
Finders Keepers, Amstrad, Mastertronic - IA0059
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7/10
Summary
Finders Keepers was new to me, but I found myself enjoying it a lot. Nice MODE 0 16 colour graphics, nice fast gameplay, pity about the music however. There is enough here to keep you occupied for a long time.
User Review
( votes)A New Game To Me
It’s rare that you come across an old CPC game that I’ve never played before, but Finders Keepers is one that joins those ranks, besides unreleased stuff. Of course I know of its reputation as part of the Magic Knight series of games, having played the others. The game was created by David Jones on the ZX Spectrum and ported to the CPC by Ed Hickman (coder of Speed King and Formula One Simulator) and I must say, a very good job was done too. Mr Jones would follow this up with Spellbound, Knight Tyme, and Stormbringer, all of which I have played before.
Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers
Oh, those words were the bane of my childhood – anyone seeing anything that wasn’t bolted down was fair game and upon protesting, I would be greeted with those words – even if the item “found” was in my own home. But that’s exactly what you have to do in this game. You control the Magic Knight who has been tasked by the King of isbisima to find presents for his daughter’s birthday (at the very last minute as said birthday is the following day).
You are transported to the Castle of Spriteland, a castle filled with creatures, most of which are weird, but wonderful, and some of them are the Queen’s relatives!
My First Impressions
Upon loading, you’re greeted with a page of text with a brief summary of the plot, and told you have two choices – to flee the castle or find treasure, then you’re told the controls and then the game starts, with you in the throne room, where you will be teleported into the castle.
The game looks like a Manic Miner/Jet Set Willy clone with items to get, precision jumps to make and lots of monsters to avoid but there are differences. There is also a musical track, which is a bit poor. Howver, the game is in the CPC’s MODE 0 16 colour mode which is great as it shows what the CPC can do when coded properly. The game take part in a small-ish window while there is a status panal to the right, which tells you how many lives you have left, how much energy, a room percentage score, overall cash you’ve earnt and how much cash in items you’re carrying. Each room also has it’s own name, some of which is a pun on folk or fairy tales.
It won’t be long until you find the EXIT which is being guarded by a giant cat and it won’t be easy to get past this.
A Game Of Trading?
As you go through the game, you will find what looks like bird seed from Chuckie Egg, but pressing E to examine will tell you what the item is. You can either leave the item or take it with you. At a few points in the game, you will find a trader who looks like you, from which you can either buy things from or sell items to them so you can raise your cash balance, which is a nice touch which could mean the difference between getting the right item and pleasing the King or going home with riches galore. The prices you get for items range from 16 pence for a small coconut to £255.99 for a pewter tankard and a 5meg hard drive (don’t laugh, back in 1986 you could expect to pay a small fortune for even that much hard drive space).
A-Mazing Adventures
At various points in the game, you will come across a maze which you navigate like it’s a top down game. You still have to avoid the monsters but at places, you will find a box which will teleport you to a different part of the castle. But if you thought one maze was bad enough to get lost in, there are two!
Looking at a map of the game, which you will need, it appears the maze takes up the vast chunk of the game map with the main rooms taking up less map.
Keeping Entertained
I will admit I’m not the biggest fan of Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy but I will say I enjoyed Finders Keepers a lot, the use of an energy bar helps keep things going without sudden death. Being able to trade items is a nice touch and it will take you a while to get through the game when you’re not used to it. The main down point is the need for precision jumping, unlike the other two games I’ve mentioned, you can’t go through blocks when jumping, so you will need to find the exact right place to jump from.
How Did I Do?
I didn’t do too bad – I ended up escaping from the castle with riches – you are greeted with a screen saying you have escaped the castle. I had a look at a few longplay videos to see what happened if you chose treasure instead of riches but it seemed the same ending.
Finders Keepers is a great addition to the Mastertronic catalogue – a nice mix of maze antics and platforming adventure and a lot to do and explore. Being able to trade items is good. I very much recommend you give this a go.
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