Top Ten Adventures¢------------------¢¢This is the first in a series of articles in which we hope will feature our (our being myself and my fellow Atarians of course) top ten favourite things; anyway to start the series off here are my top ten favourite adventure games. I know this will not be all that interesting for all you non-adventurers out there, but as the saying goes, 'If you don't like adventures it's probably because you're too stupid and lack imagination!'¢*¢10) Moonmist - INFOCOM¢¢Moonmist is by far the best of Infocom's 'detective' adventures, and really is a joy to play (if only to see the stereo typical images the Americans seem to have of English). The action in this game centres around a murder which has taken place in a remote Cornish castle, which you, as a great American detective must solve. Sound familiar? Yes, well is suppose it is, but putting that aside, this really is a nice, simple(ish) little game. It's a shame though that the response time is so slow, as it does give one the overwhelming desire to switch the thing off and play something faster.¢*¢9) Worm in Paradise - LEVEL 9¢¢This game is surely one of the most original and amusing of Level 9's adventures, which is saying a lot. It is a kind of sci-fi game set mainly in a futuristic city complex, but to give any of the plot away would be to spoil the game for anybody who has yet to play it. Needless to say I enjoy this game a lot and still play it often. Lots of places to explore, lots of bizarre humour, but not that many puzzles to solve, hence the low position in the table.¢*¢8) Dungeon Adventure - LEVEL 9¢¢Dungeon Adventure is a classic 'collect all the treasures and bugger off home' game, and one which holds a lot of Commodore nostalgia for me (being one of the only decent adventures I could ever get hold of on said computer). I much prefer this game to Level 9's other treasure gathering games, though I can't really put my finger on why - probably atmosphere or something like that. But this game has lots of interesting puzzles, and (as are all the adventures in my top ten, I suppose) really is great fun; and, like most Level 9 games is very user friendly. (I bet you've not heard that phrase in ages, have you?)¢*¢7) The Golden Baton - MYSTERIOUS ADV.¢¢The Golden Baton is a very simple adventure, and probably one of the easiest of the Mysterious Adventures to solve. The plot is simple - recover the Golden Baton, and save the world. Sounds simple eh? Well it is. Very enjoyable all the same.¢*¢6) Corsair! - AURA ADVENTURES¢¢Okay, so what if this is just another plug for our forthcoming 'AURA adventures' disk, it's still a great game, and the playtesting is really first class. (It's in this issue too!)¢*¢5) Zork I - INFOCOM¢¢Okay, everybody knows this game. It's THE classic adventure game. Hailed by all as a breakthrough in adventure programing and all that. So what is it doing at number five then you ask? Well I really don't know, I suppose it should be at number one, but, well, one has to be fair - although the game is a gem, the years do hang heavily upon it, and younger, fresher games have knocked it off that spot. No disrespect to this game though, if you've not got a copy, get one now, adventurer or not. It's quite cheap nowadays I believe (I got a copy from Derek Fern's stall at AMS6 for 2.99), so what are you waiting for?¢*¢4) Plundered Hearts - INFOCOM¢¢Ha-har! This be a great adventure in true swashbuckling fashion - but instead of taking the part of a tight-trousered, rapier-wielding, macho sea-captain, you take the part of the damsel in distress, which of course makes the game much more interesting. The aim of the game, as far as I can remember, is to rescue your father from the clutches of the local nasty Frenchman, and to avoid being... well never mind that - play it and find out.¢*¢3) Gnome Ranger - Level 9¢¢Ah, now we are talking dazzling games; and this one follows the adventures of a strange, little gnome (surprise, surprise) called Ingrid, as she battles witches, encounters centaurs and wood nymphs, and even meets a far out hippy-guru-llama type character who is a dead-ringer for John E. This game is like a fairy tale gone mad - it's witty, original and has style to spare; and, as usual, Level 9 pay great attention to detail. Right down to the 'What gnow?' prompts. This game is gnot to be missed! (sorry!?!)¢*¢2) Enchanter - INFOCOM¢¢This is by far my favourite Infocom game. Called by some Zork IV, it is really the first of a separate trilogy. In this game you play a naff, apprentice wizard-type character and starting off with a couple of seemingly unhelpful spells, you're sent off to do away with some nasty, bad wizard-type character called Krill. As you progress you acquire bigger and better spells, and finally knock off the bad guy. This is a lovely game, I can't praise it enough.¢*¢1) Lancelot - LEVEL 9¢¢Here we have it - Alias Maximus' top game of all time, and it what a game it is too. In this adventure you take on the role of Lancelot, and go off on a series of knightly adventures to prove just how wonderful you really are. This game follows Sir Thomas Mallory's 'Le Morte D'Arthur' very closely and people who are knowledgeable about things Arthurian (like yours truly) will find Level 9's attention to detail quite delightful. This was the first 'big' adventure I ever finished on the Atari 8-bit, and therefore it holds a special place in my affections, so perhaps I'm being a little biased about this game, judge for yourselves.¢*¢So there we are, my top ten adventures. If you have any top ten anythings then SEND THEM in, don't sit back and expect somebody else to do it. Remember, the Atari 8-bit needs needs your support, so does TGR, and if you do nothing about it, then, maybe the Grim Reaper will come a-knocking at our doors sooner than we think.¢¢Alias Maximus¢*¢Top Ten Games¢-------------¢¢These are my 'Top Ten' games on our Atari 8-bit. Some are quite old but they're still rated in my list.¢ These games don't all have amazing graphics and sound/musix, but they don't always make a game!¢*¢10) International Karate - EPYX (1986)¢¢This is a great game which I love playing, although I'm not very good at it. It's the best karate game on the 8-bit, much better the English Software's 'Chop Suey'. The backdrops are from various places like Brazil and the Sydney Harbour Bridge and are superb.¢ There are many karate moves available with your joystick, like punches, roundhouses and flying kicks. You can play against the computer or another player.¢ The aim of the game is to hit the other player and gain either half or full points. The first player to get two full points wins the bout. There are also extra stages where you have to smash piles of bricks, the quicker you do it, the bigger bonus you get. The other extra screen involves you dodging weapons which come flying towards you.¢ The graphics are amazing, so is the music, must be one of the best pieces ever produced on our Atari 8-bit.¢ This game is an all time classic!¢*¢9) Operation Blood - OUR 5OFT (1993)¢¢This is a conversion from the arcade game 'Operation Wolf'. It involves you shooting the enemy soldiers while trying to avoid the P.O.W.'s and other innocent civilians. You can collect icons which give you power-ups like extra bullets or grenades.¢ The game contains 6 screens, not 5 as I wrote in 'TGR 09'.¢ An excellent conversion, well worth the money. Read 'TGR 09' for the review.¢*¢8) Draconus - COGNITO (1988)¢¢In this game you control two characters, Frogman and Draconewt, which are interchanged by standing on a Morph Slab and pulling the joystick down.¢ Throughout the game you mainly use the Frogman, who can jump, punch, duck and breath fire and you have to collect several artifacts that have been scattered around the various levels. To get to these, you have to kill the monsters, rats, bats and bouncing blobs. The items are then used to help you progress through the game, till you come to the final screen where you must kill the beast, which is very well animated.¢ This is one of the best games ever written for our Atari 8-bit. Nothing matches it or even comes near!¢*¢7) Zybex - ZEPPELIN (1988)¢¢This is quite an original game, although it does remind me of 'R-Type'. The game involves you controlling a player who blasts anything that moves. You have to collect tokens from the end of each world, all are needed to enter the restricted levels. Throughout the game you have the chance to collect extra fire power such as: rail gun, 8-way gun, wall gun and pulse gun. These are collected by shooting the wave of aliens that bombard you. The game has auto-fire built in, so pressing your button selects one of the weapons you have collected in previous levels. There is also a two player option, which lets you have both players on the screen at the same time.¢ The graphics and animation are excellent. It's a shame that the game has a bug in it, as I can't get into the restricted levels.¢*¢6) Ballblazer - LUCASFILM (1985)¢¢This is one of the most playable games around. It can be played with two players, or you can select one of the droids to play against.¢ The game involves you getting hold of a ball and hitting into your opponents goal. Sounds simple? Not really. You see the goals move from one side to another. The graphics are of very high standard and the scrolling chequered playfield is great, very smooth.¢ It's a shame that Lucasfilm have stopped producing Atari 8-bit games, as they were all of very high standard.¢*¢5) Spy Hunter - DATASOFT (1983)¢¢This game involves you controlling a small car from a overhead view. In the game you have to shoot other cars using your machine gun or the items you have collected, for example: Smoke, Oil and Rockets for shooting down the helicopters.¢ You have to use two joysticks for this game, which is difficult at times when you're staring at the screen constantly. The game has a count down timer and when this runs out you get no more cars. A very nice game indeed.¢*¢4) Pacman - ATARI (1982)¢¢We all know this game and it has been cloned many times over, yet still none of them is as good as the original!¢ Not much more I can say...¢*¢3) Gyruss - PARKER BROS. (1984)¢¢This game is an old one, and I don't think it's available in the U.K. (I may be wrong!)¢ There's a lot of games around that have been cloned over and over again, but not this one! The game involves you controlling a spacecraft warping through space (NOT STAR RAIDERS STYLE!) and you have to blast anything that moves.¢ The playability is amazing, I have not yet seen or played a game that has the unique qualities of Gyruss.¢ Unique qualities? What I mean by this is that this is the only shoot 'em up with 360' action. Graphics are nice, music is also good.¢ If you're lucky enough to have this game and haven't played it in years, then boot it up (ONLY AFTER YOU'VE READ THIS!) and see what you've missed.¢*¢2) Star Raiders - ATARI (1979)¢¢This game I would have put at the number '1' spot, but I am a racing game fanatic, so it goes in at number '2'.¢ For its age (14 years old!) it is still a very playable game. Graphics are nothing spectacular, but who cares?¢ You control a starship flying around space protecting your star bases from enemy fire. You do this by warping to different locations around the galaxy, selecting your enemy, then activating your hyperwarp engines.¢ The game has five levels of difficulty, which adds to the game considerably.¢ A definite MUST for all Atari 8-bit users, young or old. And it is still available!¢*¢1) Pole Position - ATARI (1984)¢¢This game, as we all know, is a racing game where you control a racing car with your joystick. It was converted from the arcades many years ago.¢ Playability is of top standard, although there's not much to the game.¢*¢Well, as you have read (I HOPE!), these games I have chosen for my top ten don't all have brilliant graphics and sound effects or even music, but they are games I love to play. Graphics aren't everything, but they do add to the game, sometimes.¢¢Spite¢
