[ FEB . 20 . 2011 ]
 
Greetings folks! Welcome to the February 20th, 2011 edition of Three for the Road. This week I take a look at a couple of new releases for the Commodore 64, with a remake of a fantastic Pac-Man clone.. as well as a brand new action / platformer, set aboard various star ships in the depths of space. Wooo! We also take a look at a unique arena / tube shooter which has been taken off active sale and is now being given away for free.

It looks like we have a new game available for the Commodore 64, and that’s always welcome news!

Lady Kakerlak is a remake/re-imagining of Universal Games Lady Bug. Which is essentially a run-of-the-mill Pac-Man clone, but with the added hook of being able to alter the maze as you’re playing the game. While I didn’t play Lady Bug much in the arcades, I did play quite a bit of it when it came out on the ColecoVision- so this game really brings back some great childhood memories for me.

This is really an exceptional re-imagining of the original game. The game plays fine in VICE or on actual hardware NTSC or PAL. Add to that, you also have a level editor to create your own levels- and you wind up with a great action game / construction kit.. something the good old 64 was known for! Great fun.

The New Dimension [TND] recently released their new Action / Platformer for the Commodore 64 called Space Trip. This game was created by Achim Volkers (Programming and Graphics) and the music was done by Richard Bayliss. For those wondering: I've tried the game in both NTSC and PAL settings under VICE and everything plays just fine.

From the site:"You are captain Steve Zappa. Your mission is to clear all decks on each star ship from the crazy aliens that infest the ship. Then hurry back to the computer console and teleport out of the star ship, and get back into your little space craft. You will then be taken aboard on to the next star ship, in which you have to complete each mission."

Some quick hints: Don't collect medi-packs unless you actually need to use them. You must re-find your phaser whenever you die. To enter the computer console, a doorway or charge your phaser- pull down. Certain aliens will steal your phaser, so be careful.

Dr. Blob's Organism has a fairly unique approach to the classic arena shooter formula. Your goal is to contain the cellular organisms which are trying to escape the petri dish. Controls are completely mouse based.. and for once, that's not a bad thing.

From the site:"Each level in the game introduces new powerups (like freeze, lightning and multiguns) and special organism abilities (like force field, regeneration and frenzy) to enhance the fun and increase the challenge throughout the entire game."

Dr. Blob's Organism features: "20 levels of increasing difficulty, 10 different power-up's, 5 special blob abilities, 3 difficulty settings, 21 music tracks, Squishy, moist sound effects, Bonus dishes, Jukebox (Play music selections from the game.)"

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-Chip