Fusion Retro Books’ Chris Wilkins has revealed on the Mastertronic Collectors Group on Facebook that a Kickstarter will soon be launched for the Commodore 64 Collectors Guide to Mastertronic.
A seminal influence on the 8-bit gaming era, Mastertronic published low-budget yet immensely playable games. These typically appeared on Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC systems, among others. Most gamers of a certain vintage will have memories of paying £1.99 to pick up Nonterraqueous, the Thriller-inspired Chiller, Kikstart, Wing Commander and many others. Later releases were typically re-releases of older top-draw games, for example Manic Miner, while Mastertronic also published its own line of bigger budget titles, such as Flash Gordon.
Details of the release (members group) are scant:
The Commodore 64 Collectors Guide to Mastertronic. 474 pages, A5 in size – the book has been created and is ready to print! Kickstarter will follow in the Summer…
Behind the book is Colin Poole, who reveals that every game on Mastertronic, Mastertronic Plus, and the Ricochet and MAD labels will be featured.
Why has no one produced a book along these lines before, you might reasonably ask? Well, that’s a bit of a moot point. Someone proposed it, but they “did one” with the raised funds and nothing ever materialised. Thankfully, with Fusion Retro Books’ background in retro gaming publishing this is extremely unlikely to be repeated. A book dedicated to Commodore 64 Mastertronic games is within your grasp!
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.