ROGUE CHESS by ZXKerl

 

ROGUE CHESS by ZXKerl for ZX Spectrum 48K

   "The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1,500 years to its earliest known predecessor, called chaturanga, in India; its prehistory is the subject of speculation. From India it spread to Persia, where it was modified in terms of shapes and rules and developed into Shatranj. Following the Arab invasion and conquest of Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Europe via Spain (Al Andalus) and Italy (Emirate of Sicily). The game evolved roughly into its current form by about AD 1500." - Copypasted from Wikipedia.

   How do you twist an already complicated game to cause even more brain damage? Difficult. But here is our prolific and celebrated collaborator, ZXKerl, ready to take on the challenge. The image of the creative cover gives us an idea...

   If you don't read this review or ZXKerl's email, this is all the information you'll get when the game starts:

("Destroy the King" - sounds very forceful)

   Everybody relax, I am here to reveal the objective of the game.

   "You are unlucky. You bastard. You owe your existence to my generosity. As a mere pawn, what did you think, that you would become an astronaut? That someone would create a world game with you as the star? You were asked to do nothing more than defend your queen and king. Granted, that might involve a certain amount of bloody death, but the rest of the time you'll be living off my money. Bloody traitor..." - Oops, sorry, the King's remarks slipped in here.

   But the man is partly right, as the author tells us: "You are a rebellious pawn who has decided to overthrow the tyrant king. To do so, you must traverse five levels filled with enemy pieces, collect artefacts and finally confront the king in his final chamber."

   It gets even more interesting (=complicated):

   "The initials of the pieces follow English notation and have chess-inspired movement patterns, but with a more unpredictable feel:

- Queens advance up to three squares, alternating between diagonals and horizontal/vertical straights. You don't know exactly where they're coming from, as they randomly choose between horizontal and vertical.

- Knights only jump in L, but they only consider 6 positions instead of 8 to avoid being relentless and totally predictable. They can jump over obstacles, so hiding is not an option. They are chasers and difficult to kill.

- The Rooks will chase you, alternating between horizontal and vertical movement every turn. If you follow the pattern, you can anticipate them.

- Bishops advance in short, one-step diagonals, but if they are in a group they can easily block you.

- Pawns are slow but persistent: they'll advance head-on, and if they can't, they'll try to surround you.

- Laser Rooks don't move, but if they see you in their row or column, they'll shoot and destroy an obstacle in their path.

- The King, the final boss, will move towards you if you are far away to support his guard. If you get too close, he will run away."

   Of course, all this has to be learnt by heart.

   And, as would be expected in a 1500 year old environment, we have the following pre-medieval elements to help us with our challenge:

"- Uranium: Decreases the HP of all enemies by 1.

- Firebomb: Clears an entire area, although the king only takes partial damage.

- Heal, Teleport and Glue, the latter of which stuns enemies for several turns."

   Having received these extensive and detailed explanations, it is time to face the challenge.

      Our hero, the pawn, starts his adventure by getting out of that magenta box and has to cross the whole room to get to the other magenta box. Loyalist pieces come threatening. In white we see one of the common artefacts of the period, uranium.

   ZXKerl once again shows us his favourite programming technique: The merciless pursuit.

   I am a heroic and brave pawn...

   But the reality is that I am running for my life.

   The first thing you'll notice is that your pawn is not Speedy Gonzales, but rather Cecil Turtle.

   So choose your route wisely... No, you can't, you don't have the time, they're fast and wild and...

   You'll see this a lot. 

   When you cross to another room/level, you gain one HP.

   This game is cleverly designed. You can easily feel the different behaviours of the enemy pieces. And I must point out how much I hate the laser rooks, they hit you from quite a distance just when you think they are no longer a threat to you. Making mazes is something we take for granted, but it's not so easy to make sure that there's always a clear path and that the area around the doors is also kept clear. Well done!

   At this point, I must admit that I am disappointed with myself for not being able to reach the final level and face the Tyrant. In his email, ZXKerl implies that the game is easy. I don't know if this is fine irony, or if he's a person of gifted reflexes, or if it's just not for me. 

   The author deserves more, so I leave this review open to try to finish the game and turn the chess liberator into the new tyrant.

   Gathering all the facts now: I like this game. Not as a crap game, but as good entertainment. The difficulty, for me, prevented me from enjoying it more. But I'm sure many readers will get more out of it. It's BASIC compiled with MCoder III for some medium speed action. It lacks a certain spectacularity that our machine is capable of with its UDGs, but I also enjoy the pure ASCII very much. Sound? Beep! There you go!

Scrambled Smile: 8/10

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 4/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 8/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 7/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 9/10