July 2012 Public Domain Game Reviews
Reviews by Christian Clarke
Top Hat Willy
Jet Set Willy was a very popular 8 bti platform game in the 1980s and this game draws heavily from this title.
The object of this game is to guide Top Hat Willy through 100 screens encompassing his mansion and its grounds to pick up all 160 pieces of trash. The task is made hard due to the various enemies which guard the rooms. Similar to Jet Set Willy the enemies follow a predetermined route and therefore repeated playing will help the player to learn the best route to avoid them. This game is produced to a high standard in both layout and graphics and it comes to no surprise that it was included as a cover disk game on Amiga Format issue 68 - February 1995. The game also has its own appreciation page which is worth visiting as it provides tips on how to play the game. The website also contains a download of an updated PC version which contains enhanced graphics. In conclusion if you loved Jet Set Willy and long for the days of simple but charming platform games then give this game a go - It should more than meet your needs. One word of caution - the game is challenging and is difficult to complete - there is also a rumour that the programmer himself never completed the game. You have been warned ! |
Tanx
Tanx would normally walk off with the game of the month award 9 times out of 10. The only problem is that last month the award went to Scorched Tanks and I thought it would be wrong to award the title to an artillery based game two months in a row.
Tanx is beautifully presented and has lovely graphics, sound effects and layout of mouse driven controls. The game is a simple one on one artillery death match where you try to blow up the opponents tank before they hit you. One direct hit is all that is needed to win the round but you can make life a bit harder for your opponet by moving your tank between shots. Tanx doesn't have lots of different worlds or missles or defence options which were present in Scorched Tanks. It is a very pure artillery exchange but is still very addictive to play for a few months. Overall, it is unlikely that you would not know about this game if you had an Amiga in the 1990s as I remember it appearing on cover disks and receiving very favourable reviews in the press at the time. It provides a good introduction to this genre but you will soon long for the extra options and variety that Scorched Tanks provides. ** Review by Christian Clarke |
TOTAL WAR - PAULO LAUREANO - GAME OF THE MONTH
Before computer games became common place amongst families as a means of entertainment it was not unusal for the whole family to get together to play board games. One popular board game was risk which was a simple fight to conquer the world. It was a game I played a couple of times but never really enjoyed as I found it quite slow paced and very simplistic in terms of the tactics as there was only one type of army unit.
Total War is a computer version of the board game risk and surprisingly got me hooked as a young teenager and again recently when I played this month and I am at a bit of a loss as to why the computer version has engaged me so much more than the board game ever did.
The simple tactics work in its favour as a quick pick up and play strategy game as you don't have to spend half an hour reminding yourself of how to play the game or learn lots of commands. The only choice you have to make is where to locate your armies and which area to attack. The game moves at pace as the computer players make their decisions quickly and soon you become engrossed as total war erupts across the world.
There are different options to select in terms of mission based games or world domination and whether to play as a human against all computer players or a mixture of human and computer players.
Overall the game is beautifully layed out, the graphics of the cards are simple but effective which is also the same for the sound effects. This game will not provide a long mental global domination challenge as you would experience with Civilisation but has managed to maintain that simple pick up and play charm that it had back in the 1990s when it was first released. If you enjoy risk but don't have the board game with all those plastic pieces ready to hand then boot up this game, you should have a pleasurable half hour or so of world domination.
****
Christian Clarke
Total War is a computer version of the board game risk and surprisingly got me hooked as a young teenager and again recently when I played this month and I am at a bit of a loss as to why the computer version has engaged me so much more than the board game ever did.
The simple tactics work in its favour as a quick pick up and play strategy game as you don't have to spend half an hour reminding yourself of how to play the game or learn lots of commands. The only choice you have to make is where to locate your armies and which area to attack. The game moves at pace as the computer players make their decisions quickly and soon you become engrossed as total war erupts across the world.
There are different options to select in terms of mission based games or world domination and whether to play as a human against all computer players or a mixture of human and computer players.
Overall the game is beautifully layed out, the graphics of the cards are simple but effective which is also the same for the sound effects. This game will not provide a long mental global domination challenge as you would experience with Civilisation but has managed to maintain that simple pick up and play charm that it had back in the 1990s when it was first released. If you enjoy risk but don't have the board game with all those plastic pieces ready to hand then boot up this game, you should have a pleasurable half hour or so of world domination.
****
Christian Clarke
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