Sunday 21 February 2016

CPC Vs GX4000 - Cartridge Game Comparisons

Finally, the debate over the Amstrad GX4000's CPC ported games can be settled!

15 of the official 26 titles released on cartridge for the GX4000 were ports of existing Amstrad CPC games. It is commonly said that these ports are identical to the CPC versions and therefore not worth the higher price tag, and majorly contributed to ultimate failure of the infamous British system.

This video series makes direct side-by-side comparisons as I discuss and examine the differences (if any), of both versions and choose which one is better.

Extensive research and playtesting, as well as 25 years of personal experience have gone into the finding of this video series. If you feel I have overlooked something, or made a mistake please give me feedback. Hopefully however, I have given the final word on this issue.


Batman the Movie - New title screen. Menu re-ordered. Shatter sound effect missing. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Music slow-down more common.

Barbarian 2:The Dungeon of Drax - Title screen missing. Menu re-ordered.

Operation Thunderbolt - Title screen missing. Menu screen re-designed using Plus features. Plus palette colour changes in-game. HUD re-designed.


Klax - New title screen. Screen transitional fading. Backgrounds alter per wave and clacking sound effect in-game (Like CPC128k version). Plus palette colour changes in-game. Sprites smoothed. Slightly slower. More detail on drop meter and runway.

Mystical - Sound effects in-game. (128k CPC version MAY have this also)

Super Pinball Magic - New title screen with Plus features used. Re-designed using Mode 0. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Layouts Altered. HUD re-designed. Added music and added sound effects. Pinball is hardware sprite. Game almost entirely re-coded.


No Exit Different title screen numerous demo effects and Plus features used throughout game. Different menu screen. Secondary title screen with demo effects and Plus features. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Fading effects instead of roll effect. Sprites smoothed Hardware sprites bat, energy bars and icons. Slightly more glitchy. Name entry and high score table different.

Panza Kick Boxing - Different title screen using Plus features. Other title screens absent. Futura logo hardware sprite. Plus Palette colour changes in-game with raster effects. Menu screen re-drawn in mode 0 and re-arranged. Game screen much larger and layout altered. Animation slightly smoother.

Wild Streets - Title screen re-coloured with Plus palette. Sprites all hardware generated. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Music slower and broken up by sound effects. Level interim images  missing. HUD re-coloured and re-drawn.



Crazy Cars 2 - Title screen re-drawn with Plus palette. Additional Titus menu screen. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Between level pictures missing. In game map included. HUD re-coloured.

Fire & Forget 2 - Full screen title scan image. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Intro music slower. In-game music not broken by sound effects. Additional sound effects. Road has center lines. HUD colour changes. Level interim screens re-drawn.

Pro Tennis Tour - Different title screen. Menu text different. Wider screen and play area. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Hardware sprites. More graphic detail and additional sound effects. Spinning ball icon on different scoreboard.


Switchblade - Pre-title screen. Hardware sprite Gremlin logo on title screen. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Hardware sprites used as decoration. Raster interrupt used. 

Tin Tin on the Moon - Addtional title screen.

Dick Tracy - Different title screen. Plus palette colour changes in-game. Hardware scroll. Hardware sprites. Better animation. Re-drawn HUD with colour changes. 

More GX4000 Videos

Unboxing & Playtest - https://youtu.be/q8quohU5awY
25th Anniversary with Larry Bundy Jr - https://youtu.be/iWB6NRkjTmE


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