Dandy

Dandy is a dungeon crawl maze game released in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC. Based on the 1983 Atari 8-bit original designed by John Howard Palevich, it is considered one of the first games to feature four-player simultaneous cooperative play and directly inspired the arcade classic Gauntlet. One or two players control warriors Sheba and Thor as they fight through 15 dungeons, collecting treasure, food for energy, keys to unlock doors, and magic spells with random effects. Monsters emerge from spawn boxes that must be destroyed to prevent endless respawning. The game features flickscreen movement between fixed screens rather than smooth scrolling. To complete the game, players must collect all treasure in each dungeon to obtain codes that form a final puzzle.

Commodore 64

Released in 1986, the C64 version has a troubled history. Electric Dreams assigned the conversion to RamJam Corporation, but after delays, programmer Nick Pelling was drafted in with just two weeks to complete the port. The game received mixed reviews, with some praising its addictive two-player gameplay while others criticized its technical shortcomings. CTW awarded 70%, describing it as "very playable and addictive." However, many found the graphics ugly and "Spectrum-like," with clashing colors and enemies floating through walls. The game lacks music, and sound effects are basic. More critically, it contains game-breaking bugs: shooting keys can make levels impossible, and it reliably crashes after the second dungeon series. Despite these flaws, some found the Gauntlet-style gameplay enjoyable. Dandy remains a fascinating but deeply flawed C64 entry.