Apple Panic

Apple Panic description

A classic beyond time and space, born Ben Sirki from the game, 1980, Space Panic, and ported to the Apple II (so the choice of apples as opponents and not random); it was subsequently ported to several platforms, including the IBM PC. Porting the game to PC did the Olaf Lubeck, the future author Frogger'and.

Your hero – not a farmer, not a digger, armed with a shovel and moving in a strange place, consisting of platforms and ladders; he can walk left and right and to climb and descend the ladders, but don't jump. His enemies – the evil apples on the legs, which must be eliminated. However, any physical contact with the apples will result in instant death of the hero.

To kill Apple, it is necessary to implement a very creative and cruel plan: first you should dig a hole in the ground, then wait for one of are in constant motion apples fall into it and get stuck in it, becoming a helpless, after which it is possible to arrange a real massacre over him. Yes, for stuck Apple need to step up and begin to beat him with a shovel, ensuring that it fell out of the hole somewhere down. But even this does not necessarily give a positive result.

The fact that the apples in the game are of three types – they are different colors. And depending on the color for the death of a particular Apple is required to fly from one to three "spans" between platforms. That is, the orange Apple in the fall to the platform underneath it will die, green and purple – no. To kill such apples will have to dig a "symmetrical" holes in one or two platforms just below the previously dug hole above (I needed to fly two flights, purple – three). The holes can later again to fill the earth, to have the ability to properly navigate the level.

Digging a hole is not an instantaneous process, and starting it, you can to interrupt him (for one reason or another), but to use provirilia hole on purpose not – enemies unable to walk on it without any harm to himself, but to walk the hole with another Apple in it - no. If not to knock down the Apple, got into the hole, it will soon be out of it. Dig a hole in the lower platform level, of course, impossible.

If you manage to make it so that when you drop an Apple will fall to another – for this trick you will get a lot of points and get rid of two enemies (or even three if from under the falling will be two); however, if the "normal" Apple will fly more than one flight is also good (because it will give more points). However, be aware that you will die from falling another Apple only "regular" apples, which is enough for a death blow. Finally, if the enemy is coming to you in the moment when you dig the hole, but have not dug it, you still have a chance to finish digging and catch the Apple in the trap; however, if the enemy came close to the two of you, the trap will get only one Apple and the second will kill you. By the way, for you, unlike apples, fall even on all five levels absolutely safe.

Technically the game has no time limit (only on a high level of complexity), but the screen is not that big in size, and the enemies pretty much already in the beginning of the game. This means that you have really really fast so as soon as possible to destroy them all (this is the condition of passing) and go to the next level, where they will have a lot more. The architecture of different levels, but differs only in the number, length and location of stairs, because the platforms are always six. There are of course several lives, but the death and rebirth at a high level of difficulty time counter is not reset, but all the dead apples - reborn.

It is clear that the palette in the game – CGA only, but for 1982, this schedule seems almost fantastic, for both the hero and apples and even ladders drawn very carefully; in case of loss of life in the revival of the color scheme of the level is always slightly different. Management (including management of your main weapon – a shovel) is not the easiest and requires some getting used to, but you can get used to pretty quickly.

What is the result? There is no end, because it is simply not needed. It makes no sense to repeat once again that this game is a classic of the genre, the epithet for which is impossible to find; there is no need to touch her extraordinary fascination, the appeal and the highest difficulty, which, however, is not something that is not annoying, but makes spend playing hours and days in stubborn hope to overcome the next level. Better to just play one of the first IBM games, feeling the scent of a distant epoch, and clearly show the enraged evil apples, who is a farm owner!!!

Have you ever wondered what kind of video games were played in the good old days? Try playing Apple Panic online now and we are sure you will not stop playing again.

Source: Archive.org