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CPC quick tests: Chicago 90, Bruce Lee

July 24, 2022 — Nico Cartron

New variation of my Amstrad games tests: quicker ones, but 2 in the same article! Let's go!


Background

If you've followed my previous retrogaming tests, such as Rick Dangerous or Mach 3, you know that I'm trying to do a rather complete test, by spending in total roughly a maximum of one hour on the game.

I wanted to introduce some more games on a regular basis, but without spending that much time - so here we go, moving forward, those "CPC quick tests" will include 2 games, with me spending a lot less time on each game.

I hope you enjoy it!

Game 1: Chicago 90

  • Release: 1989
  • Editor: Microids
  • Type: Car / Cops and Robbers

Surprisingly taking place in... Chicago, this game allows you playing either a cop, or a robber. Being a cop, your goal is to stop the robber from escaping the city, and being a robber, your goal is precisely to escape the city and avoid the cops' cars.

You first select which side you want to play, the difficulty, and whether you want to use a joystick or your CPC's keyboard:

And here is where the fun begins: when playing a cop, which keys shall I use? After some testing, I figured out that arrows (up/down/left/right) allowed me to move the cursor, and that Shift allowed to "validate".

Just for the record, here are the keys I had to use:

  • Shift = fire
  • Change car: number (1-6) + L
  • Switch gear (Drive/Rear): R
  • "Kill a police car": K

As a cop: you have 6 different cars, and a map showing you where the robber's car is, so you have to switch between those cars to chase the robber, block the roads etc.

As a robber: obviously you only have one, red car :)

Here is the screen you'll get if you manage to arrest the robber:

And the one you'll get if, as a robber, you manage to escape:

Conclusion: a nice little game; I remember playing it quite a lot when I was young. I'll confess I wouldn't play Chicago 90 again and again, because its a bit repetitive, and also controlling the cars is not easy.

Game 2: Bruce Lee

  • Release: 1984
  • Editor: U.S. Gold
  • Type: Fight/Platform

Bruce Lee is one of the very first games I played with I got my CPC, and I still like it simplicity.
The "configuration" screen is a lot simpler than Chicago 90, but at least the controls/keys are displayed straight away, making things a lot simpler:

You can play alone or with another player (which I had never tried before writting that article: it only consists in having 2 players playing one after the other), and choose whether you want the enemies to be played by the computer or the opponent.

The goal of the game is simple: you need to collect all the lanterns of a level, which will unlock the gate giving access to the next level. All of this while fighting against a black ninja and the so-called Green Yamo.

You can run, jump, and kick your opponents, which will make them temporarily disappear and give you a chance to more easily pick up the lanterns.

Conclusion: Bruce Lee is a game I can easily come back to - I haven't spent enough time on it to finish it, but will eventually :)
The difficulty level is not high, meaning you can easily make your way to the next level.


Tags: Amstrad, Geek, Emulation, Retrogaming


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