Game Review: Ball Crazy (Commodore 64, Mastertronic)

Ball Crazy might not promise that much from its basic loading screen. In fact, the title screen is even more basic than it seems, using the Commodore system font for the text and displaying the keys to use as well as a little representation of Erik the ball, the protagonist of the game, in expanded sprite form.  It was a shame really that more did not go into that presentation as it may put some people off even before you stary playing.

Bouncy Bouncy

Erik the ball has a relatively simple task – that is to match the colour of the blocks below where he is bouncing to match the colour displayed at the top of the screen.  Bouncing directly on each block changes this colour, and rotates through a cycle of colours, whilst bouncing left and right to an adjacent block does not change the colour – and this is a key but important design element which does help the gameplay.  You can also stay down and not bounce by holding the joystick down, and fire will fire a bullet towards one of the chasers, who are the enemies in this game who either come straight down the screen or bounce around diagonally.  You need to avoid the Chasers at all costs, as colliding with one loses a life as Erik bursts with a suitable sound effect to mimic a balloon bursting slowly.

Jump Around

At the start of each level, Erik starts at the bottom of the screen with five blocks of varying colours.  The target colour is shown at the top of the screen, and there is a countdown which indicates when the next Chaser will appear on screen.  You do not get a Chaser straight away, so that countdown at the start of the level can prove useful to bounce across to another block and start changing the colour to match the target.  Once all five blocks are the correct colour, you go up one layer within the level and have a different target colour to aim for.  If you complete four layers of blocks, then that is the level complete, and Erik proceeds to the next one.  After every two levels you will get a bonus score based on the bonuses collected and how many Chasers you have eliminated.

Bouncing Bonuses

As well as the chasers, various bonuses come down the screen which can prove very useful indeed for Erik to collect.  The air tank gives you an extra life – and although you do start with ten lives, they can rapidly reduce if colliding with the Chasers.  There is the satellite, a sphere with a shield around it, and this can protect Erik from the Chasers when collected.  You also have the bullet canister which can display x5 or x10 on its side, and they will give you an extra number of bullets (5 or 10 depending on the canister) – and as you start with a limited number of bullets, this can prove to be useful.  The tick bonus is also handy too – it appears like a rotating tick, and this ensures that all blocks on the current layer are corrected, meaning straight to the next layer.  Finally, there is the five-pound note which gives you extra points.

Keep on Jumping

The key here is to know when to jump – and indeed, when not to jump.  You can duck under the Chasers’ path, especially on later levels where the layers are uneven, and the use of holding down for this is useful, not least as you can still fire a well-timed bullet at the Chaser too and give yourself some valuable time.  The other good feature is because of the left and right jumps not changing the colour of the blocks, you can jump across correctly coloured blocks without altering them and this means they stay as they are, which if you have them the right colour already, proves to be especially useful.  Some thought has gone into the playability here and it is appreciated, especially as the controls are responsive and help – you can shoot the chaser from very close range without losing a life, and the bouncing and staying down respond very quickly to you too, giving it that sense of being fully in control of Erik at all times.

Choc-a-Block

After each level the background graphics change, and the block arrangements can vary too – they are not always in a straight line either.  The number of Chasers on screen at any one time increases by one every couple of levels, so two from level three, three from level five and four from level seven.  This can occasionally mean a little slowdown on screen when you get to later levels, although this does affect all characters equally, and only gets really noticed more so when holding down to stay down.  There are eight levels in all and the difficulty curve because of this is nicely graded, and you will get further with each go once you have mastered the art of collecting the bonuses and knowing when to stay down.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Ball Crazy are all reasonable with some nice backgrounds that do not get in the way, the animated Chasers are simple but well drawn, and Erik bounces along well – and having the extra touch to show his shield when collected is really appreciated.   The blocks themselves are of course standard bas relief graphics, but serve their purpose well and you are in no doubt as to what colour the block is, or what colour you need to achieve.  The sound effects in game are reasonable with a nice little noise when Erik loses a life and a little “pssst” cartoon bubble appearing above.  There is only one piece of music and that is on the title screen, and it is a reasonable if yet a little short David Whittaker piece, certainly earning the King of the Jingles reputation there without a doubt.

Final Thoughts

Ball Crazy is perhaps a hidden little gem amongst the MAD releases – it does not always get the attention that it does deserve, primarily to there being no magazine reviews for it at the time.  It is a good little mix of puzzle, strategy and shooting to get the blocks to be the right colour, and added to that are spot on controls and a difficulty curve which is fair so that you can get further each time, but have more frenetic action especially on the last two levels as the Chasers really do up their game.  It is a different and intriguing game to play, and although the idea may seem simple, it is executed well and is difficult to put down once you get into it.  The lasting power may wane if you do manage to complete all eight levels, but you must get there first and it is well worth the reward of doing so.  Check it out.

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