Zoids
This is one of those original games, specific to the 8-bit that didn't
try to emulate some arcade game, it became the prelude to some later
games on the PC. The mechanical warrior battling across a landscape,
upgrading weapons and startegically working at a plan of action.
You are
in control of a Zoid, you have to find the 8 pieces of Ziodzilla,
hidden in red ziod cities, once assembled you have to battle the red
ziod master. The game is icon driven, in a time when icons were a new
thing. The Commodore, which has a graphical user interface, go check
out GEOS, handles the task much better than the Spectrum.
You have icons for status, your weapons, shields and anti missile
weapon. When you click an icon extra information windows open up,
imagine that! On both machines you play little subgames when shooting a
laser or missile at an enemy. The sub games on the two machines are
very different, the Commodore has a 2D targeting system while the
Spectrum has a 3D dodging game. The strategy is the best part of the
game the, I never like the action part of the game.
The
Commodore has a rocking tune by music maestro Rob Hubbard, in a
Spectrum review the reviewer said that sound doesn't matter, well he
was wrong, the tune rocks and contributes to the feeling of other Zoids
tracking you down. The Commodore has a nice little effect where the
screen shakes when you are attacked, very effective way of conveying
that you are being attacked.
The icons on the Commodore are done very well, this give the Commodore
the edge over the Spectrum version. Icons and windows, as we know, was
the way of the future, the Commodore did it much better than the
Spectrum, Commodore winner!
