Retro Game Programming Competition The following game was submitted for the NVIDIA sponsored 2003 Retro Game Programming Competition. This competition has now finished. You can view all the entries and of course, the winners of this competition.

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Author/s: Dimsdale & Kreozot United Games Manufacture Web Site: Visit Web Site (opens new window) Language: DarkBASIC Remake of: Pacman, Q-Bert & Bounder!

Comments: What do you get if you take the pill eating escapades of pacman, swap the pills for sweets and cakes and change the ghosts into clowns - oh, and then swap the maze for a Q-Bert style isometric grid? Well meet GoJoe and his trust PoGo stick! This game is a rather innovative blend of the two and while not strictly a retro remake it does contain enough of the titles mentioned to be included here. Pros: The graphics are lovely - from a colourful swirling vortex background to the clowns to the sweets and cakes you have pick up - those look good enough to eat! The sound and music is suitably bouncey and goes well with the game We really liked the way that squashed clowns remain squashed! It's mostly an action game but with a hint of puzzle elements too The power-up is cool and turns you into a little Hulk monster that can stomp everything at super speed Addictive in a 'one more go' capacity Areas for improvement: I don't know about you but I've always found the controls for Q-Bert style games to be infuriating in that more often than not you'll jump to your death because you moved a direction you didn't anticipate. GoJoe suffers from this fate too and I promise you'll curse the monitor a few times while playing it. There are far too many clowns on the first level making it like a mad rush to the first power-up in order to splat some and then hope to finish the level, once you do this though it's highly rewarding and later levels just get better and better.

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NVIDIA was the official sponsor of the DarkBASIC Retro Programming Competition

The winners received one of these superb GeForce 4800 graphics cards. The perfect hardware partner for DarkBASIC Professional.