Pyjamarama -Dream a little dream
Dear reader, I would like you to picture your ultimate computer game hero. Rippling muscles? A mane of untamed hair? Martial arts skills to the max? Fearless in the face of danger? ......Remember this is the ZX Spectrum , let's be a tad more realistic , how about a flat cap and slippers?
Meet Wally , our hero, he has a sleep problem, nightmares to be precise. Not just any nightmares, but nightmares where he is in his own house, searching for an alarm clock to wake himself up. He has to solve numerous puzzles , while keeping his eye on his snooze energy . To add to the difficulty he can only carry two items at once. Be prepared to be attacked by roast chickens, grabbing hands , rolling balls and ghosts. Nothing is quite what it seems. For this is 1984 and Mikro-Gen have introduced us to Pyjamarama.
I instantly fell in love with this game, I had played lots of exploration games before , but there was something beautiful, chunky and very very human about this game. A hero that reminded me of ...okay....you all have to promise not to tell...reminded me of my Dad . I think it was the stripey pyjamas and little pot belly (he's not going to read this is he? ) It does have severe colour clash, but as a 12 year old that didn't worry you, you were concentrating on the game and marvelling at the colours and detailing of the graphics. A child's imagination is a powerful thing.
The map layout of this game is written as if in a dream, there is repetition, surrealism , boxing gloves that pop out the wall, hands that grab you from the floor. Also there is a lovely ( to my ears ) footstep sound, which is almost soft and slipper like.
It's another Horace/Pogo/Robbie the Robot moment, you actually want to help this character , he seems vulnerable and friendly. I do wonder if Nick Park may have played this game before creating his Wallace .The game draws you in , there are so many doors, so many strange objects . Then just when you think you have seen it all....you stumble across a room , with an upside down door that just says video games....
It's another Horace/Pogo/Robbie the Robot moment, you actually want to help this character , he seems vulnerable and friendly. I do wonder if Nick Park may have played this game before creating his Wallace .The game draws you in , there are so many doors, so many strange objects . Then just when you think you have seen it all....you stumble across a room , with an upside down door that just says video games....
A game inside a game (remember I was 12) , I was amazed, talk about value for money! I could pretend I was playing a game that needed logic and puzzle solving skills , but actually I could get to that room and shoot things ! Very soon all thoughts of waking Wally up from his nightmare were gone from my head. You are 12 years old, are you really going to walk away from a screen where you are shooting down roast chicken invaders? This soon became my preferred Space Invader game, you could leave it and go and explore, then go back to the room again . No need to reset the computer and wait another 7 minutes for Space Raiders to load. My two favourite types of game in one handy to use package!
Wally may not be the typical all action hero , but this was the magic of the ZX Spectrum.
Shooting roast chickens as space invaders may not seem a feasible plot twist, but this was the magic of the ZX Spectrum.
In the early 80's many strange and unusual dreams became published computer games and that still is the magic of the ZX Spectrum .
Shooting roast chickens as space invaders may not seem a feasible plot twist, but this was the magic of the ZX Spectrum.
In the early 80's many strange and unusual dreams became published computer games and that still is the magic of the ZX Spectrum .