UCM25
.tHE .sIRIUS .cYBERNETICS .cORPORATION
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EVEN MORE D-BUG COMPILES TO CHECK
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It took quite a while for the D-BUG guys to go on with their compacts but now I
am quite sure they will somewhen reach their goal to release at least 2oo menus.
After number 179 in January it didn't took that long to kick out even 3 disx
more... So enough stuff to open another D-BUG menu article :)
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D-BUG 179
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After a longer break D-BUG presents us, right with the release STAXs' new game
"Zombie Apocalypse" another games compile... ofcourse featuring this game.
The Menu offers a small intro with a picture by C-REM and a bending raster
scroller. It brings us 3 games this time and with REALM OF THE TROLLS that was
also known as DOWN AT THE TROLLS, an old game from Rainbow Arts that was never
cracked before and is some little diamond on this disk, as nobody who doesn't
owns the original should have it.
Unfortunately I have to admit that I'm checking those compiles on emulation (Ha!
Shame on me!) and so the Data disk creation doesn't run and I get bombed out of
the game, too bad, but I am not that much motivated to dig out my STs down in
the cellars and search a place on my limited desk for them... I'm getting old...
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE was reviewed in this UCM already, check it out. SHW brought us
a trained version btw.
And the third game is "TRAPPED 2", an up-to-four player Tron game by Digital Dan
that I think I have already seen some years ago, but I am not sure. Anyway, the
game is nice, even for one player as the other players can be controlled by the
computer as well. Somehow the game impresses with the many options you can take
and reminds a bit in this way to the todays Reservoir Gods productions. But the
rest, apart from the fun, is just mediocre, the grafix are a complete tristesse
and except an old schoolish tracker intro music you get just a few chip noises
in the game... Seems to be some diskfiller in the end...
So what? Nice menu even though it isn't that digestible for emulation users...
But to know more about "Realm of the Trolls" I may build up my ST somewhen...
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D-BUG 18o
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After the usual bootsector saying D-BUG 180 a little title picture by C-REM (I
have the feeling he is involved anywhere, no? :) comes up and to the nice chip
sounds by 5o5 a better intro as the usual scroller-sprite-combinations pops up,
even tough it is again a recycled one. Again Evl jumps in and smashes a cute
blurred texture mapping tunnel with a transparent D-BUG logo onto the screen.
The usual scroller announces us two games, Superfly and Roger. So what?
SUPERFLY is quite an old hat today, over one year around already and surely
played to death. Overall it seems as everyone already tried it out and should
have it at all. Without any doubt it is a very nice game with an addiction
factor of 15o % or something, but as said, the hype the Reservoir Gods have made
around their late productions made them to the most spreaded games today, I'm
quite sure of this, so its appearance on a compact menu that late isn't a real
burner. So it's surely just on the disk as it wasn't compiled before.
ROGER... Yes... I never heard of this game before, too. But you can find a quite
detailed review in the games corner as I leeched and played the filed version
before. Anyway, with this game the D-BUGgers again found some quite rare thing
that gives this menu some sense and while I have to admit that I didn't played
SUPERFLY again, I played that game a lot as I haven't seen and played it so far
and it's a jump'n'run thing and I really don't know when I have played such a
game on my STE for the last time.
So well done, another goodie that raises this menu over the swamp of thousands
worthless disx...
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181
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The last menu for this multi review is coming up. The intro is more oldschoolish
again, with scroller, starfield and a sprite logo made of big letters, I guess
you know who did them... C-REM again :) The chip music is very nice btw...
This menu features 3 games again.
MERCENARY 3 - THE DION CRISIS is a 3D adventure by Novagen, completely made in
filled vector grafix but awfully boring, games don't get better if they're older
hehehe...
TURN N BURN is the second one and an a bit Asteroids like space shot'em'up by
Flair Software. Its design isn't that bad, the grafix are well drawn, but the
sound effects are a bit going onto your nerves with the time. You're flying with
your little spaceship over a stable screen while enemies in different wave forms
coming along, from asteroids over smileys and fishes, hu? You can collect some
extras and your job is clear, turn and burn, turn your ship and destroy all the
nasties. Makes really fun for a while. The game is trained ofcourse, but a real
shooter hero does not need that, no?
CAVE MANIA at least seems to be the old brother of CHUCK ROCK and PREHISTORIK,
it's a jump'n'run game where you take the role of a bad animated stonetimes
man and you have to make your way through the jungle. The title and intro grafix
leaving a bad taste, while the in-game grafix aren't that bad, except for the
point that there are just minimal animations and the control is quite dumb.
Another bad point is the sound that is, erm... just a bunch of chip noises, brr,
boing, bomp... very entertaining. Short, this game is just wasted time...
This menu can't hold the quality of the former ones, it's just mediocre, just
TURN N BURN was played for more than just one round by me... but surely it is
also a matter of taste, but you don't have to forget that the MERCENARY series
never got that good reviews ;)
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182
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Number 182 digs deep in the ST games history but somehow it just digs out two
damn old and never cracked GEM games. With "UNIVERSE 2" we have some space
trading thing or something, no grafix just text messages and alert boxes, wow,
I didn't knew that gambling on the ST was that exciting in the past ;)
BREAKERS, the second game, was cracked by Zippy of the Medway Boys lately, huu!,
and it's... a text adventure with a helping parser. And after all, I never liked
games like this as it is a damn dry genre for me.
The menu contains overall a very small intro and that's it. This disk is surely
for collectors only that miss those old games in their archive, furthermore it
helps to save those old games from the trashcan as with such old games you don't
know how many originals are still around.
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183
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This latest menu forced me to re-open that article again, as it just has to be
mentioned here. This one contains a very well done intro, featuring a 512 colors
picture scrolling zoomed in fullscreen around on the screen while a sample by
Duran Duran gets replayed in the background. Oldschool but cool...
The menu contains two games, "Realms of Reality", that is a damn fine shareware
roleplayer in style of Dungeon Master, featuring well drawn grafix and sampled
sounds. It surely plays in the same league as several other shareware rpg's just
like Arcan.
The second game is "Tiles Osmosis" by Cerebral Vortex... a puzzle game that may
be re-released as I think I saw it many years back but I can't remember right.
But who cares in the end, except for the fact that it seems that I really don't
understand the gameplay... maybe I'm too fed up in testing out something in the
last days before the planned release of UCM?
So what? A nice menu again, featuring a quite stunning intro using an effect
that wasn't tormented to death before on ST. Both games are quite rare and will
find their lovers.
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5 more compiles on the way to number 2oo... not the biggest surprises but at
least three containing some nice and rare stuff.
_________________________________________________________________moondog_o3/2k4_
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