YOU ARE THE PLATFORM by Equinox

 

YOU ARE THE PLATFORM by Equinox for ZX Spectrum

"Welcome to a revolution in platform games"

- Equinox states in his email -

   What a great way to start! Let's see if the game lives up to this claim... But I have to admit that this sentence has already put me in a good mood.  

   Tired of jumping like a hysterical frog on psychopathically designed platforms? The author proposes to turn this around. Now you are the platform... actually you are three platforms and you will be moving them independently to help some adventurous and fearless lads cross from one side of a wall to the other side where an identical wall awaits them.

   Oh yes, the moving staircases in Hogwarts or the crazy bridges in Jumanji come to mind:

  

   Inside each wall, the programmer engraved the key you need to press to make each platform move, saving himself the trouble of adding an explanatory intro to the game. More smiles...

   Why have these mysterious adventurers decided to cross over at the same time? It is a mystery that we can only guess at. They could be victims of a reality show, they could have been promised a tax-free life on the other side, or they could be triplets with a synchronous mind-meld that science cannot explain.

   It may seem banal, but all three are playing for their lives. If they fall, they will be skewered. This is the cultural part of our internationally renowned competition, as it is a reference to London Bridge in the past...

   Below is an explicit image that may offend the sensibilities of the most sensitive:

(Our hero, impaled)

   By now you might be thinking this is a G&W-style game where the three simply move forward at different speeds and you adjust the platforms to keep them on track. No. These guys are the pure physical realisation of the Clash's famous song ‘Should I stay or should I go’. 

"Darling, you got to let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine

I′ll be here 'til the end of time

So you got to let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

If I go there will be trouble

And if I stay it will be double"

   It is clear that their duty is to cross, but there is something inside them, something unstable. Fear? Indecision? Something they have forgotten? A pot of soup on the stove at home? The fact is that they stop, they retrace their steps, they go forward, they go back, you can't take your eyes off them or they'll fall on the terrible spikes. This is the key to the game's originality. Bravo to its creator.

   You must ensure that at least two of the three scouts cross over to the other side in the first three levels, and that it is the whole group that avoids the bloodthirsty death in the next three levels.

   The second set of levels mimics the first. Equinox may be saving too much memory. Its game is really small, which is quite admirable, but it is also nice to have some variety if you want the player to feel attracted to replay it.

   Sometimes the keyboard detection is a bit slow and we lose a scout amidst cries of despair:

   But, if we coordinate well and try not to press more than one key at a time, it is very playable.

(I have sweated)

   It is important to note how much I liked the character(s) and their simple but effective and very funny animation. Congratulations to Equinox.

   Bringing together the little things from here and there: A simple but original and fun game, amazingly well programmed in a few lines of BASIC. The beeper sounds are fair and cheerful. It lacks ambition, it could have a good intro, a more eye-catching ending.

Scrambled Smile: 9/10

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 2/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 8/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 8/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 5/10