Accatone
Reviews
Theme Hospital (DOS)
It all started like a game...
The Good
At the beginning, to me, Theme Hospital was looking and did sound great in every aspect and I liked it very
much indeed. Never been so easy and so much fun to build and run a hospital. All went right a little bit more until
I couldn't manage to run my hospital in one of the levels of the game. Everything went crazy, my patients no more
wanted to be patient: EPIDEMIC was covering every part of my building. People were vomiting, dying everywhere and I couldn't
help them, I was the only responsible person for that chaos. It all started like a game but it didn't end like that.
Game's funny? I remember the fake quarrel between Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta in Matin Scorsese's Goodfellas originated
from a word, a world only, "FUNNY ha?" But before that memory I was deeply shocked when I thought Lars von Trier's movie,
epidemic, its unexpected end, where epidemic's harmful touches had effected everybody, even our precious heroes: I think
I will never forget "that" scream of the woman...
The Bad
If it is a Bullfrog game, I will expect repetitive gameplay. Unfortunately, Theme Hospital is forming no
exception.
The Bottom Line
I know, anyone who played or will play this game can't be as clumsy as I am and I don't expect them to live the same emotions, maybe I am just exaggerating. Anyway, for me, Theme Hospital is a rare piece of art, definitely the best "hospital" simulation!
By Accatone on September 20th, 2007
Wonderland (Windows)
Time flies when youâre having fun in âWonderlandâ!
The Good
Unlike similar action/puzzle games, Wonderlandâs difference lies in the interaction of the player with its zany universe, and it achieves this with a sense of old-school feeling. Itâs no wonder that the basic elements come from the games like Boulder Dash, Sokoban or D-Generation. Wonderland blends these with such an inventive way that all of a sudden you find yourself playing its twenty something level! Itâs that addictive.
Simplicity of the game plays an important part of its addictiveness. You canât see any fancy 3D graphics or a confusing gameplay component in Wonderland. It even doesnât have a storyline. And this helps you to get into the game right away. However, other Wonderland games (especially âSecret Worldsâ) are far more complex than this first game and the adding of the houses, trees, new tiles and characters, and even a dispensable storyline with illustrations really harm the game. You donât need a map or a story to enjoy Wonderland.
As the description of the game also says, Purple Motionâs music for the game deserves special mention. Although there are only 5 tracks in the game (1 for the title screen, 1 for the ending and 3 for in-game music), these impulse tracker modules perfectly fit to the mood of the game with their rather colorful yet ambient sound. And you can also hear them in the sequel of the game, âWonderland Secret Worldsâ. I guess the developers thought that Wonderland wouldnât be Wonderland without PMâs music!
And when you finally complete the game, you see a beautiful ending that will make a simile on your face :)
The Bad
Although Wonderland is written to run even on lower end Pentium systems with a recent / fast video card, its performance can considerably decrease when you play large levels that contain lots of moving objects as in the level of âThe Crazy Box Factoryâ or the âgiganticâ final level. This last level is unnecessarily huge and this is why I cheated on this level. It could have been designed with an ingenious attitude that the player has never seen before â rather than focussing too much on the size. Size should not matter in a game like Wonderland.
The Bottom Line
I must admit I didnât expect much from the game. I installed Wonderland to my hard drive because I was hoping to find a âgreatâ soundtrack in its files so that I could rip it (at the time I was more into game music than playing)! Fortunately not only I ripped all the music tracks, I also found out that they were actually written by Purple Motion! I couldnât be happier. However, when I finally run the game and played a few levels, I was taken off guard again: I saw a puzzle game that I truly enjoyed âplayâing â and I generally donât like puzzle games because they can be really frustrating and they easily get on your nerves.
Wonderlandâs main virtue is that itâs not frustrating. Indeed, it manages to be fun till the very end of the game (and the full registered version has 85 levels!). I remember playing the first level of the Halls of Undermountain, âTrial by Fireâ and I was so stunned that all I did was to stare at the firestorm of cannon balls! I did not know what I was supposed to do. But I knew one thing, that you can solve any level in the game (maybe except the last one) with enough observation to understand its simple yet clever gameplay. Because all you have to do is to use wisely what youâve got (it might be the other half of your winsome duo!) against âcertainâ obstacles and enemies while enjoying âTower Hoppingâ, âFire and Iceâ and even âThat Darn Scouge!â. Wonderland creates such a sense of exploration that you are not limited to solve only the puzzles. Thanks to a dazzling interplay, you are invited to enjoy your environment throughout the game either by interacting with its âcharmingâ characters or by discovering some beautiful moments in it that you donât expect from a puzzle game. Personally I canât forget the moment when I was finishing a training level called âA Day at the Zooâ and saw the gates that surround all the captured âconfounding Coilys, electrifying Z-Bots, and hot-headed Kabooms!â opened before I moved to the next level. It was a neat, very sweet approach that shows how âengagingâ the game is.
At first glance it might seem like a kidâs game but Wonderland has a lot more to offer like the books of Lewis Carrollâs âAliceâs Adventures in Wonderlandâ or Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ryâs âLittle Princeâ. It is no wonder that the gameâs title is âWonderlandâ; itâs worthy of the name and it develops some new connotations related with puzzle gaming.
By Accatone on May 19th, 2005
Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet (Windows)
By Accatone on August 20th, 2001
Cyclemania (DOS)
Not much fun to play.
The Good
Cyclemania's concept is to race in front of real-life motion video backdrop
that made up of 5 live-action roadways. That's nice. At the beginning it's really a nice change to see yourself driving your vehicle on a "real" desert or mountain road. Unfortunately your excitement doesn't last much after you find out that the game is not much fun to play.
The Bad
Although frame-rate decompression is quite good, you mostly race
in front of blocky graphics. Gameplay doesn't offer you anything special. Instead,
it may become frustrating.
Cyclemania has also no replay value after you finish playing all the circuits
available. Its championship mode doesn't help you either since it's far from being
compelling. There could have been more variety of obstacles or challenges on the
races.
The Bottom Line
I'm glad they tried to bring real-life roadways to our computer screens. Maybe not a successful conversion but at least they'd tried.
This game made me miss the countless hours I spent playing Test Drive III: THE PASSION!
By Accatone on August 4th, 2001
FX Fighter (DOS)
My favorite fighting game along with OMF 2097...
The Good
Before 3D chips have arrived, Argonaut had its own very fast 3D applications with better graphical effects -thanks to their real-time 3D rendering package, "Blazing Render" engine. And the most beautiful creation of this programming library was without a doubt, FX Fighter...
This game was not only one of the pioneers of 3D gaming era but also it looked much better than the other fighting games at its time. I remember the days PC Game Magazines labeled FX Fighter as a beater of such games like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. OK, maybe it was a beater but not in gameplay concept or in a way classic games have been through periods of time. What really so special about FX Fighter was its glorious sight and sound that is very important for a fighting game: by being fast and attractive enough to fully immerse the player into its world, with unique characters to be chosen and having a simple but effective gameplay in front of great-looking combat arenas (we don't forget the music, of course, which should gather all the elements of the game together creating recognizable magical moments...and IMHO FX Fighter's techno musical
score was successful enough!).
The Bad
It's not a classic, yes; after the passing years it almost faded (I don't even mention the 'Turbo' sequel which was a huge dissappoinment). I also admit, it hasn't got a good, challenging control system, neither with keyboard nor with a joystick. But, this fighting game wasn't out on a premiss to have a revolutionary gameplay after all!
The Bottom Line
You would probably have hooked like me on FX Fighter at first glance, I can't be sure of that however! It's not a great game, but it's a special one for me nonetheless...
By Accatone on April 23rd, 2001