Stardust - Review
(Bloodhouse, Commodore Amiga Game, 1993)
I still vividly remember the years that saw the birth of the classic video game era, starting with Pong in 1972 and then that fabulous period when arcade video gaming literally took over the world, with the release of Space Invaders (1978), Asteroids (1979), Pacman and Ms Pacman (1980 and 1982 respectively) and Donkey Kong, Defender and Scramble (1981). This was a revolutionary time, with those titles underpinning an explosion of arcade gaming across the planet and defining what later became known as: ‘the golden age of video games’.
These games were all hugely popular as, in each instance, the gameplay was simple and unique with the difficulty curve being tight and rewarding, and it is testament to the quality of the programming that the originals remain enormously playable even forty years later. There have been many attempts at remakes of each, taking the original premise of the games and then fluffing them up with more modern graphics, sound or gameplay options. For the most part these tended to miss the target as it was often the cleanness and simplicity of the originals that gave them their appeal.
The reincarnations, while looking better, more often than not managed to lose the gameplay magic that graced the original. However, there are a few exceptions for the Amiga, reworked arcade classics that are definitely worth a look: Deluxe Pacman is a terrific take on the original, Guardian is a remarkable three-dimensional version of Defender, and then there is Stardust, which is perhaps the most impressive effort of all.
Produced by Bloodhouse and released in 1993, Stardust is essentially an updated reworking of the original Asteroids. While it includes a multitude of added whistles and bells, crucially it still manages to retain the simplicity of gameplay that made the original so popular.
The game kicks off with a very Star Wars inspired opening screen setting up the plot and then, once you have navigated the options screen which allows you to choose the number of lives and enter level passwords, you are presented with a mission map. There is initially a choice of six missions to play, which are helpfully graded for difficulty. Once a mission is selected you are transported into the gameplay screen which bears more than a passing resemblance in layout to the arcade original. You start in the centre surrounded by spinning three-dimensional rocks. Your ship can rotate, thrust and fire.
As in the original, a wraparound display is in use, with your ship or an asteroid disappearing upon reaching the screen edge and appearing again on the opposite side. There is a health meter on screen, a welcome improvement meaning that in this version a single encounter with an asteroid won’t kill you. Pulling back on your joystick activates a shield which has limited lifespan, displayed by way of another meter on your screen. Shooting one of the rocks will split it into smaller asteroids as in the original game and periodically enemy ships will appear that have to be dispatched.
Power-ups are dropped frequently which, if collected in time, give you extra health, shield, points, a bomb, or a gun power up. You can also collect extra lives and different guns. A clever tweak means that you can (via the pause menu) not only select which of your collected guns to use, but also which one the gun power-ups will improve, enabling you to use one fully powered gun while improving another. If you clear a screen within the time limit you move back to the map to choose another mission.
Once all six missions are complete and a level boss has been dealt with, you can move to the next map segment via a ‘warp’ section. This sees the two-dimensional gameplay replaced by a three-dimensional level where you fly into the screen and have to negotiate a tunnel avoiding rocks and bombs.
Control is tight and graphically the game looks amazing. In complete contrast to the very simplistic black and white vector graphics of the original, this is colourful, vibrant and beautiful. With an extended use of ray tracing, the asteroids and various other enemy craft in the normal levels are stunning and the tunnel sections are nothing short of being truly jaw dropping, absolutely ground-breaking visuals for the ‘mig at the time. The sound is good too, with great in-game sounds accompanied by a thumping music track and periodic voice samples. Gameplay is on the hard side of average; it takes plenty of practice to see the later stages of the game, though in the starting options you are generously offered a choice between three, five or seven lives.
The only negative I would highlight is that control can be tricky. This is absolutely faithful to the original, a by-product of the rotate/thrust control method which certainly takes a little getting used to. A decent joystick that can cope with delicate and accurate movements is a must; my joystick of choice is the Speedking which manages the required precision with ease, but I wouldn’t like to try and play with a chunky flight-stick type controller.
As a reviewer it is important to always remember that the Amiga is over thirty years old and when reviewing games of that age you often have to make allowances. Those that were impressive and fun in the 1990’s aren’t necessarily still as engaging today. Indeed, some have aged really badly (in my view, many of the driving games of the time are now almost unplayable). No allowances are needed here though, this is a fantastic game. It is still tight, fun and hugely playable, with gameplay as timeless as the classic arcade original that it is based upon. It looks absolutely stunning and without any doubt sits in my top-ten list of Amiga games.
Graphics - 94%
The game that rewrote the book on what the Amiga could do graphically; stunning and vibrant with brilliant use of ray-tracing. The tunnel sections are utterly remarkable.
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Sounds - 88%
Great sound effects and music, with a number of speech samples also being used.
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Grab-Factor - 87%
​Underneath the gloss it is basically Asteroids. Never the easiest game to get to grips with, but once you have mastered your ship’s handling it has a massive ‘one-more-go’ factor.
Playability - 95%
Hugely playable, fun and with a great difficulty curve, this is arcade standard gaming at its best.
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Verdict - 91%
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AG 06/09/2021
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Featured in Amiga Addict magazine, issue 16.
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© Words and pictures copyright grapeswriting.com
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Deep Core - Review
(I.C.E., Commodore Amiga Game, 1993)
Can Captain Dawnrazer save the day?
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I wonder how well attuned your gut instincts are today? Let’s try a quick psychological test to see. All you need to do is to use your intuition to answer the following questions and then check your results below…
1) If you met a chap at a party who introduced himself as “Captain Dawnrazer”, would you guess his profession to be:
A) An estate agent?
B) A chartered accountant?
C) A mercenary soldier, tasked with single-handedly eliminating an invasion of cyber aliens from a top-secret, underwater, nuclear research facility?
2. How would you imagine that facility?
A) A beautiful eco-system sprinkled with playful, cute animals and colourful fauna?
B) A single room with a table and chair in it?
C) A stark, flooded and claustrophobic multi-level area, with more platforms, lifts and locked doors than you can shake a laser blaster at?
3. And, in dealing with the cyber aliens in residence, would he:
A) Take them down the pub to sort out the confusion over a game of darts, a pint and a packet of pork scratchings?
B) Settle it by way of a game of Twister?
C) Work his way through the area by jumping between platforms, using the lifts to change areas, finding keys to open the doors and shooting everything that moves?
Results
Mostly As or Bs - Oh dear, your instincts are not serving you well today. You should avoid games of chance and would be advised to take extra care if you venture outdoors.
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Mostly Cs - Congratulations, your intuition is clearly working well. Perhaps you could choose my lottery numbers this week?
Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental
If you plumped for mainly Cs then you will have also probably worked out that Deep Core is a 2D platform game, and Captain Dawnrazer is none other than the lone hero, sent in to save the day. His mission is to navigate three large levels (each divided into three sub-levels), kill everything in his path and then defeat a final boss.
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We start off with a nice opening section setting the story, accompanied by some impressive and atmospheric music. And then any mood created is instantly destroyed by a large “Accessing Disk” message. Nnnngh! Why did programmers continually break the spell like this? “Accessing Facility” would have worked just as well; we would have known what was meant but we could have kept up the pretence that this wasn’t just a computer game. Hey ho.
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Once into the game, the first thing that strikes you is that the playable character bears an uncanny resemblance to Hercules from Gods. He may be sporting different attire, but in terms of stature and movement the two are almost identical. He even grunts when he jumps, just like Hercules, with a sound that could almost be a sample from the Bitmap Brothers’ 1991 classic. Rather helpfully, (and unlike Gods) you can change the direction you are facing while jumping, which makes dispatching certain bad guys easier.
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In another nod towards Gods, you have to solve puzzles to progress. However, for Deep Core this activity mostly only extends to collecting keys (floating orbs) with letters on them, which will open doors labelled with the corresponding letter.
Choose your weapon
You start armed with a simple blaster and there are five alternative weapons which can be collected by finding various power-ups (similar to the weapon system in Turrican ll), with options like more powerful lasers and three-way firing making your task a little easier.
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There is a good selection of enemies, and they all move in predetermined patterns, so dealing with them isn’t hugely difficult. Some move and fire along quite inconvenient lines though; too low to duck under but high enough to make jumping the danger either tricky or impossible. Once you are familiar with their movements, most can be dealt with by careful positioning and mashing the fire button.
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The areas you explore are a mixture of platforms, doors and lifts, and by shooting the bad guys and collecting the keys you can open more doors, thus allowing progression. It all works fine but on the down side there isn’t much variation and it doesn’t take long before it starts to feel rather samey.
And breathe…
The player also has to keep a close eye on both the health and oxygen meters on screen. The health meter depletes when you take hits and the oxygen meter works as a game timer by continuously ticking down; if either run out a life is lost. Both can be recharged if a corresponding power up is found.
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Unfortunately you will lose lives, often, as the game doesn’t allow much of a margin for error. You only need to take two or three hits to seriously damage your health bar, while the oxygen meter isn’t like a timer from a Mario game - where you can stop, make a cup of tea, have a slice of cake, and still return with enough time to complete the level. In Deep Core the levels are large and there is little allowance for exploration; if you make more than a couple of deviations from the correct route, you will run out of oxygen.
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I found this in particular to be rather frustrating, and it stopped me making it too far into the game, even with significant practice.
What happened to the difficulty curve?
I am also wondering whether it is just in my imagination that older games used to offer a difficulty curve. Many that I have played recently seem to start you in a large, full-difficulty first level.
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Whatever happened to kicking things off on trainer levels to acclimatise the player to the controls and building up from there? Games from other genres such as Lemmings, Cannon Fodder, and The Settlers do this. But many Amiga platform games throw you straight into the action with no hand-holding, and Deep Core is no exception. Considering the issues caused by the continuously depleting oxygen supply, a more straightforward starter level would definitely make the game a little more user-friendly.
How deep is your love?
All things considered, it is rather hard to pitch this review. At first glance there doesn't appear to be too much wrong with Deep Core. It is well programmed, looks fine (if a little lacking in variety), sounds good and generates a real foreboding and claustrophobic atmosphere. The gameplay mechanics work as they should and progression is largely down to the skill of the player. But…
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…I just can’t escape the feeling that, more than anything, it feels like a platform game by numbers. All the ingredients are there but there is simply no pizzazz. There is nothing clever or innovative to wow me, or that would make me want to fire it up and show it off to my friends. It is the gaming equivalent of dreaming about a Ford Escort XR3i in 1993 and then settling for the GL. It’s solid enough, but it offers no X-factor. And while it might be well put together, it’s also a tad safe, somewhat uninspired and just a bit dull; with virtually nothing there to make me fall in love.
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Perhaps Captain Dawnrazer was a chartered accountant after all…
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Graphics - 80%
It looks good if a little unspectacular. The palette used throughout the game doesn’t change hugely so there isn’t much variety, though the moving reflections in the rippling water are very impressive.
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Sounds - 83%
We are treated to nice atmospheric introductory music and a decent range of effects.
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Grab-Factor - 75%
​Deep Core offers straightforward platform fare. The oxygen timer is unnecessarily strict though, which continually costs lives and can be annoying.
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Playability - 67%
​Despite the game mechanics generally working well, the repetitious gameplay and high difficulty level means that some might find this more frustrating than fun.
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Verdict - 76%
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AG - December 2023
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Featured in Amiga Addict magazine, issue 28.
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© Words and pictures copyright grapeswriting.com
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