Game Covers - C16's Classics (Commodore Plus 4)

Dork's Dilemma

Plasma rocket failure.  A space shattering collision with a planetoid form not known to any civilized solar system and a dazed, confused Dork awakens to find his disabled spaceship stripped and hidden through the underworld kingdom of the evil little Zomwats

Zobwats?  Zobwats!  Dark little creatures living in an underground maze.

And they told Dork spacetravel was supposed to be fun.

Tycoon Tex

Tycoon Tex is a 'rootin', 'tootin' oil tycoon in the true wild west tradition.  Guns blazing, eyes gazing, the faster he can make his pipeline patrol the quicker he can add to his bank balance.

Sand, ice or snow can't halt Tex's speedy draw as he fights off the dangers of falling bombs, arrows, surface missiles and crash explosives.  And if he's a second too slow - **!!?? BOOM - one more leak, one barrel less to add to his sticky hoard.

Look out JR you ain't seen nothing yet!

Xargon Wars

A battle spectacular in the classic mould - defend your mother planet from the alien hordes.  Put to test your skills as gunnery commander as the space invaders launch wave after wave of laser bombs.  Will your nerve last out and reflexes quicken as each success you attain is met by an even faster attack the following level.

Petals of Doom

Trapped within an eerie space cavern, the only way home is to help the flower plantation reach full growth.  Only then will energy curtains blocking your way finally disappear.  But, true to all classic space shoot-outs, the plan-hating bugs are out to stamp your flowers to the ground.  See the free world again - only if your trigger finger can match the challenge.

Cover (Full)

Cover - Tape 1

Cover Tape 2

Inlay 1

Inlay 2

Dork's Dilemma Tape

Tycoon Tex Tape

 Xargon Wars Tape

  

 Petals of Doom Tape

3D View (hold and move to rotate)

3D View (hold and move to rotate)

3D View (hold and move to rotate)

Kayleigh's Retro Isolation - Day 14

Kayleigh's Retro Isolation - Day 14
Monday 6th April 2020

Dork's Dilemma on the Commodore 16 & Plus 4

"A nice little game. 6/10" - Kayleigh

Games that remind me of my childhood Number 25 : Dorks Dilemma (Commodore Plus 4)

Dorks Dilemma is a fun one player game that was released by Gremlin Graphics in 1985.  You control "Dork", an alien who awakens after crashing his space ship on an alien planet inhabited by Zobwats.  The Zobwats have dismantled your ship and have scattered the parts across 25 different rooms.  As Dork, you must explore each room, destroying the Zobwats with your bombs and reconstruct your ship so that you can escape.

Each room is a small maze consisting of various walls, with a spaceship part located in the middle.  In order to collect the ship part, you must destroy a set number of Zobwats using an infinite supply of bombs.  It sounds simple, but when you drop a bomb you only have a few seconds to get as far from it as possible.  If you're too close, you'll be killed too.  Once the Zobwats have been destroyed, move on to the next room, and the spaceship part appears in a jigsaw on the right of the screen.

Once you have collected all 25 pieces, you have to rearrange the jigsaw pieces to properly display a picture of your ship taking off from the planet.

The finished jigsaw

You're free to enter/exit the rooms as you please and although the 25 rooms are always the same, they are re-arranged in to a different order with each game, adding a bit of variety.  However, if you destroy some Zobwats and leave the room before destroying the required amount, you have to do it all over again when you re-enter the room.

One good way to kill the Zobwats is to let them come to you, then drop a bomb and run! (or roll)

Just let a bomb go off.

Each room has four respawning Zobwats that appear in each corner of the screen.  They gradually follow you, moving closer and although they can touch you, you must be careful not to move in to them.  It is possible for them to trap you in a corner or surround you, so be very careful, especially when planting a bomb.  Once you drop a bomb,  you have a few seconds to get away before it goes off.  You then have to wait several seconds for another bomb to regenerate

Don't get trapped.

If you enter a room where the ship part has already been collected, you get this.

AND should you finish the game and escape the planet...  You get to do it all over again from the beginning!  The only difference is you have more Zobwats to destroy in each room, and they move faster too.

All that hard work, and all you get is this message when you finish the game.

 

The box - part of a double tape compilation.

 

The tape

 

The full box cover, featuring all four games - Dorks Dilemma, Petals of Doom, Xargon Wars and Tycoon Tex

 

What's frightening about this game is that it's nearly 30 years old - Talk about making me feel old.