The last few reviews I wrote were more like comparisons of the same games on differing systems, in an effort to show that the CoCo had a fairly robust gaming catalog. Obviously, this is more true today than just a few years ago. The only issue I had when I started considering reviews again was: which game to choose.
Fortunately or unfortunately, recent events made that easy.
A while back, starting in 2012 I believe, long time CoCoNut John Linville wrote a game called Fahrfall, based on Downfall, a homebrew game he found for the Atari Jaguar. The premise of the game is fairly simple: safely guide your player on upward, vertically scrolling platforms, and stay alive. If you fall, you die. If you hit the top of the screen, you die. The longer you live, the higher your score.
Atari Jaguar Downfall
As I said, the video tells it all, the premise is simple. According to John's Blog, he initially decided to create an original arcade style game on the CoCo 1 & 2, also while entering into the Retro-Challenge. I'm not going to take the time to take a bunch of screenshots or original video. There's quite a bit on YouTube already.Here's one John himself posted showing off the Game Master Cartridge.
While I don't think the choppy animation necessarily hurts the game play, it doesn't help it at all. This effect could be a byproduct of the game being coded under ECB. Full screen animation will only be so smooth, even with ML speed up routines. Or it could be that this isn't a serious attempt at making a GOOD game.
Player control is also a weak point. Watching the CoCoTalk watch party, whomever was playing experienced the same issues I did at first. Again, due to it's nature as an ECB game, I do not believe there's enough speed in the system to afford the same level of player control Fahrfall has. Either that, or it just wasn't important enough to the programmer. After a while you get used to the lack of responsiveness, and can anticipate when to start and end your player movements. Missile Command on the Atari 2600 had much better and more accurate controls than Waterfall.
As previously stated, with both Fahrfall and Waterfall, the goal is to stay alive while dropping from platform to platform. Waterfall stayed closer to the 'Inspirational' games that came before it by having items on platforms for extra points. I don't think this adds or detracts from the game - it adds to points totals quicker, and if the controls were better would be a cool addition.
Listening to the commentators on the CoCoTalk video, I'm left a little confused. Their excitement over this game seemed to be coming from a place of dubious sincerity. Feel free to interpret my meaning, you'll probably get it right. The graphics look more like an Atari game than a CoCo, and maybe that was part of the intent. However, a game with bad graphics and great game play would beat a game with great graphics and poor game play anytime. For example, Combat on the Atari. Blocky graphics, but really good control - it's a fun game.
For me, Waterfall falls into neither category. Since the guys on the watch party seemed to be so enthusiastic about the game, I attempted to be as well. And that didn't last long.
There are a few points I'd like to make in closing:
1. These games are far from equal
2. Fahrfall is a much better implementation of the premise than Waterfall
3. Waterfall isn't bad for a game coded in a week
4. The GMC makes Fahrfall a more enjoyable game
5. The SS/C makes Waterfall less enjoyable than the graphics, animation and player control
6. I have no idea if the author of Waterfall took the game seriously, or had other intentions for it's development
Fahrfall is by fahr the more enjoyable game to play. I'd rather pay for it, than play a free version with clunky graphics.
The addition of the GMC with it's sound chip (the same one in the Tandy 1000) doesn't add anything to the game play, but, it DOES add to the experience. While the musical composition will not win any awards, it's not offensive and actually sounds really good. The game play itself is really good, john has the controls dialed well. The character (Fahrve, I believe is his name) goes left and right when you want him to, and stops on a dime. I noticed no lag in his movements whatsoever.
In fact, I was able to get what I consider to be a decent score during my first night of game play. Next milestone is 20k - we'll see.
I'll get back to playing it again. These types of games where the goal is to beat your previous best score are the types of game I appreciate most. Video games with a definitive ending to them just seem anticlimactic. Again, this is personal preference, yet explains my affinity for Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.
Farfahll is an exceedingly fun, and addictive game. The animation is smooth, the controls are spot on, music and SFX are there. Is it going to be everyone's cup of tea? Probably not. However, in showing off the GMC's sound chops a little with the Master Edition, John has created a platform for anyone who wants to create a game with far better sound capabilities than any CoCo before it. In fact, John tells me a disk game can access the GMC when an MPI is in use as well. So I guess in reviewing Fahrfall, I've also reviewed the Game Master Cartridge.
Farfahll is an exceedingly fun, and addictive game. The animation is smooth, the controls are spot on, music and SFX are there. Is it going to be everyone's cup of tea? Probably not. However, in showing off the GMC's sound chops a little with the Master Edition, John has created a platform for anyone who wants to create a game with far better sound capabilities than any CoCo before it. In fact, John tells me a disk game can access the GMC when an MPI is in use as well. So I guess in reviewing Fahrfall, I've also reviewed the Game Master Cartridge.
Listening to my work-in-progess game for the very first time through a real GMC! :) I should add I currently don't compensate for 50/60Hz so the music sounds slightly slower on my PAL Dragon. Big thanks to John W. Linville for hooking me up and Simon Jonassen for bringing it back from CoCoFEST.
Posted by Steve Bamford on Sunday, June 2, 2019
Above is a video linked from the Facebook CoCo group, posted by Steve Bamford, demonstrating his progress on a game using the GMC. And really, the audio is nothing short of incredible. Much kudos should go out to John for developing this cartridge, and Steve for really taking the audio to the next level. You can read about, and hear, what another developer is doing with the GMC here.
So no, this isn't just a review of Fahrfall, the game. It's also a review of the GMC, and the value it can add to a game. Is it a sound card? No, as stated in my previous 'drama' post, the GMC is actually a platform for developing games with features the Color Computer and it's cousins do not have. And it does it well. Fahrfall the game can stand on it's own as a very fun and addictive game with great controls, lots of action and even some frustration. The Master Edition, with the GMC, adds to the overall quality of the game by providing the sound improvements. It's a win-win.
Now, if only the story ended there... (queue ominous music?)
So no, this isn't just a review of Fahrfall, the game. It's also a review of the GMC, and the value it can add to a game. Is it a sound card? No, as stated in my previous 'drama' post, the GMC is actually a platform for developing games with features the Color Computer and it's cousins do not have. And it does it well. Fahrfall the game can stand on it's own as a very fun and addictive game with great controls, lots of action and even some frustration. The Master Edition, with the GMC, adds to the overall quality of the game by providing the sound improvements. It's a win-win.
Now, if only the story ended there... (queue ominous music?)
There's been some drama recently. Sadly, even after lots of discussion and seemingly a burying of hatchets, so to speak, there appears to have been a shot fired from Australia. Now, I could be wrong, this next game might have just been in jest. However, the public commentary during its reveal, not to mention the discussion of like projects that's been going on since before the CoCoFest!, leads me to believe there's more to to the story.
During an 'impromptu' episode of CoCoTalk a week or so ago, the guys did a review of a new Nick Marentes game called Waterfall. I'm sure everyone knows who Nick is; some of the best shooters on the CoCo were developed by him, like Space Intruders, Cosmic Ambush and PopStar Pilot, as well as a Pac-Man tribute game which is Pac-Man using 100% Nick Marentes code.
Waterfall, has a webpage set up for information about the game, it's origins and it's features. It's without irony that I can state that Nick places Waterfall's origins in the same games that John Linville did on his Farfahll blog. In fact, much ado was made in the video cast and the project webpage about Waterfall being an "Inspirational" new game - seemingly taking words straight from John's blog pages. Waterfall is a semi-graphics game, programmed in Extended Color Basic, using ML routines to improve performance - straight from the project webpage. Also, it uses what I consider to be one of the most overrated CoCo devices ever - the Speech and Sound cart - to provide sound and voice. The vocals are reminiscent of Stephen Hawking, if his batteries were running low. Below is a video, provided by Nick, of the game play and the SFX of the SS/C in all it's glory.
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Before I get into the game play, I know the question will be asked: 'Did you even play it? Where's your video?' Simply put, I no longer own a CoCo 1 or 2. However, I DID play BOTH games using a CoCoPi3 - my high scores for both games are displayed in the two screen shots - the High Scores from Fahrfall, and the title screen to Waterfall. The Master Edition of Fahrfall played perfectly on Xroar with the GMC option. Waterfall, not so much - I couldn't get the SS/C to work in MAME or Xroar - it kept crashing. So I played Fahrfall on Xroar and Waterfall on MAME and Xroar. Besides, the SS/C not working for my game testing saved my ears from the torturous speech in Waterfall.
Again, no original video, there's plenty already out there showing the same thing I'm going to record. So what's the game look like? Well, the video above will tell the story. The graphics, being semi-graphics, look like the first generation of color computer games. The platform scrolling reminds me of cheap and quickly assembled stop-motion animation. The California Raisins clay-mation stop motion commercials were much smoother.
Again, no original video, there's plenty already out there showing the same thing I'm going to record. So what's the game look like? Well, the video above will tell the story. The graphics, being semi-graphics, look like the first generation of color computer games. The platform scrolling reminds me of cheap and quickly assembled stop-motion animation. The California Raisins clay-mation stop motion commercials were much smoother.
While I don't think the choppy animation necessarily hurts the game play, it doesn't help it at all. This effect could be a byproduct of the game being coded under ECB. Full screen animation will only be so smooth, even with ML speed up routines. Or it could be that this isn't a serious attempt at making a GOOD game.
Player control is also a weak point. Watching the CoCoTalk watch party, whomever was playing experienced the same issues I did at first. Again, due to it's nature as an ECB game, I do not believe there's enough speed in the system to afford the same level of player control Fahrfall has. Either that, or it just wasn't important enough to the programmer. After a while you get used to the lack of responsiveness, and can anticipate when to start and end your player movements. Missile Command on the Atari 2600 had much better and more accurate controls than Waterfall.
As previously stated, with both Fahrfall and Waterfall, the goal is to stay alive while dropping from platform to platform. Waterfall stayed closer to the 'Inspirational' games that came before it by having items on platforms for extra points. I don't think this adds or detracts from the game - it adds to points totals quicker, and if the controls were better would be a cool addition.
Listening to the commentators on the CoCoTalk video, I'm left a little confused. Their excitement over this game seemed to be coming from a place of dubious sincerity. Feel free to interpret my meaning, you'll probably get it right. The graphics look more like an Atari game than a CoCo, and maybe that was part of the intent. However, a game with bad graphics and great game play would beat a game with great graphics and poor game play anytime. For example, Combat on the Atari. Blocky graphics, but really good control - it's a fun game.
For me, Waterfall falls into neither category. Since the guys on the watch party seemed to be so enthusiastic about the game, I attempted to be as well. And that didn't last long.
There are a few points I'd like to make in closing:
1. These games are far from equal
2. Fahrfall is a much better implementation of the premise than Waterfall
3. Waterfall isn't bad for a game coded in a week
4. The GMC makes Fahrfall a more enjoyable game
5. The SS/C makes Waterfall less enjoyable than the graphics, animation and player control
6. I have no idea if the author of Waterfall took the game seriously, or had other intentions for it's development
Fahrfall is by fahr the more enjoyable game to play. I'd rather pay for it, than play a free version with clunky graphics.
