Maziacs
Even though at the time of writing it is as hot as Hades and it's August. Let me take you back to Christmas , Christmas 1984 to be exact. I've just got my hands on a cassette and the cover has the word Maziacs on it. Let's shove some wrapping paper out of the way, unearth the Spectrum and hide from the adults for awhile.
I've already mentioned, Zig-Zag which was another game that came with the DK'Tronics keyboard . But this was the game that I first loaded after the keyboard was fitted. I think that is why this maze game has a special place in my heart. The game itself is simple ( although not easy). You have to get the gold, and return it to the start of the maze, you can ask prisoners for the route and you can find swords and food. There are also maze dwellers called Maziacs , these can be bashed with a sword. However, one sword per Maziac is the rule , so after every battle a new sword is needed.
You can attempt to beat up Maziacs without a sword , but be prepared to lose. This game is so colourful , so bright, so Sinclair -ish , it was love at first sight. It was written by Don Priestley, the man behind some of the most graphically big and beautiful Spectrum games around (in my opinion.)
Let's return to that Christmas morning though and the younger Julie's first impressions of this game. I had already played the fantastic Oracle's Cave , so had a love of maze games already. I fully blame this on a childhood of reading Enid Blyton's Famous Five and various retellings of the Greek Myths. The one thing that I immediately loved in this game was that the prisoners would tell you which way to go, no more blundering around a maze for minutes with no direction . Run into a prisoner and a magical yellow path would flash up leading you to treasure or home .The food around the maze was (in my mind) a strawberry trifle in custard , due to it's red and yellow colour and contrasted so well with the blue/cyan/black colours in use. Swords and food were plentiful and many Maziacs were dutifully slaughtered on that festive morning.
It was the ease of play that really did draw me in, plus the fact that definable keys were also offered. Those few hours on Christmas morning before you have to enter the adult world and do the boring stuff just zoomed by. The other attraction to this game is that each maze is generated when you start play, so each game is different, no more learning a map, a new challenge each time. But let us just stop and take a look at one of the key pieces of this game.
Look at that beast, it's one of those magic Spectrum moments, these Maziacs were animated beautifully , especially when they had defeated you! Even though this game had only a few colours it looked superb ( can you tell I like this game yet?) I would normally , dear reader, tell you what my father's experience of this game was, however, I don't think I ever let him play it. Like Sabrewulf and AticAtac this became my game, my imagination making these caves and tunnels real, the prisoners pleased to see and help me ( despite not being able to rescue the poor devils.)
As time moved on other maze games arrived, indeed other computers arrived and Maziacs was played less. It was always there at the back of my mind, those clear and simple graphics mixed with the excitement and anticipation of the memories of Christmas morning. A gaming memory that was labelled and stored under happiness and simplicity.
It was with some trepidation I replayed it recently, not wanting to destroy that magic memory. I needn't have worried, this game still holds it's magic, it's memories , it's simplicity and that is it's greatest treasure.
It was with some trepidation I replayed it recently, not wanting to destroy that magic memory. I needn't have worried, this game still holds it's magic, it's memories , it's simplicity and that is it's greatest treasure.