Thurg n Murg - Atari ST (Gameplay Footage & Opinion)
5I miss the days when you would get free games attached to your favourite magazine, heck you don’t even get demo discs anymore, it’s all downloadable these days , which I suppose makes sense since most gamers have the internet now. But I still miss the surprise of possibly having someone good on the floppy disk. One such example of this is Thurg and Murg which was a free game on ST Review magazine made by MajicSoft and as far as I’m aware this is only available on the Atari.
The game itself is a 1-2 player game that is much in the same style as many single screen 80’s arcade games such as Bubble Bobble. Basically you have to play as either Thurg or Murg as they go around the level collecting all of the rings scattered around the stage with the idea being to get the highest score possible. The levels themselves are littered with enemies and you can shoot projectiles in order to kill them, alternatively there are numerous bombs scattered throughout which set off a small blast all around you. There are two modes in the child mode and the adult mode, the only difference that I have noticed between the two is that it is far easier to get extra lives in the kid mode, so much so that it becomes far too easy, so I would recommend avoid pressing F1 on the title screen.
The game is bright and colourful with some good animation on the characters and everything moves at a decent speed. I never noticed it slowing down despite the amount of enemies on the screen and overall it looks fantastic for a free game, like someone has put some effort into it. The only thing that I would say is that the backdrops are a little sparse, but I suppose there is an argument that it is better to keep the background simple if just to make it easier to see the items and enemies on the screen.
Game play wise Thurg and Murg control the way how you’d expect them to using the joystick. The controls are responsive and are precise enough that you know that if you fail then it is a testament to your gaming skills rather than the game being broken. There are different types of enemies which roam about the stages that offer varying ranges of difficulty some just run about randomly ;some like the long eared dog actually try to pursue you, whilst dragons shoot. The most important points to consider when playing this game is to try to avoid the top of the screen as they will drop from the bottom onto you unexpectedly and don’t stand on the platform above them as they will jump up at you.
Overall Thurg and Murg is very fun to play, however with a lot of 80’s style arcade games its better played in short sessions as ultimately it is a rather simple concept.
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