AAS Week 6: Haunted Adventure SE

[Lord Thag]

Sorry this week's column is late, folks, but I wanted to feature Tony Wong's great adventure hack, Haunted Adventure, and it didn't show up in the mail till yesterday

 

Most folks here have played a hack or two of an old 2600 game. Untill recently, they were available for purchase, until the infogrames ban, and there are a large amount of binaries on the AA website as well. For the two of you who haven't played one, a hack is a modified version of an existing game (Asteroids becomes Vector Asteroids etc) that has new graphics, gameplay etc. Usually the modifications are minor and the game is still recognizable as it's original self, minus a few tweaks.

 

This is not the case with Haunted Adventure Special Edition (which is two different hacked versions of adventure, packaged in a special edition boxed set). Remember how you've always wished someone would write another version of Adventure or Haunted House? Well, it's happened. These two games are so well done that you'd almost never know they were hacks, as they play more like actual sequels. The manuals are really well done too, and add that extra touch of authenticity.

 

In a nutshell, HASE is a modified version of adventure that follows the continuing saga of Old Man Graves from the Haunted House game. This time, though, we're dealing with the Adventure engine, so you have a *lot* more rooms and such to deal with. The second game, Haunted Adventure II Redemption, is particularly big, and each of the three game modes actually has different levels and objectives. The first one, Haunted Adventure: Boo! is a bit smaller, but still very well done.

So, without further rambling on my part, here's the review!

 

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Games: Haunted Adventure Boo!, Haunted Adventure II

Player's: One

Modes: 3

Difficulty: Same as adventure, one switch handles how fast the enemies eat you, the other governs their fear of the scepter. B/W switch is pause(!)

 

Review: The homebrew and hack scene has really brought some gems to the 2600, and let me tell you, these two games are diamonds right through. They are so good in fact, that you can hardly tell that they are based off of an existing game. The gameplay is very much like adventure, with your character being a square, and having lots of objects, monsters and mazes to deal with, which is the only clue that the games are, in fact, hacks of Adventure. They come across more like totally reprogramed sequels of Haunted House that encorporate successful elements of Adventure. If you handed me either, back in the day, I would have accepted them as an official sequel without a second thought. I've played (and own) a couple of other hacks of adventure, and these two are much better. The levels are very craftily designed, and remind me of the original HH game. There are numerous floors, dark cellars (and a whole outside area if your playing the second one), storage rooms, and even a crypt that you must dig up with a shovel. All of the items in the game have been re-done to fit in with HH theme, namely a shovel, the sceptre, a ladder, two keys, the skull of Old man Graves, and his eye (which is the legendary 'dot' from adventure -clever), a severed hand, not to mention a slew of new stuff in the second game, which I will leave you all to discover. All of the monsters are new as well, you have ghosts, tarantulas, old man graves (who is an enemy in the first game, and fills the role of the bat in the second, skeletons, bats, death, and even the 'eye guy' from the original HH! The levels are *very* well thought out, so much so that I like them better than the original Adventure. The second game is an insane maze of one-way passages and the like. Fun stuff! The monster animations are fast and even occasionally startling, which adds to the mood. A ton of graphical additions are in place as well, especially in the second game where you have tables, chairs, beds, lit fireplaces, fountains and the like.

 

Last night I sat down and played through Haunted Adventure Boo! It took me a couple of hours on game 2. I never once looked at the clock. Most classic games, even the best ones, I generally play a game or two and move on to the next game. Not here! I can't wait to get home tonight and play the second game. I seem to remember hearing as well that the randomization routines have been

overhauled to generate thousands of combinations on game 3. Great stuff.

 

So, in a word peeps, this is the HH games you've been waiting twenty some-odd years to play. Two thumbs WAAAAAAY up, and thanks to Tony, Nukey Shay, and everyone else who worked on the project. Who needs and XBOX with stuff like this?

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[StanJr]

yep, both of these hacks are top shelf. HA 2 is the one that really shines, mainly because the more Tony played with the tools, the better he got at creating the games. But both of them are worth owning and playing, and playing, because you'll not be solving these nearly as fast as you did Adventure.

 

If there is a downfall (and I don't really think this is) its that the games are VERY manual dependent for you to have a shred of a clue what is going on. You are not going to plug this in and play it as you would Space Invaders. This game is more like a bigger, badder Raiders of the Lost Ark. But that's ok, because the manuals are a real treat. VERY authentic and very detailed.

 

 

Maze is absolutely the right word for these games. The areas are HUGE with tons of things to explore and plenty of places to get lost. You can easily spend a half hour working your way out of the Catacombs, the basement, or just trying to figure the stairway system. But do not fret, it all pays off in the end. If you were satisfied with a flashing screen when the chalice is returned to the yellow castle, you'll be stunned by the ending of HA 2.

 

There are a couple of programming blocks that could not be avoided (ie do not leave the ladder underground or you are screwed), but luckily they do not obstruct gameplay much at all.

 

Best of all, this game has some easter eggs for those who really spend some time searching day and night for such things.

 

A wonderful duo of hacks. Wonderful.

[Lord Helmet]

Great games...both of them.

[atwwong]

Best of all, this game has some easter eggs for those who really spend some time searching day and night for such things.

I was thinking of posting hints regarding the easter eggs, but now I'm thinking of sponsoring a contest for finding the easter eggs...

 

HASE Easter Egg Contest

 

There are three easter eggs (what I consider easter eggs, anyways) in Haunted Adventure II SE.  The first person who finds all three and sends me proof, i.e., photos off their TV, will receive as a prize a cart version of my current project (the nature of which I am keeping as a surprise).  This contest is open to people who received the HASE from Packrat Video Games.  Whipcrack, Nukey, and StanJr cannot participate in this contest (sorry guys! ).  Anyone who asks them for help may receive a roach infested Combat cart, if I can find one on e-bay and be bothered to bid for it, much less send it off.    )

 

How does that sound?

[Lord Thag]

Sounds great! Guess I know what I'm doing tonight!

 

Anyone here beaten either of the games yet? I played through game 2 on HA:BOO! last night. I'll be tackling HAII tonight. Post your experiences and thoughts for the rest of us!

[Nukey Shay]

I was thinking of posting hints regarding the easter eggs

859067[/snapback]

 

Stan just did

[jlh2600]

Anyone who asks them for help may receive a roach infested Combat cart

 

...wondering if roach" is a metaphor you guys use for some information or electronic phenomena, like virus or worm. Please tell me you don't literally burn people with ROACHES in plastic cases lol.

[atwwong]

Anyone who asks them for help may receive a roach infested Combat cart

 

...wondering if roach" is a metaphor you guys use for some information or electronic phenomena, like virus or worm. Please tell me you don't literally burn people with ROACHES in plastic cases lol.

859286[/snapback]

Only if people cheat in contests. Read this topic thread regarding roach infested carts.

[StanJr]

I was thinking of posting hints regarding the easter eggs

859067[/snapback]

 

Stan just did

859134[/snapback]

 

 

yeah, I thought I did as well....

 

I've beat them all, of course I playtested them all for months and months in the process. But they are great.

 

Oh, and the roach-infested cart isn't a bad prize, just a different one. The "roaches" are weed.

[atwwong]

I was thinking of posting hints regarding the easter eggs

859067[/snapback]

 

Stan just did

859134[/snapback]

 

 

yeah, I thought I did as well....

 

I've beat them all, of course I playtested them all for months and months in the process. But they are great.

 

Oh, and the roach-infested cart isn't a bad prize, just a different one. The "roaches" are weed.

859350[/snapback]

Okay guys, I realize that. That's why I quoted him when I made that statement.

 

Dandelions already sent to Nukey and StanJr!

[atwwong]

I seem to remember hearing as well that the randomization routines have been

overhauled to generate thousands of combinations on game 3. Great stuff.

Regarding the theoretical number of combinations from the new random routine in HA2:

 

The random generator itself will cycle through 65025 values (255*255). Within the 65025, there is a possibility of duplicate game variations... (but it turns out that HA2 does not have duplicate variations).  Actually, it's not quite true that the generator will cycle through ALL values. It actually needs some help from the frame counter to get all possibilities.

[Lord Thag]

I seem to remember hearing as well that the randomization routines have been

overhauled to generate thousands of combinations on game 3. Great stuff.

Regarding the theoretical number of combinations from the new random routine in HA2:

 

The random generator itself will cycle through 65025 values (255*255). Within the 65025, there is a possibility of duplicate game variations... (but it turns out that HA2 does not have duplicate variations).  Actually, it's not quite true that the generator will cycle through ALL values. It actually needs some help from the frame counter to get all possibilities.

859926[/snapback]

 

Wow! Guess I won't be getting bored with it soon. What part is the 'kicks your ass' routine stored in?

 

Everytime I play game three I get stuck running through that !$% green outdoor maze again and again while getting chowed down on by eye guy or the bat. Stupid bat. It should be voted 'most annoying video game character of all time'.

 

Stan just did

 

Ha! Yep. I just found that one last weekend.