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www.commodorefree.com<br />
ABYSSONAUT COMMODORE 64 GAME REVIEW<br />
Game Design, Graphics and SFX by Anthony Stiller<br />
Music by Richard Bayliss (Additional support by<br />
Scarzix/Offence)<br />
SEUCK Version: Horizontal Scrolling SEUCK<br />
http://csdb.dk/getinternalfile.php/137362/ABYSSONAUT.<br />
d64<br />
http://csdb.dk/getinternalfile.php/137363/Abyssonaut.zip<br />
http://tnd64.unikat.sk/Seuck_Compo_2015.html<br />
Written by Anthony Stiller, creator of Reset Magazine's "Sopwiths<br />
and Pterradons", you may remember commodore<br />
Free reviewed this game. The idea of this game is to rescue<br />
endangered whales from the poachers who have been<br />
putting nets over them.<br />
THE STORY<br />
As a Deep Sea Reconnaissance and Rescue Operative aka<br />
ABYSSONAUT, you have volunteered to brave the crushing<br />
depths and violent creatures, free any helpless marine life<br />
you find and discover what has happened to the Crouch End<br />
Research Station. You head out at once, plunging into the<br />
ocean on your DSRRO Manta class seascooter..<br />
You control your Abyssonaut using a joystick plugged in<br />
port 2. The game scrolls from left right using the updated<br />
SEUCK engine. Pressing fire unleashes one of the high explosive-tipped<br />
harpoons currently loaded into your twin harpoon<br />
launchers. Your harpoon launchers reload after a<br />
harpoon has either exploded or reached maximum effective<br />
range. As per DSRRO safety regulations only two harpoons<br />
can be 'hot' at a time.<br />
Downloading the ZIP file gives you a D64 the PRG file and<br />
TAP file and a Word document with instructions and some<br />
hints and tips about the game<br />
The title music is most interesting, very under watery at<br />
first then bashes out into a typical SID tune, with a thrashing<br />
beat and warbling synth lines, to be honest it would have<br />
been better with just the slower under watery section, but I<br />
suppose it builds up on the tension.<br />
In game sound effects are acceptable but the animations are<br />
top rate, to think this is Anthony`s second attempt at a<br />
SEUCK game, in fact lets remove SEUCK from the comments,<br />
as many will not recognise the engine used, the game is<br />
smooth fluid has some good variations, and while not 100%<br />
original stands out well.<br />
In fact I cant only comment on the Score that looks standard<br />
for the engine, someone please write a toolkit to enhance<br />
this for SEUCK! Within the limitations it would have been<br />
nice to see some sort of bubbles and better underwater<br />
physics, parallax scrolling.<br />
However<br />
The game engine doesn’t permit this, well as of this time,<br />
(never say never) however the clever animations (especially<br />
the jellyfish) enhance the game, clever placement of<br />
sprites means the game doesn’t suffer much from the usual<br />
slowdowns plagued by many releases using this engine.<br />
Things do speed up somewhat later on.<br />
Loading the game sees a rather stark title screen<br />
The PRG file doesn’t seem to have any music but the other<br />
versions do!<br />
COLLECT THAT ON THE SHARLK to save it<br />
SUMMARY<br />
2nd game attempt! WOW Very playable and well thought<br />
out game, lovely animations, you can feel the hours that<br />
have been spent working on this.<br />
Graphics<br />
Sounds<br />
Gameplay<br />
7/10 lovely<br />
animations<br />
6/10 music is ok<br />
7/10 nothing new<br />
Overall<br />
7/10<br />
Commodore Free Magazine Page 46
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