¢GAMING Part 2¢¢By Richard Gore¢¢Welcome to the second instalment of my gaming column. As far as I know there have been no requests for reviews, tips, etc. for any specific games, so for this article I will review a very special piece of Atari software that has been 'hidden' away from us until recently.¢¢Over the years there have been many ROM cartridges, originally we had Star Raiders, Pac Man, etc. and we have gradually progressed onto much more sophisticated titles such as Ace of Aces and Flight Simulator II which are 'super cartridges' and use a bank switching technique similar to how you would use the extra memory in a 130XE to pack all their code into the 8/16k cartridge area. If the above two named games are super cartridges then what I am about to describe must be a 'mega-cartridge' as it packs FOUR software titles onto ONE cartridge.¢¢You may have heard of it, it's called the XE Demo cartridge, which is a bit of a misnomer as it will work on a XL or XE (I am not sure about the 400/800 series as I don't own one). It was originally designed for in-shop (or in-store as the Americans would say) demonstrational purposes but it has now found its way into a few people's homes. The games on the cartridge are One On One, Joust, Ms Pac-Man and a demo of Flight Simulator II (just a non-interactive demo and not the full usable game as one advertiser would have you believe!), but nevertheless, that's three quality games and a good demo.¢¢Now comes the really interesting part. To play the games you just insert the grey cartridge as you would any other, and turn your computer on. Up pops the FS II Demo. If that's not your cup of tea then just turn your computer off and then after five seconds turn it on again and up pops another game (Ms Pac-Man). Just repeat the procedure to get the other games. This process is not very healthy for the long term reliability of your power switch but it certainly is a very unique function and fortunately it is quite reliable with the games popping up in the correct order most of the time.¢¢Well that's got the basics out of the way let's have a look at the individual titles.¢¢Flight Simulator II, renowned as the best flight sim ever for the Atari 8-bits, packed full of features with incredible depth, however this cartridge only contains a non-interactive demo of the game which is a great shame. One company who shall remain nameless but reside south of London even had the cheek not to mention that it is a demo and not the full game which I'm sure breaks the trade descriptions act.¢¢I won't give this a rating as it is not the full game.¢¢Joust, translated from the arcade game it is one of the most original games I have ever had the pleasure to play. You play a knight who rides his flying mount who must destroy all the other flying knights and collect the eggs they drop before they hatch into more flying knights. There are several platforms which disappear as the game progresses and there's even a lava pit at the bottom of the screen with a hand that reaches out and grabs you if you get too close. The graphics are sharp and colourful, with some good animation of the flying and running 'birds'. There is no music but the sound effects are original and well up to standard. Joust also features true two player action, where two players can each control a flying knight on the same screen. There are also bonuses to be gained by co-operating with the other player on certain levels. It is possible to kill each other which could easily bring to an end your friendship. There's even a level where you have to fight a nasty pterodactyl, which is very hard to kill.¢¢My tip for this game is to drop on top of the other flying knights to destroy them which means you also collect the eggs before they touch a platform which gains you extra points, also don't attack the pterodactyl unless you feel suicidal!¢¢ Richard's rating: ****¢¢Ms Pac-Man, following in the footsteps of the massive success of Pac Man, comes Ms Pac Man with more of the same action. Surely I don't have to describe the game play do I? Anyway, the game play is very much the same as the original but this time the mazes are different (and change during the game) and Ms PM has a cute red bow adorning her head (and body!). The ghosts, power pills and bonus fruits are all present, but now there are graphical interludes after every two levels. The game play is a little slower than the original but the action soon hots up, also it seems to be more difficult, getting past level three is pretty challenging. For a game that has been cloned countless times this version is still remarkably playable.¢¢ Richard's rating: ****¢¢One On One, one of the very few and perhaps the best Basketball simulations available for the Atari 8-bit computers. This game was originally released in the UK by Electronic Arts. Since most Americans are born with a basketball in their hand [Not my quote! - Ed.] I assume this game is more popular over there than it is over here but if you're into basketball then this is the game you need. The title suggest the style of play, its one on one rather than a full team game, several one player v computer and two player options are available, with the player controlling either Larry Bird or Dr J., both of whom are top stars in the world of basketball (or at least they were a few years ago when this game was first released). All the features seem to be there including lay ups and even a backboard that shatters. The graphics are quite good and the animation of the players is of top quality, not up to the standard of that dancing woman in The Top 3 Demo but still very good.¢¢ Richard's rating: ***¢¢All in all the games on the XE Demo cartridge are of top quality, it's such a shame the authors copped out and only put a demo of FS 2 in. The cartridge is very innocuous, being coloured in XE grey with a silver label and blue title letters, the only visible sign of it being something special is a slight bulge at the front of it. I would love to take it apart to see how they've managed to create such a cartridge but as it's one of those stuck together with glue I don't want to risk damaging it! One final point to note is that because it is a prototype and not intended for sale you don't get any box or instructions, having said that only One On One is detailed enough to require instructions and even without them given a bit of time you can work out all the controls.¢¢If I've made you want to rush out and buy it, it is available from two dealers in England, Derek Fern and Gralin International priced at about 15 pounds plus postage, which is not cheap but when you realise it works out at 5 pound per game with a demo chucked in for nothing its not a bad price for what is a rarity and I'm sure it will become a real collectors item. Should you decide to buy it please let the vendor know where you read this review and who wrote it.¢¢[Both Gralin's and Derek Fern's (T/A Micro-Discount) addresses can be found in the vendors list on this issue of the News-Disk - Ed.]¢¢If you have any particular game you would like reviewed for the next issue, then please write to Richard c/o the News-Disk.¢
