Ocean Software were rather well known for their licensed movie tie-in games — some of which were better (and more creative) than others.
This video game adaptation of Short Circuit, which was exclusive to 8-bit home computers, is one of their more inventive titles, combining a significant adventure game component with a possibly unbeatable arcade-style segment. The exact implementation varies a bit from platform to platform, but today we’re having a go at the 128K ZX Spectrum version!
For the longest time, movie license games were a bit of a laughing stock. That’s because they were often poorly thought out affairs that didn’t really adapt their source material in any meaningful way.
Ocean’s The Untouchables is no exception to this rule, though it was reasonably well-received back in its day for its variety of different gameplay styles, solid performance even on the Atari ST, and stiff challenge.
Said stiff challenge makes it rather hard to enjoy today, sadly, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a good crack at it! Check out my experiences in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.
The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.
