Fire Ant

Fire Ant

Game No.	299
Voting	7.27 points, 15 votes
Developer	Mike Wacker
Company	Victory Software
Publisher	Mogul Communications
Release	1983
Platform	C64, Amstrad CPC, C16, Plus/4
Genre	Arcade, Collect'em Up
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

Since you have seen the light of day, you were responsible for the safety of your people. This was and is your job, yes: your destiny. And you have always done this job with all your heart. But now it has happened. An attack from an overpowering opponent!! And now you are the last soldier left from an ant army that was extinguished by an attack of a group of scorpions. Your only purpose in life is now to rescue your queen which has just been kidnapped by the scorpions' claws. You have followed the attackers to the entrance of their den and prepare now for the most difficult task of your life...

You have to overcome eight caves before you can free your queen. The shafts are supervised by patrolling scorpions that have closed down many parts of the caves. To open the passages you have to bring the correct combination of items to the correct place. This triggers a reaction that removes the blockers (to trigger a reaction you have to press the fire button in many cases). The exit of a cave is always in the lowermost part of a cave. This exit gets you to the uppermost part of the next cave.

When you have rescued your queen, you will be called to the next ant colony that was also attacked.

Design[edit | edit source]

... the first action in cave 1

some tips

An arcade platformer with puzzle intermissions. Each level is the size of one screen. The sprites are animated fluently, the graphics are kept simple. No music in the background, but fitting sound effects.

Hints[edit | edit source]

Controls

The ant follows the joystick movement
To pick up an item or place it at the right place you have to press the fire button in many cases.
F1 = abort game and back to the start
P = pause on / off

Tips

You are a hero, but also heroes can hide.
Not every creature is hostile to you, some even help you.

For detailled information about each level, see section "Solution".

Solution[edit | edit source]

... the first, still easy to remove, obstacles

Cave 1
Get the blue diamond in the middle left part of the screen and put it down at the entrance (fire button). This destroys the barrier beneath it. Get the key at the left. Go towards the exit - the barrier at the right is removed. Get the key behind the barrier and head for the exit to the lower left.

... the first preview to further tasks

Cave 2
Get the key in the top right part of the screen. Open the barrier in the middle to the blue umbrella. Touch the brown skeleton-shaped cocoon in the left chamber. A fly will hatch in the middle chamber. Now lure the fly to the brown grate-like barrier in the middle of the screen. The fly eats its way through the barrier. Get the key at the lower right, then get the blue umbrella in the middle chamber, the scorpions will get harmless for 15 seconds. Go to the exit at the bottom right.

... easier than expected

Cave 3
Get the key at the middle left, get the brown umbrella above that, (scorpions harmless for 15 seconds). Through the barrier at the right and take the ladder-like pillar (fire button). The rubble breaks down and opens the exit downwards. Go down to the next cave.

... the difficulty grade rises

Cave 4
Get the key at the bottom right. Remove the barrier at the middle left and then pick up the blue steel beam parts one after the other (5 pieces) and put them on the pink coloured grate-like mass (build a bridge). Take the grey part with the writing "PE" to the middle right of the tunnel (helps against the flickering object above the last barrier). Take the key at the bottom left and go to the next cave through the barrier in the bottom middle part of the screen.

... now it slowly gets tricky

Cave 5
Get the key in the middle right part of the screen and pass the barrier at the top left part of the screen. Move on to the blue stick, take it and bring it to the farthest point at the back in the aisle below the grate-like barrier in the middle of the screen. Get back to the top left part of the screen, pick up the brown object. Follow the corridor below the grate-like barrier in the middle of the screen to the very end and press fire button. The barrier disappears. Get the key in the middle left part of the screen, then go to the very top right corner through the barrier and pick up the object with "O2" (oxygen) written on it. Go through the passage where the barrier was, down to the three blue sticks. Pick up one after another and bring them below the grate-like barrier. Then go into the tunnel below the barrier and press the fire button, the barrier starts to flash and disappears after some time. Get the last key and leave via the exit (through the barrier at the bottom left).

... an utterly unusual solution ... and on a surf board

Cave 6
Pick up the key directly below the entrance, go to the ladder-like pillar in the middle of the screen and take it (press fire button), instantly go into the passage below or you will be buried alive (costs one life). The rubble disappears and opens the passage. Open the barrier below the long tunnel, then get the last key in the bottom right part of the screen. In the middle left part of the screen, take the grey item with "PE" written on it and the blue umbrella (scorpions will be harmless for 15 seconds). Go to the very end of the long passage where you have already opened the barrier, you are standing on a surf board with which you can glide safely over the water in the lower aisle to the exit on the right.

... now it slowly gets uncomfortable

Cave 7
Take the blue umbrella (scorpions are harmless for 15 seconds), go further to the blue objects (explosives) and bring them one after another in front of the grate-like barrier (they are displayed within the barrier). Then take the grey object below the entrance and bring it to the barrier. The explosives ignite and the barrier is gone. Get the key below the former barrier and open the barrier on the middle left, a green object will be set free that eats its way through the next barrier into the direction of the middle of the cave. Bring the three blue explosive containers to the middle of the cave one by one to the brown grate-like barrier into the right direction. After a further explosion, this barrier is gone, too. Get the key in the lower middle part of the screen, use it to open the barrier a bit further upwards to the right and there get the last key. Walk on to the last barrier on the lower left part of the screen (jolt), a small bulge has formed at the upper left of the cave. Now walk into this new bulge (it is on the left below the main aisle). The last barrier disappears.

... the last challenges

Cave 8
Pick up the green rectangle in the top right part of the screen, take the pink explosives in the third chamber and bring it to the grate-like barrier in the middle of the cave. Bring the pink object, then the green thing to the grate-like barrier in the middle part of the screen. The explosives detonate and the barrier disappears. In the tunnels walk (to the end) below the six green plants in the middle. Behind the entrance a key appears. Get this key. Take the blue umbrella (scorpions are harmless for 15 seconds) and open the barrier in the middle left part of the screen. A snail appears and eats its way through the barrier (plants) in the middle of the cave. Go to the middle right part of the screen and pick up the spanner and bring it to the blue area at the lower right. Get the key from the second chamber on the right in the middle of the cave and use it to open the barrier at the lower middle part of the screen. Get the key from the second chamber from the right in the middle of the cave and use it to open the barrier at the lower middle part of the screen. A spider-like creature appears and destroys the guard in front of the queen's cell. Get the last key in the middle right and open the queen's cell.

You have made it and set your queen free !!

... a real fire ant hero!!

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.27 points at 15 votes (rank 346). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	6	25th July 2008 - "good" - 2379 downs
Lemon64	7,1	25th July 2008 - 20 votes

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Robotron2084: "It is really only half as bad as it looks, not to say: a surprisingly well playable action adventure with inventive background from a time where Tw*x was still Ra*der... erm... 6 out of 10 points."

TheRyk: "A totally well-done collect'em up game from 1983. It's great fun to play rather riskfully by approaching the enemies very closely in order to steal their eggs for score. The riddles get trickier and more dangerous from cave to cave. Good music was not really invented back then, so you shouldn't criticise the game for its lack but rather be thankful (if you are of a different opinion, you should play some Datasoft games 24 hours and you will either be deaf or at least see/hear my point). Only the rather little amount of levels prevents me from voting this 'very good' game even more than well-deserved 7 points."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Gag: Try and enter the third chamber from the right, in the middle of the eighth cave. A nice colour effect . . .
If the invincibility cheat in the Commo Bam version (CMM) is switched on, the end sequence is NOT shown after freeing the queen, as this is triggered when touching the queen by the sprite-sprite-collision and exactly this is switched off. So the eighth cave cannot be solved.

Cover