Creatures

action platformer game for Commodore 64, 1990

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Out in the nether regions of deepest spaec (in the far bottom right of
the Milky Way) lies a small, insignificant little planet named Blot.
Although a pretty place, it's deserted after its inhabitants were
forced to flee from an awful fate - being called by such an unhip name
as Blotians. As soon as they were able, they built a crude but
sufficient colony ship and spluttered off into space in search of a
trendier planet.  Until such a place was found they renamed themselves
Fuzzy Wuzzies in search of real hipness.

Unfortunately, a collision with an asteroid led to a crash landing on
Earth. As luck would have it, they landed in some blue wobbly stuff -
commonly known as the Pacific Ocean - next to an undiscovered island.
After the Fuzzy Wuzzies swam ashore they promptly began building a
village and named the island "The Hippest Place in The Known
Universe".

What the Fuzzies didn't know was the existence of bad tempered Demons
living on the far side of the island. These demons were enraged by all
the noise made by the cheerful Fuzzies, and hated even more the
ridiculously silly island name.

The Demons came up with a cunning plan to put an end to the commotion
and general good time being had by these intruders - they invited them
to the biggest party ever held on the island. Fuzzies cannot resist a
good party, and all of them brushed up their fur and attended. But
just as they were starting to enjoy themselves the Demons threw a net
over everyone and carted them off to their Torture Chambers.

The only one who wasn't caught was Clyde Radcliff, a tanked up little
Fuzzy already throwing up in the bushes. The next morning Clyde woke
up with a splitting headache and breath so bad it could scorch a tree
at six paces. Nevertheless, our courageous little hero vowed to
destroy the Demons and rescue his fellow Fuzzies.

GAMEPLAY

Each stage in the game represents part of the island. Once the end of
the stage is reached and comleted, Clyde enters a Witches Hut. Inside
is a good witch who has a Fuzzy fetish and offers to mix Magic Potions
which, when drunk by Clyde, give him special weapons.

However, to enable the witch to mix any potions, she needs
ingredients.  These are in the form of "Magic Potion Creatures" found
during each stage. It's important for Clyde to collect as many MPCs as
possible before entering the hut, so that he can obtain better potions
from the witch.

An enemy will only be killed if it flashes white when hit. Some
enemies that appear to be completely separate from each other will in
fact be "linked". If any of these are hit, the rest of the linked
enemies will also be hit.

Once two stages have been completed, Clyde is not automatically put
onto the next level. He will first find himself in a Torture Chamber.
This is the location of one of his friends who must be saved to
proceed any further.

CONTROLS

GET READY: Joystick LEFT/RIGHT - music ON/OFF
IN-GAME: Run-stop - pause (move joystick to resume)
         Q (from Pause) - Quit

CLYDE: Pushing UP makes Clyde jump. If FIRE is depressed, Clyde will
fire (using the current weapon). If FIRE is held down for a second and
then released, Clyde's bad breath will be used and he will breathe a
large flame. Pulling DOWN on the joystick and then pressing FIRE will
present you with the "weapons tablet". Keeping FIRE pressed, pulling
LEFT and RIGHT will enable you to view the weapons, and releasing FIRE
will select the chosen weapon. Note: only the weapon purchased in the
shop will be displayed in the weapons tablet. The weapon's grade is
indicated by its colour: Red - grade 1; Green - grade 2; Blue - grade
3.

SHOP: (When the weapon tablet appears) Joystick LEFT/RIGHT - view all
the weapons. FIRE - Buy weapon (at its indicated grade). A weapon will
only be added if you have enough Magic Potion Creatures for the witch
to use as ingredients, and the weapon is not at its maximum grade
(grey).

You can also buy information from the witch by selecting the "I" icon.
She can give you up to three clues, helping you complete the next
Torture Screen. Selecting "E" icon will exit the shop and continue the
game.

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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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       [PAUSE] - stop/continue game
          [F9] - quick load game state
         [F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
         [F10] - toggle performance meter
         [F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
  [ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
    [PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)