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- W H E N W A S T H A T ?
- Program by Penny DeGroff
- Text by Jeff Jones
-
-
- Okay, so your folks have always
- claimed that they knew history
- better'n you, and they beat you at
- Trivial Pursuit and Name That
- Dictator to prove it.
-
- WHEN WAS THAT to the rescue. All
- you have to do is get a really good
- time into the top ten high score list
- and every time your relatives come
- by, they score less than you do. Or
- better yet! They don't even make it
- to the top ten!
-
- WHEN WAS THAT is a fast and
- furious history game that presents
- notable events at the top of the
- screen. The playing area is a four
- by eight grid occupied by four little
- nasties that I'll explain later. At
- the bottom of the screen is a string
- of eight seemingly random numbers.
- Four of those numbers are part of the
- actual date of the event. It's your
- job to pick up the proper numbers, in
- their order of appearance, and move
- them to the top of the screen where
- you build the date.
-
- In this game you're lower than a
- mime -- you're the cyan smiley face
- in the upper left hand corner. Just
- thank God that you're not yellow!
- You move by using LEFT, RIGHT, UP and
- DOWN on the JOYSTICK and/or CURSOR
- KEYS.
-
- You pick up a number by parking
- right above it and pressing FIRE or
- RETURN if you're using the keyboard.
- While you're holding the number, the
- border will stay blue. But there's
- danger! If any of the four little
- nasties roaming the grid touch you,
- you lose your number and must go back
- and pick it up again. Be ready to
- dodge.
-
- The nasties present a double
- whammy because they not only steal
- your number, but sort of hold you
- captive until they move on.
-
- You want to take the number that
- you pick up to the top row of four
- empty slots at the top. Numbers are
- deposited there by parking below the
- appropriate slot and pressing FIRE or
- RETURN. You must place these numbers
- in their order of appearance. For
- instance, if the year is 1923, you
- can't place the 3 first, even if you
- place 3 in the right place. You must
- first go for the 1, then the 9, then
- the 2, and finally, the 3.
-
- There's a timer ticking away,
- counting the seconds till you get ten
- dates right. Once you place ten
- dates, the game is over. You can
- quit at any time by pressing "Q".
-
- If you complete a game, and your
- time is one of the ten best, you'll
- make it to the Hall of Fame, where
- hopefully your name resides at least
- nine times with your arch-rival's
- name riding near the bottom. There's
- no point in merely beating yourself --
- you've got to beat FAMILY!
-
- To make the game a little more
- responsive and harder to play, I've
- compiled it.
-
- A learning tool? Yes! I certainly
- have learned a few dozen new dates
- since WHEN WAS THAT came my way.
-
- JLJ
-
-