Best Micromega game (that's not Deathchase!)
Thought I'd run a little poll, to find out what 'other' Micromega games people liked. Deathchase is omitted, simply because it would surely win by a mile. I think we can take it as read that Deathchase is the daddy.
So what's the best of the rest?
So what's the best of the rest?
Post edited by MartynC on
Comments
its 3D Deathchase without the bike....or tree's....errrm or helicopters....oh hang on....
OK it's a bit different but you get to shoot crabs... what's not to like
p.s. it was the first of two games I ever bought (Jetpac was the other)
I spent weeks playing that. Once you got the hang of the many controls it was superb.
Any game where you can orbit a planet and blow it to pieces get's my vote.
I also really liked Kentilla too - but cripes that was a tough adventure.
2nd and 3d positions, Jasper and Luna Crabs.
Of the others...
Braxx Bluff - Well, it's certainly original and the weird pseudo-3D graphics have a strange sort of charm to them, but it's a bit of a plod to play.
A Day in the Life - I've never given this one much of a go.
Full Throttle - I know some people rave about this but I never got it at all. The other bikes are like mobile chicanes and the flicker is really off-putting. I was always much more of a Chequered Flag fan though.
Gulpman - One of the first games I got back in 1982, although it had a Campbell Systems logo on it. Not a bad twist on the Pacman mould with the lasers, and it's got a lot of mazes for a 16K game.
Haunted Hedges - Another Pacman clone. Not half as good as Gulpman. I always thought the pseudo 3D effect looked poor in it and time hasn't helped.
Jasper! - I never liked this one much. It seems way too hard/illogical, and there seemed to be plenty of better platformers around at the time.
Kentilla - Not a bad adventure, but a bit buggy. I preferred the earlier and somewhat less sophisticated Velnor's Lair.
Luna Crabs - A decent little shooter with a respectable enough 3D effect. Estcourt was at least half way there to Deathchase when he wrote this.
Starclash - A not so good shooter. I suppose it wasn't too bad a game for its time, but it really hasn't aged well.
Gulpman was one of the first few games i ever saw on my mates Speccy which blew me away (and led to me getting a speccy later).
But for me its Full Throttle, looks a bit dated but loved it back in the day, frustrating when you hit a biker and then slow right down when you had originally got quite far forward.
Great retro company though
https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
Codename MAT
Full Throttle
Haunted Hedges
Jasper!
Luna Crabs
Mervyn J. Estcourt.. or should I say.. the elusive :)
he also did speed king 2 on c64.. but well I preferred his speccy work
gotta say though, I was impressed when someone recently ported Deathchase to the dragon 32 :D
Do people still use a Dragon ? Didnt even know there was a Dragon emulator, seems a bit of a waste !
I couldn't stand Jasper!, which I got by way of 10 Computer Hits. I seem to remember the collision being dodgy, but it's been over 20 years since I played it!
http://pc.sux.org/tomcat/LunaCrabs670.tap
Its a shame that Mervin did so few games. He was really good at it.
I wonder whatever happened to him? Elusive is the right word. He's listed on the 2002-2003 electoral role - living in Bodmin - and then, bam, nothing :(
I was impressed simply because he worked on c64 / 6502 and did a nice game :) . like the guy who did ALL version of errm Cylu?
there is a few dragon 32 emu. they have the same basic (Microsoft) as the coco / tandy machines.. not sure about ASM though. It's funny, someone I sell games to in Wales.. see's a few at car boot's.. yet can never see a +3.
If someone wants to remain out of the limelight, leave them too it.. I'm sure others are the same... but in most cases they are remembered fondly / for the right reasons.. (unless they continually wrote games that were utter **** )
But is it as good as Codename MAT? Ohhh, no. :)
Here's my order of preference...
Codename MAT
Deathchase
Starclash
Luna Crabs
Braxx Bluff
A Day in the Life
Full Throttle
Haunted Hedges
Jasper!
Kentilla
Gulpman
Yeah thats a great old skool game. As a kid back then i wanted my own 'arcade' in my bedroom, Luna Crabs was a great basic shoot em up and the sound effects back then were spooky (hey i was young !)
I'd love to be in a position to speak to Mervyn and say "would you be interested in chatting about the games you wrote?". If he said no, I wouldn't press the issue.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Anyway, I haven't played any of the listed games enough to vote for. I remember Full Throttle and Codename Mat as being OK, but I was never keen on them.
I think I'll give them all a play - so thanks for this thread, I might discover another great game or two to pass the time on the train to work!
Do you really mean that? I've heard people over the (early) years say that FT had really good play mechanics, but I'd have thought that such an early game (with flickering sprites and a monotonous buzz that sounded nothing like an engine, if I remember rightly) would have been superceeded massively. I'm no racing or bike fan, so I can't judge, but wasn't the Spectrum's TT Racer supposed to have been very good, to name just one game?
TT Racer is good, but it is VERY VERY slow - it is like looking at a slideshow when playing :) In my opinion FT is still the best bike racer on the ZX, despite the flickering and being so damn unforgiving when you hit other players :)