Video Meanies

Video Meanies is an action maze game where you control a maintenance robot in a bizarre video shop set inside a castle full of hostile creatures called Meanies. The eccentric millionaire owner has left his droid to prepare the shop by turning off all the television sets scattered throughout the building . The game takes place across 24 interconnected flip-screens with irregularly shaped stone walls . Your robot moves in all directions, can destroy Meanies (though they rapidly regenerate), and must avoid intermittent laser beams and energy barriers . Your robot has an energy level that continuously drains over time. Keys are hidden throughout the castle to unlock coloured doors, requiring careful mapping to progress .

Commodore 16

Released in 1986 by Mastertronic, programmed by Tony Kelly and published at a budget price . The C16 version is the original and is considered the definitive release by many retro gamers . Unlike the C64 port where you turn videos on, here you must turn off all 24 televisions (one per room) . The game lacks the gamble mini-game present on the C64 version, offering instead a pure maze-exploration experience . A distinctive feature of this version is the presence of white walls which are lethal on contact, requiring pixel-perfect movement . Some walls are also invisible or destructible by shooting . Progression feels less linear than the C64 version, offering more freedom to explore the castle at your own pace . The game was Tony Kelly‘s final Mastertronic release for the Commodore 16/Plus/4 and is remembered as one of the finest budget titles on the system .