Latest in the saga of Imagine's acquisition of 64 conversion
rights to Konami arcade games is the release of Comic
Bakery. The scenario, as with a most Japanese originated
ones, is a bit strange. Joe the baker has to bake as
many loaves as possible and get them to the baker's
shop before the five o'clock van leaves. What's so strange
about that you ask? Well, for some totally unaccounted
and probably strange reason, racoons have broken
into old Joe's bakery and have taken it into their heads
to disrupt, disturb and generally hassle the old man.
Obviously not an animal lover by any degree, Joe has
equipped himself with a stun gun to cope with the pesky
Procyon lotor. Any racoons passing Joe's path get a
stun blast and are kicked off the screen before they
get a chance to reawaken.
The
main trouble caused by the racoon invasion is their
pre-deliction to interfere with the automatic baking
machines, of which there are three. In the normal course
of operation, loaves are churned out from the first
machine and progress along a conveyor belt towards the
awaiting van. Two other machines are placed along the
conveyor that perform baker-like operations on the travelling
bread. The racoons' favourite pastime is turning off
the bread processing machinery, causing it to pile up.
Another
annoying habit of one particular animal running up and
down a gantry above the bread-carrying belt is leaning
over and swiping the odd pre-baked loaf. Come five o'clock
and the baker van leaves, carrying any loaves that may
have got through, distributing them to the shop to feed
any fasting customers. Each tasty snack delivered gains
handy bonus points.
The
screen is split midway to display the strange goings
on in Joe's place. Joe constantly sits in the middle
of the lower screen, which shows the background around
him. Moving left and right causes the bakery to scroll
around the corpulent baker. Fat though the sprite undeniably
is, there's still life left in the porky old bloke since
pushing upwards sends Joe skyward in a surprisingly
athletic jump. This is most handy for leaping errant
racoons, the touch of which is deadly to fat bakers.
Another defence against racoons is the stun gun. This
is not an infinite weapon and too much zapping depletes
its charge, indicated at the top of the screen. After
a brief pause the charge builds up again.
Racoons
trot on from the left or right of the screen and a quick
stun from your gun knocks them senseless to the floor.
Walking into a racoon in its defenceless state sends
it careening from your foot and off the screen. The
kleptomaniac animal that steals the bread can also be
zapped with a stun ray, but there's no way of knocking
it off screen.
Above
the main action a scanner is provided that also includes
a clock counting towards five in the afternoon. The
scanner shows the whole length of the bakery, with the
awaiting van at the far end. Racoons aren't detailed
on the scanner, though their positions are fairly constant.
Throughout there's the now ubiquitous Martin Galway
music. There's even the Hypersports music on
the loader, though it's been slowed down into a reggae
version.
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