 On the Amstrad, we've got games, galore, we'll play forevermore. Ah, the Amstrad CPC. That was my arcade haul of the 1980s. These were the golden days for me. I love the bright vivid colour scheme of the Amstrad CPC. Ocean software, Elite, US Gold all use the Amstrad screenshots on the back of their games. This video, however, will focus on the games that everybody's forgotten about. True gems that hardly ever get a mention. Games I sunk hundreds of hours into. These were truly exciting times to be a gamer back in the day. And there was lots of originality and innovation. Right then, here we go. Now this one is a bit like looking at Madonna in 2023. So it helps if you squint a lot. I'm not suggesting for a second that Rocketball is ugly. I was talking about Madonna underneath the undergrowth. So in other words, graphics aside, is an early horizontal take on speedball waiting to get out. The ball gets fired from a cannon and then you have to go after it, send bodies flying all whilst trying to score in the opponent's goal. It's a terrific game and there's lots of skill levels as well. And you can deliver devastating damage. We used to play it all the time as kids and this one is definitely a forgotten title. And you know what? It's great fun. The only thing missing is ice cream. So Star Glider isn't a forgotten game on the 16 bits, but it's a forgotten game on the Amstrad CPC. And that bit is one of life's mysteries because it's up there with the likes of Elite. I've heard some muppets say that it's one of the worst games ever, but for me it's fast, the action is frantic and the same challenge that you get on the 16 bit titles is offered up here. Yes, it's slower than the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, but let's not forget we're talking about a Z80 CPU. Sadly the music and the speech didn't survive the 16 bit translation, but 100% everything else has been crammed right up to the rafters. Here's one that hardly ever gets a mention and I'm guilty of this as well. Everybody agrees that Laser Squad is the daddy, but on the Amstrad CPC this is the mummy which makes Julian Gollup its creator, God. Now there's only one level to play on, but you have to think back and remember that this was only £1.99. It personally took me a couple of weeks of practice to actually beat this game, so back in the day that was money well spent and I have to say it's one of the Amstrad's better titles and I kid you not miles ahead of some full price games. It's one I often reach for when I've got some time to burn and it never disappoints. At least once a week at work I'm lucky enough to be able to visit the local driving range and I always think about this game I spent hours playing leaderboard. Now it must be said I must be clear I'm rubbish at the real thing, but on the Amstrad CPC I won tournaments. Now I'm not going to lie to you I did prefer this on the Commodore 64 and that's mostly down to the graphics and the fact that there's a bug on the Amstrad CPC version where every now and again you can't put on the green but luckily over the years I worked out how to play around it. It doesn't hurt the game, it's more of a smudge and for me personally it's one of the best if not the best golf game ever. Hardly ever get to mention I remember reading a review in Amstrad Action and I went out the same day and bought it and I've never looked back it's a fantastic game a really good challenge you've got to map it otherwise you'll just end up going around in circles and for a while I actually did but today I know it like the back of my hand and I love to jump in play it because there's more to it than meets the eye you've got to find keys you've got to pick up objects, upgrades and escape what is essentially a maze if you've never played it invest the time give it a go I promise you you'll really like it once you get into it I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is probably one of the best 8-bit games ever of all time but nobody's ever played it it's tricky at first but once you get your head around things I know it doesn't look it but it's a thing of beauty I've not played it on the other 8-bits only ever on the Amstrad and it's better than the original Towsetti I doubt I'm going to convince anyone in 2023 to go back and play this but those that did play it will know exactly where I'm coming from fingers crossed I'm not the only one and I kid you not Academy is a force to be reckoned with I've had fun revisiting an old stomping ground now this one has absolutely everything it's a game for everyone you can jump straight in and straight out and my goodness the flying sections as some of the fastest I've ever experienced on an 8-bit I put absolute hours hours into this game especially wandering around the underground complex we had no right to expect a game of this quality on an 8-bit but the creator Paul Wokes who sadly died in 2017 pulled it off and the impression this game left on me on my young mind just can't be put into words a dimension above the rest now Defender is probably one of my favourite arcade games of all time no question and Guardian 2 on the Amstrad CPC is every bit as exciting every bit as fun and the quality conversion is there for everybody to see the Amstrad CPC in its early life had some fantastic arcade conversions a lot of them were clones but they played identical to the arcade original and if you've never played the arcade conversion of Donkey Kong from Ocean Software you're missing out you need to go and track that down now and play it easily the best of the 8-bits some aren't going to like this but for me as good as if not better than Arkanoid and yes another one that's been massively forgotten on the Amstrad it's also easier to get into than Arkanoid the initial learning curve is not as steep but don't get me wrong I love Arkanoid I also love Impact that type of game that I can't get enough of and I really like the challenge so for me this one is not just a forgotten game on the Amstrad CPC it's also a forgotten classic if you've never played it it's definitely worth adding it to your collection a good old game workshop Space Crusade in fact I was talking about this this very game the other day at work unbelievable memories and it's another game where I've never met another living soul that's ever played it on the Amstrad now the graphics on these types of games are never going to bowl anybody over and the sound effects aren't worth diddly but my goodness this is up there with Laser Squad and the RTS game Vulcan once you get into this game trust me you will not be able to put it down well I hope you've enjoyed this video if you did please like, subscribe and leave a comment until next time bye