Rod-Land for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.
I won't keep you long today. I'm too tired to come up with any barely relevant padding and it's hard to offer much insight on a game for which I have so far failed to complete more than 6 of it's 30 or so levels.
This copy of Rod-Land was a complete surprise to me. I brought Double Dragon III from eBay and was initially miffed when I saw the back of the box didn't match the front. It transpires this is actually a 'double-pack' that includes both games. I've not seen this packaging format for any other games, I'd be interested to know if there were others.
If I had more time I'd have done a double-header of both games, but sadly I have just an hour to write this to meet my self impose 'one a day' restriction.
Rod-Land is a port of a 1986 arcade that didn't make it to the Spectrum until 1991. There are versions of the game for the Amstrad, C64, NES, Game Boy, and Atari ST - but it's best known on the Amiga, where it was placed in the top twenty of Amiga Power's all time list.
Compared to the beautifully bright and colourful graphics of the arcade original (and Amiga/ST) Rod-Land's black-and-white presentation on the Spectrum looks particularly sparse. Luckily, the game speed, collision detection, and sprite designs are a cut above those of of the other home computers.
The game is pretty addictive despite it's toughness. You play as a fairy, armed with a wand and magic shoes, on a quest to rescue her mother.
Gameplay takes place on a static screen full of platforms, ladders, and animalistic enemies that, on the fancier versions, scrolls down to the next section once the one you're on has been cleared. On the spectrum, the next screen simply appears, which very much gives the game the feel of an old-school single-screen platformer.
On each screen you have to defeat all the bad guys and, optionally, collect all the flowers for bonus points. The wand will stun and, with some Hulk style poundings, kill the baddies. The 'magic shoes', make a ladder appear. You can only have one 'bespoke' ladder at a time but when, where, and how you use it adds more to the game than you would expect.
And that's kind of it. Climb ladders, beat the badguys, collect the flowers. Everything is put together very tightly and will keep classic platform fans entertained for a long time.
Despite a lack of any real in game sound the presentation is very endearing and there are nicely drawn sprites through out.
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