IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL
BOX 3435
Longwood, Fla. 32750
One of the first software companies to support the ATARI, Adventure International has an assorted array of programs, all in the game field. I have yet to see anything worthless put out by Al; I have played all of their offerings and found them bug-free and entertaining.
"Mountain Shoot" by Jeff Jesse and "STARTREK 3.5" by Lance Micklus (adapted for the ATARI by Dave Simmons) were reviewed last issue, and as you know, both evaluated as being well done and making use of the ATARI's graphics and capabilities. "STARTREK 3.5 " was rated the best of the four other Star Trek games we compared it against.
"Angle Worms" is a two player game on the order of the 'surround' or 'blocked' type games, where you have to stay alive while trying to trap your opponent with a 'wall' that is produced from the tail end of your moving 'worm'. The game has some additional features as well. The playfield contains barriers randomly placed at the game's onset that you must negotiate. You also have the ability to shoot away your tail if it gets in your way - but you have a limit on how many times you can do this. On the same cassette or disk is "Crolon Diversion", a space game where you control a vertically moving ship that must intercept 'Crolon' fighters. Your ship moves slowly, up, then reaching the top of the screen, down, then up again, all at a set speed. You control the horizontal direction of the ship, and hit the joystick button when you are just about to come in contact with an enemy ship. This is an elementary game, but I found it very addictive indeed! Both "Angle Worms" and "Crolon Diversion" come as a package for $9.95.
"Deflection" is an easy game to learn, but difficult in which to become proficient. You have a moving ball (a Control T graphics character) that you maneuver about the screen using only the slash (/) key. You must intercept targets in the fewest possible 'bounces'. The sound effects and ability to remember high scores make this an interesting game to play. This retails for $9.95 also.
"Sunday Golf" by Jerry White may be the next best thing to the sport itself! You must negotiate randomly set up courses and choose from any one of three clubs: several irons and woods, and a putting iron. You input through the keyboard the direction you want the ball to go. This will never be precise all the time as 'wind' and varying surfaces will affect the ball's course accordingly. When you get on the green, the screen goes to a close-up side view of the putting green with contours and flag. This is a multiplayer game and the best version of golf I have seen yet for home use. This lists for $9.95.
And of course, due for release are ALL the Scott Adams adventures, adapted for the ATARI. While most are simpler in terms of complexity than other adventure games, they have the reputation of being very tough to 'crack'. These should be as popular for the ATARI as they are the Apple and TRS-80. Other games are in the works and Adventure International intends to keep up their support for the ATARI as they have thus far.
This column is intended to single out those companies whose products we feet are worthy of being run on the ATARI computers. They must be error-free, make use of the ATARI's graphics and sound capabilities, and have value as either good entertainment or personal usefulness. 'In The Spotlight' is not an advertisement nor are its contents affected in any way by the companies mentioned within. -The Editors
Coming in Issue #3