Designed by PAL Developments
Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX Spectrum versions:
Programming and music by David Spicer
Graphics by Jason Brashill
Atari ST and Commodore Amiga versions:
Programming by Glenn Williams
Graphics by Stoo Cambridge
Amiga audio by Howie Davies
Commodore 64 version developed by Digital Design:
Programming by Dave Saunders and Nick Taylor
Graphics by Ashley Routledge
Music by Jeroen Tel
All versions published by HiTEC Software in 1991.
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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS
As I was finishing off the previous comparison of Yogi Bear, I realized that HiTEC Software is one rather well-known game publisher from the turn of the 1990's, which I haven't really featured on the blog so far. For good reasons, I might add, because most of their output were sub-par and not even funny in their blandness. So, I took a quick look at their entire catalogue and found that they had one game that was more commonly well thought-of than others, and it was this game, which doesn't even know how to spell itself. The title screen says Interchange, the cover art says Insector Hecti in the Inter Change, and there are some occasions, when it's Inter-Change. I suppose it is whatever you feel like it should be.
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DESCRIPTION & REVIEW
When I started preparing for this comparison, I had no idea what I was getting into, because this was a game I had never really even tried out prior to this. What I found out upon beginning the work was, what Interchange is really, is a somewhat upgraded version of Zenji, which I have already made a comparison of in 2018. Of course, the available platforms for this one makes this one just about as worthy of making the comparison.
The same basic idea is unaltered: you need to connect all pieces of floor to form an unbroken maze by turning the floor pieces to join all the necessary adjoining ones. After a minute or two of playing this one, though, I started to notice some important differences from Zenji. Firstly, you can shoot your
enemies here, with bullets that can bounce off around corners. Secondly, there are power-up items you can pick up, such as stopping time for a short time, and being able to run quicker. What I'm not completely sure about in regards to Zenji is, how long the game will last, but Interchange features 50 levels, and has a passcode system.
Before I played this game, I never considered Zenji to be a genre of its own, but Interchange proved me wrong, and I'm glad for it, because this is a game concept that is well worth exploring and expanding, however possible. If HiTEC's other games were this good, they could have made themselves a name worth mentioning on a more regular basis, but sadly, their focus was on firmly on making easy-to-play cartoon games for a younger demographic. Ins(p)ector Hecti himself is drawn as a wannabe cartoon character on the cover, with the intention of making Hecti the mascot for HiTEC - hence the anagram name for the character. But don't let that keep you from playing this game, as it is one of the few worthy titles from HiTEC's catalogue.
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LOADING
With the usual three 8-bits included in the comparison, we might as well have a tape loading time comparison. Anyway, it always gives a comparison a good chance to feature some graphics in the midst of a long stretch of text.
AMSTRAD CPC: 4 minutes 40 seconds
COMMODORE 64: 3 minutes 23 seconds
ZX SPECTRUM: 4 minutes 8 seconds
Nothing too out of the ordinary there. As it is proven time and again, the AMSTRAD versions of games tend to load slower than the C64 and SPECTRUM versions, with the C64 version having the most effective turbo loader, as they were by large. Only the slightly diminished differences between the loading times from the norm is what makes this kind of interesting, if this sort of thing interests you.
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| Loading screen, left to right: Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum. |
From what I can tell, the ATARI ST version requires a minimum TOS version of 1.04 to run properly, as earlier TOS versions seem to get stuck in the title screen. The AMIGA version suffers no such inconvenience.
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PLAYABILITY
Controlling Insector Hecti is pretty straight-forward: all directional controls make you go exactly the direction you choose, and pushing the fire button fires your weapon. There are also Pause and Quit keys in the SPECTRUM version, both of which can be redefined to your liking.
As you start the game by pressing the designated fire button, the game prompts you for a password, which will be gotten by making progress in the game. After this, you can enter your name, which can be used to record your best time for completing a level, if and when such an event occurs. There is no high scores table, though, so all the versions of the game are equal in that regard.
Interchange is one of those games, that was designed so tightly, that there was no option but to get all the versions play as close to each other as possible. This means, even the passwords given to you by the game after every fifth level are the same for all five versions.
So, the way the game works is, you walk the mazes and align the misaligned pieces of the maze so that everything connects together logically, with no deadends or paths leading to holes. The mazes are inhabited by creatures, which can kill you upon contact, but you can shoot them, provided that you have bullets in your gun. Happily, your gun's bullets can travel around corners, so you don't have to worry that much about timing your shots.
Ever so often, some power-up items pop up at random spots on the maze, which will give you some sort of a helpful boost. This could be extra bullets, a temporary speed-up for moving, extra time or enemy freeze. There might be some other power-ups, but I confess I haven't really played Interchange long enough or far enough to notice.
There are only a couple of notable differences that have some small chance of affecting your enjoyment of the game - because that's all there is, really. The game plays so far the same on all five platforms as to not really cause any real concern for any version, but there are some minor differences.
The AMIGA, ATARI ST and C64 versions play largely the same and feature similar designs: you get more elaborate level-starting animations, and there are more text messages on the screen at every possible turn. From what I have seen, there are no notable slowdown with larger amount of enemies, and the only version to suffer from such effect is the SPECTRUM version. The SPECTRUM and AMSTRAD versions feature no level-starting animations, and all the text message bits have been left to a bare minimum after the initial name and password entry screens, so the experience on those two is much more immediate and fast-paced in that sense. The ATARI ST version plays the most constantly fastest, so it can also be considered the most enjoyable, if you know exactly what you're doing. There is some slight weirdness in the collision detection on the AMIGA and ATARI ST versions, though, but it hardly ever comes to play, when you really are shooting the enemies mostly from further away.
The only reason I can think of, that would set some version more effectively apart in any manner, is that the SPECTRUM version has monochrome graphics, which might make it difficult to see some of the action. Also, the aforementioned occasional slowdown is a bit annoying when compared against the others, but it's not really a thing that makes that particular version all the much worse. Really, the most annoying thing I found about the SPECTRUM version is, that after the game has finished loading, it draws a blank screen for about 10 seconds, that makes you think it froze up. Still, when the differences are so small, you have to make drastic choices with the scores.
1. ATARI ST / COMMODORE AMIGA / COMMODORE 64 / AMSTRAD CPC
2. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM
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GRAPHICS
As we learned from Zenji, arguably the original version this game, graphics aren't all that important, although they do help figuring out things. For the most part, Interchange is a visual upgrade to Zenji, but are there any downgrades?
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| Title screens. Top row, left to right: Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC. Bottom left: Atari ST. Bottom right: Commodore Amiga. |
Thankfully, the two 16-bits offer a very different look to the title/credits screen. The game logo is perhaps a bit typical representation of the 16-bit age designing, with a hand-written style coupled with a balloony design for the title logo lettering. Along with the similarly designed "Press fire to start" text at the bottom, this is the only feature that is common for both AMIGA and ST versions. The credits are shown in a different style, although they do occupy the middle of the screen in both versions. The ATARI ST version shows the game's copyright information in yet another different font, while the AMIGA version shows them at the end of the full credits sequence. Finally, and most visually importantly, both of the 16-bits show a small representation of what to expect from the game, by having some tunnels going either around (AMIGA) or through (ST) the screen with your eventual enemies walking through them. The AMIGA version's red-tinted overall look doesn't really represent the in-game graphics that well compared to the ST version's less dramatic preview, but I think it does make for a little more stylish title screen. But of course, it's really a matter of taste.
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| Text screens - entering password, name and a well done screen; left to right: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga. |
Now, I have only bothered to play as far as somewhere between the 10th and the 15th levels, so I cannot say with any certainty, how many variations of styles are there in any version, exactly, but from the 10+ levels I have managed to see, some conclusions can be drawn.
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| In-game screenshots from the Commodore Amiga version. |
The AMIGA version has plenty of variety in both the chosen colours for each level, as well as their tile patterns and their details. Up to the tenth level, at least, you will find no two completely similar looking levels, although some background patterns are recycled. Also, the player and enemy sprites, as well as the bonus items are very detailed and well-animated. On further note, the info panel always uses specific colours from each level, instead of having some regular bland solid selection to go throughout the game.
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| In-game screenshots from the Atari ST version. |
The same goes for the ATARI ST version, but the only real difference seems to be the palette, which makes the game look slightly darker than the AMIGA version. Perhaps a thing worth noting, which is common for both 16-bit versions is, that when you lose a life, a "TRY AGAIN" text floats up to the middle of the screen while still in the level screen. No other text is shown outside of the designated text screens.
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| In-game screenshots from the Commodore 64 version. |
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| In-game screenshots from the Amstrad CPC version. |
Unfortunately for the AMSTRAD gamers, this version features clearly the least amount of variation in level graphics, since I have only come across three variants of maze styles and just a black starry background (although at least it is animated). The lack of visual effects and overlapping text messages is also rather unfortunate, but it does make the AMSTRAD version play a bit faster than the other versions. The info panel takes its style from the 16-bits, but drops the current level number from the line.
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| In-game screenshots from the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version. |
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| Visual effects on starting a new level, left to right: Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amiga/ST. |
Here you can see examples of the visual effects in the game's different versions, with the level starting effect as the most obvious example. In the C64 and 16-bit versions, you are shown the pieces of the maze flipping around, which you then need to correct. The SPECTRUM version only shows the starting point flashing before you start the level, and the AMSTRAD version has no effect at all.
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| Game Over screens. Top row, left to right: Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Bottom left: Commodore Amiga. Bottom right: Atari ST. |
What we can see here is, that while the gameplay is certainly similar enough in all five versions, you cannot escape the fact that the 8-bit platforms in particular are very different, and were at this point considered vastly inferior to the 16-bits, and given according treatment, at least in terms of graphics. Whether we are able to see these differences in a more lenient and equal way in terms of nostalgia these days, the fact remains that the 16-bit versions were made to be the natural choice, and the C64 version the next best thing. Interestingly enough, the SPECTRUM version turned out to be the more visually interesting one compared to the AMSTRAD version.
1. COMMODORE AMIGA / ATARI ST
2. COMMODORE 64
3. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM
4. AMSTRAD CPC
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SOUNDS
Having no solid proof of which version was developed and/or released first, I shall start this section with the 16-bits. Both the AMIGA and ATARI ST versions feature the same title music, which is a nice bit of MOD-like bouncy electropoppy stuff, very fit for this sort of a lightweight puzzle-action game. This can perhaps be considered more impressive on the ATARI ST, where such sample-based music is less commonly heard, but it just doesn't sound quite as clean and high in volume as it does in the AMIGA version. However, while the sound effects are their usual sample based thing in the AMIGA version, the ATARI ST version uses the soundchip's own sounds equally effectively. Personally, I think the ST's chip-based sound effects suit this game better than the somewhat flat sounding AMIGA sample effects, but they're both fine. Because they're both different but equally good in this area, I'm of a mind to give them a shared spot here, but the AMIGA version beats the ST version simply by having the option to listen to either music or sound effects during play.
For a Jeroen Tel track, the C64 title tune feels a bit middle of the road, if not out of place. This does not equal unimpressive, because Tel's usage of the SID-chip is quite as masterful as it usually is; rather, the track is not a particularly impressive or inspiring as a composition. The sound effects are equally mundane, as they sound like they could have been designed by using Sensible Software's already at that point infamous Shoot'Em-Up Construction Kit, which features presets for a bunch of sound effects that sound almost exactly like the ones in this game. That's not to say they're not fitting for their respective occasions, rather that the game's budget shows quite clearly here.
David Spicer's tune for the SPECTRUM and AMSTRAD versions works a bit better in the context, and has more of a dramatic progression to it, too, which is a nice surprise. In the case of the SPECTRUM version, though, you need to have a 128k machine in use to hear the title music, as you get nothing in the 48k mode. However, the in-game sound effects are designed for the beeper, so you get to hear them in both modes. Luckily, the sound effects are rather good, considering their beeper design, but they hold their own fine even against the C64 version. Oddly, the AMSTRAD effects sound like they were designed for the Atari 2600, rather than a machine with something as evolved as an AY-chip.
1. COMMODORE AMIGA
2. ATARI ST
3. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM 128k
4. COMMODORE 64
5. AMSTRAD CPC
6. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM 48k
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OVERALL + VIDEO
That's another lightweight comparison done to fill up this summer's calendar, and if we learned anything from this one, it's that the 16-bits were so far leading the game development game, that the 8-bits started to feel more like a necessary evil or an afterthought, rather than a natural part of the development process. That said, none of the versions play all that different, because the game design was so simple and solid that nothing needed to be altered to make the game work on some platforms. Taking this into consideration, the Spectrum and Amstrad versions, while graphically inferior, do feel more like in terms of gameplay, Insector Hecti is right at home there. Whatever the platform of origin was, here is how the traditionally unfairly mathematical scores here at FRGCB turned out for Insector Hecti in the Inter Change:
1. COMMODORE AMIGA: Playability 2, Graphics 4, Sounds 6 = TOTAL 12
2. ATARI ST: Playability 2, Graphics 4, Sounds 5 = TOTAL 11
3. COMMODORE 64: Playability 2, Graphics 3, Sounds 3 = TOTAL 8
4. ZX SPECTRUM 128k: Playability 1, Graphics 2, Sounds 4 = TOTAL 7
5. AMSTRAD CPC: Playability 2, Graphics 1, Sounds 2 = TOTAL 5
6. ZX SPECTRUM 48k: Playability 1, Graphics 2, Sounds 1 = TOTAL 4
And of course, in the case you don't like taking just my word for it, you are all welcome to try all five (or six) versions by yourselves, or at the very least, take a look at this video comparison from the MikroView series from March 2019.
Since I was supposed to be veering the comparisons more towards the 16-bits and the 1990's, I suppose this is part of that process. However, I will still be sticking strictly to the 8-bits for the next few game comparisons at least, because rearranging long-held plans is always annoying. So, thanks for reading this one, and I hope it proved any point at all. See you next time with something very likely more interesting!
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