March 2008 News Posts
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MONSTA
review by David Eaton |
Date: |
02/01/2003 |
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The game MONSTA by
Indus3 is a turn-based game that is part strategy, part puzzle, and
part arcade game. The registered version comes with 50 levels -
although I didn't finish but the first several levels before writing
this review.
The complete game
takes up 581k of RAM (390K if you're running the greyscale version)
with an additional 1.9k for each saved game. It requires Palm OS
ver. 3.5 or higher and I would definitely recommend using a color
screen. For other requirements or information, visit their site at
http://www.indus3.org/monsta.
You control a
likeable fellow named Joe as he attempts, on each level, to outwit
several monsters while collecting items that will assist his
survival long enough to kill the monsters one by one.
Each time it is your
turn you are given a display showing your stats. Stats on the
monsters (health, # of turns that monster have, & number of hit
points needed to kill them) can be displayed by tapping on the
monster during your turn.
The option screen
gives you the option of saving several games, control sound and game
speed, and censor Joe's comments (text only - no audio
comments....).
You control Joe
either with the standard Palm application buttons or with the
stylus. I found it much easier using the stylus despite the fact
that the control buttons are user-configurable.
I tried out this game
(ver. 1.1.0) New Years holiday on my new Sony NX70V and, although
the game wasn't written to take advantage of the extended screen
size or the higher resolution, I found the graphics to be
sufficiently good enough for me to be impressed.
While I prefer
programs that are Hi Res+, this was actually a smart move on the
developer's part. By designing the graphics of such quality that
they can be enjoyed by users of all color Palm devices they provide
their product to a larger market.
After I initially
loaded the game, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the
graphics - despite the 160x160 resolution. I was unable to hear any
sound, however, with the exception of the gun firing.
In an effort to make
sure the program was operating properly prior to evaluating it I
emailed the developer late Monday afternoon (about 5:00 on the
afternoon prior to the holiday). To their credit, and my amazement,
they responded within an hour! I sent them another email on New
Year's Eve and the response was once again immediate. Many kudos to
them for such quick response...
It turns out that the
sound was there - there just wasn't much of it and my Clie needed to
be turned way up in order to hear it.
Which brings me to my
only complaint - the developers obviously spent a great deal of
effort in the graphics. Based on this I expected more audio than
limited sound effects when you fire the gun, pick up an object, or
are attacked. There needs to be more audio (music in the background
would be nice) and it needs to be louder.
Bottom line: If you
enjoy these turn-based type games, I would advise taking a look at
this one. The graphics are great and levels challenging enough to
provide hours of entertainment.
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