Gyroscope

Gyroscope is an action game developed by Catalyst Coders and published by Melbourne House in 1985 . It is heavily inspired by the Atari arcade classic Marble Madness . Instead of a marble, you control a spinning gyroscope that must navigate a series of sloping tracks filled with hazards . The game uses a fixed isometric 3D perspective . The gyroscope accelerates quickly and takes time to slow down, requiring careful momentum management . Hazards include potholes, aliens, glass slopes which cause random spinning, and narrow ledges . You have seven lives. The game is played against a time limit: losing a life sends you back to the start of the level without regaining lost time . There are five courses consisting of four screens each .

Amstrad CPC

Released in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC, programmed by Tony Mack, Steve Lamb, and J.R. Hartley, with music by Gloryflow Ltd . The CPC version features Mode 0 graphics with a colourful isometric view and push-scrolling that moves one screen at a time . CPC-Power awarded the game 16/20, while CPC Game Reviews gave it 6/10 . The game includes seven levels, and upon completion, a mirror mode is unlocked where courses are played in reverse . A known bug exists in mirror mode on levels 2 and 7 where the player can become stuck when transitioning to the next screen . The Amstrad version uses sequential push-scrolling and maintains the same obstacle types as other ports . Melbourne House would later publish the official Marble Madness port for the Amstrad CPC, but this was not based on Gyroscope .