Seven Hills Software, the publisher of such highly regarded Apple IIgs productivity software titles as Express, Font Factory, Formulate, GraphicWriter, ShoeBox and SuperConvert has recently expanded their horizons by taking a foray into the IIgs entertainment arena. Their first two entertainment programs, The Gate and Space Fox, come to us from Europe. Both were created by Henrik Gudat of Bright Software.
Located in Switzerland, Bright Software is composed of a small but growing group of dedicated Swiss programmers, graphic artists and musicians. Based on the high quality of both The Gate and Space Fox, I hope that we see a lot more of Bright╒s software titles released in the USA.
The Gate, supplied on two non copy-protected disks, is a fast action arcade game that borrows many elements from both role playing adventure games and strategy games. It can be controlled by keyboard or by joystick. It is no mere shoot ╒em up; although it appears to be just that the first few dozen times it╒s played, it requires following a strategy and learning from your mistakes.
In many ways, The Gate resembles a Nintendo game. The player looks down at the action from above. It╒s filled with an abundance of monsters, mazes and mayhem. And it has great music.
As the game starts, you find yourself sharing a super hi-res jail cell with a dying man. He offers you a means of escape from your cell, if and only if, you agree to embark on a quest to rid the land of Divesia of Darg, the evil Firemaster. Thus begins an adventure that might last months.
In order to catch up with Darg, you╒ll need to stay healthy, eat lots of good food, and shoot wave upon wave of guards and monsters. Because of this, it appears that all you need do is navigate your way through a series of mazes. But following that course of action will be a deadly mistake.
The 8 page manual that comes with the program is purposefully cryptic, and provides no real help in winning the game. So after quickly getting killed a couple of times, you realize that there must be more than meets the eye. As the manual suggests, there may be hidden treasures anywhere along your route. So start digging for treasure everywhere you go. Some of the rooms yield hidden gold, always good for buying extra armour or for health restoration, while other rooms display very odd messages that make no sense, at first. After finding hidden messages that say ╥Vladorf, the wise, owned a lot of books╙ and ╥the entrance to the library is well hidden,╙ you might get the idea that finding the hidden library will help your quest.
The game is filled with word puzzles that must be solved, and it╒s filled with hidden dangers and enemies galore. Every room in the castle that you╒re trying to escape holds some type of monster to battle, objects to pick up, hidden objects to find, and perils galore. Some objects must be found to allow you to complete the game. Others allow you to elude an invading horde; the lightning bolt weapon will destroy all the enemies in a room. Pick your weapons carefully, and don╒t waste the powers they grant you. If you play strategically and wisely, you can increase your score with each new game. Play foolishly, and you╒ll be left wondering what you could have done differently. If you want to succeed, you need to think and never make the same mistake twice.
You can think of The Gate as a thinking person╒s shoot ╒em up arcade game. If you like arcade games, you╒ll like The Gate. If you like role playing adventure games, you╒ll enjoy The Gate. If you like mazes, you╒ll love The Gate. The Gate has so many different aspects to it that most IIgs game players are bound to enjoy it.
Space Fox, on the other hand, is just an old fashioned fast action, outer space shoot ╒em up arcade game. It╒s like a combination of three old arcade machine classics╤Space Invaders, Defender and Galaxian╤updated to take advantage of IIgs graphics and sounds. Unlike The Gate, all that counts in Space Fox is a steady trigger finger and the ability to dodge alien spacecraft, meteor showers, space worms, Slimers, ice caves, and The Brain.
As the game starts, you have five ships to complete your mission to destroy The Brain. Those ships are barely adequate. As you zoom across star fields at warp speeds, you╒ll see various bonus objects to try to steer over. Some of the bonus objects increase your fuel capacity, some increase shield capacity, some add new weapons to your arsenal, and some make your old weapons more proficient and deadly. With enemies constantly scrambling through the unfriendly skies, you may lose quite a few ships trying to claim the bonuses, but the added abilities they give outweigh the risks.
There are a total of ten levels with each level getting progressively harder. You clear each level by blasting everything you see. On the lower levels, each enemy spacecraft can be taken out of action with a single hit. On higher levels, you╒ll meet enemies that need ten hits to be taken out of action. Some of the enemy spacecraft are even equipped with radar; they'll hunt you down and release a single well aimed shot.
As you clear each level, you have an opportunity to dock at a space station. If you can maneuver into the docking bay, your ship╒s shields are recharged. As each new level starts, you╒ll immediately notice that your adversaries have become more ferocious and more deadly. You╒ll need all the help you can get.
Space Fox is supplied on two non copy-protected disks (the game is hard drive installable). One disk contains the game itself; the second disk contains an astounding ten songs that comprise the musical soundtrack.
If you like fast action arcade games, you╒re bound to enjoy Space Fox.
