Persian Gulf Inferno, Amiga 500

Above par gulf game (for me anyway!)

 

Game – Persian Gulf Inferno, Magic Bytes

Released – 1989

System – Amiga 500

There are some games that you just love, it doesn’t matter how bad it may be and what everyone else thinks, you just see the good – Persian Gulf Inferno was one of those games for me.

Late in the 1980s tension was building in the Middle East, so Magic Bytes thought “let’s jump on that bandwagon and base the plot of our new game on the impending conflict” (think Desert Strike). So, the plot they came up with is based on a terrorist group high jacking an oil rig, taking hostages and arming a bomb – the aim is to kill, rescue and disarm (I’ll let you work out who to kill and rescue and what to disarm!).

 

Being an Amiga game, and from the golden age of only one fire button, the controls are pretty simple. Left and right to run, up and down to climb steps or use lifts - if you press down while moving you go a nifty forward roll.

The fire button fires your selected weapon, there are three you can find (F1, F2 & F3) and space plants an explosive charge, used to open locked doors.

You need to explore the oil rig within the 35 minute time frame to locate the bomb; you do this by searching rooms. While searching for the bomb you can also come across extra ammo and explosive charges, room or elevator keys as well as hostages who can give you clues to the bombs location

You start with the 9mm pistol

- there is also a shotgun and Uzi to find

As you progress through the rig you will occasionally come across a band of terrorists, you know this as they start screaming like a banshee when they see you. At this point it is time to let rip with whatever weapon you happen to be holding. The actual gunshot and terrorist sounds are quite well done; as is the in game music – it sets the scene nicely.

 

Who leaves live ammunition in a

unlocked room on a highly explosive

oil rig?

Now, all this sounds very promising (as I said I love this game), but it is not without its problems. Firstly, exploring the rig can get very boring – there are times when you end up running down a very long corridor only to find a dead end. The combat is also hampered by the fact that your highly trained anti-terrorist agent takes ages to turn around, if you are attacked from behind you usually take two hits before turning to face the enemies. It is just better to keep moving in one direction away from enemies behind you in order to minimise damage.

 

Cut the wrong wire when disarming

the bomb and it's game over.

One thing the game does well is build tension (the sound in particular is good at this) - as you make you way around the rig you are not aware of when you are next going to be attacked or what you might find in the next room you search. You are up against the clock so there is a need to keep moving and work to structured search pattern.

 

The difficulty curve in the game is quite balanced and with each play it does feel like you can make some more progress.

Summary

A game that I loved years ago in 1989 and still enjoy now. It will not be to everyone tastes, and some will object to the blatant stereotype used for its plot.

 

The graphics are small, but well drawn with solid animation and sound does a good job of building the tension. 

The game is not without issues, but look past those and it a solid package.

8/10

Don't agree with me? Let's be honest my review is a little bit biased! HOL has some other opinions - http://hol.abime.net/1031

ATV Simulator, Commodore 64

kikstArT iiiV Simulator

 

Game - ATV Simulator, Codemasters

Released - 1987

System - Commodore 64

 

 

You have got to love the 80s, software houses were getting very uptight about the massive rise in piracy (quite rightly) and so the FAST (Federation Against Software Piracy) campaign was born. However, at the same time it appears that software houses also had a somewhat lax attitude to "cloning" (note: not copying!) the work of others.

 

Now........ I'm not saying this is what has happened here, maybe it is just a complete coincidence that this is very similar to Kikstart II - a massive hit that came out a few months before.

 

It's a functional title screen I suppose

 

However, it's not really important how it came about - is it any good? Well, sadly no.

 

It does start off quite promising; as you would expect with the C64 there is a very catchy title tune (that SID chip never lets us down) and the graphics are eye catching and colourful. There isn't much in the way of a title screen or options and crucially no course designer, something which would have added a bit of longevity.

So, onto the actual game.......The controls are simple; right to speed up, left to slow down, up to raise the front of ATV and down to lower it - press the fire button and you jump. The aim is to get your ATV to the end of the course by negotiating various obstacles as you go. These obstacles are different depending on what stage you are on, in the Icebergs stage there are icy ramps and seals, in the Desert stage there are pyramids.

It is so dull that the in-game character

has even fallen asleep!

Riding the ATV is fine, but once you try and tackle an obstacle the whole thing starts to fall apart. Firstly, the jump button only appears to work when you have some speed on a ramp, you can't do a little jump to help over the smaller obstacles.  The stages are also very short and there are only six of them; you need to finish each stage in around 30 seconds so that is only around 3 minutes of gameplay before you start to see the same old screens again! However, the biggest issue is the frequency that you find yourself on the floor rather than on the ATV - it leads me to believe this would be better off called Advanced Floor Simulator. In the last few stages you get enemies such as seals with bouncing balls and birds that fly around. The seals are not too bad but the birds seem to knock you off loads; this wouldn't be too bad but there doesn't appear to be any real way to avoid them!

Steven King wrote a book about killer

birds - he should have included

these ones!

There is a split screen mode for two players, but this is rarely a race and more an exercise in seeing who can get knocked off the least by the unavoidable enemies, it is a long, long way behind the excellent two player mode in Kikstart II.

Summary

The nice colourful graphics and jaunty music help to hide a pretty boring game. The six very short stages are a challenge but for all the wrong reasons, it never feels fair when you get knocked off your ATV repeatedly by a performing seal!

The two player mode helps to liven things up a little, but not enough to keep you playing.

There were some great budget games released on the 8-bits; this isn't one of them. The game retailed for £1.99; maybe it was a misprint and £1.99 was its actual production budget.
 

3/10

Want to know more about ATV Simulator? You can even listen to the music over at Lemon64 - http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D174

Ghost Hunters, Amstrad CPC

Who ya gonna call............Ghost Hunters?

Game - Ghost Hunters, Codemasters

Release - 1987

System - Amstrad CPC

There were a lot of playground arguments about which 8-bit computer was the best out of the C64, Spectrum or Amstrad CPC. I didn't know anyone with a C64 so there weren't many disagreements there, but it was always the Spectrum v. Amstrad. I thought the Spectrum was a better games machine but the Amstrad did have some good titles.

 Wooooo!  Scary!

Ghost Hunters was one of them - it was a a sort of platformer crossed with Operation Wolf. The plot is simple - Professor Twilight (no relation to those annoying vampire films) has offered a big reward for someone to rid his mansion of ghosts, your brother goes and gets lost and you have to rescue him - I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time.

In order to do this you have to work your way up through Prof Twilight's mansion by activating the lifts; the switches for these lifts are disguised a flashing objects such as goblets or books.  The main character is controlled using the joystick the twist is how you fire and aim. Hold down the fire button and move the joystick and you can move an Operation Wolf type cursor around the screen gunning down Dracula and his pals.

Grab that paper to start the lift!

The trick is to be quick with gun because the more enemies that appear on the screen the higher the Terrometer goes, the higher this meter goes the quicker your Macho Energy drains. You can top up your energy from time to time by collecting the bubbling potions. By adding a twist to the controls the game stands out from the average run and gun platfomers.

The graphics are functional but do not show off the CPCs varied and colourful palette as best it could, although the mansion and sprites are well drawn. Sound is also below par with one notable exception - speech. Metal Gear 4 probably has about 4,000 hours of speech, Ghost Hunters has one word, however, in 1987 hearing your computer speak was amazing. So, when your computer shouts "Ghost Hunters" at the start of every game you can't help but get excited.

The Terrometer is at zero so life is good

Like a lot of the Codemasters games from the 80s this is not an easy game and it takes a lot of practice to make any real progress, but persevere and you start to make inroads.

Summary

A simple platform game made more interesting by the innovative control system. There is nothing ground-breaking here but put it all together and you have a playable game. Make some progress through the mansion though and is does get a little samey.

Definitely worth a play, if only to hear the speech!

7.5/10

Super Trolley, ZX Spectrum 48k

Clean up in aisle 4..........

Game - Super Trolley, Mastertronic/Jimmy Saville

Release - 1988

System - ZX Spectrum 48k

One of the great things about the spectrum era was the sheer diversity of games released, anyone could release a game on the Spectrum; from big publishers such as US Gold, right down to kids sat in their bedroom. It also appears the Jimmy Saville got in on the act, helping a young whippersnapper release this via Jim'll Fix It.

Keeping to the theme of diversity this was a game based on a very original idea - working in a supermarket. Now I had a Saturday job in a Supermarket and I hated it, so I am not sure why this game would appeal to anyone! However, it is not as bad as it could have been.

The loading screen gives the impression of a fast

zany game - its not!

The aim of the game is quite simple, you start out as a Dogsbody and have to complete a number of tasks over the week in order to work your way up to Manager. As you progress through the week the tasks get harder as the days get busier; Saturday being the busiest (This game was made before Sunday trading, so the shop is shut on the 7th day!). Each task starts with a description of what you need to do, such as stock up Chicken, catch a stray dog, re-stack some knocked over cans, take change to till 2, collect trolleys etc. and how long you have to do it. You have to complete a set number of tasks within the day to progress, fail to do so and you get the sack. 

The price gun mini-game 

 

The game is played using an isometric projection, much like John Ritman classics Head over Heels or Batman. Control is via the joystick using up, down, left and right to move, the fire button picks items up; point your shelf stacker in the direction of a shelf and it tells you what is on it. The black and white monochrome graphics do a good job of putting across the dire, depressing place that supermarkets usually are! They are also functional and it is relatively easy to navigate around. While you are making your way around the supermarket there are various old ladies that wander about getting in the way, the same sprite is used for every person in the supermarket - it would have been nice if there was some variation.

 All the fun of........filling up freezers with boxes 

of Fish Fingers

The main issue with the game is that it is rather slow and simply based on boring fetch and carry tasks. It doesn't take too long to realise that no matter what the task is the action is basically the same - get something, take it somewhere, drop it off - and that is all there is to it. To be fair Jim (and the game developers) have tried to add some variation with a price gun mini game, but this is even more boring than the main game, as it simply involves moving a cursor over a tin and pressing the fire button several times. In some ways the game needs a bit of an injection of humour, the sad hunchback expression of the main sprite and lack of colours need livening up. The number of tasks in the day are also quite high and this means it takes a while to finish a day - I used find my Saturday shift dragged by, but this game is supposed to be fun! I suspect the reason for the long days was to drag some longevity out of the game, but with no save option, you would need a marathon session to finish this.

Summary

They are to be commended for the original idea, but it ultimately falls flat. On first play some of the tasks seem varied, but this turns out not to the be the case as they are all practically the same. There are some nice touches - like when you need to find a lost dog you can follow his little puddles of pee, but these are few and far between. The sedate pace and repetitive shelf stacking tasks are probably a little too close to the boring realities of work!

5/10

F1 Circus 92, PC Engine

The circus is in town

Game - F1 Circus 92'  Nichibutsu

Released - 1992

System - PC Engine

I love Formula One games but have always found if difficult to find a game that strikes the fine balance between being fun and being realistic - that was until I found F1 Circus 92'. 

There is also a F1 Circus and F1 Circus 91'

The game has three modes - free practice, training and World Championship, it is the World Championship mode where this game really comes alive. You start the World Championship by inputting your drivers name and from here you need to choose your team. However, you can't choose from them all, you have to start with the lower teams and work you up to the big boys through multiple seasons.

You can start with Jordan, Brabham or A.M.F.

You can also choose who you want as you team

mate including a young Damon Hill

After this it is off to the first season where you get to choose which tracks you can race, it is a nice touch the you can do this before the start of every season. At the start of each race you can do free practice and two qualifying seasons (yes, back in 1992 qualifying was over two days). You can also set the various options here as well - damage settings, red flags, game speed, team mate status - there is absolutely loads to choose from.

Pre-race screen

Once you have set the game up it is on to setting up the car! Again, there are loads of set-up options. You can adjust wing settings, suspension, engine and gearbox amongst other things. The great thing is that the settings really do have an effect on the speed and handling of the car- in free practice it is great to try and set up the car to get the best lap you can.

In the lower teams setting up the car is really

important if you want any chance of breaking into

the top 10

So now on to the racing itself - if this was no good the whole package falls apart. The racing is viewed from the top down and does take a little time to get used to. However, once you are get used to controlling the car it really feels quite natural. The A button is used to accelerate, the B button to break and the d-pad to steer the car.

The racing is pretty action packed, in the lower teams you will struggle to break into the top 10 so don't feel too disillusioned if you are not wining races from the start. CPU cars also crash and retire from the race, cause accidents and can get damaged. One thing this game does get across is that an F1 car is very fragile, because of this you need to learn to stay out of trouble and keep the car intact. You can damage a multitude of items on the car, the wings, engine, brakes and suspension, I even had one race where I lost fifth gear and so had to drive to compensate.

Keeping the car on the track can be challenge

at first but it is worth sticking with

Tyres also wear depending on which compound you use. There are four to choose from Very Soft, Soft, Medium and Hard. The softest compound wears the quickest so you will need to pit earlier on those tyres - you can switch cpompounds during the race if you want to change strategy. There are also two rain compounds for when the rain starts. You get a brief forecast at the start of each race that helps you decide which tyre to use, but it can also rain unexpectedly.

Once you have completed the race you get feedback from your manager. Now, the text here is in Japanese so it is not clear what is being said. However, you do get mark out of 100% for you race performance so it is easy to see how you are doing.

Summary

F1 Circus 92' is a fantastic game that does a great job of condensing the complexities of Formula One into a fun game. I know it is not a realistic simulation but the challenge of trying to get into a top team and win the World Championship is a lasting one.

The myriad of options will keep you going for ages. So far I have played three seasons and have made it Williams, but still haven't managed to win the Championship as my team mate beat me to it.

The sound and graphics are good for a game of this type, with engine sound effects being particularly good.

9/10