Chronos Cheat Codes
Cheats for arcade game Chronos
Chronos: A tapestry of time was a budget game for the ZX Spectrum that was released by those budget supremo's, Mastertronic.
It was released in 1987 and was a pretty standard left to right scrolling arcade game - but for a mere £1.99 you really couldn't go far wrong.
In fact, this game proved that there were actually some good budget Spectrum games available, some of which were of better quality than many full priced computer games.
It also contained a good dose of humour and hidden easter eggs, and a lot of fun could be had trying out different phrases in the high score table...
Chronos: A Tapestry Of Time on the ZX Spectrum
Chronos Gained A Cult ZX Spectrum Following
This game picked up a bit of a cult following due to it's outstanding techno menu music (courtesy of the legendary Tim Follin which really pushed the Spectrum's single channel beeper to the max) which features in our roundup of ZX Spectrum music.
In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that the title music was actually AY Music - but rest assured it is single channel beeper hardware only!
Tim Follin really knew how to get the best out that particular piece of hardware.
But the main reason this arcade game is fondly remembered is due to it's quirky high score table, and hidden extras and easter eggs.
There were many phrases which could be entered into the table which would respond with humorous messages or activate a cheat code within the game.
If you remember any of them or want to know what they were, please read on...
Chronos Cheat Codes
Almost all ZX Spectrum Games (and most games on most retro computers) featured some sort of cheat code - and many games were POKE'd to death to give infinite lives, weapons power-ups, player invincibilty and more .
But Chronos (just like the legendary vector classic Dark Star from Design Design) allowed you to activate cheats from the high score table.
We reckon you should download Chronos for a ZX Spectrum emulator (see Download Spectrum for more details) and give it a go.
Once you've got the game up, play it and get the hang of it (you will find that it's actually quite good), then have some fun with the high score table.
Try typing in some of these words for starters...
- nemesis
- design design
- peter gough
- mike follin
- tim follin
- mark wilson
- agent x
- chronos
- the thug
- jing it baby
Apart from the above phrases you could also try some 'naughty' words if you feel so inclined.
Doing this was funny when I was fifteen anyway... ;-)
Many of the names in the list are famous Spectrum programmers (such as Tim Follin, Mike Follin and Peter Gough) and other words are the titles of classic shoot em up style games.
Enter these phrases and have some fun...
It's almost as good as the game itself!
Chronos: A Tapestry Of Time
Playable shoot em up action in Chronos
High score table humour in Chronos
It should be noted that many other games featured high score table shenanigans and humour.
Games from Design Design often had this built into their high score tables, and programmer Peter Gough was known for funny phrases in his games (such as the excellent budget titles Scumball and Gunstar) and high score tables too.
One game sticks in my memory for humour in the high score table: Dark Star (by Design Design) - one which we will have now covered in detail at Dark Star Cheat Codes.
A Tapestry of time scrolls by in Chronos...
The Extra Effort In Chronos
It was always a good thing when programmers had a little bit of fun with a game, and that little bit of extra effort definitely made a game more memorable.
This game would have been lost amongst the midst of other scrolling shmups on the Speccy if it wasn't for the humour that the developers included.
Anyone that ever played this game will always quote you with 'Jing It Baby' - it is just one of those things that sticks in your mind.
For that reason it stands out from the rest of the budget shoot em up crowd and for me is a real cult classic budget title.
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