Extropia’s Retro-gaming: ‘Tycoon Tex’

EXTROPIA’S RETRO-GAMING

‘TYCOON TEX’

‘Tycoon Tex was released in 1985 for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4. My version was part of a compilation that included ‘Flowers Of Doom’. I can’t remember what other games were included.

Tycoon Tex was programmed by Anthony J Clark and the graphics were the responsibility of Matthew Clark. In the game, you take control of Tex, an oil tycoon, as he runs across a horizontally-scrolling pipeline. Whenever a gap appears in the pipe you have to jump over it. Also, every now and then a bomb-dropping airplane appears and Tex must avoid being hit by those bombs.

Given that it had to squeeze into the minuscule specifications of the Commodore 16, Tycoon Tex was not a big game. In fact, it supposedly consisted of just two levels. The first was set in a desert, and in the subsequent level, the pipeline crossed the frozen north.

I say ‘supposedly’ because I never did manage to get further than level one. The game required really fast reactions and like a lot of 80s games it had the difficulty levels set so high you could only beat the game if you were a much better player than I, or if you had much more perseverance.

Worth playing today? Possibly. I remember it being quite addictive, if frustrating at the same time. Its exceedingly simple gameplay could maybe work well in a mobile game. I can imagine tapping the screen or swiping up to make Tex jump, with some comedy rag-doll physics for when a bomb blast hits him or he goes flying after tripping over a gap in the pipe. It just might offer some distraction on a short bus journey. Don’t think I would want to play it again, though.

Thanks to Gremlin Graphics for the images