Cassette 50

Cassette 50
Developer(s) Various
Publisher(s) Cascade Games Ltd
Platform(s) Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Oric 1, Oric Atmos, Vic 20, ZX81, ZX Spectrum
Release date(s) 1983
Genre(s) Compilation
Mode(s) Single-player

Cassette 50 (released in Spain as Galaxy 50 - 50 Excitantes Juegos) is a compilation of games published by Cascade Games Ltd in 1983, and is an early example of shovelware - computer software marketed primarily on the basis of its sheer quantity rather than other factors such as quality or playability.

The compilation was advertised in home computer magazines, with buyers also receiving a Timex digital calculator watch with each purchase.

According to the instructions, "the games will provide many hours of entertainment for all the family at a fraction of the cost of other computer games".[1] The games were universally considered awful.[2]

In an interview, Matthew Lewis, the author of Galaxy Defence, said he wrote the game when he was 14 and submitted it in response to a small, anonymous ad in a local newspaper. He was paid £10 for his game, but he had to give up all rights to it. Galaxy Defence took 12 hours to code and the graphics were done by his father, Ernest Lewis.[3]

Content

The games featured differed depending on the platform.

Acorn Electron / Commodore 64 / ZX81

  • Attacker
  • Barrel Jump
  • Black Hole
  • Boggles
  • Cannonball Battle
  • Derby Dash
  • Do Your Sums
  • Dynamite
  • Exchange
  • Force Field
  • Galactic Attack
  • Galactic Dog Fight
  • Ghosts
  • Hangman
  • High Rise
  • Inferno
  • Intruder
  • Ivasive Action
  • Jet Flight
  • Jet Mobile
  • Lunar Landing
  • Maze Eater
  • Motorway
  • Nim
  • Noughts and Crosses
  • Old Bones
  • Orbitter
  • Overtake
  • Parachute
  • Phaser
  • Planets
  • Plasma Bolt
  • Pontoon
  • Psion Attack
  • Radar Landing
  • Rats
  • Rocket Launch
  • Sitting Target
  • Ski Jump
  • Smash the Windows
  • Space Mission
  • Space Search
  • Space Ship
  • Star Trek
  • Submarines
  • Tanker
  • The Force
  • Thin Ice
  • Tunnel Escape
  • Universe

The games Exchange and The Force, although listed on the inlay, are missing from the Acorn Electron version, meaning only 48 games actually appeared on the cassette.

ZX Spectrum

  • Alien
  • Alien Attack
  • Attacker
  • Barrel Jump
  • Basketball
  • Blitz
  • Boggles
  • Bowls
  • Breakout
  • Cargo
  • Cars
  • Cavern
  • Crusher
  • Cypher
  • Draggold
  • Field
  • Fishing Mission
  • Frogger
  • Galaxy Defence
  • Inferno
  • Jet Mobile
  • Labyrinth
  • Laser
  • Lunar Lander
  • Martian Knock Out
  • Mazer Eater
  • Microtrap
  • Motorway
  • Munch
  • Muncher
  • Mystical Diamonds
  • Nim
  • Orbit
  • Pinball
  • Race Track
  • Raiders
  • Sketch Pad
  • Ski Jump
  • Ski Run
  • Skittles
  • Solar Ship
  • Space Mission
  • Space Search
  • Star Trek
  • Stomper
  • Tanks
  • Ten Pins
  • The Race
  • The Skull
  • Voyager

Reception

The games, almost without exception written in BASIC, were deemed to be of poor quality. They have been described as "so bad it caused physical discomfort",[4] "beyond awful",[5] and "a piece of crap collection".[6] The poor quality of the games inspired the annual Crap Games Competitions (for example the comp.sys.sinclair Crap Games Competition[7] and the C64 Crap Game Compo[8]) and a now-defunct site reviewing bad games.[9]

See also

References

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