''Bear Bovver'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

written by

Jon Ritman Jon Ritman is a game designer and programmer notable for his work on 1980s computer games, primarily for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computers. His first experience with a computer was when he was 13, his first computer was a Sinclair ZX ...

for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and published in 1983 by

Artic Computing Artic Computing was a software development company based in Brandesburton, England from 1980 to 1986. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodo ...

. A

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

port was released in 1984. ''Bear Bovver'' is a ''

BurgerTime originally released as in Japan, is a 1982 arcade game developed by Data East initially for its DECO Cassette System. The player is chef Peter Pepper, who must walk over hamburger ingredients located across a maze of platforms while avoiding c ...

'' clone, where batteries take the place of the burger ingredients.

Gameplay

Ted's Sinclair electric truck has broken down and needs new batteries. Ted must climb up the scaffolding and collect the batteries for his electric car. However, there are bovver bears around the site and if they get near, they will capture him. To get rid of them, Ted must use time bombs that are scattered around the site. Once all the batteries for the car he been collected, the player moves on to the next level. The game also includes "Baby Bear Mode" in which a player can collect batteries and move around the site without ever getting captured.

Development

After seeing ''BurgerTime'' and hearing that Sinclair were talking about the release of an electric car, Jon Ritman decided to combine the concepts to create ''Bear Bovver.'' He began to use a more complex development system, joining 2 Spectrums and 3 Microdrives. He developed on one Spectrum and tested the game on the other. This allowed the games being developed to be larger. It was published by

for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 and 1984 for the Commodore 64.

Reception

''Bear Bovver'' received generally positive reception. ''Crash!'' staff praised the animation and sound, as well as calling the game "very enjoyable and addictive." ''Sinclair User'' called the premise "brilliant," and stated that it would likely stand among players' top 10 ZX Spectrum games. ''Computer and Video Games'' felt it was a good fit for younger players, especially thanks to its practice mode.

References

External links

* * 1983 video games Artic Computing games Commodore 64 games Platformers Single-player video games Video game clones Video games about bears Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games {{platform-videogame-stub