Roland Ahoy

Copyright : Amsoft | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The object of the game is for the pirate ship, commanded by ROLAND the intrepid adventurer, to collect items of treasure from â??Golden Harbourâ??, and take these to the hidden cave at â??Treasure Coveâ?? To achieve this, it is necessary to sail the ship to â??Powder Quayâ?? and to collect cannon balls in order to destroy the boom which protects the harbour entrance.

Graphics

In the greatest tradition of the majority of Amsoft games, Roland Ahoy! has a basic colourful charm to its graphics. While its no â??Purple Saturn Dayâ??, Roland Ahoy! is certainly cheerful and cant help but draw a smile when you look at it. The sprites, although far from detailed, are easily distinguishable and although the game is fairly limited, thereâ??s enough scope to give each of the stages a different graphical feel â?? something that the programmers have done with aplomb.

Sound

A dodgy little sea shanty greets the player when they commence the gameâ?¦ itâ??s too slow and frankly very poor. Things are not improved any by the spot effects that take place throughout the game. The odd crash and bleep to indicate anything from jumping to collecting a bar of goldâ?¦ basic stuff and a little uninspiring. On the bright side though â?? the game is liberally sprinkled with the sound effects and although theyâ??re not groundbreaking (or in fact any good) at least they have employed consistently.

Gameplay

The first thing youâ??ll notice when playing Roland Ahoy is the almost ungodly speed at which Roland moves. Our heroic pirate can certainly shift through the gears! This element of speed gives what is otherwise a simplistic game, a sense of real urgency (particularly in the Treasure Cove as you struggle in vain to outwit the giant spider.

The game is difficult to get to grips with at first as you try to figure out exactly what you have to do (travel to powder quay to collect ammo, sail to golden harbour and blow a hole in the bridge to gain access and steal the treasure before stashing it away in treasure caves) but as soon as you figure it out, the game becomes rather easy and repetitive. Unfortunately this is all you get. Thereâ??s no more locations opened up or extra enemies to confront only the same scenes over and over again. A real pity because otherwise this could be an excellent little arcade game but the lack of variety is near fatal.

Not a bad little game to play now and again but I think if Iâ??d paid the best part of a tenner for it £15 years ago then Iâ??d be rightfully aggrieved!