~Fire & Ice

 Review of Fire & Ice(tm) (c)1993 Graftgold
 Written by Visage on 08/18/95 (That's 18/08/95 for you overseas 
 people)
 Written for Cheet Sheets Magazine

 The opinions in this review are those of the author.


 OVERVIEW

 Fire & Ice is a platform game where you play the role of Cool 
 Coyote, who is trying to stop the evil wizard, Suten.  Your main 
 weapon of choice are little ice balls which can be used to freeze 
 enemies.  Once they are frozen, touching them will make them 
 shatter.  There are also several other weapons which you will have 
 to find out on your own.


 OBJECTIVE

 The object of the game is to (hopefully) live through all six 
 continents, and to defeat Suten.  In each section of each continent, 
 Cool Coyote must find six pieces of each key which have been stolen 
 by Suten and given to his minions to guard.  Upon collecting all 
 six pieces of the key, search out the exit.


 ITEMS

 Throughout the game, Cool Coyote will come across little spheres 
 which give him extra power and enhance his freezing ability.  
 There are too many to mention here, but you'll find them out 
 yourself.  There are also other things like...

 CLOUDS: These are probably the first thing you'll see.  If you keep 
 shooting it, the cloud will darken, and eventually release 
 snow-bombs.  But be warned though, after it has snowed enough, the 
 cloud will blacken and strike the ground with lightning bolts...
 don't be around when this happens. 

 SNOW-BOMBS: These are used by ducking down and holding the fire 
 button.  They deliver one hit to any enemy that is currently on 
 screen.  These are very helpful, so try to save them.

 ICE BLOCKS: These are usually hidden, but if you shoot them, they 
 will release power-ups, or maybe even a snow-bomb or two.

 1UPS: More commonly referred to as "Bone-Ups", these gigantic bones 
 will give you an extra life if you manage to find them.  HINT: 
 They're usually found by jumping on top of ice blocks.


 GRAPHICS

 The graphics are really top-notch (well, for EGA & VGA 16 anyway!).  
 No but seriously, they are really detailed.  If you stand far enough
 back from your monitor, you'd swear you were playing a 256c VGA 
 game.


 MUSIC

 The music is only AdLib, but still very nice, and goes along with 
 the game at least.  I guess after you listen to it awhile, it gets
 addicting.


 GAMEPLAY

 Easy to control for the most part.  No 60-thousand buttons to 
 remember.  (A bit slippery at first, due to the fact that you start 
 at the north pole. :>)


 TIPS

 1.  The best weapons I found to use are the shield (helps a lot when
     fighting enemies who shoot back at you, like those darn incas!)
     and also the snow cloud (rare) which helps by raining ice 
     droplets down on top of enemies.  Try to save these and use them
     only when necessary.

 2.  When you discover a hidden ice block by shooting, don't keep
     shooting it until all the powerups disappear.  Instead, try to
     jump on top of it and keep jumping and shooting.  You're more
     likely to find secret passages and 1-up's this way.

 3.  If you're surrounded by a ton of enemies, don't hesitate to use 
     a snow-bomb.  It may help you get out of dangerous situations by
     giving you time to escape.

 4.  Lead those cute little puppies to the exit to earn tons of bonus
     points and extra lives.

 5.  And last but not least... Using a snow-bomb can cause hidden ice
     blocks to appear.  But be careful!  If they're already on-screen,
     using a snow-bomb can cause them to disappear.


 SUMMARY

` Game Design    ********   [ 8]
` Graphics       *******    [ 7]
` Sound/Music    ******     [ 6]
` Gameplay       ********   [ 8]
` Difficulty     ********   [ 8]
` Level Design   *******    [ 7]
` Overall        *******    [ 7]


 CREDITS

 Fire & Ice(tm) is (c)1993 Graftgold
 Thanks to Chris Wood for original programming

 Review written by Visage on 08/18/95 for Cheet Sheets Magazine

 Greets to go (in no particular order)
 Shockwave Rider - Carnage - EP - ITP - Guybrush - Phour One - 
 ElMinster - Darkness/Imphobia - McGarett - Haws/Outlaws - Michael 
 Kulpok - SFBZZ Thierry Delattre - Black Screen - Skypilot - 
 Defiance/RiTUAL - Lithium - And to all you guys who use IRC!

 Interested in joining a game group?  
 Contact me: 71562.1755@compuserve.com

 Hier ist schluss.
