Game Review: Storm (MSX, Mastertronic)

After the initial release of Storm on the Amstrad CPC, together with its subsequent ZX Spectrum conversion, the MSX version was the next to be released. It made sense to do so based on the fact that most of the code base would be similar, and the best of both worlds could be taken – including for example some music. It is worth a mention that this game was meant to be Part 1: Una Cum’s Lair. If you are wondering what happened to Part 2, then that was only released on the Amstrad CPC called Storm II: The Fear and released on the MAD label.

As per the other versions, a recap of 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, 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. And if the likes of armour, food, and potions all sounds familiar, you will soon realise that in the most part, this will be a budget Gauntlet clone, with a couple of twists later.

Wide Angle

There is no loading screen, but when the game does load, you are presented with a title screen and some music, together with the text being considerably large, which mimics the Amstrad version. It only mentions the game as 1: Una’s Lair along with the original programmers and Simon Freeman who did the MSX conversion. The other graphics on the title screen are what you will encounter in the game, including the characters Storm and Agravain Undead at the bottom. You can press 1 or 2 for the number of players, and are asked, every time you play, for the instructions Y or N.   Maybe having I for instructions on the front page may have been a better option here.

The instructions detail the same plot as the other versions, but what it does do is tell you what keys are used – not the best layout – along with the keys to do extra functions. In one player mode, as with the other versions, you actually play as Agravain Undead. The keys are not redefinable either, which would have been a nice option to have. The instructions do not mention joystick control, but I found this worked fine and at least allowed you to move and rotate quickly as and when you needed.

Rotation Motivation

The rotational controls do take some getting used to. The key is to try and rotate quickly so you can move forward, and then avoid the objects and enemies which drain the most energy from you. A choice of control methods would have worked well, so having a standard option would have been a nice to have, and this maybe would have been more appealing. The controls are responsive enough, but you do feel as if you would rather intuitively turn the way you are facing instead of round then forward.  At least your character is well defined enough that you actually know which way is forward most of the time, which is something.

Run the Gauntlet

As with the other versions, you start in a central chamber. You can collect a cabbala, which will release any traps on screen, and these are sometimes also represented by an E with a square box – sometimes they work out in your favour, but not always. 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. You will also note as you enter each screen there is a scrolling message at the top describing the room, and even with the chunky text font used, you can at least see that. Do note that one of the messages, when you collect the food, the best I’ve ever tasted is spelt with two Vs in ever.

Because of the top-down viewpoint, the walls are relatively easy to spot – but on the other side of that, what looks like some form of roof or ceiling where you character walks through makes the character and any background that you cannot get past, hard to see. The colour scheme in use does not help here as often you can be hidden from view, with only a potential fire of your weapon being a clue as to what you face.  There are two types of generators that can be destroyed, along with food to collect, and the cabbalas, although often releasing a trap on the same screen, can sometimes unlock something a screen or two away without you realising it. There is also one room that requires a special key so finding that is important. Normal keys appear as a different object, normally white in colour and so relatively easy to distinguish.

Mappers’ Delight

No doubt that making a map of the game will help considerably here, as you may need to retrace your steps back and forth on the first few attempts to go the correct way. The generators do respawn too the next time that you enter a room, so that does make the game more difficult. Also, unlike say the Commodore 64 version, the further you get into the game and screen, the spawning rate of the enemies increases considerably, meaning that unless you move very fast, you are often facing hordes of enemies. That does look impressive enough to see on screen, but can become a little unfair and means that speed really is of the essence, taking advantage of any routes, you can which you may have mapped previously. The spell with the amulet to eliminate all the enemies on screen, activated by down and fire, can prove really useful to be able to try and get out of a tight spot, so do save those if you can. The status display at the top shows score and energy left for each character in play, and is clear and uncluttered so at least you know what is draining you.

If you do manage to locate at least two of the brooches, I would say you are doing well. One seems to be in a convoluted way of back tracking several screens to then find a different route out, and can mean a long way back or forward – as it is located in a dead end ultimately, thus increasing the respawn rate of the enemies as mentioned.  Maybe a tweak of the map would not have gone amiss, although this does at least mean it is the same map and faithful to the other versions, so that has to be noted.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Storm are a hybrid of both the Spectrum and Amstrad versions, with the wide feel of the Amstrad version in its text and status display, and the detailed colourful graphics of the Spectrum version, minus any colour clashes. Due to some of the colour schemes used, you can often find yourself located behind the roof or ceiling when looking down and it is difficult to make out which way you are facing, as they can be the same colour. The music is a short and sweet tune that plays in the background, and the sound effects for shooting the enemies and being hit are all adequate enough.

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 coupled with and the addition of special objects makes for a good challenge. Master the controls and explore around its one hundred screens, with progression happening once you learn the map and layouts. This is more the case once you locate the first brooch and have worked out a suitable route. The difficulty level as you go through certain screens can mean that you can feel over-run quite quickly and lose all your energy. However, there are around a hundred screens, and despite some niggles, is a playable enough game that certainly gives you enough for the money, and is a solid conversion.

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