Iain Mew
@superchartisland.com
Writing a British history of popular video games one UK sales chart #1 at a time. Now in 1986. Also into pop music and writing on The Singles Jukebox. He/him. http://www.superchartisland.com
Pinned
This year, across 45 posts about the history of 45 different UK chart #1 games, my blog has gone from June 1983 to March 1986. A thread of some highlights...
Reposted by Iain Mew
under your nose, right now, old treasures are being excavated and shown to the english speaking world for the first time. let sean be your tour guide!
Mr. Fan of Fan Translation is back with his yearly video about PS1 Fan Translations. Please watch it and be marveled at the power of old video games and singing cats.
youtu.be/FPN_KUQyPIs
youtu.be/FPN_KUQyPIs
PS1 Fan Translations (2025 Update) | Sean Seanson
YouTube video by Sean Seanson
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 4:45 PM
under your nose, right now, old treasures are being excavated and shown to the english speaking world for the first time. let sean be your tour guide!
Back in 1986 you could already find an example of a man telling a woman to kill herself over a game review, confidently using his full name. And the magazine would print it with a cute little comment suggesting it was all a good laugh.
spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?iss...
spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?iss...
January 20, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Back in 1986 you could already find an example of a man telling a woman to kill herself over a game review, confidently using his full name. And the magazine would print it with a cute little comment suggesting it was all a good laugh.
spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?iss...
spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?iss...
I enjoyed learning new things about the intention behind Head Over Heels, a childhood favourite game of mine
www.superchartisland.com/batman
www.superchartisland.com/batman
![A screenshot of Head Over Heels on Spectrum, above some text reading:
The charming aesthetic and lower difficulty level were not the only way they set out to make an inclusive game, as Drummond later explained. “The characters were never intended to be male or female; as a politically aware youngster, I was nervous of appearing sexist, racist and brutalist.” The game’s manual has a section about the game’s story which manages to avoid using any gendered pronouns… before its character glossary goes right ahead and uses “his” for both Head and Heels.
[The screenshot shows Head (a cute dog-like character) standing on top of Heels (a different cute dog-like character) next to some controls for a robot. The robot looks somewhat like Prince Charles's head stuck on a dalek's base.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uiwmxzrdnxnnjb55alohkgmz/bafkreihudimc3mfnzm72gi5lh2foqv5hj47ekr5juhlb4mikgvcze3gjpa@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
I enjoyed learning new things about the intention behind Head Over Heels, a childhood favourite game of mine
www.superchartisland.com/batman
www.superchartisland.com/batman
Reposted by Iain Mew
A typically great article, though my main takeaway is that we lost something big when "runny-jumpy-avoidy" failed to become the accepted name for what we now call "platformers".
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM
A typically great article, though my main takeaway is that we lost something big when "runny-jumpy-avoidy" failed to become the accepted name for what we now call "platformers".
Reposted by Iain Mew
A lot of people are struggling right now (myself included), but if you’re someone who happens to be in a place where you can afford to donate, a reminder that I have both a Patreon and a Gofundme. More funds go straight to me via the latter, while the former provides stability.
I guess everyone's plugging again on more bad news, so here we go. Trans video essayist, forgotten video game history, a little too obsessed with Metroid. Sub on Patreon or one-time donation on GoFundMe.
www.youtube.com/acriticalhit
www.patreon.com/c/acriticalhit
www.gofundme.com/f/fpjhuk-kat...
www.youtube.com/acriticalhit
www.patreon.com/c/acriticalhit
www.gofundme.com/f/fpjhuk-kat...
It's hard to know what to say or whether it's even worth adding to the doom - what I will say is buy your trans friends' weird zine, their album, their art game - buy them a beer or a soda or a meal - give them some ko-fi money for doing absolutely nothing. We gotta protect trans kids and adults.
January 19, 2026 at 4:38 PM
A lot of people are struggling right now (myself included), but if you’re someone who happens to be in a place where you can afford to donate, a reminder that I have both a Patreon and a Gofundme. More funds go straight to me via the latter, while the former provides stability.
Reposted by Iain Mew
Super Chart Island has reached Head over Heels, my favourite C64 game: superchartisland.com/batman/
(... actually, they've reached Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's Batman game, which is a pretext for talking about Head over Heels, which shockingly never hit the top 10 on its initial release?)
(... actually, they've reached Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's Batman game, which is a pretext for talking about Head over Heels, which shockingly never hit the top 10 on its initial release?)
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Super Chart Island has reached Head over Heels, my favourite C64 game: superchartisland.com/batman/
(... actually, they've reached Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's Batman game, which is a pretext for talking about Head over Heels, which shockingly never hit the top 10 on its initial release?)
(... actually, they've reached Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's Batman game, which is a pretext for talking about Head over Heels, which shockingly never hit the top 10 on its initial release?)
Reposted by Iain Mew
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Reposted by Iain Mew
The Super Chart Island piece about the 1986 Batman game I mentioned earlier also reminds me that Monster Max is seriously under-appreciated in the Ritman-Drummond canon. Unlike Batman and HoH it's not, as far as I'm aware, ever been ported to any other system.
www.mobygames.com/game/28075/m...
www.mobygames.com/game/28075/m...
Monster Max (1994) - MobyGames
A powerful human called Krond conquers the Monster Planet, bans all music and declares himself king. Max, a monster rock musician decides to fight back. In order to defeat the evil monarch, he enlists...
www.mobygames.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:38 PM
The Super Chart Island piece about the 1986 Batman game I mentioned earlier also reminds me that Monster Max is seriously under-appreciated in the Ritman-Drummond canon. Unlike Batman and HoH it's not, as far as I'm aware, ever been ported to any other system.
www.mobygames.com/game/28075/m...
www.mobygames.com/game/28075/m...
Reposted by Iain Mew
Great stuff Iain. Batman and Head Over Heels were too hard for me when I was 11 (I tried!), so I relished the chance to properly get stuck into a Ritman/Drummond isometric 3D puzzler when Monster Max came out. I've never spoken to anyone else who played it, but only have happy memories of it.
January 19, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Great stuff Iain. Batman and Head Over Heels were too hard for me when I was 11 (I tried!), so I relished the chance to properly get stuck into a Ritman/Drummond isometric 3D puzzler when Monster Max came out. I've never spoken to anyone else who played it, but only have happy memories of it.
Reposted by Iain Mew
One of my earliest gaming memories. Loved little touches like Batman's idling animation, where he'd stare at the player whilst impatiently tapping his foot ☺️🙂
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:52 AM
One of my earliest gaming memories. Loved little touches like Batman's idling animation, where he'd stare at the player whilst impatiently tapping his foot ☺️🙂
Reposted by Iain Mew
Batman and Head Over Heels were probably the high water mark for Ultimate-style 3D games. Another great article from Super Chart Island.
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Batman and Head Over Heels were probably the high water mark for Ultimate-style 3D games. Another great article from Super Chart Island.
Reposted by Iain Mew
It didn't have much to do with Batman other than the name and some characters, but this is a pretty good iso arcade-adventure. Retrospec did a nice enhanced port for modern platforms a few years ago as well:
retrospec.sgn.net/info.htm?id=...
retrospec.sgn.net/info.htm?id=...
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:08 AM
It didn't have much to do with Batman other than the name and some characters, but this is a pretty good iso arcade-adventure. Retrospec did a nice enhanced port for modern platforms a few years ago as well:
retrospec.sgn.net/info.htm?id=...
retrospec.sgn.net/info.htm?id=...
Reposted by Iain Mew
I remember playing the Amstrad version as a kid, the gameplay and graphics were compelling but the difficulty was much too punitive for me.
January 19, 2026 at 7:41 AM
I remember playing the Amstrad version as a kid, the gameplay and graphics were compelling but the difficulty was much too punitive for me.
Reposted by Iain Mew
Still amazing to me that this was the first Batman game ever.
January 19, 2026 at 7:06 AM
Still amazing to me that this was the first Batman game ever.
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Batman – “Batcraft parts”
For Jon Ritman, playing Knight Lore for the first time was a revelatory experience. As he later told Retro Gamer, when he first saw Ultimate’s isometric 3D platform adventure game, his jaw hit the …
www.superchartisland.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Jon Ritman was amazed by Knight Lore, and set out to make his own isometric adventure. Ocean got him the Batman licence to use.
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
With Bernie Drummond's art and some forward-thinking gameplay ideas, he would do much more than just make The Dark Knight Lore.
New post on Batman (and Head Over Heels):
Reposted by Iain Mew
A NEW POPULAR ENTRY, of all things! A hit that gave its maker two careers - the pop one, and then a second one as a social media guy downplaying it all
popular-number1s.com/2026/01/18/j...
popular-number1s.com/2026/01/18/j...
JAMES BLUNT – “You’re Beautiful”
“Proof that one song is all it takes” as James Blunt’s Twitter biography put it. He knows what he’s known for, and in his post-superstar era he’s played his hand with great skill, cultivating a self-d...
popular-number1s.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM
A NEW POPULAR ENTRY, of all things! A hit that gave its maker two careers - the pop one, and then a second one as a social media guy downplaying it all
popular-number1s.com/2026/01/18/j...
popular-number1s.com/2026/01/18/j...
Reposted by Iain Mew
This week: Palestine Skating Game, Pathologic 3, Kiwami 3, and lots more:
critical-distance.com/2026/01/18/j...
critical-distance.com/2026/01/18/j...
critical-distance.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:25 PM
This week: Palestine Skating Game, Pathologic 3, Kiwami 3, and lots more:
critical-distance.com/2026/01/18/j...
critical-distance.com/2026/01/18/j...
The original BBC Micro version of Thrust (1986) has 'Commodore' in its high score chart, but the Commodore 64 version doesn't
January 18, 2026 at 7:40 PM
The original BBC Micro version of Thrust (1986) has 'Commodore' in its high score chart, but the Commodore 64 version doesn't
Reposted by Iain Mew
One of the absolute best arcade to ZX Spectrum conversions.
ICYMI, my post this week was on Bomb Jack. Read about:
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
Bomb Jack – “Get all 💣by operating Jack!”
The inventive arcade game scene in Japan in 1984 had an impact over in the UK that went on well past the end of the year. Karate Champ inspired The Way of the Exploding Fist, the UK’s bestselling h…
www.superchartisland.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:41 PM
One of the absolute best arcade to ZX Spectrum conversions.
Reposted by Iain Mew
ICYMI, my post this week was on Bomb Jack. Read about:
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
Bomb Jack – “Get all 💣by operating Jack!”
The inventive arcade game scene in Japan in 1984 had an impact over in the UK that went on well past the end of the year. Karate Champ inspired The Way of the Exploding Fist, the UK’s bestselling h…
www.superchartisland.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:31 AM
ICYMI, my post this week was on Bomb Jack. Read about:
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
ICYMI, my post this week was on Bomb Jack. Read about:
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
Bomb Jack – “Get all 💣by operating Jack!”
The inventive arcade game scene in Japan in 1984 had an impact over in the UK that went on well past the end of the year. Karate Champ inspired The Way of the Exploding Fist, the UK’s bestselling h…
www.superchartisland.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:31 AM
ICYMI, my post this week was on Bomb Jack. Read about:
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
- The development of the arcade original
- Its surprisingly late and very effective Spectrum conversion
- UK magazine reviews including the one calling it “a sort of unpredictable Chuckie Egg with shades of Pac-Man in freefall”
Reposted by Iain Mew
This week's Arcade Archives release is Bomb Jack Twin, originally distributed by NMK in 1993. It's Tecmo's bomb collection classic Bomb Jack but with co-op, faster gameplay and crushing difficulty!
Dreamwidth post!
tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/35424.html
Dreamwidth post!
tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/35424.html
January 16, 2026 at 10:20 AM
This week's Arcade Archives release is Bomb Jack Twin, originally distributed by NMK in 1993. It's Tecmo's bomb collection classic Bomb Jack but with co-op, faster gameplay and crushing difficulty!
Dreamwidth post!
tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/35424.html
Dreamwidth post!
tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/35424.html
Reposted by Iain Mew
Lösningen is a satirical Game Boy game about the police investigation of the murder of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme: theswedishgames.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/l...
Lösningen (2025)
On the night of February 28, 1986, the Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm, when he was walking home from a movie with his wife, Lisbeth. The news shocked Swe…
theswedishgames.wordpress.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Lösningen is a satirical Game Boy game about the police investigation of the murder of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme: theswedishgames.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/l...
I enjoyed this deep analysis video! And since I went in knowing almost nothing about Shigesato Itoi, this is the first time I learned that Earthbound was written and directed by the same person who voiced the dad in My Neighbor Totoro
New Video! Earthbound resists being understood. Here I go trying anyway. Join me as we analyze the game from front to back and unravel its ideas about love, evil, sacrifice, togetherness, and humanity 💙
youtu.be/1f-xI_NyVvM
youtu.be/1f-xI_NyVvM
Earthbound Believes in You, in Us
YouTube video by Skyehoppers
youtu.be
January 15, 2026 at 1:03 PM
I enjoyed this deep analysis video! And since I went in knowing almost nothing about Shigesato Itoi, this is the first time I learned that Earthbound was written and directed by the same person who voiced the dad in My Neighbor Totoro
This has been a recent annoyance for me as well
January 14, 2026 at 9:38 PM
This has been a recent annoyance for me as well