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Dmitry Usmanov.
THE MUNSTERS
("AGAIN", Tiger development Intertiment Ltd.)
The genre of this program can be characterized as ARCADE with elements of ADVENTURE. In this game, your goal will be to create Frankenstein.
So, the ominous abandoned mansion on the title screen is replaced by a scrolling menu where you can choose the controls:
1. Keyboard
2. Right Sinclair joystick
3. Kempston joystick
You can view the leaderboard by pressing the "H" key. After making your selection, press "FIRE," and you will find yourself on the second floor of the mansion. If you are the lucky owner of a 128 computer with a music board, you will constantly hear unobtrusive music perfectly suited to the storyline during the game. If not, don't despair; instead, pay attention to the quality fun graphics. Obviously, the creators of the game had a sense of humor.
On the first level, you control a young, cute, albeit quite disheveled, witch whose goal is to find two magical items and revive Frankenstein with their help. This is not easy at all - the house is literally teeming with various apparitions. On the upper floors dwell lower spirits - elementals. They flock to the room where you are standing, and the longer you stay in the room, the faster and more frequently elementals fly out of the walls. These spirits, upon collision, take away your energy, but at the same time, they are very useful - by killing them with magical fire, you replenish your spells.
The indicator of your remaining energy in the form of a blue bottle labeled "ENERGY" is located in the upper left corner of the screen, and the spell count indicator is in the upper right (a green bottle labeled "SPELLS"). You will often need to replenish your spell supply on the upper floors to kill some monster.
The staircases lead to the first floor. Be careful there - a zombie roams this floor, and some rooms and all passages are guarded by malicious furies. Here, you will see the first magical item - a key (it is impossible to miss, it shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow).
Take it, and you will see the image of a pipe flash in the upper part of the screen - an indicator that you still have a weapon. Above the entrance to the basement, next to the key, a ghost has settled - don't try to shoot it yet; each monster must be killed with a specific item or one that can kill a stronger monster. Moreover, if you try to destroy the ghost with weak weapons, or if you don't have enough spells to kill it, the monster will remain, and the item will be lost forever.
So, let's go back upstairs and descend by another staircase. Here is another fury; she guards the exit from the house, and next to her, by the coffin, is the second magical item - a spellbook. Take it and destroy the ghost - now you can go out to the cemetery and seize the crucifix. Under no circumstances should you go beyond the edge of the screen!
With the cross, let's return to the upper floors and refill the bottle again. Now you can focus on destroying the three furies in the room on the left wing. Three precise hits to the head, and the aggressive ghosts will only remind you of themselves with an increased score. Take the flask in the corner of the room (strong magic, as it is guarded by three ghosts!).
Let's head to the entrance to the basement and get rid of the ghost guarding it. Now make sure you have enough charges and - down you go. Immediately on the stairs, you will be attacked by three monsters. Without stepping off the steps, destroy them ("FIRE" + "LEFT"), and you will acquire a crystal ball.
In the adjacent room, pick up a piece of body and give it to Frankenstein, and - back up again; on the way, you can shoot the rather annoying zombie. If your bottle is filled to the brim with spells, then your direct path leads to the cemetery... in the literal sense of the word.
The cemetery is the most peaceful place in the game: no furies, no zombies, no ghosts - bliss! ...until you turn around. I advise you not to look back until the end of the cemetery until you pick up the last missing item.
Now you have a long and dangerous road back. Fight off the dead rising from the graves, which come out of the ground in small cheerful flocks on each screen. It is best to kill them with a shot to the head - they disappear immediately. If you shoot them in the chest, you will need two shots; in the body - three.
If you manage to get back to the house, congratulate yourself; the first level is almost completed. You just need to give the item to Frankenstein, and you will move on to the second level.
On it, I hope you will manage on your own, and I can only add that in the house, besides the ghosts described above, a long-haired wicked creature periodically appears, which, in addition to depleting your energy, also empties your spell bottle. If you kill it, you will not receive any increase in the SPELLS level. Try to destroy this thief immediately.
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Control keys:
CAPS SHIFT + Q - exit the game;
CAPS SHIFT + P - pause;
P - continue the game;
CAPS SHIFT + M - mute music;
M - turn on music (for 128k.)
STAR PAWS
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SOFTWARE PROJECTS
For fans of arcade adventures, "SPECTROFON" presents an engaging game "STAR PAWS." It belongs to the category of arcade games where the user experiences a severe lack of time, leading to quick failure with any mistake. "STAR PAWS" is a game for people with strong nerves. Patience, reaction, quick decision-making, and a sense of humor will be your allies when you start the game.
So, you have been assigned a challenging task - on one of the planets, you need to destroy a colony of space birds that bring nothing but harm to humanity. There are 20 birds in total. Ten are on the planet's surface, four are underground, and six are in another hard-to-reach sector of the planet. You have everything necessary that the support team has prepared for you:
ANTI-GRAV - allows you to move quickly over the planet's surface at a low height.
ROCKET - with it, you can move over the planet at high speed.
TELEPORTER - with the teleporter, you can teleport to a hard-to-reach area of the planet.
LAUNCHER - perfectly destroys birds.
DEATH RAY - deadly weapon.
EXPLOSIVE - also intended for destroying birds. Control is remote.
LAZ MISSILES - each set contains three pieces. Serious weapon. But to launch these missiles, you need a cannon, which is located in a hard-to-reach area of the planet.
SPACE BURGER - if you are hungry - eat a space burger, and everything will be fine!
MINING LAMP - you will need it when you go underground.
NORISHMENT - unlike the wonderful space burger, something like an ordinary bagel - restores strength, but not much.
BONUS PUZZLE - allows you to transition to a sub-game. The game resembles our "fifteen."
The above-mentioned wealth is located in containers scattered across the surface. However, NORISHMENT and LAZ MISSILES can only be found underground.
All equipment is for single use, so be economical.
A bit about the controls:
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After loading, press "ENTER" - you will enter the control selection menu. 6 - exit the menu. Now "FIRE" and go ahead.
To take a container - "FIRE." To select an item for use - "DOWN," and if you want to use the item - "FIRE." If after selecting an item you do not want to use it immediately, press "UP." Be careful with explosives - after selecting it for use, press "FIRE" - the explosive is switched to combat mode. If you press "FIRE" again, it will explode. The main thing is that an uncontrollable ostrich is running by at that moment. You can catch a bird with your bare hands: when you catch up with it - press "FIRE." To use the elevator, stand at the elevator shaft and press "DOWN" and "FIRE" simultaneously (to go down) or "UP" and "FIRE" (to go up).
On the screen, at the bottom right, there is a scanner that shows how far the prey is from you. On the left, in the form of an appetizing chicken, your energy level is displayed. When the chicken is just a picked skeleton, you lose.
A few tips:
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The birds are cunning and quite smart creatures. Catching these space ostriches is no easy task. So try to gather all the containers as quickly as possible, while also catching passing birds whenever possible.
Find a map in the underground - it will help you navigate and plan your actions more easily.
Don't rush to use food and equipment.
When shooting from the cannon in a hard-to-reach area, orient the cannon so that the label "CORRECT" is lit after each shot. You can correctly choose the angle of the cannon using the "UP" and "DOWN" keys.
GOOD LUCK!
P4 In the "APPENDIX," we offer all our readers two versions of the game: for 128Kb and 48Kb.
Contents of the publication: Spectrofon #06
- Экспретиза - Дмитрий Усманов
Review of 'Heroes of the Lance' for ZX Spectrum, focusing on gameplay mechanics, character roles, and the challenges faced by Russian gamers due to faulty localizations.
- Дебют - Дмитрий Усманов
The article reviews two arcade games for ZX Spectrum: 'The Munsters' and 'Star Paws'. 'The Munsters' combines arcade action with adventure elements, focusing on creating Frankenstein, while 'Star Paws' challenges players to hunt cosmic birds with limited resources. Tips on gameplay mechanics and controls are provided.
- Экзамен
Summary of answers to Spectrofon #05 tasks, winners Sergey Semenov and Andrey Shkolnikov. Detailed solutions for 'ROBIN OF SHERWOOD' adventure game tasks. New challenge in 'HEROES OF THE LANCE' awaits responses.
- Обзор
An overview of recent software releases for ZX Spectrum on the Moscow market, discussing Elite-2's protection removal, Hero Quest's save issues, and a comparison of game charts from Moscow and Omsk.
- С миру по биту
Discussion on mail volume, software protection issues, and TR-DOS versions. Challenges in standardizing ZX Spectrum hardware. Invitation for collaboration on standardization.
- Система
Discussion on data bus instability when connecting a music coprocessor and an effective schematic solution from Moscow radio amateurs.
- Реклама
Advertisement for acquiring the SPECTROFON magazine, collaborating with authors and distributors, and purchasing hardware and software for ZX Spectrum.
