Commodore Free 63/Commodore_Free_Issue_63_2012-08-06_-.d64/c16 & +4 pt 1

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 17KB | 650 lines

             PART 1 of 2

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        REVIEW: TOWER OF EVIL
           By Sixteen Plus
*************************************

Title:      Tower Of Evil
Publisher:  Creative Sparks
Year:       1985
Language:   English
Genre:      Arcade Adventure

Download the program from here

www.commodore16.com/php/images/files/
Tower_Of_Evil.zip

I will try keep the introduction
brief. Many years ago, Andros was
banished from the court of King
Salimos, destined never to return
until he finds some treasure and
rescue a beautiful (?) princess
called Diana, who was kidnapped by a
wicked Necromancer and his minions
and taken to the Tower of Evil.
Andros has one powerful aid given to
him by his friend the court wizard.
The power to hurl fireballs through
his fingertips.

His journey starts in the tower. His
objective is to collect all the
treasures, find the keys to the
gates which will enable him to
teleport to the next level. A drink
from a goblet will grant him
invincibility or double his strength
for a short while.

On the final level (there are 7
levels in total), after he's
collected all the treasure, Andros
must then deposit them all into the
chest, and then finally rescue the
imprisoned princess. There are many
minions who will try and stop you.
They vary in type from level to
level. Some don't fire back and are
easy to pick off. Others may fire
horizontal, while others fire
vertical. There are over 60 rooms to
explore.

There are two versions I will be
looking at. The original 1985
Commodore 16 release, and a later
1989 crack for the Plus/4.
http://plus4world.powweb.com/software
/Tower_Of_Evil_THS Both games look
and play exactly the same, except
that the Plus/4 version has music
playing instead of sound effects.
The original C16 version is
incompatible with the Plus/4 but was
later fixed for a budget release.

After loading, you're shown the
title screen over the first room.
You can select one or two players to
begin. Each level is a maze of
caverns you need to explore and pick
up everything you find.

Movement of Andros who looks
suspiciously like a walking egg is
very fast and fluid, just the kind
of stamina you need when you're
suddenly surrounded by evil minions.
Why he has his hands stuck
permanently on the side of his hips
though looks a bit suspect. As this
is a multi-screen maze-type
adventure you leave the present room
through one of the sides of the
screen.

The graphics are fairly bland but
there's enough crisp colourful
detail to appreciate them and know
what's happening.

Holding down fire whilst moving the
stick will make him fire whilst
glued to his spot. Fortunately you
can also fire diagonal.

The game itself is quite easy. You
start off with 5 lives and that's
plenty enough. It didn't take me too
long to explore every room, find all
the treasures, keys & potions,
locate the treasure chest and rescue
the princess who comes immediately
running up to you once you've
achieved all you need to. By the
looks of her though the evil
Necromancer had put an ugly spell on
her too. The game then loops over
and you get the opportunity to try
again for hi-score.

The Commodore 16 version has very
basic sound effects, I quite like
the plodding sound when you move.
It's blandly functional at best but
this is an early simple
maze-adventure game after all. The
Plus/4 1989 cracked version on the
other hand has no sound effects, but
it does have a very nice jolly piece
of music which loops throughout.

The game itself is simple and easy
to beat sure, the graphics and sound
effects are bland yet functional.
The Plus/4 music is great however
and the game itself is quite good
fun for a while. There isn't much
more to add except to give it a go
yourselves.

Presentation: 5

Joystick or keyboard control. 1 or 2
players. Hi-score. Nice title screen.
Good enough.

Graphics: 4

Bland, but colourful enough and
fluidly functional.

Sound (C16): 3

No music for C16, some simple basic
effects.

Sound (Plus/4): 7

The Plus/4 version has no sound
effects but it does have a great
little ditty which plays throughout.

Playability: 7

Very easy to get into. Very easy to
beat too.

Lasting Appeal: 7

But pretty hard to put down, it's
worth coming back for hi-scores.

Overall: 7

A good old-fashioned fun multi-screen
maze adventure.

Clocked (twice) by Sixteen Plus

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*************************************
       REVIEW: IKARI WARRIORS
           By Sixteen Plus
*************************************

Title:      Ikari Warriors
Publisher:  Elite
Year:       1986
Language:   English
Genre:      Shoot'Em Up

www.commodore16.com/php/images/files/
Ikari_Warriors.zip

Ikari Warriors is a 1986 arcade game
by SNK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNK_Play
more The player takes the role of
commando-like warriors named Ralf
and Clark, who must try to reach the
village of Ikari and rescue Colonel
Cook. Armed with a machine gun and
grenades, enemy units who will
attempt to kill the warriors include
tanks and enemy soldiers. You will
occasionally find tanks to use at
your disposal and also tank refuel
dumps to help the player to achieve
victory. If you run out of fuel
before your player exits the tank,
kaBOOM!

The original arcade machine was
unique in a sense that the joystick
controls were not standard. Apart
from the usual movements, you could
also turn the stick to change the
direction your character faces and
fires, independent of the direction
he's moving. Unfortunately it means
that this feature is lost on all
home conversions. Short history
lesson over.

Whenever an arcade machine was
converted across to our system, we
were often let down. Will this break
the cycle? Read on and find out.

The first thing you will notice is
that as well as a single player
game, they have managed to include
the co-operative 2 player mode. In
fact this is the only co-operative
game I can think of discounting
sport games. This is fantastic news.

Controls are via joysticks, and
holding down fire will release one
of an infinite supply of grenades.
The arcade machine I believe has a
limited supply and so you often had
to find more, this makes things a
bit easier.

One thing I have noticed is that you
have no directional-fire whereas the
enemies do, you can only fire
upwards. This is more than a little
unfair and makes the game a lot
tougher than necessary. But all the
enemies have set movement patterns
to them so with a bit of planning
you can try pick them all off
one-by-one. Did I forget to mention
that there is such a thing as
friendly fire in co-operative mode?
Be careful who you shoot.

There are also large building gun
emplacements but for some reason
they do not fire at you, if this is
an oversight then it's a fortunate
one as this game gets very tough
later on. You can use your grenades
to quickly see them off, just don't
bump into them.

Shooting through the army of
soldiers who also carry machine guns
and grenades is pretty tough going.
There are no other special power-ups
in our version but you will
occasionally find tanks you can
climb into. This is one of the most
important features of the game and
I'm glad that they kept it in this
conversion as it's your most
powerful weapon at your disposal.

Machine-gun bullets can't harm you
whilst you're in the tank, however
enemy tanks and hand grenades can
still blow you apart, and you can
still kill your comrade. Your tank
holds little fuel capacity so you
have to find more if you want to
keep going. When you're running low
on fuel, there will be a few seconds
beeping indicating you to either
refuel quickly or to promptly shift
your arse out of there before it
explodes. They're not exactly made
to U.S military specs.

There are rocks scattered around
too, they can be helpful in tactical
battles. For instance, enemy tanks
cannot fire through them so
sometimes a well placed grenade from
behind a rock will see them off.
There are no bridges or lakes to
wade through in our version, but
given so little memory to play with
this isn't a major necessity and
quite forgivable.

Later on you will occasionally come
up to large impassable defence walls
spanning the entire width of the
play area, just throw a grenade at
its door or blast it apart with your
tank and you're quickly on your way
again. Again don't bump into the
doors or you'll lose one of your 3
lives.

That's the basic gameplay. But does
it come up to scratch?

Fortunately Elite has learned from
their mistake with Commando and
actually gave us a game that is not
only worth playing, but captures the
feeling of the original really quite
well.

The scrolling is nice and pacey and
the game characters move around
quick and smooth. No jerkiness and
getting around is easy. Nice rapid
firing too.

The warriors and enemies are as
finely detailed to what you would
expect on our system, although as
our warriors are only able to face
forward, it gives them a silly
looking side-step. The defence walls
look pretty good but the background
and rocks seem a little wishy-washy,
but nothing is too hard on the eyes.

There is no music and the spot FX
are nice enough, and there's plenty
of them.

The difficulty level is consistent.
It starts off fairly easy and
gradually becomes more difficult.
But the lack of directional-fire
whilst the enemies are able to does
make the later stages extremely hard
to beat.

All in all, apart from that and a
few minor game omissions, this is
still one damn fine playable game.
This has got to be one of the best
arcade conversions on the C16/+4, if
not the best. Single mode is great
fun but it's something special in
co-operative mode. Give it a blast
now. Just be careful not to shoot
your friend in the back.

Presentation: 7

Joystick control. 2-player co-op
mode. Hi-score. Tanks and grenades at
your disposal.

Graphics: 7

Nice explosions and character sprites
although our heroes should join the
ministry of silly walks once their
service is over. Pacey movements and
silky scrolling. Rocks and background
are a bit gaudy-looking though.

Sound: 5

No music but some nice decent spot-FX
throughout.

Playability: 8

Great fun. It starts off easy but
gets gradually more difficult, very
difficult.

Lasting Appeal: 8

But you will keep finding yourself
coming back for more.

Overall: 8

The best arcade conversion for the
Commodore 16 and Plus/4.

Clocked (with infinite lives cheats)
by Sixteen Plus

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*************************************
        REVIEW: MR PUNIVERSE
           By Sixteen Plus
*************************************

Title:      Mr Puniverse
Publisher:  Mastertronic
Year:       1985
Language:   English
Genre:      Platformer

www.commodore16.com/php/images/files/
Mr_Puniverse.zip

This game is based on the BBC's old
"Late, Late Breakfast Show". Here is
the Basic storyline according to the
inlay.

Long ago, in a faraway land, where
dinosaurs ruled the earth, men were
men - women were women - a new breed
of man was born.

Skin and bones, pallid, harmless,
tearful, timid, basically inept -
"Wimps" had arrived!

No more, would animals fear all men.

No more, would man be the hunter.

Wimps, their destiny to have sand
kicked in their faces! Lead by the
weakest, weediest, most pathetic of
this new minor race. Mr. Puniverse.

Undernourished and barely alive, Mr.
Puniverse has to solve 25 problem
filled locations in his search for
the vitamins that will keep him
alive.

Sounds like my kind of game. It must
be one of the most outlandishly
humorous plots ever. This is the
official sequel to Big Mac (The Mad
Maintenence Man)
http://www.retrogamer.net/show_image.
php?imageID=4090&page=1 which also
graced the C64, but Mr Puniverse is
totally exclusive to our system,
lucky us.

This is a multiscreen platform
adventure. The simple aim of the
game is to explore all 25 rooms and
collect each vitamin pill from each.
Once you've achieved collecting all
of these then you've won the game.

You have the option of either
joystick or keyboard control, and
you can select one or two players
which is turn-based. You start off
with 8 yes 8 lives, for you will
find that you'll need them. Mr
Puniverse...ah let's just call him
Eric, he looks like an Eric... Well,
Eric may only move left and right
but can also thankfully jump
(otherwise there wouldn't be much of
a game).

There is also a health meter bar.
But depending on which room you are
in, the meter will go either up or
down and fast or slow. So whenever
you are low on health, just find a
room preferably with a fast health
replenisher.

Each room poses their own set of
problems such as crushers that go up
and down ready to squash poor puny
Eric. You also need to avoid cannon
fire. Some of the cannons spit
bullets randomly left or right and
some just spit them out in one
direction only, you need to time
your jumps carefully. There are also
some electrified platforms you
cannot land on or electrical
barriers you cannot touch without
losing a life.

Many pills are placed in such a way
that you need a little logical
thinking to get to them. 4 of the
rooms require you to flick switches
to turn off any electrical barriers,
and another room where a switch lies
to remove a platform. This may not
sound a lot, but there are many
other rooms with their own different
set of problems which require some
great dexterity to avoid, like
cannon fire and crushers at the same
time. Luckily, Eric is able to
quickly change direction mid-jump
for crucial timing when needed.

There is also a room with dissolving
floors, one which may see you in an
inescapable pitfall trap where you
will need to press D to lose a life
if you're unfortunate enough to find
yourself in it. There's a few
pitfall traps around so be sure to
judge carefully how deep any drops
are. There are a few ladders too
which can only be ascended with the
jump button, you can't go down them.
Just make sure that the final pill
you collect is the one back on the
first screen otherwise it's game
over no matter how many lives left,
that's the ultimate trap. Finally
there's a couple of exits in other
rooms which will take you to another
room altogether that's not directly
next to it, one of these is very
handy for a bit of tactical play.
I'll leave you to work that one out.

That's the gameplay. But how does
the game look, sound and play?

Well, the graphics are virtually
identical to Big Mac as it uses much
of the same code, although Eric (Mr
P) looks far less defined. Maybe
it's just a deliberate
representation of his total
punyness. But he and the rest of the
graphics does look a little less
colourful compared to Big Mac though.

The sound is OK. The music on the
pretty nice title screen is pretty
good. The white noise death
explosions are OK, although the
sound Eric makes when he jumps and
falls is quite piercingly
high-pitched so make sure you turn
the sound down a bit, or you could
just turn it right up so to annoy
the dog.

The controls are at least nice and
fluid. As I said before you can turn
direction in mid-jump which becomes
crucial for timing. Eric doesn't
walk very fast though but not
extremely slow either. Collision
detection is very good.
Unfortunately there is no scoring,
just the total time played and the
amount of limited 25 vitamin pills
you collect.

Sometimes though when you enter a
room a certain way, you may find
yourself heading straight for an
unavoidable crusher or cannon
bullet. This means that if you lose
a life this way then you will be
placed back in exactly the same
situation on your next life. This is
the Jet Set Willy syndrome, so you
will need some game strategy to
avoid ending your game swiftly.

It is a pretty tough game to crack
but I wouldn't call it overly
difficult. It's quite beatable once
you work out the map and with plenty
of practice which will take a while.

Overall it's a very fun fine game
and which becomes quickly addictive.
I easily put it somewhere in my top
5 of platformers on the C16. It's a
recommended game for every retro
platform fan. An exclusive classic
on our system.

One niggling question though. If
he's the most weakest, weediest,
pathetic and inept of them all, then
how can he possibly lead all the
rest of the wimps?

Presentation: 6

Joystick or keyboard control. One or
two turn-based players. No scoring
though except for the total time
played and pills you collect.

Graphics: 7

Virtually identical to Big Mac
although Mr P appears a little more
ill-defined and the screens feel
slightly less colourful.

Sound: 7

Jolly title tune. Nice enough
explosion SFX, but the jump/fall
sounds are enough to make a dog howl.

Playability: 8

Very straightforward and simple to
play with nice responsive controls
and good collision detection.

Lasting Appeal: 8

The exploration is just half the fun.
The strategy involved will have you
burning away the hours for a
long-time to come.

Overall: 8

A puny man, but a BIG game and a
BIGGER C16 classic.

Clocked by Sixteen Plus

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         Continued in Part 2