The Prize
This game takes its name from the fact that Arcade Software are offering a prize of £5,000 to the first person to locate the innermost chamber of a massive maze and discover its secret.
You are in control of a spaceship armed with laser torpedoes to be used against the various guardians in the maze. These include Death Drones, Mutants with vulnerable parts which you must discover as they won't just die by being shot anywhere, and Crushers, large ladder-shaped objects that work in threes and which kill on contact - and keep on killing!
On each level of the maze there are energy bases which charge your ship so that it can withstand contact by the guardians and destroy them instantly. Once charged, the ship alters colour and will remain in this super-state for a random time. Time running out is indicated by the force field flashing.
Whilst in this stage also, you can search for the coded pods to aid your progression to the next level. The pods are numbered 1 to 5, 5 being the transporter pod. These must be collected in the correct numerical order.
Photographing the special code off the screen on level 4 is required for entry into the competition for The Prize.
Comment 1
This is a huge maze game with each 'chamber' taking up one screen - I don't know how many there are (perhaps that's the secret at the centre), but there are a lot. Graphics are well animated, parts of the guardians moving within themselves.
Different aliens have different firing techniques to try and destroy you. Colour shading for the walls of the chambers is used very well, and is quite varied.
Keyboard layout (only the cursors) is not so good, but the keys are very responsive. Finding your way around this maze is a considerable task - never mind finding numbered pods. An a-maze-ing game with an incentive of £5,000.
Comment 2
The Prize is nothing special as games go except for its sheer size and the fact that the graphics are of a high standard.
The aliens are very variable, well animated and imaginative in design. The way they behave is also varied, and it's a nice touch that, on clearing a chamber and entering another only to find it packed so that you retreat back the way you came, you find the once empty chamber you originally left is now packed again. That sort of mistake can cost lives!
The game keeps you busy which gives it its addictive qualities. I must say I enjoyed playing this game.
Comment 3
At last Arcade have brought out a game that is addictive to play and not just graphically pleasing. The game has several difficulty factors built in - the Crushers are particularly hard to get past, requiring nerve and some skill in timing.
I also enjoyed the energy base idea. This not only looks quite effective as it charges your ship up, but it also gives you a few moments of carefree fun as you charge where you like, sweeping everything before you.
Colour is well used throughout the game, especially in the solid areas behind the edging walls, and the graphics are large and move smoothly. Quite an addictive game.
Comments
Control Keys: Cursors
Joystick: Kempston, AGF and Protek
Keyboard Play: Responsive, though made harder by use of cursors, and generally better with a joystick
Use of Colour: Very good
Graphics: Good
Sound: Above average
Lives: Five
Originality: Standard giant maze-type game
General Rating: Fairly addictive, playable and with good incentive