79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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CLOWN-O-MANIA
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CLOWN-O-MANIA is an arcade game written and published by Starbyte Software (of
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Germany) and distributed by Star Games (of Florida). Combining elements from
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(and reminiscent now and then of) PAC-MAN, CRYSTAL CASTLES, NEVERMIND, MARBLE
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MADNESS, DEVON AIRE, and BATTLEDROIDZ, CLOWN offers outstanding 3-D graphics,
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excellent animation, 70 levels, simple joystick control, and copy protection.
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The Atari ST version, which requires 512K and a color monitor, is the basis of
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this review.
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CLOWN is in no way a novel idea; it has appeared behind many graphic masks, but
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we have seen it before. Nonetheless, the labyrinths are wondrous
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three-dimensional constructions, the joystick controls are simple, and the game
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plays easily. I expect that youngsters (who are not so easily bored by mindless
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stick-twiddling) will find it more appealing than the growing legions of us who
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already know that GAUNTLET II is The Only Arcade Game Truly Worth Our Time and
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Effort.
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CLOWN concerns Beppo the Clown who, says the Star Games press release, "has
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spent his whole life exercising the laughmuscles of thousands of enraptured
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audiences." I think this means that Beppo operated a massage parlor, which must
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have been as big as a mall. (His hands, in order to massage an entire audience,
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must have been really big, too.) After Beppo finds a map showing the way to a
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mysterious, new world, he gives up massage and clownhood in order to devote his
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life to collecting priceless crystals.
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The ST graphics display consists of the current labyrinth, which is a series of
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three-dimensional platforms and walkways built of squares. Ladders, funnels,
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trampolines, and volcanos lead to other levels. The object of the game is to
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collect all the crystals -- some are worth one point, others ten points -- on
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each level before moving on to the next maze.
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There are many obstacles, although only one is mentioned in the manual. They
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include spinning gem-like shards, rolling balls, spiders, acid holes, and
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ghosts, all of which move sometimes in discernible patterns, sometimes in random
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patterns. Beamers transport Beppo to other parts of the maze. If your energy is
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high, you can collect pyramids and then drop them, as barriers, in strategic
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locations. "Jumps" are moving molecular structures that, when collected, let you
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leap to other, unconnected platforms of the maze. Collect the razor blades and
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they can be used as weapons.
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CLOWN is controlled with a joystick. The stick moves Beppo in the cardinal --
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that is, the cardinal-diagonal -- directions; the button collects and drops
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pyramids, uses a jump, and shoots razor blades. To adjust to the diagonal
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placement of the maze on the screen, the manual suggests that you turn your
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joystick from a 12 o'clock to a 1 o'clock position, which may or may not help.
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The CLOWN-O-MANIA package comes with one copy-protected disk and an instruction
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manual. There is no save option.
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CLOWN looks great on the ST: The excellent 3-D mazes hang suspended in a dark
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void and are exceptionally clear and colorful. If you run Beppo over a patterned
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square, the entire construction turns upside-down, a nifty trick that's all the
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more mind-boggling because Beppo then hangs by his feet. Beppo and the obstacles
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are nicely animated, and all is bright and understandable.
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Screen scrolls leave something to be desired. An entire maze isn't visible on
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any one screen, so when Beppo reaches a certain square, the maze shifts so that
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another part of it comes into view. This works abruptly and in a disorienting
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way, because Beppo appears on a square that's completely removed -- at least it
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seems removed at first glance -- from the one he was on before the scroll.
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The joystick worked well, but the relationship between the diagonal appearance
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of the maze and the corresponding joystick movements does require a mental
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adjustment, just as it did in DEVON AIRE and NEVERMIND (whose three-dimensional
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rooms/mazes were also placed diagonally on the screen).
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CLOWN-O-MANIA is a fine package, neither too easy nor too hard, that's
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eminently suitable for kids. Since this is an all-out arcade game, if you're not
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a youngster or a parent, you might want to playtest the game to predetermine
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your quotient for pointless joystick twiddling.
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CLOWN-O-MANIA is published by Starbyte Software and distributed by Star Games.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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