Game Review: Spore (Commodore 64, Bulldog)

Spore certainly caught the attention when you looked at the cover art – what looks like a series of atoms of colour fused together is a misnomer, and when you get to the back, the plot is made very clear.  In effect, there is a biohazard warning and explains that the experiment was a failure, and you need to contain the spores and hunt down the pesticide which will ultimately kill them.   These are stored in barrels throughout the building, and so this would help contain any localised outbreaks.  The barrels must all be collected in each of the sectors before you can progress to the next one, and avoiding the spores as you go.

Spores of Information

The instructions, as well as a very useful introductory screen before you commence play, lets you know what you will encounter on each of the sectors.  The spores themselves are glowing spheres and will target you at every opportunity, unless you can destroy them first.  These multiply via the generators, in dark red squares, and destroying these will help prevent the spores coming back.  There are walls you cannot move around, earth (light blue) which dissolves when you shoot at it or the spores touch it, the pale blue barrels which contain the pesticide, and all this needs to be collected for each sector.  The two most useful items are next – the flasks, which contain hyper gas and give you 100 extra energy units – but be warned, you can shoot them, so make sure you collect them.  The white rotating pills are also useful, collect those and use them wisely as you will see later.

In addition, you also must shoot your way to open the barriers, which are opened by shooting a square at either end of the barrier – which opens it up.  The mirrors can also reflect the barriers and can be shot to redirect that barrier and hopefully to your advantage – and you can trap the spores in these with some careful play.  If you run out of energy, then the spores have absorbed you and that is game over.    I have to say that the instructions are clear in both cases and really do add something to the overall presentation, so whilst initially it may look confusing, as you play and due to these it does become clear very quickly.

Running the Gauntlet

Once you start a level, your little character, indicated by a cross, flashes briefly to show you where you are, then the level starts.  You can move in eight directions, which is handy when some of the openings are reached by using the diagonals, and to shoot, you need to stop and then hold down fire, and press the direction you wish to shoot.  It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it works very well and means you can rotate your shots easily if you are surrounded by spores.  Notably, if you are above a wall and the spore is below, they cannot see you and charge towards you, although other spores in the line of sight can.  Knowing this can help considerably as you work out which way to go.

Rapid Repellent

Although needing to be used carefully, once you have collected a pill, this shows at the bottom middle of the status display, in between your energy and score.  Pressing the space bar utilises that pill, and this makes the spores stay as far away as they can from you for a limited period.  It is wise to use this to shoot as many of the red square generators as you can, and potentially head to a safer spot to shoot any spores that you need to.  Of course, you do not get so many of these, so it is sensible to use them wisely, and indeed, do not go out all guns blazing when near a flask either, as you will want to ensure your energy gets topped up as much as you can – this is not topped up between sectors either, and reduces by one every second or so too, so speed as well as accuracy is off the essence here.

Diagonal Dilemma

The second level at the start gets much easier when you work out a relatively safe spot once the blue earth has been eaten by the spores.  You can hide from them, destroy the small number of red generators, and work out a way to get to the middle and bottom of the screen.  The main issue that some of you will have, and it did take me some getting used to, is that the controls can sometimes be a little too sensitive, meaning that you will go two squares right or left, or to the diagonal, instead of one, thus not lining yourself up correctly to destroy the generators. With practice you can get this right, but may have been useful to adjust this a little in the opening title screen menu to tweak that sensitivity and improve the gameplay a little bit.

Experimental and Frenetic

Certainly, the pace of the game cannot be in question here – it is fast, and certainly frenetic once you have multiple spores coming at you, as you attempt to destroy the generators.  The very small graphics do mean that you can fit really good level layouts on to one level without having to scroll the screen, and as a design consequence this also means that due to user defined characters used throughout, the masses of spores that come certainly are plentiful to give you a sense of panic as you progress.  The layouts of each are well worked out so you can work out the path of least damage and ensuring you do not make a mistake when collecting the all important black flasks to top up your energy, and you can at least stop and pause for a little while during a level to work out your next move to get the barrels, whilst keeping as many spores enclosed as you can, meaning you avoid having to deal with them.  Remember, the pesticide when collected completes that sector.

Level Designer

Not only that – if you wish to generate your own levels, you can do so as a level designer is included in the game, with a help screen system detailing all the options available plus a handy guide as to which key does what.  Keys A to X for example will lay down the relevant block, whether this be a spore, generator and so on, at the square you are at, and you can also amend the starting position, clear the screen to start from blank, move around the existing screens and use one as a template, and plenty more besides.  I had a good little go with this and overall found it relatively easy to use, but may have been nice to have the bottom menu joystick operated rather than use a key and then space to cycle and select the options respectively.  Still, nice to have it here and does work well.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Spore are very small and all user defined, although animated reasonably well within that constraint.  The layouts are bright and colourful as much as they can be, and the fact that some of the collectables are colour coded does make them easier to spot, so you can see the flasks before collecting them and hopefully not shooting them in error.  There are some nice sound effects too and an excellent warbling sound when you are being hit by the spores and losing energy, as well as some shooting sounds.  The title theme by David Whittaker is reasonable enough, although can sound a little whiny at times too – so maybe one that you will not remember as one of his best ones.

Final Thoughts

Spore takes that basic theme of Gauntlet and makes it all miniature sized, fitting well on to a single screen and thus meaning that although small, it is well defined, easy to work out what you need to do backed up by some excellent instructions, and very playable. The control sensitivity may put people off, as will what seems quite a difficult game at first, but once you get into it and work out some very cunning strategies to ensure that you do not lose energy too quickly, and can collect the barrels of pesticide needed, then the rewards for getting further and encountering plenty of variety in the sectors are there for you to see, as well as a very good high score challenge too.  The level designer is well thought out too and allows you to make and then play your own screens too – or even a combination of both, and that does mean that for longevity, you can have different games each time by playing different designs.  It may not look that much to the eye, but once you start playing, Spore proves to be an addictive and challenging game that really makes you think as you play.

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