FLASHING FIGHT by Oloturia

FLASHING FIGHT by Oloturia for ZX Spectrum 48K

 

"My game, Flashing Fight, a game that flashes." - Oloturia

   This is all the information that the author provided. No more is needed. And I like it.

   As the image above shows, it's all a bit crazy, but that doesn't even come close to the flashing colour salad that this game is. The game even issues a serious warning before allowing you to play:

We press any key and we find... 

   ...the usual allergy to text centring !!! The crap points package is on its way.

   After ten traditional head-butts against the wall to calm down, I'm ready to play.

What ???

   Everything you can see in the image is in FLASH 1 mode. Each 8x8 square only displays the same colour for half a second, so it's very difficult to tell where everything is. And, eventually, you'll get sick.

   After a time that allows the brain to almost adjust to the visual saturation, we see a few squares move down. They move down to where we are supposed to be.

Me.

Them.

   My initial thought is that I can see a fratricidal war brewing between CHR$ 131 and CHR$ 137. Not a bad argument.

   The evil little squares do not move in a predictable way. There is an element of devilish randomness that makes them difficult (and entertaining) to hit with our multicoloured cannon, which also flashes, of course.

   Unfortunately, there are no multiple shots. It's a BASIC program and it is slow, very slow (except for the flashing). To have a decent experience we have to politely ask the emulator to speed up a bit. That, or use the compiled version provided by the author for the same price. This version has real arcade speed, so we have to be very attentive and... psychedelic.

   After a few games, it's impossible not to start thinking about...

"Polybius is an urban legend about a lost video game. According to the legend, a new game appeared in arcades around Portland, Oregon, in 1981. The gameplay was supposedly psychoactive, abstract, and dangerous. Children who played the arcade game were said to suffer from amnesia, seizures, night terrors, and hallucinations. Despite these adverse effects, the arcade cabinet was described as so addictive that players returned to Polybius repeatedly until they went insane, died, or vanished. The lack of any surviving Polybius cabinets is explained by men in black who were said to record data on the players before removing all the arcade machines." - Wikipedia

(For anyone interested in this urban legend, 

the Ahoy channel has a serious documentary on the subject on YT.)

   I feel bad; it's the first time I've had this internal struggle. I want to defeat my enemies, but my brain wants to be killed to end this colour torture. It's a whole new level of crap. I wonder in which secret service the author has spent his working life.

   I start to have a mix of songs in my head, Pink Floyd's “Brain Damage” and Malmsteen's “I'll see the light tonight”:

"The lunatic is in my head

You raise the blade, you make the change

You rearrange me 'till I'm sane

You lock the door and throw away the key

And there's someone in my head, but it's not me"

"I'll see the light, tonight

Flashing through the sky

Take my life, tonight"

   

   As I said before, the author offers us a pure BASIC version of the game, as well as a faster and more difficult compiled version. However, there is one more: the unbearable version, in which the border is in insane flash mode too. 

   And this is when I understand the game. It's not a colorful Space Invaders. It's a Visual Cortex Damage Simulator. 

"The occipital lobe at the back of the brain processes visual information.

 Damage or disturbances here can cause visual hallucinations,

 flickering lights, or flashing colors." - DeepAI

   I never tire of saying that the greatness of this contest lies in its participants. This game has given us the opportunity to learn more about the Spectrum character set, an urban legend in the worlds of video games, music, and neurology. And all for the price of nil sestertii.

   Flashing it all at once: This entry is three adventures in one: a torture in video game skin, a simulator of something malfunctioning in the brain and a shoot 'em up. The ability to choose between three versions allows us to adjust the level of madness we desire.

Scrambled Smile: 7/10

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 9/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 5/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 6/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 2/10