Lost Bombuzal Ports for Spectrum and CPC Emerge
The ghost of a puzzle game, Bombuzal, has resurfaced from the digital ether, revealing that the Commodore 64 favourite was once destined for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, a tantalising glimpse into the development churn of 1988, a year when the 8-bit market was still very much alive and kicking, even as 16-bit machines like the Amiga and Atari ST were gaining ground. This discovery, brought to light by Games That Werent, shows the ambitious plans of Andromeda Software to bring the popular title to a wider British audience, a story all too familiar to those who followed the weekly magazine updates of the period.
Andromeda Software, a publisher known for arranging conversions, contracted Matthew Kydd in early 1988 to handle the Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions of Bombuzal. Matthew, a friend of Nigel Critten, received assistance from Nigel, who is well-regarded for his graphics work on Spectrum games such as BabyMan Vs Terminatots. Work on the Spectrum edition started in April 1988, with Matthew expected to provide updates every two weeks, a tight schedule that often characterised these ambitious porting programmes.
By August 1988, Andromeda was pushing Matthew to implement animated characters and tile interactions, suggesting the project was perhaps not progressing as swiftly as hoped. Later that month, discussions moved to the specific 3D graphic requirements for both the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC editions, indicating a significant amount of work was still ahead.
This period, just before the Christmas rush of 1988, was a particularly intense time for British developers, with publishers keen to fill their release schedules. The sudden halt order issued to Matthew Kydd in October 1988, with no reason given, is a stark reminder of the often-unpredictable nature of the software industry then. It makes one wonder what commercial pressures or internal decisions led Andromeda to pull the plug on a project that had clearly seen months of dedicated effort. The fact that the Amstrad CPC edition also received the same cancellation notice shows a broader strategic shift, rather than a problem specific to one platform's development.
The Unfinished Business of '88
The source, Games That Werent, obtained these details and development materials thanks to Nigel Critten, who held onto printouts and letters from the project. While no disk versions of the Spectrum or CPC code have surfaced, Nigel does possess a Commodore 64 demonstration disk of the game, then known as Bomb Race, though its accompanying editor is missing. This kind of archival material, often tucked away in boxes for decades, is absolutely vital for understanding the true scope of British microcomputer development.
What this hints at, for the preservation scene, is the sheer volume of lost work from the 8-bit era. For every game that graced the pages of Crash or Zzap!64, there were likely dozens of projects that never saw the light of day, cancelled for reasons ranging from technical difficulties to shifting market priorities. The timeline from April to October 1988 suggests a considerable amount of work was completed on Bombuzal's conversions, making the loss all the more poignant.
What Remains of Bombuzal's Lost Ports
Nigel Critten's collection includes code printouts, which offer a tantalising possibility. If the graphic data is embedded within these printouts, there is a chance that dedicated enthusiasts could attempt to compile the code and reconstruct what was achieved. This process, while painstaking, has brought many forgotten pieces of software back to life, allowing us to experience games that were once only whispers in development diaries.
The hope is that Nigel will be able to scan these materials, allowing the community to look at the code and perhaps piece together the unfinished Bombuzal ports. It would be a wonderful addition to the historical record of British 8-bit computing, showing us another facet of a game that many remember fondly from its Commodore 64 release.
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Originally published by Games That Werent. Read original article.
