SkillTeam

Break SpaceBreak Space Ace

Dave Sloane

Jamie

Mpk

SKILLTEAM David Programa Free Sloany's Review Way back in the day, as well as my ZX Spectrum, I was a big fan of playing games on the go and was lucky enough to own an Atari Lynx. The Lynx was a system that I have fond memories of despite its shortcomings, which included carrying around a lorryload of AA batteries just to sustain me through a 20-minute car journey. One of the fondest of these fond memories was discovering what looked like an unassuming little puzzle game about a nerdy guy who had a fascination for collecting different coloured keys (that were, for some reason the same size as him) called Chips Challenge. I absolutely loved that game and the more I played it the more I loved it. Booting up SkillTeam on my Speccy has brought these memories flooding back. SkillTeam is a remake of a Fancade game by LukaszM, where you have to guide your little guy to the exit without falling into the abyss. Standing between said little guy and each of these exits is an absolute stalwart of these type of games, the good old crate. These crates, which are scattered around each level, both help and hinder your progress depending on the superpower your little guy has at that particular time. Oh, I didn't mention the superpowers? Well, these powers come in the form of standing on different coloured blocks to acquire the relevant skill, be it pushing, pulling or destroying the pesky (or useful, depending on your point of view) crates. The downside of acquiring each power is that you lose your previous one forever, which means you have to really plan out your strategy on each level. As is the way with the best designed of these types of games, the first few levels really ease you in gently to your task. Once the rules have been firmly established, the game throws a new one at you. Mastered the "yellow" & "cyan" powers, have you? Well, here's a red one for you to conjure with. This is where the game really shines - there is something extremely satisfying about a perfectly pitched difficulty curve that makes you feel all fuzzy inside. I spent a fun few hours churning through the levels. It wasn't all plain sailing, and I did have to scratch my head and re-re-re-re do quite a few of them, there's a few levels with some red herrings in there, but overall it's an extremely satisfying ride. Although the game could do with a jolly tune or two to liven up proceedings, the sound effects are spot on, and everything is nice and colourful with a cheery font, cute graphics, clear instructions and responsive controls. I love the little crown your guy wears and the happy dance he does when he finds the exits. The in-game menu system that you can bring up via the space bar allows you to re-do or skip a level (up to 3 skips) which comes in handy when the frustration factor gets a little too high. All in all, this is a fantastic release from David Programa and one which I am very happy to recommend to fellow fans of puzzlers. Skill-o-rama indeed.

"Oh, I didn't mention the superpowers?"

Absolute King

Level 42: There's something about you

This one looks easy, eh?

Prior Art Blurb