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.
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!
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.
3/10So, 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.
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
