Welcome to Part 3 of the story of my introduction to computers. To read the previous parts click on the numbers : Part 1 or 2.

It was the early eighties. A lad (me) at school wanted a computer. He worked all hours under the sun (well Saturday) saving his earnings for the day he afford to buy a home computer. That day finally arrived.

A new home computer had been launched into the shops. Manufactured in Wales, the Dragon 32 had been born. I don't know what made me choose a Dragon 32. None of my friends had one. However, this was the computer I chose.

Now I dont wish to get into the argument of which was the best home computer. Sure the Spectrum had plenty of support from the software games writers, and was definitely popular. But I just didnt like it. It didnt have a proper keyboard. Certainly the 6502 processor wasnt as easy as the 6809 to program. In fact no assembly language is easy to program if Im honest.

Im sure there were other reasons why I bought a Dragon 32. I just cant remember what they were. The old grey matter isnt what is was!!

Anyway, I bought a Dragon 32. Boots were the main chain store selling Dragons 32s. However, I cant remember if I got mine from Boots. But the fact is that my days of being hooked to computers were really starting.

Initially I played games on it. Numerous software companies were starting to write games for the Dragon. However porting games from the Spectrum or other popular computers wasn't an easy process and the more popular games weren't getting converted. In fact most would never be converted. However, this made the Dragon unique. The games on the Dragon 32 weren't available on other computers.

Microdeal (based in St. Austell) were the main software company supporting the Dragon.  They set the standard for games on the Dragon. Over the years they released numerous games. These included:

• Caterpillar Attack (Caterpillar clone)
• Donkey King (you'll know which game this cloned)
• Dragon Hawk
• Dragon Invaders (Space invaders clone)
• Galagon (Galaga/Galaxian clone)
• Mr Dig
• Planet Invasion
• Scarfman (Pacman clone)
• Shock Trooper (What a game. Addictive!!)
• Space War
• Space Wrek
• Speed Racer
• Mansion Adventure
• Jeruselem Adventure
• Williamsburg Adventure
• Ultimate Adventure

As you've probably gathered by now, the Dragon 32 also became a very popular computer for Adventure games. You must have played one of these. You used to type (N)orth, (S)outh, (E)ast, or (W)est to move around and you'd be told where you were and the objects in the location you were at. 'You are in a storeroom. There is a key'. 'Take Key', 'Unlock Door with Key'. Don't tell me you've never played one. These games were the descendants of today's RPG and point and click adventure games. However, text adventures became boring so graphical adventures were born. Dragon 32 adventure games such as Syzygy and Tanglewood included pictures of the rooms and locations you visited.

Other games were also imported by Microdeal from the USA where the Tandy Color computer (which used the same base processor) was popular. Games were ported across to the Dragon 32. In fact, Tandy Color computer games would load onto the Dragon (and probably visa-versa). The only problem was the keys. As long as you remembered that Q (or whatever) was 1, W was 2, etc. you were alright.

Remember Super Mario. Remember Sonic the Hedgehog. Actually, they might have come after the Dragon 32. Anyway the point is Microdeal had Cuthbert, a kid who seemed to get himself into all sorts of bother (bit like todays youth!!). He starred in numerous games by Microdeal. He became the icon of Microdeal and the Dragon 32.

Microdeal even launched a budget software brand called 'Pocket Money Software'. While the games weren't quite as good as their full priced games, they were still quite playable.

Microdeal may have been leading the way for games on the Dragon, but that didn't stop other software companies trying to grab a share of the market. It's hard to say who was the next biggest software games company for the Dragon 32 (excluding Dragon Data themselves) after Microdeal. A few companies worth a mention however include Blaby Computer Games, Imagine, J Morrison (Micros), Peaksoft, Salamander and Shards. Even Virgin Games tested the waters with a couple of games.

I cannot leave this section of the Dragon 32 games without giving Chuckie Egg (AnF software) a mention. This game was available on numerous home computers, but I always held a particular affinity for the Dragon 32 version, not least because it seemed to play faster than some of the other versions I played. The basic idea of the game was to collect the eggs from the hen coop by running along platforms and ladders while avoiding the birds on screen. An addictive game by anyones standards and one that will always be regarded by myself as a classic.

But it was Software Projects that made every Dragon user really happy. They took a chance and converted one of the biggest most popular games ever. A game with similar objectives as Chuckie Egg (only it wasn't eggs that you collected). This game was about to put a big smile on the face of anyone owning a Dragon 32 and change gaming on this computer for ever. What was this game?

Click here if you wish to continue reading the story.

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All the scans on this page are taken from magazines that no longer exist and off the original game cassettes I own. A copyright for them may still exist (let me know if you own the copyright) and I will happily acknowledge this as required. None of the pictures have been taken from other websites. If you wish to use them for a project yourselves, please give this website a mention. Thanks for your cooperation..