Villordsutch reviews Flame Princess Adventure Time on the ZX Spectrum…
In the latest Homebrew Reviews we look at a competition entry from the #bitbitjam3 which is bringing a modern day cartoon to a very classic machine.
Over at #bitbitjam3 people from around the world are given one week to create a game on a piece of old gaming hardware. From Gameboys to C64, from the Amstrad CPC 464 to machines you’ve possibly never even heard, numerous submissions are sent in [you can see this year’s here]. However the ZX Spectrum submission was centred around Adventure Time – the popular cartoon – and in particular the Flame Princess character.
Finn has been taken by the Ice King and it’s down to the Flame Princess to scorch her way through numerous landscapes towards the Ice King’s Mountain, kick the Ice King’s arse and rescue Finn. Your fire power is limited and the keys to the mountain are scattered around the land so you need to make haste.
This Adventure Time game on the ZX Spectrum really does look bright and colourful and plays at a fantastic pace. Radastan the creator of the game has devised something that would have been an excellent addition to the gaming library of old; he really does bring out the best of the ZX Spectrum. You’re using you gaming smarts in the game with limited ammunition, and you’re keeping a sharp eye on the paths of mobs and scooting around them instead of shooting them down.
Though there are issues, it feels cruel picking on a game seeing as though the creator only had a week to build it, but it does need to be said. The main issue is the spawning of mobs – you can unfairly die when entering a screen due to the enemy mobs also being on the screen where you’ve stepped in; there is no real “death” animation, just a minor flash, and I’d like to see something to indicate that a life has been lost. I’d also really like the ability to perhaps get some more ammunition – I don’t want to be awash with it, however perhaps an odd drop here or there. Finally we have no score on the screen! I want my points!
For a game created in a mere week this is a excellent little number to pick up – it’s tricky, it takes no prisoners and it has the correct level of ZX Spectrum difficulty in it that makes you feel that this has been programmed for gamers of old.
You can vote for Flame Princess Adventure Time here and you can download the game for free here.
Originally published July 7, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
