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

After the original Commodore 64 version of Squirm sold well, it made sense for Tony Kelly to program a conversion for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4, especially as early games for the system had sold well and were also well received. Like the Commodore 64 version, the Squirm is the queen of the Squirms, with the other squirms being her workers.  The queen leaves behind eggs which you will need to collect, whilst avoiding contact with the queen and the other worker squirms along the way.  You need to pick up a few less eggs per level in this version – 200 as opposed to 255, to complete each level.  The instructions say it is 250, but this is an error.

Instruction Omissions

In fact, there are several features mentioned in the game itself, along with one undocumented feature, that is missing from the game instructions.  That is a real shame as it means that unless you happen to find some of them by accident, or for example if you check the title screen carefully, you will not know – and one of them enhances the gameplay considerably.  It is a shame that there was not more attention paid here, as first-time players may not enjoy the game as much without the full set of controls.

Twin Speed Squirm

Apart from moving your character in the four directions, you can also press the fire button down for a second speed, whizzing around the maze.  This is the undocumented feature that is the most useful as it means that you can outsprint the enemy squirms if you are in a tight spot, and can also accelerate to locate the eggs (which on this version look more like eggs) and another extra feature on this version, the glow worms.  It can affect your turning, so of course use wisely, but having that and being able to use it really gives the game that extra level of playability.

When the level starts, you hear a background sound effect that repeats, getting progressively faster each time.  Once this reaches a certain speed the lights go out on the level, meaning that the walls of the maze are black and so you cannot see them.  Locating the glow worm and eating it means that the lights come back on and the background sound effect resets to a slow speed.  On most levels getting the glow worm once should be enough to prevent the level going dark, but you can effectively keep eating the glow worm for extra points each time.  There is also another reason to do this – the glow worm also eats the eggs that the Queen Squirm leaves.

Follow The Trail

As the Queen Squirm constantly moves and lays her eggs, you can potentially follow around if the area is open enough to do without the guard squirms coming up to get you.  Many of the levels have mazes with a good number of directions to take, so you can follow around.  On some levels there are some dead ends where the Queen can lay eggs, but you do not want to follow down, as on the way back – contact made, and a loss of life, and the level is reset back to the start, meaning 200 eggs to collect once again.

Bonus Run Enhanced

Once you have collected the 200 eggs to complete the level, with the score display indicating how many you need to get, then it is then time for the bonus run.  You have a limited amount of time to wander through the maze and you can eat the squirms to increase your bonus considerably.  This version also has the title theme playing fast at first then slowing down as the bonus time remaining is reduced, and great splashes of colour as you try to eat the squirms and collect a considerable bonus during this run.  And at the end of that run, any coloured squares on screen give you an extra point each as the screen is cleared with those bonuses earned, a nice little extra touch.

Levelling Up

You will also note on the title screen that you can press the U key which takes you up to the next level, and B will take you back a level.  This may be handy if you wish to bypass a level where the maze is a little trickier, but also if you did well on a previous level you can repeat it again if you wish.  For each level you complete, you do get a bonus life up to a maximum of four lives, so with some good gameplay you can at least replenish your lives when you complete levels, which adds considerably to the playability.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Squirm are functional and nothing more than that – some simple user defined graphics for the Queen Squirm and her workers, blocks detailing the maze and a clear background making it easy to see where you are going.  The lights out of the background is a neat well executed touch. The sound effect in the level is mainly the speed of the light before it goes out when too fast, with effects for collecting eggs, and a neat re-use of the title theme for the bonus run, with masses of colour using the palette of the system well, giving it that extra polish.

Final Thoughts

Squirm on the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 may not be the most advanced in terms of graphics and sound, but takes the Commodore 64 version and enhances it with some great additional features.  Being able to move at two speeds and to out run the enemy Squirms works well, and collecting the glow worms to keep the lights on also gives it a more frenetic feel.  The playability is there in abundance along with the great splashes of colour during the bonus run to make the game more enjoyable, and it is an early sign that both Mastertronic and the game’s author, Tony Kelly, were to be trusted when it came to games for the system.

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