| Strontium Dog: The Killing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Channel 8 Software |
| Publisher(s) | Quicksilva |
| Series | Strontium Dog |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Strontium Dog: The Killing is an action game developed by Channel 8 Software and published by Quicksilva. The game was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984.
The game is based on the story of the same name from the British comic book series "Strontium Dog", which is published in 2000 AD magazine. [1] The game stars Johnny Alpha, one of the mutant bounty hunters known as "strontium dogs". He undertakes a dangerous mission on the alien planet Zed, located somewhere at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. [2] [3]
The game begins with an introductory scene showing the dictators of Zed announcing the start of an annual ritual called "The Killing". During this event, the dictators sacrifice a victim and stage a contest between killers from every corner of the galaxy. The participants, who are criminals with bounties on their heads, must fight to the death in a city serving as the killing ground. The sole survivor of the contest is awarded a substantial monetary prize. [2] [3]
Johnny Alpha enters the contest with the dual objectives of collecting bounties on the criminal participants and ultimately destroying the dictators of Zed to put an end to their brutal ritual. [1] [2] [3]
Strontium Dog: The Killing is an action game set in a large maze consisting of 256 rooms, arranged in a 16x16 grid. The player controls the main character, Johnny Alpha, as he navigates through the maze to find and eliminate alien killers. The rooms, also referred to as sectors, are relatively similar in design. The objective is to explore the maze, locate the enemies, and kill them while avoiding their attacks. [1] [4] [5]
The gameplay primarily takes place in two types of rooms: those with central passages and those serving as passageways to other sectors. In rooms with central passages enemies run down the sides of the room and fire energy bolts that bounce and travel in a diamond shape, making tighter loops before expiring. The player must dodge these bolts while attempting to shoot the enemies, which is largely based on chance. Character cannot move while firing. [2] [4] [5]
In passageway rooms, enemies can also appear and ambush Johnny, immediately opening fire upon spotting him. The game features a single difficulty level and is considered challenging due to its size and the ease with which players can become lost. To aid in navigation and ensure all enemies are found, players are encouraged to create their own maps of the maze. [1] [2]
Johnny Alpha is equipped with a laser gun that has unlimited charges and three electro-flares. The player begins the game with four lives, and losing all lives results in a game over, returning the player to the intro screen. [1] [5]
The game's display shows the current room and the main character, with a status panel located in the top left corner. This panel provides information such as the player's score in bounty points, the current sector number, the number of lives remaining, and the count of enemies still alive, which starts at 93. [1] [2]
Mark Eyles, a Creative Design Executive at Southampton-based Quicksilva, was considering the British comic magazine 2000 AD characters for a video game adaptation. Although Judge Dredd was the first choice, Games Workshop had already licensed the rights. Consequently, Quicksilva opted for Strontium Dog, a popular and long-running series in the magazine. After securing the license from 2000 AD's publishers, IPC Magazines, Quicksilva developed Strontium Dog and the Death Gauntlet for the Commodore 64. [3]
Concurrently, in April 1984, John Williams, the managing director of Channel 8 Software and a fan of 2000 AD, conceived the idea for a video game based on one of the Strontium Dog storylines. He assigned the project to Paul Hargreaves, a 15-year-old programmer from Leyland who had previously developed Borzak , published by Channel 8. Hargreaves worked on the game during evenings, weekends, and school holidays, completing it in August 1984. [3]
Following the completion of Channel 8's Strontium Dog game, Williams and Hargreaves traveled to London to pitch their product to IPC Magazines. The game was evaluated and deemed a solid offering. Upon learning that Quicksilva already held the Strontium Dog license and had developed their own game, Channel 8 representatives contacted Quicksilva, and the two companies agreed to collaborate, with Quicksilva publishing Channel 8's game. [3]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Crash | 42% [2] |
| Computer and Video Games | 27/40 [1] |
| Tilt | 11/15 [5] |
| Your Spectrum | 4/15 [6] |
| Sinclair Programs | 62% [4] |
| Home Computing Weekly |   [7] |
Strontium Dog: The Killing received mixed reviews from critics. Computer and Video Games praised the graphics, particularly the well-drawn and animated depiction of the Johnny Alpha character, which was recognizable from the 2000 AD comics. However, the magazine criticized the limited documentation, noting that the instruction manual was very brief and Quicksilva suggested reading back issues of the comic to fill in the gaps. The reviewer found the game entertaining but difficult to play. [1]
Your Spectrum reviewers found the gameplay tedious, with the player wandering aimlessly and only occasionally engaging in combat. They lamented that the game, despite its size, lacked substantial content. [6]
Crash magazine's reviewer was critical of the game, stating that it consisted mainly of empty or repetitive rooms with flashing force fields. The reviewer noted the needlessly ruthless opening routine involving human sacrifice and criticized the jerky graphics, poor sound, and lack of animation. The game's confusing layout and unbalanced enemy difficulty were also highlighted as issues. While the use of color was praised, the reviewer found the game lacking in original and appealing elements, ultimately deeming it a disappointment. [2]
Sinclair Programs described the game's maze as simple to map but intricate, requiring both luck and skill to defeat enemies. The reviewer suggested that the game might not appeal to everyone. [4]
Home Computing Weekly praised graphics and sound. The enemies were described as standard but powerful. However, the originality was criticized, with the game structure being compared to Atic Atac. [7]
SunDog: Frozen Legacy is a 1984 space trading and combat simulator video game. SunDog was first developed for the Apple II, with version 1.0 being released in March 1984, and version 1.1 released three weeks later. Version 2.0, which included enhancements and improved performance, was released in October, 1984. An enhanced version was released for the Atari ST in December 1985.
Strontium Dog is a long-running British comics series starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter who lives in Earth's future. The series was created in 1978 by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra for Starlord, a short-lived weekly science fiction comic. When Starlord was cancelled, the series transferred to the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD. In 1980, Wagner was joined by co-writer Alan Grant, although scripts were normally credited to Grant alone. Grant wrote the series by himself from 1988 to 1990. Wagner revived the series after a ten-year hiatus in 2000. After Ezquerra's death in October 2018, the series was put in indefinite hiatus with no current plans for its continuation.
Sabre Wulf is an action-adventure game released by British video game developer Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum home computer in 1984. The player navigates the pith-helmeted Sabreman through a 2D jungle maze while collecting amulet pieces to bypass the guardian at its exit. The player does not receive explicit guidance on how to play and is left to decipher the game's objectives through trial and error. Sabreman moves between the maze's 256 connected screens by touching the border where one screen ends and another begins. Each screen is filled with colourful flora, enemies that spawn at random, and occasional collectibles.
Alien 8 is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and MSX in 1985. The game is a spiritual successor to the best-selling Knight Lore, which was lauded by critics for its isometric graphics. In the game, the player takes control of a robot, Alien 8, whose job is to ensure that all of the cryogenically frozen passengers on board a starship remain viable during the ship's voyage.
Durham Red is a British comics character, originally created in 1987 as a female sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running comic book series Strontium Dog in 2000 AD. She is a bounty hunter with a mutation that gives her a vampiric lust for blood.
Bomberman is a maze video game developed and published by Hudson Soft. The original home computer game Bomber Man was released in July 1983 for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001 mkII, Fujitsu FM-7, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000, Sharp X1 and MSX in Japan, and a graphically modified version for the MSX and ZX Spectrum in Europe as Eric and the Floaters. A sequel, 3-D Bomberman, was produced. In 1985, Bomberman was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It spawned the Bomberman series with many installments building on its basic gameplay.
Eureka! is a video game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computers, written by Ian Livingstone, developed by Novotrade for Andromeda Software and published by Domark in 1984.
Cauldron is a video game developed and published by British developer Palace Software in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC home computers. It contains both platform game and horizontally scrolling shooter sections. Players control a witch who aims to become the "Witch Queen" by defeating an enemy called the "Pumpking".
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.
Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back is 1985 shoot 'em up video game for the Commodore 64, a sequel to Beach Head, developed and published by Access Software. It was designed by Bruce Carver and his brother, Roger, and was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Android Two is a shoot 'em up maze video game written by Costa Panayi and published by Vortex Software in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. It is the sequel to Android One: The Reactor Run, released earlier in 1983.
Blade Runner is a 1985 shoot 'em up game loosely inspired by the 1982 film Blade Runner. The game was published in 1985 by CRL Group PLC for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC. Reviews of the game were mostly negative.
Traxx is a maze game released in 1983 by Quicksilva for the ZX Spectrum (48K) and VIC-20 (+8K). The gameplay is similar to Amidar, where the goal is to color all of the lines on a grid of equally-sized squares. Unlike Amidar, the sections of the grid are not captured when surrounded; the goal is purely to color all of the lines.
Moonlight Madness is a platform game for the ZX Spectrum home computer, published in 1986 by Bubble Bus Software. The player controls a boy scout attempting to unlock a safe within a mansion to obtain pills for the mansion's owner, a mad scientist, who has collapsed. This requires the player to traverse the mansion's rooms while avoiding hazards such as dangerous house servants and fatal falls.
Soft & Cuddly is a horror action-adventure game released for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was developed by John George Jones and published by The Power House in September 1987 in the United Kingdom and in early 1988 in Spain. The player assumes the role of a man armed with a laser gun and a jet pack, whose mother, the Android Queen, has been dismembered. The player's task is to locate the scattered body parts of the Android Queen and sew her back together.
This is a list of audio plays based on the long-running British comic series 2000 A.D., produced by Big Finish Productions. Twenty-two plays have been released to date.
Hans Kloss is a puzzle-platform game designed by Dariusz Żołna and published in Poland by LK Avalon. It was published in 1992 for Atari 8-bit computers. A Commodore 64 conversion, programmed by Janusz Dąbrowski, was released in 1993. The player controls Hans Kloss, the fictional protagonist of the Polish TV series Stawka większa niż życie, during World War II. He must find plans for a secret weapon in Adolf Hitler's headquarters, the Wolf's Lair.
Hero of the Golden Talisman is an action-adventure video game developed by British studio Mr Chip Software and published by Mastertronic in 1985 for the Commodore 64. A port to the Amstrad CPC followed. It is an early example of the Metroidvania style, despite preceding both of the genre's namesakes.
Judge Dredd is a platform shoot 'em up video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by Beam Software and published by Melbourne House. It was released in Europe in 1986, for Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.
3D Tank Duel is a video game developed by Realtime Games Software for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It is a clone of the arcade game Battlezone, featuring wireframe 3D graphics with color.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)