Thursday, November 05, 2015

Rana Rama



We. Are. A. Frog. Really?

Most action games have you playing as something cool, like a wizard or a warrior or perhaps even a Hollywood hero with a deadly automated weapon that never runs out of ammo. Well, not so with Ranarama. You're a novice magician called Mervyn who has accidentally turned himself into a frog? That's right, you're a frog!

Wizards have invaded and brought with them a horde of monsters who killed everyone, although luckily they ignored this unassuming frog. So it's time for you to leggit and deal a hefty dose of revenge on these evil beings! Played through an overhead view, you crawl a dungeon battling the minion slaves of the powerful wizards.

Wanna see who you are up against? Check out these minions of evil...


  
Take time to check out your foe and find out who you're battling against.

  
Not only that but a chance to view the gorgeous artwork!!


An amphibian gauntlet?

My first impressions are of another action-packed Gauntlet clone and, although it looks aesthetically similar, it's quite different. Beginning in the upper area of this 8-level dungeon you must kill the baddies and defeat the wizards. Interestingly, only the places you have explored are visible and the baddies themselves are only seen when you’re in the same room. This makes entering new rooms an anxious moment and who knows what surprises lurk!

Monsters come in various scary shapes and sizes, starting with the humble Dwarf (I love those) and leading up to the mighty Gargoyles. All can be killed with increasing efforts and wizards need to be defeated in a Countdown-style sub-game that has you rearranging letters to form the word "Ranarama". It's not easy and later wizards are very tricky, but once won, he dies and leaves behind his rune goodies.

Magic plays its part in Ranarama and can be a little confusing at first but good ‘ol Mervyn has four categories at his disposal: offensive, defensive, effect and other powers. All movement and monster hits will reduce energy but fear not because you can cast a spell or collect the energy cells which are frequently available. Finally, use the floor-based glyphs to activate special features like a map, status and casting powerful spells. Quite confusing at first but don't give up!

Check out this screenshot. Looks a little like Gauntlet but it's... not...



As you can see, the rooms are displayed only when they have been explored.


Aesthetics

The graphics are superb with fine attention to detail and great use of colour plus the sprites are beautiful. Also, I love how each screen isn't instantly viewable in full - not until you've actually explored that region. This is a great idea and makes the journey far more interesting because you have no idea what's around the corner.

The in-game Sound effects are extremely good using a style that shows just what the ST's Yamaha chip is capable of. All chip music is by Dave J. Rogers, of Exolon and Zynaps fame, so absolutely superb stuff. Basically, the audio is wonderful and certainly proves that chipmusic will live on forever. Gorgeous sounds.

Ranarama was one of the first Atari ST games with speech (that I owned).
Thus I adore the fuzzy girl speaking. It's historically humourous but also very epic!!



I love the red eyes of Mr Froggy and each tiny character has fascinating attention to detail.


The CryptO'pinion?

If you're expecting a run-of-the-mill Gauntlet clone then you will be disappointed. Ranarama is different and offers a long-term mix of arcade action with hints of role-playing whilst venturing through the cunning levels. Yes, it's difficult but also very rewarding so expect lots of late nights - if you're brave enough to accept the challenge?

An utterly engrossing Atari ST game once again by legends Hewson. Absolutely fantastic, in every respect.

The best download from 8BitChip (hard drive)
Old Games Finder should suffice for floppy dudes!

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