TITANIC II - THE SEQUEL by Absinthe_Boy

 

TITANIC II - THE SEQUEL by Absinthe_Boy for ZX Spectrum 48K

   Throughout this incredible contest, we have delved into the depths of the human body, crossed deserts, explored caves, flown around the Earth's orbit, climbed volcanoes, and, although we have fished along the coast, today we will go further and cross the Atlantic.

   Or... At least we are going to try.

   As our collaborators and friends are all familiar with the eventful history of this titan of the seas, I will not recount it here. Our research team visited historical archives and camped out in the basements of several newspapers from that period to gather as much alternative information as possible, thus expanding our knowledge of this ship's misadventures. 

I) The Titanic didn’t sink. Instead, its sister ship RMS Olympic was disguised as The Titanic in an insurance scam by her owners, the International Mercantile Marine Group, controlled by American banker J.P. Morgan.

II) Some blame J.P. Morgan, claiming the banker arranged an elaborate murder. As the theory goes, Morgan wanted to create a US Federal Reserve Bank which was opposed by his rivals - millionaires John Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Macy's Isidor Straus. All of them perished on the journey.

III) The Titanic supposedly sank to its grave carrying a cursed mummy in its hold. It seems the mummified Egyptian princess also left a trail of devastation across England in the 1900s after being excavated and moved.

IV) Although WWI hadn’t yet started, suspicious minds suggest a German U-boat could have attacked the British ship. Some survivors reported a vessel lurking miles away until the early morning. "The sub may have deliberately targeted the luxury liner or possibly accidentally collided with it" - according to a Huffington Post columnist. 

V) Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff are blamed for using substandard materials to save money during construction - even though there was no limit on the budget to build the luxury liner. Supposedly, they used wrought iron rivets - mechanical fasteners - instead of steel rivets. As there were 3mm rivets in The Titanic’s hull, the theory is that the lower-grade standard rivets were brittle in cold temperatures and popped off when the steamship hit an iceberg. 

VI) The coal fire theory is one of the more interesting ideas. Robert Essenhigh, an Ohio State University engineer, is of the opinion that a pile of stored coal could have been smoldering so it was added to the furnace to reduce the fire danger. That, in turn, led to the unsafe speeds as The Titanic raced into the iceberg-filled ocean.

VII) But... What if the fire in Bunker Number 6 was part of a perfect storm of events that sank The Titanic - a combination of fire, ice, and criminal negligence? Irish journalist and author Senan Molony believes a substantial fire could have weakened sections of the hull, making it impossible for The Titanic to withstand the impact of an iceberg.

    We are now in possession of a greater amount of knowledge and suspicion.

   The author introduces us to the game with the following text: "You are a passenger aboard RMS Titanic. You may or may not resemble Rose. The great ship is heading for an iceberg and your only hope of survival is to jump at just the right moment, by pressing the "J" key."

   Load the game.

   Ah, no automated commencement here, but the old method of typing RUN and striking the ENTER key. 'Tis much to my liking.

   Beautiful graphics, well-aligned text, thank you!

   

   Straight to the iceberg, let's go! Lots of flickering, enriched squid yoghurt!

   Bad timing. That little dot behind the ocean liner is me, drowning in the icy waters of the North Sea. It's so cold that the programme has even stopped...

   Three litres of boiling chicken soup and six hours of hot spring later, I make sure to jump out in time.

   Unfortunately, the person responsible for ensuring the text was presented correctly has fallen ill and could not be replaced in time for the competition.

      It's time to swim for our lives.

   Apparently, we are the very handsome dot and we have to swim quickly towards the floating wreckage of the ship. It's not easy, we'll miss it several times because it's...

   Safe! Great ship, great adventure, great danger, great heroism, now comes the great congratulations:

   Well... 

   Since this is the second instalment, curiosity led me to play the first one, which was part of this fabulous event back in 2012. It turns out that it has a very good loading screen:

   Let's look at the game itself:

   Ahem, code reuse at its finest, I suppose.

   Taking the floating debris to the shipyard: Brilliant pile of crap. It captures the original spirit of the contest. It doesn't even return to the start when the game is finished. The sounds are basic but competent. I love the Titanic graphic. Despite everything, it's worth playing (once).

Scrambled Smile: 7/10.

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 10/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 1/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 2/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 6/10