Miami Ice (Compute's Gazette)
Ah, Miami-sun city of the South. A sparkling metropolis blessed with a tropical climate, palm trees, beaches, revived art deco architecture, stylish pastels, and classy elegance. Almost paradise.%%
You wake up on another bright, sunny Miami morning, sip a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, don your white linen suit and sunglasses, and stroll outside then get the shock of your life.
What's going on here? Overnight, a freak shift in the jet streams has piped a blistering cold front down from Ohio. The weatherman had predicted a brief shower last evening, but that's not what happened. Instead, the Florida peninsula was blasted by the worst ice storm in 400 years. The Everglades are frozen solid. The pink flamingos are blue. And the streets of Miami are coated with a shimmering layer of slippery ice.
As you start your car-the pampered engine coughs and sputters in the bitter cold-you wonder what it's going to be like driving to work. A Miami native, you've never driven on ice before. In fact, you've never even seen this much ice since your boss's retirement party last year, when the caterers made that life-size ice sculpture of Ponce de Leon. You've heard the horror stories told by tourists about winter driving conditions up North, but never thought it could happen to you-not here, in Miami.
The minute you pull out onto the street, your worst fears come true. When you step on the gas pedal, the wheels spin and the car accelerates sluggishly. When you turn the steering wheel, the car slides all over the road. And when you step on the brakes-well, forget it.
You realize, desperately, that you've got to make it to the parking garage across town without smashing your car to smithereens. It won't be easy. But at least there's one thing in your favor-you've got the whole road to yourself. Everyone else, it seems, had the good sense to stay home.
The article for this game can be found on page 17 (Special 1988): https://archive.org/details/1988-special-computegazette/page/n17/mode/2up
Why TAS This Game?
As mentioned in my two previous Compute's Gazette submissions, I wish to continuing seeing my memories of these games come to new light. With Astro-Panic!, a TAS was certainly necessary to see the end of the game, as it was way too hard to play. Even the author's comments was teasing me to figure out what was going to happen at the end. Continuing with Royal Rescue, I saw that these simple games were not so limited...yet had an edge to explore over human effort. Now, I am presenting one of the hardest games I've ever played from this beloved magazine series. It was so hard, that I was never was able to see the end. Even though most of the graphics aren't appealing by today's standard, contributors to the magazine knew how to create games that challenged its subscribers with game play...especially me! So I present to you, my 3rd installment of a Compute's Gazette classic, that was featured in a "Special" edition in the year 1988.
Previous Compute's Gazette submissions include (In order of submission):
Game Ending Choice
This game features 7 different levels. By the end of screen 7, it repeats that same screen...thus completing the unique content of the game. There is no selection of difficulty, nor increasing thereof.
Human Comparison
Here is the only video I could find, of someone suffering through the first level...then eventually making it to the second.
feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: Great movie!
After this description I was really curious how this game actually plays, and after several hours of saveloads (only between levels though), I was able to beat it. Controls are VERY BAD, but the idea is excellent.
By poking around I couldn't improve anything in this run. Accepting.
despoa: Processing...