FROM OVER THE BIG WATER
By Marshal M. Rosenthal
It makes you want to tear your hair out—what little you might have left. Just a few years ago a reviewer was safe; overseas software never appeared in the States. You could wait months on end to mention a product, and still, few, if any, American ST users would have heard of it.
But now that's all changed. Now programs flow like quicksilver between Europe and our home—so quickly that it confronts us with a problem.
Remember how in the last column Batman—The Caped Crusader (Ocean Software) had just appeared in its small British box with two disks and a free poster that had the multilanguage directions on the back? You can bet that it's a hot topic right now, what with all the attention directed at "Pointy Ears" due to the major motion picture bearing his name—and this being his 50th anniversary. In the time since I wrote that last column, Data East has acquired distribution rights for Batman and released it, making it the review territory of other columnists. So, let's take a peek at Afterburner instead.
Activision U.K. has done a great job of capturing the feel of this mega-arcade hit from Sega: great music every step of the way, nifty sound effects and a digitized voice. You even get a poster and arm patch.
Afterburner places you behind the cock-pit of a lean, mean F14. The two-disk boot-up runs some fancy graphics while you ponder options of music, sound effects and the sensitivity of the mouse control.
All controls are handled using the mouse—banking from left to right and diving or climbing, accelerating and firing (keyboard options are also available). To get the feel of the F14, try rolling through a 360°flip. This manuever will aid you in avoiding enemy aircraft and missiles approaching from behind—those that the flashing warning lights alerted you to.
The graphics are good; realistic enough to get the job done, while moving at a fast rate to keep the game from becoming boring (I would have liked a joystick option though). The background tune keeps the pace throughout each stage of the game, with sound effects having just the right kerblam and whaboom. Once off the deck of the aircraft carrier, make sure you don't run out of missiles or overheat your laser cannons.
It's worth noting for hand-held game fans that Tiger Electronics LCD version of Afterburner (complete with ¾-sized joystick and flashing lights) should be available by the time you read this.
Dragonscape (Software Horizons) continues the theme of arcade action. Fly your pet dragon, Garvin, through the realm of Tuvania, collecting and distributing vital artifacts along the way. Smoothly animated, Garvin can face in any of 16 directions. Five separate areas will scroll past you; the Wastelands, Woodlands, Icelands, Techno City and Arcadia. Each level is eight screens, with plenty of surprises—such as the evil King of Chaos, who has dispatched his evil legions to hamper you (kill you, to be exact).
Twenty different enemies appear at each level, with a super baddie making his debut should you survive long enough. Meanwhile, traps have been laid to both delay and confound you, so just don't pick up everything that isn't nailed down! Yet somehow you must find and correctly place the eight key objects in older to end the Curse of Chaos, Did I mention the mazes surrounding some of the artifacts? Sorry.
On a more serious note, Master Sound (also Software Horizons) turns you on to the power of sampling at a low price (list is approximately $50). Features of this hardware/software package include variable automatic recording, filtering, compression of sounds and fading.
Sampled sounds may be sequenced. edited and assigned to one of 18 different presets, and then played back in real time. The package goes the distance by also including a utility screen that can display sounds along with user controlled scrolling messages and animated accompaniment. Add to that a real-time VU meter, oscilloscope and 34-bar spectrum analyzer.
Now let's turn our attention to Sprite Master from Soft Bits. For those who may not know, sprites are those creations that move on screen: aliens, cute little guys, even explosions. Sprite Master lets you design your own sprites in low resolution, ranging from a tiny 16 × 16 pixel-sized figure on up to massive 144 × 84 version—and all using a full 16 colors. Created sprites are saved as a "series," a file that is similar in many ways to the frames of a film. Memory and the size of the sprite will determine the number of frames in a file—the more frames, the smoother the animation.
The editing screen is where sprites are born. Split into three sections, the left side is an enlarged view of the full sprite. Below to the right can be found the drawing/editing controls. These include many of the conventional drawing tools (pen, lines, box, fill, etc.), plus copy, flip, rotate, resize and palette control. Sprites are saved in memory with an individual frame number and color palette. Functions are de-selected easily with the right mouse button, and the finished file can be previewed and "stepped" through in a different screen. The speed of the frames can also be varied.
Soft Bits also includes Picmaster, a program that loads picture files and compresses them to half size so that you can cut and paste them for sprite use. List-master, also included, converts data from Sprite Master into an ASCII format to use in BASIC programs. A thorough technical information section brings up the rear of the book, and is appreciated. Sprite Master can't make you an artist, but it does provide the tools and elegant interface necessary for transferring those animation ideas into reality.
We conclude with a preview of two upcoming games from Psygnosis. Super Menace (tentative title) is indeed a super version of the popular Menace (and was written, in fact, by the same programmer). Those familiar with the game will find new excitement due to a horde of beasties, lots of color and both vertical and horizontal scrolling within the same level. In addition, you are not limited to a single type of spacecraft; depending on the planet you're heading for, you could be commanding a jetpack, helicopter or spaceship. It's shoot-em-up city, folks!
Blood Money, on the other hand, requires strategy as well as good reflexes—at least in the demo version I was viewing. You control a little guy moving through a horizontally scrolling world of magic and evil. Use the tools you find to bring joy and light to all—maybe you'll then be allowed to take a ride on the dirigible that keeps passing overhead.
See you next time.
Products mentioned:
Afterburner
Activision U.K.
Blake House, Manor Farm Road
Reading, Berks
England RG2 OJN
Blood Money
Psygnosis, Ltd.
First floor
Port of Liverpool Building
Liverpool, England L3 1BY
Dragonscape
Software Horizons
5 Oakleigh Mews
London, England N20 9QH
Master Sound
Software Horizons
5 Oakleigh Mews
London, England N20 9QH
Sprite Master
Soft Bits Software
5 Langley Street
London, England WC2H 9JA
Super Menace
Psygnosis, Ltd.
First floor
Port of Liverpool Building
Liverpool, England L3 1BY
Marshal M. Rosenthal is a New York-based photographer and writer specializing in children with product, video graphic enhancements and high-tech entertainment. His written/photographic projects have appeared in major publications in England, France, Germany, Sweden and the U.S.