No.20: Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Ocean, 1985

How do you make a videogame based around an iconic and outstanding band such as Liverpool’s Frankie Goes To Hollywood? Ocean attempted the challenge in 1985 and created this gaming marvel, taking the central concepts of the band and morphing them into a superb multi-level game that manages to pay homage to the musicians and be an enthralling experience at the same time.

Wandering around Mundanesville, the task is to transform this nobody into a 100% real person, elevating to the glorious Pleasuredome. By competing in various mini games (the most memorable of which had Gorbachev and Reagan spitting at each other) this could be achieved, along with solving the murder that the player stumbles upon early in the game.

One of the most original games of all time, Frankie Goes To Hollywood is a worthy first entry in the Wizwords Top 20 ZX Spectrum games, and not the last we’ll hear of Ocean Software. Created by Denton Designs’ John Gibson and Ally Noble, it also has a wonderful Bob Wakelin cover and came in a huge box with a bonus cassette of the band’s hit, Relax.

thanks to www.spectrumcomputing.co.uk for images.