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

Storm had already been released on the three major 8-bit systems with the Amstrad CPC, then ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 following.  The same programmer, Jim Baguley, also undertook the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 conversion, which made sense, as a lot of the code would most likely be quite similar under the hood.

The story is this: the evil Una Cum (not the most appropriate name) is holding the warrior Storm’s wife Corrine prisoner in the laboratory lair.  Whilst Una Cum has left the castle to search for a box called The Fear (hence the sequel naming) Storm the warrior and his comrade, the wizard Agravain Undead, must pit their wits against the foul traps that Una Cum has left behind, and must reach the lair to free Corrine.  There are some helpful hints such as what you need to collect to get to the laboratory, namely three snake brooches.

Instructions – Load First

What differs here with this version is that to meet memory constraints, the instructions load first, which explain the plot and, in addition, the controls.  As with the other versions, the control is rotational, with the same controls as the Commodore 64 version – left and right rotates the characters 90 degrees, and up goes forward in that direction.  Fire will fire a bullet, and for each character there are additional controls: Storm can use down and fire to fire an amulet, whilst Agravain can use down and fire to use a scroll and just down to use a mask.  Having the instructions load first does then allow the main game to be as large as possible, with this version having forty screens compared to the one hundred of the other versions.

Mapping The Changes

As with the other versions, you do start in a central chamber.  Straight away you can collect a cabbala, which will release any traps on screen whether they be beneficial or not to you.  Here it does open the screen, and you will need to destroy the generators, Gauntlet style, to stop the minions spawning. If you exit down from here, you will see a locked door with the snake brooch symbol.  This is where you need to return to with the three brooches to unlock the door and locate Corrine.  Naturally to save memory, this version only has some of the scrolling messages – just the items, and not with descriptions of each room.  The generators are just one graphic instead of two, and the cabbala symbols are also one graphic as well – some work, some do not, and it is up to you to find the right one.

The top-down viewpoint does have its benefits in that you can see the detail of the screens easily enough.  What does not work as well, like the other versions, is the fact that the overhead view of the roof or ceiling that you walk under and can be sometimes confusing to work out which direction you are facing to go the right way.   There is one room that does need a particular key, and when you map the game out, you realise that this key is at the end of a very long route to get to, and to backtrack back.  That does make part of the game a little bit more linear.  In addition, some of the keys open rooms or doors that are not needed, and the key is wasted.  So, using the right key does become more important in this version, and learning that is key to get further.

Progression Pluses

The progression to the game does work out well overall.   Initially, you may be stuck at a location but then some of what appear to be obstacles or food items can be collected and that allows you to get past them.  This is important in certain screens, particularly one where there is one of the  snake brooches, that one of the blue graphics that looks like a rock is a collectable and allows you to get past said obstacle and locate the brooch.

The respawning of the generators can sometimes make some screens an annoyance to get past and clear, but once you work out a quick route in and out of some of the screens, that does help. The forty screens that are in this map are laid out the same as the Commodore 64 version in terms of the generator locations and so on, with the minor differences being some of the keys and the snake brooches are laid within those screens to ensure that the game can be completed.  I found because I had played that version first, I had a better idea of what was to come and could plan the escape route accordingly as needed.  That did help enormously.

Rotational Roundhouse

Once again, the rotational controls will be one you either will get on with, or you will not.  The controls do work well here and the response is just as smooth as the Commodore 64 version overall, so if you do persevere, you can get far.  In fact, I have completed this version and managed to rescue Corrine once I worked out a suitable route to take and when to escape quickly from certain screens.  A choice of straightforward controls instead of rotational may have been more beneficial to have, even if you had to select those during the instruction screens to lock them in.  The fact that the two-player mode is also still intact and plays the same is also good to see.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Storm are a mixed bag – they are very chunky in the main, but there is a reasonable use of colour throughout.  The walls are at least well defined but the top-down view with backgrounds that obstruct your view do not really work, and obscure the view too much.  The characters are defined well enough even if there are no frames of animation as they rotate.  Sound is limited to several spot effects, with any pick up that you get along the way having the same sound effect throughout.

Final Thoughts

Although in the main Storm is of course heavily inspired by the arcade game Gauntlet, the additional arcade adventure elements such as collecting the brooches to complete the game and the addition of special objects helps along the way.  Although cut down in size from the other versions, the forty screens presented here do offer a reasonable challenge, and although the rotational controls will either delight or frustrate, in terms of a conversion, it is a good effort all round with the playability and core elements of the game retained.  Granted it may be easy to complete ultimately, but you will have fun getting there, and plenty of care and attention has been paid here too.

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