textfiles/games/REVIEWS/harmony.rev

 HARMONY

 Accolade's importation of Assembly Line's E-MOTION is one of the smartest moves
they've made; HARMONY is a truly innovative design that focuses heavily on
excellence of gameplay, without sacrificing good quality in the design of the
graphics or sound. If you'd like to try your hand at a game that has the
excitement and challenge of a combination of pinball and pool, you won't be
disappointed with this one. I think HARMONY is destined to initiate a whole new
genre in arcade puzzle games, as addictive in their own way as TETRIS and
ARKANOID. (This review is based on the Amiga version; IBM-PC version notes
follow.)

 The manual introduces the game with a little explanation for the name: "...We
just got weary of coming home to software 'entertainment' that drives us nuts
with tension.... How about a challenge that demands total relaxation for optimal
performance?"

 Ha! In the Normal mode, this is one of the most tense, most dynamic
arcade-style games I've ever tackled! The time limits are fair, yet short. One
of the first things you notice as indicative of excellent design in HARMONY is
that the challenge is tough but _just_ right; a little more time, and each of
the 50 different levels would prove too simple to solve; a little less, and the
game would be too infuriatingly difficult to play. In fact, it seems quite
infuriating when you start off, until you begin to understand the different
kinds of tactics you can use to handle each new situation. Once understood, a
particular level can be finished in a number of different ways, all of them
taking just a little bit of time and careful maneuvering of your Seeker
(described aptly as "a hovering sphericule with a pointer inside").

 Gameplay always begins wherever you want within the sequence of 50 levels, once
you've managed to save your position. You can save at any place in the game, and
restore the saved game in any level; there are no restrictions or artificial
"goals" you have to reach before being able to save or restore.

 Upon startup, there are a number of options you can use to configure the game.
Gameplay can be controlled from either the keyboard or a joystick (I can't
imagine playing from a keyboard!), and there are two distinct movement modes to
choose from. In Normal movement mode, you use the fire button to initiate
movement of The Seeker, and the stick to rotate right or left, or flip 180
degrees. In Alternative mode (which I find much more difficult), the fire button
flips The Seeker 180 degrees, and the stick controls both right and left
rotation, movement forward, and braking. (There's no braking in Normal mode, but
The Seeker slows down pretty rapidly on its own, and stops if you flip it.) By
giving you these two modes, the designers make it possible for you to configure
the game for what you're comfortable with, and let you replay it with different
control for a new kind of challenge.

 Along with the movement modes, you have the option of choosing Game Modes.
Mantra Mode is the "peaceful" mode suggested in the opening game-name
explanation, and is free of time pressure. In this mode, you have all the time
in the world to herd spheres around the screen until they touch each other and
dissipate. Using this mode, you can move easily through all 50 levels without
ever losing a Seeker.

 If that's not enough, you can steel yourself for Normal Mode. Here's where all
the fun really starts: The time limits are imposed, the spheres begin to pulse
rapidly and explode if they're not merged (thus wiping out your Seeker's
energy), and when different-colored spheres touch each other they have babies,
which can be collected for extra power. The small spheres quickly mature and
become pulsing threats themselves, if you leave them alone.

 The game is quite simple: In Normal Mode, you have from ten to 30 seconds
(depending on the level) to use your Seeker to push spheres into other
like-colored spheres so you can dissipate them. If you touch all the
like-colored spheres together before they explode, you move on unharmed to the
next level. If you touch different-colored spheres together, they reproduce,
sometimes producing a sphere in a completely new color. There are different
kinds of pinball-style bumpers present in each level, and you have to figure out
how to use these to make your shots. Some levels' bumpers divide like-colored
spheres onto different sides of the screen, thus producing yet another kind of
challenge.

 One important thing to recognize is that the screen is entirely wrap-around,
both vertically and horizontally; it's frequently better to head off the edge of
the screen nearest The Seeker than into it, and there are all sorts of great
strategies you can develop, once you understand where your Seeker is going to go
when it glides off an edge.

 Spheres often come attached to each other, and to your Seeker, by the
equivalent of a rubber band. Stretching and snapping this band has interesting
and productive effects on the motion of the spheres, although sometimes the
combination of rubber bands and bumpers makes the puzzle a real test of your
vectoral imagination.

 Finally, there are periodic bonus levels, where you can only gain points by
gobbling up small spheres PAC-MAN-style in a particular order. Small spheres
sometimes appear randomly on normal levels, as well; gobbling them will give you
the ability to dissipate any sphere you touch.

 The game starts with four Seekers at your disposal, and an energy bar begins at
full on the top of the screen. When you gobble the smaller spheres, the energy
level of your Seeker increases; when spheres explode, it decreases. This leads
to some interesting possibilities. I've played levels where my goal has been not
to eliminate spheres but to produce as many "babies" as possible, thus
generating plenty of fodder to keep up The Seeker's energy level, despite
periodic explosions.

 Graphics and sound on the Amiga version are quite wonderful; the spheres and
bumpers have a real ray-traced look, and the backgrounds are beautifully shaded
and blended in colors that put the skies in both F-15 STRIKE EAGLE II and
DRAKKHEN to shame. Whenever a sphere or Seeker bumps into anything else, a
musical note is emitted, and each type of bump emits a differently-pitched tone.
Imagine how it all looks and sounds when you manage to fill the screen with
spheres!

 HARMONY also has a two-player mode, which is cooperative rather than
competitive. In two-player mode, there are two Seekers on-screen, each one
controlled independently by either joystick or keyboard/keypad commands.

 The game comes on one copyable disk, and the manual includes simple and
complete instructions for installation on a hard drive. A floppy disk is needed
for game saves and high scores even on a hard-disk system, which I think is an
excellent idea (less danger of corrupting the HD with a problem write). Before
starting the game, there is one purple-brown paper lookup procedure. For once,
this isn't the royal pain it usually is; there are 24 numbered monochromatic
screenshots, one of which must be matched with what appears on the
copy-protection screen. The pictures on the purple-brown paper are relatively
legible, but don't try scanning them in a darkened room unless you want a
migraine. HARMONY will play in 512K of RAM (more is needed if you have a hard
drive, of course) on A1000s, A500s, and A2000s, and there's even a function-key
command to center the game on your monitor. The game requires either joysticks
or the keyboard for play (the number of joysticks being dependent on whether
you're in one- or two-player mode).

 Since ARKANOID, I haven't seen an action/puzzle game as original, as
user-friendly, and as enticing as HARMONY. If there's any justice in the world,
this will be just as big a hit!

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 While HARMONY itself rewards you for "staying calm," unless your plan is to
always boot this game from the supplied 5-1/4" diskette, some elements of
Accolade's packaging might have the opposite effect.

 For example, if you need a 3-1/2" diskette, you'll have to pay a premium by
mailing in the 5-1/4" diskette, along with an enclosed coupon and $5.00. But
that's minor compared to the copy protection scheme used here -- which is, to
put it mildly, a pain in the rear.

 HARMONY is easily installed on your hard drive, using a batch file found on the
floppy. When you boot the game, you must match the first screen with one found
on the "copy protection sheet," and type in the corresponding code number. The
problem is, each one of the 24 possible screens has the same layout of spheres
(the "seeker" appears in a different place in each), and the paper of the
booklet is brown, with gray printing. It's difficult to read even in bright
light, so some people may find that the three attempts allowed aren't enough. By
the way, if you should lose this sheet, Accolade will charge you $15.00 for a
replacement.

 Graphics modes supported include VGA, MCGA, EGA, CGA and Tandy 16-color. VGA
graphics (as pictured on the rear of the box) are nice: warm pastel shades very
much in keeping with the theme of the game, and figures with a nice 3-D look.
Support is offered for Roland, CMS, and AdLib sound boards, as well as any
device with a MIDI interface.

 Accolade recommends PCs with a clock speed of at least 8MHz. Playing on a
386-20, animation was flawless. You can use either the keyboard or a joystick as
a controller; a joystick is definitely recommended.

 HARMONY is published and distributed by Accolade.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253