Fire and Ice is a computer game created by Graftgold

Graftgold

Graftgold was an independent computer game developer that came to prominence in the 1980s, producing numerous computer games on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.-The Hewson era:...

 for the Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

, released in 1992 by Renegade

Renegade Software

Renegade Software was a UK based games publisher, founded in 1991 by the Bitmap Brothers.Initially the Bitmap Brothers used the new label to publish their own games, after they had become dissatisfied with the practices of publishing companies . Their stated goal was to give game developers more...

. An enhanced CD32

Amiga CD32

The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...

 version was released in 1994.

Overview

The player controls Cool Coyote in a game with advanced, colourful graphics with some novel gameplay features. Perhaps two of the most memorable features of the game are the ever-present representation of the gameworld at the bottom of the screen which features some accomplished shimmering water effects and the 'sunset' style background colour effects that were also memorably used in the Amiga game Zool

Zool

Zool is a video game originally produced for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics in 1992.Zool was intended as a rival to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. It was heavily hyped upon its initial release, including being bundled with the newly launched Amiga 1200, although not the AGA version with enhanced...

. The CD32 version was graphically enhanced to include detailed background scenery, 256 on-screen colors and several layers of parallax scrolling

Parallax scrolling

Parallax scrolling is a special scrolling technique in computer graphics, popularized in the 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol. In this pseudo-3D technique, background images move by the camera slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D video game and adding to the immersion...

.

Gameplay

The goal of each level is to find the exit door and unlock it. To do so, a key is required, which consists of several pieces. Monsters will drop pieces of the key when killed, which requires the player to find and kill the monsters in the level. Attacking a monster works by shooting projectiles at it - this causes no damage though, but only will freeze it for a short time after having received enough hits. The player then has to touch the frozen monster while it is frozen to kill it.

Reception

Critics regarded the game as an exceptionally well done platformer. For example, it was "game of the month" in the August 1992 issue of Amiga Mania magazine with a rating of 92%, received an "Amiga Action Super League Accolade" in the June 1992 issue of Amiga Action magazine with a rating of 91% and was awarded a "CU Screen Star" in the May 1992 issue of CU Amiga magazine with a rating of 90%.

Sources/Links

• Entry for Fire and Ice on http://hol.abime.net
• Entry for CD32 version of Fire and Ice on http://hol.abime.net
• Entry for Amiga 500 version of Fire and Ice on http://www.retrogaming.8k.com