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                                MORPION 3D v1.1o
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system ... ST, STe, STeem, 512 KB RAM, RGB

done by .. Wolfy 2 / France

genre .... puzzle game

release .. 11/2k2

url ...... http://emulatari.free.fr/morpion3d.html

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Quite unexpected I stumbled  over this  small game that was well (?) hidden on a
homepage in french language and so you may guess that the game is done in french
language only as well, eh? This time not that big problem at all  as the idea of
the game is quite simple and easy to understand, even for non-french people :)

"MORPION 3D" is a  clone  of the  game "4 wins" or  something, dunno  how  it is
called in english originally, it's a "4 in a row" game, you know, where you have
to put  4 stones in  a vertical/horizontal or  even diagonal  line to  win, on a
playfield that is just 4 * 4 fields in size.

"Arf" you might  say now, but in fact, lets take a closer look onto it as it is
a  bit  more  as  just "4 wins". The  original  game  was  created  only  in 2D
perspective and this  coder  has added the 3rd dimension. You now have not just
one playfield but 4 and with the possibility  to put one single  stone on every
field in the right place to win a round.

Ofcourse you could play just on one playfield, but if you chose the computer as
opponent you have to fight on all 64 fields and on all 4 playfields at once and
this turns out to be a hard nut.

If you thought at first "baah... boring stuff" you should have learned more now,
as "Morpion 3D" is a real hard strategic thing and offers more as well.

At first the visuals  are on a quite good level, playfield  and surroundings are
well drawn. Ok, there isn't much action and animations on the screen but the gfx
are still doing their job fine.
Furthermore the game comes along with, unfortunately, quite often used chipmusic
but you can switch it off, too.



Looks ok, doesn't it?

The game offers a two player mode and the  possibility to play against the Atari
itself, that is quite hard, but so you have some competition :)  Furthermore the
game offers a little information about all the possibilities to win as well that
comes along as "how to set stones guide".

But as always (naaa, not really), also that little, on the first view, well made
games can have some drawbacks. But here there aren't much, but I want to mention
them anyway.

At first, the  game came along as .ST emulator file, aaarg! So you  get a 7oo KB
.ST file  that includes  a 1oo KB game. I  think even  emulation users should be
able  to start programs out  of the emulation  so that .ST files could be banned
for such little programs. Furthermore the release in file versions would support
the users of real Atari machines a bit more, as many just make a bow around such
images.

Other drawbacks are the  french language in readme and  the game itself. You can
play it  anyway but  the readme  isn't  that easy to  understand for people that
can't speak one single french word.

Last but not least a little problematic is the high A.I. that  leaves you nearly
no chance to win as the machine seems to avoid any  human mistake... but I think
some people will like the competition with the "originally dumb" computer...

Final words... so what? If you sum it up the positive moments are superior, it's
               a nice  little game  with nice  artwork and  a quite  interesting
               idea, but with  some drawbacks anyway. But  after all they  don't
               drag the game that much down. So if you haven't checked it out so
               far, just take a look at it if you like strategic boardgames.

___ratings______________________________________________________________________

visuals .....  65 % - board and items and surroundings are looking quite ok
audio .......  5o % - old chipmusic, some sound fx
controls .... 1oo % - just mouse controlled, can't be solved better
idea ........  6o % - "4 Wins" in 3D... very interesting
motivation ..  6o % - unfortunately the A.I. makes playing hard against Atari

___overall_____67_%_____________________________________________________________

A nice little game for a break...

_eil2k3_________________________________________________________________moondog_