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### Kikstart [C64]

#### http://www.cosine.org.uk/

#### Reviewed By SirClive

Let me try and set the scene. James (RGCD editor) emails me and asks if I want to review a port of the C16 classic Kikstart (C64) for issue 3. Wow I think, the C16 was my first real computer so it will be great to see how they have squeezed the excellent C64 game into the tiny machine. So I happily load up YAPE (the superb C16/+4 emulator) and try to launch the game. But something's wrong, the game isn't working. A few emails are exchanged between James and myself before the penny drops. This is a C64 version of the C16 game, not the other way around! Now that obviously raises an immediate question; why the hell would anyone want to play a C16 game on the vastly superior C64? So, sit back (not too far so that you can't see the screen) and let me try and explain why Kikstart C16 on the Commodore 64 is worth an hour of your time.

In the gap year between releasing Kikstart and Kikstart II for the Commodore 64, Shaun Southern decided to convert his bike 'em up classic to the humble C16. This was great news for our hero, the fresh faced future reviewer (that's me!) and when I saw the game in Boots' computer games section for the standard Mastertronic-tastic price of £1.99 I handed over my unearned pocket money and rushed home as fast as the bus drive could take me.

With thoughts of the excellent BBC TV programme Kickstart (yes, it was that easy to get around IP issues in eighties) I popped the tape in the machine and then probably went out for a game of football, had my tea, cleaned my bedroom and swapped some football stickers with my mates, arriving back to the computer just in time to see it finish loading (I'd like to see the youth of today cope with games on tape!).

The game certainly didn't disappoint and I played it for weeks trying to complete all 16 levels. It was a simple premise, with simple controls. You ride your bike left to right jumping on and off platforms or over logs, trees, holes and double-decker buses. Some levels have balloons floating around that when collected add points and some also have stars that kill you on contact. And that is really it. Well what else did you expect? We are talking about a 16Kb machine here for god's sake!

OK, roll forward 21 years and the clever people at Cosine (well, T.M.R to be precise - JM) decide that this game deserves the conversion treatment and port it over to the C64. So what have those talented coders added with all that extra memory? Erm, well, nothing actually.

Kikstart C16 for the C64 is a port, not a remake or a remix. What they have done is remove some bugs, optimised some of the code and changed the players bike to a jellyfish (obviously that's a joke, they changed it to a hardware sprite really). The game plays, looks and feels like you are using a C16. But when you consider that this was one of the highlights of the underpowered machine you can understand them not messing around. C16 Kikstart wasn't a port of the 64 game, it was a new game written specifically for the hardware. So any C64 owners who may be thinking that they won't bother because they have already played Kikstart on their machine would be wrong. It certainly isn't a deep game and it won't demand mammoth gaming sessions, but as a quick bit of fun while you wait for Match of the Day to start it is a perfect piece of gaming history.

Don't see this as a C16 game being played on a C64, see it as a new game for the machine and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.

(Note that as this is a C64 game I have scored it appropriate to other C64 stuff, but please don't let that put you off.)

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By 'eck, yet again SirClive has completely slated another fine example of T.M.R's coding ability! SirClive, Jason is going to rip you in half!

In all seriousness, I wholeheartedly agree with the text part of the above review. I suppose that being a C64 game it's only fair to compare this highly faithful port to the rest of the C64 software library - which is the only reason the game has been subjected to a slightly above-average score. Fans of the original motocross classic will love it, and for those new to the game (like me) playing Kikstart proves to be an enjoyable (yet equally frustrating) experience.

Initially released exclusively via this issue of RGCD, Kikstart is a real blast from the past and it has left me eagerly anticipating future releases from the high-calibre Cosine games factory.

J. Monkman.

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Graphics: | 45%
Sound: | 65%
Game Concept: | 40%
Gameplay: | 70%
Lasting Appeal: | 57%

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