A Salute to "Absolute"
Posted by Ryan on 23 February 2012, 17:32 GMT
Some of the most progressive and exciting software in the calculator scene tend to be powerhouse assembly
releases that garner a great deal of attention. Unfortunately, this often leaves a lot of very robust and
quality pieces of BASIC software left relatively unnoticed by both hardcore and casual calc enthusiasts
alike.
Many of us older folk grew up in a time where games had both implicit and explicit challenges to their
mechanics. Some might find it hard to believe but, once upon a time, games required you to have a certain feel for timing your jumps,
knowing the exact, right time to hit a key. In fact, not all games were like this. Just as today, certain skills were required to become a videogame champ. Mind you, these were in the
days before your fancy e-books, trains, or even fire, if I remember correctly. That's right, those were the
days.
It is often worth remembering that a good time can be had without the hottest new graphics, fastest cars, or even characters
that aren't comprised of sticks. For these reasons, it is my absolute delight to mention two related titles
that have consumed an inordinate amount of my time.
Absolute Insanity and
Absolute Madness are two
challenging little platformers by user Deep Thought, someone who seems to be making a habit of impinging
upon my productivity. Both games in his "Absolute" series are highly challenging and gratifying, with a
considerably quantity of conscientiously composed maps and an understated sense of purpose to their overall
design, the opening scenes notwithstanding. There is a lot of content to each game which, I must admit, I
have (thus far) been incapable of fully completing. Both games come with complete level editors and
different mechanics, ensuring a degree of novelty between the titles. Absolute Madness is built on a
rewritten engine and employs a "dimension switching" mechanic that illustrates good savvy on the part of the
author in the realm of conceptual contribution to their portfolio. For fans of classic single-screen puzzle platformers, give these two titles a whirl.
