Games World
Paul Brett with the latest gaming news.
Last issue I said that I hoped to have some more blockbuster games releases for RISCWorld readers. Well I am delighted to say that I do indeed have two great games for you. Recent hard work by Acorn Arcade has seen the freeware release of two classic RISC OS games, BigBang and Revolver. Both of these were originally published by Psycore in the mid 1990's. They will run on any machine with RISC OS 3.1 or later, although Iyonix users will need a copy of Aemulor to run BigBang, Revolver is fully 32bit compatible. Lets start with BigBang.
BigBang
In the core of deep space is a Y-class planet known as Trisula Ultra. A world populated with industrious inhabitants enjoying a comfortable and free lifestyle. A breakaway faction has developed, set on disrupting the peace and stability. They have evolved a new kind of science, enabling them to build a super defence shield which will make them invincible. In order to construct this, they need to find a curious array of objects located across this strange planet. Jellyhead, a special volunteer from the group, takes on this hazardous mission. Unfortunately there is a little problem...
The existing powers know of this cunning plan and have dispatched their own formidable agent: Dr. Subtech Plus. This most positive agent needs to reach the objects first to thwart the schemes of the negative faction. Confident of success, they will then be rid of this irritating breakaway group and can restore the planet to normal. These two sides have opposite ways of looking at the world and everything appears back to front to the other. Who is going to win? Which side are you on?
Controls
You can choose whose side you are on to complete the mission, but once you start your opposite number will be after you. It is up to you to find the objects and avoid being captured by the opposition. To choose a side, use the keys to move the bar left or right from the info icon and then press the return key. You then select which level to try by moving the bar and pressing return. Expect many treats and surprises while travelling through some very strange and beautiful places.
Z,z = Left X,x = Right ",' = Jump Return = Throws a teddy ",' = Up in Bonus Stage ?,/ = Down in Bonus Stage P,p = Pause & Unpause M,m = Mini Mode Toggle Escape = Exit game
Teddies
Pick up the bouncing teddies by moving across them. Throwing teddies at the big teddy heads will reward you with bonuses Some bricks can be removed by chucking teddies at them. Above all having teddies means you lose teddies instead of losing lives when hit by baddies.
Play Back
Big Bang records every move you make as you play. You can watch completed levels by selecting a level and pressing return Big Bang then plays back your journey. If you finish the game or run out of lives your last go will be played back at the end of the intro. Press return to stop the play back.
General Info
For hints and tips watch the demos which play automatically after the intro. To install BigBang on a hard drive simply copy !BigBang from the archive to the desired location on your hard drive.
Revolver
Revolver is a maze game with a difference. A two dimensional maze is projected into the surface of a sphere, you then need to roll around the edges of the maze collecting the stars. Once you have collected all the stars you need to find the exit to leave the level.
The game is played against the clock and to make matters even more frantic only a small part of the maze can be seen at any one time. In total there are 30 levels, after completing a level you are given a password so you can skip past any completed levels in future.
Controls
Revolver is controlled with the mouse. The left button spins the maze anti-clockwise, the middle button spins clockwise and the right button shows a map of the maze with your position and the position of any remaining stars marked. As the levels progress you will also find a number of pickups and some nasties that need to be avoided at all costs. You can get more information on these from the main title screen.
Revolver starts out quite easily but soon builds to a frantic pace very quickly. I'm very pleased to see an old game resurrected, especially when it runs on the Iyonix "out of the box", I think all Iyonix owners should get a copy.
That's all from me for this issue, see you in the new year.
Paul Brett