Far West

Break Space

Dave Sloane

Jamie

Mpk

FAR WEST Antrilles/BeykerSoft PWYW / €1 Jamie's Review The sun sets over the prairie as a tumbleweed rolls aimlessly across the plain. A lone rider appears on the horizon. As he draws closer, you see his dusty poncho slung back over one shoulder, revealing the cold steel of a six-shooter at his hip. A bandolier of golden bullets glints brightly in the last of the day's light. The stranger arrives in town and dismounts. He pauses to read the large sign: 'Santa Fe.' A flicker of satisfaction crosses his steely face before he draws his pistol and heads toward the local mine. Minutes later, gunshots ring out – the unmistakable report of a revolver. Then comes another sound: a man jumping repeatedly. The noises grow fainter as the gunman ventures deeper into the mine. Finally, you hear a cry of pain – the kind a man makes when he mistimes a jump and lands full-bodied on an enormous cactus. You sit alone, contemplating what you've just witnessed. Who is this man? What is his mission? What secrets lie in the Santa Fe mine? With no answers forthcoming, you decide to call it a night. You head inside, fire up your trusty ZX Spectrum, and load the latest game: Far West. Far West is a Western-themed action platformer created using the ZX GM Zero Code engine. The zero-coding requirement, combined with the powerful level design tools, can often result in games with excellent graphics – and Far West doesn't disappoint. The world is full of charming graphical details: little mice, deadly snakes, a T.Rex skull, and cheeky cacti all help conjure up a sense of the wild west. The game features excellent AY music - a jolly tune reminiscent of Dizzy games that perfectly complements the experience. With plentiful lives and manageable difficulty, progress feels rewarding as you explore each carefully crafted screen. The atmospheric intro sets the stage, making you eager to uncover the mine's secrets. My only complaint involves the double moving-platform section. It's frustratingly tricky - miss a jump and you'll fall far enough to force you to replay three screens. While this can test your patience, it's a minor flaw in what's otherwise a superb showcase of ZXGM's capabilities. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah: The mine was pitch black, except for the glimmer of burning touches hung sparsely on the walls...

Hint - Don't fall down there.

I'm not sure that's the safest location for a bar, but okay.

Is the prison supposed to be on fire like that?