Allia Quest

Atari 2600

Review by Al Backiel

EbiVision

Shooter

Graphics: 7

Sound: 7

Gameplay: 8

Overall: 7


This is another homebrew cart from Igor Barzilai of Ebivision. There were only 40 copies available at CGE2K1 and they were sold at the DP booth. Igor showed up with all he had ready, stayed a while, then had to catch a plane. The cart came packaged complete with box, label and instructions. I asked Igor about how he got the title. He told me that “Allia” was just a word that he coined because he was looking for an “A___A’ word to fit his logo shape.

This game is a decent shooter noteworthy for its large, colorful sprites. Instead of the usual black outer space background, Igor has created an interesting backdrop of twinkling stars. It looks like a starry night sky. This game is not a clone, but an original program. The closest game it resembles is Megamania, but with more undulating attackers. You do not actually move your ship, the background moves instead. The enemies can wrap around if you move too far left or right. So you have to be careful. There are eight different waves, each containing a fleet of 20 fighters. The next series is the same, but with different colors. You get 3 lives and no replenishments. Since the waves were not named. I have given them my own pet names for reference: 1) Hamburgers (a little stingy on the meat though - where’s the beef? 2) Star Fighters (these look a lot like tanks) 3) Phoenix 4) Bottlecaps (except these are square) 5) Bottle brushes (or feather dusters) 6) Stacking squares 7) Beacon (very tricky searchlights and beams) 8) Octopi (or mushrooms)

My personal best was 91,900. I would like to break 100K. Sometimes the last enemy on the screen is tough to kill.

COMMENTS? Post them HERE

Go to Digital Press HQ
Return to Digital Press Home

Last updated: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 02:15 PM