ZXPIDER by ZXKerl

 

ZXPIDER by ZXKerl for ZX Spectrum 48K

   What more can I say about our prolific contributor, ZXKerl, that I haven't already said? He's creative, tireless and a fountain of ideas. He's also an expert — or perhaps obsessive — when it comes to deadly pursuits. Well, believe it or not, he has surprised me again this time. For the highest-level competition in the known universe, I received a frenetic arcade game that is only 1.2 KB! 1.2 KB! In Sinclair BASIC!

   Apparently, the topic is spiders... No, I'm not going to talk about the boy who was bitten by a radioactive spider. The topic brings something darker to mind:

"On candy stripe legs, the spiderman comes

Softly through the shadow of the evening sun

Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead

Looking for the victim shivering in bed

Searching out fear in the gathering gloom

And suddenly a movement in the corner of the room

And there is nothing I can do when I realize with fright

That the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight."

- Robert Smith

   As the game cover clearly shows, the game features both prey and spider hunters. This means that we are not at the top or bottom of the food chain, but somewhere in the middle.

   This sparse and poorly aligned welcome screen provides us with the basic instructions for the game, hinting that it does not have a complex story behind it.

   The game begins with our spider (in INK 2) experiencing acceleration in the presence of space-time deformation caused by the enormous mass of the planet it inhabits... I mean, the spider falls.

   Because of randomness, it is highly likely that we will end up falling on top of a hungry frog, which will end our adventure — and the game — before it even begins.

   Knowing this potential danger for our little creature, we will be vigilant and use the jump, which responds surprisingly quickly. It turns out that the jump is both diagonal and parabolic:

   

 What does this remind us of? One of the first greats in Spectrum's history, that's right — that other creature that had to escape:

   I don't know if this spider is radioactive or not, but if we hold down the key, it can jump really far. As soon as we release it, it must deploy some kind of aerodynamic brake and the parabola is cut short to begin a vertical descent. Although this defies certain laws of mechanics, it is extremely useful when it comes to making our movements more precise and... not being devoured by those insatiable frogs!

   When all the little animals in the pond get together:: ZXKerl's creation is addictive in the extreme. With a little practice, you can master the strange jumps and eat lots of moths. But some are always located between frogs and are almost impossible to reach. That feeling of 'almost, almost, but I know I can do it' is what makes it so addictive. Not to mention the simple programming that gives it arcade speed. It's pure BASIC, it's fast, and there's no flickering.

   While I am an avowed fan of the brain's ability to recreate anything from simple ASCII characters, the author deserves a game with UDGs to add visual appeal.

Scrambled Smile: 6/10

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 5/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 8/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 8/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 7/10