Heartland (C64, 1986)

So here's one from the golden era of C64 arcade-adventures. In this game you come across a magical book, which makes you travel to the dimension of Heartland. Therein you have to find the missing pages of said book, while also destroying six evil duplicate pages.

C'mon, they stole the plot from The NeverEnding Story.

Anyhow, this is the kinda game where you have to explore each level in search of certain items (in this case book pages). Apart from that, you need to collect protective spells, cause there's lotsa enemies lurking around. Also, stay alert for evil spells, which can hit you and deplete valuable energy. Oh there's a time limit too!



This game isn't exactly what you'd call terribly ambitious. In many ways it's a typical arcade-adventure from the mid 80's. Mind, it's still a lot better than, say, a shoot-em-up.

Where the game scores highly is in the atmosphere department, with five graphically brilliant levels, each carrying it's own distinct theme. Check the longplay and if you like what you see, check the game too..

7/10

Change of strategy..

Hey guys. I know I haven't posted anything in a year, but I don't want this blog to die. I'll change the approach a little bit though. Instead of posting reviews in the previous style, I'll post quick reviews, accompanied by a longplay video in YouTube, which should display the gameplay of any given game better than screenshots. Here goes then..

Bobby Bearing longplay part 4 (C64, 1986)

It seems that I've left this incomplete. Here is Bobby Bearing walkthrough number four.

Quick Review: Batty (C64, 1987)

Breakout games were extremely popular for a brief period during the late 80's (roughly 1987 to 1989), yet they all originate from much earlier, namely Breakout, which was released way back in 1976, and in turn was influenced by the grandfather of all computer games, Pong. All the classic C64 Breakout games come from this period in the late 80's (Arkanoid, Krakout, TRAZ, Batty), while we've rarely heard from Breakout-land ever since (although it seems to have staged a comeback in the indie PC-gaming scene lately). The concept is extremely simple: you control a bat at the bottom of the screen, with which you must fend off a ball, which bounces around, destroying blocks.



For my money, Batty is the second best Breakout-type game on the C64 (after Krakout). While it has the fatal flaw of most Breakout games, namely that the ball gets too fast too soon (resulting in a frantic but also impossible gaming experience), apart from that it's a classy game. The graphics are colourful and vibrant (including cute enemies which shoot at you and momentarily stun you), the sound is appropriate, the controls responsive, and the ball movement has believable physics. But there's also a bonus, a simultaneous two-player option. To be honest, that's Batty's real trump-card. Without that, it would be just another Breakout game, OK, but not exceptional. With it, it's a good game.

7/10

Knight 'n' Grail (C64, 2009)

OK, technically this isn't a retro game, rather a new game for a retro system. Now, I don't mean to be hard on people who keep on making new games for systems like the C64 (their efforts are much appreciated) but seeing as this is not a business anymore and purely a hobby, most of these new games are pretty basic, and wouldn't even qualify for budget titles back in the day. Nevertheless, every now and then a game comes along, which is up there with the best of them. We've had It's Magic 2, Newcomer, Zoomania, and now we have Knight 'n' Grail.



I don't think there's any need going over the specifics of the plot. Knight 'n' Grail is an arcade-adventure (an exploration shooter if you like), whereas you play the part of a knight getting along some quest in a castle. You find new swords, new armours, and new power-ups as you progress, each with different abilities. These items can be either accessed by pressing the space bar, which brings up the inventory system (along with a map), or by using the F1 and F3 keys.



The settings of the game might remind you of something along the lines of Ghosts 'n Goblins, though the actual gameplay and atmosphere resembles more of something like the caverns in Shadow Of The Beast. Also, the way you use your firepower (each sword has a different direction of shooting) reminds of Creatures (which also used the same method).



But enough with the past. What sets Knight 'n' Grail apart is it's mesmerizing atmosphere. If you isolate any of the game's elements, they don't seem so special by themselves. The graphics are very good, but not extraordinary. The music is lovely and adds a lot to the haunting atmosphere, but it's a bit simple. The gameplay is fun, but nothing we haven't seen before. But here's what happens, somehow, when these elements get combined, they form a magnificent game, with an unrivaled magical atmosphere, whose only fault I can think of is that it's a bit short and easy. Check it out.

8/10