Twin World and Gemini Lead the 48K Demo Charts

TOP CHARTS

Welcome to another edition of the ZX LAND magazine charts. After a break caused by a lack of interest in this feature, the charts are back in our pages. 19 people cast their votes, so these are probably the most objective charts in the history of this magazine.

A few technical matters first. Although 19 people voted, a few of them hadn’t even got involved with the scene; others, despite having seen quite a few good demos, cast their votes for the first scene people who came to mind, because they couldn’t remember the authors of those demos. In future, please try to vote more objectively: simply load up a few demos and think a little harder about your votes. But overall, not bad!!! I’ll stop rambling and get down to the details.

SCENE

48K Demo

TWIN WORLD        30
GEMINI            28
SONG IN LINES 5    7
DIGISYNTH 2        7
UNUSED             7
MQM 4              7
FULL PSYCHO 3      7
INTERLACE          6
UNLIMITED SPIRITS  6

As you can see, the demos by the EXODUS group have completely outclassed the other productions. In my humble opinion, only new demos by the group itself... EXODUS, can threaten their position.

Mega Demo & 128K

BRANCH OF MIND    29
SHOCK             26
LSD               23
NMI 3             23
AGONY             16
HYPERSONIC II     12

The older productions are ruling the charts, probably because the new mega-demos are of a very low standard in every respect. That’s why there aren’t really any fairly new demos from England here, and even the latest INNER UNIVERSE probably won’t make the charts—but let’s not prejudge it.

Best CODER

DC PAK            28
DURA              19
MEZ               13
BUSY              11
BZYK              11
JORDAN            11
AMST               9
KAZ                9

The EXODUS coder DC PAK is unquestionably in first place. After a string of successful demos, this probably comes as no surprise to anyone. Apart from that, the chart is ruled by coders who left the scene several years ago. We’re all waiting impatiently for JORDAN’s demo, which is apparently “nearly finished.”

Best GRAPHICS ARTIST

CAT-MAN           40
LUK               21
PYZA              18
DSA               17
DEMON             11
OMEGA             11

It’s hard to comment on CAT-MAN’s lead in any other way than to say: he’s amazing. Although LUK showed what he can do in KVL’s latest demos, and may be able to threaten the CAT. PYZA made it into the charts even before ILLUSION released any demo, and I think he could also be a serious contender. His place in the charts is (if you can put it that way) accidental, and he owes it to his friends, who sometimes didn’t even know other people on the scene... Either way, he made the list.

Best MUSICIAN

QJETA             28
KVM               25
AGENT-X           24
KRISS             22
L.A.              10

The Czechs (or perhaps the Slovaks?) are on the offensive. Agent-X, until now considered the best musician, is only in third place. But the differences are so small that everything could change, especially since KRISS hasn’t said his last word yet.

JOYSTICK'land

I’ll refrain from commenting on this part of the charts, which concerns games. New games are practically no longer being made, so we have to vote for the good old titles.

SHOOTERS

R-TYPE             15
FLYING SHARK       12
MIDNIGHT RESIST.   10
SPACE GUN          10
UN.SQUADRON        10
NAVY SEALS          9
ASTROMARINE CORPS   7
ROBOCOP             7

RACING GAMES

CHASE H.Q          19
CRAZY CARS 2       12
HARD DRIVIN'        9
OVERLANDER          9
LOTUS TURBO ESPRIT  7
CONTINENTAL CIRCUS  6

BEAT-'EM-UPS

TARGET RENEGADE    16
RENEGADE           14
TURTLES II          9
DOUBLE DRAGON       8
STREET FIHGTER II   8
STREET FIGHTER I    5
FIST +              5

PUZZLE GAMES

TETRIS 2           24
LORDS OF CHAOS     21
PUZZNIC            14
ATOMOIX            13
LASER SQUADRON     10

PLATFORM GAMES

DIZZY COLLECTION   26
SEYMOUR AT THE ... 11
ADDAMS FAMILY      10
TOTAL RECALL        8
SOLOMON'S KEY       7

That’s how things stand today. To finish, here’s a short summary.

The following received votes:

27  demos
 8  megademos & 128kb
11  coders
 8  musicians
11  graphics artists
22  shooters
25  platform games
16  beat-'em-ups
18  puzzle games
16  racing games

List of voters:

AGENT-X
CAT-MAN
CATHERINE
DANIEL BOCHNIA
DC PAK
DROZOL
DUFF
GOFER
JACEK MICHALAK
KRISS
LIT STEVE
MAłY
MANIU
MAREK ROMANOWSKI
PYZA
RADXCELLENT
REYMAN
SCALMAN
WILL

DROZOL

P.S. I’ll add that this time only votes submitted on the voting card will be counted.