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| Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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Master
of the Lamps
1985 Activision
Programmed
by Peter Kaminski?
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text of the present article comes from the review published
in the first issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(May 1985). |
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MASTER
OF THE LAMPS
Activision, £10.99 cass, £19.99 disk, joystick
only
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O
2-stage action with amazing musical backing |
A
long time ago in an eastern country far, far away, a
young prince seeks to inherit his fathers' throne. To
prove his worthiness for his title, he must pass a series
of tests. For each test passed, he will be given a lamp.
Three lamps awarded and the kingdom is his reward.
That's
the scenario for what is basically a very simple two-stage
game. Stage one consists of a 3D flying sequence. The
prince is seated on a magic carpet and you must steer
him through a series of sparkling gates. At first this
is very easy, but at higher levels (there are 41 altogether)
the course develops some very difficult twists and turns.
Hit
the gongs along the bottom in the same order
as the notes released by the genie at the top.
Once
the magic carpet sequence has been successfully completed,
you are presented with seven coloured gongs along the
bottom of the screen. Hit one of these three times to
call up a genie. He will puff on his pipe and several
notes will appear and sound -- the number varies from
two on the first level up to a virtually impossible
12.
When
all the notes have rung, they start to advance towards
you. Rush around hitting the correct gongs to destroy
the notes before they touch you. If you succeed, you
will be rewarded with a section of one of the three
lamps, and you can then embark on another flight on
the magic carpet.
JR
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I enjoyed this combination of arcade and fast
moving strategy, with its many variations and levels
of difficulty.
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The fact that there are only two screens is a
shame, but they are still a big challenge. The
graphics and sound are marvellous with a great
feeling of movement in the first stage and lots
of different tunes to add to the reverberation
of the gongs.
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Dig that
funky beat!
Activision have set new standards in soundtrack music.
Master of the Lamps has seven superb tunes, and
each tune has several variations as you fly on your
magic carpet.
The
tunes, specially written by Activision, incorporate
a large variety of different instruments and rhythms,
giving the flying sequences great atmosphere.
The
sound of the gongs as you hit them is also excellent,
the reverberations dying away to a humming echo.
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Overall this is a very simple game
with only two screens, and £10.99 is far too
high a price to pay for some great tunes and
little variation in gameplay. Although it gets
increasingly difficult to fly your way through
the twisting gates and remembering which gong
to hit
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next, this game boils down to a 'Simon' game with an
interlude.
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PRESENTATION |
ORIGINALITY
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77% |
Activision's
usual slick package with plenty of options. |
55%
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Simon
plus 3D Tunnel in new format.
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GRAPHICS |
HOOKABILITY
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68% |
Nice
flying carpet 3D sequence but not much else. |
67%
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Very
playable carpet flight.
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SOUND |
LASTABILITY
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94% |
Wonderful
variety of original catchy tunes. |
55%
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Plenty
of levels, but not much variety.
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| VALUE
FOR MONEY |
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58% |
Our
reviewers disagreed strongly on this one -- try
before you buy. |
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Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (24 May 2001)
Other
"Games of the Week!"
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