Classic Software Review
I have this fantasy... no, not the one involving David Gedge and the egg salad, that one's private and very rude. I would love to travel back in time to 1983 with a copy of R-type in my pocket. Then I would release it and the Speccy world would go MENTAL! The Speccy can't do that they would shout! and that is what Ultimate did with Knight Lore. They wrote it in 1986 and travelled back in time two years.
Unless you were into Spectrums then you just cannot imagine the fuss this game kicked up. It came out of nowhere with a brilliant new programming technique already tackled by Sandy White of Ant Attack fame. Sadly that game isn't a classic due to an awkward control system. The game itself is one of exploring a castle and collecting potions to put in a wizards pot, overcoming traps, puzzles and weird yet cute creations along the way.
Not only was the game beautiful to look at, it was also difficult to play, ensuring top value for money. Ultimates delicious packaging and the air of mystery they created as faceless bods from Ashby-De-La-Zouch was a blast of fresh air through the mainly 2D Manic Miner clones of the time. But the really impressive thing about Knight Lore is you can load this game tomorrow and it still wouldn't look dated. I think they came from space...
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