8 /10 1 Votes
Designer(s) John F Cain Initial release date 1984 Mode Single-player video game | 4/5 Emuparadise Release date(s) 1984 Genre Platform game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publishers Telecomsoft, Phoenix Software, Inc., Firebird Software Ltd. Platforms Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Plus/4, SAM Coupé | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Booty is a platform game released in 1984 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, and ZX Spectrum. The game was one of Firebird's launch titles.
Contents
Gameplay
The player takes on the role of a cabin boy who attempts to steal a horde of treasure from his pirate masters. A variety of hazards must be avoided including pirates, parrots and booby-trapped treasure. Should the player managed to collect all the treasure, he is given 45 seconds to find a final key, which will restart the game. There are a total of 20 screens in the game which contain a mixture of collectable treasure, doors to other screens, and doors which act as obstacles and can only be unlocked by collecting the appropriate numbered key. Some rooms contain non-player character pirates, contact with which will cause the loss of one of the player's three lives.
Release
The game was published for the Spectrum in 1984, by Firebird Software in the UK, at a price of £2.50. It was subsequently re-released in the UK at £1.99, and in Spain (by ABC Soft) at a price of 795 pesetas.
Reception
The game was positively reviewed by Crash, which awarded it a "smash" rating of 93%. The main features the magazine cited were the novelty of the setting, and the bold graphics. Also noted was that the complexity of the problem-solving aspect of the game was not initially apparent, and that it was more of a challenge than it first appeared. The Your Spectrum review was less positive, with scores of between two and three starts out of five for its three reviewers, although two of them commented that the game was 'very good value for money. There are a total of 20 screens in the game One source has said that Booty was first game in the UK to sell over 100,000 copies, but another, while acknowledging that it did so quickly after release, has said that it was not the first.