Skyhigh 17 Demo reviews
MAD'S CRITICAL EYE
Greetings once more demo lovers! Here is your host for yet another chapter of demo reviews...
This month-
Ritual II/Taboo Radio Napalm/Reflex Contraflow/Cosine WOIIFTD/F4CG Parts/Oxyron
On with the show!
RITUAL II/TABOO
Coders respsonsible: MMS
Artists Responsible: Cruise
Musicians Resposible: Shogoon
This demo is a graphic show of Cruise's (mostly IFLI) pictures:
+ IRQ Loader (by the Mighty K.M.!!!) + 1 Hires pic. + 1 FLI pic. + 11 IFLI pics. + Random choice of two tunes.
The Code:
This is a graphic show, and so code isn't the issue really. But, nice fade in/out of the pictures...
The Graphics:
Well, Cruise's art is known worldwide, and this is a collection of some art you will have seen, and some you won't have seen. The beginning picture, a hires head is pretty damn nice (the hair especially). The IFLI pictures (the majority of the demo) range from excellent to poor, (and in one case (GODFLESH), very poor).
(Read MAD ON... for my opinion to this!!!)!!!.
The best pictures are the ship, 'web', bat-girl, woman on horseback, and the end pics, - these REALLY kick ass!
It is a shame that the poorer pictures let the show down... Very nice loading font also!
The Musics:
Two nice tunes from Shogoon.
Overall:
Pity about the weaker pictures, but the rest are very enjoyable to watch. Nice idea to include two tunes (adds a bit of variety). If you like good graphics, it is well worth a look, but if you are expecting some kicking code from the Makula brothers, sorry to disappoint you...
RADIO NAPALM/REFLEX
Winner of the X-95 party earlier this year, I was waiting for this demo for a long, long time. Was it worth the wait???
Coders responsible: Quiss
Artists responsible: Seytan/Arcross Felidae
Musicians responsible: PCVF
The demo features:
+ Trackmo loading!!! + PRESENTS gravitised dots. + 3 Colour filled (and fast) vector objects. + Colour-cycling rippling water effect * + Colour waterfall * + 5 Shade Gouraud-shaded cube + Reflex+Colour spinner * + Zooming chessboard (not as bad as it sounds!!!) + True plasma * + Large name plotter and fader + Techno soundtrack
The Code:
After ACCESS DENIED, what do you expect? Yes, very nice indeed. The vector objects (2 of them, a star and a big spaceship) were, like in ACCESS DENIED very big and very fast. The use of the 4by4 pixel res. is used quite a bit in this demo (See the first MAD ON... and this months also!) all the features which are * use 4by4 res. Nice new effects though, nice 'water' type effects (the waterfall reveals a Reflex logo that changes th colours (nice effect)). The spinning full screen REFLEX logo also very cool (similar to the one in WOCIII/Byterapers), and the plasma is (although blocky) very colourful and smooth. The 5 Shade Gouraud Cube is cool, using 'hatched' shading as 2 of the colours. The last bit of code is a large character writer (the hellos) which fade off very slowly (pixels) in interlaced mode... nice!!!
The Graphics:
Apart from one (nice) AFLI logo, and a okay bitmap title pic, there are no graphics as such. Pity really, Byterapers are in the same situation (great code, love using 4by4 res, and no great artists... ).
The Music:
PCVF has out-done himself! I'm not a great techno- rave lover, but this soundtrack REALLY fitted the demo well (that is VERY hard to achieve!!!). Top marks for a musician that should really climb those charts!
Overall:
As with ACCESS DENIED, great code and great music, just a lack of great graphics. Despite that minor fact, this demo is GREAT, and deserved to win. Keep it up boys!
CONTRAFLOW/COSINE:
Coders responible: The Magic Roundabout
Artists responisble: The Magic Roundabout
Musicians responsible: The Magic Roundabout Odie Chris Lightfoot/Xentrix
The demo features:
+ Barrel upscroller (in sideborder) + DYCP over pic + 'Flame' rasters under a teching Bitmap logo. + Chessboard Zoomer + End part
The Code:
The coding is quite average. The barrel upscroll and 'flame' raster parts are okay, but nothing new.
The Graphics:
Some nice logos and bitmap pictures by TMR (the robot foetus in the intro in particular!).
The Musics:
Nice tunes by Chris/Xentrix (are you still there???) and Odie. TMR's tunes are okay, they sound very old- style (like in a very old player).
Overall:
ANYONE who has parts that last for ages and does not allow space should be drowned. Why oh why oh why!!! Thank heavens for the file selector, but would it have been any problem to be able to press space? No... The first few times I watched the demo, I only bothered with the first few parts, because I was so frustrated with it... Trackmos I can handle, the parts are only on briefly, not agonising minutes!!! Overall, average code, gfx and music, severely let down by lack of consideration.
WOIIFTD/F4CG
Yes it is true, F4CG have entered the demo scene! Or have they?
Coders responsible: Devil/Noice
Artists responsible: Draz/Noice Scope
Musicians responsible: Decoder/Noice
The Demo features:
+ Flipping logo + Glenzed vector chessboard over logo + Stars + Severe dig at Fairlight...?
The Code:
Nice intro, weird stars and not much else really.
The Graphics:
Nice logo in intro, cartoon style gfx (in the FLT part) and finally an average IFLI picture by the late Scope.
The Music:
Okay main tune and nice end tune by Decoder.
Overall:
Trackmo styled, faded in/out. The FLT 'attack' is strange though, I thought the scene was passed all that now. The other point the demo was making was a farewell to Scope/F4CG who died last month, which is kind of inappopriate to have the two messages in one demo...
PARTS/OXYRON
Coders responsible: Graham
Artists responsible: RRR Graham Kirk/?
Musicians responsible: Rob Hubbard Jeff/Camelot JCH/Vibrants
The demo features:
+ Spinning Vectorcity (with up and down!) + Spherical projection + Picture distorter + End (Fuzzy wuzzy)
ALL effects are REALTIME!!!
The Code:
FUCKING HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am SERIOUSLY impressed with Graham/Oxyron. I will say it again and again, this guy is one of the finest coders this scene has ever seen!!!
The vectorcity adds a new dimension to what has gone before (up and down with perspective). The next part (spherical) feature FAST plotting of two babes (Janet Jackson is one of them, the other looks a bit like Ricki Lake!!!) on a sphere... wow! The third (and BEST) is an X Y Distorter! Two pictures (ported from Amiga) flex, zoom, ripple, wibble, wobble and get funky!!! The End part has a full-screen (in borders) disconnection. Class code...
The Graphics:
Nice intro OXYRON icon and other bits of art by RRR.
The Music:
Not original (obviously), but cool anyway. Rob's tune is one of my favourite EVER! Jeff and JCH's tunes are also cool (not sure if they fit the parts though).
Overall:
Great, great code. Above average art. Old music. I am sorry that Oxyron has lost many of it's members, as I would have liked to have heard some of PRI's melodical masterpieces, and seen some more artistry in this otherwise fine product. Why didn't this get higher in the compo??? It's better than Cosine's AND F4CG's demos...
Anyway, that wraps it up for another month. If you
are wondering why I only reviewed some of the X-95
demos, it is because the other ones I received were
corrupted... I'll review them if I get them. Also, the
CREST+OFFENCE co-demo I wanted to review SO SO SO
badly, didn't work either.
Anybody wanting to send their demos to be reviewed
DO SO! You'll get your disk back (with the latest
SKYHIGH) so what are you waiting for???
Send your demos (and other NEW releases to):
MAD Demo Reviews XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(That's my parents house, but I call a couple times a week)...
UNTIL THEN...
CIAO FOR NIAO!!! - MAD.
