Game Review: Motos (Commodore 64, Mastertronic / MAD)

Motos was of three arcade game licences which were picked up by Mastertronic for conversion to the home systems, the others being Bosconian 87 and Gaplus. Only Motos was released on the MAD label and the higher price point, which by this time had catalogue numbers as part of the main 310 range. Of interest is that most copies of the Commodore 64 version have the yellow background on the side spine for the catalogue number, more associated with the ZX Spectrum, despite it clearly being the Commodore catalogue number (IC 0195) and the rest being all red. Odd, but worth spotting if you source a copy yourself.

The game loads speedily enough, and there is also the loading game Load ‘n’ Play to have a go of whilst the game loads, complete with the Rob Hubbard title theme from Phantoms of the Asteroid. The title tune soon plays, which is a faithful recreation of the arcade original’s attract music and a nice effort from Jason C. Brooke all round. In fact, a number of the tunes from the arcade game have been converted, which is a good touch and shows that care and consideration have been taken into. So, what is Motos, I hear you ask?

Motoring On

Motos is the name given to your bumper car, and the main character in the game. You need to bump off all the enemies off each level by running into them, which causes each enemy to move back. Of course, they can also bump you as well, so care and attention need to be paid. The instructions refer to them as Space Bees (and some of them do look like bees) as well as The Bad Guys and also Space Nasties, but either way they are all enemies. There are also two diamond shaped objects that appear on certain levels: the beacon, which if you can bump off the level gives you a bonus, and the navicon, which spits out more space bees for you to remove. The premise sounds simple enough initially, so how does it play?

One point to note is unlike the arcade original, where your bonus parts show on the bottom of the screen ready to use later on, on this version they are part of the display on the right-hand side which also shows your score and number of lives left. This most likely to try and keep the more vertical feel that the arcade cabinet would have had for the main display. However, why the programmers here did not use the same Namco font as what the excellent ZX Spectrum conversion does, I am not sure. They could have asked Shaun Southern for his for the Commodore 64, as he used a very similar font in Hero of the Golden Talisman and Kikstart.

Bumper Cars

The first couple of levels get you into the action easily enough. For the first, just knock off the two red coloured blob enemies without you being knocked off, and that is the level complete. On the second level, there is now a larger spiked enemy which does take some more pushing. You will also note the first appearance of the beacons. You can actually push the other enemies into the beacons too so you can push both off and get the score for them at the same time, which can be a neat move to do. The third level then introduces the first navicon, where a number of the red blobs spawn from that over time and you need to take them and the blue ones out to the edge.

Here there is also the power ups, and in this case indicates by a capsule with the P icon. In the arcade and the instructions, these are the power parts, but here in this version they are called pills. Similarly, when you pick up the arrow pointing up icon that should be the jump parts, it is called wings instead. The icons that denote these in the status display seem a little messy amongst the attempt at some bas relief graphics in the status panel: why they did not do what the arcade and ZX Spectrum version did? Both of those are much clearer and also show the lives left correctly, on this version the jump parts (aka wings) and the number of lives share the same part of the display.

Flying With Wings

The fourth level introduces the option to use the power ups you have collected, so using the power parts means that Motos has more power, giving a stronger push to enemies, and that can be very handy. You can pick up the jump parts on this level too, which means they can also be selected at the start of the next level. Selecting the parts is a bit odd though, you have to press down to select a part for the power parts (pills) and then press fire, do the same down movement for jump parts (wings) and then press fire to go on. In the arcade version, it is indicated by left and right, and up on the ZX Spectrum which also works fine.

The jump parts (wings) give you the option to jump over any gaps in the level. It also means when you land you break any tiles, first by smashing them and they show cracks, and second time they disappear. The disappearing tiles when using the jump parts can prove to be a handy trap for the enemies, especially the Space Bees which buzz around all over the place, but also of course does mean it is a trap for you as well. So do be careful out there.

If you also do take too long on a level, there is also a little nasty surprise in store – although this can also help you. The shooting star will fire at the level, and normally towards Motos. You can avoid this if you keep moving, and then whatever block remains on where the star hits is taken away, leaving a hole for the enemies (and you of course) to fall into. It can work either way, but can be handy if one pesky final space bee can get in the way of you completing the level and some extra holes are required for it to fall down. Nice.

Motormouth

As you progress through the levels, different types of enemies appear, and some are more like homing missiles that do a fast sprint towards you, then stay and plan their next move. There are also some larger enemies to push off, which can be tricky to do but do gain you a considerable number of bonus points. Time will often be against you later on and that does mean a quicker appearance of the shooting stars, so the action does get much more frenetic as you progress. You can get further each go, and the playability that was present in the arcade original is certainly the case here, which is good to see. There can be the odd slowdown when a lot of action is happening on screen, especially where the levels have navicons spawning more enemies.

The joystick controls are also responsive, and you can move in all eight directions, handy for when doing a circle around an enemy to be ready to push them off, as well as the use of fire for the jump when you have it. That does have an accurate mechanism and does mean that you are able to plan your route to break the tiles as you need. The collision with the holes and edges could have maybe been a little more generous – the moment any part of the ship touches the edge, it goes off, so do bear that in mind and plan your pushes carefully.

The arcade version has sixty-two levels in all, but on this conversion, there only appears to have been twenty-eight crammed in. If you do complete them, it is back to level one – and you do not get the final level and game completion sequence that the arcade had. The ZX Spectrum version had all sixty-two levels featured, so why was this not the case here? You would feel short changed had you managed to battle through those levels and found you had half of them missing. It is a real shame, because what is here is playable and does work well.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Motos are bright and colourful as they are in the arcade, with sprites being used for Motos and the enemies. These are reasonably well drawn and clear to the eye, although the score display on the right is a bit cluttered. Why the likes of the display from the Spectrum version was not used, where the indicators are clear and obvious and also is a lot neater, I am not sure, but the confusion around the lives and jump parts taking the same bit of the screen can make it seem not as functional.  The soundtrack by Jason C. Brooke matches the arcade version, and that does add to the authenticity nicely, with a genuine feel and good use of instruments throughout. The sound effects can be weedy but at least they are there and serve their function well.

Final Thoughts

On the surface, Motos does seem like a good enough conversion of the Namco arcade game. The mechanics and enemies are all there, and the joystick responsiveness and tight controls mean that you can pick up and play the game quickly enough. The difficulty curve is about right, and with new features being gradually introduced, you can work out what you need to do, what power ups for the power parts and the jump parts that you will require, and a method to destroy the enemies and progress. However, the deeper you go into the game, the more you find that this lacks behind the ZX Spectrum version in both features and accuracy. Having the jump and power parts named incorrectly is a little bit slapdash, but then having half the levels missing and not being able to play the full game means that it feels like it was maybe rushed for release. And that is a shame, because what is there does work well: the graphics and music are more than adequate and the game does play accurately. But it is the attention to detail which could have been put in which means that it is a case of so near and yet so far.

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