Game 75: Tempest

Name:Tempest
Number:75
Year:1981
Publisher:Atari
Developer:Atari
Genre:TPS (?)
Difficulty:5/5
Time:1 hour 30 minutes

Tempest is one of the weirder arcade titles I've played. Its not entirely clear as to what I'm playing. Not just what kind of shooter, but whether I'm in space or I'm just fighting random geometric shapes. People are always making the case that they don't care much for, well, any aesthetical choice in games. Here's your game bro. I hope its everything you wanted.

Jokes aside, Tempest is...something. Its weird. You play as a thing shooting at other things approaching on a set of lines. If one of the things reaches the end of the line, that doesn't mean its the end of the line for you, you can still shoot it...just don't go over it not shooting. You have a cooldown weapon. It effectively works where if you want, you can shoot single shots, or you can spray. It functions basically like a burst fire weapon if you spray. You also get a sort of smart bomb that destroys anything that's leeched onto your moving area. Its always luck if you can kill the things that latch onto the area you move around outside of that. It controls very well. Which is good because this is one of those arcade titles that are hard to master.

I was struck at how impenetrable this game seemed. For one thing, this is a reflex game of the highest caliber. You need to be fast. My speed limit is about roughly where this game wants me to be. It took me a while to reach level 4. I kept expecting this to get better, but it just wasn't happening. While its cool the way the level shape was changing, its intended trick of making the game harder worked. Too well. This game was already an endurance test and its not clear what I'm supposed to do beyond shooting things until something happens. I need more than that.

Weapons:
I liked the gun. As a burst fire weapon, it was really cool to use. On the other hand, its speed when you're firing in a straight line seems too fast. Its probably mental trickery on my part. 1/10

Enemies:
I believe I saw three enemies types as far as I got. They're basic video game enemy type stuff. One is stupid, one goes in a circle, and another turns into smaller enemies. I guess it should get points for doing this first, but eh. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
A series of shapes that technically don't change the way the game is played, it just makes it slightly harder to navigate. 1/10

Player Agency:
You basically just turn and shoot. It works. 3/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
This is something messed up. Its telling how simplistic this is, it still comes off as something alien. 5/10

Graphics:
Very basic wireframes. 0/10

Story:
None.

Sound/Music:
Simple 2600-level sound effects. 1/10

That's 12. A very hard-fought 12. I don't know if this is something I can recommend to someone. Castle Wolfenstein remains my only must-play title of 1981. Tempest starts off hard, then turns tedious. I'm still looking forward to Tempest 2000, if only because of the music.

This game was interesting for one reason that's probably not apparent at first. I played the Atari ST version. This represents the first time that's worked for me. This however lacks the continue function that the original arcade machine had. Oh, well.

Next up in 1981 is Yars' Revenge, which is actually less important than I thought it was. Ending 1981 on a minor disappointment seems appropriate to me.

The Sentinel: Landscaping the Galaxy

Landscape 118, back to two Sentinels. Curiously, I think if I handle this one right, I could get to a peak without ever touching either Sentinel. I turned out to be wrong, but I did discover that if I take out the highest Sentinel first, I win, which was a shock here, because I was wondering what the heck the problem was when I couldn't do anything to the other Sentinel.

Landscape 136, back to three. Huh, that didn't take long at all. This is a very open level. Its also a very easy level, because I make it out with nearly 40 units of energy. I could stand more than a few levels like this one. Its worth mentioning that I'm treating this like a coffee break game now. A level here, a level there. This doesn't do wonders for me getting through the game, but this is a precursor to the kind of game you shouldn't be playing hours at a time.

Landscape 173, five. Five Sentinels. Its something that tripped me up at first, since I wasn't sure if I could handle five on a level. This level doesn't make it easy, assuming there is an easy way to make a five Sentinel level. You start off in an area that will be under Sentinel attack soon enough, but sooner, the area you have to head to next starts off under Sentinel attack. After that, while I was under some energy pressure, and I was forced to teleport, I mange to take out a couple of Sentinels. From there its snooze-ville.

Landscape 209, wait one? What's the trick, because this landscape looks like any other at this point. Well, the trick is that there's barely any energy here and you need to make a tower of boulders, then spawn a replica. This is tricky even if you know what you're doing. The bad news is that this means I'm not blazing through levels anymore.

Landscape 213, the land is a new color and its four now. Again. This level starts off tricky again. You're in a corner, only one Sentinel has you in his sights, true, but there's no way up from here and you need to go around a corner, there, the rest of the Sentinels. Here I get my first death. Its not that impressive, just a fade screen and then a Sentinel. This level is hard. For a long time you don't have any real way of getting higher besides stacking boulders, which costs you precious energy. With four Sentinels, you rarely have more than seconds to advance to the next location. Then the difficulty just disappears when you take out the lower three Sentinels. I still have to stack boulders to reach the top Sentinel though, and I'm really not caring for that.

Landscape 231, down to two. The map leads me to think this level is another slog to the Sentinels, then easy street. There's no cover here, seemingly. It turns out I was wrong. It starts off like its going to be like the last level, then it turns into a relatively easy climbing session. Oh, there's no cover, but its still easy. I don't even need to make a boulder tower. I'm back to blazing through levels at least.

Landscape 252, uh oh, one. Actually there's nothing to fear here, its a really safe level. The start is a bit trippy, since you're right in his sight, but after that I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Considering this kind of game, having easy levels once in a while is a boon. What, you're going to replay an earlier one? Hahahahahahahaha.

Landscape 277, three, very bumpy looking. It starts off like the last, with you in the sights of a Sentinel, during which you have to put down a boulder and a replica in a tight space, followed by finding a space for your next replica that's safe for the moment. The difficulty drops off severely once you get past that. The highest Sentinel is in a corner, so that makes things a bit easier.

Landscape 300, four and surprisingly, I thought the code for this level wasn't working. Which does bring up an interesting point, presumably all 10,000 levels weren't tested, but did they test all the codes? This looks like a fairly mundane level at first. Which it is. It doesn't start off with you under attack and I manage to avoid attack until I'm in a position to take out three of the four Sentinels. I wonder if this is because this level was actually designed or not. I dunno.

Landscape 328, five or maybe six. Also, new colors, and this one looks like its difficult. Lots of flat areas, but all the Sentinels are on top of mountains. Despite the simplistic graphics, I really like the look and feel of this game. Kind of like a cheap Star Trek set. The level itself isn't as difficult as I give it credit for, attack at the start, once I'm out it gets easy. Interestingly enough, I don't take out all of the Sentinels, one I didn't see attacks me as I'm reaching the top one.

This Session: 1 hour 30 Minutes

Total Time: 4 hours 00 minutes

Game 74: Intruder Alert

Name:Intruder Alert
Number:74
Year:1981
Publisher:Dynacomp
Developer:Dennis Zander
Genre:Top-Down
Difficulty:2/5
Time:1 hour

I skipped over a couple of titles from Sirius Software. They weren't working for me, and frankly, I just don't care. The first was basically Hadron and the second was probably another Berzerk-clone. Intruder Alert is the first title I've played on the Atari 8-bit computers, which I guess is properly, the Atari 400/800. Its not really that hard to run, easy to start up, easy to get understanding. My only issues were of unfamiliarity with the system. The concept is escaping from the Death Star in Star Wars.

This game suffers from a multitude of problems, the most obvious, being the controls and central gameplay. The PC moves slowly, phasing in and out of existence as he does. You have to hold down the joystick, just pressing it does nothing. But the central gameplay requires more explanation. Enemies are stationary, if they see you within their range, they shoot. Only one enemy shot is in existence at the same time. You have the same range limitations, but you can move. This turns the game into an awkward game of laser tag.

Not pictured, the bootleg Falcon

The whole thing is jokingly simple. I died the first time I played it, only because I didn't understand what I was doing. Lives function more like hit points, nothing changes, but you briefly flash...maybe. I don't know. After dying, I got through it easily. Really, my only problem was that I couldn't just give up on this, I kind of wanted to win at a game for once. I won...in fact my winning here is a joke. I went down one screen and there was the Falcon. If you're thinking that's an in-joke, the Atari Falcon didn't come out til later. I assumed I had to do something else, but I tried to enter anyway...and I won. Huh.

Weapons:
At least the enemy and you are on the same playing field. 0/10

Enemies:
A joke. 0/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
I went down one screen and won. No. 0/10

Player Agency:
The absolute bare minimum. It worked, but I definitely didn't enjoy it. 0/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
A big solid what? 0/10

Graphics:
This is not an appealing game to look at. Everything is simplistic even in a way that would have looked bad in 1981. 0/10

Story:
Its a scene ripped straight out of Star Wars. 0/10

Sound/Music:
Why must I keep finding a new low in sound quality? 0/10

If you've gotten lost in counting zeroes, that's 0. Intruder Alert is effectively a joke, and I don't think this would have been good in 1981, and especially not to anyone today. This is honestly something you do to prove you can make a game.

Neither Zander nor Dynacomp would reappear on my list. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Zander would make some educational games for a little company called Artworx...and Strip Poker. The original, not one of the many, many other games with that name. Which I guess makes him a poor man's Muriel Tramis.

I'm just blazing through 1981. Turns out you can get through a year fast if you skip half the games. The only titles remaining are Tempest and Yars Revenge, then, my first end of year list.

Dark Castle: Are You Sure Mac Done it This Way?

When I finished up Tracker, and was putting all the usual info into my spreadsheets, I was struck by the realization that the last thirty or so games I had been playing were all generally bad. Oh, there were exceptions, certainly, but most of them were not. It takes a special kind of madman to play through all the games in a certain genre to begin with, but I was not the kind of madman to want to play endless trash. The last game I picked randomly was a Dr. Brain title, but in that case, it was because I had spent a long time getting it to work and there were no guarantees it would work for me ever again. I guess its similar here, but Dark Castle is something I've been meaning to play properly for a long time.

Best known for its Sega Genesis and Philips CD-i versions, which were covered by the Angry Video Game Nerd. They had infamously bad controls, in which you aimed rocks via the gamepad in a circle fashion. It was quite difficult to use properly. Surely, the Macintosh original doesn't have that problem. Surely.

Of course it does. Its not as bad...but its still not good. It aims in the same manner, its just controlled more smoothly via the mouse. This doesn't change the fundamental issues this game had. Namely, being incredibly difficult, the player character being a dunce, respawning enemies, and the game seemingly mocking you for not getting it right. See, if you don't know, the PC trips over a slight drop in elevation. What is this random bit of realism doing in my mostly arcade-style action game? The real advantage the Macintosh version has is the down and duck functions are mapped to two different buttons. This matters, because the game actually suggests you press multiple directions, so you can move more quickly. This is vital to your existence.

The story is that Duncan, a local prince, has volunteered to fight the Black Knight in his Dark Castle. That's the story. You can just go straight to him, but you need items held in different rooms or you'll get killed. And to get those items, you need luck, or you'll be killed. You'll probably be killed. The "beginner" setting is a lie, you have four lives, no saves, and any advantage beginner provides is such a small thing that offering difficulty settings is pointless. I'm told it adds more enemies, which is what difficulty usually does, but here that feels like a slap in the face.

So, three paths forward. First, I'm going to talk about the Shield path, or as far as I got this session. The first screen you have to get past a guard throwing boulders in a set path. Its like Donkey Kong. I don't like Donkey Kong. I can stand a short sequence of it if I'm forced to, but in a game with one-hit kills and a collection of other downers? It doesn't help that I have to kill these multi-handed creatures beforehand. You can't kill the guard, either, he's there forever. This is an awkward sequence, but its definitely doable.

The dragon here seems oddly cartoony for the rest of the game

Shield 2 is an outside level. Here I have to deal with a dragon. And bats. Bats are the worst enemy in this game, they respawn constantly, like everything else, but they have a threat range of the entire level. So, I have to jam a bunch of rocks at them, run past, throw more rocks, go up the ladder, hoping the dragon is breathing fire at that moment, to reach the top. This isn't where the level ends, no I have to pour water on the dragon, and in an incredibly precise sequence, run past him. The more I play it, the more I suspect I'm playing the 1986 version of I Wanna Be the Guy.

Trouble, hyuk, hyuk, hyuk. This level exposes another problem this game has. You can't shoot while moving or on a set of stairs. While this level isn't the absolute worst in regards to this, it is quite a sheer cliff. You have to time it right so the guy who pops out in the lower left doesn't get back up and throw a spear at you, while also making sure you don't touch a rat. It is quite doable after some practice.

Which leads to Trouble 2. I didn't get very far in this one because on my first life I didn't see the bats and on my second life I missed a jump. I only had two lives when I reached here. I'd wager this is no Pitfall though.

Fireball is the most infamous of the rooms, leading to a different flock of bats and the things that make a really annoying sound. Its hard to describe properly, but imagine someone mimicking a small child laughing mockingly, but very badly. To be honest its not that bad, perhaps its just because its the one I've spent the most time on. This leads to...

Fireball 2 is precision platforming, in a game that is fiercely willing to screw you over. There are only two bats here, but that's all this level needs. Think on that for a second. There are three jumps, that the game graciously told me I could do. Regular jump, running jump, and down jump. The last isn't jumping down, you just have a shorter jumping arc. Once you get used to the controls, its not too bad. Reminds me of a bad sequence in the Men in Black game, except that one was worse than this. Boy, I wonder why I hate platforming in games so much...

Fireball 3 is hell. You have to jump on a series of platforms moving down the river while rocks are falling from above. I don't know how to deal with this at all yet. This game, man, this game.

That's as far as I got in each stage so far, I'm probably going to complete each one individually before finally reaching the Black Knight, but this is not the improvement I was told it was. Checking the AVGN episode, I've gone just about as far as he did. Perhaps he went a little further in places.

This Session: 1 hour

Game 72: Tracker

The Macintosh title looks the best out of the title screens

Name:Tracker
Number:72
Year:1986
Publisher:Rainbird Software
Developer:Union Software
Genre:Flight Simulation/Strategy
Difficulty:5/5
Time:2 hours

I have never spent more time trying, unsuccessfully, getting a game to work like this in a long time. First, I naturally tried the Amiga version. I needed to do something funny with the emulator and I wasn't going to do that. Then I tried the Macintosh version, because that was the next best thing. Across a multitude of systems, it still wouldn't work. Then I couldn't find the Atari ST version. That left the DOS and C64 versions, which I wasn't looking forward to. This is CGA dos if you don't remember and my C64 emulator is just hard to use. I find Macintosh easier than the C64, what is this world coming to? Then the C64 version doesn't work either, so I decide to screw it and go with DOS. Its not a mystery as to why this game isn't popular today, its near impossible to get running.

Tracker is an interesting title. Set in a cyberpunk future as some kind of deathsport. They don't explain why its a deathsport, since the game doesn't involve your physical presence, they're just being evil. Its hard to say what the closest sport is, but its basketball, in the sense that you grab a "ball" (bomb) to put in a "hoop" (target). Its a big arena you fly around in several ships, gradually destroying hoops. You control several ships, and each operates independently until you control them specifically, for combat. The game comes with a big novella, but the manual itself does a pretty good job of putting the story out there.

Its not really a mystery why it isn't popular once I start playing, as the game has a very tedious start-up process. Partially my fault, since I wasn't certain what kind of control scheme I wanted, but move of the keys are useless. What's important are the speed keys and the weapon change. But you have to change them whenever you start, or just adjust to the original controls. Turning and shooting are handled by the mouse. Its slow, but its handled. Nonetheless, my first attempt at playing this goes poorly. Each ship can be attacked, but when you're in the combat mode, which I did when it said I was being attacked, the game doesn't tell you when anything is happening to another ship. That could just be full-screen combat mode, since I eventually found that the "windowed" mode provided me with a map, which is incredibly vital to doing anything in this game.

When I start treating it like a racing game with incidental shooting, it becomes better. Like Wipeout, but bad. Not good, just better. The problem with the controls, is that in addition to the aforementioned issues, is that you can't turn around anywhere but in designated places. Its more like trains that can crash into each other that can also shoot. This has disastrous consequences for you, but the enemy gets away scot-free. I'm not even sure I can damage these guys. It doesn't seem like I'm doing anything. The targets, on the other hand, I'm actually managing to hit. Its absolutely bizarre.

This game is really badly designed. The system of having multiple ships moving around at different times is completely alien to how I usually play such games. The game doesn't seem to be encouraging it either. You two different kinds of bombs, one you get easily and can use against a relatively easy target outside the starting area. This gives you the second kind, which you use against a central computer. The problem is all the weapons don't seem to want to hit where you aim. The bombs I could get bounced and the regular shot didn't hit a moving target once. You have infinite ammo for the regular gun, but it recharges, slowly. I should have taken out something at some point.

I didn't make it far. I was getting persistent crashes that sent me to DOS, and if I returned to the game, it just crashed DOSbox. This game is basically unplayable no matter how you cut it.

With that said, let's talk about the manual. By far the most interesting piece of this game. There's a novella, which I didn't read, because if I was going to do that, I'd spend my time reading actual novels or short stories, not ones produced for a video game. But the manual is something special. This is some on-point cyberpunk humor. The TV station telling you not to advertise for local funeral homes, because they don't want to get cheated out of meagre revenue. Your epitaph will be chosen by a weekly caption contest. Except what's interesting is that this changes depending on what version you're playing. Macintosh, interesting cyberpunk. C64, computer-turned-bad.

Weapons:
Nearly unusable cannons and bombs. 0/10

Enemies:
You have stationary and mobile targets, which have different types, but they didn't really matter. The game hypes up its own AI, but it didn't seem all that intelligent.  1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
The overarching map only looks cool when you zoom out, inside its just endless corridors and pylons. 1/10

Player Agency:
A floaty hovercraft you can't aim at all. I guess its easily understandable for a modern user, but the same is true of a bulldozer, and neither are ideal driving experiences. 1/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
None of the interesting cyberpunk atmosphere enters into the game. 0/10

Graphics:
Generic early 3D, serviceable, but not impressive. 1/10

Story:
Putting your story in a novella is guaranteed to make me not care. 0/10

Sound/Music:
Generic PC Speaker. 1/10

That's 5. That makes it the 11th game in a row to get under 20, with only Lethal Tender breaking up an even longer string of bad games. I recommend reading the manual and maybe the novella over playing this. Its the only enjoyment anyone is getting out of this. Otherwise, uh...watch Rollerball or something.

Opinions on the game were sharply divided. Everyone felt the game was hard, but few felt that difficulty was worth it. The reviews on the Amiga and ST versions were the most favorable, with most Commodore 64 and DOS reviews ripping it to shreds. Zapp is my favorite, highlighting the same points as I, but less harsh and points out this cost 15£. That's back when that meant something.

I think I'm going to play something a bit out of the way next. I need a break from early '80s games, its starting to wear on me quite a bit.

Game 71: Epoch

Name:Epoch
Number:71
Year:1981
Publisher:Sirius Software
Developer:Sirius Software
Genre:Space Sim
Difficulty:4/5
Time:1 hour

For an obscure Apple II game that doesn't look appealing on first glance, I sure as hell had some trouble getting it to run. I'm willing to bet I'm one of the very few people who gave it that chance, and even I came in not expecting much. Its hard to say whether I got that or not. This game feels weird. Like alien in design. In every little way it is wrong, not the way anyone else would do it. What do I expect? Its from 1981. I respect it even though I don't really like it.

After a title screen the resembles something that would be a screensaver, the game begins. Something's shooting at me, so I shoot back. Cool. Nothing else is shooting at me, but I'm shooting at everything I see. Nothing's hitting. Oh, some scenery approaches...I shattered it and nothing happened. Oh, I get it, I shoot the things approaching me. And I'm dead, out of ammo. Huh. Normally, at this point, I'd play it a few more times, check that my thoughts were clear, then write off another title. But somehow Epoch managed to evade that. For some reason I actually wanted to play it a little more.

As I kept playing, it still felt weirder. I was getting better, but I wasn't getting any more time. I was dying due to a lack of fuel, while I still had way more title. My turning had no bearing on this, so I was clearly missing something. Checking, the very thin yet very informative manual tells me there are time gates that restore my time and friendly space stations that give me more health and ammo. I haven't seen anything the manual is depicting as one. Huh. Then when I start looking for one, everything that looks like it doesn't end up helping me.

The technology behind this is really weird. You have bullets that you can see curve around your ship. Its really cool, you get shot at, then you turn into the direction the bullet is heading. It maintains its speed and distance in what is perceivable as three-dimensional space. On the other hand, anything that is outside of my sight is non-existent. There's a ship on your left? Turn right, then left, he's gone.

There's a really awkward control issue that I'm not sure where its at fault. I'm controlling it via the numpad, which is obviously not on the original system. Everything works fine, except I have some drift and going up and left sends me flying for some reason. Its a little slow beyond that.

Weapons:
Generic lasers. 1/10

Enemies:
You've got vaguely Tie Fighter, Klingon heavy cruiser, and some other stuff I don't recognize. The visual range is nice for Apple II, but they're all the same. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
The closest things are more like ammunition boxes you can accidentally shoot. 0/10

Levels:
None, really.

Player Agency:
Awkward, slow, but as effective as can be. 3/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
There's just something strange about this game. I can't put my finger on it. 3/10

Graphics:
This is genuinely impressive stuff for 1981. Things get bigger as they approach, yet far away they still look like what they eventually look like. Some of the graphical effects here are genuinely good. 2/10

Story:
Generic non-story.

Sound/Music:
This is legitimately the worst thing I've ever heard. What passes for music is some absolute screeches that I think are trying to rip off something, but I don't care. 0/10

That's 10 points. Which is very good for 1981. I found it interesting, but its hard to recommend. For all the positives I found its still 1981 and it also sounds like a cascade of nails on a chalkboard.

The developer, Larry Miller, would go on to make two more games for Sirius Software, this same year, before joining Activision and disappearing. Allegedly the cover artist for this game was the same Richard Hescox who would go on the make art for Sierra games.

So, reviews. Well, I'm chancing that nobody modern has reviewed it, but there's an old issue of Computer Gaming World that mentions this game. Its very generous towards the sound design and seems to think its more complex than it is...but that's 2021 talking.

The Sentinel: Universal Blues

The Sentinel continues to be an interesting, if incredibly strange title. Its one of those games where you actually wonder what's going on outside of the game. This epic battle between me and the Sentinel is interesting, but its a question I keep having. I don't get that with a lot of games I've played here, they're usually quite generic or set in settings I really don't wonder what's going on.

I discovered a minor issue on the opening screen this session. You can't remove a number once you type it in. Considering you can potentially be here for 10,000 levels, that is some poor testing. Anyway, Level 13. Still two Sentinels, maybe one's a Sentry. I start right underneath one. Its really starting to hit me that having 10,000 randomly generated levels is a bad level design practice. Its that same realization I get whenever I see some game advertising procedurally generated level design as a selling point.

I don't know what systems are in place to prevent a player from getting killed as they boot up the level, but I must have broken them somehow, because I was quickly spotted. The starting area really screws you here. You have to put down your boulder and replica before the nearby Sentinel gets you. This level barely gives you the chance to reabsorb your old replica before he attacks. Oh, and then you have to jump to another place quickly. Then you're stuck. You have ten thousand levels, why do you need to pad them out with such insane difficulty? This is not a reasonable difficulty spike, this is the 13th level. I can't say I'm surprised something like this happened though. Whether this is the procedural generation or the humans behind it, I couldn't tell you. I am telling you I'm going to take advantage of codes people have put on the internet.

Level 50, glad we're still on two sentinels. It was definitely an issue of starting location. Here it doesn't quite feel like I've got to rush through things. Still, there's not much for me to talk about. I was lucky here, I had the time to grab some trees. The sound design is interesting. You physically hear the Sentinel move, and you can definitely hear where one is in relation to you. In addition you get a usual assortment of bleeps and bloops more at home on the Atari 2600 than the Amiga. Music's still good, hasn't gotten on my nerves yet.

Level 65, moving up to three Sentinels. This makes me nervous. There's got to be a limit on how many can appear in a level, right? I'm starting to pick up on how to play this game. Taking as many trees as I can is absolutely vital, not just to winning, that's important, but to ensuring I skip as many levels as I can. Three doesn't seem majorly different than two, and in some respects I think its a boon. Each one, having given me 3 energy, also gives me a decent vantage point to see how to take out the other two. Obviously, getting seen or having to hit H is unideal, but I'm starting to mitigate my problems. If I wanted to, I think I could start over and get to a different level than 13. I'm not doing that, but I could do that.

Level 80, code 18452261, back to two? Looking at the map, it seems like there should be a third Sentinel. I also start in legitimately the worst possible starting place. And by that I mean, there's a Sentinel above me, and I am stuck in a single square. Checking the manual again, they only say that pressing H after starting might put you in an impossible situation. It also tells me to return to an earlier save and get a different amount of energy if I'm having problems with one landscape. (and no landscape is impossible) What a load.

Despite that handicap, the level proceeds smoothly enough. The game feels too fast-paced, yet controls are slow enough that trying to effectively figure out where the Sentinels are turning is not ideal. However, with my newfound ability to effectively mow down trees and use of the U key*, I make it. I should say very well, my nervousness at effectively dealing with these things seems misplaced now.

Level 99, code 08568571. Wait, there's only one Sentinel? Is this a trick? In a way, yes. This was more of a tower climb than previous levels. Starting me off in a secluded but quickly enough visible hole, followed by trying to find the key spots to reach the Sentinel's tower. This was the first time the game has tried to be clever with that, as previous levels were fairly simple. Well, I say that, but I still escaped the level with a ton of energy. I think I'm really getting the hang of this.

This Session: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

*This does a 180-degree turn, or a U-turn.