A lot of great feedback has been received about the fantastic time had by all, at the inaugural UKAG meet and there were many highlights for me. One that made me particularly happy was the opportunity to buy two new games for my CPC 464.
Imagine that: the chance to buy multiple new games, on cassette, in 2026!
We had hopes that the UKAG buy and sell table would have some treasure and sure enough, one of our fantastic community brought a batch of new games, from Spain, personally, for attendees to buy.
Naturally they all sold out quickly, for the sum of £10 each, exactly what I used to pay for new cassette games in the 1980s.
Dark aliens
The two games on offer were:
- Alien – The Xenomorph
- The Dark Knight – Shadow of Madness
Both of these sail pretty close to the wind in terms of copyright… They’re best regarded as retro gaming tributes to great fiction characters!
Alien is the most recent of the two. Pleasingly you get to play as the Alien for once. You work through screens one at a time, retrieving your eggs, navigating jumps and ladders and avoiding being shot by mean astronauts.
I immediately messaged my sister on the day, we grew up watching the Alien movies at too young an age, and she always sympathised with the Alien. When Alien: Isolation was released, she pointed out that Fluffy (her nickname for the Alien) was just scared and confused, separated from her hive and queen.
So it’s 8-bit Sympathy for the Alien, I love the premise! It genuinely plays well too. The controls are smooth and responsive, making it possible to duck astronaut laser shots, pop up and immediately retort with an acid spit in a split second. The Alien is comprised of only a few pixels but the animation is nicely realised, details such as its long tail waving around during walking show the effort and refinement here.
I’m Amstradman
It was a treat to buy and try The Dark Knight – Shadow of Madness. This was another side on, screen flipping jump and shooter, but with some twists. Playing as an unknown superhero bearing no resemblance to any fictional property, hostages have to be located and rescued, while jumping, climbing, avoiding chemical drips and more.
The mechanics are unique and define the game, there is a smooth double-jump available, but only one per jump. You can throw a… character styled “boomerang”… but only once, you have to wait for it to return to you, and if thrown carelessly, it can jam on a platform or wall on the way back, requiring travel over to collect it back.
This all creates a more thoughtful, strategic experience, while still being fun, pick up and play action. The controls deserve a mention – so smooth! The jumping and double-jump is reminiscent of happy old platform experiences such as Super Mario Land on the Gameboy, which is a definite compliment.
Novaknight
Chris, aka Novabug, stalwart of the Amstrad scene and YouTuber extraordinaire joined me in trying The Dark Knight out – he filmed me playing it and tried it himself. Look out for it in a future episode on Novabug’s fantastic YouTube channel (and subscribe if you haven’t already!). We both loved the game, we can’t both be wrong!
Both games were a treat to play and it was so novel to pick up new Amstrad CPC games in 2026, and tapes at that. I hope this continues, I was mainly a gamer on my Amstrad, so I will always be on the lookout for new titles.
These are two terrific little games, genuinely enjoyable to play in their own right, with real refinement and polish in their controls, responses and gameplay. Both also are as good as any graphics and sound as I have ever seen on the Amstrad CPC. And I’m saying that as a green screen owner! Both games looked fantastic on my GT64 green screen and CTM64 colour monitors. Alien suited the eerie green glow and the title screen for The Dark Knight just popped on the green screen monitor. That also leads me to think that both games have been tested, developed and refined with care and passion for the scene.
Holy utility download Amstradman
Definitely get hold of a copy of each if you can. It’s easy to download them, though much more exclusive to get a physical copy – the kind of thing you only find at a UKAG meet!
Coming home from UKAG 2026 with two new Amstrad games was the icing on the cake for a fantastic day.
Do let us know if you’ve tried these games and if there are any other new titles the UKAG team should check out. Our machines continue to punch above their weight, 40 years on!
Written by:
Adam – AmstrAdam at UKAG
