68 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
68 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
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FREAKIN' FUNKY FUZZBALLS
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Any game with a name like FREAKIN' FUNKY FUZZBALLS better be darn cute. Well,
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this one certainly lives up to those expectations, and perhaps a few more as
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well. FREAKIN' FUNKY FUZZBALLS (FFF) is an arcade game for the entire family,
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easy enough for children and challenging enough for most adult players. (This
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review is based on the IBM version.)
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In FFF, you are the title character. The main screen offers an overhead view
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of the game board, rectangles arranged in an 11 by 12 grid. You walk around
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over the "tiles," which change color once stepped on. Walking over some
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reveals objects underneath, including food, magic rings, wands, keys, and
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doors. Higher levels reveal a greater assortment of goodies, ranging from
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shields and armor to magic spells, potions, elevators, teleporters, and even
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dynamite. Once you've grabbed an object, you can't step where the tile once
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was. Other tiles disappear after they've been stepped on more than once,
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further limiting the places you can go. Each tile you step on adds points to
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your score, and you can collect an extra bonus if you've gathered all the
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available objects on each level. As the levels increase, some of the tiles
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are blacked out from the start, making it harder to manuever.
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You can "leap" over empty spaces if you've got a magic wand, and you can
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enter a gate to the next level once you've gathered the required number of
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keys. At the start of each level, you'll be told how many keys you'll need to
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collect in order to enter the gate.
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While you're running from tile to tile, you're pursued by an enemy,
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appropriately called "the Enemy." If the Enemy touches you, some of your
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strength is sapped (it can be restored by finding food). The game is over
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once your strength hits zero. The Enemy competes with you for magic wands,
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which often become essential for completing a level. If you're not careful,
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you may find yourself literally in the middle of nowhere; without a wand to
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allow you to jump over the void, the game is over.
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If you're good enough, Fuzzball (and you) will eventually travel through
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five "worlds": Ancient Times, Funky Gardens, Modern Day, Future Space, and
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"Darkness!" Each level features different objects to collect, and different
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challenges.
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FFF offers single-player mode and two different flavors of two-player modes.
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Each player can take turns controlling the fuzzball, or two can compete
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simultaneously -- one controlling the fuzzball, the other controlling the
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enemy.
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The IBM version of FFF arrives packed with two 5-1/4" diskettes and a single
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3-1/2" diskette, either of which can be installed on your hard disk. Copy
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protection is provided via an "eye exam" (quite literally, as you'll have to
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match up the position of the fuzzball's eyes and the number of objects
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onscreen against a provided "eye-chart," which has tiny black letters against
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a dark brown background).
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You can play the CGA version of FFF with just 384K of RAM, the EGA version
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with 512K, or a full 640K for the VGA version. Cartoon-style graphics are
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pleasant throughout. You can choose to play with either the keyboard or a
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joystick (the keyboard is more than adequate). There is support for the Ad
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Lib and Roland MT32 sound boards.
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FFF has two skill levels, and even has a Boss Key, for those who get so
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addicted (a distinct possibility!) that they bring a copy in to work.
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With all of the different objects, levels, and worlds to visit, FREAKIN'
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FUNKY FUZZBALLS provides hours of fun for the entire family...even if no one
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in your house happens to be either freaky or especially funky.
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FREAKIN' FUNKY FUZZBALLS is published and distributed by Sir-Tech Software.
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