Category Archives: Handhelds

Astro Wars by Grandstand Handheld Review


The best 80’s handheld game?

On the last day of term at my primary school we would all bring in toys, which back in the early 80’s would include games like Operation and Buckaroo, which still exist relatively unchanged 20+ years later. There would also be the kid who had the really cool toy of the moment, and one of those was Grandstand’s Astro Wars.

Anyone around in the 80’s with any interest in gaming will have come across the Astro Wars handheld, but do they know how the multi-colour display was achieved? Or that Grandstand never actually manufactured the games?

Astro Wars by Grandstand
Astro Wars Handheld by Grandstand

Origin of Astro Wars

Astro Wars was created in 1981 by Japanese games manufacturer Epoch, and licenced to Grandstand for distribution to the UK and European markets. Grandstand was known in the UK for its early “Pong” based TV consoles, also imported from Japan, and had previously released the popular “Invader from Space” handheld game. Grandstand went on to release a number of popular handhelds, including Tomy’s PacMan clone Munchman, and Epoch’s Scramble.

Epoch’s version of the game was released as Galaxy II in Japan, and was virtually unchanged by Grandstand apart from the branding around the magnified game screen.

Galaxy II from Epoch
Epoch Galaxy II released in Japan

Hardware Technology

Grandstand’s previous Epoch game “Invader from Space” used a Vacuum Florescent Display (VFD), originally developed for pocket calculators. The original VFD calculator displays showed glowing green on black shapes in fixed locations which could be turned on or off to show different numbers. With “Invader from Space”, as well as showing numbers for the score, the display could also show 3 columns of aliens and bullets, and 3 player ships at the bottom of the screen. By switching the aliens, bullets and player ship on and off, basic movement could be simulated on the screen.

Astro Wars VFD Display
Astro Wars Colour VFD Display

Grandstand took the basic format of Invader from Space and ramped it up to 10 with Astro Wars, with its multi-coloured VFD display, 5 column play area and unique magnified “Fresnel” lens. The multi-coloured display was actually only 2 colours (green and red), with the other colours being achieved with the use of coloured film, similar to that used on early Space Invade arcade monitors.

Astro Wars Gameplay

Astro Wars followed the “Galaxian” arcade gameplay format, with aliens diving from fixed formations at the top of the screen, and the player at the bottom of the screen firing upwards. The five column format, colour display and Fresnel lens presented a much more arcade-like gameplay over the previous Invader from Space.

Astro Wars Grandstand Animated Gif
Astro Wars Gameplay)

The action was also suitably turbo-charged, with the speed and volume of enemies on screen increasing to a frenetic level, putting the maximum score of 9999 well out of reach of all but the most dedicated players.

There were 4 distinct phases to the game, and 5 lives with which to complete them, with slight variations in the gameplay:

  • Phase 1 – Enemy ships loiter at the top of the screen before dive bombing in a zig-zag pattern down the screen. Destroy 10 to progress.
  • Phase 2 – Solitary enemy ships attack in a looping pattern. Destroy 10 to progress.
  • Phase 3 – The enemy “command ships” at the top of the screen are now vulnerable, and will shoot a barrage of missiles. Destroy all three for a “GOOd” message and progress to the final phase
  • Phase 4 – control a falling space shuttle with the joystick to meet with the moving base at the bottom of the screen, using fire to abort and retry. This was an idea borrowed from the 1980 arcade game Moon Cresta which also featured a docking level.

On completing the 4 phases, the game looped back to the start, repeating until the top score of 9999 is reached. The game also featured 4 difficulty levels available via the “Select” button, combining single or double attacking aliens with slow or fast attack speeds, providing at least some variability in the challenge.

Astro Wars Variants

There are 4 variants of Astro Wars available, all virtually identical apart from the font and wording on the screen:

  1. Galaxy II – the original game launched in Japan with Epoch branding
  2. Super Galaxian – also by Epoch, with the game being marketed in Japan as Super Galaxian, but showing “Astro Wars” on the screen.
  3. Astro Wars – the Uk version with white lettering and Grandstand branding. This is the most readily available version for European gamers.
  4. Astro Wars (Red Font) – another UK version, with the title in large red letters and an extra pinstripe around the screen lens. There are some references online to this being the “launch” edition.
Astro Wars Variants
Galaxy II, Super Galaxian. Astro Wars & Astra Wars (Red Font)


Finding an Astro Wars Handheld Today

I’ve become a big collector of Grandstand handhelds and own examples of most of the games released in my collection. Due to their robust design and huge number sold, you can still find good examples on ebay today

The games are built from study plastics but they suffered from being left in the loft with batteries in. This corroded the terminals, dropping acid onto the circuit board. The VFD display could also fade and die, which is pretty much game over as they cannot be replaced. The PCB was very simple, but did have a couple of weak points. The NPN power transistor (D882) can fail, and also Zener diode (S06) can fail, either of which will leave you with a dead game. Fortunately they can both be replaced by anyone handy with a soldering iron.

The only moving parts are the joystick, start, select and fire buttons and on-off switch, which can all benefit from cleaning the contacts and sometimes lubricating with WD40.

The games also benefit from robust packaging, protected by polystyrene inserts within a cardboard box. Due to the cost of these games they tended to be well looked after and many games for sale will include the original packaging, albeit with 40 plus years of wear and tear.

Grandstand Astro Wars Box

Was the Astro Wars game any good?

Compared to the handhelds of today such as the Nintendo Switch or any of the many retro gaming handhelds currently for sale, Astro Wars was slightly less than portable due to its shape and size. It was heavy too given it was powered by 4 “D” batteries, so this is probably better described as a tabletop rather than a true handheld. As with all of these early units, the play was fairly repetitive, given that it was hard wired in both hardware and software terms to support only one game with 2 basic levels.

But at the time in 1981, before availability of home computers such as the ZX Spectrum and the BBC Micro, these VFD handhelds were the closest thing to an arcade game experience available for a budget, at £30. For comparison, the Atari VCS / 2600 was £199 at launch in 1977, down to £99 by 1980, with each game around £30.

The advent of home computers such as the ZX Spectrum, with games retailing at £5-£10, spelled the end for these dedicated handhelds. They are however still beautiful as well as functional objects in their own right and should be celebrated at such. With its unique design, Astro Wars will be remembered as one of the best.

Gameboy Advance SP NES Edition – Video Game Consoles as Art

The NES special edition of the Gameboy Advance SP

The iconic design of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), aka the Famicom in the US, has been applied to everything from belt buckles to iPhone cases, such is it’s lasting appeal to the gaming public.  It was therefore only a matter of time before Nintendo applied this design to another console – the Gameboy Advance SP, as a special edition.

Only in Japan could you come up with a product called the “Gameboy Advance SP Nintendo Entertainment System Edition”

Classic NES Clamshell Design

The colours and graphics mirror the design of the original NES console and its seminal “D Pad” controller with a simple A / B button layout and “select” and “start” options.

GBA SP NES / Famicom Special Edition

As a handheld that had already been released in many colours and designs, there was no default configuration for the Gameboy Advance SP, but the NES colour scheme held fond memories for gamers, it was an instant hit on release.

I have several Nintendo Gameboy handhelds in my collection but this is by far my favourite design, almost begging to be picked up and played.  I can think of nothing better than firing up this console with a copy of Legend of Zelda:Links Awakening DX for an authentic retro gaming experience.

Buying A Gameboy Advance SP NES Edition – how much?

The classic NES edition remains a highly desirable version for collectors today, along with the Mario Red and Zelda Gold editions that were released towards the end of the console’s life.

There was however a large production run of this GBA SP model, and they can readily be found on auction sites for as little as £20 / $40 at the time of writing. Buyers however need to take into account the wear and tear on these items, where the paint in the clamshell is prone to crutches and general damage, as is the control panel, so make sure you pick the right one.

This is the latest in a series of pictures I have taken of my own retro gaming collection, spurred on by the need to have some quality photos to accompany my retro reviews.  I used a Nikon D60 digital SLR for these pictures, which I hope make a welcome change from stock product photos found on the internet.

Bandai Missile Invader and Mattel Sub Chase – Video Game Consoles as Art

Between 1978 and 1980 Mattel released a popular series of handheld games that featured LED technology, using simple glowing red lights to represent the on-screen characters, pre-dating the more common LCD and VFD formats seen on later portable machines.

By necessity the Mattel handhelds had to augment the game displays to put the simple glowing LEDs in context, helping players understand what they were seeing on screen. This meant that the handhelds themselves were styled in the theme of the game, to give the player a clue as to what they were supposed to be doing.

In the case of Mattel’s Missile Invader, the console showed a view screen with a planet surface and layers which lined up with the less that represented the invading alien forces.  For Sub Chase, the screen was round and modelled on a submarine periscope, with the less representing enemy ships. Both games featured classic 2 digit, 7 piece LED numerals for the score – always allowing the player to score a maximum of 99.

The design of these Mattel handhelds is purposefully over the top relative to the simple LED displays, which only serves to enhance the game rather than distract the player – like early space invaders games with shaded screens, the console itself was part of the game, rather than a means of just presenting and controlling the action.  When each unit only had a single game mode and a single purpose, the design had to be memorable, compered to the bland and functional designs of multi-game handhold consoles today.

This photo is one of a series I am taking of my collection to make sure I have a decent store of images to accompany my retro game blog updates and reviews.   Rather than using a camera phone I have resorted to my Nikon D60 digital SLR for the maximum quality and impact.

UFO Master Blaster by Bambino: Video Game Consoles as Art

The early 80’s were the golden era for handheld electronic games, and Bambino produced some of the most beautifully designed units. UFO Master Blaster was an unremarkable (at least in terms of gameplay) space invader clone, using a similar Vacuum Florescent Display as the more common Galaxy Invader handhelds. What set the game apart was the large sculpted plastic body shell that hinted towards a sleek spaceship that would not have felt out of place in Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica.

UFO Master Blaster Handheld Game by Bambino
UFO Master Blaster Handheld Game by Bambino

All of the Bambino handhelds featured these over-the-top futuristic designs, that look as good today as they did when they were first released. Combined with the fact that theu are virtually bomb-proof, UFO Master Blaster and it’s Bambino siblings make a great subject for retro game collectors today.

I couldn’t find a picture online that really did this unit justice so I took one myself – it took a while to get the right angle that showed off the flowing lines and the luminous finish of the plastic casing on this fantastic retro handheld.

Galaxian Tabletop Game by Coleco

The holy grail of handheld games?

My retro games collection includes many of the consoles and home computers that I played (or wanted to play) with as a kid, but my favourite games are the handheld and tabletop units from the early 80’s. There’s something about the look of them, the brightly coloured plastics and graphics, as well as the weight – these were all substantial units that were built to last. The gameplay may have been rudimentary and repetitive, given the limitations of the VFD and LCD screens, but the games themselves were unique. Each one was crafted from the ground up for a specific purpose, a combination of console and software in one unit.

Galaxian Tabletop Game by Coleco
Galaxian Tabletop Game by Coleco
In the UK the most popular games were those from Grandstand and CGL, as well as units from TOMY. More rare were the exotic units from Bambino and Coleco, and as such much more difficult to get hold of. Of these rare units, its the games from Coleco have always eluded me. Of particular interest are the arcade conversions of the popular classics, including Donkey Kong, Frogger, Pac Man and Galaxian. These fantastic tabletop units replicated the shape and style of the aracde games on which they were based, as fully licensed conversions, which set them apart from all of the unlicensed clones that were produced in the early 80’s (see my review of Grandstand Munchman).

The colours and graphics of the original games were lovingly transferred to the handhelds, and passable versions of the games translated onto the colourful VFD displays, making them a target for both handheld game collectors and lovers of the original arcade units.

The Donkey Kong and Pacman games come up fairly regularly at auction, but much less so the Galaxian and Frogger units, so I was excited to find one on ebay recently – a mint Galaxian unit with a very low starting price and little interest shown by bidders. A couple of days later I was the proud owner of a Galaxian handheld for a very reasonable £36 – not much more than the cost of the original unit in 198?, and a lot less than the £100+ usually asked of these games.

Justin Whitlock's Galaxian Cabinet
Justin Whitlock’s Galaxian Cabinet (source: flickr)

After loading up with 4 heavy “C” size batteries I fired up the game, and was pleased to see both screen and speaker in working order, as were the controls, which felt like new – not bad for a machine 3 decades old.

The game itself is a reasonable representation of the arcade original, including swooping aliens breaking away from the main formation at the top of the screen to dive bomb your ship, firing missiles as they go.  There is even a 2 player option, with separate controls on the front of the cabinet, so Galaxian can be played with a friend.  The 2 player game involved player 1 shooting up the screen towards player 2 shooting down, with aliens in the middle who could be destroyed for extra points.

The real joy of Coleco’s mini Galaxian cabinet though is the unit itself, the colours and graphics, the attention to detail, it really is a minor work of video game art.  It fact it reminds me of the fantastic work being done by Justin Whitlock, who makes miniature versions of classic arcade cabinets.

Now to find the other games, just 3 more to go…

Handheld Games – The RolyRetro Collection

One of my earliest video gaming experiences was at the end of term in my primary school, where we all got to bring in a toy and lessons were given over to general playtime. Amongst all of the classic board games like Mouse Trap and Kerplunk, I spotted a small tabletop machine that had a crowd of excited boys around it. A loud bleeping noise could be heard above the chatter – it was my introduction to the world of handheld games.

The object of my desire – Astro Wars
The game was Astro Wars, and I can’t remember wanting to play with anything as much before or since. Except maybe the first time I saw a sit down Star Wars cabinet.

CGL Galaxy Invader
Galaxy Invader by CGL

I didn’t really have the cash back then to buy these handheld games, which even at the end of 1980 retailed at around £30 – with inflation around £120 in today’s money – for a dedicated console that only had one game on it. I did get a more basic handheld, a Space Invader clone called Galaxy Invader, which I played to death, but I really wanted that Astro Wars game.

Time passed and the handheld games made way for cartridge based consoles that plugged into the TV, and my interests moved onto home computers like the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum.

Handheld Games Aplenty

Many years later in 2004 and my 34 year old self came across an Astro Wars game on ebay, and I was instantly back in that primary school, lusting after this amazing game. I had kept up my video game habit over the years, always having at least one current generation console, but had never thought that I could go back and buy the old handheld games I could never afford as a kid. But there it was, a mint Astro Wars for a tenner. A quick bid and it was mine.

Now for anyone who has been bitten by the ebay bug, you will know how easy it is to get drawn into a bidding frenzy, and this was how my handheld collection started. I wanted some more of the Grandstand games, so I bid on titles like Scramble and Munchman, as well as the Game & Watch titles that I had lusted after as a child such as Donkey Kong. From there I diversified into tabletop games by Tomy and Hales, as well as some of the US titles by Coleco with their great multi-coloured cases.

These games would arrive at my house, and every day after work was like Christmas as I opened up the next parcel, and another memory from 30 years ago would hit me – when I first saw the game, who owned it, what was playing on the radio. It was such a buzz, my wife and kids could not understand my excitement at playing with these old handheld games.

My spare room was filling with games…

At a certain stage I had to take stock, I had so many games building up I was starting to get doubles, and with nowhere formal to display them in my house, my spare room started to resemble that of a compulsive hoarder, with boxes piled from floor to ceiling. By this point I had examples from all of the major manufacturers of the time, not complete sets but all of the most popular examples, and never having paid more than 10 to 15 quid a unit. I had been buying regularly for around 2 years, but due to work pressures and a growing family, I put my collection on hold.

A few years passed by, 3 kids later and having finally got around to renovating my house, the only room left was the spare room, so I had to face my handheld game collection, also know as “dad’s massive pile of old tat”. The spare room needed to be converted into my son’s room, but I negotiated a wall that would house my collection. A wonderful weekend was spent going through the boxes, selecting the best examples for display, and generally discovering my handheld games collection all over again.

Games from Grandstand, CGL, Tomy and Hales

When I could finally see all the games together I realised I had built a fairly comprehensive collection of 80’s handhelds, when all I had really set out to do was acquire some of the games I had missed out on as a child.

What next for my Handheld Games collection?

Now I have finally admitted that I am a collector, I have an OCD like urge to fill the gaps, although I am now looking at some of the rarer and therefore more expensive items. There are a couple of units that I would really like to add, such as the arcade cabinet shaped games from Coleco, and a rare Thomas the Tank Engine game from Grandstand, which are going to set me back a few quid. I have also avoided the temptation of building a full Game & Watch collection, as at over 60 games, and a huge amount of competition, this could cost a small fortune.

For now I am just enjoying having the games on display where I can easily get to them and play them, and with my eldest son at the same age as when I first discovered them, he is starting to understand my handheld games obsession.

My favourite handheld games
Some of my favourite handhelds – including Astro Wars

If anyone has any interesting old games looking for a new home, please contact me at alex@retrogamesnow.co.uk