Starquake - Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 (1985) & Atari ST (1988)

[Commodore 64] The pick of the 8-bits

Starquake is an addictive and very slick arcade adventure with platforming elements.  It was released for a host of 8-bit machines in 1985 and for the Atari ST three years later in 1988. Your goal is to repair the unstable core of a planet that has appeared from a black hole before it destroys the Universe.  

You control a character called BLOB (Bio-Logically Operated Being) and your first task is to search for the planet’s core.  The core is made up of a number of objects that must then be located by searching the 512 screens that make up the planet.  The objects then need to be returned to the core to make it stable.

There are various aliens that inhabit the planet that can be dispatched with your laser.  Most of the aliens will drain your energy but there is one that can kill you immediately.  You can also build short-lived platforms beneath you to reach higher places as you are unable to jump. BLOB has a limited supply of ammunition and platforms, and his energy supply constantly depletes though further supplies of each can be picked up.  There is also a generous scattering of extra lives in the form of joysticks (remember them?).

While on foot BLOB can only move left and right (and fall down) so there are a number of other ways to navigate the planet.  The most useful form of transport is a hover pad.  These can only be boarded and dropped off in particular places but can fly in any direction. The major disadvantage of a hover pad is that you can’t pick up any core objects while on board. Teleports are another quick way of getting around.  Each teleport has its own unique code and one is handily located quite close the core.  In some areas there are also vacuum tubes which can suck BLOB up to higher levels.

[Amstrad CPC] BLOB about to pick up the most useful item in the game.

The most useful object that can be found is the Access card.  Numbered chips can be picked up to get you through security doors and to gain access to the Cheops pyramid.  An Access card can replace all these chips.  The security doors allow you to explore further areas of the planet and the Cheops pyramid can be used to trade one of your objects for another (usually one needed to repair the core).

[Spectrum] The Cheops pyramid allows you to trade unwanted items for something more useful

I had Starquake for the Spectrum back in the 80’s and completed it again with my old map.  I achieved an adventure score of 58% which is roughly the percentage of the map I used so I’m guessing you need to visit every screen to get 100%.

The game is very polished and would be worthy of being published by Ultimate.  Of the versions I played, none of them stand out aurally with the sound mostly consisting of effects.  The Commodore 64 has the best visuals of the 8-bits.  The graphics are colourful and forego the chunky sprites the C64 is normally known for.  The Spectrum version, as usual, is brightly coloured but has monochrome sprites.  In contrast the Amstrad version has rather subdued graphics which puts it in last place.  All games play the about the same which is the important thing.

Coming 3 years later and with more power behind it, the Atari ST unsurprisingly boasts the best looking version although it is hardly stretching the hardware with a game such as this.

[Atari ST] As expected the ST version has the best graphics of all.

**SPOILERS**  [Spectrum] Completing the game....

Skool Daze - Sinclair Spectrum - 1985

Skool Daze is a quintessentially English game which takes a comic book view of school life.  You take control of a schoolboy called Eric, although you can change his and the names of the other main characters at the beginning of the game.  Armed with your trusty catapult, your task is to steal your report card from the safe in the school staff room.  You must do this whilst attending classes and trying to stay out of trouble.  For each misdemeanour you are given lines and are expelled if you collect 10,000.

The game instructions give steps which must be taken in order to reach your goal.  The first aim is to hit all the shields scattered around the school, either with your catapult or fists, in order to make them flash.  Many of the shields are out of reach so you will need to think of ways to hit them (e.g. you can punch a fellow pupil and use his prone body as a useful step to jump higher).  Once all the shields are flashing you have to shoot each of the teachers with your catapult and they will reveal their part of the combination to the safe.  The exception is the history teacher who is too old to remember his number so has had it hypnotically planted into his brain.  He will reveal his part of the combination if he sees the year of his birth written on a blackboard.

Once you have the combination you have to write it on a blackboard in the correct order to open the safe.  After retrieving your report you then need to hit all the shields again to prevent the teachers becoming aware of your deeds.

Skool Daze was an early example of a sandbox game and whatever you got up to all the other characters would follow their own routines.  The graphics are good, the sound fine and there is plenty of humour.  It’s a great game and can be just as much fun following the quest as it is running around getting up to mischief.

A sloppy conversion of Skool Daze was available on the Commodore 64. There was also a follow up available later in the year called Back to Skool.  In my opinion the quest in that game was too convoluted and lost the simple charm of the original.

The date of birth of the history teacher is revealed when the swot says what event happened in that year (normally a medieval battle).

Paradroid - Commodore 64 - 1985

Static screen shots do not inspire you to play the game.

Having not had much exposure to the Commodore 64 in the 80s, Paradroid is another one of those classics I'd heard about but never had the chance (or desire) to try.  Like Impossible Mission, it is one of those games the does not look much from the screenshots but really comes into its own when you start to play.

The game is based on a fleet of spaceships that has been overtaken by errant robots.  It is too dangerous to board each ship so an 'influence device' has been sent down to destroy all the droids.  The influence device is a helmet-like contraption that attaches to the hostile robots and allows the player to take control of them.  It is also armed with a rather puny laser.  Each spaceship is made up of 20 decks.  You know when you have cleared a deck as the lights power down. Once you clear a ship you are moved onto the next.

One deck cleared, nineteen to go.

The ship is viewed from a top-down perspective and uses line-of-sight mechanic so you can't see enemies around corners or through closed doors.  The play area, which is rather small, scrolls as you move about the ship.  You initially control the rather weedy influence device which is depicted as a white sphere numbered '001'.  The other droids are also depicted as numbered white spheres with the first digit denoting their power (1 is the weakest, 9 is the strongest).  You can destroy enemy robots by either ramming (only works against weaker enemies), shooting or temporarily taking control of them.  If the influence device is destroyed it's game over.

Each droid has a unique portrait though in-game they appear as white spheres.

Starting off with such a weak machine you will want to take control of a stronger robot as soon as possible. Attempting to transfer to another droid brings up a mini game where you play against the computer in an attempt to take over the enemys circuit board.  You firstly choose which side to work from and then, playing against a time limit, have to change at least 7 of the 12 rectangles in the centre of the screen to your colour by 'firing' down the connecting wires.  The more powerful the robot, the more 'shots' are available.  If the mini game ends in a draw you play again.  If you lose while already controlling a robot, the robot is destroyed and you return to controlling the influence device.  If you fail while controlling the influence device the game ends.  Once you take control of an enemy droid you can use it against its former comrades.  It will also start to lose power and will eventually burn out unless you transfer to yet another droid.  

Preparing to take over another droid.  The number of available 'shots' are shown down the side.

Also dotted around each level are lifts, energisers and consoles.  The lifts can carry you between the decks on the starship.  The energisers can be used to restore energy lost due to laser damage.  When accessing the console you can view a plan of your current level, a side view of the starship showing the decks and can access a database showing data for robots of a lower class than your host.

A plan of the current deck as viewed through the console

Overall Paradroid is an excellent game.  The bas-relief graphics are extremely effective and the scrolling is silky smooth.  The sound effects are nothing to write home about but are suitable for the game.  The blend of strategy and shooting is set just about right and there is quite a complex scoring mechanism.  I've still got a few years of Commodore 64 games to play but I'd be amazed if I come across (m)any games better than this one.