10. The Graphic Adventure Creator

This wouldn't make it to the top ten of everyone's lists because it does what the title suggests: creates adventure games. Text adventure games to be precise, with the option of adding vector-drawn graphics. The number of days I have lost to this piece of software, creating games that entertained a few of my friends for a few hours at most, should not be calculated unless you want me to whine about my mis-spent youth. Nevertheless it was the utility that produced so many excellent home-brew adventures that when it appeared on the coverdisk of Amstrad Action it was a shot in the arm for the CPC's dying software market and for that it deserves a place in this top ten.

9. Dizzy

The original is still the best. Guide the battery hen's answer to Indiana Jones around a fantasy world on a mission to defeat the Evil Wizard Zaxx, solving dastardly puzzles along the way. The game was so popular that it spawned a dozen sequels; most of them excellent adcade adventures like itself. Also, kudos for making the game's protagonist a hard boiled egg. Whoever came up with that idea should be given a knighthood, or maybe a psychiatrist.

8. Scapeghost

This is, quite simply, the finest adventure game I have ever played. It reads like a novel, the puzzles are logical yet devious and I have fond memories of spending an entire summer holiday trying to complete it with the help of a band of friends. We managed it, eventually, and we were not disappointed by the finale. Also, playing as a murdered detective who was framed by colleagues for a drug bust gone wrong was a bold move for the times, so the game gets extra cudos on that point, too.

7. Croco Magneto

Once you hear it, you will not be able to get this game's sountrack out of your head. It's a simple tune for a simple yet feindishly difficult and addictive game. If this ever turned up as a download for your mobile, you would not get any work done. Seriously, do not track this thing down and play it; your life will be forefeit.

The premise is simple: play a powerball from hell, bouncing around a sideways-scrolling maze while some crazy early '90s techno beat blasts at you from your speakers. By ricocheting off walls to change direction you must navigate vicious obstacles in order to smash up some radioactive barrels and clear the world of radiation. Oh, and you only have one life, so be careful.

6. Electro Freddy

Another deceptively simple game from a computer that has so many hidden qualities it practically invented the concept. Guide Freddy around a single-screen maze, pushing stock from his warehouse onto a conveyor belt at the bottom of the screen so it can be packaged up and sent out to some shops. Sounds easy? Well, it's not.

An enemy allegedly modelled on Sir Clive Sinclair (whose company was responsible for the CPC's main rival, the ZX Spectrum) will chase you, firing blue ZX Spectrums from his eyes as a weapons while occasionally a Comodore C64 will drop down the screen. Touch that and you're dead meat. Also, watch out for the forcefield that runs above the conveyor belt, just for added nastiness. Freddy certainly had his work cut out for him!

5. The New Zeland Story

To this day I have no idea how this game was marketed to publishers. As a tiny yellow kiwi you must travel the length and bredth of a New Zeland that can only exist in the minds of some of the most tripped-out hippies ever to grace the planet. Battle giant, flying whales while sitting on minature hot air baloons and firing at them with a bow and arrow. Avoid the razor-sharp claws of a veritable army of crabs. Dodge snails that move faster than you can, and more! All in the name of rescuing your fellow kiwis from their hideously-coloured cages.

This game was insane.

4. The Bard's Tale

Computer-based roleplaying games owe their lives to The Bard's Tale, possibly the most famous (and certainly the best) computer RPG of its time. Guide a motley crew of dangerous psychopaths through a dungeon, fighting monsters and collecting treasure as you go. It's pretty much that simple, but then again most computer RPGs have continued to be just this simple. The impressive use of pseudo-3D graphics (think Doom, only flatter and less animated) set this game apart from all that had come before, and most that would come after.

The modern console remake is nowhere near as enjoyable.

3. Way of the Exploding Fist

Let's put this simply: without Way of the Exploding Fist there would be no Tekken. There would be no Dead or Alive. There would be no Streetfighter. This game started it all.

The concept is simple: model a karate championship. You play as either a white-clad karate champion or a black-clad karate champion (the game had an excellent two-player facility) and fight a succession of ever more capable opponents until you are finally declared the ultimate karate champion. It sounds so simple but, like all the fighting games that followed it, the proof is in the playing. This game was fiendishly difficult but so amazingly replayable. It deserved a place in any CPC owner's collection, and if you download Arnold, it deserves a spot on your hard drive too.

2. Forgotten Worlds

This frenetic shooter is one of the most astounding experiences anyone who grew up in the 1980s could experience. It is simply adrenaline incarnate, as you and a friend play The Nameless Ones, two gun-toting clones of Arnold Schwarzenegger, as they defend their home planet (presumably Earth although possibly not - it looks rather desolate if it is Earth) against a succession of rampaging alien hordes.  By 'defend' we do, of course, mean 'blow up everything in sight, using guns that thankfully don't run out of ammo'.

The game is a hideously difficult sideways-scrolling shoot-em-up that practically wrote the book on how to produce instant classics.  It mixes non-stop action with gradually rising difficulty level, an excellent soundtrack and just enough plot to let you understand why you're blowing up everything in sight ("They're nasty aliens and they want you to die.  Kill them!").  Excellent.

1. Elite

If you don't know what Elite is, you weren't a gamer in the early years of the home computer. This is, quite simply, the computer game of the 8-bit era. There are still fans of this game playing it right now and they may have been doing so for years.

Taking on the guise of Commander Jamesson, you find yourself in the cockpit of a Cobra Mk3 spaceship in the far reaches of the galaxy. From this point on, everything you do is up to you. You can be a peaceful trader, shipping goods from planet to planet and making some quick cash as you do so. You can use this money to better equip your ship if you want to. You can fight bad guys and collect the bounties on their heads. You can explore the universe, relishing in having reached star systems few others will ever even have seen on their (very extensive) maps. You can fight good guys, battle the interstellar police and become the universe's Ultimate Badass; or you can combine all these things to truly master all the game has to offer. The choice is yours and the replayability is infinite.

All games since have aimed to better the experience Elite provides. Few have succeeded.

Why it's worth to use CD/DVD emulators?

• From an “image”, all data is faster than from a CD or DVD.
• You can download “images” from internet and share them with others.
• No sound from your CD/DVD-ROM.
• You can use few “images” at a time.
• Programs, movies and games works faster, than from discs.
• Emulator is free or very cheap.
• If you have a notebook, you will save battery power.

Where you can find “images”?

You can always find “images” on P2P. You can also download from FTP or find using google.com. “Images” can be various, but a good emulator, has to support them all. Often “images” are .bin, .cue, .img, .nrg, .mdf, .mds, .ccd. Another important thing is that “images” can be 700mb and more. Download can take a while.

Installing “Daemon Tools”

One of the most popular emulators is “Daemon Tools”. This emulator is free and easy to use. It can open up to four “images” at a time.

Go to Daemon Tools. Find and press DOWNLOADS. Now find “DEAMON Tools” and press it. After that press on DAEMON TOOLS *.** X86. (* is version nr.). Now you can download this emulator.

When download is finished, install “Daemon-Tools”. After that, restart your computer.

Opening CD/DVD “image”

On the right corner of your screen press “Daemon-Tools” picture. Select DEVICE 0: [F:] NO MEDIA. Now find your “image” and open it. Emulator will open “image”.

Why “image” isn't working?

Sometimes discs are protected from copying. “Daemon-Tools” can simulate an original disc. To do that, press “Daemon-Tools” on the right corner of the screen with right mouse button. Select EMULATION and press ALL OPTIONS ON. If you done everything right, “Daemon-Tools” picture will become green.

Why my DVD movie doesn't work?

Our world is divided into six regions. Each region has a special code. If you want to watch a movie of other region, you will have to change it. Press the right button on “Daemon-Tools” and select VIRTUAL CD/DVD-ROM. After that press on DEVICE 0: [F:] and select SET DEVICE PARAMETERS. Find DVD REGION and select, which you need. You can find a picture of all regions at mvps.org.

1. First we have to download “Playstation” emulator. I recommend ePSXe. Just go to epsxe.download and select newest version for your OS.
2. Emulator is in archive. We need to extract it.

Download other necessary files

1. Go to filemirrors.com. Search for SCPH. Then download any file. I downloaded: SERVER FILENAME SIZE.
2. After downloading, place file SCPH1001.BIN in to emulator folder BIOS.
3. Now download your video card drivers. They needed for emulator to recognize your video card.
4. Go to pbernert. You will need to extract all files to emulator folder PLUGINS.

Adjusting emulator

1. Start emulator by pressing ePSXe.exe file.
2. When you see WELCOME TO THE ePSXe CONFIG SETUP window, tick PETE'S OPENGL DRIVER and press next. Now tick ePSXe SPU core and press next. After that tick ePSXe CDR WNT/W2K CORE and press next.
3. You will see CONFIGURATING THE PADS. Press CONTROLLER 1. In the new window you'll see the real gamepad. Here you have to adjust controls.
4. Now press OK, then next and finally done.

Playing

1. Insert “PlayStation” game in to your CD/DVD ROM. Now start ePSXe.
2. In emulator window press FILE and Run CDROM.
3. Now emulator is trying to find a “PlayStation” game. After that, the game starts. You can start playing now!

First open the Image of the game into daemon tools version 3.29, it has to be this version to work, then click the link here to my old file and click the link there to download FASTBOOT and only FASTBOOT.

LINK > quazen.com/Patching-a-dreamcast-game

Right once you have FASTBOOT on your computer we need to download another software called IPCDExpl, we will use this to extract a working IP address from the game image.

LINK > yahoofs.com

Right in the fastboot folder you have downloaded we need to put IPCDExpl, explore the game image and drag out the 1st_read.bin from the game and drop it in the fastboot folder.

Once you have IPCDExpl run it and use it to extract the ip from the game, using the drop down menu at the top locate your fake cd drive that daemon tools creates to find the Ip you need, click extract and save it to the fastboot folder.

Next in the fastboot folder run the software called BINHACK and on the first line type 1st_read.bin, then press enter, next line write ip.bin and press enter on the last line enter 0,0 that’s zero,zero and press enter, then the software will close.

In the fastboot folder move the now patched 1st_read.bin and ip.bin to the DATA folder, then exploring the cd move all the contents (DO NOT MOVE THE 1ST_READ.BIN) to the DATA folder.

Now run the software called b2b_game and it till start up, leave it till it closes itself off, look in the fastboot folder to see your brand new file called Image.cdi, this is a working cd image of the game and there you go that simple.

I started using chankast and I had no idea how I could possibly save a game in this, until I had used it several times and found out how to save games, its very simple once you actually know how.

First you open up chankast, please make sure you have no game image in your daemon tools or choice of virtual drive, we need chankast to be game free, click start, the emulator will start and take you to the dreamcast inbuilt section.

Select the VMU (memory card) option and allow it to open the page, now select both of the memory card and open them one at a time and do this to both of them, first you tell it to delete all data and click ok and ok until it asks you to choose a image and then a colour once you have done that the memory card is ready to use!

Do this on both of the memory cards, this will allow chankast to open and use the fake memory cards! Simple as that, I hope this helps you guys out!