Hey guys, I'm gonna start uploading Commodore Format issues again, seeing as the Commodore Format Library went bust. So here's issue number one (click).
It was as late as October 1990 that Zzap64 got a powerful competitor in the form of CF and the soon-to-be mighty Future Publishing. Future meant business, getting together a good team (including many ex Zzapsters) and also quality monthly covertapes, thus forcing Zzap to raise it's game.
This first issue is quite nice. Within it's 100 pages there's reviews of minor classics such as Time Machine,Lords of Chaos and Iron Lord, as well as Murder - the famous game that wasn't. Also of note is the intriguing disk-only adventure Mean Streets. On the features front, there's a presentation of the then brand new console C64GS (basically a C64 without a keyboard, and with only cartridge games), while on the covertape there's at least a classic in Tau Ceti, as well as neat demos of Ivan Stewart's Off Road Racer and St Dragon.
By the way, this issue was kindly contributed by Mort from the Zzuperstore. Mort has scanned an impressive array of retro computer magazines, so pay a visit (click) and see if you're interested in buying something.
Hey retro maniacs. Sorry for the lack of activity. I've been a bit busy with.. stuff. Sure I love retro gaming, but there's only so many things you can do in your spare time. Anyway, so let's talk about NBA Jam. Originally, NBA Jam was a basketball arcade game (aka coin-op) from 1993, and quite good it was too. Like most good arcade games, it benefited from not being too complex, not offering a simulation of the sport, but rather a simplistic version of it, but which was playable enough to entice both the basketball buff, as well as the occasional gamer.
Now let's be clear about this, technically speaking, this Sega Mega-Drive conversion is excellent. The graphics are brilliant, the action is fast and furious, and even the voice commentary has been retained from the coin-op. But let's take a look at how the game is played first. Well, no nuclear science here, you pick your NBA team and then go head to head with the computer (or a friend) on a match. The action is being portrayed from a horizontal semi-3D view, similar to television footage, and also reminiscent of Commodore's ancient International Basketball, or even 1987's Basket Master.
The game uses some poetic licence in that you don't get to play with all five players, as normal in basketball games. Instead you play only with two, the stars of the team, say, Shaquille O'Neal and Scott Skiles in the case of Orlando Magic. This not only simplifies things, but it also speeds up the action. Another thing that is ommited is the fouls and resulting free throws. Again, this works in the game's favour since it speeds up the action significantly.
However one aspect which the programmers got wrong with this conversion is the difficulty. In fact, it's possible to "hijack" the game, so to speak, by using the following little trick. Now, in NBA Jam there is this thing whereas if you score three successive times while the opponent doesn't, you get "on fire" and your chances of scoring increase dramatically. You are also rewarded with the ability of interfering with the ball while on its downward flight to the basket, which is normally a violation.
Herein lies the game's loophole. If you do that on an opponent's shot, while the game considers this as a violation and thus as a scoring shot, if you proceed to score, it considers it as if you've scored while your opponent hasn't (even though the score is normal). So by doing this, you can easily get "on fire" and thus win all matches easily. It is because of this little bug that I give this 7/10 and not 8/10. Thankfully, the following NBA Jam Tournament Edition omitted this flaw and as such is the version to get.
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 in 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.
