79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
SPHERICAL
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SPHERICAL is a strategy/arcade game written by Rainbow Arts and published
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and distributed by Electronic Zoo, and it offers excellent graphics and
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animation, 100 levels, six soundtracks, training and two-player modes,
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password feature, joystick control, and copy protection. The Atari ST
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version is the basis of this review, and to play it you'll need 512K, a
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color monitor, and a 360K disk drive.
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The strategy needed to conquer SPHERICAL inspires much brain activity,
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and it does so without skimping on arcade action. The game has all kinds of
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magic, lots of nasty creatures, and many useful items, some of them hidden;
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the two-player game features twice as many levels. SPHERICAL is the third
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Electronic Zoo release for the ST, and E-Zoo is now three out of three.
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Long ago, two great dragons, Akarom and Selene, used the power of the
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Starball to create the Universe and to keep a harmonic balance among the
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four races of Earth. For the usual reasons, Akarom coveted the Starball,
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and in secret he instructed humans in the art of war. Eventually, Akarom
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and Selene got in a really big fight and destroyed each other. Harmony came
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to an end, strife ruled the Universe, and the evil wizard Grimslade managed
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to resurrect Akarom. He now dwells in Grimslade's castle.
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As Findar, the good wizard, your goal is to enter Grimslade's castle,
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guide the Starball through 100 rooms, and confront and destroy the dragon
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Akarom. In a two-player game, you'll be accompanied through 200 rooms by
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fellow wizard Karl.
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SPHERICAL's screen display on the ST consists of the current room of
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Grimslade's castle. Each room is really just a wall, on which hang stone
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blocks; the blocks are randomly placed and you must walk and jump your
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wizard from block to block. Findar can create blocks where none exist, thus
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building steps and walls and platforms; he can un-create them as well. The
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Starball sits, pulsing with energy, somewhere in the room, and when the
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timer runs out, the Starball rolls along the blocks, like water seeking out
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the lowest level of the room. Your strategic task is to guide the Starball
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to the block marked IN, and so enter the next room.
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Also onscreen are the score counter, a 20-second timer, the wizard's
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Lifeforce bar, Restart jewels, and Potion indicator. The Lifeforce bar
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shrinks as the wizard absorbs damage; it can be replenished by finding
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Decanters. The Restart jewels let you begin a level over (four times only),
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and the Potion indicator is a little red bottle that'll destroy all enemies
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in a room: the manual suggests a keypad 9 to invoke this function but it's
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really the keypad's asterisk key that does it.
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Along the way to Akarom, you'll find Decanters of healing, keys, diamonds
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(for extra points), hourglasses (to reset the Starball timer), scrolls (for
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increased jumping power), red and green potions, and limited
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invulnerability lanterns. Magic Wands automatically send you to the next
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level, Switches reverse gravity, and Documents have code words, in effect a
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save feature. Certain items are hidden; when found, they'll automatically
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send you the next level.
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Obstacles include ghosts, bouncing globes and eyeballs, wizards that
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shoot fireballs, dripping acid, and, on every tenth level, an oversized
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spider or cat or dragon that shoots fireballs with great accuracy.
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SPHERICAL is controlled with a joystick: the stick makes the wizard walk
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and jump; the button creates and destroys stone blocks. From the Start
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menu, function keys select one- and two-player games, or a training screen,
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where you can practice block creation. You can also see magic items, toggle
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between sound and music (and choose one of six soundtracks), or run a demo.
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The Spacebar pauses. Red annihilation potions are invoked with a keypad
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asterisk.
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The SPHERICAL package comes with one 360K disk that's copy-protected, an
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instruction manual, and an Amiga/ST reference card. There is no save option
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in the usual sense, although the code word found on a document, entered at
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the Start menu, is close enough.
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SPHERICAL is a neat and exciting game that could easily become an
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obsession. Graphics and animation are excellent throughout, sound is spare
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yet effective, and the strategy involved will have you counting stone
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blocks in your sleep. SPHERICAL is well worth your time and attention.
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SPHERICAL is published and distributed by Electronic Zoo.
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