QIX

There are an endless number of strategies you can employ, allowing the player to show some creativity. In addition to your main enemy, lethal "sparx" patrol the perimeter, forcing you into harms way. This game is tough, and the better you get, the more risks you tend to take. Qix must be played to be appreciated, and this 5200 version is highly recommended.

There are a number of lesser-known arcade games that enjoyed greater popularity on the home systems. Atari 5200 owners can enjoy a fine version of one of the most unique, yet largely overlooked, games ever made, from a time when such things were expected.

Arcade here we come! Qix is one of those really genuine Arcade classics. Your job is to claim a special percentage of the screen by drawing polygons. Once your polygon is drawn it will be filled with a colourful pattern and you're off for the next part. But what would a game be without villains? To make your job a lot harder, there are sparks moving on your drawn lines that will instantly kill you when they get you. The main adversary, though, is the colour-styx that hovers around the screen. If he touches you or your incomplete polygons, they will be directly destroyed.

But that's selling the game short. In actuality Qix is highly entertaining, and well worth owning. The controls a little sluggish, but you'll hardly notice. And best of all, it's two players!! Not the best game for the system, but far from the worst!

Basically, I liked this game in the arcades, and I this version is pretty well done. I don’t think it’s for everybody, and even I might have to be in the right mood to play it, but it’s pretty solid. An occasional frustration is trying to draw a very small path and ending up with the Fuse getting me because I stopped instead of moving that tiny bit over to start drawing back to my start point (in fact, I just had a brief flash of paranoia that the Fuse was going to start up when I stopped typing briefly to consider what word I should use :-). But there is a decent challenge, some adrenaline moments, and a fair amount of thought and strategy required. A solid game for the time.

Pretty lame! The collision detection is also fishy at times. On the bright side, the controls are comfortable, since you can use any Atari joystick. There are several skills levels and an alternating two-player mode. It could have been better, but a second-rate Qix is better than no Qix at all.

Satte neun Jahre hat der Oldie "Qix" auf dem Buckel. Vor kurzem erschien mit mit "Volfief" für die PC-Engine der neueste Aufguß des Klassikers. Die Game Boy-Version hält sich allerdings detailgetreu ans Original: Extras sucht man vergebens. Allein der schmucke Zwei-Spieler-Modus ist neu.

Now that the arcade favorite, Qix, has become a success in the Game Boy format, Taito is bringing it to the NES. To master this puzzler, you'll need quick reflexes and cool nerves.

Zehn Jahre sind für ein Videospiel ein geradezu biblisches Alter. Insofern ist es verblüffend, daß Qix mehr Spaß macht, als so manches "neue" Modul. Das muntere Abtrennen und Einfärben von Spielfeldbereichen hat immer noch einen gewissen Charme und verheißt Reaktionstests abseits der üblichen Ballerpfade. Langfristig hapert's ein wenig an der Motivation, denn auf Dauer ist die Spielidee doch etwas zu dünn. Beim Linienziehen gibt es zwar einiges an Spielraum für listenreiche Taktiken, doch von Level zu Level wird deutlich zu wenig Abwechslung geboten.

This miniature edition captures the same risk-taking gameplay as the original, but it's less exciting. The helix is more predictable and appears to be moving in slow motion. Like the arcade, you can employ a fast or slow "draw" to section areas, slow being riskier but worth more points. Unlike the arcade game however, areas cordoned off with slow draw look the same as those made with the fast draw (they should be a different color). Qix's audio is above average. The sound of the helix brings to mind a swinging light saber, and melodic tunes play between stages. Good, but not quite up to arcade standards, Qix is an average title for the Lynx.

While this edition of Qix is a fair approximation of the arcade game, I wasn't overly impressed. I don't like how the areas enclosed with the slow draw (worth twice as many points) are filled with the same colors as the fast draw. The music is good and the control is decent, but the graphics and colors are drab. This is not as fun as I remembered.