Recent reviews by kopper0625

This is one of my favorite computer games. From the moment it boots, it provides one bizarre visual after another: the splash screen of a godly eye in the desert, the main two creators' names under a title underlined with an ECG reading, the harrowing first-person perspective of an imminent brain surgery (though you'd only know that if you read the novella), faceless doctors included, and so on. Part of what makes these visuals so magical is that they were made in 1989 and use VGA to its fullest. Accompanying the visuals is a sparse-yet-appropriate soundtrack. This soundtrack consists of four total songs, two of which are original. My favorite of all of them is the title theme, since it works well both to represent the game and as an original piece of music. The gameplay also complements the presentation: solutions to puzzles are often cryptic and nonsensical, which is to be expected from a game set in a dream. The controls are perhaps this game's biggest negative: they are stiff and cumbersome, which is mainly a result of the animation in this game being very slow. The animation for turning around is the biggest offender: threats can easily get in range in the time it takes to turn around, walk over to "safety," and turn back. Combat is quite hit-or-miss, but can be very fun when you've got the hitboxes and combos figured out. Allegedly, one of the authors of this game stated that the floaty controls were intentional to reinforce the game's dream-like nature, but I can't say for sure. Overall, I think this game, in its original form, is well worth playing, but I'd advise all those willing to try it to get in a patient mood, since it can be very unfair.

What I mean by "in its original form" in that last sentence is that the Steam version of this game is not necessarily its original form. The version released on Steam is the MS-DOS version, which released alongside several versions for other era-appropriate systems. I believe all the versions were released simultaneously (besides the C64 backport), but there is a very obvious original: the Amiga version. Weird Dreams on the Amiga (or Atari ST, the two versions are admittedly very similar) is, I believe, much better than the other versions, for one main reason: the soundscape. There are some minor visual touches as well, like a screen that actually scrolls, but the soundscape is the deciding factor for me. When you run Weird Dreams on the Amiga, you're treated to a variety of MIDI tracks with excellent audio quality, alongside a plethora of high quality, distinct sound effects, all by David Whittaker. This soundscape had to be crushed to work on MS-DOS, as seemingly the only readily-available sound options on it in 1989 were either Adlib or your PC's built-in speaker. That said, the person responsible for this conversion, who is either not mentioned in the manual or is IBM programmer John Jones-Steele, managed to make the DOS tracks incredible and seemingly even made an almost totally new title track that still rocks, which is quite an accomplishment. Another point you have to consider about this release of Weird Dreams is its additional content, which consists of the novella by Rupert Goodwins (Points for that, all things considered!) and the control guide for the Atari ST version of the game, which, of course, does not feature controls accurate to the game you play when you click "New Game" in the launcher. This is quite the missed opportunity, as the DOS version's inserts are actually pretty helpful and the "psychiatric evaluation" system (justified by the manual being called the "Player's Therapy Guide") for hints is very amusing, not to mention story-relevant. My guess is that this game's original publishers (Rainbird in the UK and Microplay in the US) died and the ownership of this game changed hands between multiple people, ultimately scattering the different releases and their physical inserts into oblivion. In the end, I think the current Steam release of Weird Dreams is best seen as a novelty worth the admission price of $7, but I encourage you to experience the game on the Amiga first before playing the MS-DOS version. That way you'll be able to hear the cool music and sounds before the DOS Adlib version gives you Tinnitus.

P.S. I know that the Amiga version was the original one because all of the game data files start with "PP20" when viewed in a hex editor, indicating that they were compressed with PowerPacker 2.0, an Amiga-focused compression software. Also, you can view the "WEIRD.ART" splash screen if you de-compress it and open it with the appropriate Amiga image software

I am greatly enjoying this game. To put it succinctly, this game is like a combination of Kirby's Adventure and Castlevania III.
The level design is reminiscent of many Kirby games, as the levels provide a challenge both skill and puzzle-wise. Oftentimes, the areas branch off a bit to allow you to find different routes, potentially even completely around difficult obstacles, provided you figure out how. The levels are set in diverse, beautiful locations, ranging from typical platformer areas like a beach and a volcano to more unorthodox places like a Wario Land II-esque train.
Gameplay is much less like Kirby, however. The main gimmick (or rather, gimmicks) of this game are the playable characters. Each one plays completely differently, and their abilities are all useful for solving puzzles. When you switch to them, you can see a small piece of their personality as they pose in different ways. This main gimmick is why I say that some elements of Castlevania III are present. In that game, you would meet different people who have grudges against Dracula in different ways, and had the option to take them with you. At any moment you could press SELECT to switch between Trevor and the person with him. This game takes that idea up some notches by making it mandatory, having puzzles designed for each character's ability, and allowing you to carry every partner at once instead of being stuck with just one.
The music of this game is quite nice. It's certainly better than nothing, which cannot be said of all game soundtracks. Uniquely, this game's music (as far as I can tell) is MIDI-based. which complements the artstyle and reminds me of music on the SNES/N64.
In my opinion, the biggest drawback of this game is its length. Oftentimes, I would reach the boss of an area and think, "Wow, I'm here already?" That being said, the 10$ price of this game is more than fair, seeing as this game also includes a harder "Extra" mode for those who beat the main story, as many NES games that had a shorter story often did.
In summary, this game is great fun while it lasts, is great for the price, and I would gladly play more if anything new were released.

Greatest game of checkers I ever played. I must’ve been too good because the other player threw the pieces at me!