The One
1st September 1990The star of Gremlin's platform-orientated shoot-'em-up is a mean mechanical fly. Laurence Scotford is very afraid.
Venus: The Flytrap (Gremlin)
The ecology of the Earth has been ruined. Man's need for larger and more efficient food production systems has led to over-intensive farming and excessive use of deadly pesticides. This has resulted in the destruction of every form of insect life on the planet.
In an attempt to restore order, scientists set to work to create a race of cybernetic insects. But once the insects were unleashed, things went drastically wrong. An error crept into the genetic programming of these artificial arachnids and arthropods, sending them on a wild rampage which threatens the entire world.
This even greater threat to the planet needs to be arrested before too much damage is done. In a last-ditch attempt to survive, the scientists went back to the drawing board and created a huge mechanical killer fly to annihilate the rogue creature.
What this all boils down to is negotiating simplistic platform arrangements and destroying anything that gets in the way. And a fly's gotta do what a fly's gotta do.
ST
From the moment that the introductory sequence begins it's obvious that a lot of tender loving care has been lavished on Venus. It has a clean, polished feel. Each world is colourful, with large, well-animated adversaries, all accompanied by a palatable ditty and suitable spot effects. The most impressive aspect of Venus though, is the control of the fly.
Impossible to determine your jumps with a great degree of accuracy, and there are some neat touches which add character - like the way the fly's wings flutter when it's perched on the edge of a platform. Despite proving a little repetitive at times.
Venus represents an entertaining challenge. Worth a flutter...
Amiga
There's little to separate this from the ST version. It's marginally more colourful, but this enhancement in no way affects the gameplay.
PC
There are no plans at present for a PC version. It shouldn't prove too difficult to convert, but only if there's sufficient demand will anything occur.