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### Crownland Preview [Atari XE/XL]

#### LaResistance

#### Previewed By J. Monkman

When this first preview of Crownland appeared on the net last year the rumours were confirmed - LaResistance have indeed achieved what was previously-thought impossible and have created a decent Mario clone for the Atari XE/XL. On internet forums across the globe Atari users were unanimous in stating that Crownland, even as a preview, is one of the best available platform games available for the 8-bit Atari - and after spending the last hour playing it, I'd have to say that I agree with them.

For a start, the graphics are absolutely beautiful - never before have I seen such inspired use of the 8-bit machine's palette. The sprites are all animated fluidly, and when in motion the game is literally comparable to the speed of Mario on the NES (the engine behind all of this must be *really* tightly coded). Then there's the sound, which is again handled so well that it (almost) puts the C64 to shame. The joystick control responds perfectly, almost feeling analogue-like (with varied jump height depending on how long you push the stick up for) and you always feel in direct command of the on-screen action. Put simply, it looks like the final version of Crownland (when released) is an immediate contender for 'Featured Game' status in a future issue of RGCD - unless something pretty amazing turns up at the same time (and it would have to be a *really* amazing release, like someone finding/dumping a copy of Ultimate's legendary 'Mire Mare').

Unfortunately, apart from a page on www.pouet.net and universal acclaim on several Atari forums I've been unable to find out anything about the game or it's authors, so its just a matter of keeping an eye on the many Atari 'scene' sites (especially the Polish 8-bit ones) to see if and when it comes out. However, until then at least we've got this little demo - and it's certainly got me hooked.

The only problem that people will have with the game is that it is initially very difficult and navigating through the one level preview takes a lot of concentration and thought, but rest assured that Crownland is one of those games that you get better at each and every go. It certainly took me a while to get the hang of it (some of the jumps require near pixel-perfect positioning and timing), but I finally managed to clear the first level after a bit of practice.

As you may know from this issue's review of Darkside Adventures, I don't really have a lot of patience or love for cute platform games, but LaResistance's no-nonsense approach to the genre is refreshing and the difficulty makes it a twitch-gamers dream. Surprisingly, I found the game to be a far less frustrating experience than DSA, but that's probably because when you make a mistake in Crownland you tend to die immediately rather than being left with the tedious alternative of having to leave and re-enter the level to try again. However, that said there were a couple of times where you have to use enemy sprites as temporary platforms to bridge difficult jumps, which is criminal of the designers (in my opinion).

On the other hand, the reason I found myself *really* enjoying Crownland might have been due to the fact that it really is a work of art to be appreciated. LaResistance have seemingly squeezed every single bit of processing power out of the little machine, and when/if Crownland is released as a finished game it is unlikely to be bettered for a long, long time.