Beware The Spaceman

Author: Analyst

  • Alien Cat 2 A multi platform retro release

    Cassette tape with title

    Published by PSCD Games of Russia in 2020, Alien Cat 2 is an addictive top‑down puzzle game. The version I played was for the Sega Mega Drive via the Evercade, but versions have been released for a number of different platforms, including retro systems like the NES and SNES.

    This reminds me of those multi‑platform releases of the 80s and 90s and reiterates that these systems are not dead systems. At the time of writing, around 60 projects are in development for Sega’s 16‑bit hardware.

    On to Alien Cat. There is a plot involving collecting all the parts of your spaceship, but it’s largely irrelevant. You just have to navigate the top‑down maze, collect the keys, and exit through the portal. Easy, right? Well… no.

    After a few easy levels to test the waters, you suddenly have two cats on the screen. Move once and both cats move. Which is fine until there are big spikes next to the other one. You can use the maze to push the cats closer together or further apart.

    I used Evercade save states, but there is a password system if you happen to need to leave your game on real hardware.

    This is exactly the kind of game you end up sinking more time into than intended, then you realise you completed it in one sitting. It’s not particularly big‑budget or flashy — for a game that pushes the Mega Drive, see Tanglewood. But it’s an enjoyable, short‑but‑sweet puzzle game.

  • It’s a Puppet Part 2

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours


    Countdown: Favourite British Puppets — Part Two (5–4)


    5: Rosie and Jim (1990–2000)

    In a recurring theme here, I find myself surprised by how long this one ran.

    Once again, I watched it with Grandad, so that automatically gives it bonus points. There was also a song that went around the school about Rosie and Jim — and a biscuit tin I’m not going to go into — but it definitely helped this one spring to mind when you think of British puppets.

    Researching it now, I find that the storyteller — the person driving the boat — changes as time goes on. But when I watched it, it was a guy named John who talked directly to the camera. Some episodes were as simple as John taking the trash out from his boat.

    The puppets Rosie, Jim, and the duck would come to life, have their adventure, and John would be none the wiser.

    I was reminded of this show recently on a walk around Lincoln. There’s a themed boat there. I’ve checked — it’s not the original — it’s used for holiday lets. The show is very clearly still embedded in people’s minds.


    4: Flower Pot Men (1952–1953)

    This was one we had on a VHS tape — one of the earliest experiences I remember of our parents sharing something they were nostalgic for. I now read it ran for only 26 quarter‑hour episodes. That formula — magic things coming to life when people aren’t around — it’s all here.

    Once the gardener has gone for his tea, the weed calls for the Flower Pot Men to come and play. By “call” I mean it says “weed,” because that’s all the weed says.

    Looking at it now, this programme shows its age. There’s a lot of that posh BBC talk‑down language. Doesn’t matter — the Flower Pot Men had that magical formula nailed over 70 years ago.

    Its a puppet Number 7-6

  • It’s a Puppet

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours


    Countdown: Favourite British Puppets — Part One (7–6)

    There was once a long‑standing tradition in UK kids’ TV: at some point, there’d be a bloke with his hand up a puppet’s rear end. What we were actually watching was a tradition. Puppets have been on TV almost as long as TV has existed. It’s undoubtedly an art form.

    The rules for this countdown: The puppets have to be British — apologies to a certain infamous green frog. I promise you’ll get your day here at Retro Reaction in the future.

    Let’s get started with number 7.


    7: Bodger and Badger (1989–1999)

    Looking back, I’m surprised this was on the air for so long.

    Andy Cunningham plays Simon Bodger. The plot usually involved keeping his pet Badger a secret from most of the adults. When they did see him, they’d shake their heads and put it down to stress or something similar.

    During its run, the series changed location a few times — a hotel, a school, even a theme park — while also introducing other characters. In this case, a mouse. That’s something we’ll see again later in the countdown. And yes, there were a lot of mashed potatoes ending up on faces from what I remember.

    Then I completely forgot about it until years later.

    I can’t remember which comic con I attended in Sheffield, but sat at one of the guest tables was Andy Cunningham (although I admit I only knew him as Bodger) and his puppet Badger. This caused a wave of excited… now fully grown adults.

    Why doesn’t this duo appear higher? Because I missed a lot of the episode on the walk home from school — and it’s my totally subjective countdown.

    It’s certainly better known than the next on our list.


    6: The Riddlers (1989–1998)

    Once again, I’m surprised at the length this one ran.

    Our first entry had the traditional bloke with his hand up a puppet. This one was puppetry. I’m sure it wasn’t quite as popular as Bodger and Badger, but it’s one I watched with my late grandad, which automatically gives it points.

    This was over on CITV — the children’s block on ITV that ran 3:30 to 5:15. Missed it? Well, that’s kids’ programmes done until tomorrow. Unless it was a Saturday.

    This one centred on two magical creatures — Riddlers — who lived at the bottom of Marjorie’s garden well: Mossop and Tiddlup.

    Most episodes involved Mossop misunderstanding something and getting things muddled, and Tiddlup or Marjorie putting it right at the end.

    Mossop I can relate.

    The next two on our list next time

    Its a Puppet Numbers 5-4

  • You don’t know what you had until its gone

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours

    It’s the early noughties. Very early because I recognised the perfect storm on the shelves as a new release DVD. Yes we had started to move to disk and my PS2 could manage it. Perfect storm was said to have so much detail. A giant leap from VHS. Technically I guess it was. Today we would call it Standard Definition. We had moved from RF cables to Scart Leads. Barry had started to move on. I recall a centre shelving area where the new DVD’s were.

    Barry’s had faced an uphill battle in our household and I’m sure among many others. He had put his prices up a bit and we all had so many channels now. Sky digital had launched in 1998. Most of us now had the upgrade. With it Sky Box Office could now offer PPV movies on par with the DVD and video releases and the wait for TV was shorter than it had ever been (at that point).

    I walked up to the shelves as usual but there’s no on loan stickers. Not on the games either.

    Then in a bittersweet moment came the news.

    “We’re closing down, everyone has Sky. The tapes are all a pound each if you want any”

    Within the week the shop was gone. I had aspirations of having a VHS wall at Uni because I thought that would be cool..

    Spoiler alert it ..wasn’t. We had all moved to disk so fast.

    Another of those occasions where my feelings at the time don’t match my feelings now.

    I now know I was part of the problem. Despite having no purchasing power as such at the time I had no complaints when we moved onto Sky. Quite the opposite. My friends all had Sky.

    An early example of us moving away from the physical experience of going to a shop and choosing a film. Choosing convenient over experience.

    Now as someone who has been self employed and in an industry where AI replacement and modernisation is on the cards I appreciate how hard it must have been to keep this small rental shop going well into the PPV era.

    I rented a new release last night from sky. The price £9.99, The video shops £4 adjusted for inflation comes to about the same. Convenience won but the price never really changed

    An era ended and no one even blinked.

    The shop is still unused on the high street. Perhaps itching for its own legacy sequel.

  • Casper (1995) — Heavy Themes

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours

    Revisiting these 90s films, there are some that are considered classics but didn’t do much for me at the time. Then there are films like Casper. When it came out, I was already at the upper end of its target age range — especially by the time it reached the video store.

    Full disclosure: I’m putting this one down as a VHS rental, but we were entering the era of Sky TV, and for the life of me I can’t remember whether this came from Barry’s shelves or from Sky. Possibly both. I digress partly because memories aren’t always clear. The Eleventh Doctor once said, “Everything has to end sometime, otherwise nothing would ever get started.” Another Barry’s memory springs to mind — but that can wait until next time.

    At the time, I’d never have admitted I had a soft spot for this film. It appeared in these blogs during the original Spaceman run, and I made the dig about Casper dressing Kat as his mother. We — well, judging by the reader numbers, I — had a lot of fun taking the plot out of context.

    Lonely teenager Kat (Christina Ricci) and grieving dad Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman) move into a haunted house to study/exorcise the ghosts living there.

    What really stood out to me was how Ricci plays Kat. This isn’t like her more famous 90s role as Wednesday. It’s not even comparable to other heroes of those 80s/90s family films like Lydia in Beetlejuice. Those characters are outcasts largely by choice. Kat wants to be normal. She has a tough exterior, but she’s also grieving her mother. The character carries this unmistakable sadness.

    In predictable 90s‑kids‑film fashion, Kat befriends Casper the Friendly Ghost, and in the finale both she and Dr. Harvey find closure. Dr. Harvey decides to turn his attention to his living daughter rather than living in grief for his wife — with his wife’s blessing. That moment!

    What we really have here is a kids’ film that manages to deal with some heavy themes while still being a lot of fun. It features the first CGI main character, yet somehow still has one foot in the kids’ movies that came before it — particularly the 80s and early‑90s Ghostbusters and Addams Family. There’s even a Ghostbusters callback that I really enjoyed. Cameos weren’t common then. Or I hadn’t noticed.

    Time to take the rental back, and I’ll share my last Barry’s memory next time. Of course, it’s not the only time we’ll go there. Time is not linear, after all. As I take the tape back, I glance behind me at the row of VHS behind the family films — where a full shelf is dedicated to a very scary‑looking monster wearing a hat and knives for fingers.

    Barry can’t rent me those. But our friends down the road have Sky Movies.

    Until next time.

  • Retro Reaction: Dumb and Dumber (1994)

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours

    There was another comedy force of the nineties. Decades before being Dr Robotnik (you knew I’d get a Sonic reference in there), Jim Carrey was undoubtedly on a roll. He was the Pet Detective, The Mask, and The Cable Guy, to name a few. It seemed like there wasn’t a month that went by without a Jim Carrey comedy on the shelves at Barry’s.

    My brother loved these — owning a good few on video, which meant repeat viewings.

    Confession time: I often found these movies a bit too much. I know, sourpuss, right? It’s not like I don’t like slapstick comedy. Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean and Rik Mayall (Drop Dead Fred, The Young Ones) were already firm favourites. But until Dumb and Dumber, the rubber‑faced Carrey didn’t 100% connect for me. My favorite Carrey movie is Man on the Moon, and I’m sure we’ll visit that one another time here at Reaction.

    Back to Dumb and Dumber. My brother will still quote this one. I have complex feelings about it — not because of the quality of the film. This is a good one that balances slapstick with a good heart. It’s a road‑trip comedy that sees Harry (Jim Carrey) and Lloyd (Jeff Daniels) travel across the country to return a briefcase to Mary (Lauren Holly). The suitcase is full of random money, Harry and Lloyd are in danger all the way through but don’t really realise it. Later, they both try to impress Mary, which leads to its own set of routines.

    The reason I have complex feelings is simple: I’ve seen it too many times. After the video rental, this one came onto Sky Movies. We recorded it onto VHS and, on “movie nights” when my brother was choosing, it was often a Jim Carrey movie (or later Something About Mary). More often than not, it was this one.

    Which brings me to my favourite memory of this movie.

    I took the VHS to my grandad’s — I often did for the bigger ones. My Great Aunt turned up halfway through, just in time to see the part where Harry puts laxative in Lloyd’s drink. If you’ve seen it, you know.

    I had, to that point, never seen my Aunt cry with laughter. She couldn’t get her breath, and within seconds the whole room was laughing — partly at the film, but also at her reaction to it. This moment alone puts Dumb and Dumber up there.

    Next time: it’s 1995, and we’re looking at Casper the Friendly Ghost.

  • Dick Turpin An Antihero?

    Comic panel with title

    Written by Steve Tanner and illustrated by John Erasmus, Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead combines the historical figure with the horror/zombie genre. That sentence sounds ridiculous? Well, it is — and the story is. But it’s also a lot of fun.

    There are other volumes of Dick Turpin in the Time Bomb catalogue, but thankfully you don’t need to have read any of them to enjoy this.

    We follow Dick Turpin (who, in my head, sounded like a cross between Pirates character Jack Sparrow and WWE wrestler Razor Ramon — not sure what’s wrong with my brain) and gentleman thief Tom King. The latter seems to be there mostly to give Turpin someone to talk aloud to… which, let’s face it, is the reason for most comic‑book sidekicks.

    The term most applicable here, I think, is antiheroes.

    I won’t spoil too much of the plot. They come across a small hamlet with a zombie‑sized secret. It’s here that the artwork really stood out for me — the ghostly village in the centre of the forest is wonderfully atmospheric.

    The horror and violence are present, but exaggerated for effect. This one’s a fun romp, an adventure‑type book. Comparable, I think, to those historical adventure episodes of British sci‑fi show Doctor Who.

  • Mrs Doubtfire: The Rental Rush

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours

    It’s hard to understate how big this film was back in the mid‑90s. Released in 1993, but again remember that longer wait period we had back then — there really was a wait if you didn’t get around to seeing it in the cinema.

    Why I remember the hype so well is because it was the only time I ever saw a whole shelf at Barry’s filled with copies of the same movie. Even with those extra copies, for an entire week every single one had the red on loan sticker.

    When we looked at Hook, I mentioned how much of a force Robin Williams was during this era. This is the last time he appears in this 90s film set — I’m sure not the last time we’ll return to his work in Reaction. But let’s deal with the elephant in the room. Even now, I still find it hard to understand how a guy who made me laugh so much — the only one to cause Barry’s to sell out for a week straight — could have been so unhappy privately. Thank you for the laughs

    My brother and I still occasionally quote Mrs Doubtfire today, 30 years later.

    The premise: fun‑loving father Daniel (Williams) is going through a messy divorce with his wife Miranda (Sally Field). To gain access to his children, he disguises himself as nanny Mrs Doubtfire.

    Yes, elements of the film are now seen as dated. Daniel does, well, near‑on stalk Miranda. But rewatching it, it’s still funny and not malicious in the way some comedies can be. The humour comes from seeing Daniel try to take on the lone‑parent role while simultaneously sabotaging Miranda’s next relationship.

    Miranda doesn’t really come off as “the baddie” in this one, but you’re still rooting for Daniel throughout the movie.

    One thing that really stands out is that, unlike most films like this — particularly of the time — Miranda and Daniel don’t reunite at the end. Here in the UK, around 42% of people are divorced. Having a family film deal with that back in 1993 was very forward‑thinking.

    Next time we’re sticking with comedy, with Dumb and Dumber

  • Gerry Anderson’s Project Sword: what could have been

    Comic panel with title

    Gerry Anderson is best known for Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds. Toys for Project SWORD were produced in 1967, along with a comic strip around the same time. Whether the idea was ever intended to lead into a TV series is largely speculation — but you can’t help wondering.

    Time Bomb Comics have now published a modern graphic novel, written by Lizbeth Myles and illustrated by James Gray.


    Spoilers on the book’s content below

    Set in the year 3031, meteorites have devastated the Earth. SWORD (Space World Organisation for Research and Development) is tasked with the evacuation program, sending humanity to new worlds — in the case of this book, Mars.

    The story mostly follows Alex Peake, who is called in when the computer responsible for selecting which humans to save — and which to leave behind for now — begins to malfunction. It’s a bleak premise. His search leads him to the computer’s programmer, Helen Bannock.

    Helen is uncomfortable with her role in creating the selection system, but reluctantly agrees to help Alex. Together they discover that the computer hasn’t malfunctioned at all: it has learned to value all of humanity. Alex and Helen ultimately set the machine to self‑destruct.

    There’s still the matter of how the meteorites came to be, and who — or what — caused them. Helen joins the team at the end of the book as SWORD vows to find a way to fix Earth for everyone.


    What did I think?

    This felt like a pilot — a book that sets up more adventures for Project SWORD. The sequences with the rocket and vehicles genuinely made me smile. They have that unmistakable late‑60s TV flavour, with at least one eye on the toy market.

    It’s an interesting project and a window into what could have been. Definitely worth a read, particularly if you have an interest in Gerry Anderson’s other franchises.

  • Zeta Wing: a lost 80s Arcade shooter

    Cassette tape with title

    Released in 2020, Zeta Wing — programmed by one person, Sarah Jane Avory — feels like a big‑budget C64 release. Avory, known for Gemini Wing on the Amiga, really pushed the hardware here and felt big budget.

    One thing I really appreciated was the difficulty setting. I’ve always said I enjoy games, not that I’m good at them, so an easy mode was very welcome. Also, you don’t lose all your power‑ups each time you’re hit. It looks like an 80s shooter, but it’s a bit more forgiving.

    This one ticked the boxes for me. It has a catchy soundtrack, it’s not overly difficult (as these bullet‑hell games so often are), and it looks fantastic. Many stages feature parallax scrolling that feels like it shouldn’t be possible on humble C64 hardware. It also ran smoothly for me with no signs of slowdown — on a C64 Mini, (not tested on original hardware).

    The game features seven stages. (I didn’t make it to the end because again I’m not very good.) The stages I played had boss fights at the end too, which wasn’t a given for shooters at the time.

    I had a good time with this one. The game is available on itch.io, usually for a few pounds. It works on the C64 Mini, Maxi, and original hardware. It’s great to see old hardware getting releases like this from industry veterans.