| Quazatron | |
|---|---|
 Cassette cover | |
| Developer(s) | Graftgold |
| Publisher(s) | Hewson Consultants |
| Designer(s) | Steve Turner |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Quazatron is an action game developed by Graftgold, and released in 1986 by Hewson Consultants. It was designed by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum. [2]
In Quazatron, the player-controlled droid (KLP-2 "Klepto", from the Classical Greek κλεπτω, steal) attempts to destroy all the other robots in the underground citadel of Quazatron and subsequent locations on the planet Quartech. The droid has been sent to deactivate the hostile alien droids there which can be done by shooting them, pushing them off their programmed routes to destruction, ramming them, or taking control of them via the sub-game. [3]
Klepto is maneuvered across individual levels of Quazatron, which can be navigated between via a system of lifts. Levels may include floors at different heights, ramps, information points, recharge points and patrolling robots. It is Klepto's aim to destroy all the other robots, whereupon the lighting on that level is deactivated. This can be done by damaging them with a ranged weapon, by ramming into them and/or causing them to fall from a height, or by a successful grapple attempt.
Each robot has a two-character identifier which provides information about its parts and role. [4] 'X' denotes a menial robot, 'U' for utility, 'R' for repair, 'B' for battle, 'L' for logic, 'S' for security and 'C' for command. The number is a ranking system, with lower numbers denoting better parts. '9' is a 'device', '8' or '7' for a drone, '6' or '5' for a robot, '4' or '3' for a droid, '2' or '1' for a cyborg. This ranking also determines the robot's security rating from Epsilon to Alpha. Security rating determines the level of access from information points. In addition are several special identifiers: 'OO Medic Droid', 'A1 Automaton', 'ST Programmer' and 'AB Andrewoid' (the last two being plays on Steve Turner and Andrew Braybrook's names).
To grapple another robot, Klepto must make contact with it with the grapple activated. This initiates a sub-game in which both parties must light sections at the centre of a circuit board using a limit number of power supplies. Should Klepto win, the player may attempt to salvage parts from the destroyed enemy, with a more dominating victory providing less damaged equipment.
Parts include: [4]
If Klepto is sufficiently damaged, it will lose all acquired parts and be left with its default loadout. The player must then seek immediate repairs or risk losing the game completely. Klepto's damage level is denoted by the expression on his face, rather than an energy bar. These facial expressions, including eye blinks and looks, were inspired by Andrew Braybrook's animation techniques for Gribbly's Day Out . [5]
When the first location, Quazatron, has been completely cleared, Klepto proceeds to the next citadel, Beebatron (a reference to a rival microcomputer, the BBC Model B or "Beeb"). Subsequent citadels, Commodo and Amstrados, are also named after microcomputers of the era. [6]
Quazatron was a Spectrum version of Paradroid , which was written by Graftgold partner Andrew Braybrook in 1985. Although a direct conversion was considered, it was felt that the Spectrum could not handle screen-scrolling as smoothly as the Commodore 64. However, Steve Turner had been working on an isometric landscape engine for the Spectrum called Ziggurat and decided to use this with the Paradroid game mechanics, control system and patrol paths. [5]
This new isometric perspective (drawing visual comparisons with Marble Madness [7] ) also provided an additional gameplay aspect – opposing droids could be pushed off edges in order to damage them.
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Crash | Crash Smash |
| Sinclair User | SU Classic |
| Your Sinclair | Megagame |
Your Sinclair reviewed the game in issue 6, awarding 9 out of 10, [8] with reviewer Phil South highlighting the original scenario and combination of strategy and action. CRASH was similarly impressed, awarding 94% in issue 29 [9] and highlighting the graphics, sound effects, playability and addictiveness. Sinclair User awarded the game a 'Sinclair User Classic' award in their May 1986 issue. [7] In their issue 51 retrospective, CRASH concluded that Quazatron was a successful fusion of arcade action and strategy, superior to the original Paradroid. [10]
One common criticism was with the game's "slow and jerky" screen scrolling, despite Hewson claiming that problem would be fixed by the game's release. [7]
The ZX Spectrum version was voted number 19 in the Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time. [11]
Quazatron was followed by a 1988 sequel, Magnetron. [12]
The same game concept can be seen in Ranarama (1987), a game from the same author that appeared between Quazatron and Magnetron.
Quazatron has also provided inspiration for several PC remakes. [13]
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. It is one of the most influential computers ever made, and it is also one of the best selling computers ever, with over five million units sold. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and around the world in the following years, most notably in Europe, the United States, and Eastern Bloc countries.
The Multiface was a hardware peripheral released by Romantic Robot for several 1980s home computers. The primary function of the device was to dump the computer's memory to external storage. Pressing a red button on the Multiface activated it. As most games of the era did not have a save game feature, the Multiface allowed players to save their position by saving a loadable snapshot of the game. Home computer software of the early 1980s was typically loaded into RAM in one go, with copy protection measures concentrating the loading phase or just after it. The snapshot feature could be used after copy protection routines had been executed, to create a backup that was effectively unprotected against unauthorised distribution. Later models of the Multiface mitigated this by requiring the device to be present when re-loading the dumps into memory, making the dumps useless to people without a Multiface. Software producers also reacted to the threat by using routines that would prevent execution of the product if it detected that a Multiface was present and by loading the software in multiple parts, thus requiring the presence of the original, copy-protected media.
Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.
Graftgold was an independent computer game developer that came to prominence in the 1980s, producing numerous computer games on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.
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Ranarama is a top-down Gauntlet-like action game developed by Graftgold and published by Hewson Consultants in 1987. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. The title appears to be a pun on rana, a genus of frogs. The game concept is similar to a previous game by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum called Quazatron, which was itself inspired by Paradroid, created by Turner's Graftgold colleague Andrew Braybrook.
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Zynaps is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1987 and for the Atari ST in 1988 and the Amiga.
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The Seiddab Trilogy is a series of video games designed by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum and published by Hewson Consultants. It consists of 3D Space-Wars (1983), 3D Seiddab Attack (1984), and 3D Lunattack. All three games were later published together as The Seiddab Trilogy by Hewson for the Rotronics Wafadrive. The series name is derived from the word "baddies" being spelt in reverse.
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