By Cullen O’Day — originally published in December 1986 (Vol. 4, No. 12)
This delightful and colorful arcade-style game for the Commodore 64 challenges your character, a defenseless (but nimble) baby bluebird, to survive among a crew of nasty, hungry enemies. A joystick is required.
Other birds say you’re paranoid, but you’re not—everyone really is out to get you. You often ask yourself how long a defenseless baby bluebird can hope to survive when a host of voracious predators are looking for a meal. If only you could leave this place to find a new home. But alas—you’re too young to fly. The best you can manage is a flapping long jump. But you’d better be careful not to jump too far: You could fall a long way down.
Typing It In
Since “Q-Bird” is written entirely in machine language, you’ll need to type it in with “MLX,” the machine language entry program found elsewhere in this issue. When you run MLX, you’ll be prompted for a starting address and an ending address for the data you’ll be entering. For Q-Bird, use the following addresses:
Starting address: 0801
Ending address: 19A8
Be sure to save a copy to disk or tape when you’ve finished typing. Although Q-Bird is written in machine language, it can be loaded and run like a BASIC program. To play, type LOAD “filename”,8 (for disk) or LOAD “filename”,1 (for tape). When it’s finished loading, type RUN to start the game.
Q-Bird is played on a 6 X 7 grid. There are 15 levels of play from which to choose. As you play, you advance level by level by completing grids. A grid is complete when the color of each square matches the goal color shown at the bottom of the screen. To change the color of a square, simply hop on it. You have to jump on each square once in level 1, twice in level 2, and so on up to level 15. A bonus life is awarded each time you complete a level. If you reach level 15, you should feel satisfied. It doesn’t get any harder than this. But don’t relax; it doesn’t get any easier either.
You start with five lives. Choose your starting level by pushing forward on the joystick (which must be plugged into port 2). If you pass the level you want to play, pull back on the stick to reverse the level counter. Press the fire button to begin play. To hop, simply move the joystick in the direction you want to go. For a super jump, push the fire button as you hop: You’ll leap over a square and land on the next. If you time it right, you can leap right over your enemies. But be careful not to jump over the side of the grid. That costs one life.
Press SHIFT-LOCK to pause the game. To restart a game, press RUN/STOP-RESTORE.
Leapin’ Lizards
Three purple lizards live on the grid. They randomly leap off of their tails from square to square, landing on any bluebirds careless enough to get in their way. But they’re the least of your worries. There’s a king cobra that relentlessly chases you. He’s got a hole in his stomach just the size of a baby bluebird. If he doesn’t get you, then perhaps the low-flying and hungry hawk will. And while you’re looking out for all of these villains, try to dodge the runaway balls that roll down the grid. Any one of them could turn you into a bluebird pancake in a moment.
Fortunately, you do have an ally. Occasionally, a flashing egg appears on a random square. If you hop on it, you momentarily stun all the grid inhabitants. You can now go anywhere you please without harm. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last long. When the safe time is nearly through, your character, the bluebird, begins flashing. All action returns to normal after the third flash, so be ready for the frenzy to continue.
See program listing on page 132.