By MykeP
Genre: Arcade: Pig Pester
This marks number 5 of the
quadrilogy.
I’m probably in the
minority in that I’ve never played the original game on which MykeP has based
his Spectrum version, but I’m going to assume any similarities are
cosmetic. Using a complex engine that emulates
gravity and power accurately would make a very playable game, and Myke’s version
applies neither of these properties.
Like his other games it’s a
visual treat (especially the gorgeous
loading screen) and an audible assault, as the intro screen displays. To my great surprise this game operates at a
playable speed! Using QAOP to control
angle and power, the aim is to hit the green blobs (oops sorry – Pigs) at the top of the screen. Unfortunately the angle can only be shifted
in 15 degree increments, and there are only 3 steps of power. I may be missing a trick but as far as I can
tell each screen is impossible to complete as a result! (though
if someone manages it please tell me how).
There are some lovely
success screens throughout this game, but unfortunately I’ve only managed to
see them via hacking rather than playing.
Thankyou Myke!
EDIT > The game is actually playable, I made the mistake that you were aiming for the pigs at the top of the screen. You are in fact aiming for invisible pigs off screen to the right. To get you started (as per the Excel sheet) to beat screen 1 in one go fire 50 degrees and power 2.
Download TZX here
Download Excel pointers here
HACK SACK
Download unlocked version
By MykeP
Genre: Catch the Camisole
UDG Strip Snap marks Myke’s
4 entry to his trilogy and the second strip snap game in the 2013 competition. While Andrew Greene’s version pitted your twitching
digits against the might of Sam Fox, UDG strip snap caters for the full range
of tastes. So to begin you select your
opponent from the handsome Hank, tasty Tina and the er..KT 81 for the
technosexuals I presume, which is a thing apparently.
You also get some lovely
nudey UDG graphics and animations, which I can in all honesty imagine my much
younger self getting frightfully excited about.
It’s standard strip snap
rules, last to say ‘SNAP’, or press S in this case, removes an item of
clothing. This version has a financial
aspect where items of clothes are sold back when a mistake is made, reducing the
tally. Easy mode really is easy, to lose
that round you’d need to be virtually catatonic, but intermediate provides more
of a challenge. The Expert setting is
bugged (see hacksack) and has the same
time settings as BASIC (bonus points
there).
There is a really smart in
game easter egg, press ‘E’ on the intro screen and you’ll see what I mean. Speaking of easter eggs there is a hash scan
thingy hiding under the attributes on the loading screen, since I lack the
technology to read where it leads I hope someone else can help out here.
They say the brain is the
biggest erogenous zone (and after my
genitals that’s true) which is good because you’ll need a bit of
imagination to get aroused by this game!
(and yes, you do get to see everything)
Thankyou Myke! A lovely 15th anniversary update
to the original version.
Download here.
HACK SACK:
Fix EXPERT setting: LINE
2180 change betspeed to 0.7
Very long pause: change
betspeed to 10.
By MykeP
Genre: Arcade: Reckless
driving
This Race ‘n’ shunt game
marks MykeP’s 3rd entry into the competition, and what a late
spurter he’s proving to be. For those in
the know BDTOZX is based on a modern game of a similar name, in which (after a bit of research) you need to
drive in a frightfully unsafe manner,
crashing into other cars in order to cross the finish line first.
I actually thought that
with the release of Rally Driver in 1984,
there was nothing new that could be added to the genre, but how wrong I
was. If RD offered sweaty, palpitating,
touch sensitive action, BDTOZX can be described as being at the opposite end of
the Spectrum. And it is from the get go,
because as soon as it loads you are treated to an incredibly long pause while
it loads, populates, randomizes* and initialises…..stuff. Though as it turns out this pause seems
unfortunately brief because after it comes the ‘music’ which I gather is by ‘My
Chemical Romance’ and ‘Lady Gaga’ (as
Myke calls them). While it may be accomplished,
it hurts.
A huge amount of work has
gone into this game (which I’m not sure I’m
doing justice to here), which has numerous nods to modern gaming events
like ‘unlockable games’ which of course, fail to work.
It’s amazing how slow
Spectrum BASIC can be sometimes (thankfully
I had a mountain of ket** delivered last week), and I’d say Myke has pushed
in all the stops to make it so. For this
game to be exciting in any real sense you have to crank the emulator right up. But at a pedestrian 3.5MHz you take on a zen
like understanding of the world, where you can see everything, and/or nothing,
happening all at once. And while a
nicely drawn (and it is nicely drawn)
explosion can pump up the adrenaline at faster speeds, it takes on a more
poetic, contemplative angle at the snail’s pace BDTOZX was intended to run at.
Good fun this, crank up the
emulator, have a look through the code at all the references, and be generally
impressed with an accomplished piece of absolute carp.
Great work and thankyou
Myke!
Download here.
* why did the speccy ROM use ‘z’ in randomise, for shame?
**chup
By MykeP
Genre: Arcade: Wear you
down.
It’s fair to say we have a
game here of epic proportions. In part
it is a rework of a game written in 1998, and with its 2 sided tape,
introduction, great graphics and numerous characters with backstories it’s
going to have to try bloody hard to be crap.
Thankfully it doesn’t disappoint.
You start naturally enough
with side 1, which following an excellent loading screen (with some more chortleworthy easter eggs) gives us game and character
info. You may notice that SUFTT bears a passing resemblance to some classic coin
op beat ‘em ups like Street Fighter, and like most of them it continues the
tradition of barmy backstories and stupendous mismatches (a cowboy versus an alien?).
The 10 characters weave a tangled web of various grudges of one type or
another, and the only solution is obviously
to have a fighting contest where you kick and punch each other into submission.
It’s worth mentioning that
SUFFT pushes the spectrums memory to the limits (which the total of 9 minutes loading attests to), and Myke had to
drop 2 characters and the redefine keys option to save memory.
Onto side 2 and the game
itself. There are so many nice touches
here, great graphics, logos, menu screen – so good that it nearly doesn’t belong in the competition. But like so many other games it comes good (well, crap) when it comes down to the
gameplay. We can probably get Myke on
the trades description act for having the audacity to have the words ‘turbo’ in
the title!
Once you have selected your
character you have to win 3 bouts each against 2 randomly selected opponents,
then you fight your nemesis. If you
make it that far, win or lose you get a victory or failure message specific to
the character.
The fight is a fairly
simple affair, and the same graphics are used every time (though there is a lovely detailed backdrop). The moves available are flying kick, punch,
kick and block. Which move is successful
depends on how many character cells you are from your opponent. Like a lot of beat ‘em ups there are certain
moves that do more damage than others and the player can easily win if relying
solely on them. The AI is actually quite
good so if you play ‘properly’ you will find the game surprisingly challenging,
and dare I say it – enjoyable (especially
if using an emulator you crank the processor up to 14MHz).
So, Super UDG FighterZ 2
Turbo is definitely worth a go, but steel yourself for a potential physical and
psychological beating, especially if you get to hear the deadly putdown by
ZX-8100.
“It looks like you’ve got jam all over your face”
Ouch.
Thankyou Myke!
Tipshack: win every fight – walk into your
opponent and hold down ‘P’, you will take some hits but will always land more
yourself.
Download side 1 here.
Download side 2 here.
By MykeP
Genre:
drop ‘n’ don’t hatch
This
is more, or less, based on the modern game character of a similar name.
Those familiar with it will know it involves button (or pad) mashing in order
to lay as many eggs as possible, and that this version bears little to no
resemblance whatsoever! The ever increasing number of sprites to be drawn
on the screen presents a problem for the spectrum coder: how to maintain game
speed and keep pushing those pixels around? Well, with some lightening
fast machine code, clever game design and general use of nifty tricks it is
more than possible to make a playable version for the good old ZX-Spectrum.
But
this is the CGC, and thankfully MykeP has used none of the above!
Fans
of loading screens be sure to turn off turbo load and appreciate the lovely
easter eggs hiding under the attributes. This chicken based game is
programmed in BASIC and marks an excellent first entry from Myke.
I've
not played any modern version, but I think I've got to grips with the
gameplay here. Press the any
key and the chicken lays an egg, fail to press a key before a random counter
winds down and they hatch. It is not actually so much about button
mashing, as button holding, as that suffices to keep the game going! The number of eggs on the screen is your
score. So naturally it is fairly easy to accrue a large number of eggs,
and equally naturally the spectrum slowly grinds to a halt giving S.N.A.I.L a
run for its money! I suppose in this sense the biggest challenge is one
of inner strength, how long can you bear to keep mashing a key and
watching your poor spectrum get tortured?
Nice
presentation, lovely beeper music, and an unplayable load of old carp that is
most welcome in the competition!
Thank you Myke!
Download TAPE here.
Like his other games it’s a
visual treat (especially the gorgeous
loading screen) and an audible assault, as the intro screen displays. To my great surprise this game operates at a
playable speed! Using QAOP to control
angle and power, the aim is to hit the green blobs (oops sorry – Pigs) at the top of the screen. Unfortunately the angle can only be shifted
in 15 degree increments, and there are only 3 steps of power. I may be missing a trick but as far as I can
tell each screen is impossible to complete as a result! (though
if someone manages it please tell me how).
