MATH GAUNTLET by ZX Kerl and Paradigm Shifter
Once upon a time there was a TV quiz show...
Des Chiffres et des Lettres in France, the original show
Countdown in the UK
Cifras y Letras in Spain
Cijfers en Letters in Holland
Inspired by these famous shows, ZXKerl and Paradigm Shifter present a kind of destructive Jiu-Jitsu lock applied to the brain, wrapped up in an innocent game with great looking cassette cover art. In the zip file provided you get the game, cover art and listing ready to compile with Mcoder III. Yes, this game runs fast.
ZXKerl himself will explain the plot:
"It's like a Gauntlet, where the aim is to reach the target number by shooting the numbers that are chasing you. You win if you get a number that differs from the target number by less than 5. Press M to change the mathematical operator.
In each game, the program randomly decides whether the numbers behave like wasps or flies:
Wasps: they speed up as you eliminate them.
Flies: they always maintain the same speed.
The black obstacles represent the dead pixels of a calculator and you can use them to separate the numbers or block them to gain time to do the mental calculations."
Impenetrable walls and maniacal enemy pursuers are the similarities to the original Gauntlet game.
But Math Gauntlet is far, far harder.
This is the sparse intro screen:
ZXKerl and Paradigm Shifter presume we all are happy mutants with two, maybe three brains and several tentacles...
(This one might have a chance.)
...because, as soon as you start playing, this is going to happen:
Just kidding.
Well, the numbers follow you, not for the love of mathematics, they want to eliminate you. Let's move quickly. I can shoot them in the direction I'm moving, that's something. When I hit a number, it disappears and piles up at the bottom left. The next time I hit another number, the selected mathematical operation (addition by default) is applied to it. As we saw in the intro, I can use the M key to change this operation as I see fit. Or rather, as the second brain sees fit, because the first is busy running away from the sticky numbers that are chasing me like I owe them money. Luckily, my third brain is calculating in parallel which operation I should perform next to approach the target number with millimetric precision, and it will be my remaining hand that chooses this operation while the other two are running away from the enemies. Super simple, isn't it? Maybe not so much as I forgot to mention that all this has to be fixed in 90 seconds.... Damn it!
I must admit that in desperation I tried to cheat. I used the emulator pause to calculate without getting caught. I took snapshots of the final calculations in case a target number was repeated. Nothing.
The absolute graveyard silence in which the game takes place must be a concession on the part of the authors to the brain, so that it can use all its capacity to do the calculations in advance. I tell myself that. It calms me down.
After the humiliation and having lost all attempts, the game mocks you and, in a sobering calculus teacher's tone, shows you what you should have done to pass the subject:
This part of the programme is an amazing contribution from Spectrum Computing Forum member Paradigm Shifter. These guys have earned all the Deep Fried Ice Cream in the restaurant.
Putting together impressions from here and there: The simplicity in the graphical part of the game that I like so much is overshadowed by the huge giant that is the difficulty. The fluidity of movement is very good. The kernel that calculates the number combinations is a marvel. But most importantly, the idea for the game is great and the implementation is perfect.
Scrambled Smile: 5/10
Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 2/10
Deep Fried Ice Cream: 9/10
Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 3/10
Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 7/10
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