C64 Game Memories - Revisited 30+ Years later : Beach Head

Beach Head by Access Software was released in 1983 and for being an early release remains one of the iconic C64 games for me.
If watching my friend play Elite made me want a BBC 'B' computer (never did!) it is probably Beach Head that made me want a Commodore 64 after I saw it being played at my local computer store.

Graphically not the best and with just about acceptable sound effects, it is difficult to say what made this game such a success. My own thoughts are that it was, like most games that stand out to me after all this time, unique and very much had its own style.

The object of the game was to (strangely enough) conquer a beachhead. The game was split into several different mini-games. The first where you have to guide your destroyers through a minefield in and out of a cave is probably the most basic and forgettable of them but all of the levels were important as you carried more lives onto the later level which you most definitely needed.

The 2nd mini-game is the one that was jaw dropping at the time, as you fend off planes attacking your destroyer as you close in on the beachhead. It looks very basic now, 35 years ago it was amazing. In the 3rd mini-game it was the same screen but you exchange fire with the ships instead. This involved a lot of skill as it was easy to over or under shoot your guns.

In the 4th mini-game you have to guide your tanks (where did they come from I always wondered?) from the beachhead through enemy barricades one at a time. Fairly simple but fun nonetheless but the last game was uber-difficult, you had to hit a certain spot on the large guns defences a number of times before it turned and killed your tank. I remember it being very frustrating but rewarding when you finally beat the game.

Still a fun game to fire up and play today, but perhaps not as polished as the next release Raid Over Moscow which had superior graphics.