Saturday, June 13, 2015

Time Bandit





HiSToric gaming!

Microdeal released Time Bandit in 1985 so ranks as one of the first Atari ST games. Programmed by Bill Dunlevy, long before any developers knew how to push our 16-bit computer. However, my first impressions weren't good as I felt this was a cheap Gauntlet ripoff. I continued to play until my sanity returned.

Ignore my foolish first impressions because I fear there might be a funky game lurking behind those old 8bit visuals. Fwiw, Time Bandit was released for the TRS-80 a couple of years before Gauntlet.

We begin in The Timegates, a place that permits access to numerous strange worlds, each completely different. These range from ancient Egypt to a bomb-making factory and other weird surprises - like Pac-Man land. They have their own style and objectives with gameplay reminiscent of Gauntlet, to a degree.

For each world, the exit is blocked, so we need to find the key(s) or complete tasks to escape. Interestingly, each world can be played again for an increased level of difficulty and fascinating design changes all of which keep the gameplay interesting and progressively challenging. Battles are fought using a rocket launcher and, best of all, you've been blessed with unlimited ammo too!! Very nice and that suits me just dandy.

Time Bandit is a cracker with many interesting levels to plunder that offer a unique charm. It might look like Gauntlet but it's very different and offers its own styles to become a true Atari ST classic.

Budding time lords should download this game for either floppy or the superb hard disk version!!















- Sixteen whacky worlds -

 
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