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X-It

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X-It
Developer(s)Data Design Interactive
Publisher(s)Psygnosis
Producer(s)Greg Duddle
Designer(s)Richard Hackett
Stephen Bond
Artist(s)Dale Johnstone
Marcus Stringer
Composer(s)Darren Wood
Platform(s)Amiga, MS-DOS
Release
  • EU: November 1994 (Amiga)
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

X-It (also known as Zonked) is a 1994 puzzle video game developed by Data Design Interactive (DDI) and published by Psygnosis for the Amiga and MS-DOS. The Amiga version was also distributed in Australia by Hot Point. The game stars a character named Bill, who was kidnapped by aliens and placed him on a space junkyard maze to learn about the humans, before launching an invasion against people on Earth. The player controls Bill across 120 levels, each one divided into eight ships that feature their own variety of obstacles. The goal on every level is to get each block into hole fillers to make a path around the exit, without getting blocks stuck against walls or other obstacles under a time limit.

DDI had previously worked for publisher Millennium Interactive on Pinkie prior to X-It. It was designed and programmed by a team within DDI called Flatline; Richard Hackett and Stephen Bond came up with the game's concept and acted as co-designers. The soundtrack was composed by Darren Wood. The game garnered average reception from critics. In 2006, a fan remake for Microsoft Windows titled X-It Again was released as freeware by Finnish group Puzzlehouse.

Gameplay

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Gameplay screenshot

X-It is a puzzle game that is played from a top-down perspective similar to Sokoban and Anarchy (1987).[1][2][3][4] The premise revolves around a character named Bill, who was kidnapped by aliens and took him aboard their ship. The aliens placed Bill on a space junkyard maze to learn about the humans, before launching an invasion against people on Earth.[5] The player controls Bill across 120 levels, each one divided into eight ships that feature their own variety of obstacles.[3][4][5] The goal on every level is to get each block into hole fillers to make a path around the exit, without getting blocks stuck against walls or other obstacles under a time limit. Each block has their own weight and characteristics.[1][2][3][5]

There are multiple types of obstacles such as fixed pilars, immovable blocks, and ice that prevents blocks from stopping until they go past it.[1][3][5] There are items scattered on the playfield to help the player with moving blocks, like tractor beams and teleporters.[3][5] When a level is successfully completed, a password is shown onscreen. The player can replay a stage by entering the password at the corresponding screen.[1][5] Later levels increases their number of obstacles and overall complexity.[1] Between leves, the player participates in a bonus stage.[5] The player starts with three lives, but falling through holes or the timer runs out results in a life lost. The player can skip a level, but will also result in a life lost.[5] The player has five continues to keep playing, but the game is over if all of them are used.[1]

Development and release

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X-It was created by Data Design Interactive (DDI), a British game developer which had previously worked for publisher Millennium Interactive on Pinkie.[6][7] The game was produced by Greg Duddle.[5] It was designed and programmed by a team within DDI called Flatline;[3] Richard Hackett and Stephen Bond came up with the game's concept and acted as co-designers.[1][5] David Hackett, Marcus Stringer, and Richard Hackett also provided additional level design.[5] Marcus Stringer was responsible for the graphic design, while Dale Johnstone was in charge of the rendered sequences.[5] The soundtrack was composed by Darren Wood.[5] Several staff members collaborated in the game's development process as well.[5] The game was first published in Europe by Psygnosis for the Amiga in November 1994 (although December is also listed as release date).[4][8] An MS-DOS version was also released by Psygnosis that year.[7][9] The game was known as Zonked in early previews, and major gaming publications reviewed it as Zonked.[3][10][11][12][13] The Amiga version was also distributed in Australia by Hot Point.[14] In 2006, a fan remake for Microsoft Windows titled X-It Again was released as freeware by Jay Parker of Finnish group Puzzlehouse.[15][16]

Reception

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X-It garnered average reception from critics. Writing for PC Joker and Amiga Joker, Joachim Nettelbeck reviewed both the MS-DOS and Amiga versions. Nettelbeck labelled it as a good variant of Sokoban, commending its audio and controls. He found the visuals stylish but unimpressive.[9][10] The One Amiga's Andy Nuttall found its difficulty more balanced compared to Clockwiser. Nuttall also highlighted the game's variety, playability, and quality of the music.[11] Amiga Games' Roland Gerhardt gave positive remarks to the game's audiovisual presentation, gameplay, short loading times, use of passwords, and gags.[12] Play Time's Stephan Girlich felt that its length and above-average graphics gave the gameplay a modern touch.[13]

Amiga Dream's Grégory Halliday deemed X-It as a high-quality puzzle game for experience players and noted the difficulty level of certain puzzles, but nevertheless felt its visuals were simplistic.[19] Datormagazin's Erika Hagberg considered its visuals okay, and found the game occasionally fun to play but mediocre.[22] Amiga Action's Paul Roundell and Andy Sharp regarded the game to be a fun and enjoyable puzzle game, but Roundell expressed that its graphics does not "sell" the Amiga's capabilities.[17] Amiga Format's Stephen Bradley called it a simple but well-executed game, citing its solid gameplay and the ability to move into different areas.[18] Amiga Power's Mark Winstanley found the game more "feature-packederer" compared to Sokoban and noted its difficulty, but he disapproved the visuals, music, strict time limit, lack of additional replay value, and similarity with other puzzle titles.[1]

Australian Commodore & Amiga Review felt X-It added "a lot" to the "boxes and holes" game concept. They commended the game's visuals and animations, but saw the bonus stages unexciting and the sound unmemorable.[14] Amiga Computing's Tina Hackett expressed mixed opinions towards the graphics and audio but ultimately considered it an entertaining title regardless, citing its addctive playability and satisfying progression level.[6] CU Amiga's Michael Traquir felt the game's overall difficulty offered no "real learning curve".[21] Amiga Magazine's Lawrence van Rijn deemed the game easy to play, stating that it could compete with puzzle games like Boulder Dash (1984) and Bombuzal.[20] Ferios of Polish publication Top Secret gave it a favorable outlook.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Winstanley, Mark (March 1995). "Game Reviews: X-It — There is no easy way out". Amiga Power. No. 47. Future Publishing. p. 45. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  2. ^ a b "Avant première – Zonked". Amiga Dream [fr] (in French). No. 10. Posse Press [fr]. September 1994. p. 33.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "First Impressions: Zonked". CU Amiga. No. 56. EMAP. October 1994. p. 52.
  4. ^ a b c Byron, Simon (October 1994). "Bubbling Under - Zonked!". The One Amiga. No. 72. EMAP. p. 96.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n X-It (PDF) (The Manual) (European ed.). Psygnosis. 1994.
  6. ^ a b c Hackett, Tina (April 1995). "System Spotlight: X-It". Amiga Computing. No. 85. Europress, IDG Media. pp. 104–105.
  7. ^ a b "History". Data Design Interactive. 2005. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  8. ^ "Preview – Zonked". Amiga Concept (in French). No. 10. Delta Publishing Group. December 1994. p. 25.
  9. ^ a b Nettelbeck, Joachim (October 1994). "Brainstorm — Games Für Tüftler, Denher & Strategen: Zonked". PC Joker (in German). No. 25. Joker-Verlag. p. 68. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  10. ^ a b c Nettelbeck, Joachim (November 1994). "Zonked – Die High-Tech-Kisten". Amiga Joker [de] (in German). No. 51. Joker-Verlag. p. 94.
  11. ^ a b c Nuttall, Andy (November 1994). "Review - Zonked!". The One Amiga. No. 73. EMAP. pp. 54–55.
  12. ^ a b c Gerhardt, Roland (December 1994). "Sokoban-Remake: Zonked". Amiga Games (in German). No. 27. Computec. pp. 36–37. Archived from the original on 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  13. ^ a b c Girlich, Stephan (December 1994). "Amiga Review: Zonked". Play Time [de] (in German). No. 42. Computec. p. 97. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  14. ^ a b c Powell, Gareth (March 1995). "Entertainment - Game Reviews: X-It". Australian Commodore & Amiga Review. Vol. 12, no. 3. Storm Front Studios. p. 83.
  15. ^ Andrew (July 28, 2006). "Recenze: X- it again (Windows)". Freegame.cz (in Czech). Infosfera s.r.o. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  16. ^ "X-It...Again!". Puzzlehouse. Puzzlehouse Finland. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  17. ^ a b Roundell, Paul; Sharp, Andy (March 1995). "Action Review - Puzzle: X-It". Amiga Action. No. 68. Europress, IDG Media. p. 22.
  18. ^ a b Bradley, Stephen (March 1995). "Game Review: X-It". Amiga Format. No. 69. Future Publishing. p. 59. Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  19. ^ a b Halliday, Grégory (January 1995). "Jeux tests – X-It". Amiga Dream [fr] (in French). No. 14. Posse Press [fr]. p. 50.
  20. ^ a b van Rijn, Lawrence (May–June 1995). "Uitgang vrijhouden alstublieft! – X-It". Amiga Magazine (in Dutch). No. 33. Divo. pp. 68–69.
  21. ^ a b Traquir, Michael (April 1995). "Game Review: X-It". CU Amiga. No. 62. EMAP. p. 66.
  22. ^ a b Hagberg, Erika (February–March 1995). "Recensioner: X-It – Fyrkantigt IQ-test". Datormagazin [sv] (in Swedish). No. 160. Hjemmet Mortensen AB, Egmont Publishing. p. 37.
  23. ^ a b Ferios (July 1995). "X-It (Amiga)". Top Secret (in Polish). No. 40. Bajtek Publishing House. p. 35.
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