KID CHAOS - DEATH MASK - TRIVIAL PURSUITMy fellow CD32 owners, our lives have never been better. So many cool new titles are coming our way and I LOVE it. In addition to some news, we will review a couple of titles and be on our merry way.
A lot of CD32 news was covered in the COMING ATTRACTIONS area, but I saved some stuff for you here.
.. Virgin Interactive continues to support the CD32 with new games galore. Highlights include LOST EDEN (a dinosaur adventure game) which could be the 'Jurassic Park' we have all been waiting for and CANNON FODDER 2, which we all have DEFINATELY been waiting for. Now if we can only get them to do the same with ALADDIN and LION KING!
... Golf. Still haven't seen a version I would spit on yet. Well, that is going to change with U.S. GOLD's WORLD CUP GOLF. Slated for summer release, the graphics have been all raytraced and initial indications are that it will take up TWO (!) CDs for the game. This looks like something special. Hopefully the game itself will be as good as the graphics.
... WORMS from Team 17 is one of the best kept secrets around the gaming area. Peter Olafson won't tell me anything (damn Non-Disclosure Statements! :) and it sounds like it might be the number one for this Christmas' Gallup Charts. Latest word is that it was pushed back to a Aug/Sep release...
... Feel sparky? Well, Gametek's new BUREAU 13 sounds like it might take care of you. Described as XFILES meets GHOSTBUSTERS, I can't wait. More when I know it.
... Could the classic game PITFALL be coming for the Amiga? Indeed. Activision is said to be making PF: THE MYAN ADVENTURE for us soon. Looks like THE JUNGLE BOOK meets FLASHBACK. Loads of fun (I hope).
... Being a criminal instead of a cop could be a nice change of pace. THE CLUE from Neo is a point and click type adventure letting you be the bad guy for a change. Graphics don't look bad and the change of pace might actually be fun!
... Now for the really cool news. Naturally, you can take this all with a grain of sand, and in light of ESCOM's buyout, this may not even happen. But I can't help spilling a little of what I know. A retired Hollywood producer by the name of Alan Briggs is producing a new 'interactive movie' for the CD32 that will make full use of the new FMV card created by the people at C= UK. The card, slated for a May release (again, figure what you want on this one), will have this new game called SHARC ATTACK. The game revolves around killing a terrifying undersea creature. Filming for the game should be mostly done by now if the timeline held up. According to Mr. Briggs, other Hollywood producers are interested in the technique that he has come up with. The effects are just as good as the hit film "StarGate" according to the producer. I can't wait for more. I will give you all more when I know more next month.
Enough chatterbox for one issue. Let's do the reviews.
TITLE: KID CHAOS +---------------------+ PUBLISHER: OCEAN | Enhanced for CD32 | CODERS: MAGNETIC FIELDS +---------------------+ PLAYERS: 1 | _X_ CD Music Tracks | TYPE: PLATFORM ARCADE | ___ Rendered/Intro | | ___ Other Enhanced | +---------------------+There have been dozens of platform games released in the last couple years. Many of them have been very good. Of course, many have been not so good. Probably the one that shines the most is SUPERFROG (ah, many an hourwasted on that one) but there has always been a lack of a really good Sonic the Hedgehog clone for Amiga/CD32. The closest one what TEARAWAY THOMAS, but that was only for Amiga and then it felt a little too PD'ish. Finally, we have an entrant to the market that captures a lot of the feel of Sonic, plus adds some unique game play to a tired concept.
KID CHAOS (KC) is a port from the Amiga and still has about the same graphics (with the exception of the totally clean mega-parallax scrolling backround) and the same speed. The only real changed is the CD music which is really quite good. The loading speed, etc. are all the same.
The game is your classic horizontal scroller with some very choice looking graphics. You play a kid brought back in time to destroy this plant life (you must destroy a certain percentage to get the exit to open) and of course, take out anything else that pops up. To do this, you jump into the air spinning with your big club. Gotta love it.
TITLE: DEATH MASK +---------------------+ PUBLISHER: ALTERNATIVE SOFTWARE | Enhanced for CD32 | CODERS: IN HOUSE +---------------------+ PLAYERS: 2 TOGETHER | _X_ CD Music Tracks | TYPE: ARCADE/DOOM STYLE | ___ Rendered/Intro | | _X_ Other Enhanced | +---------------------+After seeing all the new DOOM clones, this one will likely leave you cold. If you can NOT think of it as DOOM and think of it as a nice first person adventure death game, it will set you up with less of a disappointment.
The game is played in two windows; one per player. Even in one player mode the action is all in the one half of the screen. The graphics are pleasant but not extraordinary and there is very little actual animation. In its favor, the sound effects and music are excellent; the selectable CD music tracks are downright great.
Unlike the game it attempts to emulate, Death Mask's moves are NOT 360 type scrolling but more like Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder; 45 degree moves. You do get to see your current weapon and your health and ammo stats are neatly displayed.
The play with a joystick was terrible; no side stepping oranything. Thankfully, the CD32 controller makes all the difference in the play. Side stepping is accomplished with the finger buttons; map is called up with a yellow button. Very nicely adapted and the only real way to play the game.
There are the traditional opening doors and nice clean effects whenyou pick up the weapons, etc. A couple of types of enemies more or less blindly walk about and need to be sacrificed during the play of the game.
The game, if taken from a non-DOOM standpoint, is really quitedecent. There are actual MISSIONS to accomplish for each level and two player co- operative mode is a lot of fun. Two player death matches are slightly more fun.
Problems? Sure. Mainly it is just a TAD too slow without Fast RAM.If you turn down the detail a bit and play on FAST it is barely liveable. If you are lucky enough to have Fast RAM on your CD32, game play is very smooth and enjoyable. Too bad 75%+ CD32's don't have the RAM. My other bitch is that in cooperative mode there are too few weapons. Basically there is one that is worth a rat's ass each level and if you don't get it... Well, too bad I guess. That sucks. Maybe a shared weapon mode would be cool. And most certainly a shared ammo mode would be cool. You can't move in map mode either, and that more or less sucks. I am sure that it was planned that way, but it still sucks.
In closing, this is a try-before-you-buy game. Give it a chance, but don't expect DOOM 'cause it ain't even close. If that is what you want, save your pennies and nickles for Alien Breed 3D or GLOOM.
TITLE: TRIVIAL PURSUIT CD32 +---------------------+ PUBLISHER: DOMARK | Enhanced for CD32 | CODERS: HORN ABBOT INTL +---------------------+ PLAYERS: UP TO 6 | | TYPE: BOARD GAME TRANSLATION | CD32 ONLY TITLE | | | +---------------------+On Peter Olafson's suggestion, I dug this game up. I was pretty much impressed with this game over all. It was well polished and it is very obvious that they spend a great deal of time making it.
For those of you in another dimension, TRIVIAL PURSUIT is a game of answer- ing questions on various categories like Science, History, Entertainment, etc. You move a little empty pie shell around the board landing on the catagory of question that is to be asked. Should you get the question right you get to roll the dice again and move again. The object is to land on the six 'wedge' questions (one spot for each catagory), answer the questions successfully, and thus gain that colored WEDGE for your pie. Get all the wedges, then move to the center of the board, and answer a random question to win the game.
The board game itself is faithfully recreated in shape and in form. The original rules are all the same. The really cool thing about it is the 'multimedia' aspect it takes. There are animated figures that ask the questions (such as Albert Einstein for Science, May West for Entertainment, etc) and every one of the 2000 questions and answers are physically spoken. There is even a full speaking animated tutorial to get you going.
There is an annoying game master that is basically a chicken-man for lack of a better description who definately has a bad attitude. He cuts you when you answer too many questions wrong (sometimes deep for a game) and will occasionally cheers you on. Up to 6 human players can play and there is no option for computer players.
Every question has a picture with it. Often these pictures blatently tell you the answer or blatently lead you astray. Knowing that, you just quickly learn to disregard it altogether. At least the effort is there.
Graphics are only slightly above ECS but all the sound is top notch. The game play is a little lagged and it is really only fun with several people (and in your cups doesn't hurt). You can shut off all the snide comments and that helps the play along, but then it kind of loses its edge. Did I fail to mention that the questions are hard as hell? How about like a Silver Screen or Amiga edition so the rest of the mortals can play it, eh?
In closing, there is a load and save game option for the SX1 users (this game sounds suspiciously like a CDTV title - especially when the guy tells you to push button A) and if you really liked the board game this is a good buy. For those with an interest, as I said before, try before you buy.