C64 Longplay: Java Jim in Square Shaped Trouble (NTSC)
9(BRIEF DESCRIPTION):
https://www.mobygames.com/game/java-jim-in-square-shaped-trouble
(MY DESCRIPTION):
MAIN OBJECTIVE:
Collect items to convert into tokens to trade for Boat Parts. Get all Boat Parts and win the game. You must also clear out each Phase of items to win, although you can suicide yourself after getting all the Parts, oddly enough.
LAYOUT AND ITEMS:
0:18 Level 0 Phase Select Screen. Move to a phase number and wait for the blue square to send you there. If you stay in the centre and "LEVEL SELECT" appears (after buying a few items at 5:47) it will send you down to Level 1, and to Level 2 if you do the same again on that Level.
Each Level has 8 Phases (0-7) in which items are buried in the earth. Moving over the yellow blocks unearths them.
In each Phase the items are always in the same place. Everything else in random places each time.
If you press fire on a purple "V" then a map will appear for a few seconds, showing the location of the items and Exit (red ladder). The "V" can only be used once, as can the cyan jar that briefly protects you from the lava rocks, though these appear again on revisiting said Phase.
Warp Holes (with yellow outlines) teleport you from one to another.
You can drop your last held item in any hole dug out if you don't want it.
Note that you can carry up to 8 items, and once you've descended a Level then you can't go back to get them!
EXITS:
On trying to revisit an emptied phase you get sent to a random phase instead.
Once the exit (red ladder) is open you can't get any more items until you revisit that phase.
LIVES:
You start with five lives, of which you can find extras symbolised as white ankhs (the number in white on the phase select screen).
On losing a life you are returned to the phase select screen. You also lose all your items which are returned to their original places, making drawing maps quite essential.
CONTROLS:
You can save digs (white lines at the top) by holding down any direction to move. Tap joystick and it digs a hole. Run out of digs and you're sent into a snake pit of which you must collect more and escape (I didn't show this part but it's on other YouTube videos).
Press fire to get item or open exit. Press F1 at any time to quit.
INITIAL ENEMIES:
Lava rocks kill you with one hit. They turn blank blocks into trees or plants that must be removed by touching once. They hit warp holes to generate a Flesh-Eater.
Cyan jars give you shades that temporarily protect you against lava rocks.
Enemies will also temporarily remove dug up items.
Lava rocks kill most enemies if lured into them. Flesh-Eaters will avoid you because you can squash them, but after a few seconds they develop a white ring on their bellies, making them killers and also invincible until they change back again.
SHOP:
Once you've got some items exit to the shop by pressing fire on the Red Ladder, when found. On opening the exit a thief will follow to snatch your items if touched.
In the shop move over your collected items and press fire to move them to the "TRADE" section. Press fire on "END" to convert them into tokens in which you can buy boat parts. Press fire on "END" to make purchase.
The shop won't serve you if your items don't reach a high enough value, so you're returned to the Phase Select Screen.
Once a purchase is made you can't get the items back and miscalculating will more often than not result in them becoming "EXCESS", so be careful!
Trading in an item of the same type will increase the token value. The example at 2:19 shows me getting two parts. The most complicated thing is finding out the value of each item and trying to calculate it exactly, or near enough.
LATER LEVELS:
A spider will appear if a lava rock hits a warp hole after making the Flesh-Eater appear. Spiders briefly freeze you, killing you after so many hits.
Red Owls can be squashed the same as the Flesh-Eaters, but you die if you touch its invisible nest.
Red Eagles lay an egg, which cracks open if you touch it, birthing another bird which eats any Flesh-Eaters or Red Owls in sight before flying off. Can kill you, too!
The amount of Warp Holes and plants/trees increases with the Phase number, making it all the more awkward.
Items on later levels are of more value, so try to get all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. There are 15 Boat Parts and 15 types of item.
THOUGHTS:
Phew! This was immensely complicated to figure out but quite satisfying. I mapped it all out on Excel over three days. The game was also made for the Atari 800. The programmer, Rupert Bowater, had a thing for complexity as he also co-programmed Zoids. That's one I've yet to get through...