Glass was a 3D arcade game released for the ZX Spectrum by the always cool sounding Quicksilva back in 1985.
Paul Hargreaves has a pretty impressive list of Spectrum games to his name, and this one was pretty highly regarded when it was released the summer of my thirteenth year.
With it's impressive sounding title, fast moving 3D graphics and decent back story this is a classic game that did have a bit of a 'wow factor' back in the day.
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| The Effective Loading Screen |
The back story to set the scene had you training to be a combat-ready star-fighter pilot, gaining the skills to take out these aforementioned enemy cities.
This simulator took you through a series of screens, with each acting as a mini-game in itself.
The games varied between sections with simulations in destroying outer radar defences, smashing the pseudo-conscious Metalliks (great names!), all the while keeping your shield level up.
If your shields were expended you could still continue in game with zero score if you so desired.
If you managed to fly the plains of Glass and reach the cities you were then able to deploy a nuclear missile and watch it evaporate in all it's de-pixelating glory!.
The score achieved also set your crew status level, with fourteen levels of excellence to pass through.
Only the best could reach the level of 'Game Lord'.
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| Nice Reflection Effect |
The sprites move towards you at a fast lick and the reflection effect on the glass surface is, for the time, pretty damn nifty.
Some stages play better than others. The avoiding towers sub game is reminiscent of the classic game Deathchase and it is still fun even today to weave your way through them at a rapid pace. The towers move towards you at breakneck speed without flicker, all the while reflected on the planet surface.
The other sub-games are fun in their own right but they do become repetitive quite quickly as they are often re-workings of the same game featuring a different set of sprites.
When the final city is revealed it does look quite impressive and it almost a shame to nuke it!
All in all this is a decent enough game. It scored highly in Crash Magazine but fell slightly short of the coveted Smash award, which for seems just about right.
Funnily enough 3D games on 8-bit machines tend to have aged more than other gaming genres, and this one falls into the same bracket I feel.
All in all, this was a pretty decent shooter that was technically pretty impressive. Oh, I'm loving the between game 'cut scene'. Very slick.
GENRE: 3D Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: Summer of 1985
RELEASED BY: Quicksilva
DEVELOPERS: Paul Hargreaves
PRICE: £7.99 (UK)
Marvel at a rapid moving slice of Arcade Action...
Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games
2 comments:
I mostly agree with your review, it was quite impressive for the time and still, for a Spectrum user, holds some of its ancient appeal. However, gameplay-wise it was a different matter. It seemed to go on and on without really much of a point. I found it, and still do, nice to look at but too much repetitive to hold my interest for a long time.
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