Bobby Bearing longplay part 3 (C64, 1986)

Part 3 of the longplay of this interesting Marble Madness variant.

Catalypse (C64, 1992)

Catalypse is a horizontal space shooter which came along late in the C64's commercial lifetime, and as a result is not that well-known, something which was hardly helped by a Zzap review which slated the game. Commodore Format was far more favourable, even giving it a corker. Did those two mags ever agree on something? Catalypse also got a reputation for being influenced by Armalyte, though I don't see that much of a resemblance, to be honest.



I don't see any point with getting involved with the plot either, as it's sure to deal with the usual space liberator scenario, so let's just take a look at the game straight away. Now, if there's an immediate criticism about Catalypse, is that it's a very difficult game to get into. We played this recently in the Lemon-64 gaming competition, and I was getting nowhere, until a fellow Lemon member posted longplays on YouTube. Only after seeing them I got into the game mechanics and realized that you should use the drone ship bonus, not as a shield, but as an extra weapon.



Prior to that, I was trying to make ends meet by using my own ship and just firing at the enemies. It was pretty clear that this wasn't the way to go, because some enemies just wouldn't die with your normal firing range, but if you use the drone ship as a weapon, you can kill pretty much everything.



Another turning point is when i realized that if you just keep the fire button pressed, it acts like an auto-fire switch. That made things a lot easier because before that I was getting the thumbs blues by pressing fire like a maniac. Well, that was it, after discovering these two little tricks, I got hooked. Catalypse transformed from a really frustrating experience to a frenetic and speedy shoot-em-up ride.



That said I still don't consider it a classic. It lacks a bit in atmosphere. Even though the levels feature nicely drawn graphics, I've seen these kind of backgrounds so many times before that they don't have an effect on me. I also don't find the music that special, even though it's nice that there's sound effects and music simultaneously.



I've already made the point in previous reviews, on how important music can be to a game, case in point, Rob Hubbard's spectacular tune for Lightforce. It's that tune alone which makes Lightforce a great shoot-em-up. So, overall, Catalypse just lacks that bit of atmospheric edge to make it really special.

Bobby Bearing longplay part 2 (C64, 1986)

And here is part two of the longplay of this very difficult Marble Madness variant.

Addams Family (Mega-Drive, 1992)

I've already written about the C64 version of The Addams Family, so why not take a look at the 16-bit version as well? It's quite a different game, so let's start with the similarities. This is still a platform-game, and you still play the part of Gomez who's on the look for his family that are scattered here and there in the gargantuan Addams residence.



Also, it still takes it's cues from the ancient Jet Set Willy, meaning that basically, as you roam around the screens, there's enemies galore that are moving in set patterns and which you must either avoid, or kill by either jumping on them, or shooting them - if you got the necessary power-up.



The major difference is that this is not a flick-screen affair, but a fully scrolling environment moving in all four directions. Also, the levels are completely different to the ones found in the 8-bit game. It pretty much is a different game altogether. Now, seeing as the good ol' C64 coped admirably well with conversions of such 16-bit classics such as Sleepwalker and Chuck Rock, I don't see why they couldn't do a proper conversion of this as well, but oh well, what can you do about it.



Like I mentioned before, basics apply here. You run around, jumping on platforms, jumping on enemies etc. There's also switches to activate, which in turn activate platforms, walls etc. The levels don't follow a linear pattern, meaning that you don't start in Level 1, proceed to Level 2 etc. Rather the game offers a more interactive environment, whereas you start outside the mansion and you pretty much choose where to go. A doorway leads to one level, another doorway to another etc. The levels feel more like different areas of one bigger landscape in that respect.



The atmosphere is special, what with such fairy-tale environments like the catacombs and the ice-world, and with a batch of decent tunes to accompany the action. I'd say it's a great game, if it wasn't for one major fault: it's hugely difficult and frustrating. Gee, I swear, in later levels the frustration-o-meter hits red as you die in the same spot, time and time and time again. Who would blame you if you played this with save states? I wouldn't.



This game is so difficult that even power-ups can be a nuisance, like when you get the shoes, with which you run faster and jump further. Cool, eh? Well, no, because apart from running faster, it feels as if you're sliding on ice, making those pixel perfect jumps nigh on impossible. I pretty much made a habit of avoiding this power-up as altogether.



So there you have it, the silly difficulty curve spoils this gaming experience. Bah.

Bobby Bearing longplay part 1 (C64, 1986)

This game was a bitch to complete. But here it is.