Here’s a slightly more in depth (than usual) look at my copy of Zzap! 64, Issue 19, that arrived in the post a few days ago. As well as the usual quick preview of what’s in the mag I run through what’s on this months digital coverdisk too.
Zzap! 64 Issue 19 Cover Image
As always the magazine is packed with content spanning 60 pages, including news, game reviews and insightful articles about the past, present and future Commodore 64 scene.
A Peek Inside
Here’s a quick look at the contents page giving an overview of what’s inside this issue.
Contents Page
The now familiar digital covermount page gives a preview of what’s on this editions disk.
Digital ‘covermount’ content page.
There’s plenty of goodies waiting to be loaded up on this months coverdisk, accessible via a slick menu screen accompanied by some great SID music as always.
Issue 19’s Covermount Menu screen
First up on the menu we have Alpacalypse – a side scrolling infinite runner style game where you have to dodge falling enemies, jump across gaps and collect fruit to increase your score. Vibrant, smooth-scrolling graphics and an excellent music track help to make this a fun game that is great for a quick blast of Alpaca action. High scores are saved to disk too which is a great feature all games should have and really fuels that ‘just one more go’ impulse.
Next up is Metal Mayhem which is a tank battle game for two players or a single player vs the computer. The AI enemy tanks are brutally efficient at destroying you so I guess it was more intended to be played with a friend.
Next we have ‘Spinning Image’ – probably my favourite game on this months disk. You are presented with two pictures – the one on the right is the ‘target’ picture whilst the one on the left has some bits missing. The game has you moving your avatar (Milly and Molly) left and right in order to line up and ‘fire’ a limited number of squares up onto the players picture to make it match the one on the right. The kicker is that the squares will only ‘stick’ if they bump up against an existing square.
You will quickly encounter areas where you seemingly have to get a quare to be suspended in mid air which is where the puzzle element comes into play. Some squares can be pulled back down allowing you to reposition them elsewhere to build a temporary framework to build on. A very challenging game on later levels yet still very relaxing to play as there’s no time limit in effect. The menu music is a bit annoying and shrill but the game music is thankfully understated and complements it quite nicely. You can save your progress too – essential for a game like this.
The fourth game this month is a demo of ‘Phantomas 3 – The Return of Brok’ which is a neat little platform game that utilises the C64’s hires graphics mode to produce some very nice, detailed graphics.
Finally there’s another demo, this time of a game called ‘Spy Agent’ which sees you trying to kill an enemy spy before he does the same to you. The game takes place within a single screen platform scenario with lifts and stairs to get around. You need a friend for this one as it’s two player only. It’s not much fun on your own as the enemy spy just stands there waiting for you to kill him before respawning elsewhere and then doing the same. Hopefully, as this is just a demo, they are working on an AI spy for all the solo players out there.
Spy Agent
Side 2 of the disk features a scene demo dating back to 1987, ‘Think Twice’ by The Judges featuring some funky scrolling effects and a decent SID music track.
Getting hold of a copy of Zzap! 64 Issue 19
This is another great edition of Zzap! 64 and well worth a buy. The magazine is available from Fusion Retro Books priced at £4.99. Make sure you use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ to grab yourself a sweet 15% off the price! This code works for everything you place in your basket too!
Below you can peruse a small gallery of images from the magazine.
You can find other Zzap! 64 related posts here .
