www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ_Ri8yzAw0

Discussion: sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=
6950

Description: an action-adventure / platformer for 16k VIC-20 computer.
It's a tribute for the great C64 game called "Cauldron II: The Pumpkin
Strikes Back"

CONTROLS:

* Joystick up or fire = jump
* left or right = move
* down = fast landing, balancing

What makes this game really stand out is the animation and gravity/physics
on Bertie the Ball himself. When you watch the game on YouTube it doesn't
sink in that this is on a VIC. Some people have commented that the
graphics look like a Spectrum game - I can say the game looks classy
(that's for sure). Loading the game up on a real machine is what's needed,
and to me the game looks like a C64 game release. It's another game
(where) if you hid the machine and said it was a Commodore 64 release, not
many people would realise it was running on a VIC. The VIC pumps out a
very weird tune, it's more like a random collection of notes although, to
be fair, it does fit the game rather well, and is actually well
implemented. I can't see many people dancing to this, though!

The game has as its main screen the ball (Bertie himself) bouncing up and
down, with the music playing and the words, "Collect magic items and find
the exit, and beware of monsters and sharp items."

It's a frustratingly easy game. Guide Bertie around collecting items,
which sounds like it should be a "walk in the park", but you need to come
to grips with the control method and how the timed bounces work. It's all
been implemented very well and the frustration is soon forgotten as you
grasp the joystick for the famous "one more go." I must have said that
hundreds of times while playing the game. Once you leave the title screen
the music stops and you are treated with in-game spot effects - Bertie
"boings" as he bounces, and other items crash and "boing" as you run into
them, or vice versa.

I'm not so sure it looks like a Spectrum game, as some people suggest, but
it somehow reminds me of the BBC micro (but in a good way - I was a big fan
of the BBC, especially from Elite and Frak). From the screen shot you
would think the game was very simple; however, you need to see the game
playing to experience the quality of this release.

Graphics: 9/10
slick animation and minimal colour
clash
Sounds: 8/10
great tune and spot effects
Game play: 8/10
can be frustration but you will
keep going back for more
Overall: 8.5/10
a nice idea not 100% original but
well executed

SUMMARY

A cute game that will frustrate and have your friends grasping the joystick from your hands to "show you how it's done" - a lovely addition to anyone's
VIC collection, and proving once more, this really is the year of the VIC
(I think we need a better slogan for that)!



*************************************
REVIEW: THREES
For the unexpanded VIC 20
By Commodore Free
*************************************

Name: Threes
Author: Schlowski
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20
Tested: VICE 2.4

Description: A clone of iOS Threes for VIC

Download:
www.stojalowski.de/files/threes.prg

Discuss here: sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6949

The author has these comments:

You can shift the playfield left/right/up/down. If numbers collide they combine. If they are:

a) a 1 and a 2 giving a 3, or

b) two identical numbers (3 and above) resulting in the sum of them, e.g.
3 and 3 giving 6, 24 and 24 giving 48 etc.

Each move a new number will be shifted in.

While It may not be the "milestone" release you are expecting, Threes is
one of those games that will have you pulling out your hair. This version
is written in Commodore BASIC, but is (unbelievably) fast, and has all the features of the Apple IOS version (except upgrades, in-app purchases, and
oh, swiping the screen with your finger. Now that would have been clever, hmmmm... a lightpen version). Anyway, it seems that almost all of the
VIC's memory was used up with the game's creation, so let's see how it
fairs up.

Not having any Apple products and no desire to own any, I came to the game (maybe) at a disadvantage, as I had never seen or played the game before,
so the first thing was to find out how to actually play the game! This
took some Googling as the VIC version doesn't have any instructions and the discussion includes only a brief outline of the game play. Let's see if I
can help - or make you more confused than ever.

This is a "numbers" puzzle game. The game starts with a playfield of 4 x 4 tiled grid, and random numbers of differing values are inserted (they seem
to be from nothing to 3). You can move the board, or in the VIC's case, shuffle the numbers using the cursor keys (so up moves them all down and
down up, etc.).

So the basic formula seem to be something like this:

1 + 2 = 3

n + n = 2*n, for n > 2

Numbers not matching this formula will not be moved, so I expect it's just about as "clear as mud" to most people.

Remember, you could be moving more than one row or column at a time, and depending on the direction you move, this could also move other rows or
columns (so moving up will shift all rows down).

After each move, the game will place a new tile in an empty space left
behind by the action. For example, if you swipe right, the new tile will
be placed in the first column of one of the rows that moves to the right.
An indicator at the top of the screen tells you the next tile that will be placed on the board.

The game ends when you have no more moves or merges to make.

The game can be very addictive or just frustrating, and from the
description you will know if this is a game for you. For example if you
can sit for hours trying to master a Rubik's Cube then this should be the
game for you, but if after 10 minutes of "cube twiddling" you became frustrated, then you need to stop reading as this game definitely isn't for you.

It would seem (to me) that trying to keep "free space or cells" seems a
good playing tip and the bottom right will show the next number (when one
can be placed). If the board is filled up you will need to create multiple merges to free up cells - if you're not merging, then you are filling the boards space up!

SCORES

Graphics: 2/10
it's just coloured characters
Gameplay: 7/10
frustrating
Sounds: 0/10
erm there aren't any!
Overall: 7/10

SUMMARY

While it may not look and sound that classy, if you like this sort of game
it will keep you well entertained. It's well programmed, although in
BASIC, and could really do with a coat of magic to guzz it up a little -


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.01 (GNU/Linux-i386)
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- bbs.vk3heg.net -:--- (39:901/280)