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Well knock me down with half a pound of prequark, some
highly unstable planet has just emerged out of a black
hole and is in ever so severe danger of going 'blam'.
Not so bad you may think, one planet within an infinite
universe going 'blam' is no real loss. This is true,
but because of the unstable little worldlet's location
such a 'blam' would trigger an explosion so huge that
there wouldn't be any universe to live in any more.
Obviously this is not a desirable state of affairs so
a plan is hatched. Unfortunately this plan involves
a hero flying off to the asteroid and stabilising its
core. Heroes are not stupid and all of them realised
that this mission would mean certain death and no more
chat show appearances. So they all declined. This left
BLOB a Bio-Logically Operated Being.
He's not very able but is stupid enough to have the
greatest enthusiasm for the mission.
Copies
of ZZAP! this way -- the poor astronaut at the
bottom of the screen didn't quite make it. It looks
as
though BLOB in the centre of the screen, happily seated
at the controls of his flying baking tin, will make
it.
Giving
back a world its stability is not an easy thing, at
all, and to do so a number of objects have to be placed
within the world's core, filling a gap that is threatening
to implode. It needs a mid-morning snack. Little wonder
though that the planet is so potentially explosive,
since it's a bit of a mess, beriddled with caverns,
the whole structure is rather tenuous. After a bit of
a messy landing (crash is probably a better word) BLOB
must traverse and explore the asteroid's interior to
find the correct core filling objects.
It's
an awfully large asteroid and exploration on foot would
be far from easy. Luckily the remnants of some ancient
civilisation abound and these can be put to BLOB'S use.
The main help is a teleportion system, seen by the nodes
that are scattered around the environment. Each booth
has its own codeword of which BLOB is informed when
he enters it, while within the booth typing the code
of any other node will beam blob there in the flash
of a frame flyback. Another mode of transport are the
flying baking tins parked around the joint; though a
speedier form of transport than walking, sitting on
a tin tray makes it impossible to pick objects up.
BLOB
and his universe are seen as a series of screens. To
flip from one to another BLOB must move off an edge
and another jaunts into view. Slower than a baking tin,
on foot BLOB's still quite a fast mover and can zip
left and right over the ledges and rocks in the asteroid.
He is susceptible to gravity though, and trolling off
a ledge edge has its usual effect -- he accelerates
downwards till some terra firma rushes up to greet his
feet. Failing can he halted with a quick downwards motion
on the joystick that should be in your hand. A platform
will instantly appear under BLOB's padlike tootsies,
and seconds later it decays. Repeated down pulling raises
blob higher and higher as more and more platforms appear
under him. Unluckily, infinite platforms are not in
your possession and a meter at the top indicates how
many ledges are left. Two other meters also sit here,
one showing a constantly sapped energy and the other
a ray gun status. Energy is important, as a zero amount
of this is like nature's way of telling you to slow
down, ie death. Extra energy, platforms and ray gun
bullets can be picked up by passing over supplies of
such substances which may be found lying about the place.
Hassling
and harassing the poor BLOB are a number of mindless
nasties, a touch from these and energy depreciates,
fire the gun at them and they die.
The
asteroid's scenery is also quite interesting and in
places deadly. Luna undergrowth is worth avoiding, as
death results. Some very narrow gaps that BLOB must
travel through are booby trapped as well with powerful
field generators that sometimes spark the gap. Get caught
mid-spark and BLOB gets blipped. Among the other artifacts
knocking around, of particular interest are the Cheops
pyramids. These mysterious items allow objects to be
traded if the right code parts are possessed. To pick
up an object, just position the person over the object
and push up. There is a buffer area along the score
line showing any of the objects held.
To
finish the game the core centre must be found, not an
easy job considering the hundreds of screens to be explored
and the various items that must be fitted. Fail and
die -- this seems a pretty good reason to have a game.
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