88 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
88 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
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BALLISTIX
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Recently, I went to a science fiction/fantasy convention and
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gravitated to the computer room. There were three Amigas in the
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room, one of which was always being used by someone to play STRIP
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POKER. When I got a chance to use one, I sat down and loaded up
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BALLISTIX, and suddenly all eyes were drawn to my screen. It's that
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kind of game -- even more fun than pictures of naked women.
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Atari ST version notes follow.)
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Play could not be easier. It is simply a type of hockey game in
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which you maneuver the puck toward the opposing goal by shooting
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metal marbles at it. You can fire the marbles one at a time, or in a
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steady barrage. It is easy to learn, and a lot of fun to play. The
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game can be played solo on a pitched field tilted toward your own
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goal, which means you must keep blasting upwards to avoid losing to
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the inexorable force of gravity. But it is best played by two
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players, head-to-head, each with his or her own joystick.
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A mere description does not begin to do the game justice, however.
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On the Amiga, the graphics are spectacular, and the game play is
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quick and fluid. Bu the game progesses in difficulty. In the
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one-player mode, there are 50 levels of play, and in the two-player
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mode, there are 80 levels; all 130 are different. I never made it
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beyond level 5 in the one-player game, but I look forward to seeing
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more.
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One feature I particularly liked was what I called the "land
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mine." You hit it with a marble, and it shoots out dozens of balls
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that have a decidedly randomizing effect on the gameplay!
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Occasionally letters appear which, when collected, spell the word
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"ricochet." I imagine getting them all will give you some kind of
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bonus, but I haven't quite managed it yet. I did, however, get as
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far as "rico het."
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BALLISTIX also offers an options screen that lets you tailor the
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game to your own abilities. You can change the speed and number of
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balls available, the number of games needed to win in the two-player
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mode, and the amount of control you have over the number of balls
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fired when you press the joystick button.
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One minor complaint: Psygnosis's love for the grotesque is at work
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here, so it's fair to describe the overall look of the game as "air
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hockey in hell." The playing area is bordered by gruesome
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creatures, and wait 'til you see the "Aliens"-inspired BEM that
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drops the puck. I found this totally out of place in a pure sports
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contest; once I began playing, I merely ignored it. Note, too, that
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the game is copy-protected.
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Overall, BALLISTIX is a great two-player game in a field where
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there are too few of that caliber.
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ATARI ST VERSION NOTES
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The Atari ST version of BALLISTIX is more or less identical to the
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Amiga version. The game looks fabulous, is highly playable, and is
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not easily mastered. It's as much fun for two players as it is for
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one. I would _like_ to recommend it to ST users: The truth of the
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matter is, I wouldn't recommend BALLISTIX to my worst enemy.
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The reason I can't recommend it is due to copy protection. The
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scheme on the program disk is vile and paranoid; it's so obscene
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that the drive head moves off the disk surface and bumps into the
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plastic cover. This occurs each time a game ends and you decide to
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restart. Although not all 50 (one-player) levels or 80 (two-player)
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levels are available, you can choose to begin on a level other than
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00. To the protection scheme, the level on which you start and
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restart doesn't matter. The program does a protection check on
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_every_ restart, regardless from which level you choose to start.
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Eventually, your ST will bomb out.
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BALLISTIX appears to sport the same protection as BARBARIAN: For
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that game, I removed the cover from a 1040ST and _watched_ the drive
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head move off the disk surface and bump into the plastic;
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BALLISTIX, if nothing else, certainly "sounds" as if it's doing the
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same thing. This protection transforms an otherwise worthwhile
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program into an insult from Psygnosis, and if you buy it for your
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ST, you're asking for trouble.
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BALLISTIX is published and distributed by Psygnosis, Ltd.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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