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| A Journey to the Centre of the Earth | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Mike Davis |
| Publisher(s) | OziSoft CRL |
| Designer(s) | Mike Davis |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64 |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Platform-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a side-scrolling action-adventure platform game released for the Commodore 64 in 1984, and re-released by CRL in 1985 under the title Journey.
The introduction simply places the player in the role of an unnamed explorer who must delve into a subterranean labyrinth to locate 11 hidden treasures and return them to the surface.
The game takes places in a massive, side-scrolling underground maze, throughout which is hidden 11 treasures. The goal is to find all of the treasures and return them to the surface. At the beginning of the game, the player character can run, jump, and climb, but the player can obtain items that will expand their abilities, most of which are required to beat the game. They include dynamite to blow open walls, umbrellas to protect against falling rocks, oxygen pills to breathe underwater, a gun to shoot enemies, and more. The player has only 8 inventory slots, and each item and treasure occupies one; furthermore, the player cannot jump when carrying 6 or more, and cannot climb when carrying 8. Consequently, the player must backtrack to the surface several times over the course of the game to unload their currently-held treasure. The player can also drop unneeded items at any time. Items can be selected with the number keys on the keyboard and are used with the joystick's fire button.
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth received mostly positive reviews from the magazines of the day. C&VG [1] gave it 8/10 for graphics, 8/10 for sound, 7/10 for value, and 8/10 for playability. Your Commodore gave it 5/10 for originality, 5/10 for playability, 3/10 for graphics, and 3/10 for value-for-money, finding the controls difficult but nevertheless concluding, "I recommend this game to anyone who wants a few hours of fun". [2] Commodore Horizons gave it 5/8 for graphics, 5/8 for sonics, and 6/8 for gameplay, calling it an "agreeable arcade adventure . . . Unremarkable graphically; but good fun to play". [3]
Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as Wonder Boy: Monster Land, is a platform video game developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following. The game is the sequel to the 1986 game Wonder Boy and takes place eleven years after the events in the previous game. After enjoying over a decade of peace on Wonder Land following the defeat of the evil King by Tom-Tom, later bestowed the title "Wonder Boy", a fire-breathing dragon called the MEKA dragon appeared; he and his minions conquered Wonder Land, turning it into "Monster Land". The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players earn gold by defeating enemies and buy weapons, armor, footwear, magic, and other items to help along the way.
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