Advance of the Mega Camels

The Good
Advance of the Megacamels, or AMC for short (which happens to be the same abbreviation used in Gridrunner 2) is an action game which is a refreshing change from Jeff Minter’s other fast-paced, shoot-em-ups that often stretch the capabilities of the VIC-20. In my opinion, AMC is the first of his games not to be released on the machine. Minter must have been a fan of The Empire Strikes Back for the Atari 2600, given that both games share similar gameplay mechanics.

Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that AMC is actually a porn game. After all, the illustration on the front cover shows a camel that looks as if it just had an orgasm. To add more to the “porn” factor, the object of the game is to maneuver your jet through a mountainous terrain, destroying six huge camels who are making their way to the other side of the landscape, but the way you do it is questionable. Six of them walk, and you destroy these camels by shooting its rear up close. Keep an eye on the radar at the top of the screen to find out there whereabouts; allowing them to complete their journey results in instant death.

If you think that this will be simple, think again. The camels take quite a pounding to kill as they are protected by a force field, and it takes quite a pounding to destroy them. The camels will also unleash two types of bombs, in which the second one is fatal upon contact. Some strategy is required to out-maneuver these. Once you have destroyed all six camels, you enter hyperspace where you need to avoid the approaching rockets on the way to another landscape where six more camels await you. You have five lives, so you have plenty of jets to take down camels with.

AMC is right up there with Minter’s other games when it comes to addictiveness. You will be trying to work up a strategy in trying to destroy the camels without getting nuked, and how to get as close as you can without zooming to the other side of the screen. Also, like other games released at the time, AMC can be used to “score attack” where you keep trying to beat your previous scores time and again. The game may lack a high score chart of some sort, but that doesn’t stop you from writing them down.

The landscape is drawn nicely, and it resembles the one in Defender, not just a bunch of trees and bushes thrown in. The camels have quite good animations; they change into a multitude of colors; and if you are pretty observant, you might take note of the sequence of colors so that you know how much health they have left. The AMC logo on the title screen is well designed. There is no background music during the game, but this was the norm back then. The sound of the camels marching to the other side of the screen provide atmosphere to the game.

Options on the title screen allow you to select the number of players, the starting sector (there are 31 in total), and whether collision with a camel means death.

The Bad
If there is anything bad about this game, it is that your configuration options aren’t saved after you lose a game.

The Bottom Line
A shift away from Jeff Minter's usual shoot-em-ups, AMC is a very good game where you are not shooting enemy spacecraft, but six huge camels that defend themselves by firing projectiles at you. The game is quite addictive, and both the graphics and sound are great. Excellent for camel freaks and arcade enthusiasts alike.