Game Review: Terminus (MSX, Mastertronic / MAD)

Terminus was one of the first releases where the MAD label just indicated the higher price point of £2.99 but was part of the main 310 range, hence the catalogue number of IX 0140. For the MSX, this was one of a small number of releases where Mastertronic decided to go red text on black to define MSX, rather than black text on white – which they reverted to later on. The game itself was converted from the ZX Spectrum original by Simon Freeman, who had also converted the game to the Amstrad CPC as well as other MSX conversions for Mastertronic, including Storm and Molecule Man.

Terminal Velocity

The plot of the game is that it is 5027 AD, and there is a notorious gang of teenage villains, known as the Wanglers. They have been creating havoc until their leader, Brains, has been captured, and The System has done their work and placed Brains on Terminus, the prison planet (hence the game’s name.) The System proclaims that no one will ever be able to wangle their way out of school ever again. Of course, as you control the Wanglers, you need to use the skills of the four different Wanglers to work your way through Terminus, and locate and free Brains. These are as follows, with the colours on the MSX version to help denote each character:

• MOBOD (yellow) and XANN (red) can both move by flying and thrusting. MOBOD has unlimited thrust use, whereas XANN’s is limited, so if XANN’s thrust level falls, gravity takes its course and lands on the ground. Once recharged, you can then take-off again.
• MAGNO (green) is described as an expert cat burglar and hangs from ceilings a lot. Handy for getting him past most traps, as long as there is a ceiling to cling to, of course. The thrust energy is used here for clinging upwards, and that reduces and can be recharged by standing still.
• SPEX (blue) bounces around and steers in the air and is controlled by increasing or decreasing his bounce height and clinging to walls (with good timing or you will fall)

All four characters can also fire lasers, which of course comes in very handy when dealing with the guards dotted around. The instructions are useful and give you some helpful hints, and note that you can only see part of the planet at once, which is made up of 16 screens wide by 32 screens high, totalling 512 screens in all. That of course does represent quite a large challenge to get into.

Teleporting Termini

At the start of the game, you can select each of the four characters, but you can only control one at a time. If you wish to change characters you need to locate a teleport point, so you can teleport back, or if the character loses all their energy and dies, you will be taken back to the teleport screen to choose another character. It is worth noting that as each character has a different characteristic, the plan would be to use them in the right moments, and get them to a teleport point and enter that where another character can take over and utilise their skills. When you do select a character, you can press up to go to the last point you teleported from, rather than use fire to go to the initial point, which may prove to be very useful when you roam around the planet.

The characters’ different strengths can be put to good use to avoid ground obstacles such as fire and enemies who may roam. For MAGNO as an example, pressing up will head to a ceiling, and you can walk along. Pressing down at any time drops – which can be handy to get some thrust recharged for the next ceiling walk especially to get past the red lava pools which are frequent and will drain your energy. There are also some screens which feature a computer activator and the character must stand on the platform. This will then toggle the direction in which a lock will open for you, and you can leave when that position is selected.  Also, once you reach this terminal, it also acts as a teleport point that another character can head to, when you select and press up, so well worth noting.

Bouncing Spex

Out of all the characters, SPEX is by far the hardest to control. SPEX bounces around and although you can slow the height of the bounce by pressing down until it stops, and then gradually work your way around and bounce to the right location. The ability to sort of cling on to walls can work in your favour, but you need to be precise with pressing up when clinging or else it is a fall to the ground. Also, you cannot turn whilst bouncing unless at the top of the bounce, an option to control the character at any point during the bounce may have made the controls a little easier for some to get into. As a result, you would probably only use the character when all the other three have had their energy exhausted and are no longer available for use.

Some of the ingenious traps around the planet include a set of white spikes which are in the ceiling, and so the perfect hazard for MAGNO to walk into. If you do, then this sets off a compressor in the room to fill the room with water, and unless you can get out very quickly, it is instant filling of the screen and death to that character, so you definitely need to have your wits about you in order to avoid that. A number of the large stationary guards are also ones where you will lose energy if you run into them, so do avoid them when you can to preserve what you have.

Challenge of the Planet

No doubt that the 512 screens do present a large and sizeable challenge. However, although you can explore a good number of screens early on, opening up locks via the computer terminals to get a bit further along, it can feel a little samey when exploring. This is despite the attention to detail to get masses of colour into the game and give you a pleasing on the eye experience, and indeed despite the well-drawn screen layouts and the maze as a whole as you explore. Some may be daunted by the fact that it can take some time to feel a sense of progression, which may put them off. I did have a good explore overall and was able to use MOBOD as well as XANN to progress reasonably far, but mileage will vary between players.

One other thing to note that although the joystick controls are all good and very responsive, having a non-standard keyboard layout, derived from the original version, does not bode as well. It would have been nice to have the option to use the MSX’s cursor keys for directions and space for fire, rather than Q, A, N and M and space which are in use – and may have helped those without a joystick enjoy the game more. Even a redefine keys option to give you the choice would have been welcomed in order to give you some nice freedom, maybe swapping N and M for O and P for a more classic layout should you wish to do so.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Terminus are very bright and colourful indeed, very similar to the ZX Spectrum original. Hardware sprites have been used on the MSX version too, so there is no colour clash when you run into enemies or stationary backgrounds with enemies either – which is nice to see.  The way some of the enemies’ eyes roam towards you as if they were their own CCTV screens is a nicely animated touch and that has been retained here, which is good to see. The loading screen not being present though is a real shame. There is little in the way of sound either, just the odd sound effects for the firing of the laser, at screens with computers where you unlock a direction of travel, as well as a teleporting sound, and that is all. There would have been some room to add some music and that would have been a very welcome addition to stand it out above the other versions.

Final Thoughts

Terminus is a classic case of so near and yet so far. As a conversion from the ZX Spectrum original, it is faithful, with masses of colour and four unique characters who at least are individual enough to hold your interest. However, it is the sheer size of the planet with its 512 screens, and a sinking feeling of often getting not as far as you would like, which may end up making some players bored rather than occupied with the task in hand. It is good to get to a point to teleport to, and that shows some progress, but it would have been better had there been some more variety. With one character being pretty useless, you would end up with that one as a last resort and then just promptly give up because of the poor control method used. Small tweaks to the gameplay to improve the experience may have made it better, and on the whole, it is at least a conversion that does utilise the MSX’s hardware sprites, but an option for cursor key controls would have been welcomed. If you like a good large exploration arcade adventure, this may suit the bill well, but mileage will definitely vary.

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