Game Review: Megabolts (Commodore 16 and Plus/4, Mastertronic)

Megabolts is a Mr Chip Software game, but unlike most of their releases, not programmed by Shaun Southern or Tony Kelly, but Stuart Cross, with Simon Cross being credited for the game design.  In this game, there is an eight-by-eight grid of screens (sixty-four in all) and on each of the screens, you will need to dispose of the invading megabolts.  There are two ways to dispose of them (not that the instructions tell you how!) as well as them dropping timebombs, which will go off after a time unless you run over them to diffuse that threat.  Orange objects top up fuel, which are handy to get, and there are also yellow spinners to avoid.

One thing to note: there are two different turbo loaders used depending on which cassette you have.  One is the standard Novaload, but this does print some characters on screen during loading – this is to effectively use it as storage for the game later.  It is not the only game to do this, but something to be aware of in that it is normal during loading – and you do not have a duff cassette.  The second turbo has mainly green flashing borders on and is not Novaload, which does not show that behaviour.

Bolt-Ons

A simple title screen with the game’s name as Megabolt (the S appears to have gone missing) and shows the high score table on there too. Pressing any key on the keyboard starts the game with keyboard control, and fire for joystick.  You may end up pressing a key by mistake for keyboard controls – maybe a set key to start with keys would have worked better.  You start off in grid location A1 (the top left) with the bottom right being H8.  At the top of the screen, it shows an alert where the megabolts remain active, which becomes more useful as you progress through the game so you know which screens are left to clear.  You also have the number of megabolts left to destroy on the screen you are on, the lives, and the score and high score – all neatly laid out.

Destroy Him, My Megabolts!

As you start each screen you will notice the yellow spinner whizzing around the screen. Keep well away from this, as any contact is a loss of your six lives that you start with.  The orange objects are extra fuel for the fuel gauge (displayed at the bottom of the screen) which tops it up nicely, and the occasional grey blob is a timebomb, which starts the clock at 9 and goes down to 0.  Run over the bomb to defuse it, and that keeps you alive nicely.  You cannot destroy the megabolt when its front is facing you – however you can destroy it by shooting it from behind which is very handy.

The screen starts with a maze type backdrop and differs from screen to screen – one even has Mr Chip in lettering with a suitable logo.  Any of the blocks that form the maze can be pushed by holding down fire and the direction you can move it in, and pushing a block into a megabolt also kills it – useful to know as you can trap the megabolt in blocks as a simple effective kill later, allowing you to concentrate on the remainder.  Too much pushing of blocks may mean that the yellow spinner can locate you quicker though, so careful and sensible judgement is the way forward.

Usain Bolt

You do have the freedom to move around the 64-screen grid, going from screen to screen at any time, by using the exits at the edge of the screen. It is sensible design not to have you stuck on a screen where you cannot move until you destroy all the megabolts – so you can work out a sensible way around if you wish to.  You may find a screen to be easier entered from a different direction, or you are finding that screen one to come back to later when you feel more confident, but either way, a simple tweak here makes the game already much more enjoyable to play with that freedom, so well worth noting here.

After the Horse Has Bolted

Megabolts themselves score 100 points, timebombs score on how fast you defuse them, and the bonuses for destroying a screen of all megabolts helps accumulate the score – with a bonus life every 4,000 points.  If you do lose a life, the screen also resets back to as it was when you entered, which can be handy if you pushed a lot of blocks around and want to have them back in position for a final kill if needed, or as a sensible reset.  Again, a simple design consideration but one that I do think works best here.

Lightning Bolt

The fast speed of movement is good, although you can overshoot an exit on occasion. The fast pace is certainly frenetic when you initially have several megabolts to destroy, and more so when the yellow spinner is heading towards you, and you need to find a good way of escaping.  You can easily spot the pointed part of the two-character megabolt as its front, so avoiding hitting the front and either shooting the back or running a block into them becomes second nature once you get the hang of things, which you will.

If you do happen to complete all sixty-four screens (no mean feat in itself) then you start them again, only with a slightly increased level of difficulty.  In fact, as discovered by Plus/4 World, you must complete those screens thirty-two times (meaning 2,048 screens in all) before you see the true game complete ending.  Now that is a sizeable challenge!

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Megabolts are simple but effective, with the megabolts nicely defined over two characters and move sensibly, and the other smaller objects and spinners are overall reasonable and animated fine.  The sound during the game comprises of lots of loud noise and explosions, and a real barrage when you start each life too.  It also has a title tune which is simple but effective, and whilst not the best tune ever it does at least give you that sense of speed and frenetic action before you get into the game itself, so nicely done overall.

Final Thoughts

Megabolts may look a straightforward game, but sixty-four screens to complete along with the different layouts, dodging the spinner and learning how to destroy the megabolts efficiently proves a worthwhile and fun task over time. Whilst the graphics and sound may not amaze you, the gameplay is solid and well done, with some nice touches such as allowing the freedom to move screens and the reset of the screen layout on a loss of life being helpful to prolong the lastability.  A solid, playable, and fun release.

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