https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... m/Shuriken
✓ Reviewed
CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING SHURIKEN, THE FIRST IN A NEW TRILOGY. NEXT IN THE SHURIKEN TRILOGY WILL BE EVASIVE ACTION
HOWEVER, OTHER AMAZING GAMES UNDER THE XPLOSIVE LABEL ARE SOON TO BE RELEASED ... THE FIRST BEING RING MAGIC
IF ANY BUDDING PROGRAMMERS HAVE WRITTEN A GOOD GAME, WHY NOT SEND IT ON A CASSETTE TO:
XPLOSIVE
SAFFRON HOUSE
ROMAN ROAD
LITTLE ASTON
SUTTON COLDFIELD
WEST MIDLANDS
B74 3AT
WE WILL ACKNOWLEDGE RECIEPT OF YOUR PROGRAM THE SAME DAY. ENOUGH OF THESE PLUGS, AND ONTO SOME SERIOUS CHAT.....
MATT - OOOHHH.... MOAN.. GROAN! ITS A HARD LIFE BEING A PROGRAMMER! WELL! AREN'T WE A SKILLFUL PERSON THEN??! FINISHING A GAME THAT EVEN I CANT FINISH!! .. OR .. DID YOU CHEAT??? OH WELL! HERE WE GO WITH SOME HELLOS ...
HELLO TO SHADOW (THIS IS ACTUALLY TONY'S HANDLE ON VIEWDATA SYSTEMS - WHY HE MADE ME SAY HELLO TO HIM WHEN HE'S SITTING NEXT TO ME IS A MYSTERY....), DOBS, ECK, ANDY SEVERN, JABBA, PAUL, KEVIN, AND THE REST OF THE PREMIER TEAM.
TALKING OF VIEWDATA SYSTEMS.. IF ANYONE IS ON PRESTEL, WHY NOT MAILBOX ME? MY MBX NUMBER IS 213536930 (THAT WILL BE UP AGAIN LATER IF YOU MISSED IT!), OR, ON THE GNOME AT HOME BULLETIN BOARD, SEND A MESSAGE TO SHADOW (AND IT WILL REACH ME... HONEST!) AND HERE IS THAT VERY PERSON.... SHADOW (OR RATHER TONY!) .. BACK LATER ..
TONY - I HOPE YOU ENJOYED PLAYING ALL FOUR LEVELS WITHOUT HAVING TO LOAD EACH NEW LEVEL IN, LIKE CERTAIN GAMES I COULD MENTION!!
MATT, MOANED ALOT ABOUT HAVING TO FIT 'ALL THESE LEVELS INTO 48K OF MEMORY'! BUT, I NAGGED CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO CRAM ALL FOUR LEVELS INTO MEMORY! FAN LETTERS TO THE ADDRESS GIVEN BEFORE!!! ALSO, IF ANYONE WANTS GRAFIX DONE I'LL BE AVAILABLE AT THAT ADDRESS AS WELL! WE WERE ORIGINALLY GOING TO WRITE A STAR FLEET MANUAL BUT COULDN'T BE BOTHERED! TO ALL GNOME AT HOME MEMBERS, MAILBOX 'SHADOW' NOW.
TIME FOR ALL THE HELLOS.... HELLO TO...
STINGRAY (BECAUSE I MADE HIM SAY HELLO TO ME!),MOOG JNR, CEASAR AND CLEO (MY KITTENS), PHILLIP (THE LITTLE TWERP THAT KEPT COMING AROUND ASKING FOR GAMES TO BORROW),HENRY,OSCAR,NELSON,BADGER,MIKE LAMB (EVEN THOUGH I'VE NEVER MET HIM),ALL THE MAGAZINES THAT GAVE SHURIKEN A GOOD REVIEW,MAD SYSOP,THANATOS,SPRITE,IVAN (THE MUSCIAN WHO IS STILL AT THIS VERY MOMENT STRUGGLING WITH MATTS ACE MUSIC ROUTINE! THE ONE WHICH IS A SOD TO USE!),MARK,ASHLEY,RICHARD,DANIEL,CHRIS,MATTHEW,PAUL,CRAIG,EVERYONE WORKING ON THE NEW SAM COUPE COMPUTER, BEST WISHES FROM THE XPLOSIVE DEVELOPMENT TEAM,SIMON,JAMES AND FINALLY BEN. ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO THE KIDS AT THE TOP OF MY ROAD FOR RIDING OVER THEIR REMOTE CONTROL CAR! HONEST! IT WAS THEIR FAULT ANYWAY, SHOULDN'T HAVE PLAYED CHICKEN WITH MY BIKE! INCIDENTALLY, DOES ANYONE REMEMBER ALBERTO THE FROG AND HIS ANIMAL BAND? YOU KNOW, THE ONE WITH THE MILKSHAKES? WELL, WHICH DID HE PREFER? STRAWBERRY OR CHOCOLATE? ANSWERS ON A POSTCARD. I THINK IT IS TIME ONCE AGAIN TO BEGIN BOASTING ABOUT SHURIKEN!! TEENYS LOT MAGAZINE 'THE BEST BUDGET GAME THIS YEAR', IVAN 'WELL WICKED', PHILLIP 'BETTER THAN MOST 9.99 GAMES!', US 'BOG OFF PHILLIP'.
WHILE I HAVE THE CHANCE (HAHA! HE'S BEEN TALKING FOR THE LAST 2K OF CODE! - MATT) I'D JUST LIKE TO PLUG - RING MAGIC - THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT FOR THE XPLOSIVE DEVELOPMENT TEAM. THE PLOT IS .... BEFORE KING ARTHUR, BEFORE EVEN THE ROMANS, IN ENGLAND A LONG LONG TIME AGO LIVED THE RACE OF DUN-DAIN. A POWERFUL RACE, FAR TOO ADVANCED FOR THEIR TIME. YOU AS THE RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THE THRONE MUST PROVE YOUR WORTH BY RECOVERING THE LOST RING OF FAIRIE, FOR IT IS SAID THAT ONLY THE TRUE HEIR OF DUN-DAIN CAN WIELD ITS POWER. SOUNDS GOOD DOESN'T IT? WELL? OF COURSE IT DOES, BETTER THAN THE USUAL 'YOU MUST DESTROY EVERYTHING IN YOUR PATH AND SAVE THE WORLD' LINE ANYWAY!!
NOW DON'T YOU THINK THAT WAS WORTH THE MONEY? NOT ONLY A FOUR LEVEL GAME BUT ALSO A MEGA SCROLLING MESSAGE WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED IT! JUST IN CASE ANY OF YOU READING THIS ARE WONDERING WHERE I FOUND THE PASSWORD 'YRNEHTACYM' I'LL TELL YOU! WRITE IT OUT BACKWARDS AND IT SPELLS 'MYCATHENRY' OR 'MY CAT HENRY', WHICH OF COURSE IS REFERRING TO MATTS NEWEST KITTEN HENRY. BRILLIANT IDEA,OR WHAT?
I HAVE ALMOST RUN OUT OF THINGS TO SAY, BUT, NEVER FEAR 'CAUSE I'LL BE BACK LATER ON IN THE SCROLLY WITH SOME AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE GAME! ...
HAS HE GONE? OH GOOD! MAYBE I CAN GET A WORD IN NOW... I DID PROGRAM THE THING AFTER ALL!! (AS YOU KEEP TELLING ME - TONY) (BOG OFF - MATT) OH! IT LOOKS LIKE MY LITTLE BIT OF TEXT WILL HAVE TO WAIT..
HERE'S IVAN.... IVAN - UM.. HELLO.. ERR.. YEAH! HI! I DID TE MUSIC! DID YOU LIKE IT? HOPE SO! I CANT STAY LONG.. I JUST THOUGHT I'D MAKE AN APPEARENCE!!
HELLO TO - EWAN, LITTLE BEN, BIG BEN, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO KNOWS ME! IF ANYONE WANTS ANY MUSIC DOING, THEN CONTACT THE XPLOSIVE TEAM NOW!! SEE YA! ...
MATT - OH!! I CAN, AT LAST, SAY SOMETHING!! YOU KNOW.. IT'S SURPRISING THAT SHURIKEN WAS RELEASED AT ALL! THERE HAVE BEEN RATHER ALOT OF COCKUPS!! FIRST, AND FOREMOST, I USED TO BE A PROUD OWNER OF A SPECTRUM +2. ABOUT A QUATER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHURIKEN, IT HAD A FIT, AND BLEW UP! DIXONS (WHERE I GOT THE THING FROM) SAID THAT IT WOULD BE 6 MONTHS BEFORE IT WOULD BE FIXED! ARRGH! METHINKS! AND I MANAGED (EVENTUALLY) TO PERSUADE THEM TO GIVE ME A NEW ONE! BUT!! THEY REPLACED IT WITH... DUM DE DUM DUM DAAA! .. A +2A .... (OH NO!!) WHICH IS COMPLETELY INCOMPATABLE WITH ALL FORMS OF LIFE! SO! I MANAGED TO GET HOLD OF A SPECTRUM PLUS TO TEST MY CODE ON, BUT THEN!! TONY'S COMPUTER BLEW UP!! HE GOT HIS FIXED (AND IT HAS PROMPTLY BLOWN UP ALMOST EVERY WEEK SINCE!) THEN... DOOM UPON GLOOM.. TWO OF MY VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE FILE DISCS GOT COMPLETELY WIPED, WHICH MEANT REWRITING ALOT OF CODE.. (WHICH WAS MAINLY DUE TO MY +2A AND 'FIXER'!!) ... AND THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF MISHAPS SINCE, BUT IT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN 48K TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT! DISASTER AFTER DISASTER!! WELL, NOW YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE HAD TO GO THROUGH (APART FROM TONY'S MOANS AT ME FOR RUNNING OUT OF MEMORY (HE SAID IT WAS MY FAULT! DUNNO WHY!!))
RIGHT.. I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD THAT TONY WANTS A NATTER... SO.. OVER TO HIM FOR A FEW BRIEF (DID I SAY BRIEF?? HAH!) WORDS.....
TONY - IT'S TIME FOR MY FACT MENTIONED EARLIER! BUT, JUST BEFORE I BEGIN... DID YOU KNOW WE'VE USED ALMOST SIX AND A HALF K ALREADY?? WE'RE AIMING FOR THE 8K BARRIER AT THE MOMENT, BUT, HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE SMASHING THAT SOON!! INCIDENTALLY, THE LONGEST SCROLLY KNOWN TO US ON THE SPECTRUM WAS ONLY 7K LONG! PUNY!!!...
BACK TO THE FACTS! EVERY COMPUTER EVER INVOLVED IN PROGRAMMING THIS GAME HAS BROKEN DOWN!! WARNING MEGA GAMES LIKE THIS CAN SERIOUSLY OVER EXCITE YOUR POOR OLD SPECCY!! FACT NUMERO TWO... WE HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR SHURIKEN TO BE FINISHED BY THE PC SHOW, BUT, DUE TO LAZYNESS THE PROGRAMMER HADN'T FINISHED WORK ON FLICKER! THAT GETS HIM BACK FOR ALL THOSE NASTY DIGS EARLIER.
FACT NUMERO THREE... MY PERSONAL UNFINISHED COPY OF SHURIKEN HAS AN AMAZING FEATURE! YOU CAN WALK IN MID AIR!! UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS MORE OF A HINDERANCE THAN A HELP. (YOUR COPY IS CORRUPTED YOU FOOL - MATT)
FACT NUEMRO FOUR... UNTIL SHURIKEN WE HAD NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE SOUND ON THE SPECCY IN MACHINE CODE! SO PLEASE EXCUSE LACK OF SOUND FX! (IT WAS ALSO A MEMORY LIMITATION!! - MATT). NONSENSE, MEMORY IS NO PROBLEM!! .... UPDATE ON THE SCROLLY MEMORY LENGTH .... IT'S NOW ON THE SEVEN AND A HALF K MARK, SOON TO BE REACHING THE 8K BARRIER!! YEAH!! ....
NOW, BACK TO THE FACTS ....
FACT NUMERO FIVE.... ALTHOUGH COMPUTER BREAKAGES DELAYED THE COMPLETION DATE OF SHURIKEN A CERTAIN 'PHILLIP' DELAYED US THE MOST, IT HAS TO BE SAID WE LOST ABOUT A MONTH PROGRAMMING TIME BECAUSE OF THIS HORRIBLE LITTLE CREATURE!! SUBTLE HINTS LIKE 'GO AWAY' DIDN'T SEEM TO WORK. EVERYDAY FOR ABOUT A MONTH PHILLIP RANG UP AND CAME ROUND. UNTIL EVENTUALLY HE HAD TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL (AAAAHHHHH - MATT), IT HAS TO BE SAID WE LOST ANOTHER DAY OF PROGRAMMING BECAUSE OF THE PARTY!!
BACK WITH MORE FACTS LATER, NOW OVER TO MATT FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON THE SCROLLYS MEMORY LENGTH... ZZZZZZ ... UMM.. WHAT?? OH... MORNING PEEPS!! HAS HE FINISHED FOR GOOD YET? (NO - TONY!) OH WELL... ANYWAY! THE SCROLLY IS NOW.... WAIT FR IT...... EIGHT AND A HALF K!!! AMAZING OR WHAT?? BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET! SO, KEEP READING THE SCROLLYTHON!! (DID YOU KNOW... TONY DOES NOT KNOW HIS OWN PHONE NUMBER? HE KEEPS DIALLING MY NUMBER BY MISTAKE!! HA HA HA!) THAT WAS INTERESTING WASN'T IT?!! (SHUT UP - TONY) ANY DONATIONS TO THE SCROLLYTHON CAN BE SENT TO THE USUAL ADDRESS.. IT'S A WORTHWHILE CAUSE.. HELP THE AGED PROGRAMMER! (AND 1P WILL GO TO THE GRAPHICS ARTIST!) HMM..
A FEW MORE HELLOS .....
HELLO (2) TO - BEN SMITH, BEN TEAGUE, BIFFA, ADRIAN, EVERYONE AT COLLEGE, EVERYONE ON THE 'NET. NOW FOR A BRAND NEW FEATURE.... THE BOG OFF'S SECTION. BOG OFF TO - PHILLIP, TONY (HEHEHE!), BEN WHEETMAN (THIS KID IS A SUCKER!!), ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE SHURIKEN. THIS LIST WILL BE ADDED TO THROUGHOUT THE SCROLLYTHON. INCIDENTALLY, IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE A MENTION IN OUR HELLOS OR OUR BOG OFFS, THEN JUST SEND A REQUEST TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS.......
XPLOSIVE
SAFFROM HOUSE
ROMAN ROAD
LITTLE ASTON
SUTTON COLDFIELD WEST MIDS
B74 3AT
AND YOU WILL BE MENTIONED IN THE VERY NEXT SCROLLYTHON!!!!
... UPDATE ... THE SCROLLYTHON IS NOW NINE AND A HALF K LONG!!
AND NOW.. (COZ HE'S GETTING BORED) OVER TO TONY...... COR, DID YOU HEAR THAT OVER 9K! AMAZING! WICKED! YOU DON'T GET THIS SORT OF SCROLLY WHEN YOU FINISH MOST SPECCY GAMES NOW DO YOU??!! FACT NUMERO SIX OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.... THE ENTIRE GRAFIX DISK WAS WIPED! YEP THAT'S RIGHT ALL MY LONG HARD WORK! BUT, GOOD OLD MATT HAD ALL THE GRAFIX IN SPRITE CODE (EVEN THOUGH HE SHOULD HAVE MADE A BACK UP COPY!). SCROLLYTHON!! WHAT A WONDERFUL CAUSE, ME! DONATE MONEY! GIVE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT TO THE SCROLLYTHON!! THE ULTIMATE ALL NIGHT PARTY SCROLLING SCROLLYTHON! .... NATTER .... IS ANYONE ELSE GETTING FED UP WITH ALL THESE RUBBISH GAMES GIVEN AWAY WITH MAGAZINES? I MEAN SOME MAGAZINES ARE ONLY 50 PAGES LONG NOW! BAD ISN'T IT?
GUESS WHAT? NO,THE MEN IN WHITE COATS HAVE NOT ARRIVED TO TAKE ME AWAY YET! IT IS IN FACT TIME FOR, BOG OFFS ....
ALL THE COMPUTER CRITICS THAT DIDN'T LIKE SHURIKEN (CAN'T BE MANY OF THEM!),THE PUPPY IN THE ANDREX ADVERT,MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOURS CATS,KYLIE MINOGUE,JASON DONOVAN,STOCK ATKIN AND WATERMAN,ANDY SEVERN (FOR MAKING MATT GIVE ME ALL THOSE LEAFLETS AT THE PC SHOW!) AND A FINAL BOG OFF TO MATT ( FOR INCLUDING ME!)....
IT'S TIME FOR... FACT NUMERO SEVEN.... YOU KNOW THE ROOF GUNS IN SHURIKEN? YES OF COURSE YOU DO - THEY KILLED YOU ENOUGH TIMES DIDN'T THEY?!! WELL THE ORIGINAL ROOF GUNS LOOKED LIKE UPSIDE DOWN NODDY HATS! DIDN'T KNOW THAT DID YOU?!!....
BACK TO MATT NOW FOR AN UPDATE ON THE SCROLLYTHON... MATT - WELL FOLKS, THE SCROLLY IS NOW AN AMAZING LENGTH OF -- ELEVEN K!! -- THIS IS GETTING TO BE ONE MEATY SCROLLYTHON!!!
MATTFACT NUMBER ONE - I HAVE JUST HAD A NOSE BLEED! (NO, TONY DIDN'T HIT ME, I WAS JUST CASUALLY WALKING TO THE SMALLEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE (WHAT DID YOU GO IN THE CUPBOARD FOR? - TONY) AND THEN - WHAMMO! - I GOT A NOSE BLEED! - ITS A TOUGH LIFE BEING A PROGRAMMER!)
BOG OFF FILE NUMBER 3 ... BOG OFF TO - BROS (SPIT!), PHILLIP (AGAIN), TIMMY MALLETT, CRASH (FOR COCKING UP WHAT WAS A GOOD MAG!). OVER TO IVAN FOR A WORD (OR TWO) ...
IVAN - OH! ARE THESE TWO STILL HERE? WOW! ISN'T THIS SCROLLY BIG!!! GOING ON FOR 12 K NOW!! AND JUST THINK, THEY SET AN 8K BOUNDARY!! (WE'LL HAVE DOUBLED THE OLD SCROLLY RECORD SOON!!) BACK TO MATT (COZ I CANT THINK OF ANYTHING TO SAY!!)...
MATT - WELL! WHO WENT TO THE PC SHOW THEN? IF YOU DID, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT? PERSONALLY, I THINK THAT THE COMPANIES WERE MUCH MEANER WITH THE FREEBIES THIS YEAR!! OH WELL...
HELLOS FILE.... HELLO TO - EMMA, ELAINE, STEPHANIE, EMMA (NUMBER 2), AND MANY MANY MORE....
BACK TO TONY TO WAFFLE A BIT MORE!!!
TONY - REPEAT AFTER ME... THE SCROLLY IS NOW 12K LONG!! NO DON'T STOP IN AMAZEMENT 'CAUSE IT'S TRUE! YEP, 12K!! PROBABLY THE LONGEST SCROLLY IN THE WORLD! JOKE FILE ONE... WHAT'S THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING A TEST-TUBE BABY? Ž DUNNO? YOU GET A WOMB WITH A VIEW!Ž ....SO BEGINS THE JOKEATHON!! ME THINKS IT'S TIME FOR A BIT MORE PLUGGING, - RING MAGIC - IS COMING SOON !! I'M AFRAID THAT I MUST LEAVE THIS MEGA SCROLLYTHON NOW!! SO.. BYE BYE, AND I'LL SEE YOU IN THE VERY NEXT ONE!
MATT - HELLO! I'M STILL HERE! (ALTHOUGH I'M RUNNING OUT OF ROOM!!) BEFORE I GO, MY MBX NUMBER IS, ONCE AGAIN, > 213536930 < REMEMBER, IF YOU WANT A MENTION, JUST SEND YOUR NAME+ADDRESS + ANY MESSAGE YOU WANT BROADCASTING TO THE XPLOSIVE ADDRESS. HAVE FUN, AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON.... TARRA FROM XPLOSIVE..... P.S. THE SCROLLY IS NOW 13K LONG!! SEE YA!