24th May 2007
Shaun returns with a news round-up from the weird world of retro
Retro Mart: Yoo Rocks!
Canadian Sinclair ZX81 and Timex TS1000 enthusiast Andre Baune has recently released the game Yoogor into the public domain for the monochrome British classic. If you can imagine what the original version of Prince Of Persia might have looked like with ZX81 graphics, then you'd be on the right sort of lines as to how the game plays and feels, though it does require the engagement of your grey matter as each screen presents its own problems.
Yoogor has the task of recovering his ancient and precious shield, which he must return to his castle. This is a screen-by-screen affair with puzzles and traps about the place to get you thinking, and although this game runs at a rather pedestrian pace, it's still great fun to behold after you've accustomed yourself to the controls. This game received a 79% rating from the latest issue of the famed fanzine ZXF (available from www.cwoodcock.co.uk) and is definitely worth the very short download time involved, being available alongside other fine monochrome titles from www.zx-team.de/andre. Alien Mind is one from Andre that you should try out too, as this doesn't disappoint.
If you're looking for a decent ZX81 emulator to use, No$ZX81 should work fine, and is available for DOS and Windows machines from www.work.de/nocash/zx8.htm, and further information about the computer can be found at www.zx81.de.
New For The CPC
The Amstrad CPC group Binary Sciences has recently released puzzler Groops into the public domain. The task in hand is to find within the play area groups of matching tiles of three or more connected horizontally or vertically and remove them from play until the screen is cleared. This game is well presented with colourful graphics and frantic gameplay, and should have puzzle fans entertained for more that a few hours. You can download this directly from its website over at www.binarysciences.com.
While you're there, you might notice that there's another puzzle game in development, which is a binary implementation of Sudoku called Sudoku Master. To be honest, I've never really been very good at Sudoku, but for those of you who are, this version should be available shortly. Keep an eye on the website for more news.
More From CEZ
The Computer Emuzone (CEZ) Games Studio has announced on its site (over at cezgs.computeremuzone.com/eng) three new projects which should keep gamers happy. The first of note is a 'super production' called UWOL: The Quest For Money, which is to be a traditional platformer in which you must presumably collect as much cash as possible. This is reported to be available on many systems; judging by the group's previous works, this will include the CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and MSX systems. And also taking into account its already available wares, I'm expecting this to be of a very high standard.
The other two projects mentioned are Subacuatic, which is an under-water affair and will initially be available for the Speccy (with an MSX version planned), and a graphical text adventure for the CPC called Patient 106. More news will follow shortly about each of these projects. Until then, keep an eye on the website.
