Based on the famous film, The Blues Brothers, the men in dark suits and shades are back to rock 'n roll us on the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC (DOS) and Nintendo NES, thanks to Titus.
Review
STORY / GAMEPLAY Jake and Elwood Blues, spent a long time in prison and now they are out. They are both musicians and form a The Blues Brothers band and are in pursuit of their lost music equipment and ... fame. You control either Jake or Elwood and take him through 6 different levels trying to retrieve their stuff and in the end attend a concert. To do that, both brothers must first escape from prison, swim through the catacombs and fight their way at the big city's roads before they can start their concert! The game supports a two-player mode as well. You have to fight, walk, run, crawl, swim, duck and fly your way in all levels. There is no real apparent difference between the characters except of their looks and their unique funny idle moments. And the game is fun as well since you can use balloons to float and discover hidden areas, swim inside giant fish tanks, go through a maze of conveyor belts and a lot more to encounter including the bad guys like security guards, villains, dogs etc. Killing the "baddies" can be done by lifting and throwing wooden crates towards them. These crates can be found scattered around the levels. Collect 100 records or pick-up some cool looking shades and you'll win an extra life too! Blues Brothers is a classic multi-scrolling platform game, where you take down incoming foes and activate certain objects to progress. As long as you master the controls, Blues Brothers is a cool title to play and it keeps you coming back for more!
GRAPHICS / SOUND The graphics on the Amstrad CPC are good although they are mostly based on blue (!) and the gameplay screen is rather small. The main hero's sprite moves normally while the enemy ones move a bit...funny(!) As for this version's sound there's an in-game music based on "Everybody needs somebody" Blues Brothers' hit, but unfortunately there are no simultaneous sound effects.
CPU: ZiLOG Z80 4MHZ MEMORY: 64 KB or 128 KB of RAM depending on the model (capable of being expanded to 512k using memory extension boards) GRAPHICS: Motorola 6845 address generator, Mode 0: 160x200 / 16 colors, Mode 1: 320x200 / 4 colors, Mode 2: 640x200 / 2 colors, A colour palette of 27 colors was supported SOUND: The CPC used the General Instrument AY-3-8912 sound chip, providing 3 channels Mono Sound (via internal speaker) but capable to offer Stereo Sound provided through a 3.5 mm headphones jack (with pretty impressive outcome!). Also, it is possible to play back digital sound samples at a resolution of approximately 5bit. This technique is very processor-intensive though.