Dizasterblaster, Commodore 16 and Plus/4, Americana
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Score - 7/107/10
Summary
Dizasterblaster is a pure and simple arcade shooter and unlike the Commodore 64 version, there is no such thing as fuel or overheating lasers to worry about. You simply must survive each level for a set period to move on to the next one. It makes for a frenetic and fast paced shooter which is very playable and has that one more go factor in abundance. Yet another great Shaun Southern game for the system.
User Review
( votes)Unlike the Commodore 64 version of Dizasterblaster, which had previously been released by Mr Chip as Ad Infinitum before then getting a music makeover on its re-release, for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 systems, this game would prove to be one of the two original games released on the Americana label, the other being Robo Knight. Unfortunately, whoever did the cassette inlays just printed out the instructions for the Commodore 64 version and did not consider the gameplay in this version, such as no docking with a mothership or watching the laser temperature and fuel.
Let’s Have a Blast
The title screen of Dizasterblaster some nice and bright colour cycling, showing off the high score table and lots of colourful squares around the outer border of the screen, complete with masses of colour too. There is also a tune that resembles the Commodore 64 version as well, which is nice. What is undocumented but worth knowing is that you can press up and down on the joystick to start at the last level you reached – so if you got to level 9 on your first go, you can press up to go to level 9 as your start level. You do have to press keys 3 and 4 together to start, which can be a little awkward, but you do get a couple of seconds afterwards before the game starts properly, so at least you have time to get back into position to play.
Time To Survive
Each level you play has a timer that counts down from 999 to zero. Once the timer reaches zero, you get a lovely screen wipe effect with some squares to fade out the level and then fade in to reveal the next level. Surviving that time is a different matter altogether, with the aliens moving in different ways and firing in different directions. Perhaps the most awkward are ones that fire diagonally, as this can often be a bullet that you will run into without realising and that is one of your lives lost. Some of the aliens can move in different directions as they come down, switching from vertical to a diagonal move or sweeping across, so plenty for you to keep your eyes on.
Brucie Bonuses
As you manage to shoot the aliens, with a piece of music in-game adding to the frenetic feel (which you can turn off with the Shift Lock key) the explosion sound effects are nice, and the score ramps up if you are able to shoot correctly. If you do reach 1,000 points, you will be granted an extra life, and for every 1,000 points thereafter. This does make for a good incentive with risk and reward, as shooting more results in the score ramping up and having that extra life for some of the levels is the difference between making it through the timer to complete the level or losing that final life and you ending your game.
The speed of the game is just the right level to make it challenging and fair, and the responsive controls also add to the playability too. If you do happen to move left or right and hit a diagonal bullet, that is because you ran into it, not because the game is unfair. Although not being able to move up or down, particularly on some levels where the aliens move in all four directions to hit you, there is plenty of space for you to respond and to avoid or shoot as you need. When you also consider that you can just aim to survive the timer countdown if you need, and you have genuinely all the ingredients to put some strategy in as well as the risk and reward.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in Dizasterblaster are colourful on the title screen, and reasonably well defined in the game itself, with a starfield background and with clear enemies and bullets as they move towards you, mainly with single or 2×1 characters. The diagonal movements of enemies and bullets are also smooth too. The title screen tune is a very nice rendition of the Commodore 64 version, and the in-game soundtrack just adds to the frenetic feel with some good sound effects to back that up, with some meaty explosion effects especially when you lose a life too. You do get a sound effect for the extra life too, so it is clear when you have reached that total.
Final Thoughts
Dizasterblaster on the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 is better than the Commodore 64 version. This is because the aim of the game is purely on blasting but also surviving the time limit on each level to get to the next one, and the fast-paced frenetic feel of the game certainly gives you not only a high score challenge to aim at, but different strategies to employ to be able to complete each level successfully. You cannot stay still and fire, and there are plenty of different enemy patterns to keep you on your toes. The option to continue from the level you last reached is also a welcome feature. The responsive controls make the game’s playability shine, and if you do lose a life, it is your fault for running into an alien bullet, especially the pesky diagonal fired ones. It has great replay value and proves once again why Shaun Southern was such a trusted name on this system.
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I’m surprised they kept the same names for the games (both the original and Americana re-releases) as they’re pretty much completely different shooters when you look at them. Whether Mr Chip thought that using the same name as a marketing tool would help sell the gane originally, tempting C16 owners who didn’t have a C64, showing that they could get the “same” game as C64 owners.
Think they would have been better off treating them as two separate games instead – this as a straightforward shooter, and the C64 version as the Astro Blaster homage.