Haywire

Not what you think

I was wadding through a few PD disks and saw this game. It rang a bell but I wasn't sure and booted it up to read the name "John Hodskinson". Another bell began to ring - I was starting to think I was in Notre Dame going insane with all that ringing! Then it hit me where I had heard the name before, HangAbout! Yikes, 5+ years have passed since I played that uniquely satisfying cliffhanger. I even mentioned Haywire!

This is a dead simple game that deceivingly looks like it's gonna be Defender. It's nothing like it. Sure, the landscape scrolls left/right but there are no lasers or aliens to zap. Instead, we are here to gather several cute critters left roaming the planet's surface. Okay, it's Defender but without the frantic action?

We start with a mothership deploying us in a craft that performs like Flappy Bird, struggling against gravity. This ship is fragile, even with its shield, so try to avoid hitting the ground more than five times. Creatures wander passively on the planet's surface, and rescuing them is as simple as making contact. Once on board, return it to the mothership to ensure its safety. As you advance, new hazards and challenging weather conditions are introduced. The level is complete when all the creatures are safely returned to the mothership.

There are eight planets to search while hunting for these quirky creatures, though I doubt I’ll beat this game anytime soon! Unfortunately, there’s a time limit and you all know how much I detest those. But that’s the extent of my complaints, as the graphics are modest but also amazing, gliding along at a smooth 50fps.

Haywire loots different ideas yet still manages to become something quite unique. I never expected to enjoy this daft/irritating "collect 'em" as much as I did. Am I good at it? Not on your nelly!! But I had a bunch of fun bouncing my way along a sparse planet looking for... well... to me, they look like hamsters!

Have you not played this before? Fancy something different? You've got it!! Highly recommended.

+ Demozoo has Sanity's disk stuffed full of goodies https://demozoo.org/productions/...

+ Atarimania has the ST Format cover disk https://www.atarimania.com/lists/Hayw...

+ Did you miss out playing HangAbout! https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/hangabout.html

Hmm, level one sounds okay to me. Let's hit this hard and win!!

It took me a while to grab this screenshot - without crashing!

I got one!!! Now get that hamster back to the mothership quick!

Annnnd I hit the ground which turned my ship into a pixellated mess. Joy!

I love that John is a Lancashire lad like me!