QB-Wormy 2
by Jessac Mathias Baird of
FlyingSoft
FlyingSoft
A different kind of Snake clone.
| QB-Wormy 2 is reminiscent of such games as Nokia's Snake, Rattler Race, Nibbles, and of course, the game it is based on, Wormy. Wormy was a game made for the Apple IIe, and the object was to run around the screen and collect blinking boxes, all the while growing longer. | |
| This game is well designed even before you actually play it. There is a main menu, and it allows you to see the Top Ten List, change options, and exit the program. I like that, because it makes it more professional to have the exit option clearly defined. Among the many options you can change are the speed of the snake, the growth rate of the snake, a level select, a timer, and music and sound. Unfortunately, when you exit the program, the settings aren't saved, so you have to reset them each time you start it. The game itself plays out interestingly enough. The different levels have certain obstacles to get around, and they get more difficult as you go. Add to that the fact that every time you eat you get longer, and it makes for some tough maneuvering. On top of that, not only do you have to eat all of the red and yellow objects, if you have the timer on, once it counts down to 0, more objects are thrown throughout the level. If you don't complete it, it can be very easy to lose. The game itself only has one major flaw, and that is in the controls. |
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| The game is quite colorful, even before you start it. The menu reminds me of WetSpot 2 and there is fluid movement. The problem I saw with anything is that it wouldn't look like the worm hit the wall and yet you find that the level starts over. I think that the game should allow you to see yourself hitting the wall because it can be annoying to wonder why the game thinks you hit anything at all. The main objects aren't just squares either, but they are not exactly detailed. They are supposed to be apples, although they don't look like them. The worm doesn't look like a worm either, but at least its head and tail are striped white so you can tell where they are easily. These details aren't exactly required since they don't affect the game play that much, but at least it can represent the game well enough. | |
| In general, this game plays easily enough. It even has a pause function. Unfortunately, it can be really hard to avoid walls because there is no delay like in most games based on Snake. Therefore, you hit the wall easily, especially when you set the game to fast. It is so fast that you don't even see it sometimes, which makes it frustrating to get those apples in the corners or on the sides of walls. This wouldn't be such a problem if it didn't affect the game so much. | |
| There are two musical pieces which add greatly to the game. The sound effects are basically there for the menu system and are almost absent from the actual game. There is a countdown when the timer hits 10, and periodically you will hear a "boing," but it would have been nice to hear the worm eat the apples. Still, the music was pretty good, and what sound effects there were added something extra. | |
| Unfortunately, the main reason why this game is so difficult is because of the faulty controls. It is more of a design flaw than bad detection of the key presses. If I could see the worm getting next to the wall before finding out that it hit it, that would have been better too, but sometimes you can actually see the space between the worm and the wall before it immediately hits. The problem is worse as the speed increases. Other than that, the game would be quite challenging. I just couldn't play it very well. | |
| With the control problem, it is always best to stay away from the wall. I like to see how long I can make the worm grow before I lose. There are things to enjoy in this game. The Top Ten List challenges you to beat your best time. There are also 15 different levels to try to get through. With the different options, it can be interesting to see how different levels can result in different gameplay. | |
| In general, this game could be really good. It is too bad about that control problem, but aside from that there are so many things done right in this game. | |
| .zip file: 77KB download |