Game:

Chuckie Egg (1983)

Duration: 6:05

634 views

42

Many great new ZX Spectrum games are being released, but let's not forget the hits from the past: A'n'F Software Ltd. was started in 1981 (A&F Software Ltd.) by Doug Anderson and Mike Fitzgerald in the UK. The company takes its name from the initials of its founders.

Probably most famous of their titles was Chuckie Egg, written by Nigel Alderton, who was never an employee of A&F. Chuckie Egg had been a slow but consistent earner for its publishing house, A'n'F. With quoted sales of over a million copies on a variety of 8-bit platforms, a sequel was inevitable. Nigel Alderton, the author of the original Chuckie Egg, had been working on a Mr. Do!-style follow up that never came to fruition. With Alderton's move to Ocean Software, A'n'F took development in a different direction.

To aid in their publicity, A'n'F organised a Chuckie Egg 2 competition, pitting contestants against each other in regional heats and a national final. Crash, a gaming magazine popular at the time, was tasked with adjudication. Prizes included silver and gold egglets and up to £500 cash. The winner of this contest is unknown.

Chuckie Egg 2 seems influenced by a number of ZX Spectrum games available at the time, most notably Atic Atac (late 1983) and Sabre Wulf (1984). Both of these feature wide roaming in a large environment, and Chuckie Egg 2 can be viewed as an attempt to bring the "Chuckie" franchise to these more modern, immersive styles of game.

A'n'F Software developed games for 8-bit machines initially, until in 1986 the company merged with the MC Lothlorien label to become developers Icon Design.

List of releases for the ZX Spectrum:

0:05 1983 Kamakazi
0:35 1983 Crazy Balloons
1:05 1983 Frogger
1:35 1983 Painter
2:05 1983 Jungle Fever
2:35 1983 Chuckie Egg
3:05 1984 New Cylon Attack
3:35 1985 Chuckie Egg 2
4:05 1986 Core
4:35 1986 Xeno
5:05 1987 Wibstars
5:35 1987 Agent Orange