Pyracurse

Hewson, 1986

Written by Chris Owen, HTML'd by Arnt Gulbrandsen.

Controls

Keyboard, Kempston

Note: This game is best played using a joystick rotated clockwise by 45 degrees.

Aim of the game

Pyracurse features the adventures of a team of three people and a dog called Frozbie who explore an ancient Sinu city based in the forests of South America in search of the missing archaeologist Sir Pericles Pemberton-Smythe. There are a host of fearful creatures for them to meet and match but with your help they can overcome all...

Game play

You will see a view of the entrance to the ruined city, in front of which are standing the four characters, each of which have their own personalities and abilities. These are:

Daphne Pemberton-Smythe (good at finding things)
Professor Roger Kite (good at using things, but rather naive - may need to be resuced from time to time)
Patrick "Legless" O'Donnell (strong, but rather clumsy)
Frozbie the dog (good at digging up buried objects)

At the top of the screen is a window showing your current mode. You start in Mobile Mode. To the left a coloured band indicates the energy status of your current character; if this falls to zero your character will die. At the bottom centre of the screen is an information window which initially reads

ANTECHAMBER
O'DONNELL
SOLO

This shows you that you are in the Antechamber of the tomb and that your current character is O'Donnell operating in Solo Mode. At the bottom right is a window which displays your current character or object. Initially O'Donnell is displayed there. At the bottom left is a picture of Xipe Totec, the ancient god of the Sinu people. Other Sinu items are displayed as a border round the edge of the screen. If you press the fire key whilst you are stationary in Mobile Mode the display in the information window changes to show the Selection Menu which consists of:

Solo - control only the current character
Character - select a character
Inventory - display inventory of current character
Lead - lead characters; they must be in the immediate vicinity to be led by the current character

There are many items for you to collect and use scattered around the tomb. To pick up an object select Mobile Mode and walk up to the item you require. As you collect it the graphic window will flash and show a picture of the item. Each character may carry up to three items at a time. Not all characters can pick up all objects.

If you wish to unlock a chest or activate a key plate with a key collected previously select the character who has the correct key and place him adjacent to the chest or plate. Select the appropriate key or item from the inventory part of the Selection Menu.

Later in the game you may come across weapons which can be thrown at monsters to destroy them. To use such a weapon you must first collect it and then make sure it is highlighted in the information window when the inventory is selected. Return to Mobile Mode; if you now press fire whilst you are moving the weapon will be flung in the direction of travel. You will find that Daphne cannot throw as far as the Professor or O'Donnell. Pressing fire whilst moving in Mobile Mode is also the way to discard an ordinary object such as a key; such an object will not be thrown but instead simply dropped.

Comments

"A rewarding arcade adventure."

Rating

90% (CRASH #31, August 1986)

Now

A nice, but very tough, game.

Keys

A to G          - Up/Left               - Joystick left
H to L, ENTER   - Up/Right              - Joystick up
B to M, SPACE   - Down/Left             - Joystick down
Z to V          - Down/Right            - Joystick right
Y to P          - Fire                  - Joystick fire
0/9             	- Pause/Unpause
Fire while moving       - Throw/Discard object
Fire while stationary   - Display menu

Nettverksgruppa, 5/10-94, sinclair@nvg.ntnu.no