Super Methane Bros Longplay (Amiga) [QHD]

Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Apache Software Publisher: Apache Software Year of Release: 1994 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- A relatively late commercial release for the Amiga, I vaguely remember playing a cover disk demo of Super Methane Bros, or seeing it in some kind mag preview. It's very much inspired by Bubble Bobble, featuring single-screen arenas full of enemies to defeat, bonuses to collect and secrets to discover. It's not exactly original, but I have to confess, it's a game I have a real soft spot for; Apache Software gave away a PC conversion of this for free on their website during the early 2000s, and I have to confess I spent a good proportion of my time at work playing this, rather than doing anything useful! To differentiate itself somewhat from Taito's classic, here you trap monsters within clouds of sulphurous fart gas, rather than bubbles. Entrapped meanies must then be sucked up into your gas dispenser and propelled into a wall or solid surface to defeat them permanently; doing so within certain time limit will cause playing card to appear, and collecting the ace of each suite unlocks a bonus screen where even more points can be accrued. Most levels feature a special bonus item, such as a turbo injector to increase the speed at which you can dispense gas, fireball launchers and other upgrades, and certain levels contain secret switches which allow you reach seemingly inaccessible treasure chests. If I have one criticism of the game, it's the fact it runs so slowly. The CD32 release wasn't exactly speedy, but OCS version turns into a major chug-a-thon on the A500 when the screen gets busy. There's a noticeable delay when trying to move or fire your gas cannon, which can lead to some frustrating deaths beyond your control. I'm not sure whether the game was written in 68000 ASM, or whether it used AMOS/some other intermediate language, which could explain