...or something like that. I should brush up on my old Hendrix lyrics.
It had been awhile since I had hunted down a fun little time waster of an Amiga game and dragged it back to my lair and devoured it, so a- hunting I did go to my favorite feeding area of the vast, dark Internet jungle of games and other gems known as Aminet. There I pursued a good number of tasty game (pun intended) until I finally caught one resting back, generally unaware and happy-go-lucky at the local watering hole. A few lightning-quick mouse clicks later I had taken down my prey. Keeping my eyes peeled for predators, I began to dine......
What I found was a fun little time waster called "Rush Hour". Rush Hour version 1.2 is a FREEware game by German (I believe, but could be totally wrong) author Andreas Spreen. It is supposed to be based on the C64 game "Traffic", but I can't really vouch for that since before owning an Amiga I was an 8-bit Apple owner.(HEY, WHO THREW THAT!?!?) The object of the game is to keep changing traffic lights from red to green and back to red again (your standard traffic light action here) and keep the cars moving through the different congested cities, 5 of which there are to choose from. This is done by joystick, mouse or keyboard control, with up to 3 players in on the fun, although I have yet to try the multi-player feature as my other personalities have not been cooperating lately.
Action starts out slow with one or two cars entering the screen and eventually getting stopped at red lights. They will then sit and wait patiently with their appropriate turn signal on. Once you give them a green light they will proceed on their course hitting other intersections, eventually leaving the screen. VERY simple, but things get pretty hairy as other cars enter the screen faster and faster. You have counters telling you how many cars have entered the screen, how many cars MUST leave the screen before you can advance to the next level, and how many cars are waiting, unable to enter the screen due to clogged intersections. When you get nine cars waiting at any one entry point, or 25 cars in total unable to enter the screen, the game slams on the breaks (HA!). This game fits in that old "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master" cliche' that is so worn out that I don't know why I bothered bringing it up.... but it fits.
Like I said the game is Freeware, so you can give it to anyone and everyone you so desire. It will run on any Amiga with AmigaDos 1.3 - 3.0, and Multitasks like a dream. It will run on either PAL or NTSC systems. Graphics are pretty decent, with several different style of car and city layout. Music is top notch and the sound effects are very simple, but the honking cars can really add to your panic level as tension begins to build. Sometimes they just... won't... STOP... HONKING!!.........
...but I like this game. Its not deep or complex, just a quick little fix of fun. SIM-TRAFFIC it ain't, but who really cares. What's that old Monty Python song? "I like traffic lights. I like traffic lights. I like traffic lights......."
Dr. Torgo
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