Day 79 - Xeno and Eliminator (ZX Spectrum)

A Spectrum double-header is today's assault on my 555 game backlog. I'm still playing at least one a day, every day, on Covid-19 lockdown...

Xeno & Eliminator for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.

Another day, another Crash Magazine cover tape I’ve never played. I don’t even know where they all came from; I was a ‘Your Sinclair’ guy back in the day.

Along with the usual ‘pokes’ and a demo of ‘Potsworth & Co’, this tape had two games that were once ‘full price releases’ - meaning that in the mid to late eighties they would have cost a tenner each; top dollar for Spectrum games at that time.

I think by 1992, when Crash stuck this cassette to their magazine, other publications were getting low on material and had begun plumbing the depths of self published titles and music editing software. It’s quite refreshing to find a cover tape from the nineties that is devoid of all that tat.

In honour of this (and the fact I find it difficult to find much to say about these older games) I decided to dedicate this blog entry to the whole tape...

But then the ‘Potsworth & Co’ demo wouldn’t load so it’s just the two full games I’m afraid - I’m actually a bit disappointed because it genuinely looks pretty decent. Never mind. Onwards.

Day 69: Pogo (ZX Spectrum)

The ZX Spectrum returns in my ongoing efforts to play one randomly selected title from my 564 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...

Pogo for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE

It’s going to be a short one today because ‘Pogo’ is... well... it's ‘Q*bert’ - and what new could I possibly find to say about ‘Q*bert’?

Lets see...

Day 65: Gyron (ZX Spectrum)

A genuinely fascinating title is the latest random selection from my 567 game backlog. I'm playing one a day, every day, for as long as the UK is in lockdown...

Gyron (and Gyron Arena) for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE

I never really intended these blog entries to be as ‘reviewy’ as they have become. I don’t have a problem with it, it’s natural to lean that way when writing about a game you’ve just played, especially when the method of writing is as unstructured as mine is. (Play game - Open blog - Write until I’ve got nothing else to say - Pass to wife to edit).

In the case of 'Gyron' I’m going to get the review out of the way early and in far fewer words than usual:
It's a fascinating feat of programming with incredibly creative tools to aid your navigation around a fully realised 3D labyrinth. It’s devious, it’s hard, it’s impressive, it’s addictive, and it looks utterly amazing for a 48k Spectrum game from 1985 [a year older than the aforementioned wife! - Ed]

The rest of this post is just going to be some stuff I find fascinating about this game.

By the way, this is all info I’ve gleaned from the internet so if you are familiar with the game already then there’ll be nothing new here. Sorry.

Day 53: The Light Corridor (ZX Spectrum)

Back to the beautiful ZX Spectrum as my efforts to fend off lockdown boredom by playing one title from my 589 game backlog continue.

The Light Corridor for the ZX Spectrum
Previous days' entries can be read HERE

Originally released for £10.99 in 1991 (£25 adjusted for inflation) ‘The Light Corridor’ found itself free on the front of Your Sinclair just 18 months later. An inauspicious fall for sure, but not an uncommon fate for games lacking a license or well known IP in the final years of this hardware.

In the original blurb for ‘The Light Corridor’ players were urged to “capture the light rays in order to accomplish the ultimate challenge: the illumination of the stars in a newborn universe” - pretty grand words considering what we have is, ostensibly, 3D Breakout.

Actually that’s not entirely fair. Yes you control a paddle and use it to deflect a ball, but besides that there really isn’t a lot here that’s similar to Breakout - or any block-breaking game for that matter. There are no blocks to break, for starters.

Using wireframe and some filled polygon graphics, the game is played from a first person perspective, and the goal is to travel as far as possible into the titular corridor as possible.
In this regard it has far more in common with Starstrike, or the trench run from Star Wars Arcade - albeit at a more sedate pace and with forward progress entirely under your control.

The two styles; Starstrike and Breakout, come together to create a game where you deflect a ball into the corridor and basically chase after it. Sooner or later it will hit an obstacle and come back at you - at which point you need to deflect it again and attempt to carry on after it again. As you travel ever further inwards the obstacles become increasingly larger, more mobile, and more complex, there are power-ups too, with most being classics such as sticky or dual paddle modes, but there are also some clever original twists on those themes. 

One of my favourite little touches comes when you reach a new stage. These seem to be set distances, and are denoted by ‘Lvl 02’ (or other stage number, obv.) being written out on a half-screen obstacle wall, furthermore, the next wall you pass will have a four digit code written on it that can be entered on the menu screen to begin at that point on future runs. I love this sort of seamless ‘in world’ information, it’s classy programming of a kind that is often not acknowledged, let alone applauded. It reminded me of the end of S.T.U.N. Runner when you physically pass the high scores of players who have come before you.

And that is pretty much that really. It’s a great little game; a simple idea, well executed. There are versions for the Atari ST and Amiga which I’m sure are more polished (and there’s no doubt mouse control would be beneficial too) but the Spectrum version does incredibly well with the power available; there’s even a level maker toolkit with the ability to save and load your creations to challenge friends - granted that's fairly unlikely in 2020 - but it's a fascinating and welcome option to see in a 30 year old game.

The Light Corridor - A bit of a curate's egg really, but one it’s very easy for you to check out as it can be played online HERE.

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 15: Rebelstar (ZX Spectrum)

I'm playing one randomly selected title from my 631 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown. Todays game is...

Rebelstar on ZX Spectrum

"This is no ordinary game! There is no fancy story or scenario, just you against the computer. It is a fight to the death!"

So states the instruction manual for Rebelstar, 2nd of a four game series that started with Rebelstar Raiders in 1984 and ended with Rebelstar: Tactical command on the Game Boy Advance in 2005. There were 2 years between each of the first three games and 17 between the third and fourth. They were all created by the master of turn based strategy; Julian Gollop, who to this day is still polishing the genre to a fine sheen with the XCom series.

Rebelstar was the first time the series had a single player mode, although 'mode' isn't quite accurate as it and the two player game are entirely separate programs stored on different sides of the cassette. As an aside to this, there's another great line on the inlay where it bluntly states that: 'Because of memory restrictions, at the end of the game you will have to RE-LOAD before playing again'. Simpler times.

I started my journey with the series with Rebelstar II when it appeared on a cover tape back in about 1990. I played it a lot but I'm pretty sure I never completed it. Loading up Rebelstar the first thing that hits me is how similar it is - the Aliens 'inspired' characters and designs are absent, but the familar yellow, blue, and green palette is here and it plays very similarly indeed.

It's recognisable turn-based strategy stuff. Movement points, action points, stamina, morale... they're all here and presented for each individual unit and enemy. It even has a version of 'overwatch' - although here it is called 'Opportunity Fire'. In fact there is so much here that is completely familiar that it's difficult not to speculate that this game may have been be the genesis of the whole genre. I'm no games historian, I have no idea if that's true, but it's very rare to pick up a game 34 years after it was released and be immediately au fait (control interface aside) with most of it's ideas and structure.

Obviously there are frustrations that come with the age of the software too. There is no map, for example, making a search of the surprisingly large play area a laborious task. There are also a few details of which you have to rely on the manual to convey - not unusual for games of this vintage, but definitely worthy of note for anyone thinking of giving it a look today. 

This is a series for which I have a lot of nostalgia and a develop for whom I have a massive amount of respect, it isn't easy to put those things aside when appraising the game - but there is no doubt that I loved going back and seeing the early days of this genre again. It's a historically fascinating game that's still a lot of fun to play.

Rebelstar - Essential for turn based stategy fans and good fun for everyone else

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 13: Jungle Trouble (ZX Spectrum)

The latest in my attack on (at least) one title from my 631 game backlog every day that the UK is in 'lock-down'.

I'm not planning on completing them, just playing them for long enough to know: A) What they're all about and B) If they're good enough to continue playing ASAP

Back to the vintage days again as the randomiser chose...

Jungle Trouble on the ZX Spectrum

Mike Richardson is a name that means the same to me that Shigeru Miyamoto might mean to you.

As half of Durrell Software (interestingly wrongly credited as 'Elite' on the covertape I'm playing from) Mr Richardson was responsible for Turbo Esprit. A game I first played in 1987 and one I have loved ever since. It's easily in my top five games of all time. It turns out, 3 years before Turbo Esprit Mr Richardson was working with even less ram (16k) on a little game called Jungle Trouble - and it is delightful.

The entirety of Jungle Trouble is just a single screen divided into 4 'events' over 3 levels. First you have to hopscotch over the crocodile invested river, then you have to fell four trees, then rope swing over a pit of fire. Finally. You have to jump a chasm that opens in the ground just when you think you're 'Home'. There are also three monkeys who interfere with whatever you're up to.

This is it. This is the whole game. There are entirely two sound effects. Walking and dying, and there are 6 colours - including black and white. As video games go it doesn't get more basic than this, and that, usually, is a really bad sign.

I'm not really a fan of nostalgia. I'm not immune to it and I understand it's a powerful thing but too often I see it's rosy hue creep into peoples opinions - often without them noticing. Very old games are an area where I've seen this the most, so let me break this to everyone gently. The vast, VAST, majority of games from the early eighties and before are absolute rubbish. The majority of the Atari VCS library: Awful. 16k Spectrum games: Unplayable.

And yet there are always exceptions.

Jungle Trouble has it's idiosyncrasies... Without reading the instructions you would never find the axe required to chop down the trees. It takes trial and error just to realise that you have to release 'run' before you can jump. The keys are 5=Left, 6=Down, 7=Up, & 8=right - these were the cursor keys for the Spectrum and I've never seen them used before... Nevertheless, it kind of works. Still.

To get any longevity from the game you'd have to be obsessed with beating your high score on each of the speed settings (Charmingly, it literally just increases the speed that everything in game runs out) and I'm not pretending anyone is going to spend time doing that in 2020. But as an example of a properly vintage game that is actually playable - and enjoyable - nearly 40 years after it was made, Jungle Trouble is a lovely thing.

Jungle Trouble (ZX Spectrum) - Don't listen to me, play it yourself

Previously...

Day One was the excellent Luminees II on PSP

Day Two was the fun-but-probably-better-in-co-op Sanctum 2 on PC

Day Three was the pretty ropey but maybe worth a second chance on PS2 Dead to Rights 2 on Xbox

Day Four was the utterly stunning Pyre on PC

Day Five was the horribly aged but undeniably addictive skate it on the Wii

Day Six was the endearing and surprisingly competent Enduro Racer for the Sega Master System

Day Seven was the fun for a (very) quick burst Space Pirate Trainer in VR

Day Eight was the disappointingly awkward Draconus on ZX Spectrum

Day Nine was the idiosyncratic Ring of Red on PS2

Day Ten I lost half my text while trying to explain how Assassin's Creed Syndicate on PC was a pleasant, is simplistic, surprise.


Day Eleven was the utterly broken Perfect Dark on GBC


Day Twelve was the fun Rescue Raiders knock-off Glory Days on the GBA

Gaming the Pandemic - Day 8: Draconus (ZX Spectrum)

The latest in my attack of (at least) one title from my 637 game backlog every day that the UK is in 'lock-down'.

I'm not planning on completing them, just playing them for long enough to know: A) What they're all about and B) If they're good enough to continue playing ASAP

Back in the eighties today, and the newly re-programmed random backlog game selector (need to think up a pithier name) has chosen:

Draconus on the ZX Spectrum

For the uninitiated (ie about 80% of people outside Europe) the ZX Spectrum was an early home computer released in 1982 by the Sinclair corporation. Much like the original Playstation it was the least powerful among it's peers (the C64 and Ampstrad CPC) but the most popular due in a lower price and vast range of software.

With just 48k of RAM and games that loaded from cassette tapes, programmers, a lot whom were teenagers, were able to do incredible things with the humble 'Speccy'; with notables such as Xcom's Julian Gollop cutting his teeth on the hardware.

Draconus was a 'budget game'. These were games that were either old and re-released or, as with Draconus, from smaller developers with no brand to bolster sales. Budget games sold for £1.99 or £2.99 and could be found in corner shops and WH Smiths and generally places where you wouldn't usually find games for sale.

As with any game of this age the the instruction manual is essential... unfortunately, as you can see from the picture, this game is in my collection on a Sinclair User cover tape (a free cassette stuck to the front of a magazine, they usually included demos and free, older, full games). The instructions for a game on a cover tape were printed inside the magazine itself - a magazine I don't have. Fortunately it's 2020 so I just looked them up online. No drama.

I play a lot of very old games but still, Draconus took a lot of getting used to. I guess it's the budget nature of it's development but even compared to spectrum games of the same era Draconus has very simple animation and very flakey collision detection. But, having read that was very well received upon release, I decided to persevere.

The game has you play as a humanoid-lizard who can also transform into an aquatic lizardoid-lizard, but not at will, you have to first find the 'morph helix' and then stand on a morph stone. Alongside the 'Morph Helix' there are other items that need to be collected in order to progress parts certain areas in the game, so it turns out, Draconus is essentially a Metroidvania. This is interesting for a number of reasons, not least that Metroid wasn't released in Europe until January 1988 - the same year that Draconus was published.

As much as I'd love pretend that Draconus holds up as well as Samus Aran's first appearance I'd be lying, to you and myself. The aforementioned collision detection and the inaccuracy of movement makes Draconus a difficult game to enjoy . It has impressive scale and detailed graphics for it's age but that can't excuse the issues at hand, issues that are exacerbated by the games choice of the kind of floaty enemy that I dislike to this day (I'm looking at you Rogue Legacy).

So I'm afraid I gave up on Draconus, 'Budget Game of the year 1988', without seeing the vast majority of its purported 100+ screen of action.

Draconus - Sadly, impossible to recommend for all but the die-hard Spectrum completist.

Previously...

Day One was the excellent Luminees II on PSP

Day Two was the fun-but-probably-better-in-co-op Sanctum 2 on PC

Day Three was the pretty ropey but maybe worth a second chance on PS2 Dead to Rights 2 on Xbox

Day Four was the utterly stunning Pyre on PC

Day Five was the horribly aged but undeniably addictive skate it on the Wii

Day Six was the endearing and surprisingly competent Enduro Racer for the Sega Master System

Day Seven was the fun for a (very) short blast Space Pirate Trainer in VR