Author: thesarkologist

This site is a mirror of a blogger site that I had been writing on for the past few years, and while the blogger site is a mish-mash of everything, this site will focus mainly on art and literature, with a few political discussions thrown in (though since some are dated then I'll probably drop them when I get to them). The literature deals mostly with theatre, as well as a number of art exhibitions that I have been to, though I also explore some novels as well.

Airwolf

Publisher: Elite Systems

Designer: Neil A Bate, Chris Harvey (Graphics)

Type: Arcade-Adventure

Platform: C64

Rating:

Difficulty: Impossible

In a way nothing has changed over the years, though I have to admit that I haven’t really been immersed in the world of video games of late, so my expertise (for want of a better word) really only extends to the 90s and beyond. Then again, for most of my life I have really only been interested in a limited number of games, and I have to admit that this game really wasn’t one of them.

Back in the 80s there was a movie, and a subsequent television series, about a high end military helicopter, and the team that would fly it. The name of the helicopter was Airwolf. One could probably describe it as a more science fiction version of the Apache Gunship, though I believe that the thing that set this helicopter apart from its contemporaries was stealth capabilities (and I’m not all that sure if you can really suppress the noise that those rotors happen to make). Apparently it could also fly much, much faster than your typical helicopter, though of course the wikipedia article will give you the full details.

However, what I am writing about here is the Commodore 64 game that was released on the tail of success of the series, and I have to admit that it is really, really bad. The reason I say this is because of its playability. A good game is a game that is challenging, not impossible. This game is impossible, though I suspect that if you implemented the cheat codes then you could actually get further than I did, but that sort of defeats the purpose in a way. Yeah, I would end up being killed within 15 seconds, and honestly, that would have been an incredible waste of money. I’m not entirely sure what the computer magazines thought of this game back in the day, but now, I would simply call it terrible, and would recommend not wasting your time with it (even if it is only 15 seconds, namely because that is 15 seconds you will not be getting back).

Tags Adventure, Movie Tie In, Retro Game

5 out of 5 C64 Puzzle

Boulderdash

Publisher: First Star Software

Designer: Peter Liepa

Type: Puzzle

Platform: C64

Release: 1984

Rating:

I remember that this was a favourite game of my family back in the days, and honestly, it certainly has a unique quality about it. I would basically describe it as a puzzle game, namely because you are given a level and your job is to collect the correct number of diamonds (or more) without getting killed. Getting killed comes about through a number of ways, the major one being a boulder falling on top of you. However, you also have butterflies (which explode into diamonds when killed) or fireflies (which just explode), and while they initially seem to be something to avoid, it becomes pretty obvious, pretty quickly, that you need to use these things to complete the level.

Yeah, this game turned out to be pretty challenging, and of course the levels get progressively harder as you move through them. Not only that but you also have a time limit, which means you simply can’t really dawdle through these levels. Oh, and I should also mention that it can be pretty easy to ‘snooker’ yourself in this game, and one minor mistake can result in you not being able to complete the game.

Initially there were two games released, but then I remember another version appearing that was basically 16 games, which meant hundred of levels that would no doubt keep the most avid fan occupied for years. Of course, I’m not really one of those ‘most avid fans’ but in my mind the game is still pretty fun. Oh, I probably should also mention that this game was ripe for a construction set, which means that I shouldn’t have be all that surprised that so see so many levels appear afterwards in a collection that was no doubt put together by some keen programmer.

Oh, and I probably should also mention that it seems as if this game hasn’t died out over the years either, if the Wikipedia page, or the official website, is anything to go by. Then again, nothing beats the simplicity of the original. Oh, and if you are interested, there is a lot more information about the game on the C64-Wiki page as well.

Tags Arcade Classic, C64, Puzzle, Retro Game

4 out of 5 Game Shoot-em Up

Time Pilot

Publisher: Konami

Designer: Yoshiki Okamoto

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release: 1984

Rating:

A lot of games that were converted from the arcade machine to the home computer really didn’t come out all that well, no doubt due to the limitations of the home computer. Well, it wasn’t the case with this game. Then again, the game is actually quite simple when considered. Basically, the story goes that you are from the future and a number of your comrades have been scattered throughout history and it is your job to travel back in time to rescue them.

The game itself starts during World War I where you guide your futuristic plane across the skies shooting down, and attempting to avoid, various planes from the time. You will also encounter people hanging from parachutes – these are the guys that you are attempting to rescue. There is a timer at the bottom that once the time runs out then a ‘mothership’ will appear that you have to shoot down to allow you to progress into the future.

Mind you, I’ve only made it as far as the Vietnam War (passing through World War I and World War II). That is probably because once you get to Vietnam you suddenly have helicopters that fire guided missiles, and I am sure if I put more effort into it I could probably defeat that level as well. There are two more levels after this one, though I have never been good enough to be able to get that far.

This is one of my favourite arcade games, though like a lot of these games I can’t necessarily claim that I am really any good. I guess I liked the idea of flying around World War I in a futuristic fighter shooting down bi-planes, though it isn’t like shooting fish in a barrel as it sounds, because it turns out that that the weapons on the biplanes are actually quite capable of shooting your plane down, which means it is probably a pretty good idea to avoid those bullets, and of course bashing through the planes doesn’t work all that well either.

You can find some hints and tips on Strategywiki, and of course, you can always go to Wikipedia for a more, unbiased, account of this game.

Tags Arcade Classic, Retro Game, Shoot-em Up