Beach Head
Beach-Head is a video game developed and published in 1983 by Access Software for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 in the US. Versions for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Acorn Electron (as well as the Atari and C64 versions) were published in Europe by U.S. Gold in 1984, followed by versions for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16, and Plus/4 in 1985.
Beach Head
- Model
- Beach Head
- Date
- 1985
- Publisher
- Amsoft
- Genre
- run and gun
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q812832
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Beach-Head • Developer — Sculptured Software (Apple) Ocean Software (CPC, Spec) Anirog Software (C16, Plus/4) Orpheus (MSX) D&L Research (Thomson) • Designer — Bruce Carver Kevin Homer • Released — 1983 • Genre — Shoot 'em up • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 16 & Plus/4, Commodore 64, Enterprise, MSX, Thomson MO5, Thomson TO7/70, ZX Spectrum
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — Tank on the run to the enemy gun The game's setting is the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. Gameplay consists of several varying stages in which the player must control various vehicles including warships and tanks in order to defeat an enemy fleet, break through enemy beach defences and destroy an enormous gun-emplacement to win the game. The gun emplacement requires multiple hits to be destroyed, but traverses faster than tanks can aim and fire, so it cannot be destroyed in a single attempt. In order to complete the game multiple tanks must make it through to the final level.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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- United States
Reception
Reception
Beach-Head was Access' best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987. It was the first U.S. Gold release to sell 250,000 copies. Ahoy! stated "This game is a blast". It praised the graphics and concluded: "It is a remarkable programming achievement". Compute! listed the game in May 1988 as one of "Our Favorite Games", stating that it was superior to its "many imitators". Zzap!64 reviewed the game in a retrospective feature in October 1985. They argued that although it was considered impressive at the time of release it had already become dated, and was rated 70% overall. In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Beach Head the 117th-best computer game ever released.
Legacy
Legacy
A sequel, Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back, was released in 1985. A version of the game for Amiga was planned, but was cancelled when an agreement to publish with U.S. Gold could not be reached. In 2000, a loose remake of the game, Beach Head 2000, was released for the Windows and MacOS platforms.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Beach Head (video game), revision 1356872141 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Newsfield. Beach Head. Zzap64. 6. 62. 1985.
- 2.Ferrell, Keith. The Commodore Games That Live On And On. Compute's Gazette. 18–22. December 1987.
- 3.History in the Making: The First Three Years. Computer and Video Games. 83 (September 1988). 51. 16 August 1988.
- 4.Peterson, Cheryl. Beach-Head. Ahoy!. 63. April 1984.
- 5.Staff. 150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time. Computer Gaming World. 148. 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98. November 1996.
- 6.Amiga Lore - abime.net. www.abime.net.
- 7.Our Favorite Games. Compute!. 12. May 1988.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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