Exterminator

Exterminator

Game No.	306
Voting	6.50 points, 18 votes
Developer	Douglas Hare, Gary Liddon Grafik: Paul Docherty (Dokk), Herman Serrano, Blue Turtle Producer: Gray Sheinwald
Company	Premier Technology
Publisher	Audiogenic Software Ltd.
Musician	David Whittaker, John Dale
HVSC-File	MUSICIANS/ W/ Whittaker_David/ Exterminator.sid
Release	1990
Platform	C64, Amiga, Arcade, Spectrum ZX, Atari ST, IBM-PC, Amstrad CPC
Genre	Arcade, Miscellaneous
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (in turns)
Operation
Media	,
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

You play the role of a pest control worker. You job is to clean all houses of bugs and similar vermin. The game starts with an intro tune by David Whittaker (known by 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show’, ‘Speedball’, ‘Back to the Future II’). Now you have to choose between one or two players – then you start in a housing complex. The Exterminator’s car stops in front of the first house. After entering the building, you will be shown a floorplan for the house. There one of the rooms will flash (kitchen, bedroom, attic, garage etc.).

Now you take over the right hand of the pest control worker. The room is shown in a 3D view. Flies, moths and wasps buzz through the room, spiders creep on the ground, cans and even toy bins and mini tanks roll into the player’s direction and shoot at him.

The hand can be moved onto eight directions. When an insect is within your reach, you can catch it by pressing the fire button. But beware of the wasps - if the player tries to catch one of them, they will sting hin and he loses a bit from the "Juice" - the player's life energy! If the life energy is completely used up, you will lose one of your lives. By grabing a "Juice" can, you will get extra energy…

When you move the joystick in a circle, the hand starts to jolt – with this gesture you can dispel wasps. There are two other methods: when the hand is not too close to the floor the player can hammer on the floor. You make this movement by pressing the fire button and at the same time pulling the joystick backwards. With this technique you can squash spiders, cans and even toy bins or mini tanks! When the player has moved the hand onto the right side of the screen, the Exterminator can fire energy missiles. If you now keep the fire button constantly pressed, you can aim by moving the joystick. Now you have the possibility to hit enemies that are in the backmost section of the room …

To finish a room you should take care of the ground – each time you have killed an enemy the colour of the tiles changes (player one = blue, play two = red). As soon as the player has completely changed the six vertical columns into his colour, the room is cleaned from the vermin and the next room follows. When you have finally tidied up the full building, the Exterminator drives to the next house and the process starts anew …

The difficulty grade is very high. Especially in the higher levels the player needs to have good reflexes. When the first player has finished a room, player 2 takes over – now he has to finish also the same room.

Design[edit | edit source]

... all vermin run for cover ... the Exterminator is coming ...

... pest control the hard way ...

Hints[edit | edit source]

Operation:

= move hand into all directions.
= close hand and catch vermin.
= dispel wasp.
+ = hammer fist on the ground.
+ (at the right screen border) = shoot.

Other info:

Each house represents a level and consists of 5 rooms.
There are altogether 7 houses to be cleaned from vermin, then as an eighth level you get the "Ultimate Challenge" with 500.000 bonus points.
Grab the "Juice" can (flying grey spray can) as fast as possible, as else it will shoot at you.

Bug!!

After level 7 an intermediate screen appears with the message "YOU SAVED THE NEIGHBOURHOOD...." To leave it and proceed to level 8 the fire button must be pressed very often (partially up to a few hundred times). This bug can be apparently found in all versions.

Solution[edit | edit source]

... level 8 and the end screen.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Shoot at the fridge door in the kitchen. When it opens for a short time this creates a levelskip (according to Zzap64, not tested).
POKE 35070,173 – unlimited credits (not tested).
The version by "NEI" has the following cheat modes: unlimited energy, unlimited credits, no wasps.
The version by "Hitmen" has the following cheat modes: unlimited energy, selectable start level.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
6.50 points at 18 votes (rank 638). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
64er	7	Issue 8/91
C64Games	6	2nd January 2010 - "good" - 1976 downs
Lemon64	6,4	2nd January 2010 - 17 votes
Kultboy.com	8.00	2nd January 2010 - 1 vote
ZZap64	69 %	Issue 91/04

Reviews[edit | edit source]

H.T.W: "Except for the missing 2-players-against-each-other option this is a very good conversion of the arcade machine with the same name. The 3D design of the rooms is successful and relatively diversifed and the controls of the hand are easily learned. However, the gameplay gets a bit monotonuous after some time, despite the bonus levels and different room graphics."