Review: Space Madness by Steven J. Freitas Type: Space/Arcade Publisher: High Risk Ventures (800/927-0771) Retail Price: $49.95 Mail Order: $35.00 Requires: Mac with 68020 or better, 2.5 MB RAM, 1.5 MB hard drive space, 8-bit color or grayscale, System 6.0.7 or later. Protection: None   The Wait Is Over! A bold proclamation, you might say (I did). But in this moderately traveled genre of the Mac gaming microcosm, a stand-out product is beleaguered by two prerequisites; rising above the crowd, and having to improve upon a time-worn concept. High Risk Ventures has soundly bludgeoned these product-killing pit vipers, and you, dear reader, are the fortunate recipient of these blessings. Space Madness is a worthy successor in the historical continuum of space shoot-’em-ups, in the tradition that was made popular with Asteroids, and more recently enjoying a revival with Andrew Welch’s Maelstrom and Berkeley Systems’ After Dark module, Lunatic Fringe. Closer to the latter than the former in concept, Space Madness improves upon its predecessors and introduces refinements to and departures from the original formula that increase the quality of play, and, as one would hope, fun for the player.   Form Before Function — Not. Arriving in a padded mailer, the package consists of two 800K disks and a Quick Reference card detailing installation and registration instructions, as well as key command summary. True to their name, the small startup company has wisely focused efforts on quality software development and left the amenities for later. (For the protocol-sensitive, a box is planned. But big deal — the software’s great). Installing from a self-extracting archive, the software loads easily. Launching will greet you with an intro screen and a thermometer bar as it loads, then with a “main” screen from which you navigate the game’s options. You can set the volume with a slider-bar, create a demonstration copy, alter controls, and so on. High scores are prominently displayed, with the score and level achieved. The documentation is also available in these screens. Beginning with the storyline and exhibiting impressively rendered objects, a series of screens educates you on your mission, the capabilities of your ship, and some of what you will encounter in space. Although this style of documentation has its detractors, for a game like this with less need for heavily detailed material, I find it more convenient in this integrated form. It makes it difficult to lose, always convenient to refer to, and allows the creative programmer to make reading the documentation an enjoyable experience. However, there is currently some consideration regarding whether the documentation should be integrated or presented in a standalone file. Form an opinion and let High Risk know it. You’ll find them to be excellent listeners. The screen where you set your controls depicts your ship's movements graphically, thus making it easy to form the game to fit you. In addition, several options are offered for those with slower systems to increase frame rate. This, along with the convenient volume control, is indicative of a well-crafted interface design. Demos R US . A demonstration copy may also be created from the main screen. This still-unusual form of marketing is one best embarked upon by those sure of their product. A demonstration copy will be limited in that the player may only play on one level, and many of the “yummies” and enemies present in the registered version are omitted. Ordering information is available from the main screen, and a registration form may be printed out. Entry of a registration code will enable full functionality, and give your fun frustration an outlet. Registration also gets you $5 off on High Risk’s other products, a considerate deal that’s well worth it. Kill as Catch Can. Progressing on to the game, you’ll find yourself in a craft (the dispassionately named DS27-E) at level one. An omniscient radar at your top right will show the location of all the baddies and the enemy base from which they cruise. Below that is an array of thermometers indicating the status of various systems on your ship; thrusters, guns, scanner, and so on. Monitoring the main screen, radar, and damage control in as simultaneous a fashion as possible will serve you well. The objective of all this sweat is to, on each level, destroy the enemy base. It readily resists your efforts, both by tossing out enemy ships bent on killing you, and with its own weapons systems. As you go up in levels, the enemy bases become more capable defenders and generate more diverse attackers. The attackers each seem to have individual personalities, some courageous, others wimpy. Treating any with disrespect is detrimental; they can be vicious. The bases’ self-defense systems will fire guided missiles, generate orbiting explosive orbs, and other frolicking discouragement. As you continue on, you’ll find ships that will fire guided missiles, seemingly harmless ships that explode near you, mine fields, invisible ships, and other devious rebels. You can activate your shields, but the best defense really is a good offense. Ah, Houston, We've Got a Problem Here. Your ship has its own repair systems, a welcome improvement over Lunatic Fringe, but it can’t repair forever without regularly obtaining raw materials. Raw materials, in the form of small floating rocks, can be found by destroying enemy ships, the base, or asteroids. Your ship, upon contact with these rocks, will suck them in, fill up the raw materials storage, and discard any excess. Likewise with fuel: Thrusting around space will deplete your fuel supply and this left unchecked will leave you drifting helplessly. Destroying ships, enemy bases and occasionally asteroids will yield you red and white pulsing fuel cells. In addition to this, destroyed ships and bases will often leave behind equipment that you can use to upgrade the capabilities of your ship. Guided missiles, unguided torpedoes, automatic shield activators and other “yummies” will vastly upgrade the capability of your ship’s offensive and defensive systems. It’s all great fun. After destroying a base, a gravitational vortex will appear, and steering the ship into it will move it to the next level. Parting Thoughts. The graphics are impressive, all having been rendered in three dimensions with shadows applied. The colors are diverse and bright, and explosions gratifying. The sound is equally rich and accomplished. There is a quirk here though: a whooshing sound that accompanies the launch of a missile, so critical to avoiding it, is sometimes lost in the cacophony of a frenzied exchange of fire. The latest version (1.1) smooths some rough edges leftover from the original. Traveling so far as to lose radar contact with the enemy base will no longer have you forever adrift; there is now an “enemy base indicator” that shows you the way back. Upon destruction, enemy bases now release a heavier bounty of raw materials, yummies, and fuel. Pressing “L” from the main screen allows you to start in anywhere from level 1 to 20, giving the strong of heart a quick way to get dusted in their early days. Stability is quite good, although an early version of 1.1 exhibited the occasional hang on an extension-laden system. In all, Space Madness is state-of-the-art shoot-’em-up in the grand tradition. It has all the prerequisites to fun: great graphics, sound, a big host of bad guys, lots of toys, and more around every corner. Pros • Lush graphics and vibrant sound • Good control and speed flexibility • Thoughtfully designed, attractive, integrated manual • Wide variety of enemies and yummies • Fast, chaotic action • No copy protection • Ability to make demo copies Cons • Missile launch sound glitch • Some minor dialog boxes not aesthetically consistent • Procrastination of life’s important tasks, e.g., eating, blinking Space Madness is available direct from High Risk, or at Mac's Place (mail order) after July 1, 1993.