PrinceWatercress plays Jungle Hunt - The Longplay

...and now, gameplay minus the commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Jungle Hunt is an arcade game from Taito from 1982 that was ported over to all of the big systems of the day the following year. In this game, you play as Sir Dudley Dashly, and you'll have to swing from vine to vine, swim across a river while stabbing sharks, and running up a hill while avoiding boulders before outwitting cannibals to rescue Lady Penelope from being boiled alive in a cauldron.

At the top of the screen, you'll have your current amount of lives on the left, your current score in the center, and the bonus timer on the right. The faster you get through one loop, the bigger the bonus you'll get.

The first part of the game has you swinging on vines. You'll be moving from right to left here. The vines swing back and forth at various speeds, and you'll need to time your presses of the fire button just right so that the vine ahead of you is angled to the right while the one you are on is angled to the left. If your timing is way off, you'll fall to the ground below and lose a life, but if you catch the vine, you'll be able to jump to the next one. As you're doing this, you'll want to pay attention to where you are on the vine. It's better to be higher on a vine than in a lower position, as that gives you more room for error and makes it easier to jump to the next vine in case something goes wrong.

You'll eventually end up in the river. You can swim around in eight directions with the joystick, and the fire button allows you to stab the crocodiles with a knife. If your upper arm is in the extended position, that means that you're stabbing with the knife, although it can be a bit hard to tell. As you swim across the river, you'll also have a "Diving" meter, which is your oxygen. If you run out of oxygen, you'll lose a life. You'll also lose a life if you run into a crocodile while not in the stabbing animation.

You'll soon reach dry land, and you'll have to run up a hill, although the hill is flat on the Atari 2600 version of the game. Left and Right on the joystick allow you to move back and forth, Down on the joystick allows you to duck, while the fire button allows you to jump. If you're holding Up on the joystick while you press the fire button, you'll do a higher jump than normal, and that can sometimes allow you to jump over the bigger boulders. The smaller boulders roll along the ground, while the bigger boulders will bounce up and down as they advance towards you. You'll have to jump over the smaller boulders, but you can superjump over or duck under the bigger boulders depending on your position as well as the boulder's.

Finally, there's the cannibals. The cannibals will jump back and forth, and you'll want to time your movements carefully so you don't run into them in any way. Approach them as they jump backwards, then jump over them before they jump forwards again. If you don't get close enough to jump over them, back away, then approach as they hop back to the left. Be ready to hit the fire button when you close the distance. If you use the superjump, this can be a little easier. When you jump over a cannibal, head left with Left on the joystick to head to the second cannibal, who you'll have to deal with the same way that you dealt with the first one. After getting past the second cannibal, keep holding Left on the joystick, especially when you reach the screen with Lady Penelope. You'll reunite with Lady Penelope, and the game starts all over again at a slightly higher difficulty.

The only game modes are selectable with the Game Select switch. Game Mode 1 is the default easier difficulty, while Game Mode 2 is the harder difficulty. Pressing the switch will show one of the two numbers - 1 or 2 - in the upper-left corner. The difficulty switches are not used for this game.

I had fun with this port. The colors were of the darker variety, but it definitely feels like you're in a jungle with the hues that the colors come in. I also like that there is also parallax scrolling with the treetops. The sound and music is pretty arcade-y, and the jingle you get for completing a section of the game never gets old. The controls are responsive, and while you'll get them down pretty quickly, getting through and beyond the second loop will take a little bit of doing. As for replay value, your mileage may vary due to the arcade-esque nature of this game much like all others of the era, but don't be surprised if you spend some serious time with this one just because of how fun this is. If you see this one, try it out. You won't be disappointed.

PrinceWatercress plays Jungle Hunt

Taito hit a home run with this one back in the day. Still holds up!

Longplay

Jungle Hunt is an arcade game from Taito from 1982 that was ported over to all of the big systems of the day the following year. In this game, you play as Sir Dudley Dashly, and you'll have to swing from vine to vine, swim across a river while stabbing sharks, and running up a hill while avoiding boulders before outwitting cannibals to rescue Lady Penelope from being boiled alive in a cauldron.

At the top of the screen, you'll have your current amount of lives on the left, your current score in the center, and the bonus timer on the right. The faster you get through one loop, the bigger the bonus you'll get.

The first part of the game has you swinging on vines. You'll be moving from right to left here. The vines swing back and forth at various speeds, and you'll need to time your presses of the fire button just right so that the vine ahead of you is angled to the right while the one you are on is angled to the left. If your timing is way off, you'll fall to the ground below and lose a life, but if you catch the vine, you'll be able to jump to the next one. As you're doing this, you'll want to pay attention to where you are on the vine. It's better to be higher on a vine than in a lower position, as that gives you more room for error and makes it easier to jump to the next vine in case something goes wrong.

You'll eventually end up in the river. You can swim around in eight directions with the joystick, and the fire button allows you to stab the crocodiles with a knife. If your upper arm is in the extended position, that means that you're stabbing with the knife, although it can be a bit hard to tell. As you swim across the river, you'll also have a "Diving" meter, which is your oxygen. If you run out of oxygen, you'll lose a life. You'll also lose a life if you run into a crocodile while not in the stabbing animation.

You'll soon reach dry land, and you'll have to run up a hill, although the hill is flat on the Atari 2600 version of the game. Left and Right on the joystick allow you to move back and forth, Down on the joystick allows you to duck, while the fire button allows you to jump. If you're holding Up on the joystick while you press the fire button, you'll do a higher jump than normal, and that can sometimes allow you to jump over the bigger boulders. The smaller boulders roll along the ground, while the bigger boulders will bounce up and down as they advance towards you. You'll have to jump over the smaller boulders, but you can superjump over or duck under the bigger boulders depending on your position as well as the boulder's.

Finally, there's the cannibals. The cannibals will jump back and forth, and you'll want to time your movements carefully so you don't run into them in any way. Approach them as they jump backwards, then jump over them before they jump forwards again. If you don't get close enough to jump over them, back away, then approach as they hop back to the left. Be ready to hit the fire button when you close the distance. If you use the superjump, this can be a little easier. When you jump over a cannibal, head left with Left on the joystick to head to the second cannibal, who you'll have to deal with the same way that you dealt with the first one. After getting past the second cannibal, keep holding Left on the joystick, especially when you reach the screen with Lady Penelope. You'll reunite with Lady Penelope, and the game starts all over again at a slightly higher difficulty.

The only game modes are selectable with the Game Select switch. Game Mode 1 is the default easier difficulty, while Game Mode 2 is the harder difficulty. Pressing the switch will show one of the two numbers - 1 or 2 - in the upper-left corner. The difficulty switches are not used for this game.

I had fun with this port. The colors were of the darker variety, but it definitely feels like you're in a jungle with the hues that the colors come in. I also like that there is also parallax scrolling with the treetops. The sound and music is pretty arcade-y, and the jingle you get for completing a section of the game never gets old. The controls are responsive, and while you'll get them down pretty quickly, getting through and beyond the second loop will take a little bit of doing. As for replay value, your mileage may vary due to the arcade-esque nature of this game much like all others of the era, but don't be surprised if you spend some serious time with this one just because of how fun this is. If you see this one, try it out. You won't be disappointed.

PrinceWatercress plays Checkout - The Longplay

...and now, here's some gameplay, minus commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Checkout is a pretty interesting looking game for the BBC Micro written by Mike Cooke and published by Virgin Games in 1984 for the BBC Micro. This is one of many "tile-walking" games in existence out there, and to get through this game, you'll need to walk on each tile twice and get all the titles on the same pattern that this produces while also avoiding the drone that rotates around the game board as well as its lasers.

Z moves left, X moves right, : moves up and / moves down. At the top of the screen is your current score and the number of lives you have left. On the left side of the screen is an hourglass, and when all the sand goes down, the drone will zap a laser in four directions. If that laser hits you, or if the drone touches you in any way, you'll lose a life. On the right side is a bar that fills up with red bars, and if you complete 17 levels in a row without a game over, you'll enter a second loop that is much more difficult due to the smaller timer, which allows the drone to zap its laser every few seconds as it zips around more quickly compared to its usual speed.

At the bottom is the timer for the magic square and the three-digit number that dictates how many points you'll get from it, which leads to an explanation for There is a chance that you can walk onto the "magic square,"  which is one of the tiles on the board chosen by the game at random If you land on it within 30 seconds of starting a level, you'll get a jingle, the action will stop, and the numbers on the "reels" of the three-digit number will spin like reels on a slot machine. You'll need to press the space bar to stop the numbers in the bottom right-hand corner, and you'll want to stop the reels on high numbers, as the higher the number you get, the more points you'll get out of it. When you get the magic square and the bonus points, the reels will disappear.

As for the drone, the drone moves around the perimeter between the edge and the center of the board, and it will reverse directions every so often. You'll want to keep an eye on where it is going as well as the hourglass. If you get too close to the drone's path, you will lose a life. If the hourglass empties and the laser that it fires in four directions hits you, you'll also lose a life from that. If you know the drone is about to fire soon, get to one of the corners, as the lasers will never reach them.

It takes quite a bit of skill to get to the later levels, and as you progress through the game, the colors of the tiles, the text and even the background will change colors every so often so as to liven things up, making it so that no two games look the same visually. Also, if you can get to the second loop, you'd better be fast, as not only will the drone fire lasers every few seconds, but the drone will also get a lot faster. The game takes a little while to get used to, but once you get used to how things go, it gets a lot more fun and also a lot more addicting. It also helps that this looks like some sort of game that I could have played on my parents' old Tandy PC back in the early 1990s when I was five or six years old and would still have fun with despite probably not being able to get very far in it. Either way, this is a fun arcade-style game for the BBC Micro and worth checking out.

PrinceWatercress plays Checkout

Are you ready to walk on tiles and avoid a drone on your BBC Micro?!?

Longplay

Checkout is a pretty interesting looking game for the BBC Micro written by Mike Cooke and published by Virgin Games in 1984 for the BBC Micro. This is one of many "tile-walking" games in existence out there, and to get through this game, you'll need to walk on each tile twice and get all the titles on the same pattern that this produces while also avoiding the drone that rotates around the game board as well as its lasers.

Z moves left, X moves right, : moves up and / moves down. At the top of the screen is your current score and the number of lives you have left. On the left side of the screen is an hourglass, and when all the sand goes down, the drone will zap a laser in four directions. If that laser hits you, or if the drone touches you in any way, you'll lose a life. On the right side is a bar that fills up with red bars, and if you complete 17 levels in a row without a game over, you'll enter a second loop that is much more difficult due to the smaller timer, which allows the drone to zap its laser every few seconds as it zips around more quickly compared to its usual speed.

At the bottom is the timer for the magic square and the three-digit number that dictates how many points you'll get from it, which leads to an explanation for There is a chance that you can walk onto the "magic square,"  which is one of the tiles on the board chosen by the game at random If you land on it within 30 seconds of starting a level, you'll get a jingle, the action will stop, and the numbers on the "reels" of the three-digit number will spin like reels on a slot machine. You'll need to press the space bar to stop the numbers in the bottom right-hand corner, and you'll want to stop the reels on high numbers, as the higher the number you get, the more points you'll get out of it. When you get the magic square and the bonus points, the reels will disappear.

As for the drone, the drone moves around the perimeter between the edge and the center of the board, and it will reverse directions every so often. You'll want to keep an eye on where it is going as well as the hourglass. If you get too close to the drone's path, you will lose a life. If the hourglass empties and the laser that it fires in four directions hits you, you'll also lose a life from that. If you know the drone is about to fire soon, get to one of the corners, as the lasers will never reach them.

It takes quite a bit of skill to get to the later levels, and as you progress through the game, the colors of the tiles, the text and even the background will change colors every so often so as to liven things up, making it so that no two games look the same visually. Also, if you can get to the second loop, you'd better be fast, as not only will the drone fire lasers every few seconds, but the drone will also get a lot faster. The game takes a little while to get used to, but once you get used to how things go, it gets a lot more fun and also a lot more addicting. It also helps that this looks like some sort of game that I could have played on my parents' old Tandy PC back in the early 1990s when I was five or six years old and would still have fun with despite probably not being able to get very far in it. Either way, this is a fun arcade-style game for the BBC Micro and worth checking out.

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 28 of 28

We face Kain and beat him again, but the game ends on a cliffhanger. See you in Soul Reaver 2!

First | Previous

As soon as you approach the portal, you'll glimpse into the timestream itself. Keep moving down the path, and you'll see more portals. These will give you glimpses not only into this timestream, but other ones (which even hint at some of the powers you were supposed to get in the game, but couldn't due to the game's troubled development cycle; these powers will show up in Soul Reaver 2). 

There is a teleporter at the end of the path before the final boss; you'll want to activate it and save before you do anything else. Shortly past this, you'll find the doors leading to the Chronoplast, and you'll meet Kain again. Kain and Raziel will have a conversation, then the final boss battle commences.

You'll need to hit Kain three times, once on the first floor, again on the second floor and a third time on the top floor. Stay in the middle and look around for Kain so you'll always heal in case you get hit, then go after Kain and hit him before he zaps you and disappears. You'll need to run up the light blue ramps to get to the second floor, and you'll need to do a high jump to reach the third.

Once you beat Kain, Kain will jump into the timestream. The Elder God will warn Raziel that he will not be able to watch over him if he follows, but Raziel follows anyway. He runs into Moebius, the Time Streamer, who welcomes Raziel to his destiny. The game then ends. You just beat Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver!

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 27 of 28

It's time for the final puzzles in the game!

First | Previous | End

0:36 - A statue of Moebius the Time Streamer.

Behind you is a clock. By dropping down, you'll find a symbol all over the wall, and you'll need to pull on the two levers to move the dials on the clock to two symbols: one at the bottom, the other at the top. These two symbols combine to make the symbol you saw at the bottom, and by doing this, you can move the lights around and open up a new area below.

2:49 - For this area, you'll need to use Constriction to move the blocks around. The colors of the symbols indicate which color light needs to face the center, and by combining blue and red, you can get purple. You'll then need to use Constriction on the device in the center to hit the rest of the lights and enter the next door.

5:21 - You'll soon be able to go downstairs. Take out the enemy, then pay attention to the symbols and the colors behind them. The three pillars, which you can control with Constriction, have a different color on the end, and they all control a hand on the clock below. Match the hand for each color to each symbol they represent, and you'll soon open the next door.

10:00 - After dealing with a few more enemies, you'll need to get some gears moving. Move the blocks out of the way to get them to come alive again. You'll get some pistons moving, and you can ride on them as platforms. These pistons will take you to the next area.

13:15 - You'll notice some blocks on the way to the next area. Take care of the enemies, then get ready to push and flip blocks around so that they match the same positions as the parts of the design on the floor that they represent. You'll need to push the blocks you saw across from the cage walls down with your projectiles in order to bring them down and finish the puzzle. That opens another door.

20:30 - After dropping down to the next section, you'll see three symbols on a nearby wall. Remember those symbols for later. Take out the enemies, then use the Constriction ability to move the bottoms of the symbols with their tops. Platforms will start swinging back and forth; ride them to the switches at the top and flip the switches. When you flip all three switches, you'll open yet another door. This will lead to the final battle...

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 26 of 28

Before we can catch up to Kain, we need to complete a few more puzzles...

First | Previous | Next | End

0:44 - If you take the staff out of this enemy, the enemy will revive and attack. If you phase into the spiritual realm and destroy the wraith that stands in its place, then phase back into the material realm, the enemy will be gone.

1:40 - From here, you'll have some block moving to do. The symbols above the spaces in the wall indicate which gates they will control. The pedestal at the start can be spun around with the Constriction skill, and this will open and close the other pair of doors so you can more easily get around, push the blocks and move them to the "Z" and "O" slots to open the big door leading to the rest of the area.

10:03 - For the next area, you can use the Constriction pedestals to open some doors and refill magic, among other things. Shifting to the spiritual realm will get rid of an enemy in the material realm in the area when you need to push the blocks out from the side and then slot them into the wall with your projectile. There will be an enemy behind the door that opens; hit him with a projectile first, then throw the staff at him.

14:30 - After taking out the enemy in the next room, run around the columns so that the light brown parts face the center of the room. This opens the next door. The slit in the room leads to a magic refill. You'll need to head back to the beginning.

16:52 - Open up the path to the slit in the wall with Constriction again, then go back. The door that was previously closed will now be open; entering it leads to the Oracle's Cave. The cauldron belongs to "The Oracle," who was really Moebius in disguise tricking Kain into doing everything that he did in the first game that lead to the canonical bad ending. Raziel will realize that Kain was here. If you use the Constrict spell on the cauldron, this will open up a path leading to a new area. You can also use the fire here to give the Soul Reaver fire powers, if you need to.