97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
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CRASH GARRETT
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CRASH GARRETT is an illustrated, animated adventure from Patrick
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Dublanchet and Infogrames. Made in France and available through the
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Antic Catalog, CRASH offers excellent graphics, animation, and sound
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effects, fully-realized characters, wild sight-gags, keyboard
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control, a save-game option, and a most wonderful sense of humor.
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The Atari ST version is the basis of this review.
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Not only is CRASH GARRETT flawlessly designed, great fun to watch,
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and a pleasure to play, it is the coolest game in the world.
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The setting of CRASH is pre-World War II America, circa 1938. The
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plot concerns sinister Nazis, tattooed Arabs, beautiful women, "Hot
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from Hollywood" columnist Cynthia Sleeze, and a lurid plan to create
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Hitler's master race.
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Tough and bumbling, Crash is a formerly shady character (bootleg
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liquor, smuggled guns, and gang wars) gone straight. He's a
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combination of Indiana Jones and George (of "George of the Jungle"
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fame), with a variety of facial expressions and verbal wisecracks.
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These days, with friend Grease Flanagan, Crash runs an air-taxi
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business based in Hollywood.
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While snooping into the suicide of film star Lana Torride, Cynthia
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and Crash stumble into a nest of Nazis, led by the repulsive Baron
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Engel Von Krul and the sadistic Gestapo officer Helga. This
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fanatical group plans to kidnap beautiful women -- Lana Torride, for
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example -- and use them to create for "der Fuhrer" the blue-eyed,
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blonde-haired master race. Your goal as Crash Garrett is to foil the
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plot and save the world.
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The Atari ST screen displays a low-res picture of the current
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location. Medium-res pictures of the characters overlay the location
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shot. Text in cartoon balloons allows the characters to converse,
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crack jokes, and threaten each other. The pictures slide around the
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screen as the characters pace, as they enter or leave a room, as
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they stagger from too much booze, as they dodge bullets. "BAM!,"
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"POW!," and "ARGGHH!" appear when guns are shot, when fists
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connect, and when pain becomes too much to bear.
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Crash suffers from a lingering problem that has plagued him since
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he recovered from a coma: He needs someone to tell him what to do.
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He'll look at you and ask: "Now what?" or "What next? You'll enter a
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command in the message area at the bottom of the screen; on its
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acceptance, a new scene will unfold through dialogue and action.
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When the scene is complete, Crash will again turn to you for help.
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Crash has eight reservoirs of power for use in tense moments; these
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are invoked with the "$" rather than the usual "Return" key that
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validates a command. He can also carry as many as eight of the
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objects that can be found during the game.
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Like most adventure games, CRASH is controlled from the keyboard,
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through which commands are entered. If Crash doesn't understand, or
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if he cannot perform the requested action, he'll let you know with a
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change of both facial and verbal expressions.
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Games in progress can be saved on the program disk (this is not
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recommended), or on a formatted disk. The game package is in
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French, comes with two mini-floppy disks, and doesn't support
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monochrome monitors or a second disk drive. (Antic now has a store
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in CompuServe's Electronic Mall, via which CRASH can be ordered.)
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Because of its cinematic design, CRASH GARRETT is one of the
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easiest games to play. The command processor might seem limited in
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its vocabulary, but it isn't: Precise wording, as opposed to
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convoluted syntax, works well. What's more, editing features,
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command shortcuts, and picture manipulation are completely
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unnecessary: The niftiest parts of CRASH are in the game, not the
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interface. I can't recall a game of this nature integrating
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pictures, text, and screen action in so smooth and entertaining a
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fashion.
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Dialogue is humorous, spiced with sophomoric jokes, wise-guy
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remarks, and lewd innuendos; the general story text is literate, and
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advances the plot admirably. Dialogue and picture movement form
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silly sight gags. Fists slide out of slots on the screen and connect
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with jaws. Slaps, gunshots, and propeller noises are heard. The
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characters are so real and the dialogue is so realistic, you can all
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but hear the emotions in their voices.
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The title screen features a 1930s big-band instrumental that is so
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accurate digitally, it might have been lifted directly from a
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scratchy 78 R.P.M. record.
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CRASH GARRETT is the coolest game in the world.
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CRASH GARRETT is published by Infogrames and distributed by ANTIC.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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