Venus The Flytrap

Gremlin's 30+ year-old prediction!

Planet Earth is dying because mankind breeds like bacteria and rapes its natural resources to serve our gluttony. Well, some rubbish like that... But, for this game, the over-use of pesticides has finally killed off all the bugs and left Mother Nature unbalanced but we have created cybernetic bugs to compensate for our stupidity. Of course, it wasn't long before they went postal so we must eliminate them all before it's too late!

This is a run-and-kill 'em platformer spread over fifty levels ranging from the green forests to Death Valley. You're a mechanical bug with a cannon to fight off the foes - that can be upgraded using the power-ups left behind by the crazy insects. These consist of a wide range of improvements like better firepower, silly reversible controls, and even antigrav upside-down walking being possible - which serves to give me brain ache! Bonus rounds appear each way through a level and flip the game into an exciting shoot 'em up for extra points.

Controls are bang-on perfect with a style that is clean & responsive. The graphics are darn beautiful with smooth scrolling and nicely animated sprites plus it's worth noting all those many extra colours which spruce up what would normally have been a boring background. The music is perfect, something I can listen to all day.

Venus The Flytrap is extremely enjoyable and highly recommended. A great game!

• I also recorded a midi version of the game's excellent theme tune.
• An awesome remastered tune by ACC:Xess which completely blows you away!
• Okay, here is a hard drive installable copy of Venus by the mighty D-Bug to download.
• Those who require a floppy disk image should check out Old Games Finder.
• Fancy some level codes? Of course, you do! Simply press the SPACEBAR on the menu screen and then ignore using that handy keyboard because they decided that the joystick would be far better for entering these codes:

     -> The Forbidden Forest...starting level
     -> The Frozen Wastes......MANTIDS
     -> The Dead City..........CICADAS
     -> Wood World.............PSYLLIDS
     -> The Kaverns............PIERIDS
     -> Death Valley...........SATYRID
     -> The Creeping Swamp.....LYCAENID
     -> Tech World.............PYRALID
     -> Translucent Plain......NOCTUID

     -> The Stygian Creek......?

• I believe these cheat codes work fine, however, I have never tried them so YMMV... enjoy:

     -> extra time.............JUPITER
     -> extra ammo.............PLUTO
     -> weapons galore.........MARS
     -> fly like superman......MERCURY

     -> unknown................SATURN

Elvira - Mistress of the Dark

Greatest box art ever?

"Can somebody help me find my chest?". Yes, I was hooked from the moment I saw this cover and then read that line! This game has the best box art I have ever seen!! I have nothing more to add to this fine subject matter. I don't wish to get into trouble. Try not to stare at it for too long. Fantastic box artwork.

A hard disk version is available from D-Bug. (highly recommended)

Old Games Finder has floppy images for those who enjoy disk-swapping.

A little surfing revealed this walk-through.

(untested by me... but now I am tempted to test that)

Car-Vup

Paint by Wheels!

CarVup is a scrolling driving/platformer released in 1990 by Core Designs. We get to play the part of a cheerful car that appears to love painting platforms by simply driving over them. Yes, it's a pretty familiar idea but one which will certainly appeal to the... well... more mature gamer (just like me!) who remembers Painter. #AncientGamer

Each screen has many platforms in need of a new coat of paint and this easy task soon becomes tricky because of the numerous baddies that populate the playing field. Don't think about shooting your way through because there are no weapons (without collecting optional power-ups) so baddies must be avoided. This will be troublesome as your car has no breaks and loves driving constantly in a kamikaze fashion so these mechanics force you to constantly flip direction to find an alternative route whilst frantically searching for that last tile. It's fun, it's frantic, it's pointless - it's Painter!

So, I think it's time for the first screenshot which contains a bunch of handy information...

Follow the instructions and learn the different jumps otherwise, it's Game Over, buddy boy.

Input & Output

This is a game which would sink like a lead balloon if it had anything less than perfect controls. So I'm grateful they are indeed responsive and well thought out. Best of all, they're responsive and without any annoying lag. Many platforms are difficult to reach so require precise timing, which is made harder when the enemy might be blocking your path. CarVup always requires quick and reactions to avoid losing a life because you never know what might appear.

Each level always looks superb with lots of colours and a lovely cartoony design. Personally, I think Core did a great job throughout with the cute appearance, smooth scrolling and cute sprites. The sound effects are pretty nice and do their expected job well but it's the chiptunes which are all foot-tappingly superb. (press key 'M' to toggle).

Right, it's time for another screenshot and this one is from the game itself you will be happy to know...

Always be on the lookout for dangerous items, strange obstacles, or even dodgy enemies!

The CryptO'pinion?

CarVup may not appeal to everyone, especially those old enough to remember how boring Painter was! However, I recommend you give this a try because it's an enjoyable twist on the theme and enjoyable too. I'm an ancient gamer but still found myself enjoying its "just one more go" appeal. Hardly a Grade A release but, definitely worth playing.

And that's about it really, a fun spin on Painter that works very well. Yep, I really enjoyed playing CarVup!

Floppy disks are available via Old Games Finder with a hard disk version by 8BitChip.

The One magazine released a demo version containing extra levels NOT in the commercial release!

If you press the 'Z' key during gameplay then it will stop your car!

Enter these codes into the high-score table :

infinite lives - R.J.TOONE

infinite bumpers - BUMPER

9 lives - PUSSYCAT

faster turn speed - WOOAARRGGHH

level skip - WHOOPSIE

extra points - ARNIECAR

more points - BARMY CAR