Commodore 64 - Ensign 64 game review - Head on - By computermat - 1982/1983

Hello! And welcome to the second episode of Ensign 64 This is my new YouTube channel – as few of you might have noticed already – which has to do with the Commodore 64. Now, today, I will be playing a computer game. This is going to be one of my regular things on this channel, and especially I will pick out games that either I like, or ones that intrigue me for some other reason. And, the game I've picked out today Is probably not one you may have seen before, because I found this in Compute!'s Gazette – the magazine – issue No. 2, from August 1983. So this was just after the Commodore 64 was out. And there was an advert there for different games from a company called ComputerMat … out of Lake Havasu in Arizona. Now … Most of the games, in the advert, were basically rip-offs of Space Invaders and Pac-Man, and all those different kinds of standard-issue games that everyone was making clones of. But there was one in particular that had a very interesting description. and it did catch my eye, and I thought: "Ooh, this sounds like they are really exaggerating, and this must be an absolutely awful game." That was my idea. So ... This is what the advert said, and I'll put it up on screen for you: Head On. Please do not buy this game if you are the type that says: "I'll play it just one more time." Players have been known to start playing Head On at 8.30pm, and at 2am, wonder where the time went. Have you ever tried to explain to someone why you played a game for five and a half hours? We know of no remedy for the addiction to Head On, except to beat the VIC on level 9. No one has done it. Yet. Will you? We think not. Move your car as fast as you can dare around the tracks. You get three cars and MUST avoid the computer car. Points for the most dots covered. Bonus cars. Nine levels of play. And everything is just 14 dollars 95 cents! Amazing stuff … Okay. Now let's go play the game. Must just fire up my trusty VICE emulator … Now, let's see … "Load. Found Head On" And this is a tape image, which is … I think it's a very small game: it shouldn't take too long to load … Ah! Yes, that was very quick. And "Run". Head On. Head On! HEAD ON! "Copyright ComputerMat 1982" "Do you want instructions?" – Yes, please. "The object of the game is to get all of the dots before the enemy car gets you." That's fine. "The enemy will always travel clockwise, whereas you will always travel counter-clockwise. That's fine, too… "You can use these keys to change lanes in order to avoid the enemy car:" A and Z: up and down. And the pointy bracket, or whatever it's … What is that character called? Eh. Kind of bracket … Okay, and the question mark. "You hit it twice before a double slot you will move two lanes." "Select a difficulty level to start." Okay, I'm done reading. It also works with joystick control, although I think this game might be better with keyboard. Okay … Okay … And here we are, so we're choosing level first, and I will start with level 1 … Oh! Started already … So. Okay, so I'm moving right … The computer is moving very slowly … Okay … This is quite a simple game: there are no graphics, it's just characters moving around the screen, it looks like. I presume this is a VIC-20 port (it is) … … to the Commodore 64, and … Oh, I'm in trouble now. And … … sound is fine – I guess. This is from 1982, and games from this time – This is definitely before people realised what they could do with the Commodore 64 sound. That came a bit later. To start with, it was mostly about sound effects, and not about music, so … Sounds like a car driving (sort of). Okay … Oh! Mhm … Yes! A little bit tricky to get the last ones in the openings, especially where there are two openings, because you have to turn at the right time. And … oh no, I can't get through that. Oh! That was close! Phew! Okay … Let's do the ones in the middle … Oh! Mhm! Oh yes, I managed to do that, too. I suppose if that had been a higher difficulty level with a faster computer, I would have been in real trouble there. Oh! I moved one time there without trying to … So the AI of the game is basically just the computer trying to move towards the lane you're in. … as much as possible. So, quite a simple AI. Oh! I was so close to making it without crashing! Well, that's a crash. So thats what it looks like. I should be able to complete this level … I'll do like this … Oh! So easy to miss those. If you press too soon. There we are. Time bon… Oh, there's a time bonus as well. Right! I'm on level 2, which is exactly the same, just … Is the computer slightly faster, I think? Yeah, that's it, really. And … Is this an addictive game? I … well … There are many games I have played that look nicer, sound nicer, and … But … it's such a simple game, this: it really works well … It's nothing fancy, it's just all gameplay-focused. Erm … Oh! Argh! What would have been fun in a game like this, was of course to have two players. It would have been much more exciting if you were competing for the dots, and … trying not to crash, although … I suppose I don't know how that would work if … Because you're trying to avoid crashing, but if you're two players, both of you would want to avoid crashing, and so it would be a different game, so … Well, it would have been nice with a two-player mode of some sort, anyway. Let's just try, if I can go back … Can I go back now? To … Ah, yes. So, if I go and select level 9, and see … Okay, so I did choose the game with the … also now the computer is moving really fast … I did choose the game with the joystick there, but I started playing with the keys, so it's quite flexible in that sense … Oh! Yeah! Okay, so this is … … not as easy as it looks, actually. Does it look easy? So this is a game that may have disappeared into obscurity: I suppose very few people would know about this game. I found it in a tiny part of an advert in an old computer magazine, and I somehow doubt that ComputerMat still exists. Oh! That was … Oh, did you see that? That was so close. Oh! Oh! Mhm! That's … too close … Ach … Okay… That was Head On. What do I think of the game? Well … It's quite interesting, because obviously it's a very simple game, It doesn't use graphics, it uses only characters, it's a VIC game that was ported to Commodore 64, It's very easy: it doesn't have anything fancy about it. But still, it's actually quite a catchy game, and I would play this game longer than I would play many other games that are much more … elaborate. I wouldn't have liked to pay $14.95 for it – even back in the day. I would not have minded picking this up in a sort of bargain bin deal of … $2.99. Something like that. But, it's surprisingly catchy for something so simple. It does keep you playing a little bit. And, yeah! I quite enjoyed this, actually … There are other games that I've tried I would never try again. This one, maybe I would. I probably wouldn't play it for five and a half hours, but … Yeah. I would enjoy playing it. So, there you go. That's all for now, and … I'm Ensign 64, and I'll be looking forward to seeing you next time. Bye for now.