jd games | stop the express

I loved this game when it was released back in 1983, and believe it is long overdue the remake treatment.

Taking the role of a James Bond style secret agent, you must fight your way past the evil "redmen" to the front of the train to bring it to a halt. If you have ever wanted to run, jump and fight bad guys on top of a moving locomotive, then this is the game for you. The original had big, colourful graphics and was extremely original at the time (and still unusual today).

It also won praise for the quality of its gameplay, scored an impressive 80% when reviewed by seminal Speccy mag, Crash, and was placed 4th in Your Sinclair's list of the top 100 games of all time, published between October 1991 and February 1992.

I am very pleased to say that this remake was awarded 2nd prize overall in the 2004 Retro Remakes competition, scoring an average of 88.5% from the 4 judges.

Zip File	Version 1.2: Latest Full Release	3,507KB	Download
Zip File	Version 1.0: Retro Remakes Competition Version	4,348KB	Download

STE placed 2nd overall in the 2004 RR competition - here is what the four judges had to say:

'What starts out as unplayable soon becomes a very enjoyable and playable game. I even got to Carriage 1 a few times but died before I could save the train - mark my words I will be going back to do it tho. ... Overall we have a very playable game, tho not quite up to the standards of the original I remember so fondly.'
The Toker

'Its infuriatingly hard but also very addictive ... This is a cracking remake marred by its little flaws, and i'd really love to see this one fixed up. Pretty please...'
hitm4n

'Anyway, its good, its bloody good. I'll continue such review padding to tell you that its so good I have considered quitting my job to take up STE playing full time. ... It is a truly superb remake which requires, nah scrub that, demands your attention. Play it or knit yourself a scarf, sad fools!'
STompy

'This is a cracking little game ... The graphics are beautiful, the sound effective and the playability is top notch. The Bob doth approve.'
Oddbob0

Find the full reviews on this page

OTHER REVIEWS ...

'The first thing that you notice about Stop The Express is that it's absolutely gorgeous ... Inside and out this game oozes quality and challenge. Hard as it is you can't stop playing it ...'
Mike Tooley, Retro Gamer Magazine issue #25

Patterns	Most important tip - learn the patterns and timings of the Redmen and the snakebirds. That makes life so much easier!
Level 1	To get you started - catch bird 1 on car 18 and release it just before jumping to 17, catch next bird over 16 and release at end of 15, then catch over 13 release 12, catch over 11 and release 10 or just go straight to the hatch.
Pickups	Inside the train, knives and lives will always appear in the same positions - learn where they are and use them wisely.
Lasers	The best place to stand when the Robo-Sentries fire is right underneath!
Knives	If you time it right, you can jump over the knives, even when moving in the same direction as they are.
Cheat 1	Press F9 and F11 together to move to the next stage. [highlight text to read cheat]
Cheat 2	Press F10 and F12 together to give yourself 1 extra life. [highlight text to read cheat]

12/2005	Version 1.2 released, new features - hanging from the straps, carry indicator.
01/2005	Version 1.1a released, bugfix - jumping redmen now kill JD.
01/2005	Version 1.1 released, including some minor and cosmetic updates.
12/2004	Jump engine altered to provide single key jumping, redmen now have to jump gaps on roof.
09/2004	Final tweaking complete, and all ready for upload to Retro Remakes.
09/2004	Editted down an instrumental version of my song House of Worship for inclusion as title music.
09/2004	Added the ability to collect and use knives as a weapon in stage 2 (from L2 onwards).
09/2004	Pulled back on the difficulty of Stage 2 on each level, so as not to hack everyone off on Level 2.
09/2004	Tweaked the look and setup slightly to accommodate ability to gain extra lives.
09/2004	All levels now in and working. Game is a tough little nut.
09/2004	New Screenshots added to this page.
09/2004	Final train graphics sorted - train can now be stopped (complete with sparks from brakes).
09/2004	Three forms of Robo-Sentry now in place - one even fires at you!
09/2004	Timings set for the first stage of all levels (outside the train).
08/2004	Baddies now in and working, just need to sort out the timings.
07/2004	Incremental improvements - can now complete a level (with bonus) but no baddies yet.
07/2004	Thanks to oddbob0 from RR for offering to do graphics for my main character/redmen sprites.
07/2004	Main character can now jump and die, timer works, "robo-sentry" in, in place of original's ghosts.
07/2004	Background and carriage graphics completed. Engine and characters still to do.
07/2004	Basic game engine complete: movement of train and character running. No jumping, baddies or birds.
07/2004	Research and planning begins

12/2005	Version 1.2: Minor update - new features
01/2005	Version 1.1a: Identical to v1.1, with jumping redmen bug fixed
01/2005	Version 1.1: Minor and Cosmetic Changes completed
10/2004	Version 1.0: Retro Remakes Competition Version