Rom Hunter

It almost looks like an early programmer's sketch. I don't know. This is the only scan I found. It's from a ZiMAG catalogue or press kit. You can clearly see the ZiMAG rainbow colours. I agree. BTW, Tempest: I posted a TechnoVision press kit with an announcement of Locomotive in it: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=67442

I think the gray-orange "jar" is a pan with dough or sauce.

Here's TechnoVision's Locomotive (TVS 1004). The Story: You're a prisoner in a sorcerer's train factory. The only way out is to build your own train. Put all the right parts together in the right order. But watch out! Even the tools try to stop you. They come to live and attack. Hammers, wrenches and nails fly at you at every angle and you have only an oil ... to ... them the .... In LOCOMOTIVE!

This is what I found:

I think you're right, Marco. There is no real proof that links Ariola to the TP-xxx (Video Game Cartridge) line of games. This is what Gamereset states: "Boxen (Activision's Boxing) was found in Activision-packing. So we suppose them to be distributed by Ariola." But Boxen is from the PGPxxx serie (Videospielkassette), so there's probably no link. Personally I don't think Quelle released Criminal Persuit in a short case. I think they only released "Eddy Langfinger, der Museumsdieb".

Z26 with X26 front end.

Eh... Thanks. Tempest, I played A Mysterious Thief for a while and after picking up enough treasures a helicopter appeared! I jumped onto it and I got points for time left. The second level starts with a five minute time limit again. You can choose to play with another person by pressing F2. BTW: I noticed that the (score and timer) font used in Immies & Aggies, Spinning Fireball and A Mysterious Thief are exactly the same, which suggests that Emag, Zimag and Vidco are indeed one and the same company.

Great review, Tempest. I'm looking forward to read the Spinning Fireball review. Some extra info: A Mysterious Thief (Zimag - Emag) was also released as: A Misterious Thief by CCE (C-839) Criminal Pursuit by Video Game Cartridge - Ariola (TP-619) Criminal Persuit by Rainbow Vision - Suntek (PAL) (SS-36) Eddy Langfinger, der Museumsdieb by Quelle (PAL) (732.052 6) Quelle could have released it as Criminal Persuit (as a short case), but that's not sure.

Yes, I thought of that too. But if Locomotive really has serial number TVS 1004 (being the fourth title), it could well be possible that it is another game.

Totally understandable.

Who knows? About Locomotive (TVS 1004) DP states: "According to Leonard Herman, this game was shown at the 1983 Summer CES show, along with their other 3 titles (which did get released)."

Sorry DP, my fault. TVS 1014 is Stone Age. TVS 1004 is Locomotive.

Well, Thomas did some investigations: "After some further investigations of the code, I think Stone Age may be a Technovision game. All three of their games share some code patterns with this one. Most obvious when looking at the graphics only are the score digits. But I am not 100% sure, especially because the dump produces only 246 scanlines, which is even below the 262 NTSC scanlines and far away from PAL's 312 scanlines. And AFAIK all Technovision games are PAL (though some NTSC versions have been found lately). Maybe it's a prototype that leaked out." That's why I thought it could be the TechnoVision proto.

Tempest, Are you also going to review Stone Age from CCE? It's most probably a TechnoVision Proto (TVS 1014 according to DP, although TVS 1004 seems far more likely). BTW: Why the hell is nobody dumping Stone Age? Is it that difficult to do?

Exactly...

The orange "arrow" looks like a mushroom. The green "bar" looks like salad. The dark brown "-===-" looks like a dough-roller (is that the correct word?), although that doesn't make much sense. The gray-orange jar looks like a... gray-orange jar.

I don't think you are missing something, Tempest. I'm afraid that's all.

That's 100% correct, Thomas. What about walking to the right oven when you've cleared all the pots? Is this a random thing?

Correction: Level 1 (low) - Level 4 (high) Level 5 (low) - Level 10 (high) Level 11 (low) - Level 13 (high) Level 14 (low) Maybe Thomas can point out the exact differences by looking inside the game.

BTW, Tempest: I have a PAL Immies & Aggies ROM that doesn't shake when the square-pattern changes.

About Immies & Aggies: There's a noticable difference between each of the fourteen difficulty levels: The changing speed of colour and square-pattern. The speed and number of rolling marbles. The speed of screen-shaking... Level 1 (low) - Level 4 (high) Level 5 (low) - level 10 (high) Level 11 (low) - level 14 (high)

About Pizza Chef: To finish the game you have to stand near the right purple rectangle when you have cleared all the pots, otherwise the last pot re-appears in the color of the last used ingredient. Strange...

Tempest, I noticed something about Spinning Fireball. It actually has THREE different screens. If you take a closer look at screen 2 and screen 4, you'll see that the "mountains" in the background are slightly different. So all uneven screens look the same, screen 6 looks the same as screen 2, screen 8 looks the same as screen 4, etc.

The yellow one looks like a piece of pie (a small triangle). The gray one looks like a little jar with an orange lid. If you select a higher level, there a more coloured "pots". BTW: I think this game is finished and I think you're right about the water/ice graphics.

Tempest, I reached the end of level one! The color of the ingredients match with the color of the "pots". Level one: Take the cup, put the yellow ingredient in it and let a yellow pot dissolve. Do this four times. Put a gray ingredient in the cup and let a gray pot dissolve. Do this four times. Walk to the purple rectangles on the right side of the screen, press fire and voila!