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                     GAME AND WATCH - LCD GAMES REVIVAL
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system.... ST, STe, Fo3o, STeem!, 512 KB RAM, RGB, VGA

credits... done by Florent Coste, -Atari.Games-, original games by NINTENDO

special... runs only from disk, not from harddrive!

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What the hell is "Game And Watch" you might ask and there is a simple answer for
it, since this is some kind of LCD games series created by Nintendo in the early
eighties and still living  up today  in various versions. You  know those little
plastic things with a few buttons, a small LCD screen and boring games like some
football, tennis and such stuff.

Since those LCD games are still  very popular (at least for the little kids that
didn't got a Gameboy so far) it is some  kind of strange that  someone created a
revival in doing some kind of "LCD games emulator" for the ST. Naa, after all it
isn't  a real emulator, but some  kind of games series, that try to recreate the
games on the Atari computers as original as possible. Those games are created by
a guy called Florent Coste who  was working as games grafix designer in the late
eighties for different french firms on Atari ST. He has created a new label now,
called "ATARI.GAMES" that has the aim to bring those LCD games onto our machine.

So far two  games were created, called "Balls" and "Popeye". The first one  is a
juggling  game (check our review of the Reservoir Gods' game "Double Juggle...")
and the second some "catch the falling things" game. But I want to review both a
bit closer here...

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                                   "BALLS"
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As mentioned above, it is a juggling game and if you have red already the review
of the RESERVOIR GODS game, you're very  close to know what this game looks like
and how it is to play.

But while the RESERVOIR GODS made  some remake of the  game, this frenchie tries
to create the whole game on Atari again. This means on the screen you can see an
image that  shows the  LCD game at  all, with buttons  and the LCD screen in the
middle. Before the game starts, some small intro comes up, giving info about the
game and how to play it. This small intro comes  along in stylish colours and if
you wouldn't  know already  what will follow  you would wait anxiously what will
come next...

At next the game itself comes up. The screen looks quite boring, the only colors
are more or less the ones of the LCD handheld since the game itself runs only in
black & white, antialiased with a few greyscales. The whole situation looks like
this...



Wow, amazing, eh?!

Naah, just joking. The game play is quite simple, just press the buttons A and B
to make your little guy on  the screen move his arms  to avoid it that the balls
falling down onto the floor since then you have lost.

The screen  features 2 game  levels, one with 2 balls and one with 3. I have say
that it  seems as the 3 balls game is  slowing down  a bit, even  if there isn't
much movement on the screen at all. The 2  balls game is quite fast, at least on
the Falcon  and so it makes a lot  more fun, if you  can speak of  fun here. The
controls  are quite simple, while using keyboard, mouse  or joystick. All things
go... If you  have lost  you can  write an  entry in the  highscore list that is
saveable, nice step.

But the game has got some major drawbacks, just as there is no music implemented
nor any sound FX, not the smallest beep leaves the  speakers. That is quite dull
and I don't think that this is only a preview  since it is some kind of worse as
there was already another game released and so I don't see the point while doing
a second if the first isn't finished at all... after all, where  the hell should
be the problem in adding some music and fx?!

And there is more... the game has  some sprite errors  and so you  can't see the
balls for  a second if they're crossing their routes  or you  see just one then,
while the other appears on another point  again, mostly then too far away to can
be catched... errr...

Last but not least some unpleasent  point is the fact that you have the game run
from disk. At first I thought the whole thing  was corrupted since it  runs only
on STeem! emulation  and as I tried  it out on  Falcon nothing worked. Ok, after
all it  works, on Falcon  too, but it  would be cool  to  make it  run from  any
directory on harddisk, too.

What to say?! In comparison  with the  Reservoir Gods' "Double Juggle" game this
one has lost a lot of ground. It doesn't matter to me if the maker tried to port
the game as original  as possible. After all  the grafix don't break any  record
and there is no sound  at all. On the positive point it is nearly as playable as
the Res Gods' game, featuring 2 game modes (not only two 3-balls stages :P ), is
quite easy to control and offers a saveable highscore.

Since both games run on any ST and up hardware, I have to say that you're better
on with  the Res Gods' game, forget this crappy LCD game conversion, it  has too
much drawbacks to stand the fight...

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                                     "POPEYE"
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This game isn't just an "avoid the balls from falling down onto the floor" game,
but is very  close  to it. Here you  take over the  role of  Popeye, the spinach
eating comic hero. You're staying on a small island surrounded by water and left
and right on  some rock's two  other guys are  standing. The left one  is always
throwing some trash into the sea while the other one tries to hit you.

Your aim is to  catch all the stuff  the guy is throwing, if you will miss three
of the items, the game is  over. But that isn't the  problem at all. If you move
too far to left or  right, you will fall into  the water, that  counts as "miss"
too, as well  as finally if you got a hit  from Brutus, the bad ass on the right
rock. As you can see, this game features  a bit more action as the previous one,
but it offers also a bit more, still...

The grafix are of better quality, not only in greyscales, but featuring a bit of
colour too, not brainblasting, but it makes the screen looking a bit better. The
sprites are a bit better looking, much more detailed. The  control's are easy as
well, as  mentioned  supporting keyboard, mouse  and  joystick and  last but not
least, it saves  the highscore  table too... To give you  an impression, look at
this one...



I think now you can imagine best what this game brings onto your monitor...

But there are, again, some things  that are missing. It's the same as in the 1st
game, no music and  only running  from disk... I don't want to repeat my phrases
from above...

So what is left? Surely this game is a bit  better as the previous one and after
all this game hasn't a direct competitor atm, but... is it really as stunning as
there has to be created a conversion of this game idea onto the ST or Falcon...
I think no, this game is a pure  LCD game, since it only does  the things such a
cheap LCD pocket game can offer, nothing more and it is  some kind of disturbing
to see the good old ST be fed up with such primitive  game ideas as you remember
what great games were released in the past on it, even in the public domain...

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The very last words...

This LCD Games Revival "Game & Watch" thingie  reminds me hard  to the Reservoir
Gods' "GODLENES" and "GODBOY" stuff that  brought  Gameboy and NES games  in all
their "glory" onto the Falcon, a  point I still  wonder about. Sure, there are a
few great games included, but  after all I really  wonder about the sense, since
all those games don't run as good as on the  original systems and  after all the
Falcon offers enough  power to make  a clone game that  uses the Falcons special
techs to it's end...

The same goes for this LCD things  stuff. We know what the  ST is able to do and
it is a bit sad to see him  suffering under  such releases, since  it leaves the
impression that the author doesn't want to support the ST but overall only wants
to remind to the "Game & Watch" series by Nintendo only...

This is my point of  view, surely several  gamers will like those small games, I
don't like them... I have to say that  I have loaded the Res Gods' juggling game
much more  often, even if it's  whole presentation  isn't so  much better on the
grafix side  and in the game play... but this isn't just a one-to-one conversion
but brings a bit of rework too, and so it makes a bit more fun...

.tSCc.                                                         moondog . o4/2k2
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