Blast Annual


Adventures In Time

Author: John Davies
Publisher: Psytronik
Machine: Commodore 16/Plus 4

 
Published in Blast Annual 2020 Volume 2

Adventures In Time

You are first treated to a rather nice intro with cut scenes about what looks like an onion getting lost in a forest and some time travel machine nonsense thrown in, and then it's platforming adventures in time [interesting an Onion as a lead game character. Hmmm, I hope this game won't make gamers cry! Possibly a first I wonder? - Ed].

Developer: Robert Kisnemeth (Kichy)

Kichy is more noted for his graphic work than being a game developer. He has been a member of the Assassins (ASN) group based in Hungary since 1991. He is an ex-member of Mad Original Inhabitants (MOI) and has a blog you can follow at kichydesign.blogspot.com. He created Sgt. Helmet Zero in 2013 and was the graphic artist for PAC PAC in 2016.

Gameplay

This is as pure a platformer as there can be. There is nothing extraordinary about the gameplay mechanics. Your onion can move left, right and jump. There are solid blocks to walk along or bump your onion on and there are fatal acid pools. That's it for stationary objects. Enemies patrol left and right and flying enemies glide up and down. There are also darker coloured background blocks just to give the place a bit more scenery. There's no conveyor belts, no crumbling blocks, no moving blocks and nothing to collect. There's not even any display showing your current score. Your ranking is given at the end based on how many screens you made it through. You simply have to get from A to B which is through over 40 rooms, laid out in a fairly linear fashion.

Adventures In Time

It's all about timing your jumps and testing dexterity. Fortunately your blob (I thought it was an Onion - Ed) can change direction in mid air which is very handy indeed. Still, the game can be quite unforgiving and has a fairly steep learning curve.

But it doesn't push so far that frustration and annoyance set in. Once you learn how to progress past a specific point you won't forget it.

Enemy sprites are nicely drawn and are colourful. Backgrounds are blacked out when you or an enemy pass over them but this stops any colour clash from occurring whilst using the machine's full range of colours.

The scenery graphics and blocks are also excellent although I prefer the look of the second two thirds of the game rather than the minimalist appearance of the initial third. The music is quite impressive but a bit tinny for my ears. Pressing M changes the music to random sound effects which were pretty cool, lent a lot to the atmosphere of the game and were preferable to the music.

Likes

For this machine, the graphics and sound are classy. It's a simple platformer pretty well polished in all areas. The number of lives feels suitable to allow you to progress. It's a game I think all ages will enjoy, one of those games that will instantly appeal to many gamers and have them hooked on it.

Dislikes

The game was a bit too difficult for me but that's not to say that others will find this hard. I also preferred the sound effects to the music. It could be a bit laborious at first and perhaps the game was a smidgen simplistic.

Verdict

Adventures In Time is pretty amazing considering the hardware and the fact it was released way back at the beginning of the decade. True, it's no great shakes in the originality stakes but everything it does, it does well. Fantastic presentation, graphics and sound, which most people may have thought nigh on impossible to squeeze out of a humble 8-bit computer like this, which is nowhere near as powerful as its big brother.

John Davies

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