“Since long ago, people managed to get over their argues playing stone-paper-scissors game, then it became art. Now, every 4 years, in a secret hidden location, it takes place a competition to decide which one is the best player. You have been chosen to take part in this competition, Will you be able to win?”

This is the introduction that appears in the manual. With this history only one thing can be done: TEST THE GAME AND COMMENT IT IN THE MOAI. After the idolized MSX Hot Numbers, the third and definitive delivery of acclaimed director MSXKUN arrives, produced by the invaluable aid of PAXANGA. This game was presented in the last Barcelona's MSX Meeting.



First of all I have to say that it is a puzzle game that combines the speed of reaction and the strategy (for all whose do not use their brain more than to change the TV channel I then do not recommend it). Beforehand I have to say that MSXKUN has said that at the moment he is not going to make another puzzle game, that is that at this moment for his cerebral activity (or was hormonal) he will make a deep meditation (ZZZZ). Well, we have to review the game.

In the first place the technical characteristics: the game requires a superior MSX2 with 128 of RAM, 128 of VRAM and Msx-Music (optional for music). If we do not have this last one we will not hear melodies that accompanies the aforesaid element. It is possible to be installed in hard disks and similar although I have not yet test to install it within my microwaves because I did not have the desire to disassemble it. The presentation of the game comes within a pretty plastic box with the manual cover. Once we open the box and we put it to run in our MSX the screen indicates us the memory free that we have, if we have MSX-Audio and those little hardware things.



In the main screen we can choose between several options:

•  VERSUS - Single combat, against other player or the computer.
•  CHALLENGE - Combat mode against all the characters controlled by the CPU.
•  TOURNAMENT - A tournament up to 16 players .
•  OMAKE - Menu options and extras.

This last menu is really well done, because we can accede to a pile of things among them the password, the tutorial to learn how to play, and the relax mode which is an option that you will have to activate in the first games since it activates the game in turns (I throw a card and then the opposing one throws another one).



Once within the menu we choose anyone of the game options available and now is the moment for choosing a character and we will be able to choose between:

•  MAZINGER - ALIEN - LEERA - SKELET - MAGITA - RUSTU
•  CHULA - GATCHAN - CHOF - RURA - URU - NIKOCHAN
•  SNAKE - E.T. - TELETUBBI - BALUMA

Once the character has been chosen we can already play. The truth is that the mechanic is very simple but that does not mean that the game is easy. As it has been said it is based on the well-known stone -paper-scissors game (these cards will be the basic ones, next to the blocker and the star). We also have special cards, and finally the cards of immediate effect, that as it indicates they will make effect immediately (a simple example: if you drink 20 liters of beer the immediate effect is to go to piss). Well, the board structure is simple: we accumulate cards in the rows to be able to damage the opponent. When two are crossed the simple stone-paper-scissors rule is used. In the case of basic cards the hands always win above special cards and these win as well to the star, and this last wins at the hands. If we have not chosen the relax mode we will see that the game is enough difficult, and that the adversaries do not let themselves win (if you block the board does not commit suicide or anything similar). You have to be fast to be able to put cards to the adversary. I recommend to you that you use the relax mode at the beginning because if not they will not give you a chance to breathe!



About the graphics I have to say that they are really well done, specially the character design. Also the fact that the bottom of the screen is not empty and one pretty girl is turning aside continuously my attention towards her anatomy, which is an added level of difficulty. Music in spite of not being a masterpiece, is well composed and it does not become heavy. It accompanies the game perfectly although something more of variety would had been better. It would be ugly to finish the review without making mention to those people who have collaborated and helped to this project:

PROGRAM: MSXKUN
GRAPHICS: MSXKUN & STEVEN HARDEST
CHARACTER GRAHPIC "MAGITA": HTDREAMS
MUSIC AND SOUND: MSXKUN, TRAPOSOFT (ending theme - with Music Module also), MANUEL DOPICO (ending theme2)
BETA-TESTERS: MSKKUN, JAVIER PEREZ
ART COVER: STEVEN HARDEST
MANUAL AND COVERS: MSXKUN

If you want a copy, information, or 1,500 butane bottles here I leave the web page of the author of the game:

http://es.geocities.com/magapeich  |  e-mail: magapeich@yahoo.es




Ángel Alonso