Quedex

Last updated
Quedex
Quedex.jpg
Developer(s) Thalamus
Publisher(s) Thalamus
Epyx
Designer(s) Stavros Fasoulas
Composer(s) Matt Gray [1]
Platform(s) Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80 Color Computer
Release1987: C64
1988: Amiga, MS-DOS
1989: TRS-80 Color Computer
Mode(s) Single-player

Quedex is a game released for the Commodore 64 in 1987 by Thalamus. It is the third game developed by Finnish game programmer Stavros Fasoulas. The game consists of ten planes where the player steers a silvery ball and must find an exit square in order to leave the maze-like play-area. The name Quedex derives from the subtitle "The Quest for Ultimate Dexterity". In 1988, Epyx released ports of Quedex for the Amiga and MS-DOS under the name Mindroll.

Contents

Gameplay

The ten levels can be played in any order the player chooses. [2] The game contains features and challenges such as jumping, going through teleports and finding keys that open gates. Only Planes 4 and 8 feature music, due to their more frenetic nature.

PlaneDescription
1Introductory level, teaching the player the mechanics of gameplay. The players roll over flashing squares to reveal a hole to the next sub-plane. It also introduces time-draining electric pools and lifts.
2Players traverse a maze of teleports and doors, which are unlocked by picking up keys. Touching the skull tiles is fatal.
3This level features teleports and electric tiles abound, and a sub-maze of invisible walls that reveal a pickup when players bump into them.
4The players race down an obstacle course; bumping into obstacles knocks time off the clock, as does jumping from a lift or into an electric pool. Jumps are limited to 4.
5The players turn all the tiles textured by rolling over them. Flashing tiles affect several others; black tiles are safe spaces rather than holes. Jumps are limited to 9.
6This level requires players to navigate a maze of pipes, avoiding electric and skull tiles. Question mark icons litter the plane, some of which reveal the goal, but some are invisible until they are within range. Jumps are limited to what they can pick up.
7The players have to pick up as many time pickups as they can, but the plane is covered with Goal tiles. They can collect all the pickups to reveal a bonus sub-plane with another 27, greatly enhancing a timer.
8The players have to work their way to the centre of a maze, collecting four keys to unlock the goal as they go. No time to waste, because the maze collapses around the player. The route to the goal differs depending on the colour of the plane.
9The goal is to destroy all the blocks and this can only be done by grabbing a cross pickup that turns the sphere blue and running into the blocks at high speed. Non-path tiles only drain player's clock while flashing.
10The players hop across small islets of tiles, the height of which differs depending on how light or dark they are. The level also features the game's only use of conveyor belts.

Completing a plane takes to a brief bonus plane, in which a set sequence of directions had to be repeated.

Ports

Quedex was released in America by Epyx under the name Mindroll on the Amiga and MS-DOS in 1988, and on the TRS-80 Color Computer in 1989. Silent Software was behind the conversion. The game also bore Thalamus copyrights. The look and feel of Mindroll was more bizarre and arcane in nature, with the sphere becoming an eyeball or 8-ball and the plane walls being ornately decorated. While the graphics were more colourful, the frame rate dropped greatly on both formats.

Reception

The game was positively reviewed by Zzap!64 who described it as "an original, beautifully designed and superbly implemented puzzle package". It was given an overall score of 92%, earning the magazine's Sizzler accolade. [2] Commodore User were also impressed by the game, praising the "superb" graphics and sound and stating that it was "a strange game but a great game". It was awarded a 9/10 overall rating. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Skate or Die!</i> 1987 video game

Skate or Die! is a skateboarding video game released by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It is EA's first internally developed game. Versions for the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum followed. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System by Konami, published under the company's Ultra Games branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinemaware</span> Video game developer

Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher. It had released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.

Thalamus Ltd was a British computer game developer that published titles for a number of 8-bit and 16-bit platforms during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

<i>California Games</i> 1987 video game

California Games is a sports video game released by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1987. Branching from their Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game is a collection of outdoor sports purportedly popular in California. It ported to other home computers and video game consoles and was the pack-in game for the Atari Lynx when that system launched in 1989. The game was successful and spawned a sequel, California Games II.

<i>Ballblazer</i> 1985 video game

Ballblazer is a futuristic sports game created by Lucasfilm Games and published in 1985 by Epyx. Along with Rescue on Fractalus!, it was one of the initial pair of releases from Lucasfilm Games, Ballblazer was developed and first published for the Atari 8-bit computers. The principal creator and programmer was David Levine. The game was called Ballblaster during development; some pirated versions bear this name.

<i>The Faery Tale Adventure</i> 1987 video game

The Faery Tale Adventure is a 1987 action role-playing video game designed by David Joiner and published by MicroIllusions for the Amiga, and later ported to the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and Sega Genesis. The MS-DOS version is titled The Faery Tale Adventure: Book I. Microillusions also released a "Book 1" version for the Amiga which was going to be the start of a series of games, according to Talin, but bankruptcy prevented it. The initial version was produced for the Amiga 1000 and featured the largest game world to that date. A sequel, Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead, was released in 1997.

<i>Winter Games</i> 1985 video game

Winter Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx, based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games.

<i>PGA Tour Golf</i> 1990 video game

PGA Tour Golf is a golf video game and the first in the PGA Tour game series. It was developed by Sterling Silver Software and released in 1990, for MS-DOS. It was initially published by Electronic Arts, which subsequently released versions of the game for Sega Genesis and Amiga in 1991, followed by a version for the SNES in 1992. By 1994, Tengen had published versions for Sega's Master System and Game Gear consoles. PGA Tour Golf received generally positive reviews for its realism, sound, and camera. Several critics considered the computer versions to be the best golf game available at the time of its release. It was followed by PGA Tour Golf II.

<i>Impossible Mission II</i> 1988 video game

Impossible Mission II is a video game developed by Novotrade and published by Epyx in 1988. It was released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS, Atari ST, Apple II with at least 128K, Apple IIGS, and Amiga.

<i>Fire Power</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Fire Power is a military tank action game developed by Silent Software for the Amiga. It was released in 1987 and published by MicroIllusions and Activision. Ports were released for the Apple IIGS, the Commodore 64 and for MS-DOS in 1988. An Atari Lynx version was planned but development never started due to internal conflict with Epyx.

<i>Arcade Volleyball</i> 1988 video game

Arcade Volleyball is a sports video game written by Rhett Anderson for the Commodore 64 and published as a type-in program in the June 1988 issue of COMPUTE!'s Gazette. It was ported to Amiga and MS-DOS by different programmers and was included in a 12-game collection called Best Gazette Games. The author released the game later into the public domain.

<i>Sanxion</i> 1986 video game

Sanxion is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Stavros Fasoulas for the Commodore 64 and published in 1986 by Thalamus Ltd. It was the first game released by Thalamus. A ZX Spectrum port followed in 1989. Fasoulas also wrote Delta and Quedex.

<i>Arcticfox</i> 1986 video game

Arcticfox is a science fiction tank simulation video game developed by Dynamix and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. It was published in Europe by Ariolasoft. A sequel to Dynamix's Stellar 7, it was released on Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, and Apple II. A third game was released in the series in 1991 titled Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon.

<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 MS-DOS, in 1988 for the Apple II, and ported for the PC-98 in 1989. It is the first game in the Test Drive series.

<i>Empire: Wargame of the Century</i> 1987 video game

Empire: Wargame of the Century is a video game based on Empire developed by Walter Bright and published by Interstel Corporation in 1987.

<i>Leader Board</i> 1986 golf video game

Leader Board is a series of golf simulation video games that was developed by Bruce Carver and Roger Carver, and published by Access Software.

<i>Where Time Stood Still</i> 1988 video game

Where Time Stood Still is an isometric action-adventure game released by Ocean in 1988 for the Sinclair Spectrum 128K, MS-DOS and Atari ST. The game was ported by fans to Amiga in July 2014, and on Amiga CD32 in December 2014 and was converted from the Atari ST version with some enhancements which were not present in other iterations. A Commodore 64 version was considered but never started. The game was produced by Denton Designs as a follow-up to The Great Escape from 1986.

<i>Final Assault</i> 1987 video game

Final Assault, known as Chamonix Challenge in Europe, originally Bivouac in French, is a mountaineering simulation distributed by Infogrames and Epyx in 1987 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Thomson and ZX Spectrum. The original release of the game was copy protected.

<i>Boulder Dash Construction Kit</i> 1986 video game

Boulder Dash Construction Kit is the fourth game in the Boulder Dash series. It was published for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1986 by Epyx. Ports were released for the Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and MS-DOS. The Spectrum version was rereleased as Boulder Dash IV: The Game. Boulder Dash Construction Kit includes new levels and a level editor.

References

  1. ↑ "Matt Gray Interview". Retrogamesmaster.co.uk. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "View a Scan". Zzap64.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Commodore User (October 1987) Reviews - Amiga Magazine Rack". Amr.abime.net. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.