No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/POWERMAG/POWER23.MSA/POWER/44.PWR

Text File | 1990-01-01 | 9KB | 174 lines

SERENADE PD DISK 35

reviewed by John Liever

This particular Serenade menu contains five games:

Psycho Pig 2
International Cricket
Rush 2
Turbo
Picker


The disk menu loads and  present  you  with  the  usual  picture, musix  and
scrolling text.  If  you've  ever  seen a menu like this you'll know what to
expect.  The pix, font and musix or all of a good quality though.

The first game on the disk is Psycho  Pig 2  from  Animal  Soft.  This  game
originally came on 2 disks but has been packed down to just the one.  During
the game you are asked to remove disk A and insert disk  B  and  vice-versa;
obviously these prompts should be ignored.

The game is shareware and requires a payment of £5 to  Animal  Soft  if  you
like the game.

When the game finally loads (blame  the  dreaded  STOS  folder!), you'll  be
asked whether you wish to play the game or see the information.   The   info
lets you know how to register your copy and the incentive for  doing  so  (a
free game from the Animal Soft catalogue).

Choose GAME and you'll be given the  background  to  the  story : Some  poor
alligator has had her children kidnapped and believes they are  to  be  made
into handbags by some evil guy.  Enter Psycho Pig!  Pressing any key or FIRE
during  the intro will exit but I recommend you do look at the intro  before
playing the game as, although it doesn't contain any kind of  in-game  info,
you do get a nice picture of Psycho Pig donning the gear and pulling a  cool
grin!

Before the level selection screen you are given a quick burst of  digistised
musix.  It isn't bad at all. If you wait a while then you are given the high
score list.

Now, into the game.  You  are  asked  which  location you'd  like  to visit.
Personally, I've only played the first one as I believed I'd  get  into  the
others after I'd finished the first level - I never have!

Graphics in the game are excellent - nice and cartoony.  Animation of Psycho
Pig and the meanies is also good. Your objective on this level is to collect
various  objects to allow you to enter the Temple of the Sun and defeat  the
monster guarding one of the kidnapees.

You are given 3 lives per game which each allow you to be hit 3 times by any
of the meanies  you  accounter.  This is where a major gripe comes in.  When
Psycho Pig is hit he jumps into the air, but  when  he  comes  back  to  the
ground he's occasionally just in time to get hit by the  same  beast  again!
This is really irritating as once your 3 hits have been exhausted and a life
forfeited, all objects are returned to  their  original  positions  and  all
doors and other blockages are re-instated.

I have managed to enter the Temple of the Sun but  I  can't  kill  the beast
within. I shoot, move, jump, shoot, jump, shoot, move, shoot etc. but I  can
never escape the beast's erratic movements!  The  above  gripe  is even more
distressing  here  as  all  your  hard  work can be wiped away when it isn't
really your fault.

Overall, another good game from Animal Soft. Perhaps if you're a little more
skilled than I in the joystick department you'll enjoy it more.

Next game on this disk is International Cricket.  I'm  not  a cricket fan at
all but, for some reason, I like this game!  At first sight the game doesn't
look much, but persevere and you may like what you see!

First of all you must choose the teams.  I'm not an expert in cricket  but I
know you don't play teams like Australia or Pakistan!  To  tell  the   truth
though, I doubt the real life skills of the teams are  taken  into  account,
just the names are used.

You are given a list of your team and when their name is highlighted you are
informed   of  his  skill (leading batsmen, wicketkeepper, all-rounder, fast
bowler etc.). You must choose your team and then the computer  chooses  your
opponents.

When this is done you are given a choice of which side you  think  the  coin
will land on. Win and you're bowling first, lose and you're put into bat.

If you're batting you use the joystick.  The  instructions  explain  how  to
manipulate the ball and push it in different directions but  I  haven't  got
the hang of it properly yet - my  balls  always  seem  to  go  in  the  same
direction (if you're saying "oo-er" at this point you are very sad).    When
you've hit the ball towards the boundary you may wish to try for a quick run.
This is achieved by pressing FIRE on the joystick.  You continue doing  this
until you're run out or you decide it isn't possible to safely gain any more
runs. No matter how many times you run or  if  you  don't  run  at  all, the
fielders will always throw the ball at the wickets! Strange.  Also, whenever
you're out there is the awful sound which is supposed to  be  clapping!   It
grates right through your ears!

If you're like me it probably won't be too long before you're all out.   All
my points are scored with quick runs, I have yet to hit a four or six!

If it's your turn to bowl the first thing you will have to do is place   all
your fielders. Place them in strategically viable positions and they  should
reach any balls quicker! This isn't always the case though  because  once  a
ball has been despatched towards the boundary you  must  use  the  mouse  to
click the positions you want the nearest fielder to run into.   Most  of the
time he never gets the ball and  you  see  a  pathetically  slow  ball  roll
towards the boundary for four.

When bowling you use the mouse. Whichever type of  bowler  you  choose  will
present you wish a rotating (about 45 degrees) arrow.  Pressing   the   left
mouse button determines which direction the ball is thrown.  However, if you
choose a spin bowler you must press SPACE after you've made  your  decision.
The other bowlers make their run-ups automatically and bowl  whether  you've
clicked on a direction or not.

Guaranteed the opposition batsmen will last a lot longer than yours.  I have
yet to win a game and I don't think I have a batsman who   has  scored  more
than ten runs! After the game has finished the statistics are updated so  be
sure to leave the disk write  protected  else  the  game  will  crash.   All
statistics are available from the main menu, as are the instructions.

This game is shareware and has a registration fee of £4. For this you get an
up-to-date version.

Next up is Rush 2. Like Psycho Pig 2 I have  never  seen  these  two  game's
prequels but the sequels are very good so it'd be interesting  to  see  what
they're like!

In Rush 2 the object of the game is to collect four letters (A, B, C and  D)
and get to the exit. To help you do this you have two objects for your  use:
a ball (this collects the letters/bonuses etc) and the pusher (this   allows
you to move blocks around for the ball to bounce on).  The  ball  cannot  go
anywhere where there isn't a block so participation between the two  objects
is essential. Any meeting between the ball and the pusher is also  fatal  so
they must be kept apart.  Gameplay is a mixture of Pengo and Prensorium.

This is a good game with nice sound effects and graphics. It has an   option
of one player (where you choose between your objects  using  SPACE)  or  two
players (both control their own object). I must admit I haven't  played  the
game extensively, but what little I've seen I've liked.

The penultimate game on the disk is called Turbo. This is a two player  game
so I haven't played it all (nobody to play it with!).  Anyone familiar  with
games like Super Sprint and Super Cars will know what to expect here although
the quality isn't the same of course! However, it looks a nice game and like
most two-player games it relies on the player vs player  angle  to  win  its
supporters.

Finally, the last game on the disk is Picker, written by the same author  as
Turbo (Oskar Burman). This is a simple 'watch your  step  whilst  collecting
the goodies' game but is really very good.  Graphics  and  sound effects are
simple but the gameplay is where the game shines. I doubt whether the levels
will tax anyone for too long but there is a timer so you  cannot  dwell  for
too long.

The game seems to be set in space with the floor being  made  up  of  square
blocks which, naturally, don't cover the whole floor.  Some  of  the  blocks
only allow you to travel in one direction from them and some disappear  once
you've stepped on them (these are both easy to  spot - big  arrows  and  big
cracks!) Therefore, it can be very easy to get yourself  into  a  cul-de-sac
only to find you can't go back the way you came!

This is a simple game, but is worthy of a place in anyone's collection.

So, that's the  end  of  this  disk.  Overall  this  disk  represents  great
value-for-money.  Especially  if  you take into account the fact that Psycho
Pig 2 usually comes on 2 disks!  Get the disk from POWER P.D. and you've got
an absolute bargain.

All files run at half meg on STFM/STE. Tested on STFM TOS 1.4  and  STE  TOS
1.62.