Game Over may have suffered from being a rather poor game, with difficult and frustrating game play. But this did not stop the game from becoming reasonably popular, for two main reasons, an excellent Galway soundtrack and some controversial advertising.

The music was certainly highly rated by magazine reviewers, even if the game was not. In many ways it’s a shame that such quality music was associated with one of Ocean’s weaker efforts.

The advertising became a focus of attention though, due to the depiction of the woman in the magazine adverts… Take a close look and all will be revealed! In fact this caused such a storm of protest from a few that the advert was actually censored by retouching the artwork. Although some may find this a bit over the top – it should be remembered that this game was aimed at under 16 gamers, some very young, so the reaction should not be all that surprising. It was obviously an intentional addition by the artist but should have been noticed and removed by Ocean’s PR people before publishing.

There can be no doubt, that as with most controversies of this nature, it helped sell more copies of the game…

Game Over
Game Over by Ocean (original advert)
Game Over
Game Over by Ocean (retouched advert)

WIZBALL
Wizball was a highly original game by Sensible Software for Ocean, which involves collecting coloured paint to colour the level you are on, from monochrome.

The music on the title screen of this game is reckoned to be one of Galway’s best. I have to be honest, although I do like and rate this music highly – I don’t believe it is as good as some of his other music in particular his Rambo masterpiece. It’s a strange and compelling piece of music that really does fit well with the game but I don’t think its as mesmerisingly brilliant as some seem to think!

Apparently, on some of the C64 tape versions of this game sold in the UK - the game name was spelt incorrectly (with a double Z) and appeared on the cassette tape label as WIZZBALL!
Wizball
Wizball by Ocean