Game:

Cauldron (1985)

Category:

Review

Duration: 25:38

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Huge playlist archive with games from 2020: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxOanVBhqd3uaUbZJnzjW5Sv0Mot2ntmx
INTRODUCTION:
The Witch is a game developed for the ZX DEV MIA-REMAKES competition. It was started in 2018 and finished in 2020. The idea was to create a remake of the well known classic ‘Cauldron’ from Palace Software. The version sent for taking part in the competition lacked music and was a bit rough around the edges. After many tweaks and tests, in 2020 the development of the game was finished and the result of all that work is this ZX Spectrum game, The Witch full version.

THE GAME:
You have waited a long time for tonight and now you could become the witch queen, at last. You will need the golden broom but it is guarded by the Pumpkin King. Only a special potion from your cauldron will give you the power to put an end to his reign. You know that the ingredients are scattered throughout the crypt, the volcanic cave and the underground river, but first you will need the keys to gain entrance to those dangerous places. Don't crash into the trees, and avoid the bats. Evil plants and many other creatures will try to stop you. If you face these dangers with courage and wisdom, you will achieve your goal.

REVIEW:
You control a witch, you can fly on your broomstick, and use your magic to defeat the enemies you meet (except a few ones that are indestructible). Your magic is also your health and you will lose some of this when shooting at the enemies or if you get touched by these. When % reaches zero you have used a life, and you start with eight.

You have to find four keys on the surface to be able to enter the caverns, and in the caverns you have to find six ingredients needed to defeat the Pumpkin King:

- Juice of toad
- Eye of newt
- Wing of bat
- Hemlock root
- Piece of bone
- Molten lava cooled in the cave

When you are in the caverns you can only walk and you can’t use your magic. In the caverns this game is a platform game while it is a shoot’em up when you are at the surface. When you have all six ingredients you have to mix them together in your cauldron that are located inside your house.

The game is a remake of Cauldron, a game also made for the C64 and Amstrad CPC in 1985, where the ZX Spectrum got a pretty poor version with lots of flickering sprites and color clash. These issues has been fixed, the graphics has been pimped up, and 128k users will have some stunning soundtracks. The music on the surface level is phenomenal good, and there is others when entering the caverns. Pak-O has made these cool tunes!

The game is made with AGD but with clever re-use of graphics, which you hardly will notice, it has lots of screens and it seems to have just about the same size as the original game. The caverns is not 100% identical to the original ones and there are also some other minor changes, which doesn't really matter, but just makes this version more interesting to check out for fans of the original game.

When the game is completed you will get the three words for the lost spell, and you can now load the final part (Both an English and a Spanish version is available of this), write the words in the spellbook, and see the ending. An ending a lot of effort has been put into, and so goes for the game. A lot of enthusiasm and effort has clearly been put into making a very fine updated version of this game.

It plays and controls well, offers great graphics and music, and the 8 lives with energy/magic counting down from 100% seems fair and square for this game. The only let down is that if you die on the bottom screen on one of the screens that are split in two (e.g. 7:57) then you will respawn on the top screen.

Rating = 91%

The game was made by Serranito Online in 2018-2020.

Download here: https://serranito.itch.io/the-witch

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