Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game
(Lucasfilm Games, 1992)
I don’t recall this game being released for the CPC in the UK, but anyway... A Nazi agent has stolen a statue that Indiana Jones has uncovered, but he drops some papers about the lost city of Atlantis, and it turns out that the agent is working for Dr Hans Ubermann, a physicist who is trying to build a nuclear bomb using a material called orichalcum. Indy knows that one of his colleagues, Sophia Hapgood, is interested in Atlantis, and the two of them set out to stop the Nazis. This is an arcade adventure which is viewed in an isometric perspective. Both you and Sophia have to find objects to enable you to pursue your quest. Initially things look good, but the game is at times grindingly slow and you spend too much time plodding around in frustration. It’s subtitled ‘the action game’, but there’s not a lot of action in it!
See also: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(US Gold, 1989)
Indy is on a quest for the Holy Grail before the Nazis grab it. The four levels take you in a search for the Cross of Coronado, then going to a castle for the Crusader’s Shield, acting as a stowaway on a flying Zeppelin, and finally, traversing pits and platforms to reach the Grail. There are some fantastic pictures from the film of the same name before you play each level, and there’s a fairly good rendition of the theme tune, but the in-game graphics are monochrome, albeit detailed and well animated. The game’s big let-down, though, is that it’s too slow – Indy takes ages to land on the ground when he jumps.
See also: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Based (obviously) around the film of the same name, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a game that excels greatly on various levels, that lets itself down slightly in the most important aspect of all. To my delight, the graphics, though not groundbreaking, were clear and well animated. Indy is instantly recognisable. The sound also really impressed me. From the Indy theme tune right down to the crack of his whip, everything is spot on. So far, so good, but then comes the difficulty... this must rank as one of the hardest games ever to be created! The first level sees Indy rescuing slave children, while using his whip to stun the attacking Thuggee guards. The cavern is huge, pitfalls lie everywhere, and the guards attack in swarms! I like a bit of a challenge, but this is ridiculous! By the way, the second level sees you riding a mine cart. Sounds great, but you’ll never see it!
See also: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
This game is based upon Atari’s Super Sprint and is a poor offering indeed. The game consists of racing endlessly (or so it seems) around one track. The computer-controlled car acts like it is drunk, moving in all directions, often blocking your progress. Simple graphics and only one sound effect make this a pointless addition to anyone’s collection. Apparently, the company responsible for this terrible game soon disappeared and never released another game... I wonder why?
Indoor Soccer
(Magnificent 7, 1986)
Play a ten-minute game of indoor football against either a friend or the computer. There are five players in each team, and if you’re playing against the computer, you can choose one of three skill levels. It’s really easy to beat the computer on the easiest level; you can just dribble the ball all the way to your opponent’s goal and walk into it without having to pass it to another member of your team! However, scoring goals is much more difficult on the other two levels, as your opponents move faster than you while you’re in possession of the ball, and the computer doesn’t seem to let you pass the ball when you want to. The graphics are laughably bad and very flickery, and the scrolling is jerky. The sound effects are also basic, but there are some jaunty tunes. This is a very poor game with a very unbalanced level of difficulty.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by: ChinnyVision.
Indoor Sports
(Advance Software Promotions, 1987)
Four indoor sports are included in this package – air hockey, darts, ping pong and ten-pin bowling. Air hockey is fun, even if I sometimes felt that scoring goals was more down to luck than skill. Ping pong is easy to play and it offers a wide variety of configuration options. The computer can even position your racket for you automatically – very handy on the more fast-paced modes. Ten-pin bowling is well executed with some good animation, although the graphics overall are rather basic. The only let-down is darts. Instead of guiding a wiggling hand around a dartboard, you move a dart left and right along the bottom of the screen and then select the firing angle of the dart and the amount of power to apply, which is a very awkward method. Air hockey and ping pong are both rarely simulated on the CPC, and having three decent games out of four makes this a pretty decent collection.
An evil alien called Zorglub is threatening the entire universe. He has devised a way to alter the very fabric of reality, thus wiping out all life. Several scientists devised a way to stop Zorglub before they themselves were taken prisoner. Your name is Buck Skygordon and you must visit each prison planet in your shuttle and free the scientists. The game is a flip-screen Thrust clone where you have to land your shuttle and make your way towards stranded scientists. They will ask you if they can enter your shuttle – but some may be cunning spies that will wreck it. Inertie boasts some lovely-looking visuals that spur you on, but the low-resolution graphics do cause problems. The lack of pixels on screen and narrow passages makes control of your shuttle frustratingly difficult. Perhaps this is the reason why you start the game with 21 lives.
Infernal House
(Lankhor, 1991)
- Knowledge of French is required in order to play this game properly.
It’s Friday the 13th of April, 1990. You’re a private detective, and your journalist friend Sophie disappeared three days ago while investigating the infernal house of Professor Tcherslawsky. You know from one of his colleagues, Rainer Gelehrtman, that he has worked on some diabolical experiments in the past, and fear the worst as you enter the house. But nothing can prepare you for the shocking and horrific fate that has befallen Sophie, and many other innocent people as well... This is a very nice French adventure which has some excellent graphics; the introduction sequence is very well done indeed and a welcome addition to the game. Although you can’t save your current position, there is little opportunity for dying, but the game is still quite a challenge, with several secret rooms and clues to be discovered around the house.
Infernal Runner
(Loriciels, 1985)
You are trapped in a labyrinth full of traps, and the only way to escape is by finding the five keys that will open the ten treasure chests scattered about the labyrinth. This is a simple yet delightful little platform game with a wide variety of devious traps to catch the player unawares. As well as avoiding the traps, you must also collect food regularly to avoid going hungry and therefore losing one of your five lives. Most of the traps can be negotiated with ease, although the first time you encounter a new one and are caught out, it merely increases the urge to try again. The graphics and music may be simple, but the game is really enjoyable, and it’s worth playing to witness what happens when the player is killed on certain traps!
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: Metr81, Xyphoe, ZEUSDAZ.
Infidel
(Infocom, 1986)
You’re an explorer in the Egyptian desert, hunting for a lost pyramid in a search for treasure – but your crew has deserted you and left you on your own. Can you find the pyramid and explore it before you die in the fierce heat? The plot of this text adventure game might be rather unoriginal, but as usual, Infocom turn it into something special, and in this game, there are lots of hieroglyphics to be deciphered, which will give you vital clues to solving the puzzles and traps that the Egyptians have left for treasure hunters! It’s a reasonably hard adventure, but the ending is a bit of an anti-climax and there are a few bugs.