Platoon (1988)

Ocean Software released Platoon in 1988 for the ZX Spectrum 48K and 128K. The development team included coders Sean Pearce and David Lyttle, artist Simon Butler, and composer David Whittaker, who provided the game's soundtrack.

This arcade shoot-em-up adapts the narrative of the Hemdale Film Corporation movie across multiple stages. The game features AY sound, supports Kempston and Interface 2 joysticks, and utilizes a multi-loader for the 48K version.

The original cassette was priced at £9.95 and featured a special pack containing the Smokey Robinson track 'Tracks Of My Tears', a cast photo, and a competition entry. The game was also released on the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, NES, PC/DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST platforms.

Platoon holds an average magazine score of 79%. It received a 'Crash Smash' award from Crash magazine, and users have rated the title at 7.78 out of 10.

The game was well-known in Russia and frequently appeared on cassette tapes with amateur cracks. It saw six different TR-DOS adaptations, and Micro magazine featured POKE codes to help players complete the game.