WUDANG
(World XXI Soft, 2020)
Shame I don't know any Wu Tang Clan songs, as they'd go down a treat here. No matter, this game is one of those that is written in some sort of BASIC, and is apparently a remake of Kung Fu 2 from 1991. Well, whaddyaknow. There's a long and detailed plot which I won't go into. Suffice to say you have to rescue your mate from the Purple Cloud Temple, and apparently there's a subgame at one point called 'Chinese Arkanoid'. The mind boggles.
Dave: "Wheeeeee! It's quite a laugh running up walls and flying everywhere. I got my backside handed to me by the first dude I encountered playing on MEDIUM, so I switched to EASY as soon as I was dumped back on the menu screen. Even on EASY I found it got trickier later on, and the sorcerer dudes can easily catch you out. I suspect you'd have to have already reached enlightenment to play it on HARD.
I guess this game mostly comes down to collect-the-keys, open-the-doors, with a bit of combat thrown in. The controls are very responsive, especially for BASIC (compiled?). Combat needs good reactions but seems fairly simplistic. I like the way the map is constructed, with outside-y and inside-y bits in a memorable pattern and great graphics. The Breakout game was a bit random (TWO paddles... WTF?!). I fluked my way through that one. And I couldn't quite work out the puzzle with the mice, despite spending quite a bit of time on it..."
Al: "Surely this can’t be a BASIC game? It looks really nice and plays most honourably too. I love the way you can practically fly around the place like you’re in Crouching Gerbil, Hidden Donkey, it’s a really clever idea. If double-jumping is a thing, then why not this instead!
The only trouble is, the swordfights seem a bit too difficult even on EASY level, which hinders your progress badly. I dug Chinese Arkanoid though, 2 bats in the middle of the screen and bricks around the edges. It's enough to drive you Batty (so very sorry)."
SCORING TIME!
Dave: "Overall a decent game - really doesn't feel like BASIC, as the keys are ultra-responsive. My only criticism is that a 'continue' option would be nice. After spending a bit of time getting relatively far through the game on one go (yeah, so I was playing on EASY, bite me!) I had a lapse of concentration and died, and couldn't really be bothered starting the key collection from zilch again."
8/10
Al: "Amazing for a BASIC game, even better than my very own Bet Shop (thankfully MIA)"
7/10
"Just one more thing..."
Columbo: "What do youse guys reckon has been the best game written in BASIC. Or mostly in BASIC anyways?"
Dave: "I suppose Football Manager was pretty decent for 1982. I never massively got into it, until it later got upgraded to the PC franchise that it became ("Eh?" - Ed). It was never the same since the beard-shaving...
I'm not going to count the 8,237 early versions of Backgammon. Arcade-wise, the only BASIC commercial game I can think of is Mined Out, though I didn't think much of that one. I'm sure there are more.
There were quite a few dungeon hacks in BASIC that I enjoyed a bit- Velnor's Lair and Black Crystal spring to mind. And apparently Journey's End is quite highly regarded. The one standout for me out of all the games is The Oracle's Cave... Bet you saw that one coming! (Ba-dum tish). OK there is a bit of machine code for the movement/scrolling but hit that BREAK button and it's (otherwise) all there, baby! Awesome adventure game."
Al: "Personally I loved that first Footy Manager, I think the Great Bearded One got the balance just right for a strategic sports sim, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting Tranmere Rovers all the way to the top of Division 1 and winning the FA Cup. After that, I lost interest somewhat, but still a classic game for '82.
I too enjoyed The Ceefax's Cave (hilarious) although I could make very little progress in it. Were those early Artic adventures in BASIC? Could be, maybe I'll nominate Espionage Island, just ‘cos I like the title. The game itself wasn’t that special, and clearly Artic hadn't picked up on the fact that you don't have to write everything in capitals on the Spectrum."
Dave: "YEAH, ALL THE SHOUTING IN THOSE EARLY ADVENTURES SURE GAVE YOU A HEADACHE AFTER A WHILE."
Al: "TRUE DAT, AMIGO. TRUE DAT. OUCH."
I lost YEARS on Journey's End. I hated that you had to save your party data on my dodgy tape recorder to progress. Only made it to level 3 twice and panicked so bad I died instantly.