Bitnamic, through its European branch, Teknamic, is releasing three new games for the ZX Spectrum in the very last day of the year.
The first one is a relaunch. Published as a “Cover Tape” in issue 88 of the Crash magazine, “Countdown to the Death” is the result of the efforts of two young Brazilians: Mario de Paula Leite Gouvea, programmer and creator, and Eduardo Avellar, the music composer.
The game consists of five interconnected mini-games: Hangman, Bonus Machine (slot machine), Bat and Ball (a Breakout clone), Memory, and Repeat It (repeating patterns in the “Simon” style). Variety in gameplay, neat graphics and music, diverse and imaginative sound effects… It’s no wonder that the English publisher put it on the pages of the magazine! The cassette version costs €7,90 plus taxes.
The second game is Depth Charge, a game inspired by two arcade games from the ’70s, Depthcharge by Gremlin and Destroyer by Atari, combining the mechanics of both. In the game, you control a destroyer fighting submarines that are passing by you under the sea, while of course, they try to destroy your vessel. As in real life, to hit the submarines the destroyer will drop the depth charges which will slowly find its way to the bottom of the ocean. To make the game more challenging, the player has to set at what depth they will explode using the up and down keys to move a crosshair before firing, instead of simply dropping charges aimlessly hoping to hit something on its way down.
Depth Charge is very polished and it managed to keep, if not make it better, the gameplay and entertainment value of the original arcade games. You can buy this game bundled with the classic Brazilian magazine, Micro Sistemas, or standalone for €6,90 plus taxes.
The third game will please the text adventure fans out there. In Saboteur: Deep Cover, you play a spy that has been working undercover at Viridis, an evil corporation that keeps all its secrets very safe. Your job is to find all the evidence of the company’s illegal activities and smuggle it out without being caught. The game is created by Clive Townsend and Andy Remic, with graphics by Clive.
Saboteur: Deep Cover will be sold by Teknamic, except in the UK, where it will be available and sold by Cronosoft. The price is €9,90 plus taxes.
The three games are already available at Teknamic Store.
Link: Teknamic