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Cue Viscount Sebastian Stifflip and his cronies; Professor
Braindeath, Colonel R G Bargie and Miss Palmyra Primbottom.
Armed
only with a stiff upper lip, the fearless four set forth
to the darkest corners of South America to deal with
the Count.
Stifflip
and Co comes courtesy of Palace Software, and has
been programmed by the same team that brought you Zoids
and the superb icon-driven game The Fourth Protocol.
The
fight sequence, in which Viscount Sebastian
Stifflip indulges in a bout of fisticuffs with one
of Count Chameleon's henchmen
Stifflip
follows the trials of each member of the party individually,
switching from one character to another as required,
the new character appearing on screen in the lower of
the two comic-strip like boxes.
All
commands are again icon/menu driven and although convenient,
the long lists of selections tend to be slightly confusing
and laborious to use. There are six main icons, covering
Movement, Conversation, Combat, Actions and Manipulation
of Objects. This does in fact tend to limit the choice
of action and some of the solutions to problems are
hinted at by the commands available. A word of warning
though . . . these should never be taken for granted.
Colonel
R G Bargie (GNT and bar) about to move
West -- as indicated by the window at the top of
the screen. Meanwhile, Professor Braindeath and
Miss Palmyra Primbottom are incapacitated . . .
Moving
from one location to another results in a new suitably
South American scene appearing in the lower of the two
panels, and the previous scene is shunted to the top.
The graphics are of a very high standard, helping to
capture an atmosphere that could otherwise only be text
created.
Defeating
the Count involves solving a multitude of rather obscure
puzzles, using the four characters in conjunction with
one another. It also involves some arcade action in
controlling the combat between our heroes and the filthy
Peruvian wallahs.
The
Good Colonel keeps strange company . . .
Stifflip
certainly doesn't proffer any clues to the final solution
and more or less leaves the player to his own devices.
This may appeal more to the seasoned adventurer; I found
it to be quite a feat to solve some of the later puzzles.
The
game comes in two parts, loaded separately from either
side of the cassette. Completing the first releases
a code which is then entered on request, allowing the
second stage to be played.
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