Marc's out here bringing us Steg instead of Cover Girl Poker from the same disk

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

That's on my other channel The Joy of Sticks After Dark.

Never played this one back then, thanks for the discovery

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

All part of the service! 😉

Oh yes I remember having a demo of this too, ST Action I think (a few issues after they had swallowed my beloved ‘The One for ST Games’). (I remember playing both Pete Sampras and Big Red Racing round at a friends a little later.) Typically great cartoon graphics from the Codemasters. I was never really one for “fiendish puzzlers” to be honest but the cutesy platform interface would have appealed to me more than the likes of say, Pipemania, at least until it got frustrating.

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

I wasn't much of a puzzle.game fan either. I think it took Tetris and Columns and then Puyo Puyo to convert me, really. There are plenty of puzzlers on the ST I need to explore.

@Mark have a wonderful Sunday afternoon mate and thanks for the video 💯👍😉

@thejoyofsticks

20 күн бұрын

Cheers mate! You too!

Love that you are revisiting playable demos, love this take. I did a short interview with Terry a few years back (It is on AL website), met him at the STOS facebook group. For a minute I thought Steg was a STOS game, but guess my mind is playing tricks on me. Thanks for the video.

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

I've seen it listed as a machine code game, which would be consistent with other Codemasters games. Thanks for the feedback. I've often thought of doing something based around cover disks. Not sure what yet, but watch this space!

Bit of everything here like lemmings, Flood, Hoog, etc .. really like this game. Nice one Marc 👍🏻

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Yes. It's a nice mishmash of ideas. Very original for a budget release.

I remember getting this game from Macro back in the day for DOS. I was so excited to play it and was basically bouncing around in the car all the way home. Sadly we couldn't get it to work on the old 286.. One of childhood's big disappointments :(

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Gutted! So many times I got back from WhSmiths, heart-pounding, palms sweaty only for a game to refuse to load. I feel your pain!

It looks better here than when I last gave it a go....got frustrated and gave up. Now I know what to do I'll have to revisit Stef one day. Cheers Marc

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

It is a bit frustrating for sure. But once you know what to do you can make progress. It's just a bit naff that the cadence of the later game is to fail Nd then "Oh! Now I know what to do!" Type in the password, rinse it and then repeat for the next level.

What could have also helped with the controls was another button for "dislodge" or "jump" from a surface. I can't imagine how frustrating it is when you want to turn the corner, but instead, fall off the wall.

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Extra buttons can help for sure, but good control design can be even better. Just be more forgiving: if I'm a few pixels from the ceiling and I press left, just get Steg to keep going up until he can attach to the ceiling and go left. Like good platform games do with ladders. Then, if you are going to detach, do a little squelchy, stretch animation and hold it for a frame or two, so the player can stop, or continue to hold to get him to pop off the wall.

Great that you have a look on the later ST games. Maybe not the genre I like most, but there seems to be a lot of different mechanics in the game. Good to know about it.

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Most of my games came from a certain window of time during the ST's peak, so I have a lot of early and late games to explore. Fun!

Loving the regular uploads now, Marc. Hope to see that longplay of Thundercats on the channel you promised me years back. I suffered, now you must too lol

@thejoyofsticks

20 күн бұрын

Well, I'm hoping to have a video up every Sunday from now until the foreseeable. I'm a creature of habit and making it a part of my routine is working well. Oh, and the Thundercats video... ermm... its on the, you know... 'backburner'? 👀

Couriously, when I tried to find this game for download, I accidentally discovered 2 great games with also the same name: Slug (the ST user one, there are 2 games with exactly the same tittle for ST) and Slug 2092, a great (but difficult) Smash TV style game.

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Arthropod game tier list coming soon! 🤣

I remember playing the demo of this game loads haha, I like the little RIP skeletons that gradually appear if you are to slow. Its one of the games that I clearly recall the graphics, but wow I had forgotten the gameplay. One game I would love to see you play is Space Crusade, an absolute classic turn-based game.

@thejoyofsticks

20 күн бұрын

Those RIPs remind me of how Spidey's health is shown in The Amazing Spider-Man. Space Crusade is great on the ST. It's such a good representation of the board game. I'll add it to the list, for sure.

cute game

the grubs are like lemmings you're guiding to the exit. not sure if it would fix anything, but i'd've maybe tried miniaturising everything down so you don't have to travel as much. get a good portion of each level on one screen. might rob it of too much character. first time i'm really seeing this, IIRC. was a very late release on the ZX when the mags were starved for new releases. a demo turned up on one of the covertapes, but i don't remember playing it.

@thejoyofsticks

20 күн бұрын

Yes, Lemmings is definitely a big influence here, but it's cool that you are not just a floating cursor, but an actual character in the game world. Good shout about getting more on screen. There were a couple of occasions when I completed a level without realising it, because all the success was happening off screen!

@hirelingful

18 күн бұрын

@@thejoyofsticks > all the success was happening off screen! ugh, yep. could've implemented a separate overall level scroll, or an automatic inset pop-up as the grubs near the exit...

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Great idea!

Interesting you would give it 80% but it seemed doubtful you would want to play it again! I would expect better replayability from such a highly rated game; certainly makes me contemplate selling my original copy!

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

🤣 That was a bit mixed messages, wasn't it!? It's a decent game, and I did go back to it to play some more. It has a slightly frustrating rhythm. Fail a level, figure it out, type in the password, get to the next one, fail it, repeat.

Really nice graphics and a pretty solid idea. But as you say, it's a bit wonky game play wise. Think I will have to give this one a try anyway though...

@thejoyofsticks

20 күн бұрын

It's well worth a try, just for how unique it is. And hey, maybe the level design gets a bit better further on.

I never really got into this game. It’s original and innovative in some ways, and the graphics are cute and colourful, but I don’t know… after a few levels I found it repetitive, a bit boring, maybe it needs more variation. And now, watching your video I think I should give it another try .

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

It's decent, but when you've got.so many other games to play, I'm not sure it can hold your attention. Progress is slow because of how unforgiving the starving mechanic is. I'd have preferred not to have a time limit/hunger and have the game provided difficulty through hazards to keep the grubs safe from along the way.

I like this game its cute looking and has nice graphics and as annoying as it is it can be quite addictive :)

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

It certainly has its charm. You could do a lot worse in the budget section of Softspot.

I hate the disgusting theme of this game 😦 but it's actually really nice looking. The style of the graphics reminds me of Flood from Bullfrog, but with a few more primary colours. It's sort of like Flood mixed with Bubble Bobble and Lemmings. A very distinctive game. I can see why people say it's one of Codemasters best titles for 16-bit computers. Nice one, Marc 👍

@thejoyofsticks

18 күн бұрын

Disgusting? Molluscs are an essential and beautiful part of our ecosystem, young fellow me lad! 🤣 It's an interesting game for sure and I like he way it has a lemmings style puzzle, but placing you into the world as an avatar, rather than just getting you to click with a cursor as some weird abstract influence.

@kingstonlj

18 күн бұрын

@@thejoyofsticks OK... you've convinced me to appreciate our sluggy friends. 🤣