Quedex (Commodore 64)

If Delta had the good fortune to appear just when Nemesis was fresh in peoples' minds, then Thalamus' next game, Quedex, struck it lucky by turning up when people were still gaga over Marble Madness. "Oooh, look! You control a ball through a series of mazes! That'll be awesome!"

*cough*

The game got its name from its subtitle - The Quest For Ultimate Dexterity. So that's two reasons why I never played it back in the day... I never really liked Marble Madness, and why would I want to play a game to test my dexterity? Besides, I gave that enough of a workout playing shoot 'em ups. And so Quedex remained completely off my radar, with nothing there to pique my interest in the slightest.


This level has you chasing around after white squares. The excitement!

What doesn't help is that when the game has loaded, it actually tells you that it's "number 3 in a series designed to frustrate and enrage". I don't want that from my games! I want to have fun, to be entertained, even to relax. I don't want to be put on the verge of a stroke.

Still, moving onwards, I figured I'd have to at least see if there was any fun to be had from Quedex.


This teleport might take you somewhere good. It might not. Grrrr!

The game gives you ten "planes" to conquer, using your dexterity, which would have been directly related at the time to which joystick you were using. I had a Zipstik, so I would probably have been awesome at the game. Anyone with a Quickshot II would, likely as not, have been knackered.

In order to help you get the most out of the game, you're allowed to select the planes you'll tackle in whatever order you like. This is definitely for the best, because if (like me) you got to the second plane and got completely stuck, you'd feel like you'd wasted your money. If you'd bought it, of course.


Odd level, this one. The goal is right there... you can complete it immediately or try and pick up the tokens for extra points.

For all the game involves joystick wrestling as its mechanic, it does a fair job of providing variety over the ten planes. Number 1, for instance, has you negotiating a number of small floors with precision, with each floor requiring a different kind of manoeuvring. Number 2, though, sees you attempting to negotiate a maze by finding keys to unlock certain passages.

And that, for me, is where the game goes wrong. Because then it's not a test of dexterity, it's a test of memory and, at least to begin with, luck. When the levels are purely you against the clock, weaving in and out of obstacles or jumping across holes, it's really good fun. But when you're trying yet another teleport in the hope of landing next to that all-important key, then it's an exercise in pure frustration.


It's not all bad... this level makes me want a custard cream. Mmm... custard creams... hang on, we haven't got any in! Damn!

It's a bit of a shame, that. Really, what you've got here is half a game... maybe two-thirds. Those irritating levels really take the gloss off it, and from my point of view, are what will stop me from attempting to complete it. There are some game types I just can't hack, and those levels are just about the epitome of all that makes me mad in a game.

Quedex was Stavros Fasoulas' third game for Thalamus, and it proved to be his last. Not because Thalamus didn't like what he was doing... for all the frustration I found in his games, he was obviously a talented coder with a bright future in the industry. But he was called up for National Service in his home country, Finland, and was never heard from again. I read recently that he may be living in the United States now, and has left his gaming past entirely behind. Shame, that. Stavros, if you ever feel the need for an interview, get in touch... you've got a lot of fans that would love to know how you're doing.

Spindizzy Worlds (Atari ST)

Oh, how I remember Spindizzy on the Commodore 64. Massive Gold Medal in ZZAP! 64, plaudits left, right and centre, lovely isometric 3D graphics, teeth-gnashingly hard gameplay. It probably didn't help that comparisons were drawn between it and Marble Madness when, as ZZAP! quite rightly pointed out, they don't play anywhere near the same.


The way it used to be. Difficult, but excellent.

I did buy the original, and I played it quite a bit, probably more down to the fact it cost £9.95 than through my great love of the game. I wasn't very good at it. I imagine a lot of people weren't very good at it. It was a huge game, with hundreds of screens which you "flicked" through, one at a time. I think I managed to complete about a quarter of it, which was probably actually quite good, now that I think about it.

Spindizzy Worlds is not a game that would have been high on my list of must-buys, back in the day. It actually got a release on the SNES as well, research shows. That makes sense... the ST version actually looks a bit like a SNES game. And it seems more like a console game in structure. Whereas Spindizzy just saw you exploring one huge landscape, Spindizzy Worlds, as the title suggests, is split into levels. Well, worlds, actually. Of course.


Coloured switches, lifts and jewels. What more could a gyroscope want?

This affords the game the opportunity to be a bit more varied than the original, and it takes that opportunity by having distinct-looking worlds. Some are lush with greenery, some are drab and concrete, some are blue and watery... you get the idea.

It also means that Spindizzy Worlds plays a little differently. Oh, sure... the game still involves piloting a gyroscopic craft around troublesome scenery, picking up energy crystals in an attempt to prolong the game. But it's generally a much more puzzly affair than the original. Or should I say, the puzzles are a bit more structured, with each world having specific goals that need to be completed before progressing to the next.


And they're under starters orders in the Spindizzy National...

Occasionally, the game will edge towards its Marble Madness leanings, and throw in some timed levels. These are short, and not particularly difficult. But they add a little bit of welcome variety to the switch-pressing that dominates the majority of the game.

So, Spindizzy Worlds is a more accessible, more structured game than the original. But is it better? Well, despite the fact you can save the game, I don't think it is. It does have irritations... the biggest of which is the "scrolling" method. The original game was a flick-screen affair. This game is flick-screen too, but it also scrolls at times, which is a bit weird. Why didn't they just make it scroll all the time? The method used here just serves to disorientate you a bit.

Spindizzy Worlds is a fine game, but somehow it didn't quite grab me as I'd hoped. That doesn't mean I won't play it again... I'm wondering just how big the game is for one thing. But I don't really think that it's the classic it could have been.