HOME / REVIEWS / DECEMBER 2011

Game of the Month: Megaball

Megaball- Image taken from Lemon Amiga website

December 2011 Public Domain Game Reviews
Reviews by Christian Clarke

Mine Runner

This game is a take on the old game lode runner.  For anyone who has never played that game I will quickly recap on the aim of the game.   You control a little man who is trapped in a mine / complex with a group of people intent on killing you, as seems to be the case with most games.

There are boxes of treasure lying around and you need to collect all these in order to make the exit to the next level appear. 

If you get caught by the baddies then you die instantly but you can use a shovel before they arrive to create a whole which they will fall into, providing you with enough time to make your escape as you can run over their heads as they struggle to climb out.

The game is massive with I think about 150 levels to play, I have to confess I have not got anywhere near the end.

Overall, the graphics for this game may look basic but the gameplay is brilliant and fast paced.  It was a game which was held in high regard by the Amiga Game Magazines of the time, appearing as cover disk on Amiga Power, Amiga Format and  Amiga Action.

The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with M .

Amigapd would like to thank cubex55 from http://www.recordedamigagames.org for the youtube video.

****
Review by Christian Clarke

Mr Men Olympics

Mr Men Hyper sports is probably the easiest way to descirbe this game.  Instead of pounding two keys repeatively players have to waggle their joystick as fast as possible.  There is little skill involved and you will need to have a strong joystick otherwise you might be left holding nothing broken remains.

The graphics are bright and colourful and capture the spirit of the Mr Men world.  Lots of your favourite characters are included.  Mr Rush takes part in the 100m dash, Mr Strong competes in the weight lifting, Mr Dizzy the hammer event, Mr Nosey rather strangley uses part of his body to perform the pole vault and Mr Tickle undertakes the javelin.

The game will hold replay value for the single gamer.  The game however will probably have more enjoyment if you have a group of friends as up to 8 players can compete. 

Overall if you enjoyed the button bashing or joystick waggling games of the 1980s then you will probably have some fun with this game.  If you are after a multiplayer pd game then Scorched Tanks or Knock Out are probably better games to play.

The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with M .

Amigapd would like to thank cubex55 from http://www.recordedamigagames.org for the youtube video

**
Review by Christian Clarke

Megaball  - GAME OF THE MONTH

Whilst surfing the internet I stumbled upon Al Mackey's website for his game Megaball.  Al  Mackey was responsible for the music for Megaball whilst his brother Ed completed the coding. 

Megaball is a breakout / Arkanoid clone for the Amiga which had four updates during the life of the Amiga with Megaball 4 being the last game to be released taking advantages of the AGA capabilities of the A1200.

There are three areas where Megaball excels.  Firstly the movement of the ball is smooth and was a feature that Ed wanted to perfect due to frustration in playing other Breakout games which sacrificed playability by focusing too much on realism for the ball movement.

Megaball Part 2

The second area where the game excels is the music.   The tunes created by Al Mackey are perfect for the game and really add to the gameplay.  The music reminds me of the in game music of Aladdin and James Pond Robocod in that it creates a sense of fun and contain that hypnotic quality which keeps the tune in your head long after you have switched off the computer.

The third area which Megaball shines in, is the various powerups.  As you destroy the blocks with your ball certain powerups /pick ups will fall down for you to collect by moving your bat over them.  The usual ones are there such as slow the ball down, sticky bat and increase bat size, however there are some news ones included as these were amended across the different versions.  Not all the powerups/pick ups benefit you so you have to be careful before automatically rushing to collect them.  Some drop bombs towards you which obviously need to be avoided.

The game oozes professionalism in all areas.  The controls are responsive, the sound effects and music add to the gameplay without distracting the player.  I think a level editor was added for later editions of Megaball and I think some of these can be obtained from Aminet if you manage to work your way through all four editions of the game.

Overall this is a shinning example of what Amiga shareware / public domain should be.  A classic update of an arcade classic put together with lots of love and attention which creates an enjoyable and addictive game.  If you would like to read more about how the game was created then check out our recent interview with both Ed and Al Mackey who kindly gave up some of their free time to talk about how the game was created and their experiences of working with the Amiga.  

**** Review by Christian Clarke

The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with M or directly from Al Mackey's website.

Amigapd would like to thank cubex55 from http://www.recordedamigagames.org for the youtube video.

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