present on screen. Also after 4 hours of uninterrupted play, the
the DX that were running very slow and raucous as Army console did not show the slightest sign of failure, let alone
Men, where instead is very fluid on the EX or in new titles the games showed slowdowns of any kind, and I could
like the 2 Need for Speed. The second advantage that I also see that on some titles such as the 2 NFS already
personally consider even more important is that many mentioned, the memory cards of the original consoles
classic issues turn out much better than the DX. Especially, where the game had been conceived are also simulated,
I noticed it on horizontal scrolling issues such as Flicky,
R-Type, Section Z where tearing, present on this type of
console, makes it particularly annoying to play with, a
defect that I have always considered their Achilles heel,
practically absent on the EX, although I believe that this
improvement is more due to an optimization on the
software used.
(For those who do not know the tearing is the lack of
Fig. 6 - Settings home page
synchronization of the frames, which causes the overlap
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 13 of 93
 HARDWARE

A number of these doubles is also the same game as in

the three-or-four player version; you can reach this number
if you connect the two dashboard joysticks via the 40-
pin connector together as well as one or two joysticks /
gamepads via USB. Another flaw is that the games are
not displayed in alphabetical order, so to quickly find a
game, it is advisable to do a direct search by title or
alternatively create a list of favorites, where we will put
Fig. 7 - Settings sub-page the games that we will use more often.
really a great thing. Also note the presence of special titles such as Lemmings
A valid alternative to obtain a still quite satisfactory result 1 and 2 or Operation Wolf that without a mouse or gun,
on a 15Khz CRT TV would be to connect the Pandora via are not really the best to play, having to settle only for
a VGA to composite and Svideo adapter (I attach the link the joystick. This gives me a lot of the idea of just wanting
below), with a modest expense of about 14 euros on to artificially grow the number of issues present.
Amazon, you can use any CRT TV and not necessarily a
VGA CRT monitor or a CRT TV with RGB input (not all TVs On the other hand, the presence of new 3D titles, such
are equipped with it, while the video input is present on as the two versions of Need For Speed of the PSP, not
any TV). If your TV were equipped with Svideo input (a present on the previous models, for a total of almost 60
video quality halfway between RGB and composite), then 3D titles, is noteworthy.
the video quality could improve a little bit more. This
adapter, unlike those from HDMI to composite, allows you Another positive note is that the games set as favorites
to adjust the size and position of the screen, to be able always appear first (so much so that in the end good or
to center the image perfectly on any TV you will be using. bad, you play practically always the same games :D),
For audio, in this case, you will need to connect a 3.5" below are then the 330 pages of all 3300 games present.
male jack cable (typical of standard headphones) to the Unfortunately, some very interesting titles are missing
3.5" female jack on the Pandora but that has the usual such as Splatter House 1 or Chuck Rock 1, but what is
two white and red Cinch RCA cables at the opposite end, particularly curious, there are their sequels, also Aladdin
which will accompany the yellow Cinch RCA cable used is only present in the version for Nintendo 8 bit, I would
to connect the video output from the VGA adapter to the have preferred those for the Super Nintendo or MegaDrive
TV. If the TV will only be equipped with a Scart socket,
just add a three female Cinch RCA yellow-white-red
adapter to the male Scart, there are all the links at the
bottom of the paper of the various adapters and cables
mentioned.

Wanting to find defects it is true that over time the number

of games preinstalled has grown really much, but those
to be considered as really present is in my opinion lower, Fig. 8 - How the Pandora's Box EX console looks like
because there are really many variants of the same issues
(eg KoF 97, KoF 98, KoF 99, KoF 2001 & KoF 2002).
In some cases, the same games are present both in the
traditional version and with hacks or small modifications
to the game to make it easier, such as Area 88 or Gradius
3, present both in the original version and in the one
where you are invincible. There are also several console
games such as NES, MD, SNES, in some cases titles already
present in the original arcade version. Fig. 9 - Its complete motherboard
inside
Page 14 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 HARDWARE

Fig. 10 - How it looks like on a 4:3 LCD

but do you want to do... you can not have everything from gaming experience a little less equal to when playing on
life :D coin-ops in the arcade, where Autofire was not expected.
To add more, it should be possible (by reading the On the EX there is an interesting novelty to save the
specifications) to do so through a USB stick, following records, an option not present on the DX and this is a
the instructions found on a video on YouTube, which I great improvement for me.
publish the link to at the end of the paper.
Consider that even if it were possible to add them directly In the Settings menu there is a good number of options,
to the MicroSD, the problem remains that for the first two among which we have the possibility to vary for each
years it is not possible to open the console, otherwise individual game the number of lives and the difficulty of
the warranty will be lost. the game itself. It is also possible to enable a filter to
You will find the link with the video showing the full list improve the graphic performance and one to activate a
of games available on this console at the bottom of the article. sort of scanline, to be used on LCD screens to simulate a
little bit the performance of a CRT.
Among the functions already present on the previous It also allows us to customize the controls of the two
model and maintained here, we have the possibility to joysticks, being able to change the assignment and the
save the game in progress to be able to resume it later, correspondences of the various focus buttons.
always only one slot per game (but only with the "free Pay attention to the option that allows you to select
coin" mode!). Also for some titles, there is the option to between "free coin" and simulated tokens, because if you
activate the Autofire, simply by holding down the focus put free coin you can safely use the usb arcade joysticks,
key. Option that I personally recommend in titles like R- while if you put one of the modes with the simulated
Type to avoid finger cramps, although this makes the tokens (for example 1:1, one token for each time you

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 15 of 93

 HARDWARE

press the "coin" button), only the joysticks inside the equipped with LCD panels
boards will work (because they have a particular type of
connection between these and the console). Luckily if LCD = Liquid Crystal Display, it is the acronym that identifies
you are wrong, you can always go back to this menu to any modern flat screen regardless of the connectors it
correct the choice. has and the signals it is able to receive
I would close with a little clarification on the abbreviations
that I have very often noticed creating confusion: 15 Khz = typical working frequency of screens accepting
an RGB, Svideo or composite signal
CRT = Cathode Ray Tube, is the acronym that identifies
the cathode-ray tube of the old computer and TV monitors, 31 Khz = typical working frequency of screens accepting
previous to the (flat screen) models released later and a VGA signal

VGA = Video Graphic Array, is the acronym that identifies

a type of signal transmitted and works at 31 Khz

RGB = Red, Green, Blue, is the acronym that identifies a

type of signal transmitted and works at 15 Khz and on
CRT screens is the highest quality video signal available

S-Video = signal transported through two separate wires,

one for luminance and the other for chrominance, in
practice the first carries the signal for brightness and the
second for colours.
It is halfway between the RGB signal and the video
composite as video quality

Composite = signal that on a single wire carries and

mixes all the signals, resulting in lower quality than RGB
& S-Video

HDMI = High Definition Media Interface, is the connection

between devices that has become standard on modern
LCD screens and has replaced the Scart

SCART = is the standard connection between devices

present on most CRT screens (except a few rare exceptions
on older models), it is able to carry different types of
signal: RGB, composite and Svideo, it has been present
as an equipment for a long time also on LCD screens, but
it becomes increasingly difficult to find it on the TVs of
more recent manufacture.

When using these acronyms, you should be as accurate

and correct as possible because if you were to just say
CRT for example, you wouldn't be specifying a particular
screen model that could be both a 15khz TV and a 31khz
Fig. 11 - Pause function activated and possibility to VGA (PC monitor), but you're just saying that you're
save/load the game
talking about a screen equipped with a cathode-ray tube.
Page 16 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 HARDWARE

Fig. 12 - USB arcade joystick with zero delay controller used to test the console

There are also special combinations such as LCD TVs

equipped with different inputs including the SCART and
Useful links:
the VGA, which can therefore receive and process both
15 khz and 31 khz. Video on how to add games to Pandora's Box EX
https://bit.ly/EX_USB_games_added

For those who want to buy the Pandora's Box EX by VGA to Videocomposite & Svideo adapter
LeonArcade in Home version with the games pre-installed https://amzn.to/3EufFiL
(remember that the power supply is to be added if you
Audio cable from 3.5" Jack to two RCA Cinch
are not already provided), as always the link is shown at https://amzn.to/3BpxrSk
the bottom of the article, also available for smartphones
3 Cinch RCA female to Scart male adapter
is the AliExpress app to be installed.
https://amzn.to/3nMBV0q

For the Jamma version, be patient and wait until November List with all the games inside this Pandora's Box
EX by LeonArcade
that will really be worth it!
https://bit.ly/EX_games_list
(It could also be that by the time you are reading this
article, it will have already been listed) Italian group dedicated exclusively to Pandora's
Box (all models and genres)
https://bit.ly/Facebook_Pandora_Italia
I hope I have helped you to clarify the ideas about this
wonderful world and if you need, you can subscribe and Direct link to purchase Pandora's Box EX by
LeonArcade
ask for any kind of information about the Italian group
https://bit.ly/Pandora_EX_LeonArcade
dedicated to Pandora's Box, which you can find the link
on the last page.

Greetings and to the next paper!

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 17 of 93

 HARDWARE

The NanoComputer Z80 Learning System

by Alberto Apostolo

When I was a student in the 1980s, my school (I.T.I.S. of

Foligno, now I.T.T. Leonardo Da Vinci) had a SGS
NanoComputer Training System (Fig. 1). You could write
and test short programs in machine code for the Zilog
Z80 microprocessor.
After receiving some old IT magazines as a gift from one
of my father's colleagues, I made a terrible discovery: I
realized that at the time me and my schoolmates had only
exploited a very small part of the possibilities offered by
that machine.
To remedy that in some way, I wrote this paper and
collected some interesting links to share with those who
own the NanoComputer and still want to use it to make
some small projects.
The Laura Tellini Calculator Museum in Prato (Italy) also Fig. 1
has a NanoComputer in good condition and I hope that
the information provided in this paper will be useful to Training System produced by SGS-ATES in Agrate Brianza
the curators. (Italy).

Brief history of SGS-ATES SGS (Società Generale Semiconduttori = Semiconductor

Before the outbreak of home-computers, in the period General Society) was a company founded in 1957 by
1975-1980 appeared microprocessor systems to carry Olivetti with Telettra and had to be able to produce
out small experiments in electronics and programming electronic components (transistors and diodes) that were
in machine language [MCT20]. Among the educational then produced only abroad. Until 1968, the production
systems on the market, there was the NanoComputer of electronic components was licensed by the US company

Fig.2

Page 18 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 HARDWARE

Fairchild. In 1972 it was merged with the Italian ATES

(Aziende Tecniche Elettroniche del Sud = Southern
Electronic Technical Factories) and then after other
mergers it became the current STMicroelectronics, a
multinational among the most important companies in
the world.

The NanoComputer
This interesting product entirely Made in Italy was born
thanks to the innovative idea of a valid director of SGS-
ATES: Eng. Mario Scavino. With the collaboration of an
equally valuable group of technicians, from 1979 the
NanoComputer was produced and marketed [NCP20].

The NanoComputer was a single-plate system intended

for designers, enthusiasts and schools. A basic configuration
consisted of a Z80 CPU (produced by SGS under a Zilog
license), very little RAM, a ROM monitor software,
hexadecimal display and keyboard. Furthermore, on an
experimental plate, small electronic experiments could
be carried out, which could be managed directly by the
microprocessor and programmable (Fig.2).

With this minimal componentry, operation was assured

without connecting other devices. Programming took
place in machine language, directing the memory cells
and the internal registers of the CPU. In this way it was
possible to fully understand the operation of a small
computer, interacting closely with the hardware.
An expandable system
The NBZ80 system was the minimal one consisting of
card and mini-terminal (i.e. hexadecimal display and
keyboard).
The NBZ80-A system had the power supply available
while the NBZ80-B system was an NBZ80-A inserted into
a container.
The NBZ80-B system allowed a student to master
microprocessor programming techniques. Fig.3

At a cost of 825000 Italian Lire (Nov.1980), a NBZ80-S

system (Super, the most advertised) was purchased to
address problems of interfacing with external devices
and the interaction between hardware and software. The
technical characteristics of the NBZ80-S system are
shown in Fig.3. The NBZ80-S system was expandable up
to the NBZ80-HL configuration (Fig.4). The HL system
had 16KB of RAM, a BASIC 8KB ROM interpreter on
additional card, alphanumeric keyboard, video card and
(not required) a monitor. The BASIC interpreter was
provided along with the "Basic Programming Primer"
manual written by Mitchell Waite (Fig.6). To save the Fig.4

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 19 of 93

 HARDWARE

programs it was necessary to have an RCZ-80P cassette

recorder specially adjusted for the NanoComputer (Fig.
5). The complete list of the family of components and
upgrades is shown in Figs.7 and 8 [BIT22].

Being a product made in Italy, most of the documentation

is written in Italian (see Bibliography at the bottom of
this paper). Although many books published on the
Nanocomputer were written by English-speaking authors,
I could not find links to the English editions (Fig.9).
I apologize to the many readers of the English edition of RMW.

Conclusions
The NanoComputer was not the only educational system
put on the market at the time. An overview of the sector
referring to 1981 can be found in the papers written by
Cavalcoli [BIT22a] and Alessandroni [BIT22b] in issue
22 of the Italian magazine Bit.

The owners of the NanoComputer can perform some very

simple tests, following the indications of the paper
published in No. 4 of the Italian magazine Bit [BIT04].
Fig.5
Getting a NanoComputer may prove difficult because
many owners may have demolished non-functioning or
unused machines because they are technically outdated.

Who has carried out projects of some interest with

the NanoComputer and wants to make them known,
please contact RetroMagazine World Editorial Staff.
Thank you very much.

Bibliography
[MCT20] AA.VV. (2020/08/18) retrieved from
http://museo.dagomari.prato.it/singolo.php?cod=188&ord=1
Fig.6
[NCP20] AA.VV. (2020/08/18) retrieved from
http://compvter.blogspot.com/2015/09/nanocomputer-dalla-discarica-al-museo.html

[NNR79] E.A.Nichols, J.C.Nichols, P.R.Rony, "Il

Nanobook Z-80 - Tecniche of Programmazione", vol.
1, Jackson Italiana Editrice, 1979.
https://archive.org/details/ilnanobookz80

[NNR80] E.A.Nichols, J.C.Nichols, P.R.Rony, "Il

Nanobook Z-80 - Tecniche of Interfacciamento", vol.
3, Jackson Italiana Editrice, 1980.
https://archive.org/details/ilnanobookz80

[SGS79] SGS ATES, "Manuale tecnico del

NanoComputer Training System", 1979.
https://archive.org/details/z80nanocomputer
Fig.9

Page 20 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 HARDWARE

Fig.7 Fig.8

Articles about the NanoComputer Z80:

[BIT03] A.Cavalcoli,"Il Nanocomputer NBZ80" ,Bit n.3, 1979 , pp.85-88.
https://ia600102.us.archive.org/7/items/Bit_003/Bit_003.pdf
[BIT04] A.Cavalcoli,"Nanocomputer NBZ80: Utilizzo del display della tastiera come periferica of uscita", Bit n.4, 1979, pp.87-91.
https://ia800101.us.archive.org/6/items/Bit_004/Bit_004.pdf
[BIT06] A.Cavalcoli,"Tester per circuiti integrati TTL realizzato per il Nanocomputer NBZ80-S", p.1, Bit n.6, 1979, pp.99-102.
https://ia800104.us.archive.org/5/items/Bit_006/Bit_006.pdf
[BIT07] A.Cavalcoli,"Tester per circuiti integrati TTL realizzato per il Nanocomputer NBZ80-S", p.2, Bit n.7, 1979, pp.95-98.
https://ia800102.us.archive.org/4/items/Bit_007/Bit_007.pdf

Articles featured >>> in the attachment <<< to this issue of RMW:

[BIT10] AA.VV., "Il Nancocomputer e la musica", p.1, Bit n.10, Sep. 1980, pp.118-119.
[BIT11] F.Dotti., "Battaglia navale: un gioco italiano", Bit n.11, Oct. 1980, pp.98-100.
[BIT12] AA.VV., "Il Nancocomputer e la musica", p.2, Bit n.12, Nov. 1980, pp.106-109.
[BIT13] A.Musiello, "Voltmetro digitale", p.1, Bit n.13, Dec. 1980, pp.108-110.
[BIT15] A.Musiello, "Voltmetro digitale", p.2, Bit n.15, Mar. 1981, pp.126-129.
[BIT16] G.Fratus, "Il Nano regista", Bit n.16, Apr. 1981, pp.130-131.
[BIT17] G.Giaccaglini, "Computertombola col refresh dello Z-80", Bit n.17, May 1981, pp.99-103.
[BIT19] D.Cecconi, "Il Nano-orologio", Bit n.19, Jul-Aug. 1981, pp 95-96.
[BIT20] G.Giaccaglini, "Il Nano pitagorico", Bit n.20, Sep. 1981, pp.128-129.
[BIT22] AA.VV. "Nanocomputer NBZ-80S", Bit n.22, Nov. 1981, pp.62-74.
[BIT22a] A.Cavalcoli ,"I sistemi didattici: una panoramica critica del settore", Bit n.22, Nov. 1981, pp.111-124.
[BIT22b] V.Alessandroni, "L'efficacia dei sistemi didattici", Bit n.22, Nov. 1981, pp.127-131.
[BIT23] M.Oliva, A.Napoletano, "Il Nano semaforista", Bit n.23, p.1, Dec. 1981, pp.117-120.
[BIT24] M.Oliva, A.Napoletano, "Il Nano semaforista", Bit n.24, p.2, Jan. 1982, pp.143-148.
[MPC08] G.Romeo, "Sistema Didattico SGS Nanocomputer", Micro&PersonalComputer n.8, Nov-Dec.1980, pp.42-47.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 21 of 93

 RETROINTERVIEW

MAXIM, the arcade room since 1990 - Part 2

by Mic the Biker
Hello readers of Retromagazine, here we are to resume
the speech started in number 32 (10 ENG) with the
interview with the good Massimo, owner of the Maxim
games room in Jesolo Lido. With this second part we will
take a virtual walk inside this magnificent place that will
teleport us directly in the golden years of the coin-ops
and beyond. After all, this is one of the few places that
have never given up, already in the interview we understand
that we are in front of a person who exudes passion, that
of a "former boy" who has cradled, raised and kept this
love in his heart all his life until today. Personally I attended
Maxim in the 90s, when it was enough to turn around to
see coin-ops everywhere. It's always a dip in the heart
to get in, because those walls are the same. The floors
could tell stories of life, of people who entered them as
children and come back as adults. The Maxim exudes
golden age: it is not new, it is not adorned with lights and
neon lights that make it so vintage. It is a place where
the light is what it must be, in some corners almost dark.
A place where vintage is made by the objects kept inside,
such as old wooden chairs of the cinemas of the past, the
car plates hanging on the walls. Objects with a voice, with
a true story to tell. And as you stroll lulled by litany in is produced by two bells, for one and ten points. Scores
chip sauce you are kidnapped by the old games, not just can be changed via a switch, from regulatory bowling to
the electronic ones. Massimo is someone who knows, has the original Williams Ten Strike.
not smelled the business and got into it. He's the one who
grew up in those walls, in the middle of the coin-ops. His Little Pro – 1964
passion led him to have items in his games room that are Very rare game designed by Harry Williams and produced
beyond any fashion or return of flame. I took the opportunity by Southland Engineering (Santa Monica, California).
to ask him for a great help to tell me the secrets of Perhaps the only game produced by this company that
electromechanical games. was very similar to another game called Mini Golf produced
by Williams. The purpose of the game was to complete
Peppy the musical clown – 1956 the 9 holes present by controlling the movements of the
Here's an electromechanical game from Williams. It was golf player. We have a maximum of 27 shots and each
designed for younger children, who could make a famous hole is PAR 3. The game ends when the player completes
puppet dance at the time. The clown moved his head from nine holes or 27 hits are made. There is a single motorized
side to side, while the player pressed the buttons on the step-by-step unit that displays the number of holes made.
front console that controlled the movement of the arms A free game can be won if the player performs all nine
and legs to the rhythm of the organ music produced by holes with 18 hits or less.
the machine.
Bear Hunt – late 1960s
Ten Strike Classic – 1957 Bear Hunt, or more commonly known as Bear Shooting,
Ten Strike Classic is a reissue and faithful copy of the is the Italian reproduction built in Bologna of the most
famous Williams Ten Strike, dated 1957. It uses cabinets famous Seeburg Shoot the Bear of the late 1940s. It is
and graphics identical to the original, but has LED-style an electromechanical game with valve technology, as well
score displays instead of mechanical rollers. The sound as the audio that reproduced the scream of the bear when
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 RETROINTERVIEW

delivered balls with surprise but was also allowed to play

a game at the mini bingo.

Whirly Bird – 1969

Produced by Midway Manufacturing Company Illinois
U.S.A. in 1969. This is an electromechanical game of skill:
flying a helicopter you had to hit the temples that gradually
lit up. A very popular game in those years and still
appreciated by young and old people.

Helicopter Sega – 1968

it was hit. The purpose of the game was to hit as many

times as the bear that was being chased by a dog, very
similar to Disney's Pluto. To do this we had a total of 20
shots: every time the trigger was pulled, a shot was scaled.
At the same time a beam of light was emitted from the
barrel of the rifle. The bear had three lenses, one on each
side and one on the belly: one of the three lenses had to
be hit with a beam of light. If struck, the bear would stand
on its hind legs and growl; then it would come back on
all fours and start running again. The real masters of this
game managed to keep it booming as much as possible
by hitting it repeatedly.

Palla Cesto (Basketball) – 1960s

Classic 60s Italian ball distributor from Munich that could
be found near some newsstands or bars of the time. He

Game produced by Ltd Tokyo Japan in 1968. This is also

electromechanical with audio on magnetic tape. The
purpose of the game is to land on the most famous airports
of the time. Each time we land on one of the six circular
bases it will light up and we will be credited with points.
These are visible at the bottom of the cab, using a roller
system.

Maxim and coin op

Obviously in the midst of these collectibles, not easy to
find around, Massimo is bringing back to life the immortal
old coin-ops of the golden age. Many are just sleepers in
his warehouse, others are real targeted research. The
faint of heart must pay attention, for a harmless walk
within those walls could turn into a series of repeated
fainting. The first coin op I saw exhumed was BUBBLE
BOBBLE in 2017. The retrogaming craving had not yet
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 23 of 93
 RETROINTERVIEW

exploded, so I was literally shocked to see the Bub & Bob five goals, while with one hand we held the steering wheel
dragons in a game room. It was in the back, a bit hidden and with the other the gearbox.
by modern sparkling amenities. I was walking, to pass
the time while my son was playing something: when I saw Pac Man
him I was petrified. A train of memories fell on me all Another authentic piece of history you can find at Maxim
together, memories of beautiful summers spent in Jesolo is PAC MAN. Its yellow Midway cabinet is impossible not
with friends, all around the cabinet, alternating in the to notice and is in an amazing state of preservation. By
games. They had to come and get me because I was not heart I never played Pac Man in its original version, it was
coming out of that corner, and when I left I congratulated always inserted in some other "universal" cabinet. Of
Massimo for having exhumed this masterpiece. course, the game is always that but playing it here is an
added value: on the sides of the screen we will find the
Out Run game instructions and the table with the value in points
Another crazy piece, kept in such a way as to look brand of enemies and bonuses. Driving our yellow ball is also
new, is the vertical cab of OUT RUN. Getting close to this easier here, as control was born for this game and only
coin op is something sacred, it is a gesture that brings to for this one. The coin slot that still reads 25c is priceless.
mind incredible years and emotions never dreamed of.
Squeezing that steering wheel is a total shock, it's the
beginning of a journey through time. There is a detail in
this cabin that takes your breath away: at the top of the
steering wheel there are two ashtrays, of the chrome ones
that were riveted a posteriori. They are like graffiti in a
cave, only the symbol of an era in which the arcades were
constantly wrapped in smoke: you lit your cigarette,
started the game and put it there, while its lazy white
column gave you that unique atmosphere. Right on that
shelf we find the drawing of the map that branches off,
placed there to make us understand the roads that we
could take, but it was almost impossible to distract
ourselves to look at it. But it guided us towards the final

Super Sprint
Also in the area we find another piece from ninety, a game
that has enjoyed generations of players: SUPER SPRINT.
The Atari cabinet certainly does not go unnoticed: its size
and the three staggered steering wheels are impossible
not to notice. Here too we find ourselves in front of an
almost perfect cabinet, with only a little paint missing on
the coloured bases near the buttons to participate in the
challenge.
I think that if this cab could talk he would tell us about
millions of punches received when, turning the steering
wheel wildly, he was going to clash against some obstacle,
losing positions.
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 RETROINTERVIEW

The dynamics are quite similar: we should move the

joystick in a specific direction or press the button at certain
points in the game. With the correct command a video is
played showing the character's progression in the
adventure, while the wrong move will inevitably lead to
death. We said earlier that we are facing a holographic
game, something science fiction for the time. But how do
you get a similar effect? A unique cabinet is used, created
ad hoc, which projects the characters using reflection.
The "holographic" effect, in truth, is an optical illusion
obtained with a large curved mirror and a 20-inches CRT
television: the characters seem to be in mid-air as images
about 5 inches high. This space, where the action takes
Space Invaders place, is called Micro Teatro, a flat and dark stage invented
This immortal masterpiece, pioneer and leader of a genre, by engineers Steve Zuloff and Barry Benjamin. A couple
certainly does not need to be presented. Here at Maxim of geometric neon constructions, placed in the back, act
you can see a version not so common in our parts: a as a background for the game.
dizzying cocktail table! Created by Tomohiro Nishikado
and published in 1978, Space Invaders is one of the very Biker thoughts
first shooter games, initially released as a vertical arcade, Entering Maxim is a bit like watching a Super Quark show
and later developed in the version you will find from Massimo. (italian science dissemination tv programme, Ed.N.). We
It is in an exceptional state of conservation: the elegance can find artifacts from a historical period fundamentally
of the wood and the thick glass that makes up the table close to us but technologically centuries away. You can
top frame the iconic and timeless graphics. The two plates review and above all replay the issues that have written
with the game instructions placed next to the monitor the history of this fantastic world, all enclosed in their
and the controls at the bottom make this piece a must original cabinet. For the new generations it is the discovery,
for all video game lovers. live, of what was the video game world of the past and
Massimo confirms that many children ask where the old
games are. He, as a great enthusiast, is always ready to
guide anyone towards these treasures and to explain the
history of them. It is beautiful to see young and otherwise
young people running towards history, to relive it or to
discover it: it is made of 320×224 pixels and it will be forever.

Time Traveller
A very fresh New entry is a very special cabinet, which I
have honestly seen yes and no a couple of times in my
life, or Time Traveller. It is the first holographic video
game produced, as described in "The illustrated history
of electronic games". The story was created by Rick Dyer,
former creator of Dragon's Lair, and published by Sega
in 1991. And just like its illustrious and famous predecessor,
Time Traveller is also an interactive film game on LaserDisc.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 25 of 93

 RETROINTERVIEW

Retro Interview – discovering new talents…

by Ermanno Betori
Recently we are witnessing a rediscovery of old
computers by an increasingly younger audience than
the average population of "grandparents" like us
who were lucky enough to live the twenty years 1975-
1995 when there was the explosion of mass computing.
Those who bought a computer at the time, especially
in the decade 1975-85, were in their own way a
dreamer/explorer in that they thought that thanks
to the computer they could realize the most disparate
enterprises (also guilty were movies such as War
Games, Tron, Electric Dreams etc... that influenced
the audience; suffice it to say that after War Games
the modem market in the USA suffered a 500%
increase... In practice all the boys of the time dreamed
of hacking the NORAD - lol).

Fig. 2 - Atomic Energy Lab... maybe a bit dangerous...

musicians, programmers who are putting themselves

back into the game using over 40 y.o. computers
obtaining excellent results were considered impossible
at the time.

Therefore we will start a series of retro interviews

with these new retro users who are distinguishing
themselves in the world of Indie, Demoscene,
Programming etc.
Fig. 1 - Example of an 80s computer, the C128D-81

Something similar to what happened in America in We had the pleasure of meeting Frida Katarina as a
the 1950s where nuclear energy was seen as the graphic designer using Commodore 64, creating her
future. In fact, you think that they sold as a game for drawings in PETASCII and this is her retro-interview!
children a mini nuclear laboratory containing real
radioactive minerals considered today the most Greetings to all the friends of RetroMagazine!
dangerous game in the world omitting swords, bows,
My name is Frida Katarina. Thanks for inviting me
slingshots, rockets, air guns etc.. that is, games that
by their intrinsic nature were born to injure. to this interview. I was born in Sweden in 1981. My
first computer was not my own, but my cousin’s.
Today we have hyper-powered computers with She had a Commodore 64 in the 1980’s and I was
amazing computational and graphical-sound allowed to play games on it.
capabilities, very easy in the predetermined use of Mostly I liked the music very much. I later moved on
various programs (many times preset by the to consoles (NES, S-NES) instead of computers to
manufacturers) but strangely a bit difficult for those play videogames, but I never forgot the unique SID
who want to use the computer outside the pre- music of the Commodore 64.
established schemes. So you are having a kind of
retro renaissance where we find new graphics, Many years passed and I somehow discovered SLAY
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 RETROINTERVIEW

March 2021, and some of the screens I made received

a lot of praise, and people asked me to upload them
to CSDb. So I guess that’s how I became a demoscener.

I never really became a computer enthusiast per se,

but rather a retro enthusiast in general. I have never
owned a Commodore, the closest thing is TheC64,
which I got in 2020. For PETSCII art, I have only
used the online editor http://petscii.krissz.hu/ and
for Multicolour art https://mcdraw.xyz/ so far, and
now I am trying out Multipaint. I have enjoyed working
with PETSCII the best, there is an interesting challenge
to use the character set this way.

I think the Commodore 64 - its colours, its sounds

- it all has a certain charm, and not only for the
nostalgia. And there is a lot of inspiring C64 artwork
out there. You can see mine at CSDb:
https://csdb.dk/scener/?id=35587

My goals in the retro computer world?

Fig. 3 - Frida Katarina Well it has been really nice to be able to reach people
Radio that played a lot of C64 remixes, many of them all over the world with my art. Other than trying to
very well made. I was intrigued and curious about make C64 remixes, I would also like to try to compose
how to become a remixer myself. It was first around for the SID chip!
2020 that I found and became active in C64 groups
on facebook. I bought a piano, learned how to play https://csdb.dk/release/?id=201668
some video game music, and posted some poorly https://csdb.dk/release/?id=204826
recorded C64 tunes in the facebook groups. https://csdb.dk/release/?id=205286
https://csdb.dk/release/?id=204122
These piano videos got some positive attention, but
soon after this my piano broke down (and was
returned to the shop for service, which took 6 months!)
and I couldn’t get started on making remixes the
way I had planned.
So I found a facebook group that was dedicated to
PETSCII art, and I decided to try it. This was around

Fig. 4 - Two of Frida's works of art

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 27 of 93

 RETROINTERVIEW

Questions and answers with 6502 processor co-creator, Bill Mensch,

on the microprocessor that powered the Atari 2600 and the C64
by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini
Few people have seen their work affect the world more twice as much. I also noticed that I was helping the
than Bill Mensch. engineers understand what Motorola was doing in the
This man contributed to the creation of the 6502, the high-voltage circuits, which meant that Motorola was the
microprocessor of the 8-bit era, launched in 1975 and leader and Philco the follower. So I went to the University
which was the heart of systems such as the Atari 2600, of Arizona, near where Motorola was, I graduated in
Apple II, the Commodore 64. Mensch also created the engineering (in 1971) and I went to work for Motorola.
input/output chip VIA 65C22, known for its functionality
and crucial to the popularity of the 6502, and the second- N: How did you come to develop the 6502?
generation 65C816, a 16-bit processor that powered the BM: Chuck Peddle approached me.
Apple IIGS and the Super Nintendo. He came to Motorola two years after me. Now, this hasn't
been written anywhere that I know of, but I think his
intention was to “raid” Motorola for engineers. He worked
with me on the peripheral interface chip (PIA) and got to
see me in action. He decided that I was a young “rampant”
engineer who was just the guy to follow his “ego.” So
Chuck and I formed a sort of partnership. He was the
system engineer and I was the semiconductor engineer.
We tried to start our company together with other “Motorola
bad boys” and when that didn't happen, we joined an
existing [semiconductor design] company, called MOS
Technology, in Pennsylvania in 1974. That's where we
created the 6501 and 6502 ( in 1975), and I designed
the input/output chips that accompanied it as the Intel
Fig. 1 - Microprocessore 6502
4040 microcontroller Chipset, sold for about $ 29 at the
Many of the 65x series chips are still in production. time. We weren't trying to compete with the 6800 or 8080
Processors and their variants are used as microcontrollers
in commercial products and remain popular with hobbyists
who build “personal” home computers.
The wave of interest for retrocomputing has led people
once again to exchange tips on how to write refined games
using assembly code 6502, with the release of new titles
for Atari , BBC Micro and other machines.
This interview has been condensed and modified for clarity.

Nith : What drove you into engineering?

Bill Mensch: I went to Temple University in Philadelphia
on the recommendation of a guidance counselor. When
I arrived, I discovered that they only had a degree in
technological engineering. But I didn't know what I was
doing, so I thought, let's finish our degree.
Then I got a job (1967) as a technician at Philco-Ford
(TV producer) and noticed that engineers earned about Fig. 1 - Microprocessore 65C816

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 RETROINTERVIEW

Fig. 3 - Bill Mensch, co-creatore del microprocessore 6502

[chips designed for more complex microcomputer systems]. This meant that I understood the needs of real systems
in real-world implementations. While we were working at
N: The 6502 has become the foundation of many MOS, Chuck, Wil Mathis, our app guy, and I were eating
microcomputer systems, and if you look at books about atArby's one day, and we talked about doing something
contemporary programmers, they often talk about the beyond PIA. And they said, "We'd like to put in a couple
quirks of the architecture and instruction set of the 6502 of timers. We'd like a serial port, ”and I said,“Okay, we're
compared to other processors. What drove these design going to need more log selection lines. ” And our notes
decisions? ended up on an Arby napkin. I left after eating and I
BM: Rod Orgill and I had completed some microprocessor designed it. Then I had to redesign it to make it more
projects before 6501/6502. compatible with the PIA. I also made some changes at
In other words, Rod and I already knew what happened Apple's request. The interesting thing about the GO-
in a set of instructions. And the lower cost was the key. AHEAD is that it's the most popular chip we sell today.
So we looked at the instructions we really needed. And
we figured out how to have addressable registers using N: After MOS Technology, in 1978 you founded The
zero page (the first 256 bytes in RAM). So you can have Western Design Center, where you created the 65C816
one byte for the operating code and one byte for the CPU. The creators of the arm processor give a visit to
address and the code is compact and fast. There are WDC the confidence to design their own chip. Remember
limitations, but compared to other processors, page zero that visit?
was a big problem. BM: Yes! Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber visited me and
told me about the development of a 32-bit chip. They
N: Many pages of those programming books are dedicated wanted to bypass what Apple was said to be doing. But
to explaining how to use the versatile VIA chip (interface I was finishing 816 and I didn't want to change horses.
adapter) and its two I/O ports, built-in timers, a serial So when they were successful with arm, I cheered for
scroll register and so on. Why so many functions? them because it wasn't something I wanted to do. But I
BM: I had worked on the previous PIA chip at Motorola. left them with the idea, "Look, if I can do it here, there's

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 29 of 93

 RETROINTERVIEW

Fig. 4 - Sede della MOS Technology (immagine da Google)

two of you, there's one of me."

N: The 6502 and 816 are often found today in other

forms , both as the physical core of a system-on-a-chip,
and running on an FPGA . What are some of the latest
developments?
BM : I'm excited about what's happening right now. It's
more exciting than ever. I just got these 6502 flexible thin
film prints from PragmatIC! Our chips are in the IoT devices
and we have new teaching cards coming out.

N: Why do you think the original 65x series is still popular, Fig. 5 - Il microcomputer MENSCH™ (codice
especially among people who build their own personal W65C265QBX) è un piccolo computer a scheda
computers ? singola (SBC), 1,25" x2.25", che utilizza
il System on a Chip (SoC) W65C265S MCU,
BM: Pure Love! There is a love for this little processor that inventato e progettato da Bill Mensch.
is undeniable. And the reason is that we filled it with love
while we were designing it. We knew what we were doing.
Rod and I knew from our previous experience with the
Olivetti CPU and other chips. And from my work with I/O
To know more about su Bill Mensch:
chips, I knew how computers were used in the real world.
People want to work with 65x chips because they are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mensch
accessible. You can trust them and their technology.
https://www.embeddedcomputing.com/technology/
storage/2017-top-embedded-innovator-bill-
mensch-ceo-and-founder-western-design-center

Page 30 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 SOFTWARE

Amiga OS 3.2 - Test and Installation guidelines

by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini

Hyperion Entertainment CVBA has released in May this There is an improved user interface that allows window
year the AmigaOS 3.2 for all Amiga based on 68k. resizing from any border, window iconification and
A new version of the famous operating system that presents customization of the title of the workbench bar.
100 new features, many updates that cover the system Zoom in on a window by holding down the shift key and
components and a series of bug fixes present in the clicking on the zoom gadget on the window.
previous version 3.1.4. Off-screen windows are a configurable default setting.
The result of 2 years of intense work by a team of sixty There is a look of the most recent menus and it is possible
people who helped produce this new piece of Amiga history. to customize everything through the interfaces in the
The full version is available on CD ROM and contains all "PREFS" folder.
Among the tools and utilities I point out HDToolBox that
can now work from read-only media where necessary.

But the list would be really endless to be able to list all

the hundreds of innovations made (new commands, more
accessible media, new sets of functions, a better bootmenu,
etc...).
The product is aesthetically pleasing and easy to install
both on real machine and on WinUAE emulation.
All we have to do is promote it with full marks and advise
you to buy it.

INSTALLATION ON WINUAE
Kickstart disks and ROMs for all machines produced, Basic A1200 Configuration + 8mb Z2 RAM
allowing users to install AmigaOS 3.2 on multiple different 3.1 KS ROM (from the Amiga Forever package) – We could
types of Amiga at the same time. have used the 3.2 ROM directly from the CD but for this
test we limited ourselves to a faster test.
A downloadable version is also available in digital format. 100 MiB hardfile, with boot priority set to -128 and
You can buy it all here: controller set to “UAE (uaehf.device), in“RDB COMPLETE
https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/index.php/ ”mode
where-to-buy/dealers Image of the CD mounted as a .iso image, which I had
created from my CD.
Let's take a look at some of the features of Amiga OS 3.2 Let's make sure the box “CD/DVD drive with CDs auto-
that immediately jump to the eye. mount” is checked.
Integrated ADF management: a long-awaited feature
because it allows the user to create, mount, insert and
eject ADF files.
Basically those images are handled as a physical floppy
disk, and you can mount an image to the workbench by
simply double-clicking on it.
They can be managed by shell with a wide set of options
available.
Access to these mounted disk files requires very little
memory and you can also mount multiple ADF images at
the same time.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 31 of 93

 SOFTWARE

Why mounted like .iso? Since my A1200 has the cd drive

with a lens problem (which I have to repair), I will be able
to load it onto a CD drive and mount it using something
like ImageMount, and then install it from there. The hard
disk boot priority has been set to -128, so it should start
from .iso directly.

Let's click on ok and create a drive type and partition it

as we see fit.

When we open the AmigaOS3.2CD icon, we find an “install”

folder. Launch CopyToRAMandRun_HDToolBox

We click "OK", then "Save to Device", then exit and restart.

Restart the system and go to the disk created, click on
"format" and perform a quick format, giving a name to
the volume. Finally we can start the installation!
Launch the iso image and click on the "Start here" icon,
which will mount the Install3.2 disk; let's open it and
In Ram Disk we will find HDToolBox. Because we selected click on Install. We choose the language and eventually
the HD controller as the UAE device, HDToolBox can't find we will get to the installer:
the drive. We click in the Ram disk, and with the right
button on the icon we go at least information.
Here we change SCSI_DEVICE _NAME to uaehf.device,
press enter and then save.

At this point by clicking on HDToolBox we will find our

hard drive. We change the type of unit by defining the
"DEFINE/EDIT Drive Type" parameters.
Page 32 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 SOFTWARE

We proceed and follow the questions that the installer This is it. The version we see has a low resolution and few
asks us. I have chosen default settings and click “yes” colors on the screen, but is all settable from the menu of
for GlowIcons. preferences (we know the language in Italian).
The copy has been very fast and will automatically mount
all the disks quickly and automatically. Interesting if you want to use RTG emulated as the
PICASSO96 that allowed me to go in 1920 x 1080 and
installed quickly and without problems.

At the end it will look like this:

Below you can see my PICASSO96 emulated workbench.

Press F12 and return to the configuration menu. Eject

the cd image and check in the disk setting that the boot
is active on the disk itself. Let's reboot. Useful information:

You can purchase Amiga OS 3.2 from:

https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/
index.php/where-to-buy/dealers

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 33 of 93

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ZX MASTER MIND
by Roberto Zaffanella

Master Mind: The Boxed Game also in the right position.

The game, in the classic version, consists of a game board - As many white pegs as there are colors in the Secret
and colored pegs of two types: Code but they are in the wrong position.
- The first type, they are the largest and are of 6 different - No Key Pegs for the colors of the played code not present
colors, they are used for the composition of the secret in the Secret Code
code and the attempt codes. - Note: The Black and White Pegs indicate the amount of
- The second type, they are smaller and black and white, colored pegs in the Secret Code but not their location.
are used for the composition of key codes. To avoid errors in the answers in case of repeated colors,
(In the image below, my box in the 8 colors variant it is preferable that the Encoder first put the black pegs
purchased in the early 80’s) and then the white pegs, paying attention to the latter to
exclude the colors already considered in the answer of
the black pegs.
In the following example the Encoder puts only one black
pin for the blue present and in the right position. No white
pegs for the other blue.
No other pegs for other colors as they are not present in
the secret code
Possible secret code combinations
In the classic version, the total number of possible Secret

Rules OF the game

The Master Mind is a logic game where two players
alternate in the roles of Encoder and Decoder.
The Encoder is the one who chooses and hides the secret
code and the Decoder is the player who must guess it.
The goal is to guess the Secret Code in as few attempts
as possible.
The two players will decide at the beginning how many
games to play and at the end they will compare the sum Codes is calculated according to the formula of the
of the attempts. Whoever gets the smallest number wins. combinatorial calculation of the Arrangements with
The secret code consists of four colorful pegs kept hidden Repetition: D=nk where in our case, n is the number of
by a lid of the game board. colors and k is the number of positions where the colors
The Decoder for subsequent attempts will play codes, can be placed, therefore 64 and that is 1296 possibility
also composed of coloured pegs and the Encoder will put of secret codes.
Black and White Key Pegs for each attempt. For convenience, even if inappropriately, these dispositions
Based on the Encoder's responses, the Decoder will decide will be called combinations.
the next Code to play. There are other variants of the game with more colors
The Key Codes in response to each attempt follow these rules: and positions or easy versions with fewer colors/positions
- As many black pegs as are the colors of the Attempt for children.
Code that are present in the Secret Code and that are In the classic version the colors are white, blue, yellow,

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 SOFTWARE

black, green. The 8-colour variant adds orange and brown. The top right displays the "Fit Codes" which are the
Compared to the colors of the boxed game, the colors number of secret codes remaining after each attempt.
used by the program are those of the ZX Spectrum: blue,
red, magenta, green, blue and yellow. The black and white The program guesses the secret code
colors are used only for key codes. The program is the decoder and the player is the encoder.
At the beginning of the game the player has three
Game modes and options of the "ZX Master Mind" program possibilities to choose the secret code:
The following options are available from the program menu: 1) Choose a color for each position
• Player guesses the secret code randomly chosen by the 2) Use the “R” (Random) option to generate a random
program secret code
• The program guesses the secret code chosen by the player 3) Use the option "H" (Hidden) to not enter your secret
• Demo Mode – The program guesses a random secret code code but write it on a sheet.
• Instructions
Below the menu is the score for the games played between
the player and the program.

Here are the details for each option:

The player guesses the secret code

The player is the decoder and the program is the encoder
The program will choose a random secret code that will
be kept obscured at the top of the table.
At each attempt by the player, the program will assign a
key code (black and white pegs).

The "X" option quits the game and returns to the menu. After entering the secret code, the program will start
For options “B” and “F”, see paragraph: “Options F and B” playing the first attempt to which you will have to provide
a key code.
The "X" option quits the game.
Option "F" will be discussed in the paragraph: "Options
F and B"

The program guesses a random secret code – Demo Mode

The program will play as both Encoder and Decoder.
He will randomly choose a Secret Code and play until he
guesses. This mode can be used to understand how the
game is played.
Instructions: Using the Kempston Keyboard and Joystick
To select the colored pegs and program options, use the
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 35 of 93
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cursor keys or the Kempston Joystick.

The choice is confirmed with the "Enter" or "Fire" button
on the Joystick.
When playing with a Spectrum with rubber keys it is better
to use the alternative keys: Q A O P as cursor keys and M
as ENTER.

Option "B" (Best Codes)

Viewing Best Codes. Best Codes are selected by an
algorithm that identifies the best codes to play.
During processing, a counter indicates the progression
of the codes to be processed.
Playing the Best Codes, in probabilistic terms, reduces
the number of attempts to guess the secret code.
Using an emulator of the ZX Spectrum for Android it is If the Best Codes are marked with an asterisk, they are
preferable to choose as input device in the preferences of an inconsistent type, that is, they will not be able to
the "cursor keys". guess the secret code at the time they are played but still
offer a better chance of reaching the secret code with a
Load and run the program smaller number of attempts than choosing an attempt
For ZX Spectrum emulators, open the auto-start file code among fit codes.
MMEMUXX.TAP (XX is the version). The top right shows the total of the Best Codes and how
It has been tested with Fuse for Windows, Speccy and many of them have been displayed.
Unreal Speccy for Android. To navigate between Best Codes and make the selection,
For the ZX Spectrum, the classic LOAD "" and then play the modes are the same as for Fit Codes
the MMVAWXX.WAV file from an MP3/Smartphone/PC
player connected via Jack cable to the "ear" port of the
Spectrum. Tested on my ZX Spectrum +.

Options “F” and “B”

These options are not necessary for the normal course
of the game, however they can be used if you are struggling
to find a code or to improve your game strategy.

“F” option (Fit Codes)

This option displays the possible secret codes called by
the Fit Codes program. Among them is the real secret code.
The top right shows the total Fit Codes and how many
were displayed. How the "Best Codes" algorithm works
Let's begin to understand how Fit Codes are identified by
They are displayed in groups of eight. Move to the next assuming that the program plays as a decoder.
group using the “Down” arrow key. 1) At the beginning the program generates all the 1296
The "Up" arrow enables a cursor that can scroll through codes it keeps in memory. At this stage these codes are
the list of fit codes to choose the attempt code that must all Fit Codes.
then be confirmed with the ENTER key. 2) On the first play the program selects a Fit Code randomly
To go back, press the left arrow cursor key. except for codes with a color repeated 3 or 4 times. Those
are the worst codes to start with.
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3) Compare your Attempt Code with each of the Fit Codes. Codes and each box is set to zero.
Anyone who generates a Key Code other than the one
obtained by the player is discarded.
4) The program plays one of the remaining Fit Codes.
5) The program repeats the procedure from step 3).

Now, given that each Fit Code has the same chance as
the other Fit Codes to guess the Secret Code, in case you
don't guess it, based on the Key Code received many or In this case, the "4 blacks" box will be increased by one.
less Fit Codes will remain for the next attempt. The operation is repeated by keeping the first Fit Code
The objective of the algorithm is to keep, in probabilistic fixed and switching to the second Secret Code.
terms, the fewest number of Fit Codes. Also here, based on the Key Code obtained, the
Obviously, the luck component cannot be eliminated and corresponding box will be increased.
retains a significant role. The process is repeated for all Secret Codes.

First version of the algorithm When finished, the values in the boxes will indicate the
I developed this version in 1985. It is the "Simula" routine number of Fit Codes that would remain if the first Fit Code
included in the old lists that I report in the images below. were played and the Key Code was the one for the box itself.
In the current program this routine has been improved. For example, if box 2 Blacks and 2 Whites (=2 Bianchi,
A copy of the Fit Codes list is used as a list of possible N.ed.) contains 3, it means that if you play the first Fit
Secret Codes. Code and receive 2 Black and 2 White as the Key Code,
For each Fit Code, a score is associated that is determined the remaining Fit Codes for the next play will be 3.
as follows: it is simulated to play the first Fit Code and it (Obviously if the secret code is not guessed)
is assumed that the Secret Code is the first on its list. At this point, the algorithm associates the maximum value
Based on the generated Key Code, all Fit Codes compatible (MAX) found in the table with the first Fit Code.
with the Key Code are counted. The number obtained is MAX is therefore the maximum number of Fit Codes that
added to the score of the first Fit Code. can remain if the first Fit Code is played.
This operation is repeated assuming that the secret code The algorithm now repeats the same process for the next
is the second from the list obtaining a new number to be Fit Code, obtaining its MAX.
added to the score of the first Fit Code. Keep it up until the end of all Fit Codes.
Once all the Secret Codes have been completed, the All Fit Codes will now be checked. The one that will have
second Fit Code is passed and the simulation for all the the lowest MAX value, will be elected Best Code.
Secret Codes is repeated to obtain the score for the second If other Fit Codes have the same MAX, these will also be
Fit Code as well. Best Codes.
The above procedure is repeated for the remaining Fit Codes.
At the end, the Fit Codes with the lowest score will be The basis for processing Fit Codes can be extended to all
chosen Best Codes. codes (1296) by competing Fit Codes with inconsistent
If there are multiple Fit Codes with the same score, they codes, (codes that cannot be the secret code). Well,
will all be elected to Best Codes. sometimes inconsistent codes have a lesser MAX than
This algorithm guesses the Secret Code on average at that obtained by Fit Codes, and therefore can be played
4.54 attempts. Result obtained from 1000 games played. leaving a smaller number of Fit Codes for the next attempt.
If part of the Fit Codes and some inconsistent codes
Enhanced version receive the same value as MAX, only the former will be
A copy of the Fit Codes list is made and this is considered elected to Best Codes as they also have the ability to
the list of Possible Secret Codes. guess the secret code.
Now it is simulated to play the first Fit Code in the list and As the processing time increases based on the number
that the Secret Code is the first in the respective list. In of processed codes, the use of the algorithm should be
this case, since the two codes are identical, the Key Code limited to avoid excessive waiting times that may bore
will be 4 blacks (=4 neri, N.ed.). the player.
For each Fit Code, a table is defined in advance as the If the program is a decoder, the algorithm is executed if
one in the figure below that contains all the possible Key the fit codes are less than or equal to 317.
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 37 of 93
 SOFTWARE

If the fit codes are less than or equal to 50, the algorithm played are 4 different colors.
considers all 1296 codes for processing. How many attempts does the program need to guess the
Same mode as above when the player is the decoder and secret code?
selects option “B”. At most 5. The average is 4.47. The program could do
By choosing a code that is not a color repeated 4 times better, but the waiting times for the elaboration of the
as the first attempt, a maximum of 317 Fit Codes remain codes would be extended as explained above. In rare
and therefore, unless the case is above, on the second cases and only if the initial attempt is of type 1123, that
attempt the algorithm can be executed. is with a single repeated color, it may take 6 attempts as
When the number of Fit Codes decreases in subsequent in the example below.
attempts, 50 will be a good compromise to extend the
use of the algorithm to all 1296 codes with the possibility
of having inconsistent codes as Best Codes.

Example of using inconsistent code

Assume that you have reached this game situation:

The initial attempts of type 1112 and 1111, are those

that imply a greater risk of getting to guess the secret
code on the sixth attempt or later and therefore are never
played by the program.

"ZX Master Mind", a brief history of how it went

It does not seem bad, 3 blacks on the first attempt and In the 80’s, microcomputers such as ZX Spectrum and
also on the second that confirm that the first 3 colors are Commodore 64, gave my generation the ability to have
right and also in the right place. At this point just repeat a computer at home without spending large amounts of
the code by changing the last color with one of the 4 money and being able to learn how to program, although
possible. By doing so, however, you have a 25% chance the great spread of this type of computer was more related
of guessing the secret code on the third attempt, and if to the possibility of using it as a console for games. Games
you're unlucky, you'll guess it on the sixth attempt. that could be purchased in original or found in audio
If you play an inconsistent code like the one in the figure cassettes attached to magazines purchased at newsstands.
below: I started writing the Master Mind program in 1985 when
I was a high school student in Computer Science. I found
it challenging to implement in the programs the logic of
games such as BattleShip, Force 4 and Tetris. I wrote the
part about the logic of games, the one that gave me the
most satisfaction, but then I lost interest and the games
remained incomplete.

Master Mind was the one that I worked for the longest
because of the goal of making a program that could play
better than a good human player, I really liked it.
From this I would have tried to learn the best game
strategies to become better or better among friends. :-).
You'll be sure to guess the secret code on the fourth try. I didn't know how far I could go, but I soon realized that
On the fifth try, if in the same situation the first code it wouldn't be easy to pursue my goal. The code developed
Page 38 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 SOFTWARE

in Basic was too slow for the

elaborations I had in mind and
so the calculation part had to
be converted to Assembler.
Another challenge was memory
management, I had to be able
to keep the program in basic
memory, the source in
assembler and the compiled
one, two assemblers: Zeus,
which I used to write the
assembler and Champ, for the
instruction debugging phase
and finally the 1296 Fig. 1 - BasIn running
combinations that occupied
about 13K. this tool I think it would not have been possible for me to
In the end, the “core” of the program, which were then finish the project. I would highly recommend it to those
routines in Assembler, were there. But as with other who want to develop both Basic and Assembler.
programs, it remained incomplete. In this case, however, I recommend version 15.8. I have
encountered problems with later versions.
Since then I have done nothing and the only times that Here is the download link: https://sites.google.com/site/
the Spectrum has happened to my hands, it was to move ulaplus/home/zx-spin-and-basin 15.8
it from cellars to attics.
"Sooner or later I'd like to turn it on and do something It unzips into a folder and does not need to be installed.
about it," was the thought when I saw it. Then finally a You can see the lists in Basic and Assembler, the running
while ago the right time came while I was cleaning up old program, the value of the variables, the memory content
paperwork, I found the old listings of programs including and the execution of the object code (Fig. 1).
those of the assembler routines of the Master Mind. I was
hoping to start again from the program I had left, but One last note on the choice of using English for menus
turning on my Spectrum I immediately realized that he and other parts of the program.
had problems and so I had to give up. The video space of the Spectrum is very limited compared
Then I decided to find a Speccy emulator on PC, to rewrite to what we have been used to for some time and English
the program starting from the base of the found lists. The is well suited to saving video space. In addition, the
rust was very much and it took me a long time to regain program can be used by non-Italian people more easily.
confidence with the Assembler and to understand the
logic of the routines I had written. Retracing the reasoning Questions, bug reports or suggestions are welcome. Write
made 35 years earlier was as exciting as reviewing the to zaff[email protected]
photos of those times.
Then I tried to recreate the environment I had on the
When Roberto proposed to us his version of Master
Spectrum but this time with the emulator FUSE and Zeus Mind for Zx Spectrum, we immediately thought it
Assembler + CHAMP in TZX version; Zeus for programming was a great idea publishing his contribution.
and CHAMP for debugging.
After a while I realized that this way of proceeding was We would have liked to publish the listings as well,
too laborious and slow and so I tried, and fortunately but they were actually too long and publishing just
a part would have not done justice to Roberto’s
found, an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to
great work.
be used on Windows PC called "BASIN".
Program and its listings may be downloaded from
The rest is a recent story of many nights spent writing here:
and above all rewriting, improving, speeding up the code https://sourceforge.net/p/zx-master-mind/
and keeping it all in the 48K. activity/?
page=0&limit=100#5ea36164f0d34732a6bdd66e
Thank you very much to the authors of BasIn. Without
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 39 of 93
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Conversion of a number from binary to digital

by Gianluca Girelli
The conversion of numbers in the various formats (binary,
decimal, hexadecimal, etc.) is one of the problems that
retro-coders often face, not only when trying out the
Machine Language, but also when simply consulting the
memory maps of the systems concerned. Usually, however,
although obviously the computer "understands" only
series of binary numbers (in base 2), the programmer
works in decimal or in hexadecimal (base 16) since the
Fig. 1 - The VIC-1001
decimal system is more easily intelligible for the human
being, while the hexadecimal allows to "compact" the transformations..) I wrote an algorithm to automate it
numerical sequences with which one works. For example, all. Let's see how.
the decimal number "255" corresponds to the hexadecimal
sequence "FF", while "65535" corresponds to "FFFF", First of all, I started from the theory, which I briefly report
with a clear saving of characters needed to represent the for the benefit of the most rusty reader. Numerical systems
number. Furthermore, even if the explanation goes beyond are "positional" systems, that is, systems in which the
the purpose of this paper, it is possible to perform operations symbols (digits) used to write the numbers take different
on a four-digit hexadecimal number by breaking it down values depending on the position they occupy in the notation.
into pairs of two that can represent, if we were talking In the decimal system the first digit from the right expresses
about memory locations, the "low byte" and the "high the number of units, the second the number of tens, the
byte" of the memory address to which we want to operate. third the number of hundreds, the fourth the number of
thousands, and so on. The value of the number is then
There are times when, as I will illustrate below, it is given by the sum of the digits that compose it multiplied
necessary to work with binary numbers even if the relative by the base (for example 10) raised to the number
sequences are much longer to manipulate (the decimal corresponding to the position occupied.
number "255" corresponds to "11111111" in the binary Therefore:
system). Generally BASIC languages have in their instruction 255=2*10^2+5*10^1+5*10^0; FF=15*16^1+15*16^0.
set commands that transform numbers from base 10 to
base 16 (HEX$) or vice versa (DEC); I have never found, For ease of writing the code, deliberately not optimized
however, instructions that allow you to work easily on base 2. to make it as understandable as possible, I assumed that
the input binary strings were always eight digits. The
On these pages more than once, starting from the now algorithm works by reading a string and, after checking
historical "Number 1", we have faced the problem of its length, calculates its value as described above. To
reprogramming the fonts to add new fonts to the basic speed up the execution of the program a little, the validity
system. For example, we have repeatedly cited and check of the characters entered (only "0" or "1") is done
implemented the Amstrad "Future Character Set". Recently as the string is processed. If the string contains only
I came across the "Katakana font" which was included in zeros, its decimal value (0) is directly assigned to the
the VIC-1001 [fig. 1], homologous to the VIC-20 but variable "c%"
marketed only in Japan. I then went in search of the data
for character redefinition and found a description of them 10 rem binary to decimal conversion v2
by means of binary strings [fig. 2]. The problem I faced 26 b$=""
was therefore to translate these strings into the 28 c%=0
corresponding decimal value so that I could then load 30 input"insert 8­digit binary string";b$
the data into the redefinition program already seen 40 if len(b$)>8 then print"string too long":goto 30
previously. To avoid getting crazy in transforming every 50 if len(b$)=0 then b$="00000000":goto 100
single sequence by hand (about 50 characters for 8 60 for i=8 to 1 step ­1
sequences per character equals at least 400 70 :  if (mid$(b$,i,1)<>"0" and mid$(b$,i,1)<>"1") 
Page 40 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
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Fig. 2 - Binary sequences katakana characters

then print"invalid string":goto 30 28 c%=0
82 :  c%=c%+val(mid$(b$,i,1))*2^(8­i) 50 for j=1 to 32
90 next 55 :  read b$
96 print c% 60 :  for i=8 to 1 step ­1
100 end 80 :    a%(i­1)=val(mid$(b$,i,1))
85 :  next i
Once I consolidated the code to convert a binary string 86 :  for i=0 to 7:print a%(i):c%=c%+a%(i)*2^(7­
to a decimal number, I moved on to the second part of i):next:rem power elevation
the problem: use the algorithm to convert the sequences 87 :  print:print c%:print:print
that made up the VIC-1001 katakana into "character 88 :  poke 8191+j,c%
data". Since as we know each character of text is defined 89 :  c%=0
by an 8x8 point array, corresponding to a sequence of 8 90 next j
bytes, I inserted the conversion instructions into a FOR- 400 rem "TI"
NEXT loop that, by reading the input sequences, would 402 data 
store them in an array for future use. To check the actual 00000010,00111100,00001000,01111110,00001000,00001
operation, I began by checking the goodness of the data 000,00010000,00000000
for the characters "TI", "TSU", "TE" and "TO": as they 404 rem "TSU"
are calculated, the values are entered in the graphic 406 data 
memory of the C128 to check the goodness of the result 00000000,01010010,01010010,00000010,00000010,00000
[fig. 3]. 100,00011000,00000000
408 rem "TE"
410 data 
00111100,00000000,01111110,00001000,00001000,00001
000,00010000,00000000
412 rem "TO" 
Fig. 3 - Katakana on graphic screen 414 data 
00010000,00010000,00010000,00011000,00010100,00010
10 graphic 1,1 000,00010000,00000000
20 dim a%(7):rem 8 elements, from 0 to 7
25 for i=0 to 7:a$(i)="0":next At this point, what is missing in the program is simply the
26 b$="" code to save the result to mass storage for future use. I
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 41 of 93
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leave it to the willing reader to write that portion of the 00011000,00000100,00010010,00001000,00100100,00010

code, meaning that I can still be reached via RMW's official 000,00001100,00000000
social media platforms for any help. However, here is the 464 rem "MU"
data of the entire katakana set. Goodbye on the next issue. 468 data 
00001000,00010000,00100100,01000100,01111100,00000
416 rem "NA" 010,00000000,00000000
418 data  470 rem "ME"
00001000,00001000,01111110,00001000,00001000,00010 472 data 
000,00100000,00000000 00000010,00000010,00010100,00001000,00010100,00100
420 rem "NI" 000,00000000,00000000
422 data  474 rem "MO"
00000000,00111100,00000000,00000000,00000000,01111 476 data 
110,00000000,00000000 00111100,00010000,01111110,00010000,00010000,00001
424 rem "NU" 110,00000000,00000000
426 data  478 rem "YA"
00111110,00000010,00010100,00001000,00010100,00100 480 data 
000,00000000,00000000 00010000,01111110,00010010,00010100,00010000,00010
428 rem "NE" 000,00010000,00000000
430 data  482 rem "YU"
00001000,00111110,00000100,00001000,00011100,00101 484 data 
010,00001000,00000000 00000000,00111100,00000100,00000100,00000100,01111
432 rem "NO" 110,00000000,00000000
434 data  486 rem "YO"
00000100,00000100,00000100,00001000,00010000,00100 488 data 
000,00000000,00000000 00000000,01111110,00000010,00111110,00000010,01111
436 rem "HA" 110,00000000,00000000
438 data  490 rem "RA"
00001000,00100100,00100010,00100010,00100010,01000 492 data 
010,00000000,00000000 00111100,00000000,01111110,00000010,00000100,00001
440 rem "HI" 000,00000000,00000000
442 data  494 rem "RI"
01000000,01000000,01111100,01000000,01000000,00111 496 data 
110,00000000,00000000 00100010,00100010,00100010,00100010,00100010,00000
444 rem "HU" 100,00001000,00000000
446 data  498 rem "RU"
00111110,00000010,00000010,00000100,00001000,00010 500 data 
000,00000000,00000000 00101000,00101000,00101000,00101010,00101010,01001
448 rem "HE" 100,00000000,00000000
450 data  502 rem "RE"
00000000,00010000,00101000,01000100,00000010,00000 504 data 
010,00000000,00000000 00100000,00100000,00100000,00100010,00100100,00111
452 rem "HO" 000,00000000,00000000
454 data  506 rem "WA"
00001000,01111110,00001000,00101010,00101010,01001 508 data 
010,00001000,00000000 01111110,01000010,01000010,00000100,00001000,00010
456 rem "MA" 000,00000000,00000000
458 data  510 rem "WO"
01111110,00000010,00100100,00011000,00001000,00000 512 data 
100,00000000,00000000 01111110,00000010,01111110,00000010,00000100,00001
460 rem "MI" 000,00000000,00000000
462 data  514 rem "A"

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516 data  566 rem "MONTH"
01111110,00000010,00010100,00011000,00010000,00010 568 data 
000,00100000,00000000 00111110,00100010,00111110,00100010,00111110,00100
518 rem "I" 010,00100010,00000000
520 data  570 rem "DAY, DAYTIME"
00000010,00001100,00011000,00101000,01001000,00001 572 data 
000,00001000,00000000 00111110,00100010,00100010,00111110,00100010,00100
522 rem "U" 010,00111110,00000000
524 data  574 rem "TA"
00010000,01111110,01000010,00000010,00000100,00001 576 data 
000,00000000,00000000 00011110,00100010,01010010,00001100,00001000,00010
526 rem "E" 000,00100000,00000000
528 data  578 rem "RO"
00000000,00111110,00001000,00001000,00001000,00111 580 data 
110,00000000,00000000 00000000,01111110,01000010,01000010,01000010,01111
530 rem "O" 110,00000000,00000000
532 data  582 rem "N"
00001000,01111110,00001000,00011000,00101000,01001 584 data 
000,00001000,00000000 01100000,00000000,00000010,00000010,00000100,01111
534 rem "KA" 000,00000000,00000000
536 data  586 rem "KO"
00010000,01111110,00010010,00010010,00100010,01000 588 data 
110,00000000,00000000 00000000,01111110,00000010,00000010,00000010,01111
538 rem "KI" 110,00000000,00000000
540 data  590 rem "SA"
00001000,00111110,00001000,00111110,00001000,00001 592 data 
000,00001000,00000000 00100100,01111110,00100100,00100100,00000100,00001
542 rem "KU" 000,00000000,00000000
544 data  594 rem "SI"
00011110,00100010,01000010,00000100,00001000,00010 596 data 
000,00100000,00000000 01100000,00000000,01100010,00000010,00000100,01111
546 rem "KE" 000,00000000,00000000
548 data  598 rem "SE"
00100000,00111110,01001000,00001000,00001000,00010 600 data 
000,00100000,00000000 00100000,01111110,00100010,00100100,00100000,00011
550 rem "VOICED SOUND MARK apex" 110,00000000,00000000
552 data  602 rem "SO"
01010000,01010000,01010000,00000000,00000000,00000 604 data 
000,00000000,00000000 01000010,00100010,00000010,00000100,00001000,00010
554 rem "SU" 000,00000000,00000000
556 data 
01111110,00000100,00001000,00011000,00100100,01000 Useful links
010,00000000,00000000
558 rem "SEMI­VOICED SOUND MARK point" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positional_notation
560 data 
https://www.masswerk.at/misc/vic-1001-
01110000,01010000,01110000,00000000,00000000,00000 kana.html
000,00000000,00000000
562 rem "YEAR, PERSON'S AGE"
564 data 
01000000,01111110,00001000,00111110,00101000,01111
110,00001000,00000000

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 43 of 93

 SOFTWARE

BASIC fractals in 8-bit sauce

by David La Monaca
Almost every successful 8- and 16-bit home computer 10 SCREEN 5:COLOR ,0,0;CLS
offered its users BASIC as the default programming 20 FOR I=­120 TO 120
language and it was often integrated into the operating 30 FOR J=­100 TO 100
system. The several “dialects” of BASIC were often written 40 ZRE=I/40:ZIM=J/40:K=0
and implemented by Microsoft for the many brands that 50 TMP=ZRE*ZRE­ZIM*ZIM
were entering the world market, but with some exceptions 60 ZIM=2*ZRE*ZIM+1
(e.g. Atari Basic, Sinclair’s ZX Basic, Amstrad’s Locomotive 70 ZRE=TMP:K=K+1
Basic, Acorn BBC Basic to name a few). Most of these 80 IF ABS(ZRE)<2 AND K<15 THEN 50
implementations featured a subset of special commands 90 PSET(127+I,105­J),K
designed to create and manage high-resolution graphics 100 NEXT
in order to exploit the computer’s custom hardware features. 110 NEXT
To start exploring the potential of the graphic functions 120 GOTO 120
available in many 8-bit machines, we propose in these
pages some short, simple listings that create classic
fractal images. We invite you to test them out on your 2. BBC BASIC - KOCH SNOWFLAKE
real home computers or emulators, with a small warning:
despite the relative efficiency of the graphic statements The Koch snowflake
included in the individual computers’ BASIC, the computing BBC Model B Microcomputer (6502, 1981)
and plotting times of the fractal figures are far from being
fast and nearly all of the programs, once given the RUN
command, require hours of processing to complete the
drawings.

So, are you all ready? Hands on your keyboards and enjoy
typing! It could be a great way for you to get back to the
old days when you used to spend whole afternoons typing
games and programs from your favourite books and
magazines.

1. MSX2 BASIC - JULIA 10 MODE 0

20 X=459:Y=851:A=0
Julia set for f(z) = z² + i 30 MOVE X,Y
MSX-2 (Z80, 1985) 40 FOR I%=1 TO 3
50 A=A+2*PI/3
60 PROCKOCH(680)
70 NEXT
80 END
90 DEF PROCKOCH(L)
100 IF L<=24 THEN PROCFD(L) ELSE PROCKOCH(L/
3):A=A­PI/3:PROCKOCH(L/3):A=A+2*PI/
3:PROCKOCH(L/3):A=A­PI/3:PROCKOCH(L/3)
110 ENDPROC
120 DEF PROCFD(L)
130 X=X+L*SIN(A):Y=Y+L*COS(A)
140 DRAW X,Y
150 ENDPROC
Page 44 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 SOFTWARE

3. ZX BASIC - JULIA 70 IM=2*RE*IM+Y

80 RE=TMP
Julia set for f(z) = z² + i 90 K=K+1
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Z80, 1982) 100 IF RE*RE+IM*IM<4 AND K<200 THEN 60
110 IF K=200 THEN C=15:GOTO 140
120 IF K>=13 THEN C=13:GOTO 140
130 C=K
140 PSET(I,J),C
150 NEXT J
160 NEXT I
170 GOTO 170

5. MSX2 BASIC - BARNSLEY'S FERN

10 PAPER 0: BORDER 0: INK 5: CLS The Barnsley's fern

20 FOR i=­75 TO 75 MSX-2 (Z80, 1985)
30 FOR j=­75 TO 75
40 PLOT 127+i,85+j
50 LET zre=i/56: LET zim=j/56
60 LET k=0
70 LET temp=zre*zre­zim*zim
80 LET zim=2*zre*zim+1
90 LET zre=temp: LET k=k+1
100 IF ABS zre<2 AND k<9 THEN GO TO 70
110 IF k<9 THEN PLOT INVERSE 1; 127+i,85+j
120 NEXT j
130 NEXT i
10 SCREEN 5:COLOR ,0,0:CLS
20 X=0:Y=0
4. MSX2 BASIC - MANDELBROT 30 FOR I=­30000 TO 30000
40 R=RND(1)
The classic set of Mandelbrot or "the spaceship" 50 IF R<.01 THEN X=0:Y=.16*Y:C=11:GOTO 90
MSX-2 (Z80, 1985) 60 IF R<.86 THEN T=.85*X+.04*Y:Y=­.04*X+.
85*Y+1.6:X=T:C=12:GOTO 90
70 IF R<.93 THEN T=.2*X­.26*Y:Y=.23*X+.
22*Y+1.6:X=T:C=2:GOTO 90
80  T=­.15*X+.28*Y:Y=.26*X+.24*Y+.44:X=T:C=3
90 PSET(25*Y,105­25*X),C
100 NEXT I
110 GOTO 110

That's all for now, even if we have more listings ready to

show you. Why? Because we want to receive your
10 SCREEN 5:COLOR ,0,0:CLS contributions and comments.
20 FOR I=58 TO 197
30 FOR J=30 TO 169 What are you waiting for? Send us your listings to the
40 X=(I­127)/32:Y=(J­99)/32 mailbox: [email protected]
50 RE=0:IM=0:K=0 and we will publish them in the next issues.
60 TMP=RE*RE­IM*IM+X
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 45 of 93
 SOFTWARE

Amiga, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS... shake hands!

by Francesco Fiorentini
What do have in common a hand, the Amiga, the Commodore after with a link where it was possible to find the vector
64 and the MS-DOS? If you can't answer this question, coordinates and the algorithm to use them, contributed
read this article in which I will try to demonstrate how, even more to the success of this news.
with a little imagination and the help of the Net, it is
possible to create a virtual bridge between all these items. At the link published by Andrea (which you can find at
the bottom of the article), vector data are provided, they
This article is freely inspired by a series of posts that have are only 412 bytes, useful to draw the image (shown here
followed each other recently in some Facebook groups for the convenience of readers):
and wants to be a demonstration of how, by interacting
and collaborating together, we can have a lot of fun and FF 01 23 0B 3A 0B 3A 21 71 21 71 0B 7D 0B 88 16 88 5E 7F
at the same time learn something new. 5E 7F 38 40 383E 36 35 36 34 38 2D 38 2D 41 23 48 23 0B
FE 02 25 45 FF 01 21 48 21 0A 7E 0A 8A 16 8A 5F 56 5F 56
But let's start from the beginning... 64 52 6C 4E 71 4A 74 44 7D 3C 81 3C 8C 0A 8C 0A 6D 09 6D
Which isn't really the beginning, but we'll find out later. 09 51 0D 4B 14 45 15 41 19 3A 1E 37 21 36 21 36 1E 38 1A
3A 16 41 15 45 0E 4B 0A 51 0A 6C 0B 6D 0B 8B 28 8B 28 76
The Hand of the Amiga 30 76 34 72 34 5F 32 5C 32 52 41 45 41 39 3E 37 3B 37 3E
Towards the end of September, a post by Carlo Santagostino 3A 3E 41 3D 42 36 42 33 3F 2A 46 1E 4C 12 55 12 54 1E 4B
caught my attention and that of many other users. Carlo 1A 4A 17 47 1A 49 1E 4A 21 48 FF 01 32 3D 34 36 3C 37 3D
in fact published a really interesting curiosity, such as 3A 3D 41 36 41 32 3D FF 01 33 5C 33 52 42 45 42 39 7D 39
those of the series "not everyone knows that". The famous 7D 5E 34 5E 33 5A FF 01 3C 0B 6F 0B 6F 20 3C 20 3C 0B FF
startup screen that all those who used a Commodore 01 60 0E 6B 0E 6B 1C 60 1C 60 0E FE 03 3E 1F FF 01 62 0F
Amiga have imprinted in their long-term memory, the 69 0F 69 1B 62 1B 62 0F FE 02 63 1A FF 01 2F 39 32 39 32
hand that holds the floppy, was not a bitmap image, but 3B 2F 3F 2F 39 FF 01 29 8B 29 77 30 77 35 72 35 69 39 6B
was drawn in vectorial format to save space in the Kickstart 41 6B 41 6D 45 72 49 72 49 74 43 7D 3B 80 3B 8B 29 8B FF
ROM. Storing this image as points and lines to draw saved 01 35 5F 35 64 3A 61 35 5F FF 01 39 62 35 64 35 5F 4A 5F
3 Kb compared to bitmap storage. To see how this is done 40 69 3F 69 41 67 3C 62 39 62 FF 01 4E 5F 55 5F 55 64 51
using vector graphics, someone implemented the hand 6C 4E 70 49 71 46 71 43 6D 43 6A 4E 5F FF 01 44 6A 44 6D
drawing routine in AMOS BASIC retrieving data from ROM. 46 70 48 70 4C 6F 4D 6C 49 69 44 6A FF 01 36 68 3E 6A 40
67 3C 63 39 63 36 65 36 68 FF 01 7E 0B 89 16 89 5E FE 01
This post immediately generated a discreet hype around 22 0B FE 01 3B 0B FE 01 61 0F FE 01 6A 1B FE 01 70 0F FE
the news. The fact that Andrea Sole replied immediately 01 7E 5E FE 01 4B 60 FE 01 2E 39 FF FF

and the algorithm for using them:

1 - Read two bytes at a time.

2 - If both bytes are FF, terminate the program.
3 - If the first byte is FF and the second byte is not, start
drawing a polyline with the color index indicated in the
second byte. Consider the next two bytes as x,y coordinates
belonging to the polyline, except if the first byte is FF (see
rules 2 and 3) or FE (see rule 4), which is where the line
drawing stops.-
4 - If the first byte is FE, an area is filled using the color
index given in the second byte, starting from the point
whose coordinates are indicated in the next two bytes.

Page 46 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 SOFTWARE

The palette to be used is as follows:

0: #fff
1: #000
2: #77c
3: #bbb
The offsets used to draw the centered image are X=70, Y=40.

Reproducing the drawing

At this point I think that many came up with the idea of
trying to draw the famous hand of the Amiga starting
from the information stored in ROM, but the fastest one
to realize the work was Francesco Sblendorio.
In fact, Francesco published a post on the Commodore the followings: BREAK, CHDIR or CD, CLS, COPY WITH,
Amiga international group, where he demonstrated how COPY, DATE, DEL or ERASE, DIR, echo, FORMAT, MKDIR
he had managed to replicate the design on a Commodore or MD, PATH, PAUSE, PRINT, PROMPT, REM, RENAME or
16 using its Basic 3.5, with accompanying code: REN, RMDIR or RD, SIZE, sys, TIME, TYPE, true, VERIFY, VOL.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Amiga/posts/
10158567665659157/ In addition to these, the following external commands
have also been implemented: CHKDSK and DISKCOPY.
What happened in the next few hours was really fun. A
kind of competition broke out to ‘bring’ the code to any Let's see some of them together.
platform, using retro-languages that were increasingly
esoteric... CLS - cleans the screen
DIR - this command does not need presentations, it shows
Obviously I did not want to be outdone and, aware of the list of files and directories in the current directory.
having rediscovered a BASIC extension of the Commodore For each file, the size, date and time (current...) are also
64 a few days before, called GW-Basic Simulator, I thought shown.
it would be interesting to make such a porting to create
a kind of temporal bridge between the Commodore 64,
the Amiga and the MS-DOS. That's the real starting point,
but I still didn't know...

MS-DOS Emulator and GW-Basic Simulator

In 1987 the Systems Editorial of Milan put on the market
two interesting packages for the owners of Commodore
64. These two software, made by G. Mariani and F. Sorgato,
were nothing more than an emulator and simulator that
allowed the home user of the 8-bit house Commodore,
to become familiar, at little expense, with the controls of
the new operating system of professional computing. DATE - allows you to set the current date using the format:
Obviously both softwares suffered from the inherent mm:dd:yyyy
limitations of the Commodore 64 and their functionality TIME - allows you to set the current time using the format:
was reduced compared to the software they wanted to hh:mm:ss
emulate. Translated: they do little, but the little they do, SIZE - returns the size in bytes of a program. Frankly I
they do it well. think it is useless since the same information is available
with the command DIR...
The MS-DOS Emulator PROMPT - allows you to change the standard DOS prompt.
The MS-DOS emulator is nothing more than an Your options are as follows: [free text] [$v] [$n] [$g] [$l]
implementation of COMMAND.COM with some additional [$b] [$h] [$s] [$d]
commands from the Microsoft OS. [$v] - dos version
The commands included in the COMMAND.COM file are [$n] - current drive name

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 47 of 93

 SOFTWARE

[$g] - greater symbol: > for the limitation of 1 character per directory and the
[$l] - smaller symbol: < maximum of 5 levels... :-)
[$b] - colon: :
[$h] - backspace
[$s] - space
[$d] - current date
Example: prompt RMW$b$n$g will produce as prompt:
RMW:A>

SYS - transfers COMMAND.COM to the root of another

floppy disk
TYPE - prints the contents of a file on screen

Having to express a judgment on this MS-DOS Emulator,

I can only say that you can see the care with which it was
made, even if a professional use was obviously out of the
question: its usefulness was limited to the educational
purpose. A springboard to reach the real MS-DOS world,
trying to arrive prepared at the office, with little expense.

The GW-Basic Simulator

Different discourse instead for the GW-Basic Simulator.
The limitations of the Basic of the Commodore 64 have
The directories accustomed us over time to the flourishing of different
Directories deserve a separate chapter. Although the extensions of this language and this GW-Basic Simulator,
Commodore 64 OS does not support the directory concept, if framed in this perspective, could definitely say its word.
it has been implemented in the MS-DOS Emulator. The Even years later.
software allows you to create and navigate in a deep
directory tree up to 5 levels. Again, there are limitations: Being an extension of the Basic V2, it goes without saying
the directory name cannot be longer than one character. that all the commands of the C64 Basic standard are fully
MD - allows the creation of a new directory. functional. These commands are enriched by a large list
Example: MD C of new instructions, if I have not counted badly there are
CD - allows you to change the current directory 82 new commands... Obviously all this has a price, which
RD - deletes a directory. Example: RD C is paid by the ram available to the user. Once the GW-
Basic Simulator is loaded, only 23295 bytes will be available
to the programmer.

It is interesting to see how the directories were actually

implemented by peering inside the original Commodore
64 disk. At this point it is easy to understand the reason I'm not going to list or describe all the commands, for
Page 48 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11
 SOFTWARE

that you can refer to the manual, but some of them

certainly deserve to be mentioned. - Statements
IF THEN ELSE - introduces the ELSE clause into the IF
- Graphic commands THEN Statement, absent in Basic V2.
The Basic V2 is really poor in terms of graphic commands, WHILE...WEND - allows you to use up to 16 nested while...
while the GW-Basic makes life much easier for the wends
programmer:
SCREEN n - switch from text mode (n=0) to graphic mode - File management, strings and more...
320x200 (n<>0) The management of files and strings has also been greatly
CIRCLE (x,y), radius [,color [,start, end [,appearance]]] improved, implementing almost all the commands available
- draw a circle starting from x,y with radius to the GW-Basic of the MS-DOS while also maintaining
CLS - cleans the screen (in text and graphics mode) its parameters.
Background COLOR [,character [,border]] - change colors For the moment I stop here, the list of commands is too
in canonical range (0-15) long to be able to insert it in its entirety, however you can
retrieve it from the manual that you can find on the
10 screen1:color7.0:cls Ready64 website at the link provided at the bottom of the
20 circle(160,100),50 article.
21 circle(160,100),40 What about this product? It is certainly a valid extension
22 circle(160,100), 30 of the Basic V2 that will be useful to many and a software
23 circle(160,100),20 that is less affected by the age and limitations that afflict
24 circle(160,100), 10 the MS-DOS emulator.
25 circle(160,100),2
30 i$=inkey$:if i$="" then 30 Ehi.. Wait a minute... What about the Amiga's hand?
I almost forgot. Here is the code to draw the hand of the
Output of the above program: Amiga on a Commodore 64 using the GW-Basic Simulator.
For convenience, since the GW-Basic Simulator lacks
instructions to convert a number from hexadecimal to
decimal, coordinates have already been translated into
decimal values.

10 screen1:color7,0:cls:dr=0
20 reada,b
30 ifa=255andb=255then80
40 ifa=255andb<>255thendr=0:reada,b:goto60
50 ifa=254thendr=0:readc,d:pset(c,d):goto20
60 ifdr=0thendr=1:pset(a,b):goto70
65 ifdr<>0thenline-(a,b)
DRAW string - draw a figure 70 goto20
LINE [(x1,y1)]-(x2,y2)[,color[,B[F]]] - draw a line or 80 locate10,10:print"amiga":locate14,14:print"gwbasic on c64"
rectangle 90 i$=inkey$:if i$="" then 90
PAINT (x,y) - fills a figure with the current color. The 100 data 255,1,35,11,58,11,58,33,113,33,113
coordinates must be inside the figure that you want to fill. 101 data 11,125,11,136,22,136,94,127,94,127,56
PSET (x,y) - draws a point at the specified coordinates 110 data 64,56,62,54,53,54,52,56,45,56,45,65,35
111 data 72,35,11,254,2,37,69,255,1,33,72,33,10
- Sound controls 120 data 126,10,138,22,138,95,86,95,86,100,82,108
SOUND frequency, duration - plays a note of the indicated 121 data 78,113,74,116,68,125,60,129,60,140,10
frequency for the specified duration 130 data 140,10,109,9,109,9,81,13,75,20,69,21,65
PLAY string - allows you to play the melody specified in 131 data 25,58,30,55,33,54,33,54,30,56,26,58,22
<string> using the musical notes according to the Anglo- 140 data 65,21,69,14,75,10,81,10,108,11,109,11
Saxon notation and a series of commands to raise/lower 141 data 139,40,139,40,118,48,118,52,114,52,95,50
the octaves, insert pauses, diesis... 150 data 92,50,82,65,69,65,57,62,55,59,55,62,58
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 49 of 93
 SOFTWARE

151 data 62,65,61,66,54,66,51,63,42,70,30,76,18 200 rem parallels

160 data 85,18,84,30,75,26,74,23,71,26,73,30,74 210 for x=-100 to 100 step s :fl=0:for y=-100 to 100 step s
161 data 33,72,255,1,50,61,52,54,60,55,61,58,61 220 on q gosub 340,350,370,380,390,400,410,420,430
170 data 65,54,65,50,61,255,1,51,92,51,82,66,69 230 gosub 270:if fl=0 then fl=1:pset (sx+ox,sy+oy)
171 data 66,57,125,57,125,94,52,94,51,90,255,1 240 line -(sx+ox,sy+oy):next y:next x:next q
180 data 60,11,111,11,111,32,60,32,60,11,255,1 250 gosub 440:end
181 data 96,14,107,14,107,28,96,28,96,14,254,3,62 260 rem-routine
190 data 31,255,1,98,15,105,15,105,27,98,27,98 270 rem da tridim. a bidim.
191 data 15,254,2,99,26,255,1,47,57,50,57,50,59,47 280 sx=x1*c1-y1*c2:sy=x1*s1+y1*s2+z1:return
200 data 63,47,57,255,1,41,139,41,119,48,119,53 290 rem pulizia schermo e tracciamento riferimenti
201 data 114,53,105,57,107,65,107,65,109,69,114,73 310 locate 2,5:print "done. press any key!":i$=inkey$:if i$=""
210 data 114,73,116,67,125,59,128,59,139,41,139 then 310
211 data 255,1,53,95,53,100,58,97,53,95,255,1,57 320 cls
220 data 98,53,100,53,95,74,95,64,105,63,105,65 322 locate 2,2:print q:return
221 data 103,60,98,57,98,255,1,78,95,85,95,85,100 330 rem funzioni
230 data 81,108,78,112,73,113,70,113,67,109,67 340 x1=x/5:y1=y/5:z1=(1-cos(x1))*(1-cos(y1))-3:return
231 data 106,78,95,255,1,68,106,68,109,70,112,72 350 x1=x/6:y1=y/6:z1=.4*cos(x1*x1+y1*y1):return
240 data 112,76,111,77,108,73,105,68,106,255,1 360 rem: x1=x/4:y1=y/4:z1=exp(.02*(x1*x1+y1*y1))-3:return
241 data 54,104,62,106,64,103,60,99,57,99,54,101 370 x1=x/4:y1=y/4:z1=.02*((x1*y1*y1)-(y1*x1*x1)):return
250 data 54,104,255,1,126,11,137,22,137,94,254,1 380 x1=x/4:y1=y/4:z1=.02*((x1*y1*y1)+(y1*x1*x1)):return
251 data 34,11,254,1,59,11,254,1,97,15,254,1,106 390 x1=x/4:y1=y/4:z1=3*sin(x1/2)*sin(y1/3):return
260 data 27,254,1,112,15,254,1,126,94,254,1,75 400 x1=x/4:y1=y/4:k=(1-x1*x1/5-y1*y1/7):z1=sqr(2*k*(sgn(k)
261 data 96,254,1,46,57,255,255 +1)):return
410 x1=x/6:y1=y/6:z1=.02*sqr(x*x*y*y/2)-3:return
420 x1=x/5:y1=y/5:z1=(1-sin(1.8*x1))*(1-cos(1.2*y1))-
2:return
430 x1=x/5:y1=y/5:k=x1*x1+y1*y1:z1=.
3*(1+cos(k))*(sgn(9.87-k)+1.):return
440 rem switch to mono
460 screen 0:return

Bonus listing - a gift!

Do you remember the article on graphs made in Visual
Basic in RMW #9? Here are some of them realized with
the GW-Basic simulator.

100 rem campionario of superfici nello spazio

110 screen 1:color 7,0:cls:s=20:ox=160:oy=100
120 th=.3:s1=sin(th):c1=cos(th):ph=.4:s2=sin(ph):c2=cos(ph) Useful links:
130 rem loop principale
MS-DOS Emulator and GW-Basic Simulator
140 for q=1 to 9:gosub 290 download and manual:
150 rem meridiant https://ready64.org/download/
160 for y=-100 to 100 step s:fl=0:for x=-100 to 100 step s scheda_download.php?id_download=222
170 rem on q gosub 340,350,360,370,380,390,400,410,420,430
The link provided by Andrea Sole:
171 on q gosub 340,350,370,380,390,400,410,420,430 https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/
180 gosub 270:if fl=0 then fl=1:pset (sx+ox,sy+oy) questions/13897/why-was-the-kickstart-1-x-
190 line -(sx+ox,sy+oy):next x:next y insert-floppy-graphic-so-bad

Page 50 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 RETROHISTORY

The importance of preserving software

by Alessandro Gatti
A few days ago, on October 14th, I came across this is essential.
beautiful post written by Alessandro Gatti in the Commodore Some estimates indicate that the duration of floppy disks
64/128 Italia group. The message launched by Alessandro is between 10 and 30 years although in reality no one
was too good to be quickly swallowed up by the frenetic knows exactly how long floppy disks can last.
activity of Facebook. So, with the permission of the author, There is no deadline: among the many variables there
I put forward the idea of publishing it in our magazine to are the quality of the support, use, the method of
increase its visibility and at the same time raise awareness conservation, environmental factors, sudden changes in
among more and more people. temperature and humidity, molds and finally the deterioration
Francesco Fiorentini of the support itself.
All these factors can contribute to irreparably delivering
Hello, everyone! the data contained in the disks to a fatal destination. They
My name is Alessandro and it is the first time that I write were certainly not designed to last that long, and I believe
in this group despite following it carefully and appreciating that at the time no one had considered the idea that they
its contents. would still be used after more than 30 years.
Together with Roberto Lanciotti I am the man in the In the practice of transferring floppy disks to files, still
shadows behind the phantasmatic Dump Club 64: apart many floppies can be read but the safety margin is still
from jokes, we are two friends (one the opposite of the widely exceeded and it is clear that there is no longer
other), who share a passion for retrocomputing and who much time to postpone their preservation: everyone
enjoy (each in their own way) tinkering with ribbons, should transfer the data of their floppies as soon as possible.
floppy discs and uncalibrated or smeared cartridges. The decay of the media are not the only threats that afflict
Days ago, Roberto wanted to bring to your attention the this great mass of data: many diskettes are thrown or
tragic war bulletin of my battle of dumping with a mountain destroyed without recognizing to all intents and purposes
of Amiga diskettes. a cultural, artistic or ingenious value among human works.
It wasn't my first rodeo but unfortunately this time the If you think about it every book, publication, musical disc,
final result wasn't very encouraging: only half of the disks film and artistic work is, as it should be, archived by
were saved! national libraries all over the world while this same thing
In reality they would have been even less if I had not does not happen for the software for which no one seems
struggled with my nails and teeth in trying to save them to care to preserve it from disappearance and to pass it
(all in fact were dumped at least 4-5 times, some of them on to future generations.
even 10 times, before obtaining a copy without errors). Everything is entrusted to the work of a few enthusiasts
Many have undergone a file transplant (sometimes errors who around the world do their best to preserve and protect.
fortunately fell on libraries and directories common to In addition to cultural indifference, speculation also often
other disks such as C, L, Libs, etc. ) while others had the becomes an obstacle to this work of safeguarding.
corrupted bootblock that I replaced. Floppy disks tend to become uncommon and there is
Still others were cleaned with isopropyl alcohol until a always someone who, trying to make an exaggerated
valid copy was obtained! In short, it was a delusion between profit, makes the preservation work extremely expensive
cleaning the discs, the drive head or tinkering with Opus and impractical.
directory in emulation with the WinUAE! Then we have the problem of collectors who, lacking
In one case I also found a disk without bootblock, libraries foresight, compulsively accumulate enormous amounts
and startup-sequence: I took the opportunity to do a little of material without transferring it or sharing it.
licking by putting the writing of our group in ascii art in It goes without saying that this does not only concern
honor of the old days! the sphere of generosity towards others, of which
A chance to give life to a record that was never born! unfortunately some people seem to be deprived, but
Roberto Lanciotti told me that his post on the subject above all the idea of file sharing and extended security
opened a discussion about it and asked me to tell my against possible data loss or hardware malfunctions.
point of view! Without forgetting that a diskette not transferred and
I have always believed that preserving through dumping stacked as a trophy on a shelf in a few years will become
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 51 of 93
 RETROHISTORY

unreadable and unusable losing all its data and its economic www.mediafire.com/.../9516rjbkjr.../life.prg/file...
value and thus not being able to be restored for the
absence of a backup copy transferred. Let us also not forget that dumpare together with sharing
A distinctive discourse must be made with regard to the allows us to compare the memories between those who
preservation of the original and pirated software: the lived those times and thus be able to reconstruct and
original software needs greater care and attention as it document a past that otherwise would be lost by those
is much less widespread, difficult to find and above all who have not lived it.
difficult to transfer than the pirated one. In short, it is right to preserve every single disk that is
It contains protections, digital signatures, graphics and original or pirated because it is a piece of history that, in
original hi-score, usually containing the names of the addition to individual data, also preserves a historical
programmers, which very often in pirate copies are totally and cultural context that deserves to be handed down to
altered if not eliminated altogether. all those who come.
On the other hand, however, pirated copies also have their Very often I hear someone say that "it's all online!
dignity as they collect the ingenuity of the other side of everything has been dumped!" actually it would be fairer
the coin: hacking. to say "they dumped everything!"
Yeah, because somebody took the trouble to do it, and
We can find the elegance of unlocking a protection with alas, there's so much that hasn't been dumped yet.
cracking, or the introduction of a pirate distributor, the Just follow GTW64 (https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/
trainer to make the game easier, often decisive in those gtw64/) and discover new discoveries with amazement
games that, due to some bugs, can not be played entirely, every month!
without counting the alternative loading screens, the Do you know the story of Duffy Duck? It took 18 years to
demos, the improvements to the game if not even the preserve this game! It doesn't matter if you think it's ugly
expansions of the levels. or dull: it deserved to be preserved and handed down!
There are many versions, revisions, compilations and Read the story: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/
various collections, even amateur ones, of programs or daffy-duck/
games that deserve to be preserved and documented.
Even the most anonymous or the most insignificant At this point you could answer "But now the most important
diskette/tape can conceal something that had been lost things have been preserved!".
track of or memory of: lately I have told of a game called I don't agree! Even minor games or programs have equal
"LIFE" and written by Cees Kramer (the author of Tic Tac dignity and it is precisely because of this distorted idea
Toe and Snoopy) of the RadarSoft of 1984 of which he that many games languish stacked in the accumulator
had completely forgotten the existence and which was collections where they will remain stored until maybe
dumped by an old cassette labeled "cassette 1" https:// some empty cellars will put them back around or at worst

Fig. 1 - The homepage of www.dumpclub64.it. Visit it if you haven't already.

Page 52 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11

 RETROHISTORY

they will be able to landfill them (without thinking that in them (https://sourceforge.net/p/vice-emu/feature-
reality perhaps the data in the meantime will have already requests/366/ )
deteriorated!)
I would have many other examples to do and I also feel
I can give you an example of this from my personal guilty not to mention the work of many other Italian and
experience: no one has yet remembered the PHM expansion foreign friends who dump, test, rename, scan and document
disk Pegasus for C64: Advanced Battle Disk. in many ways (reviews, videos, podcasts, interviews)
I had an auction on Ebay for this record and I wanted to everything that encloses the universe of retrocomputing
buy it to dump it! the Auction skyrocketed and in the end but I fear that I could be celebratory and then at the end
there was no way to buy it! of the day I prefer to talk with facts rather than words!
Since that time it has been years but the buyer has never
dumped it or if he has he has not shared it!! I apologize for being so long!!
GTW was not even aware of it and kindly after my report I will be forgiven soon by releasing the aforementioned
an entry was inserted for this game not dumped! To date Dumps Amiga along with other dumps made by Francesco
it is not yet found!! Galluccio, an exquisite person who I would like to thank
Want to talk about Italian software??? Together with publicly for the invaluable help he gives us and the great
Roberto in the last year we have preserved many applications generosity: not least that of having shared the dumps of
that were not found! his Amiga diskettes: among which there are many goodies
Even the heroic friends of Ready64 had failed to bring to never seen around.... yet another demonstration that
light many applications of the Lions that are now available dump is always the right thing!!!
to everyone on the Dump Club 64 website.
Greetings to all!!
Alberto Teodoro (who is not only an exquisite person but Alessandro
also one of the most authentic and generous enthusiasts
I have ever met) was the first to dump the Basotter (a
program to expand the controls of the BASIC C64 to allow
the management of the plotter 1520 written by Giorgio
Chiozzi).

Roberto for his part is giving blood to dump all the ribbons
of the ARMED. You should see it as he regulates the azimuth
of the Datassette or as he erases the traces of the purchase
of the CUTE32 from his wife (who if he knew I think at
least would have reserved a cup of polonium tea for him
in the morning).

Want to talk about Giuseppe of Lillo and his 8bit newsstand?

Have you ever seen his preservation work? It's awesome!
The entire editorial staff of RetroMagazine World supports
The Ready64 Team I have already mentioned but have and appreciates the work of the persons at DumpClub64.
you ever seen their site?? Do you have any idea how much
work and what immense contribution they are making to We invite our readers to collaborate with them in case
documenting the Italian production of software for C64? they have material to preserve and/or to share with all
retrocomputing enthusiasts.
What about the Chalk Board PowerPad? I am sure that
many will not even know about its existence! Well, I...
Roberto bought the cartridges perfumed and I dumped them!
I opened a request on the Deputy's "Feature Request" by
sending the dumps (anyone can download them) and if
in the future the DEPUTY will support this hardware it will
be thanks to the fact that someone dumped and shared
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 53 of 93
 GAME TESTING

GALAGA on C64, by Arlasoft

by Mic the Biker Novarina

It seems impossible but there are not a few historical piece of history. Galaga, we said earlier, is a fixed-screen
video games that never saw the light of day on Commodore shooter, a very common game mode in the early eighties,
64, or at best they were made in such a basic way that where managing scrolling could be a big problem. We
they were put in a corner almost immediately. Arcade have the task of piloting a starfighter that moves in the
games that have linked their name to history, writing the lower part of the screen, limited in its movement to the
foundations in the early eighties, and continuing in the right and left directions only. The goal of each level is to
years immediately following. Games that, if you think defeat all the aliens of Galaga, who will arrive in formation
about it, are fully accessible to the immortal 64K machine, from the top and sides of the screen. Here the dynamics
especially if you think in modern terms, but they probably of the game are similar to Galaxian: after deploying, the
weren't so trivial at the dawn of Commodore's eight-bit aliens will dive towards the player, also shooting at us.
home. Galaga is part of these games: approximately in Contact with bullets or aliens will result in the loss of a life.
1982 it was converted for a “bread bin” still to be discovered.
The version in question has practically nothing to share At the top of the lineup are four great aliens called Boss
with the original game room: it was monochrome and the Galaga: to destroy them you need two shots. These are
ships were composed of letters and cursors. The years the stinkers who, using the attractive beam, capture the
passed, forty to be precise, and with today's knowledge player's ship. After doing so, they return, with the prisoner,
and means we have in our hands an almost Perfect Pixel. to the top of the formation, causing us to lose a life. But,
in the case of other available lives, we can redeem ourselves
by shooting down the Boss Galaga who keeps the captured
ship: doing so while he launches towards us will make
the captured ship join the one in use. So we have a powerful
double fighter, with double firepower. Be careful, because
if we destroy a Boss Galaga with the prisoner while he is
in formation, the fighter will side with the player and act
like an alien. Some enemies can transform into new types
of aliens, with different attack patterns, one of which
takes the form of Galaxian's flagship. Phases are indicated
The story by symbols located at the bottom right of the screen,
Let's brush up on the textbooks: Galaga is an arcade while enemies become more aggressive as the game
game, like a fixed-screen shooter. It saw the light in 1981 progresses. The third level and then every four of us will
thanks to Namco, while in North America it was released
by Midway Manufacturing. The game was born as a sequel
to Galaxian, released in 1979, Namco's first big hit in the
arcades. As in any respectable shoot 'em up, we have the
arduous task of destroying the villains on duty, in this
case the aliens Galaga. Obviously the task will not be the
simplest since we will have to slalom between enemies
and bullets. Some of them can capture our ship through
an attractive beam, but we will see later how to turn this
situation in our favor. Probably, this brief summary, for
almost all the readers, is a triviality but let's not forget
the younger ones, who perhaps have just discovered this

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 GAME TESTING

have a bonus level: here the aliens fly in a pre-established player mode. Two players side by side to defeat the alien
formation without firing a shot. hordes but the usual three lives to be divided in two,
competing for the best score. This factor is not to be
Finally on Commodore 64 underestimated since the last life can only be lost by the
It took 40 years, but finally the “bread bin” has its Galaga player with the lowest score. Needless to say, this mode
conversion, and it's something crazy. We have to thank raises the quality of the game to levels impossible to
Arlasoft for this show. Reading their website they imagine: gameplay increases while longevity skyrockets.
immediately give us the answer to the question: why did Two players side by side, there is nothing better in a video
they have to spend 40 years? The reason is simple, that game!
is the aspect ratio of the eight bits of Commodore. The
arcade version has a screen height of 288 pixels, while Biker thoughts
the C64 only allows 200 pixels. The author calls into Unbelievable guys, Galaga after 40 years hits hard as if
question the NES version, which was once a masterpiece he had just come out. A shoot 'em up with an ultra simple
and exploited an area of 224 pixels: the idea was to "open" and immediate game dynamic, but for this reason immensely
the upper and lower edges. Once this first obstacle has fun right from the start. The game is constantly improving,
been overcome, another not insignificant obstacle arises: you can download it for free at the link https://
the number of sprites. The NES version, due to its technical arlagames.itch.io/galaga-c64. Updated versions are
limitations, was not very fluid in the movements of the released that gradually solve some small problems of
formations. Hence the second flash of genius, or do not youth, such as some mirroring of the sprites in the upper
use sprites for enemies in formation. In doing so, thanks and lower edges, or some bullets that remain on the
to a modified version of Shallan's multiplexer, the sprites screen. The flicker, which can happen when the screen is
available are many and usable for enemies on the move. saturated with enemies and bullets that by chance are
The game was compiled in Kickassembler, with the help arranged in a row, is an insurmountable limit of Hardware
of Sublime Text, Charpad and Spritepad. but honestly it has not yet happened to me. We thank
those who, like these guys, are giving a new youth to the
It may have taken 40 years but experience teaches, so Commodore 64, bringing out incredible and definitely
in this conversion we find the mode that ensures Galaga unthinkable games in the eighties. It may have taken 40
an almost infinite longevity, that is the cooperative two years but it was definitely worth it!

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 55 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Turbo Out Run... Justice is served!

by Mic the Biker Novarina
Dear readers of Retromagazine, with Turbo Out Run we follow-on born exclusively for home computers. History
are going to live the fantastic Christmas 1989. The tells us that Turbo Out Run is a 1989 arcade racing game
DeLorean has a full tank. Let's set the date to December published by Sega. There is always a Ferrari as the
20 of that year and jump to 88 miles per hour. protagonist, this time an F40, strictly convertible. The
mechanics of the game have changed since the first
chapter: now we have a pre-established route through
all the continental United States from New York to Los
Angeles, a real coast to coast. In addition to a time limit,
Turbo Out Run also adds an opponent, in addition to the
chaotic traffic of American roads. We find ourselves
challenging a CPU-driven opponent driving a Porsche
959, a rival car of the F40 at the time. Even the "Turbo"
of the title really exists: the car's V8 engine is supercharged
by two IHI turbines. It plays a crucial role as players can
take advantage of it to receive a short performance boost.
The turbo is activated by pressing a button on the side
of the gearbox mounted on the console. But watch out
for the temperature of the engine, which in these situations
rises in a worrying way. When the indicator reaches
"OVERHEAT!", the turbo boost cannot be used until the
temperature decreases. A great arcade already like this
but the surprises are certainly not over here. In the pure
tradition of stars and stripes sometimes appear police
cars that try to stop us. They are particularly boring, we
have two ways to get rid of them: overcoming them by
using the turbo boost or spurring them off the road against
some obstacle. The coin-op also gave us the possibility
to choose between the classic two gears or the automatic
The fog welcomes us with its mysterious embrace in what gearbox. Every four cities reached you can choose a boost:
many will remember as a strange winter. In Turin, in the Hi-Power Engine, Special Turbo and Super Grip Tires. It
morning and evening, there was always that typical fog is our dignity to stand in front of the German rival: if the
"from Silent Hill", while during the day it was hot. This Porsche reaches the power-up before us, in the next race
made life easy for us, the “gang” of Borgo San Paolo our fickle blonde will move towards the opponent's car.
(Turin, Italy) . After school we were always around and Heck, it was the same thing that happened in Borgo San
then stopping by someone's house to warm up the Paolo in the raids on two wheels: the most beautiful and
“breadbin”. In one of our area exits we had gone from fastest bike arrived and you stayed in one place. Here,
the good Marchisio in Via Pollenzo to get that great game however, it was easier to vent pride: reconquering the girl
that responds to the name of Turbo Out Run. The review is a duty, so you have to beat the opponent on the next
on “zzap!” left no doubt about it: the turbo version finally
did justice to the name Out Run. It was a strange time:
three fantastic racing games that came out in the space
of two months. Undisputed masterpieces such as Power
Drift, Stunt car racer and the game protagonist of this article.

Turbo Out Run in the arcade wasn't as cumbersome as

its predecessor, it didn't have the charisma or its history.
While Out Run (of which you can find a good paper in the
issue 28 of RMW ITA (RMW 6 ENG) recognized him on the
fly and always made his head spin, his following was much
less noticeable: many of us, initially, believed it was a
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 GAME TESTING

games of the time are all there: the wallpapers flow,

whether they are houses or trees. The parallax background
moves like lightning from right to left. Few other times
on the little monster of the house Commodore was given
such an impression of speed. Playing Turbo Out Run was
one of those momentous experiences, it carried weight
away from your room. This is also thanks to the in-game
music of THE MANIACS OF NOISE, who do not know how
they managed to make a series of breathtaking songs
and throw in the sound fx. We must thank that crazy
Jeronen and his mastery with SID: apart from his natural
good taste as a composer, on a technical level there is no
check for changes. If we manage to defeat the opponent
match. The percussion seems immense, they come out
with the girl at our side, a bonus of 1,000,000 points is
of who knows where while the synthetic sounds typical
awarded. In addition, the girl kisses the driver in front of
of the processor reach unprecedented levels.
her opponent, who in real life had to sweat much more.
Nothing to object to, a grade A coin op available both as
Biker thoughts
a stand-up cab and as a super cab looking like a Ferrari
Outside the fog seemed to look at us. If you stared at the
F40, but victim of his predecessor: the first Out Run is a
window, you saw it moving sinuously, hypnotically. I could
game that marked a decade, a game that has become
see the look in his eyes sometimes. The soundtrack to
the symbol of a historical period. Fortunately, the conversion
this journey was the music of Turbo Out Run, while the
for Commodore 64 was done by Probe Software, and the
game itself was something extra bodily. Only the video
end result was to tear one’s hair out. I was also among
game gods know how much we loved this amazing car
the many who played coin op only after playing on the
game. Turbo Out Run turns out to be a perfect conversion,
“breadbin”. I've seen that cabin a hundred times, but I've
not only technically but just like gameplay. The
never put a coin in it.
manoeuvrability of the car is like that in the games rooms
and the difficulty level is calibrated so as not to stress. It
Turbo Out Run, endless games
is growing, it leaves you time to take the hand, to feel the
Turbo Out Run was the symbol of that Christmas, of those
wind in your hair but then rises making the challenge
holidays spent with the friends of the Band of Borgo San
quite challenging.
Paolo. Most of the time with Adriano, playing a screen
each. Because so, while you were not supposed to play,
It was Christmas 1989, a Christmas linked to Turbo Out
you could stand there, breathless, admiring that absolute
Run for us “gang” of Borgo San Paolo. I remember
masterpiece. During the journey the weather conditions
December 31, in Adriano's house in Via Polonghera, with
will change and you will happen to compete between
the commodore still in the beautiful living room, the one
snowstorms, rain, hot sun, desert and nights full of stars.
with the comfortable sofa. The afternoon sun had driven
I remember that from the loading screen we had already
away the grey mantle for a few hours and gave us the
fallen from the chair: the care in the image has something
feeling of being really in the game. One game each, while
mystical. And music, guys: here we are in front of history.
"tick tock" the pendulum clock quietly strikes the time.
The musical accompaniment, by Jeroen Tel, is something
The light outside had gone to sleep behind the houses
crazy. The brilliant and talented musician invents a remix
and the time to go to the New Year's party at a classmate's
of the song of the first historic Out Run and makes it all
house was approaching. We never played dressed so well
to absolutely legendary levels. But let's proceed in order.
in our lives, and while we were at the party, between
When you press the joystick button and start the game
dances, there were mystical tales and rumors about a
itself we risk being killed: graphically Turbo Out Run erases
crazy racing game for the C64. A game that took the
a single second the horrible memory of the conversion
racing game per excellence but with the turbo.
of the first chapter. Aesthetically it is very detailed: colorful,
fluid and equipped with a unique variety. The Ferrari F40
Justice is served.
and Porsche 959 are reproduced almost perfectly: reviewed
today we are at the top level of pixel art. The other vehicles
are also incredible and despite the spectacular speed of
the game we have often been able to recognize the models.
We have seen Porsche, Corvette and some edgy Jeep like
those of the time. Speed, as we said before, is made to
perfection. The classic ways to make the effect in the
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 57 of 93
 GAME TESTING

ListAmiga - Top 10 AMIGA esclusives!

by Giuseppe Rinella
Welcome back to you, sisters and brothers grown up like and not little.
me under the reassuring protective wing of “mother” Amiga! On the playability front, you can't really object to Lionheart,
thanks to the variety of moves of our man/lion hero, a
This month I want to propose another nice list, one of very high quality level design and a practically perfect
those to show off with my heart swelled with pride, maybe balance of difficulty.
to a retrogamer like us raised in the 16-bit era. Exploring the vast levels in search of hidden secrets to
Yes, because those who, like me, grew up with their Amiga be discovered is a real pleasure, for the eyes and for the spirit.
500 in the early 90s, lived that duty to chase the newborn Rich in classy touches scattered everywhere, starting
consoles of Nintendo and Sega, which became the new with the great animated introduction.
term of comparison and for which several masterpieces A wide variety of settings and situations complete a truly
were produced. Of course, comparing A500 to SNES and fulfilling experience.
Megadrive did not make much sense, just because of the Example of such variety is level shoot'em up riding our
different age of these machines. flying dragon, which shoots fireballs from the mouth,
visually sublime. Just like the level on the saddle of... I
But go and explain it to a 10/11 year old boy, who does don't know, some kind of bipedal dinosaur...whatever it
not understand why Street Fighter 2 on SNES has remained is, it's magnificent.
that epochal masterpiece consumed in the arcade, while An impressive game that would not have disfigured on
the Amiga version was good just for the plate/floppy shot. the 16-bit consoles, but that would also have made a
Not to mention some exclusives, playing Sonic for the great impression in the game room.
first time at a friend's house was a shock for me, Amiga
at the time there was nothing even comparable.

But there have been games that have made us say a lot
"take that!" to our proud friends who own these consoles,
games that only we in the great Commodore family could
enjoy.

So let's not waste any more time and go with:

TOP 10 AMIGA EXCLUSIVES

Lionheart
Let's start immediately with a big shot, with one of the
most spectacular titles ever released on Amiga, which
showed what could really be obtained by squeezing the
hardware available, and how much that hardware still Ruff'n Tumble
had so much to give, despite carrying on its shoulders a A real delight, however, wrapped in a great veil of sadness,
certain amount of years. this was Ruff 'n' Tumble.
To think that this title came out when Amiga had been on The title in fact saw the light precisely in the year in which
the market for eight years, makes it even more incredible, Commodore's bankruptcy was declared, the Amiga era
as a monument to the Thalion boys who made it. was therefore over, as was the 16-bit era in general.
Lionheart is an amazing action/platformer to say the least. At the end of the year 1994, Sony released its Playstation
The graphic appearance gives you the Stendhal syndrome, and the rest is history.
a quantity of screen colors never seen before, excellent But in the game there was no trace of such sadness, on
and abundant perspective parallax, moving clouds, the contrary, what it offered were massive doses of fun,
exceptional water effect. And again, monsters of all sizes destructive fury and pure adrenaline.
are beautifully made and impeccably animated. Ruff 'n' Tumble is a truly exceptional platformer/shooter,
The music is no less, epic and dramatic, extremely evocative with a sparkling graphic outfit and music that exalts as few.
and of superfine quality, perfectly in line with the rest of Four worlds divided into different areas full of evil beings
the production. to be eliminated mercilessly, while we pursue our purpose,
But Lionheart is not only appearance, there is substance namely the collection of the number of marbles necessary
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 GAME TESTING

to be able to access the next level. Not before defeating I renew the invitation to turn up the volume to believe,
the hostiles but wonderful bosses at the end of the level. the music is something exceptional.
Playability is dedicated to the frenzy, with simple and If you want to enjoy so much beauty, without worrying
effective mechanics, such as the progressive exhaustion about having to survive the murderous fury of insects of
of weapons regardless of their use, thus encouraging us any species, don't worry! Go to Spotify and you will find
to quickly destroy everything that happens within reach. the complete soundtrack of Apidya, then tell me for how
The music, which pumps properly, helps to keep a high many titles of the time it happens.
rhythm, frenetic and without pauses. Try to listen to "Techno party" without getting excited
Frenzy, however, combined with the exploration of vast and standing still, I tell you immediately that you are
and well-studied maps, full of secrets to be discovered, destined to fail.
which highlight how the level design has been taken care Recommended at maximum volume, in the car including
of in every detail. your elbow outside the window.
All this combined with a difficulty trending upwards but
never unfair, makes Ruff 'n' Tumble an explosive and
moving greeting to our beloved Friend.

Apidya Darkmere
There is a very specific reason why Apidya can and should I love Darkmere very much.
be on this list. I still remember the magazines that announced the release
The title is the most classic of the horizontal slider shooters. in advance, on those photos I literally spent the hours.
We will not have to deal with alien spaceships or Once the game came out, I spent many more in his company.
environments that recall past wars. Speaking of the dear good old days with proud owners
In fact, we will play a bee and our enemies will be very of Amiga like me, this title has never been among the
hateful insects and other animals to be eliminated, which classics that are mentioned. The same happens in the
populate the different environments in which we will different rankings of the best games on Amiga that happen
venture, with the sole purpose of destroying us. to read, or that are found on YouTube.
Apidya is a title of the highest quality, graphically excellent, In my opinion, this is completely inexplicable.
with many enemies present at the same time on screen, Darkmere is a wonderful action/rpg.
also of considerable size (in particular the bosses at the Graphically it is a real pearl, one of the best aged Amiga
end of the level) and all this without the slightest slowdown titles. I mean, if a title came out today with a Darkmere-
or hindrance of any kind. grade pixel art, it would gather open-stage applause.
Various settings and really well made, playability without Three huge levels to explore far and wide, full of things
particular defects, difficulty quite high as per tradition to do, people to talk to and monsters to eliminate.
for the genre of belonging. The whole adventure is pervaded by a dark and gloomy
Let's face it, however good it is, Apidya does not invent atmosphere, as few have seen on Amiga and beyond.
anything and both Amiga and the "rival" consoles certainly The first level, the village, from this point of view is an
do not lack excellent exponents of the same genre, so authentic masterpiece.
what has this particular title that others do not have? To Walking through the dark and semi-desert alleys with the
understand it (but you already know it of course) you will constant whistle of the wind as a background, entering
have to turn up the volume without any restraint! the wonderful and welcoming houses (who has never
Already because all the music, from the intro to the wanted to stop a little in front of those hot crackling
accompaniment during the short loads, up to those of fireplaces?), with the constant sense of oppression and
each stage, are the work of the master Chris Huelsbeck. imminent danger that accompany us is priceless.

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Darkmere, however, is far from perfect. The clashes with dialogue with) and others by Sonic (the gameplay is quite
the monsters we will encounter (orcs, dragons, barbarians similar, as well as some settings).
with a strong resemblance to Goro by Mortal Kombat, I mean, nothing original but incredibly well done. It is no
number of arms apart) are nothing to be missed, on the coincidence that the developers were the guys from Kaiko
contrary. The difficulty is not very high, the slowness of (incorporated by Ocean), the same ones from Apydia and
the opening of the inventory if too full (really annoying), who therefore knew what they were doing.
loadings not very fast. Mr Nutz is fast, colourful to the point of touching the
All these defects, however, do not in the least affect the psychedelia (see the bonus levels, also inspired by those
beauty of this adventure that actually lasts too little. Not present in Sonic, but not only those), technically impressive
that it is short, even so Darkmere takes his time to be and not at all short.
finished, the truth is that he would want more and more. It is one of the best platforms on Amiga, this is certain,
Darkmere is an adventure to be lived at least once in a inexplicably snubbed by critics and (often) the public.
lifetime, enjoying every single pixel. I bet once you're I remember that it did not enjoy great consideration from
done, you'll come back every once in a while to take a the press, perhaps thanks to the fact that the days of
walk through the village's dark alleys and into its beautiful Amiga were then numbered, the few titles that came out
homes. at the time were obviously not of great interest.
Finally, without wanting to spoil anything, watch out for Mr Nutz also shares with Darkmere (and many other titles)
the sensational final twist! the strange fate of a too forgotten game, certainly not
celebrated enough.
For those who do not know it, or vaguely remember it, if
you love it, run and retrieve it.

Mr Nutz: Hoppin' Mad

Mr Nutz's story is quite peculiar.
It is in fact an exclusive which is not an exclusive, let me
explain.
Mr Nutz was developed by Ocean for Amiga, which was
already in decline. It was then decided to publish the
game for Super Nintendo and later on Megadrive. This Benefactor
choice, which was 1993 at the time, made complete Here we are with one of those titles that you can love and
economic sense. hate at the same time.
The game was not bad, an honest and fun platform but Developed by Digital Illusions, which delighted all of us
nothing that left its mark, especially considering that on with the best pinball on Amiga (Pinball Dreams and Pinball
the two consoles, for any title belonging to that genre, Fantasies until then, later also Pinball Illusions), Benefactor
the terms of comparison were Super Mario World and Sonic. is a puzzle/platformer really done right.
However, Ocean decided to publish Mr Nutz also on Amiga, The purpose of the game is to solve the different
and here is the peculiarity of the story: the title was not environmental puzzles in each level, in order to free the
"trivially" converted, instead a completely different game children (I think they are children, if they are not, it is still
was developed, which with the counterparts on the console about being small and chubby) unjustly imprisoned.
had only the protagonist in common. The title also changed Having done this, we will also have to lead the aforementioned
slightly, becoming "Mr Nutz: Hoppin' Mad". children (or presumed children) to the exit of the safe
But the most important thing was that the game on Amiga level, paying attention to the fact that they tend a little
was clearly superior. too much towards suicide, a little Lemmings style.
The developers were heavily inspired by Super Mario It will therefore be all a jump on platforms, operate levers,
World for some things (the map through which to access open doors, use passages that lead to different points of
the different levels, full of secrets and characters to the level, all avoiding being eliminated by the enemies

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present. Starting from the aesthetic aspect, Benefactor our way, including end-of-tier bosses.
at first glance may not be of great impact, it is not as The first peculiarity immediately evident is that the scrolling
spectacular as Lionheart for example. It's all very small, of the levels takes place from right to left, unlike how we
from our alter ego Ben E. Factor (the name of the are used to in any title that develops horizontally. Nothing
protagonist) to the settings, with everything in between. useful but not even disturbing, just a little weird.
In reality everything turns out to be extremely well cared Another aspect are the controls, to drive our robot we
for, divinely made and even better animated. I don't expect will have to use joysticks and mice, with the first we will
the latter to be anything but trivial, when anything on the move the Walker back and forth, with the mouse we will
move is made with a handful of pixels. The small size of manage the scope and fire.
everything means that the levels are in fact quite extensive Technically speaking, our robot is made really well, the
even though they occupy few screens. animations are excellent, the movement of the head (with
The sound is definitely of good workmanship, with music two beautiful machine guns connected to it) that "follows"
and effects always right. the viewfinder is a real touch of class.
Speaking of gameplay, Benefactor is hard. Very difficult The enemies are well made, from tiny (compared to us)
as well as satisfactory. men to vehicles, there is some disproportion here and
As we progress through our adventure, the levels will be there but nothing tragic.
bigger and more intricate, the puzzles to solve more and The settings are not very convincing instead, everything
more complex and the enemies more numerous and fierce. is a bit too dark and chromatically monotonous, certainly
In addition to all this, however, Benefactor is a rather contributes to making everything gloomy and oppressive
punitive platform, the jumps will have to be calibrated to (we are still at war) but in a short time it is tiring and
the pixel, not at all easy when everything is so tiny. anonymous.
Hence that love/hate mentioned at the beginning. The sound is very accurate, the absence of music is an
If you have patience and firm nerves, Benefactor offers ideal choice given the general atmosphere, the sound
pure fun and extreme satisfaction. effects are excellent, particularly satisfactory the noise
It is very likely, however, that your joystick will not survive of our deadly machine guns.
your fury. Small note: the possible presence of an expansion of
memory to 2MB, allows the reproduction of additional
sound effects, including radio communications with the
Walker.
Walker has a great flaw, unfortunately: a superhuman
and totally absurd difficulty to say the least.
I don't think there was ever anyone who completed this
game without cheating. In fact, I doubt that anyone has
ever passed the second level by playing "clean."
Despite this, I spent hours and hours playing Walker, the
satisfaction and the sense of omnipotence that driving a
hyper destructive robot gave away, were priceless.
The joystick+mouse controls (with a little imagination)
really made me feel like a robot pilot, for those like me
who grew up on bread and Goldrake was no small feat.
If the level of apocalyptic difficulty does not scare you,
Walker Walker absolutely deserves to be tried, even just for that
Walker is a particular title. sense of drunkenness that you feel only driving a devastating
This is a shooter and horizontal scrolling, with some metal giant.
features that differentiate it from any other title.
The protagonist is the Walker that we will be called to
pilot, a highly destructive robot, aesthetically inspired by
the ED-209 present in Robocop (the bad robot in short).
At the helm of our fearsome vehicle, we will face four
levels set in different places and times. We will start in
Berlin in 1945, Los Angeles in an indefinite future, the
Middle East in our day and finally still in the future in an
unspecified place.
The goal is to eliminate anyone and anything we meet on

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Agony maybe not even after and I'm not just talking about Amiga.
Treating Agony like any other game is completely out of Very rare case in which it is preferable to attend a game,
place, it must be said. rather than play in person, so that you can enjoy so much
Agony is an experience, it is the game that becomes a magnificence in every detail, without having to worry
pretext to spread art and beauty. about anything else.
First of all, let's deal with the formalities: Agony is a shot Agony is the video game that puts itself at the service of art.
'em up with horizontal sliding, nothing particularly original, What a wonder.
except the possibility of casting spells thanks to the scrolls
collected during our adventure, an unusual element for
this genre. Premiere
It is not very long with its six levels, at the end of which On the platform side, Amiga offers excellent titles in large
we will clash with the final boss. quantities, Premiere is definitely among them, with a
The difficulty is medium/high, more difficult in the second touch of originality that does not hurt.
half, nothing excessive anyway. The protagonist of the story is Clutch Gable, a young film
Agony was developed for Psygnosis by Art&Magic guys, editor who one night, falling asleep during his turn, is
the name was never more suitable. robbed of six films by a mysterious character.
That said, Agony is a disarming beauty. Our task is to recover them obviously, completing the six
Whatever you see and hear in Agony leaves you speechless. necessary levels, which are nothing more than sets of six
Starting from the home screen, an image of fine films, each belonging to a different genre. We will start
workmanship, accompanied by wonderful and heartbreaking from the set of a western film, continuing with the silent
music. one in black and white, the horror film, the cartoon, the
The owl that we will find ourselves "impersonating" is sci-fi film and finally the one set in the Middle Ages.
something impressive, animated in a sublime way. The Technically Premiere is really well done, not a miracle but
enemies we will face are no less, their animations are he has nothing out of place.
certainly less complex and refined, but the generous size, The cartoon-style graphics are colourful and everything
their variety and the design, to say the least, inspired, is animated excellently, from the protagonist with his
makes them just as spectacular. The bosses at the end dancing tuft to the different enemies we will meet. The
of the level are majestic to say the least. themed settings are impeccable and perfectly make the
What about the backdrops? Sublime, real moving pictures, atmosphere of each film.
technically impressive. Numerous levels of parallax, all The music, also themed with different genres, are made
animated excellently. From the stormy sea in the first very well, very enjoyable.
level to the waterfalls of the second, then continuing Premiere is a classic 2d platform but with two levels of
through dark and intricate forests to the dramatic burning depth, we can go from one level to another to avoid
trees of the final level. obstacles, enemies, reach levers and more. In each level
Everything about Agony is highly spectacular and evocative. we will have a single weapon to shoot down the damn
The music tracks that accompany our adventure are of enemies, which will change depending on the set.
rare beauty. The levels are really huge and to be explored far and wide,
Connecting your Amiga to a stereo is imperative, turn up activating levers, avoiding traps and taking advantage of
the volume and enjoy the epic and majestic music, even the different steps that will lead us from the set of the
from this point of view Agony gives us emotions and pure joy. film to the backstage and vice versa.
Never before have you seen and heard anything like it, Concluding each level we will face the boss on duty,
clashes that will prove to be real mini games, not always
of immediate understanding.
I remember it wasn't easy for me to figure out how to
defeat the first boss. Surely it was not fast, in fact losing
all lives we will be forced to repeat the entire level to be
able to face it again.
Finishing Premiere takes a good amount of time and is
not at all simple, but doing it is a real pleasure.
Some defects it has, for example for some enemies it is
difficult to understand on which "plane" it is (in particular
the flying ones) and often for this reason they will hit us,
with consequent waste of energy. Some of the many levers
that we will have to operate, indistinguishable from the

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 GAME TESTING

others, hide traps that will damage us, a somewhat "unjust" virtually infinite, like any beat'em up that respects.
mechanism if we want. Everything a game like this has to have, Shadow Fighter has.
But I mean, let's not talk about anything excessive. We waited for years for a beat'em up like this on Amiga,
Premiere absolutely deserves to be (re)played, it's fun, among a thousand sufferings, we were finally listened to
visually delicious and as challenging as it gets. Absolutely by the very Italian Naps Team, who from Sicily explained
to be recovered. to everyone how to do it. They did not invent anything
and it was not necessary to do it, they limited themselves
(it is done to say) to realize the game that we all wanted,
showing a technical mastery that more coveted studies
could only dream of. Shadow Fighter was the game I had
always wanted to be able to play in my bedroom, which
I did for several months without interruption. Naps Team,
wherever you are, I will never stop loving you.

Shadow Fighter
When it comes to the best games on Amiga, it's impossible
not to include Shadow Fighter.
In addition to being an excellent beat'em up to meetings
from any point of view, Shadow Fighter has made all of
us lovers of this genre happy who, for a long time, we
suffered the absence of such an exponent who was up to
the task. Even for this list, we've come to the end.
Sixteen selectable characters (plus two "hidden"), each
with a different fighting style, special moves in large The invitation is always the same, come and visit us on
quantities and highly spectacular. our website and social channels and tell us what we have
Never before has Amiga seen such a well-crafted, varied blatantly overlooked, among the best exclusive Amiga.
and frenetic fighting game that it finally overcame the In the meantime, I'm gonna go get a new joystick, goddamn
trauma of that obscene Street Fighter 2 conversion. Benefactor!
Graphically impeccable, the characters are beautifully
crafted, large and well characterized. The internships are Greetings to all of you and AMIGA FOREVER!
really curated and full of animations, without forgetting
the perspective floor much admired in the Capcom
masterpiece.
Even on sound you can't say anything, really good music
as well as sound effects.
But it's gameplay that's the real highlight of Shadow Fighter.
The variety of fighting styles and special moves of the
different characters ensures hours and hours of fun.
The historic limit of the only usable button, an obstacle
for a fighting game (we were already used to the six
buttons of SF2), is easily circumvented. It is incredible
the amount of special shots and not that each character
can perform using a single button, until that moment
nothing like this had ever been seen on Amiga.
Played in single exalts, thanks to an artificial intelligence
that will give you a thread to twist, in company becomes

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ZAXXON
by Christian Miglio
A good morning to you, friends of Retromagazine World,
today your Elder wears a space pilot's helmet and with
his starfighter flies in search of the enemy AI of the entire
universe called Zaxxon!

Zaxxon, and it's history!

It was a winter morning of 1986 and my father's infamous

colleague had passed him a nice craft box copied with
the stereo, he knew how to do it because my trusty father
the night before stuck it in the datassette and after all
turns of tape, gave as result an absolute ‘nothing’.
This cassette only by its titles was very juicy, it contained
titles like Popeye, Pitstop 2, Empire Strikes Back, Gyruss,
in short all games of a certain quality.
Among these came a very strange title, Zaxxon, it tasted
of technology, it tasted of evil, it tasted of metallic and
my curiosity as a 7 year old infant did not take long to
raise the monkey so much so that the previously appointed
bald father spent the whole night in an attempt to load
even one of that tide of games contained in that 90 minute
tape.

With the good night shadows in Las Vegas in the morning

I saw him exulting, he had discovered that to load those The controls, the nice ones
games he needed the hated Super Turbo Tape 64.
Once the mechanism was understood, a nonstop day Even the cabin was innovative in terms of controls, because
began, which ended in the evening with the two of us it included a very innovative joystick with which to control
engaged in playing Zaxxon (which he did not know how the altitude and lateral movement of the shuttle.
to pronounce and called ZACCON). It is equipped with a top fire button and a red light to
signal the fire of each shot.
In the evening with the light off and us smashing our eyes In addition there are two other buttons on the control
on the TV, it was ideal to play Zaxxon because the black panel, both with the same function, one on the left, for
background in the "space" part of the game gave the idea the right and the other on the right for the left-handed pilots.
of being on a spaceship. Using the Joystick button and one of the two side buttons
it was possible to ensure a constant focus volume, which
Overview and origins of Zaxxon is very important as we will see later.
To give the player a better sense of depth, Sega decided
Zaxxon is mainly an arcade cabinet, for friends “bar game”
decidedly very innovative for its time,
Released by SEGA in 1982, it belongs to the sliding shooter
genre.
It was the first game to use a graphic representation in
axonometric projection, a detail that gave the game its
name (AXXON, from the English AXONometric, which
means "axonometric").
The type of axonometric projection used is that of the
isometric visual, an idea that was soon imitated by several
other producers and especially also in other types of
video games.
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 GAME TESTING

to provide the shuttle with a vertical shadow to indicate

the altitude of the shuttle itself above the surface: it was
the first example of shading implemented in a video game.
In fact, despite being a simple example of three-dimensional
graphics, in 1982 it was considered by many to be the
bar game with the best graphics ever and the impression
aroused was such that two years later, at the time of the
European launch of the MSX standard, advertising boasted
the fact that "MSX has Zaxxon, with its fabulous three-
dimensional graphics".
Importantly, the cabin was also supplied in two versions,
the vertical in turn distributed in two slightly different
cabs and the cocktail version.

Purpose of the game

The purpose of the game is to pilot a small starfighter on

a suicide mission over a series of enemy fortresses
suspended in space built on asteroids, until they meet
and destroy the missile launching robot named Zaxxon.
It will have to make its way by machine gunning the
asteroid city of the enemy trying to destroy turret cannons,
fuel tanks and missiles, fighter but above all the bitter
enemy robot Zaxxon.
With the help of the altimeter we can constantly control
the altitude, while with the joystick in perfect Top Gun
style, we will control the shuttle, making our way through Synapse Software and U.S. Gold.
more or less wide cracks in the walls, above or below the Personally, I enjoyed the Synapse version much more
force fields, avoiding missiles that come out of the ground than being the first one I've ever played.
and, later in the third phase, dueling with Zaxxon, the Synapse is primarily known for a number of popular action
insidious enemy robot. games such as Fort Apocalypse , Blue Max , The Pharaoh's
A successful attack conducted through the first platform Curse and Shamus , including some unusual games not
will lead to a clash in deep space (second phase) to fight based on established concepts such as Necromancer and
against enemy planes that come to meet us. Alley Cat .
In this phase we go up, turn or descend, a "crosshair" The company also sold a 6502 database and assembler,
will appear on the screen to indicate the possibility of as well as a host of productivity applications that
hitting the vehicle that comes to meet us successfully at unfortunately led to its downfall.
that given moment with the laser. The company was finally acquired by Broderbund at the
In addition to the altitude, your score, the number of end of 1984.
shuttles you have left, the number of enemy shuttles to In my opinion, the conversion for C64 has lost nothing
destroy, and the fuel remaining are displayed. compared to the arcade, except in spite of a very small
When a fuel tank is destroyed, in addition to the points, loss of graphics for which the gameplay has not suffered
notches are assigned to the level of our fuel.
At the end of the phase in deep space we enter again an
asteroid stronghold where we will find the robot Zaxxon
waiting, which can launch missiles in search. To destroy
Zaxxon it will take six rounds directed into the robot's
missile launcher tube, after which the level changes
slightly, assuming a greater difficulty.

The C64 conversion

We don't have much to say about the C64 conversion

except that two developers have fought in the conversion,

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 GAME TESTING

even if perhaps a small reduction in scrolling has occurred. Shooting on the walls and force fields to observe the exact
The manoeuvrability is valid, you soon enter the mood of point where we are hitting, graphically you can see the
the isometric view and the inverted vertical controls as impact of the bullets and then adjust the position of the
in flight simulators. shuttle by continuing to shoot, so you can see where the
The original game was released in both cassette and bullets no longer impact and thus ensure safe passage
cartridge. through the force field or wall that is. This operation
In Italy the game was published in newsstands with the becomes increasingly difficult with increasing levels, but
following names: Space Mission, Plane's fight, Zax Laser the test of fire should almost always ensure a safe passage.
and appeared in the magazines Machine Language C64,
Formula 64 and COM 64 all in 1985. Second Phase or Outdoor Space
Attack Strategy
Once you have learned how to manoeuvre the shuttle in After crossing the last wall of the first citadel , we pass
an excellent way, which as mentioned above is the only into outer space, where we will have to destroy the fighter
first-impact difficulty to overcome, it will be possible to planes. Most planes move with fixed patterns, but some
start developing a "scheme" to cross each of the three of them will track your shuttle trying to shoot or collide
sections. with it. The aim is to get out of Stage 2 as quickly and
Zaxxon is a game that must be played with an "attack" painlessly as possible, shooting as many planes as possible
approach, not on the defensive, especially in the two citadels. to get a bonus. Identifying the pattern with which aircraft
The second phase, the one in space, is the hardest, it will move is the most costly strategy.
be better to try to survive than to try to score points. You will need to learn to survive the air duels in outer
Destroying Zaxxon will be easier if we know where to place space, without losing your shuttle. If we destroy 20 fighter
ourselves ,how to strike and where. planes, we will be rewarded with 1,000 bonus points.
You have to have good flight ability. Generally it is better This score includes any aircraft on the ground that could
to try to fly low when we are on the strongholds while it be destroyed before reaching Stage 2. In any case, we
is better to change altitude often when we are in outer space. always destroy fighter planes. It is usually a great strategy
to change altitude immediately after hitting one, to avoid
First phase being hit by his last shot.

The targets on the ground are always in the same position

on the platforms. The only things that change are the
passages between walls. As you progress they become
smaller and change position. The first trick to avoid
bumping into something is to shoot. For beginners it is a
solution, but in the long run it will not be possible to store
all the steps in the various levels. Learning how to position
the shuttle by looking at it in relation to other objects will
allow you to move quickly and have time to fire on the
targets and then be able to pass through the walls just
as quickly. The shuttle can be destroyed in different
ways,by colliding with underground missiles, or by firing
cannons on the ground, or simply by running dry with
fuel or crashing into anything. Third phase meeting with Zaxxon

The third phase is very similar to the first, only we will

have to fly through small spaces in the walls. Once you
understand where the space is located, you can plan the
movement in advance. It is easier to see the shots fired
reflecting on the brick walls than on the force fields, so
the strategy is to start from the bottom, under the openings
and shoot at the walls. After crossing the last wall, it is
advisable to shoot at the tanks in order to load up on fuel
for the fight against Zaxxon.
The maxi Robot Zaxxon marks the end of a round, it
appears on the screen, always in the same place, so you

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 GAME TESTING

can start waiting for it before its arrival. We put the shuttle
at 2 ½ notches on the altimeter and in the middle of the VFD portable video game (1982/1983) published by Bandai:
second hexagon from the left. We start shooting the robot This game has a unique mode to recreate the 3D effect –
as soon as it appears on the screen and we can score a
couple of quick hits directly on the missile. Then we follow
the movement of the robot, maintaining a constant flow
of rounds in the direction of the missile. To eliminate it,
we'll have to hit it a total of six times. With these maneuvers
we'll have to be able to destroy it before it launches the

it uses only one VFD screen (unlike Coleco's Zaxxon which

uses two. The VFD is basically split in two, the top half is
seen as the bottom of the screen, while the bottom of the
VDF is reflected on a semi-transparent mirror to create
the top of the 3D gaming space. A nice idea to realize,
and it really works as all the ships (and not just the player's
missile. If it launches, we align the shuttle directly to the ship as in the Coleco version, they have a real depth.
missile as it flies towards us. If you can hit him fast twice, Sometimes it's a bit difficult to play, as you have to be
we'll still have time to destroy him by firing as fast as we sitting exactly in front of the screen centered perfectly,
can. It needs to be destroyed. If we can't destroy it, we're but once you're in position, it's a very nice version of
dead pilots. After destroying the robot as well, we will Zaxxon. It has airplane mode in space and flight mode
earn a flag and move on to the next round. If we earn on the ground. The only thing that really seems to be
enough flags, the game stops, inviting you not to give up missing is the final boss of Zaxxon...
(NEVER GIVE UP!). In this way, the game makes us
understand that we have beaten it, but without mercy we There are also two very nice board game versions published
can accumulate points infinitely. by MB, they differ for some details of the box and for the
graphics of the game table and the checkers.
Zaxxon Handheld & Board game
Curiosity
There are three different versions of Zaxxon recreated on Zaxxon was released in January 1982.
Handheld:
- At the time of publication, Zaxxon was unique in that it
VFD portable video game (1981) published by Coleco: was the first to use isometric projections, something like
One of the most beautiful portable game conversions, a three-quarter view. This effect simulates the three
Coleco's Zaxxon uses a unique combination of mirrors dimensions (although from a second person's point of view).
and two separate VFD screens to achieve a 3D effect. The
ship appears to fly above the surface of the planet and - In the game, Zaxxon is the name of the enemy robot
indeed flies over walls and other objects generated by you have to destroy. Milton Bradley has converted this
VFD (impossible with a single VFD shield). The surface of and other Sega titles into board games. ‘Can You Complete
the planet and the enemies on the ground are created by Your Mission Before Zaxxon Zaps You?’
a VFD, while the ship and the enemies are created by the
VFD reflected by the mirror.
Portable LCD video game (1982) published by Bandai:
It has a nice double LCD panel (there are two LCD panels
on top of each other). The double LCD panel creates a
kind of 3D effect with the objects underneath in one panel,
and those above in the other. In addition, all objects in
the background are generated by the LCD and animated.
Pretty awesome for an LCD game (it's a must-have
collection for Zaxxon lovers!).

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- A direct sequel, Zaxxon Escape, was released on October

4, 2012 for Apple and Android devices. The game was
criticized for having little resemblance to the original arcade.

- Zaxxon has been a source of inspiration for other games,

especially for the Blue Max series that owes Zaxxon its
isometric perspective, but let's not forget a game that
seems to be a shameless copy at least for the graphic
part, Zaga, where we are in charge of a helicopter that
must "simply" cross with the utmost precision a path
made of walls, force fields and land safely in another area
at the end of the level, only here there are no bullets to
shoot to help us.

- It was the first arcade game to be advertised on television, I couldn't tell you more than this!
with a commercial produced by Paramount Pictures for
$150,000. Have fun Starfleet Pilot!

- Vernon Kalanikaus holds the official cabin record for Goodbye friends to the next review!
this game with 4,680,740 points recorded on 15/03/1982.
The Elder's Corner… It’s here!
- A unit of Zaxxon appears in the 1983 movie ‘WarGames’. Let's Rock!

- A bootleg of this game is known as ”Jackson”.

- A porting of Zaxxon for a home console is shown in the

music video of the song "Blue Monday", by New Order.

- Zaxxon was the main theme of an independent 1986

film, "Hollywood Zap!".

- Zaxxon generated a sequel: Super Zaxxon. The color

scheme was different, the player's shuttle flew faster
(making the game more difficult), and the robot at the
end of the second fortress was replaced by a dragon. It
wasn't as successful as the original.

- In 1987 Zaxxon 3-D was released for the Sega Master

System. This console variant made use of 3D glasses, an
add-on that allowed for extra depth. As with the Atari
2600 and Intellivision ports, the game was forward
scrolling rather than isometric

- Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 was released for the Sega

32X in 1995. It was Zaxxon's first game to use 3D graphics.
The game carried the Zaxxon brand only in the United
States, the Japanese version was renamed Parasquad
and the European version Motherbase

- Zaxxon was the first game reviewed on YouTube in the

show Classic Game Room HD on February 20, 2008

- In 2012 Zaxxon was presented at the exhibition “The

Art of Video Games” at the Smithsonian Museum

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 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021
Developer: Oniric Factor

SOULS KEEPER
Genre: Platform/Action
Platform: MSX/MSX2
Website: https://www.oniric-
factor.com/?product=souls-
keeper-cartucho

The boys of Oniric Game are special. animated correctly and smoothly.
A collective of Spanish and South Vibrant and engaging sound.
American programmers who really Nice to see and hear.
love retro consoles and retro At the level of gameplay we are faced
computers. You can see it in their with a game that requires a lot of skill
products. and attention.

Our hero is equipped with an energy

bar and this comes down every time
you are hit by an enemy. We only have
one life and we have to be good at
holding on to it.
Souls Keeper doesn't forgive. It is a
game with the taste of the past where
you do not have tutorials or guides,
you have to grit your teeth and study
the best pattern to get out of trouble.

Cared and refined. There is heart in

their products and there is above all
knowledge of what they do.
Souls Keeper reached us in the editorial Personally I really appreciate this
mailbox accompanied by the Press kind of approach, but I'm an old
Kit and the enthusiasm of the boys videogamer and I admit that a new
of the software house and immediately player might be frightened by the
we went to try it. initial mortality.
You have to hold hands and carefully OUR FINAL SCORE
It is a platform/action game, but evaluate the clashes with your
nowadays it could be called opponents.
Matroidvania. » Gameplay 80%
The hero of the game will have to face Pulling the sums we are in front of a A product simple to play.
a thousand dangers and terrible good title for MSX systems (MSX and Customizable in controls and
creatures in order to recover objects MSX 2), curated and offering a good intuitive.
in the present levels and reach the degree of challenge.
» Longevity 75%
final clash. You can purchase the game by clicking It's an old school title. It
I must admit that technically the on the Oniric Factor page. Support requires a lot of willpower and
product is really well developed. The them, they're really good! focus. Not suitable for the
graphics are well coloured and weak.
functional. Fast scrolling, everything by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 69 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Year: 1997

BRILEY WITCH Developer: Sarah Jane Avory

Genre: JRPG

CHRONICLES
Platform: Commodore 64
Website: https://
sarahjaneavory.itch.io/briley-
witch-chronicles

Before I even started playing the new After a beautiful animated introduction
JRPG-inspired game for C64, Briley Witch the game starts and puts us immediately
Chronicles, I knew I was about to see in front of some small puzzles to introduce
something special. us to the mechanics.
Are we looking at the best role-playing Much of the game takes place in the village
game ever on C64? Let's take it easy. of Maepole, but there are other places to
The author. Sarah Jane Avory began visit and explore, accessible via a world
developing at age 11 on her VIC 20. She map. The characterization of the gaming
has made her passion for his work by environments is impressive and contains
starting a prolific collaboration with a considerable amount of secrets to
software houses such as Gremlin or Core discover and explore.
Design... among her titles we can mention
Thunderhawk for Sega Mega CD and From the top as in the classics of this
Playstation and the legendary Jaguar genre like the Final Fantasy series for Nes,
XJ220. On Commodore 64 she has made the control system is a good combination
numerous titles including Zeta Wing, of joystick and keyboard. The first allows
SoulForce, Santron and many others. the characters to move while the keyboard
gives us the opportunity to access the
In the meantime she has also become a menus.
successful author of books, including the The latter system allows us to view the
saga of the witch Briley and her cat Smokey. status of the characters, the equipment,
This title for C64 is based on the first four the objects, the game setting (difficulty),
novels in the saga, Spirit of a Witch, Storm the save and the curious reminder option
Grey, Dark Secrets and Lies in the Dark. that gives us access to some "tricks" to
The Briley Witch Chronicles is a paranormal remind us how to proceed.
fantasy series of carefree training with a
dose of danger and a splash of love, which In the menu we will also find the status
is very reminiscent of a style also seen in of Briley and Smokey and the various
Buffy the Vampire Killer or other teen series. characters that will be added to the party
(we can reach up to a group of 5 people
The game begins when Briley Forester is even if the protagonist and her cat will
torn from her world and dumped in the always be present).
village of Maepole. Trapped in this strange Also interesting is the system of sub-
magical universe, she discovers that she quest where we will have to free hidden
is a witch and that her black cat Smokey foxes all over the enchanted world.
has a word and is a grumbler who knows The combat system is in turns, as in the
more and more about men. classic JRPG of the story (Final Fantasy
for example) allowing the group to fight
Here she begins her adventure, trying to up to six creatures simultaneously.
understand her powers and how can This gives players time to strategize, using
return to home. Obviously the terrible objects and potions during the fight. Since
Whitehead family, who hate witches and the game is based on novels we will not
magic and who put a bounty on her head, find the classic D&D monsters. The
oppose her path. creatures are made up of credible

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 GAME TESTING

opponents of the real world (animal or jewelry. It is a role-playing game for NES
human). or Master System developed for C64. OUR FINAL SCORE
Even the little Smokey joins the clashes Animated in a superb way and demonstrates

» Gameplay 98%
and will acquire, like the other characters, that the little Commodore could (and does)
skills as he acquires experience (some like have the opportunity to compete head to
Perfect game control system.
the Double Slash, are fundamental). head with the great Japanese consoles of
Simple and easy to use. Nice
The entire game rewards the experience the same era if the developers of the time story and side quests.
not only through clashes, but also by had the knowledge and skill of Mrs. Avory
completing small tasks or quests. For today. » Longevity 95%
example, a successful delivery. Characters The level of detail shown is, in my eyes, 20 hours to finish it in a
have no levels, all their stats increase at surprising. "complete" way, 7 if you want
different speeds depending on the experience Structured floors and walls and decorations, to make a direct speed run...
gained. animated fire and highly detailed character Whatever path you take it will
There are also several small and simple portraits. keep you glued to the screen.
mini games to add variety to everything. Speaking of those portraits, how the hell
As already mentioned, there are also several did they do that?
secondary missions with varying difficulty
(ranging from simple deliveries to this much At the top of an impressive technical
more elaborate). compartment is a very intricate and sprawling
plot that will totally capture you. It is worth
Since Briley is a witch, magic is part of this noting that while this title is inspired by the
title. The spells are the most varied. From JRPG genre and closely follows it by showing
simple healing to powerful attacks with a style similar to the most famous titles of
elementals. You can also combine potions. the genre, it has a truly British style in the
Briley herself gets like any witch who use of dialogues and quests. This thing is
respects a magic grimoire and all her spells a perfect combination, because it mixes
are contained within it, with descriptions two genres often at the antipodes between
and the required reagents. them.
Spells need magic stitches to be cast, each There's thickness, lots of thickness. There
spell consumes different spells depending is work and knowledge.
on their power. The implementation of the keyboard is also
Briley during the adventure can earn and a gem and is very useful for controlling the
equip several items (even the Smokey cat). menu.
Obviously some items are specifically for
the witch while others are for Smokey and The game can be played in several ways.
the other characters. With a speed run that ends in about 7 hours,
avoiding a lot of side quests, or in about
After this overview of what we find, let's twenty hours following the whole plot
see what we "see".. let's talk about perfectly. In both the ways the game is
substance! hilarious and rewarding.

The game is a colossal job! It takes more What else to say... We can answer the long-
than 600 kb and to play it in real hardware standing question "is this the best role-
we will need some additional "objects" such playing game for C64?". Yes, we are faced
as an EasyFlash cartridge or the latest with a new way of approaching this type of
update on the Ultimate cartridge (update game and we are faced with a new starting
arrived with version 1.0.2., ndN). Obviously point for this genre on C64.
it runs perfectly in emulation on VICE or
on C64 mini or Maxi. Sales in these weeks have been positive
and the author is already at work to continue
The game is sold on the author's itch.ito the saga. We can't wait!
page (you can find it in the description) at
the fantastic price of 9.99 in .crt format. by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
The cover of one of Sarah Jane Avory's
Technically, we're looking at a piece of novels on which the game is based.

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 GAME TESTING

COTTON 2: MAGICAL
Year: 1997
Editor: Tecmo
Developer: Success

NIGHT DREAMS Genre: Shoot em up

Platform: Sega Saturn

Halloween... Rays of white light across and the little puffy lobsters are
the screen, flaming scarlet dragons incredibly cute! As each level flows
roar from the wand, frozen bright blue through multiple scenario segments,
enemies bounce off the walls, and in the eyes never tire. Populated with
general many things explode and well animated and hand-drawn
shatter in ways that seem "oh-so- creatures that seem to come straight
painful but oh-so-cute." This little out of The Nightmare Before
haunted fairy tale offers many Christmas , the world of Cotton has
opportunities to use, abuse and master left me breathless for joy.
your techniques, all in a world so Demons who take off their top hat fly
beautiful that you will blissfully drool around the world, Jack O'Lanterns
all the time... who vomit vegetables flying in the
Sometimes you know something sky, Venus's flytraps chew on Cotton's
special awaits you. Maybe it's the broom, and winged demons from hell
bright, lively cover. Maybe it's the nice hurl their pitchforks through the sky's
free 12-month calendar packaged skies. But even if they are demons of
inside. In that case, you'd be right: hell, they are so elegant that you can't
Cotton 2 is really something special. help but want to embrace them! I
Yet another excellent Saturn shooter, guess what I'm saying is that the
yet another available only in Japan... game takes on a dark tone but
but not ordinary in any way. Quite somehow keeps it carefree and fun.
true, the Cotton series is a typical Eyes are just a single sense; it takes
Turbo shooter, full of personality but more than just living room light games
not overly unusual; however, the to conjure up a truly magical world!
episode of Sega Saturn is much more! While the original Cotton used what
Since the first game got its fair share might best be described as a strange
of fame, the developer Success mix of rock/techno/pop, this version
immediately began to reassemble a takes a more synth-classical approach
cute, but gloomy, fairytale world. to the soundtrack. This translates
In Cotton 2, take control of the into melodies that demonstrate an
adorable "Cotton" witch (or, once the incredible wealth of themes, but still
game is over, her exuberant rival contemporary in nature. Maybe the
Appli). best part is that the music never
Accompanied by your almost naked repeats. The levels are long, but the
fairy friend Silk, who doesn't really musical tracks are even longer.
do much but yells at you during
intervals, you'll float and fight through Unfortunately, you can't play the
fog-covered castles, gentle green hills songs directly from the CD and there
and even the depths of the ocean. is no music test mode to unlock... In
No, flying in the water doesn't make all seriousness, from the introductory
any sense, but it looks really great theme, to the final theme, passing

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 GAME TESTING

through the music in the options menu, pitchforks that are thrown at you by
it's a magical experience like no other. the infernal demons? Just take the OUR FINAL SCORE
But in today's world, everyone knows pitchforks in midair and throw them
that sweet images and sounds alone, back at them! In addition, you can » Gameplay 95%
although important, are not enough to actually tear the heads off the dragons Rich in combinations, special
create a truly exceptional shooter. and throw the cute and confused weapons, bonuses, visual
The thing that stands out in Cotton 2, pumpkins against the decapitated effects. You will never get tired
and I mean it really stands out from all bodies. Now, if this isn't nice, I don't of it.
the aspiring Rtype-Thunderforce- know what is. Forgive my exuberance,
» Longevity 90%
Gradius, is the engaging gameplay. but this game is exactly this: exuberant! Not easy to play but it's
It's really very easy to learn and learn, beautiful, absurdly beautiful!
The depth of the technique involved but it's abnormally deep and crazy fast
here simply drowns the competition. and... well... fun!
Cotton may have "only" five different
weapons, but the depth of this game I'd be remiss if I didn't mention chain
lies in the way those weapons are used. combos. When you hit an enemy with
Let's start digging. Not only can you a powerful shot, it remains trapped in
tap the A button for a quick dose of a sphere of energy. For example, you
eye-pleasing pain, but you can also hit something with a stream of fire and
perform special attacks! Double tap it becomes a ball of fire. You can then
and fire: drop a rolling bomb. Press pick up the fireball and throw it! As it
back and then forward for a concentrated bounces off enemies, it accumulates
explosion of blazing fire, impetuous "chain strokes" (and sometimes even
wind or so on. Back and forth? A diffused sets fire to those enemies!).
shot in Contra style, whether it's a Since innovative controls make this
multitude of light rays or ice splinters. game completely different from the
And that's just scratching the surface. competition, anyone who expects to
play "a nice Gradius" will die quickly
Now let's dig a little deeper. Not content and miserably.
to carry a single weapon at a time, Almost no enemy in this game can be
Cotton carries an escort of up to three. killed with a single shot (normal). You
Why is that? Press C to unleash your need to use your special attacks. Cotton
currently brandished weapon in a single herself is pretty big, which makes it
ultimate attack: crimson red dragons, hard to dodge everything on screen.
gigantic glowing rays, huge tornadoes, You need to use the grab and combo
or ice storms filled with fragments. So, chains feature to protect yourself.
you have two weapons left. Fortunately,
replacements are plentiful (as well as If you're a fan of platformers and
upgrades to increase your basic shooting shooters, then this little witch tale offers
power). plenty of opportunities to use, abuse
and master your techniques, all in a
Is that it? Of course not! Dig deep and world so beautiful that you'll blissfully
you will discover a source of creativity. drool all the time. It may not be the
See, even if he looks like a shooter, he best game of all time, but Cotton 2 is
thinks Cotton 2 is a platformer! As you unique and worth every shiny penny.
make your way through each level, you Try it on a real Saturn or emulation…
can actually grab and launch enemies it's worth it!
at the push of a button. If you touch
the button repeatedly, you can beat by Ingrid Poggiali
your enemies to death with the bodies
of their friends! Tired of dodging the
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 73 of 93
 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021
Editor Spacebot Interactive
Genre: ARPG

DRAGONBORNE Platform: Game Boy

Website: https://
www.spacebot-interactive.com/
product-page/dragonborne-
physical-english-version

The Game Boy would not have been At least the game has a slightly more
the very first portable system with complex story than the norm, but it
interchangeable games, this honor still manages to capture the
probably goes to the Microvision that atmosphere.
precedes the GB of 10 years, but it The fantasy world of the game is the
has certainly been by far one of the typical one and the style is exploration
most influential. Still today there are seen in other titles of the genre Action
those who love the old gray brick of Rpg, perhaps nothing innovative at
Nintendo, so much so they can do first impact but each area of the game
everything through its directional demonstrates a depth of action and
cross and its two buttons. a plot able to glue us to the screen of
Just think of Kenobit, alias of Fabio the small laptop.
Bortolotti, who uses it to make music
and does it really well. The presentation of the game is good.
There are also those who develop Simple but impactful title screen. The
new games and do so in a very optimal graphics are composed with the
way. canonical 4 shades of green and
resemble the Final Fantasy graphics
Dragonborne is one of these new titles for characterization and cleanliness
for the small handheld, which received during the game. In fact, to be honest,
a physical version on a cartridge and the sprites are very inspired by the
a digital one on its new release. soft Square series and it can only be
But how does it work nowadays a a good thing.
game designed for an already
underpowered hardware in 1989? The combat system looks more like
The story of the game opens with the the original Pokémon series, with our
disappearance of the protagonist's character on the left side of the screen,
father and the Dragontooth bandits while a large and impressive enemy
who attack the village. At this point sprite occupies the right side. Very
it will be up to us to dress up as the detailed enemies that make the clashes
hero, clean up the village and find out pleasant to look at.
where our father has gone.
Our main character is a boy with a The sound section does not shine in
special connection to the mythical the music scene of the games for this
dragon people. console. The music is pleasant but
Normally a cliché plot like this would repetitive and the sound effects are
be negative nowadays, but very functional. Overall above average
Dragonborne is an intentionally retro but you could do a little bit more.
born game and GB games were not Dragonborne might seem like a typical
known for their deep and complicated console role-playing game of the time.
plots. Cities to visit, enemies to fight, puzzles

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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 85%
Simple but effective control
system. Excellent for this type
of console.

» Longevity 75%
Not difficult but fully in line
with the genre of the game to
which it belongs.

to solve and so on. All the usual things. becomes enjoyable to explore.
But the fundamental aspect of gdr, the I liked the simple game system and the
level growth, is missing. graphic search, slightly less the sound
You do not gain experience by defeating but it is not decisive.
enemies or level up.
If you have a Gb you can not not order
It's actually more like an adventure on the site this little jewel.
game than a traditional JRPG, but with
a turn-based combat system. As we P.S. The game is available (with the
progress through the game we will gain same graphic setting) also in PC format.
new items that are critical to overcoming You can find it on Steam.
obstacles and will have to solve some
simple puzzles. by Ingrid Poggiali
The puzzles themselves are the simplest
type and it is understandable if you
think about the hardware on which this
game runs. Many boil down to simple
puzzles with block movement or multiple
trial and error style puzzles. Interesting
the implementation of the exchange
of objects with some non-playing
characters in the game. This allows
our character to commit to redeeming
some objects that are crucial to the
success of his search.

Concluding thoughts.
Dragonborne is a pleasant adventure
game developed with two things in
mind: the native hardware and the type
of player.
It is not as complicated as some games
of the same genre but at the same time

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 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021
Developer: UnEpic Fran

UNMETAL
Genre: Stealth Games
Platform: Windows, Playstation
Vita, Ps4 and Nintendo Switch
Website: https://
www.epicgames.com/store/it/p/
unmetal

Sneaky, funny and just a little,

annoying!
It's very rare to find a comedy game
that really makes you laugh. Comedy
is often a subjective genre, which is
why comedy films have this tendency
not to be correctly reviewed in the
magazines.
On the one hand, what makes them
difficult is the average between the
comedy of the film and your sense of
humor and whether this combination
will entertain you. the Metal Gear series. Although it was
This is where UnMetal comes in. A written as if the author was a 12-
parody game based on the original year-old conspiracy theorist in acid,
games of Metal Gear on MSX that also Hideo Kojima's most famous series
combines different points of pop was treated with an air of exaggerated
culture, movies like Tropic Thunder seriousness. UnMetal brings up
and Hot Shot and really incredible something where many parody games
moments that will leave us bent by fail. It actually manages to be a fun
laughter. game to play, clearly taking the original
UnMetal is an action/stealth game game for the backgrounds without
that puts us in the shoes of Jasse Fox, ever neglecting the stealth moments
a random civilian who has to escape so dear to the Konami series.
from a military prison after being Paradoxical situations and moments
arrested for a crime he didn't commit. at McGiver aside, UnMetal is not an
As he moves through the prison he easy game. He'll keep us busy between
encounters other characters and is
involved in some kind of plot to start
World War III and, heroically, must
do his best to save the world.
All this using a combination of crazy
stealth skills and pure stupid luck,
facing numerous bosses, mutated
creatures and soldiers of all kinds and
genres.
If there was ever a series of games
she had to take less seriously, it was

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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 85%
Nice game dynamics and
simple, fun stealth gameplay.

» Longevity 80%
Some bosses are pretty tough
and certain non-sense
moments will have you asking
"why?".
laughs to make poor Jasse live. Knowing Technically it is a tribute to Metal Gear
how to use the recovered items at the with well made retro graphics and a
right time and with the correct timing large sound compartment.
to move forward in the game will become The Fox dubber, or the "Bat Dad" of
essential. youtube, is memorable. Definitely trash
The gameplay works really well with but effective.
the plot and the humorous dialogues. In conclusion, if you are looking for a
It's fun to understand the sneaky different, irreverent and "particular"
scenarios and puzzles while non-sense game, UnMetal deserves to be installed
dialogues will ease the tension to solve on your devices.
the puzzles (memorable description of
the moat before the challenge with the by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
grenade man).
The entire game takes place in flashback,
while the hero tells his story. While he
remembers things or invents them in
a healthy way, the gameplay changes.
There are even completely hidden areas
that can only be “remembered” by
completing object puzzles from other
parts of the layer. This can affect
everything and change the course of
the game.
The game has a very strange feeling
of "Trolling", with some choices that
seem to work but then eventually do
not work, ruining the long-term plans.
In almost all cases, this strange feeling
does not lead to devastating
consequences even if it leaves us
baseless and confused.
The game system is correct although
a reconfiguration of the control keys
is preferable to avoid chaos on the
joypad.

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 GAME TESTING

THE SWARM IS
Year: 2021
Developer: Minilop
Genre: Action

COMING
Platform: ZX Spectrum 48k and
128K
Website: https://minilop.itch.io/
swarm

Next B, year 2122. Planet colonized

for the purpose of extracting a material
called Proximium.
Scientists have discovered that
Proxium has a unique characteristic.
Allows distortion of the space/time
continuum.

Experiments with this rare material

have been successful in allowing
teleportation to move non-living
objects through space/time in a matter
of seconds.
Scientists working on the alpha lunar
base are also working to improve the
ZX MAT, a change that will also allow
living forms to move quickly between mechanics and controls.
dimensions and time. Missions 2,3 and 4 require access
But something goes wrong and the codes that will only be granted by
xenomorphic catastrophe pours into successfully completing the previous
the base. mission. The good thing is that there
We'll play the role of Brenner, an are multiple codes and they are
engineer who works at Alpha Base. generated based on the progress of
We will have the task of exploring and the game, the difficulty of the game
understanding how to annihilate the and the performance in the game itself.
alien threat.
This makes the title really very varied
What a beautiful game! Frenzied, with and will allow us to approach the
well-balanced difficulty and well- game in different ways.
developed. A title that mixes the
elements of action of Alien Breed Graphically well detailed and easy to
(which is inspired by the view from understand. It moves well and has
above) with elements of exploration no particular graphic glitches or
and logic that remind us of the classic slowdowns. A clean job.
Space Hulk Tactical. In the 128k version the soundtrack
is present and is rather disturbing, in
The game is divided into 4 mission the 48k version we have some basic
files available in 128k and 48k versions. sound effects but still well made.
To these four files is added the training
mission that I strongly advise you to The control system supports Kemston
try first to understand the game and Sinclair joysticks, but I much

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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 90%
Customizable control system
with both keyboard and
joystick. Simple to play and
well developed.

» Longevity 95%
Huge game. Various maps,
great variety of fights and
opponents to blast. Not only is
it reminiscent of the
aforementioned Alien Breed or
Space Hulk, but it is as frantic
as a Doom with a top-down
view.

preferred to play with the keyboard,

customizing it to my liking given the
amount of controls we can use during
the game.

The title is available on the itch.io

platform for only £2.99 and occupies
1 mb.
It works correctly on the main ZX
Spectrum emulators.

Don't miss it. Blasting xenomorphs is

always a priceless satisfaction on our
8-bit machines.

by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 79 of 93

 GAME PREVIEW

Year: 2001
Developer: Stainless Steel

EMPIRE EARTH
Studios
Music: Ed Lima, Steve Maitland
Editor: Sierra on-line (Sierra
Entertainment)
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Platform: PC

In 1997, a young team of developers, each one follows its own plot that
Ensemble Studios, published Age of takes up the main historical events
Empires, the first of a successful series (excluding the Russian campaign,
that will soon be acquired by Microsoft. totally imaginary).

Rick Goodman, producer of the series, The expansion "The Art of Conquest",
began working on a more ambitious developed by Mad Doc Software, adds
project, and in 2001 Sierra a new era, the space age, revealing
Entertainment (at the time Sierra on- only a change of textures and models,
line) published Empire Earth. with the only innovations represented
by new units and campaigns, the latter
This title has many features in common are a Roman, a peaceful one and an
with Age of Empires, adding others Asian. Units are also assigned special
from the Civilization series, namely abilities.
boundaries and all historical eras.

The graphics have also been

significantly improved compared to
Age of Empires, presenting themselves
entirely in 3D, with more detailed
models and a terrain that this time
presents more defined hills and
mountains.

An unfavorable note goes to the

artificial intelligence a little lacking,
which is compensated by providing
bonuses to opponents controlled by
AI, but this does not affect the game
experience. There is also a multiplayer
mode. The game editor has been structured
differently from usual, it is in fact
The history mode is divided between divided into two sections, one for the
various historical periods, imagining creation of civilizations and one for
also a hypothetical future, starting maps. A useful division for those
from ancient Greece up to a futuristic interested in modding .
Russia.
The various campaigns are In general, the title is presented as a
disconnected from each other and successful experiment, merging
Page 80 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENG YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 11
 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 70%
The game offers a good
campaign, expanded by the
expansion, and skirmish, as
well as an unfailing multiplayer
mode. The AI, while not really
affecting the gameplay
experience, remains a bit
lacking.

» Longevity 80%
The campaign provides about
twenty hours of play, but the
skirmish, multiplayer, as well
as playable civilizations and
elements from different titles in the the expansion pack, provide
good replay value.
right way, also winning the "Game of
the Year" award in 2001.

The music is very nice and iconic.

A good title, highly recommended

especially if you are passionate about
old-fashioned strategy games, but also
if you are looking for something different
from the usual. Can be found at a very
low price in Gold edition on GoG.com

by Maurizio Aaron Diamanti

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 81 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021

INCA MAN
Editor: Amiten Games
Genre: Platform
Platform: Amiga
Website: https://amiten.itch.io/
inca-man

A year really full of new releases for 1 mb of Ram (OCS, ECS, AGA). It also
Amiga this 2021. Lots of developers works well in emulation.
have set our Amiga on fire often It features 30 levels with increasing
creating masterpieces, other times difficulty, a classic single-player mode
giving us pleasant games. and the ability to double play both
cooperatively and in the much more
fun VERSUS way (stealing diamonds
will ruin friendship… you are warned!).

It is a product that can be downloaded

from the site that I have put in the
description and it is a "free offer".
Graphically it is very pleasant and
very "classic". Beautiful colors and
cute animations.
Inca Man is a fixed-screen platform
where the main purpose is to retrieve Even the music is what is expected
as many diamonds as possible without from the titles of this genre.
being killed by terrible creatures from Simple to play and quite long-lived,
the tombs and then access the next but maybe the mechanics after a while
stage. are repetitive and tiring.
Our protagonist is unarmed and can It reminded me a lot of King's Valley
only jump from one platform to another, for mode and setting (a nice platform
occasionally collecting some bonus released for MSX, Commodore 64 and
items. also on Amiga).

Timing and concentration make a In short, a pleasant game without

difference in order to survive in the praise or blame that deserves to be
succession of levels. put in our Amiga collection.
The game resides in a simple ADF file
and runs on any Amiga with at least by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 75%
Easy to master and to play.

» Longevity 70%
Gradually increasing in
difficulty but very monotonous
over time.

Page 82 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENG YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 11
 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021

PRINCE OF
Developer: Rensoup
Genre: Action/Platform
Platform: Atari XL/XE

PERSIA
Website: https://atariage.com/
forums/topic/298914-
unicorns-season-prince-of-
persia-for-the-a8/#comments

Wonderful conversion! The game took years of work, but it

The long-awaited porting of the classic was worth it.
1989 platform by Jordan Mechner Developed based on Jordan Mechner's
Prince of Persia arrived a few hours original code and Bitshifters' BBC
ago (I am writing at 22 and 25 on micro conversion, the game has been
October 24, 2021, exit day) on the developed to the full potential of the
Atari 8bit. machine. It runs on 128k systems or
on machines with memory expansions.
From the site we can download different
versions: 2 SD, 1 DD or Megacart.

Graphically, it's a jewel. Nice to see,

fluid, perfectly animated. The fights
are perfect, a real good job!

The other "retro" platforms were

fortunate to receive the game's porting,
including the C64 and the micro BBC,
but it seemed out of reach for Atari's
computer system first launched in
1979.

The game is all condensed on those

files. There really is everything. The
incredible playability of the title that
it carries with it since its first release.
The degree of challenge is present.

However, this did not stop the AtariAge Who could have expected it from an
guys from facing the challenge. 8bit system born in the late 1970s. OUR FINAL SCORE
This makes us understand that retro
With the additional help of other systems when exploited with current
developers always on the forum of technical knowledge, are eternal
» Gameplay 95%
It was a masterpiece when it
AtariAge, Rensoup (the developer) machines. came out and remains the
has produced something surprising same even in this version that
and for the undersigned, after a day Run to download it and play with it. technically is the most
of testing and intensive gameplay, is The game obviously runs on real enjoyable ever.
one of the best versions of the game hardware, but if you want you can
so far. Personally, I think the art style also test it in emulation with Altirra.
» Longevity 90%
It's Prince of Persia. The
goes beyond just the original version In both cases it is an experience to degree of challenge that
for Apple II, but also the 16-bit be had. pleases us old retrogamers of
computer versions. yesteryear.
by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 83 of 93

 GAME TESTING

LUFIA & THE Year: 1993

FORTRESS OF Editor: Taito/Neverland

Genre: JRPG

DOOM
Platform: Super Nintendo

Let's take a look at another hidden inspired by the Four Knights of

RPG gem on Super Nintendo. Revelation from the Book of Revelation,
The release of Final Fantasy II (Final although none of their designs or
Fantasy IV) led to an increase in powers have been taken from them.
popularity for console role-playing
games in the United States and Europe, Lufia and The Fortress of Doom begins
especially for Japanese titles. by depicting the first band of heroes,
Among the games in his wake of the Guy, Maxim, Selan (Serena in Japanese)
Square Enix saga was Lufia & The and Artea (Arty in Japanese) facing
Fortress of Doom, the debut title of the Sinistrals. In these brief moments
Japanese developer Neverland and it turns out that Maxim and Selan are
published by Taito. in love and that they have had a child.
The heroes defeat the Sinistrals and
The series continues with three while Guy and Artea manage to escape
successive titles: a prequel to SNES, with a teleportation spell, Maxim and
Lufia II: The Rise of the Sinistrals; a Selan fail to escape and die. 100 years
sequel to Game Boy Color, Lufia: The later, the Sinistrals return and it's up
Legend Returns; and a secondary to a new generation of heroes to defeat
story on Game Boy Advance – Lufia: them once again.
The Ruins of Lore. Lufia remembers a simpler version
of Final Fantasy IV .
Seven years after the release of this
last episode, the series received new Where FFIV keeps the player on edge
life in the form of a remake. Lufia II with its Active Time Battle system,
was rebuilt for Nintendo DS as Lufia: Lufia slowly builds a party of four
Curse of the Sinistrals, an action role- characters and they stay with you for
playing game that tells a modified the entire game. The casters overlap
version of the original game's story. heavily on some types of spells
(especially basic healing spells).
In Japan, the series is known as The battle command interface is on
"Estpolis Denki" ("Record of Estpolis"). a five tile cross that corresponds to
In the rest of the world the series the directional pad, making it a little
takes its name from one of the main different from the norm.
characters of the first game. Although
Lufia herself is absent from all Graphically, the game does not shine
subsequent games, the title remained. with absolute peaks. Battles are set
It also features a group of enemies up similarly to Dragon Quest, with
as recurring antagonists throughout static images of enemies lined up in
the series: the Sinistrals ("kyoushin" the center of the screen. The sprites
or "mad gods" in the Japanese of all the main characters appear at
version), four beings of evil forces the bottom next to their status windows
who regularly threaten the Earth and and carry out assorted attacks. It
must be repelled by a band of heroes makes the fight a little more visually
every time. They seem conceptually appealing. There are very few different
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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 70%
Very linear game system and
not too customizable, but
interesting in some aspects.

» Longevity 70%
The additional quest gives a
few more hours, you'll play it in
one go until the end and then
store it in your collection... and
that's it.

tilesets for the various dungeons and '94 and' 95, cancelled at the last moment
cities, so a dungeon will be visually due to the generational jump between
identical, in terms of tiles and colors, the 16-bits era and the next.
to the next dungeon.
In conclusion, it is not a perfect game,
Characters have a rigid level progression but a pleasant one. Maybe not the best
path, with no choice as to what powers of its kind on the Nintendo 16-bit
they get, what attribute bonuses they platform, but it will give you a few hours
get, or anything else. Instead, any of fun.
customization of your group members
is done through the objects. In addition I especially loved the pathos of history
to standard weapons and armor, there and some choices like the cursed objects
are accessories that can provide attribute needed in some game points.
enhancement, increase the power of To be tried.
certain spells, or increase damage
against certain types of enemies. by Roberto del Mar Pirazzini

However, in several dungeons of the

game you can get cursed objects, an
idea of the original Dungeons and
Dragons and adopted by Dragon Quest.
Cursed items cannot be unequipped
and can drain the health of the character
carrying them. Only by going to a shrine
can you remove the item so it can be
sold. There are also expendable items
that will permanently increase HP or
MP of a character or one of their
attributes. There is also an optional
subquest involving the collection of
dragon eggs scattered around the world
and the exchange of these will guarantee
extra bonuses.

The game was also scheduled to be

converted to Sega megadrive between

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 85 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Year: 2020/21

MAGIC CASTLE Developer: Team Kaiga

Genre: ARPG
Platform: Playstation

One of the most interesting things developers went ahead and released
that Sony did with the first Playstation (very calmly) a fully playable version
was to release NET YAROZE, a at the beginning of this 2021 (we also
consumer-level game development talk about it on our youtube channel
kit, aimed at students and amateurs in a mini video review).
who wanted to get into the production Admittedly we are looking at a new
of titles. title for PS1.
Even if the games produced were not At first glance it seems quite simple:
at the level of those of the big houses, we will cross random dungeons,
some were developed really well. choosing a character chosen from
Among the titles that we remember different classes (Knight, Wizard,
developed with this kit we remember Archer and Warrior). The main
Devil Dice. objective is to reach the 20th floor of
A title of NET YAROZE that the castle, where an evil sorcerer
unfortunately never saw the light of awaits us.
day at the time of its development But as we climb the various floors,
was the role-playing game that we our level will increase and we will find
present in this review: Magic Castle. new objects, spells and equipment
Developed mainly at the end of the that will make our lives “easier”.
90s (1997) it was overshadowed due One aspect of the game is the ability
to the lack of a publisher for to control the camera with the right
publication. analog stick; something that was not
However, the same Kaiga Team common at the time.

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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 85%
In four is a lot of fun. Nice
game system and camera
support.

» Longevity 60%
Nice to play but not to be
underestimated. Some points
are really hard.

The graphic style is pleasant, with still monsters are real exterminators and
today appreciable cell shading and nice we find them right away.
animations.
Beautiful soundtrack that changes The game is freely downloadable from
dynamically depending on the game the developers site (you can reach it
environment, another anomalous feature by searching on your favorite search
in an "independent" game. engine), but if you want to support the
Initially we will be really weak and we developers you can buy the soundtrack
will have to be very careful during the in digital format or CD.
clashes and in equipping the character
at its best. Magic Castle is a good title, perhaps
not really suitable for the casual gamer
Several hidden areas are present and and more specific for those who want
will thank us by donating some essential something stronger.
items for the success of our quest.
A quick tip: for beginners I would by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini
recommend the use of the archer. The
other characters are manageable once
properly upgraded, but from the
beginning to go far, it is advisable to
have a weapon at a distance.

To mention one of the most interesting

features of the game; cooperation.
We can play up to four players and this
makes everything very fun and
competitive.
Even fighting the hordes of enemies in
four becomes less unnerving and
frustrating than, of course, single.
The only flaw in the multiplayer session
is that when our character dies… he
dies permanently! There's no chance
of bringing him back to life. We must
wait until the end of the session. Limiting.
Another point is precisely the level of
difficulty. It is not an easy game, although
it may appear.
Some levels are impossible without
proper character management. Some

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 87 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Year: 2015

QUEST FORGE:
Editor: PIKO Interactive/
Ludosity
Genre: RPG
PLatform: Nintendo NES

BY ORDER OF KINGS Website: https://

pikointeractive.com/new-soft-
release-quest-forge-for-nes/

The Nintendo NES is a small be able to obtain eight enchanted

“venerable” console. Launched back artifacts that will increase the various
in 1983 in Japan (in its version called Skills, helping the hero in his adventure.
Famicom) it has made so much break
into the hearts of so many players The player will, of course, control the
that it makes it eternal. knight. Exploring the map reminds
us of the great classic NINTENDO “the
Like for the C64, the market of LEGEND OF ZELDA” but the turn-based
"homebrew" and independent games combat system is inspired by the
is alive and kicking with annually SECRET OF MANA where we will have
developed titles of excellent quality. to carefully play our stats and timing.
Not to mention the hack roms and
reprints of the classic titles up to the If the player manages to defeat the
phenomenal NES MAKER that allows enemy before his HP reaches zero,
us to create an 8-bit game from he will gain experience. If HP reaches
scratch. zero before the opponent's defeat,
the player is defeated and loses 1
heart/wound. It will always be possible
to challenge the same enemy
immediately, with the interruption of

Among these developers are Ludosity,

who produced this Quest Forge: from
Order of King in 2015. The game is
available both on physical cartridge
with gadgets, manual and much more,
and in digital download.
As Sir Nils, one of the knights of
Axvald's castle will have to help the
king on a dangerous mission, free the
gate of our world from a terrifying
demon and clean it from the dangerous
creatures that have entered because
of him. During the quest Sir Nils will

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 GAME TESTING

OUR FINAL SCORE

» Gameplay 90%
A different control system that
excites and makes you think.

» Longevity 90%
9 Worlds to explore.
I guess that's enough.

the enemy's HP since the previous Start – Select a statistic to update and
challenge ended. confirm.
Once you have earned 50PX, the player
will be able to improve the following Quest Forge reminds us a bit of the
features: classic Zelda and the aforementioned
S. Speed needed to start the first round Mana, but I also found similarities with
of combat the Ultima series and I particularly
V. Vitality, increases health during the liked this one.
clash
P. Power, increase the damage of our There are 9 levels to explore and many
weapon hidden objects to recover.
W. Weapon, show the current weapon Technically it is minimalist but effective.
by upgrading it. The graphics on Nes in this genre of
games is certainly superior in many
As these abilities increase, you will cases, but here it performs its function,
notice that our opponents' PX will be as well as the audio department.
less and less and it will therefore be
more difficult to raise our characteristics. The strength of the title is the gameplay
The player can press the "A" button thanks to the particular control system
during the collision when in contact that requires attention and stimulates
with the enemy to fill the power meter. different approaches to clashes from
The higher the counter at the start of the classic "attack, press the button,
the fight, the more damage Nils will do. massacre, take the coin".

The controls are those of the standard I really enjoyed this approach system.
NES. The maps are really big and the game
Movement with the directional cross. is really huge.
A – The player makes a sword appear Maybe a little monotonous monsters,
with a flashing meter. You can press it but it doesn't affect much.
the moment you come into contact A nice product that I recommend you
with the enemy. recover.
B – We will use the Super Shield but it
has a physical duration (it is consumed). by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
Select – We will scroll through the stats
when you level up.

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 89 of 93

 GAME TESTING

Year: 2021
Developer: Collettivo CRAZY

PUZZLE BOBBLE
PIRI
Genre: Puzzle game
Platform: Amstrad CPC
Website: https://
crazypiri.itch.io/puzzle-bobble

Bubble Bobble, Parasol Star, Chase

HQ, Arkanoid and New Zealand Story
with their respective soundtracks.

The work done by the Crazy Piri team

is remarkable. Colorful and well-
animated graphics and a respectable
sound sector.

The month of October has given us

several interesting titles. After the
magnificent Prince of Persia for Atari
8bit, on the same day (October 24),
was released the port of Puzzle Bobble
for the Amstrad 8Bit.

Puzzle Bobble is an iconic mid/late

90s game. A small token-eating
machine that deployed the stars of Compared to the arcade version, the
the legendary Bubble Bobble in a pointer is missing but the track of the
totally different size than the original path that follows the sphere has been
platform. maintained, useful for newbies (less
It was a unique success. for a pro gamers).

This version features 100 levels set Unfortunately the two player mode
as in the arcade version, the backdrops is missing, which greatly increases
are a repetition of 7 screens of which the overall longevity of the game.
OUR FINAL SCORE
6 of these are a tribute to the iconic
Taito titles. We will find the picture of I really liked the innovative method
of recording your scores online through » Gameplay 85%
the QR code generated by the game It's Puzzle Bobble, one of the
itself at the end of the game. The code most playable puzzle games in
history.
can be sent to developers.
» Longevity 75%
In conclusion, I can only advise you Too bad the lack of a two-
to quickly download this jewel in .dsk player version, which really
format and test it on your machines lowers the interest threshold
or in emulation. after a while. I also found
some of the stylistic choices in
the levels repetitive. But full
by Carlo Nithaiah Del Mar Pirazzini
sufficiency.

Page 90 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENG YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 11
 GAME TESTING

STREET Year: 1989

Publisher: Silverbird

WARRIORS
Genre: Beat 'em up
Platform: Commodore 64

New year according to the Celts, new

winter on the doorstep and finally it is
returning to life after almost two years of
restrictions and limitations of real life.
Yes, because we at Retromagazine are
going forward in a fluid and systematic
way to write articles and reviews because
our magazine is not only beautiful but it
is also immune! I feel in the air that this
will be a Christmas full of novelty also
from the video game point of view. On my
end I bought a Commodore 64 with some
tapes, after decades that I was without,
as I made the mistake to sell it when I
was younger.
The gameplay of the genre is now very
However, let's move on to the classic well known: there are those who want to
sliding beatings I played, observed and commit themselves to the maximum
finished with little effort: Street Warriors reaching the end of the game by trying
is one of the many sliding beatings released all the available moves, inventing the
for home computers where you play the combos, and those who are in a hurry to
role of the hero facing by yourself the see the end simply using the infallible
local town gang within various locations single-move as often happened in this
and at the end you reach the final clash genre of games.
with the boss or leader of the gang leaders.
We will begin our retraining course in a Longevity is proportional to the difficulty
cemetery not infested with ghosts or and time available; five levels may seem
zombies, but by some members of the few but in reality they will seem many if
gang, who are distinguished by the color you put the right effort into it. In addition,
of the dress, the beard, the bald etc. as I said above, you will not be able to
We will have a bag of bare-handed moves access the last level if you do not buy the
at our disposal, plus a bar that can be bomb necessary to blow up the
retrieved from enemies fallen to the ground headquarters of the gang at the end of
from the second level. At the end of each the game.
level there is a store where you can buy,
thanks to the credits dropped by the The tips and guides that I feel to give you
defeated enemies, additional energy (if when you load it are first of all to arm
you lost it during the level), extra time (it yourself with patience, try all the available
will be useful because we have a limited combinations to take confidence, collect
time to complete the entire game not the credits dropped by the defeated

OUR FINAL SCORE

renewed between one level and another) enemies and when you visit the store at
and... a bomb. Why do we need a bomb the end of every level, buy the infamous
in this game? Isn't it enough to kick, bomb as soon as possible. Lastly, I can
punch, and bar against little thugs? No, reveal a little secret that will perhaps give
you some relief: in the last level, there are
» Gameplay 45%
it isn’t! If you do not buy the bomb, you A little boring and not hard to
will not be able to access the last level no enemies to beat, but only the boss
get to the end if you find the
and the result will be a sad game over! who will just throw bottles at you for all
right move.
Speaking about graphics, I was not the sliding of the level and once you arrive
disappointed. I used to have very little in front of him... End of the little secret!
A happy and relaxing winter to you all
» Longevity 50%
expectations from a game not passed Five levels are appropriate for
under the spotlight, while the sound is in with your beloved Breadbins!
this kind of game.
the beaten style with no sound effects. by Daniele Brahimi

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD-ENG YEAR 2 - ISSUE 11 Page 91 of 93

 GAME TESTING

This issue's cover is in black and white, but the full colour image was too good to pass up. So we thought we'd
attach it as a poster. Artwork by Giuseppe Mangini inspired by the game Galaga. Enjoy it!

Page 92 of 93 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD­ENG YEAR 2 ­ ISSUE 11
Time, space and place... My fatal combo!
Referring to David's opening editorial, the lack of time is a common problem
for all retro enthusiasts, but are we sure that it is the only problem that prevents Disclaimer
us from fully enjoying our passion?
RetroMagazine World as an aperiodic
magazine entirely ad-free is a non-profit
Personally, I agree with his final comment, we will always lack the time to give project and falls off any commercial circuit.
full satisfaction to our impulses. Marco Pistorio also talked about it in an editorial All the published material is produced by
a few issues ago, even if we would dedicate an average of 5 minutes to try each the respective authors and published thanks
of the games developed for one of these machines that we love so much, it to their authorization.
would not take a lifetime to see them all. Not to mention that they are still RetroMagazine World is licensed under
developing new ones. And I'm only mentioning games, otherwise 5 minutes the terms of: Attribution-
would be a waste... NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/
But thinking about it, it's not only the lack of time that afflicts the poor retro- 4.0/
enthusiast. Let's say that someone is only interested in collecting, without
This is a human-readable summary of
necessarily having to use. Here comes into play the second variable: space. I (and not a substitute for) the license. You
challenge anyone to have the necessary space to keep in a proper way all the are free to:
jewels that he owns or would like to own. It would take a huge place, a real
museum, so many are the variety and combinations that have characterized Share — copy and redistribute the
material in any medium or format
the home computing from the 70s to 90s. Nowadays all this heterogeneity has
been lost. Is it a good or a bad thing? Probably this reflection would deserve Adapt — remix, transform, and build
space too... Good material for a next editorial. upon the material

The licensor cannot revoke these

But to my fatal combo, to remain linked to a term dear to us, a third variable is freedoms as long as you follow the
added: the place. The place understood as the room dedicated to my passion. license terms. Under the following terms:
Let's assume that I manage to carve out some time for my experiments; will is Attribution — You must give appropriate
power and an hour or two a day can be found. Let's assume that I have the credit, provide a link to the license, and
space where to place these objects that are dear to me; after all, using emulators, indicate if changes were made. You may
fpga, raspberry... I don't need all this space, my studio is enough.... So what? do so in any reasonable manner, but not
in any way that suggests the licensor
What are you complaining about? I complain about the fact that I can't leave endorses you or your use.
my wife alone with my daughter, just because I want to be with them, especially
with my daughter who is a toddler now and needs to be able to play with both NonCommercial — You may not use the
material for commercial purposes.
parents. And so I realize that I have to sacrifice some of my items and use what
jsut fit in the living room: that is a laptop with emulators... ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or
build upon the material, you must
distribute your contributions under the
Probably this is just a temporary situation, the toddler will grow up and, I hope, same license as the original.
she will want to play with me or will be at least curious to understand these
strange objects so dear to his father. But for the moment this is the situation. No additional restrictions — You may
not apply legal terms or technological
measures that legally restrict others from
Time, space and place... My fatal combo! What's yours? doing anything the license permits.

Francesco Fiorentini

RetroMagazine World-Eng
Year 2 - Issue 11 - NOVEMBER 2021

Chief Editor
Francesco Fiorentini
Managing Editor
David La Monaca
Editing Manager
Marco Pistorio
Web Management
Flavio Soldani/Giorgio Balestrieri