Quahappy (ZX Spectrum)
by Jamie Grilo

In a departure from his previous outings the latest game from prolithic developer Jaime Grilo is a creepy, top down, exploration style affair, created using AGD. If the audio and visuals in this one don't give you the jitters then I'm not sure what will. You have been warned.

After a splendidly spooky looking loading screen by Andy Green you are presented with the title screen and some control options. You can use the keyboard, a Kempston joystick or a Sinclair joystick and if you're not happy with the default keyboard controls, up (Q), down (A), left (O), right (P) and pause game (M), you can always redefine them by pressing 'R'.

You control a disembodied head called Dauntless Andy. I would have preferred Intrepid Andy myself, rolls off the tongue much better, but it is what it is. He's been given this name because his friends have dared him to enter Quahappy Manor and grab all the coins in there and of course he's took the dare on.

This story is passed on to the player in simple terms on the very first screen, which is an area just outside the manor. But once Andy steps foot, or head, in the place, the entrance door slams shut behind him. So he must find a way to unlock it and escape.

Inside the manor you'll find over 50 rooms full of enemies, traps and other objects. In fact almost all the enemies in the game are also disembodied heads too which lends a weird kind of creepiness to the game. Enemy heads patrol up and down, left and right and also bounce diagonally around the each room

There are thirty coins of various currencies hidden around the manor which can be collected, although some, not included in the thirty, are phantom coins which cannot be picked up. Coloured keys (red, magenta, cyan, yellow and green) can be found in difficult to reach places which, when collected, will let you pass through matching coloured doors. To unlock the entrance door and escape Andy must collect the letters of the words 'MAIN DOOR KEY' scattered around the manor.

The status area at the bottom of the screen shows lives remaining, messages, number of coins collected (out of 30), letters of 'MAIN DOOR KEY' collected, score and coloured keys obtained.

Push buttons can also be discovered which trigger certain mechanisms. Other hazards include spikes, presses and laser beams. There's a lot of rooms in the manor which tease the player by showing parts of the current room which they cannot reach unless they travel via a number of other rooms. Most of the rooms appear to be very maze like in construction. It goes without saying that mapping this game out is essential unless you have some sort of mega memory and the fact that you start off with a generous nine lives gives an indication of the games difficulty level. It's not gonna be easy.

The game play is nice and simple and almost always about timing and memory of enemy movement patterns. It reminds me of an old, slightly less creepy Spectrum game called Mutant Monty only with interconnected screens, like Jet Set Willy. All enemies must be avoided as there is no way to destroy them. Maybe they're all ghosts - Yikes!! Graphics are suitably unsettling and effective at making your skin crawl and the in game music is excellent, very eerie.

I like The games simplicity. It's an explorative avoid 'em up and nothing more. The disembodied heads create a creepy atmosphere and the design of the rooms in the manor and how they connect together is excellent. The sound effects are a bit weak compared to everything else in the game. 'Come here, dear!', that just freaks me out each time I see it in a room.

An enjoyable game that's fun to explore and has a fantastically creepy atmosphere. It's a nice change from all the platform games created with AGD. Jaime Grilo has found a winning formula once again.