Books

Books : reviews

Mark Gidley.
Acorn: a world in pixels: 3rd edn.
Idesine. 2023

Celebrate the visual games history of the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron.

With a foreword by Superior Software’s Richard Hanson and Life of an Acorn Gamer by TV’s Iain Lee, the book features over 150 classic games, including Elite, Repton, Revs, Chuckie Egg, Exile, Citadel and Thrust.

Spread over 560 pages are more than 100 exclusive interviews with key figures in the industry at the time – including David Braben and Ian Bell (Elite), Geoff Crammond (Revs/Aviator) and many, many more – plus features on the key game publishers, cover artists and classic magazines.

The book showcases the computers’ inimitable graphic style and is packed full of memories and anecdotes from programmers, artists, publishers, revievers and enthusiasts.

Remember Starship Command, Imogen, Frak!, Codename:Droid, Firetrack, Mr Ee!, Zalaga, Castle Quest, Galaforce, Snapper and many more.

An unmissable publication for anyone who grew a up with an Acorn 8-bit machine.