Reviews: Eggit 2

EGGIT 2 By Rikus Kras & Amazing Productions

GAME TYPE:

PUZZLE/PLATFORM

PLAYERS: ONE/TWO

DIFFICULTY: VERY HARD

TARGET: GET AN EGG THROUGH

VARIOUS THEMED LEVELS WHILE

COLLECTING COINS!

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

MIMIMUM: 486 DX2 WITH

8 MEGS RAM

RECOMMENDED AT LEAST

P90 WITH 8/16 MEGS RAM

SOUND CARD OPTIONAL

After the success of Amazing Productions' original Eggit, created by Zack Fowler, a sequel

seemed inevitable (Amazing's Locked game was popular and spawned 6 sequels!). So, a few months later here it is: Eggit 2.

The aim of the game is a peculiar one. The player is in control of an egg and must bounce it

around the screen, making use of platforms, springs and lifts, to collect coins! There are dangers along the way, such as the "Twirly Nasties" that can chop up the egg if the two collide.

Unlike the original, Eggit 2 has a slightly different target to achieve. Instead of just collecting

all the coins onscreen, now you need to do this to unlock a previously inaccessible blue coin, and collect this to move on.

The game is divided into Worlds, each with their own theme. The first world, Iceland, plays

exactly the same as Eggit 1 to help break the ice (no pun intended) and familiarise the player with the game. However, after World One there is no learning curve, and some later levels are easier than earlier ones. Also, aside from a new background and new graphics for each new location, the gameplay remains more or less the same, and the game becomes quite boring. One aggravating feature is that at the start you have ten lives, and each hit you take results in the loss of one life and the level restarting, so if it's a particularly difficult level and you've almost completed it but die, you've lost everything and have to do it all over again. This becomes extremely frustrating, especially considering that when all lives are lost, it's straight back to World One again! Some later levels are very difficult and lives can be lost quickly. On levels like these you may feel so frustrated that you want to give up on the game altogether.

Another annoyance is that the egg is always bouncing, even when still, so judging leaps is

difficult due to the sprite's height. If you jump but the egg is already at the peak of its bounce then it will just fall and often the target will be missed.

What makes Eggit 2 different to its predecessor is the new modes included. There is a

2-player mode which comprises of a split screen, and the game is a race to clear your half of the screen of coins before your opponent does. The two eggs have different strong points and weaknesses, and although this was intended to make the race more interesting, it actually makes it an unfair fight. Player one seems to have the advantage as the egg jumps lower and falls faster, so there is less chance of jumping into a Twirly Nasty. Player two jumps higher and there is a larger chance of bouncing into a nasty.

Also included is a level editor, in which you can create your own levels (really?). Although

basic in design, creating levels is fairly good fun. There are only a few items that can be selected, so no lifts are available and only one background and tune is available. There are a few bugs and faults in it, though. It seems impossible to place any platforms or coins at the top of the screen, so levels can look a little odd. If, while creating, you misplace something, there is no delete option so you need to work around the error or clear the whole screen. When testing a completed level, it would have been nice to choose the starting point of your egg, as it always appears in the middle and if there are any hazards there then you die straight away. Also, if killed during play, all the platforms disappear, and once, upon retrying a level after the egg was destroyed, I found that the egg had gone, too! It would have been better if you start off with ten lives as opposed to just one. Upon completing your level you must collect all the coins onscreen, but once that is done, all the coins are gone and you need to replace them. Aside from all this, it is still fun, but perhaps it would have been nice if levels could be saved and swapped with friends.

The graphics themselves are mainly drawn by Zack Fowler and Rikus Kras, and look fairly

nice. There are clashes, however. On "3D World" (that isn't actually 3D to the best of my knowledge), the background often causes you to lose track of the egg, the platforms, the nasties and the coins! There are some nice raytraced pictures made by Steven Chan that are featured on bonus levels, and Locked fans get a peek at Rikus' new Mr Ball if they manage to get to World Five! ; )

The music featured is mainly borrowed from other media and sadly, for the main, seems

rather out of place. I'm not sure what Rikus was thinking when he used the Batman theme for Desert World and the Friends theme for 3D World!! Some songs are used well, however. The Locked tune is back for Locked World, and the tunes for the 2-player mode are very nice. However, only one tune has been used for the whole of each One-Player World, so you may find the same song for five different levels in a row.

The game plays quite well. Your egg handles nicely, aside from the fiddly jumping technique.

However, some levels don't seem as well thought out as the ones in Eggit 1, and don't have the same feel or style as the original. Having said that, some levels are brilliantly designed, and the new lift feature used very well. The blue coin idea is good too, although it can be annoying when accidentally colliding with its protective barrier and losing a life.

Eggit 2 is a fun game that can be great to play, but can also be amazingly frustrating. It may

not have the same flair or finesse as the original, but the 2-player mode and Level Editor will keep you interested for quite a while.

GRAPHICS 82%	A lot of the graphics are original, and minimal clipart used. On the whole, graphics are rather small.
MUSIC 80%	A wide variety of tunes. Some seem very out of place.
SFX 81%	Sounds suit the game.
GAMEPLAY 80%	Your sprite handles well. The egg's constant boucing makes moving about very unpredictable at times.
LASTABILITY 74%	Lots of levels, a two-player mode and a basic level editor will keep you entertained for a while. Levels are repetetive and get very difficult. Some later levels are easier than earlier ones.
OVERALL 79%	Eggit 2 is a fun game and the extra options are nice, but after continual playing it becomes very frustrating and once complete there is little to come back to.

Eggit 2 can be downloaded at Rikus Kras' Eggit 2 page

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