Aaargh!

Last updated
Aaargh!
Aaargh! Coverart.png
Cover Art
Developer(s) Binary Design
Sculptured Software
Publisher(s) Arcadia Systems
Melbourne House
Designer(s) Steve Coleman
Joe Hitchens
Artist(s) Joe Hitchens
Platform(s) Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum
Release 1987, 1988, 1989
Genre(s) Action game
Mode(s) Single-player

Aaargh! is a single-player action video game in which the player controls a giant monster with the goal of obtaining eggs by destroying buildings in different cities across a lost island. It was designed for Mastertronic's Arcadia Systems, an arcade machine based on the custom hardware of the Amiga, and was released in 1987. It was ported to a range of other platforms and released on these across 1988 and 1989. Electronic Arts distributed the Amiga version of the game.

Contents

Gameplay

Taking the role of a monster, the player must destroy buildings in search of eggs. Aaargh! Arcade Gameplay Screenshot.png
Taking the role of a monster, the player must destroy buildings in search of eggs.

The goal of the game is to find the golden dragon's egg. The player controls one of two monsters who must destroy buildings in order to find Roc eggs, the discovery of each of which triggers a fight with a rival monster. When five eggs are found, the two monsters fight on a volcano to claim the dragon's egg.

The game is an action game with fighting game elements. The player chooses to play as either a dragon-like lizard or an ogre (depicted as a cyclops in the game); the character that the player does not select becomes the player's rival to obtain the egg. In the arcade version of the game either one or two players could play simultaneously, whereas on the ports only one player could play at a time.

Gameplay takes place across the ten cities of the Lost Island, each representing a different era of civilisation (such as ancient Egypt and the Wild West) and each comprising one level of the game. Each city is represented by a single static playing area that uses a form of 2.5D projection in order to give the impression of depth on the screen.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews from gaming magazines across the platforms to which it was ported, with scores ranging from around 2/10 [1] (or equivalent) up to almost 9/10. [8]

While reviewers praised the graphics and sound, particularly on the Amiga port, they criticised the gameplay. ACE magazine said that although the game had "good graphics, atmospheric sound and good gameplay" there was not enough challenge to the game and that players would "not want to spend much time playing a game you know you can beat easily." [1] ZX Spectrum reviewers were unimpressed by the fact that the game required levels to be loaded individually, with Your Sinclair magazine describing it as a "multi-level, multi-load, beat 'em, blowtorch 'em up which'll have you screaming its title each time you die and have to reload." [6] [7]

The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #141 by Patricia Hartley and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers normally assign a rating to a game ranging from 1 up to 5 stars, but they disliked this game so much that they ranked it with an "X" instead. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Bombuzal</i> 1988 video game

Bombuzal is a puzzle video game designed by Antony Crowther and David Bishop for Image Works. The game was released in 1988 for the Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It was also released in 1989 for MS-DOS and Dec, 21 1990 in Japan for the Super Famicom, with the North American version released on August, 1992 renamed as Ka-Blooey.

<i>Alien Syndrome</i> 1987 video game

Alien Syndrome is a run and gun video game developed by Sega and released in arcades in 1987, and later ported to the Master System in 1988. The game utilizes a side-scrolling feature that allows the player to take control of either a male (Ricky) or female (Mary) soldier whilst hunting aliens and saving hostages before they run out of time.

<i>Wonder Boy in Monster Land</i> 1987 video game

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.

<i>Gauntlet II</i> 1986 arcade video game

Gauntlet II is a 1986 arcade game produced by Atari Games that serves as the immediate sequel to the original Gauntlet, which was released the previous year. Like its predecessor, Gauntlet II is a fantasy-themed top down dungeon crawler game and was released as a dedicated cabinet, as well as a conversion kit, both available in 2-player and 4-player versions.

<i>Star Wars</i> (1983 video game) 1983 video game

Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter designed by Mike Hally and released as an arcade video game in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. There are three connected gameplay sequences: combat against TIE fighters in space, flying across the surface of the Death Star, and the final trench run. The sequence repeats with added complications and the Death Star regenerating for each. The player's X-Wing fighter has a shield which only protects against damage a certain number of times, then the next hit ends the game. Speech synthesis emulates actors from the film.

<i>The Pawn</i> 1985 video game

The Pawn is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rainbird.

<i>Trailblazer</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Trailblazer is a racing video game developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 in 1986. It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.

<i>Time Bandit</i> 1983 video game

Time Bandit is a maze shoot 'em up written for the TRS-80 Model I by Bill Dunlevy and Harry Lafnear and published by MichTron in 1983. It was ported to the TRS-80 Color Computer and Dragon 32, but enjoyed its greatest popularity several years later as an early release for the Atari ST. It was also released for the pseudo-PC-compatible Sanyo MBC-55x with 8-color display. Amiga and MS-DOS versions were ported by Timothy Purves.

<i>War in Middle Earth</i> 1988 video game

War in Middle Earth is a real-time strategy game released for the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS, Amiga, Apple IIGS, and Atari ST in 1988 by Virgin Mastertronic on the Melbourne House label.

<i>Hostages</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Hostages is a 1988 tactical shooter video game developed and published by Infogrames for the Acorn Electron, Archimedes, Atari ST, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. The game depicts a terrorist attack and hostage crisis at an embassy in Paris, with the player controlling a six-man GIGN counterterrorist team as they are deployed to defeat the terrorists and free their hostages.

<i>Savage</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Savage is an action game developed by Probe Software and published by Firebird Software in 1988 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. In 1989 Firebird published a version for the Amiga.

<i>Iron Lord</i> 1989 video game

Iron Lord is an adventure video game developed by Orou Mama and Ivan Jacot for the Atari ST and published by Ubi Soft in 1989. It was ported to the Amiga, Acorn Archimedes, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and MS-DOS.

<i>Street Sports Basketball</i> 1987 video game

Street Sports Basketball is a 1987 computer basketball game for the IBM PC, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It was developed by Epyx and published by U.S. Gold.

<i>Test Drive</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

Test Drive is a racing video game developed by Distinctive Software and published by Accolade, released in 1987 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and DOS, in 1988 for the Apple II, and later ported for the PC-98 in 1989. It is the first game in the Test Drive series.

<i>Tiger Road</i> 1987 video game

Tiger Road is a hack and slash platform game originally released in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade video game.

<i>Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax</i> 1988 video game

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is a single-player beat 'em up with fewer fighting moves. It uses a flip-screen style instead of scrolling.

<i>Saint Dragon</i> 1989 video game

Tensei Ryū: Saint Dragon is a horizontally scrolling shooter released as a coin-op by Jaleco in 1989. Ports to several home computer systems were published by Storm Entertainment in 1990. On February 6, 2020, Saint Dragon was released as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives lineup for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

<i>The Real Ghostbusters</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

The Real Ghostbusters is a 1987 shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is loosely based on Ghostbusters. In Japan, Data East released it as a non-Ghostbusters arcade game under the title Meikyuu Hunter G. In 1989, Activision published The Real Ghostbusters for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Ace</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Ace is a combat flight simulator video game published for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Plus/4 in 1985 by Cascade Games. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>P-47: The Phantom Fighter</i> 1988 video game

P-47: The Phantom Fighter is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by NMK and published by Jaleco. Set during World War II, players control a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft to face against the Nazis, who are occupying multiple countries around the world. Its gameplay involves destroying waves of enemies, picking up power-ups and new weapons, and destroying bosses. It ran on the Mega System 1 hardware.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smith, Andy (August 1988). "Aaargh! - Smashing down the Melbourne House". ACE . No. 11. Future Publishing. p. 60.
  2. Holmes, Chris (August 1988). "Reviews: Aaargh!". Amiga Computing . Vol. 1, no. 3. Database Publications. p. 43. ISSN   0952-3014.
  3. Dunn, Michael; Roberts, Nick (September 1989). "Reviews: Aaargh!". Crash . No. 68. Newsfield Publishing. p. 45. ISSN   0954-8661.
  4. Boughton, Paul (July 1989). "Reviews: Aaargh!". Computer and Video Games . No. 81. p. 41.
  5. 1 2 Hartley, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon . No. 141. TSR Inc. p. 72.
  6. 1 2 Dillon, Tony (September 1989). "Games Review: Aaargh!". Sinclair User . No. 90. Emap Business, Computer Publications. pp. 46–47. ISSN   0262-5458.
  7. 1 2 Ryan, Jackie (August 1989). "Reviews: Aaargh!". Your Sinclair . No. 44. Dennis Publishing. p. 68.
  8. 1 2 Glancey, Paul; Evans, Matthew; Houghton, Gordon (October 1988). "Aaargh!". Zzap!64 . No. 42. Newsfield Publishing. p. 83.