Power Flux
Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1996
Levels: 2
Author: Adam Tyner
Related games: Mister Spiff I, Mister Spiff II, Mister Spiff III, Mister Spiff IV, CGA Hell
Not to be mistaken for Alan Caudel's Power Fights A.C. or Power Budd!.
Back in the late '80s, early '90s, game developers weren't sure what to do about handheld consoles. Clearly they were popular, so it made sense to take advantage of that market -- but the hardware was simpler, less prestigious even than home console hardware (never mind arcade games). So, when a familiar franchise hit the Game Boy or the Game Gear, it always was a bit... off. Why was The Castlevania Adventure so slow, and full of ropes? Why was The G.G. Shinobi structured like Mega Man? Why did Ninja Gaiden Shadow feel more like Shadow of the Ninja?
That's not to say that there was anything wrong with the portable games. Often they carved out their own interesting niches. It's more that they tended to be set aside from the main franchise, both in storyline and in design.
Power Flux feels very much like a spin-off portable installment in the Mister Spiff series. It's a side-scrolling platformer whose protagonist looks exactly like Mister Spiff (albeit drawn a little smaller), who controls very much like Mister Spiff, and who travels a world that bears a striking resemblance to Mister Spiff's. Even the enemies -- the Mr. Potato Head creatures -- seem related to a plot element in Mister Spiff III.
There are a few differences. At the same time as Mister Spiff was growing more abstract, Power Flux is set in a more representational world, reminiscent of the earlier Spiff games. Since our Spiffalike hero "Dukes F. Hazard" takes up just one character block instead of two, he can fit into smaller places and there is more room for detailed setpieces.
That latter detail is relevant, as Power Flux uses just the one map, but manages to deliver a huge, labyrinthine level, with a certain amount of spatial logic and flow.
Logic and flow are key words here, as Power Flux feels very much like Mister Spiff with the benefit of hindsight. Hazard moves similarly to Spiff, but with more precision and consistency. The level is full of the same sorts of physical challenges as the Spiff games (largely based around gravity and locks and keys), but embeds them within a narrative context. There are well-signaled enemy generators and signs warning of reverse gravity zones, and so forth, that make the game's mechanics feel less arbitrary than they might have.
Though Power Flux is abbreviated, it feels both like a side-story to the actual trajectory of Mister Spiff and like the most evolved form of its design.
Contents
Story
Giant cannons hurl huge bullets at you that speed by you as you fire your trusty photon pistol. A strange monstrosity spits green mucus at you as you quickly aim at its mouth. You are Dukes F. Hazard, a mercenary hired by Philips' Gas & Power to investigate a power flux in California. Behind this scheme is the sinister group B.O.S.S.H.O.G.G., who wants to obtain all of the country's power.
You start off in the quiet city of Puwahomp, where B.O.S.S.H.O.G.G. has hired the I.P.A. (the Irish Potato Army) to exterminate you. Get going; the future of Philips' Gas & Power is in your hands!
Instructions
Use the numeric keypad to move up, left, right, up-left, and up-right.
To turn invisible, press I.
To run left, press J.
To run right, press K.
Hit ENTER to fire.
Joystick
Move the stick in whatever direction you want to go. To turn invisible, press both buttons. To run, press that direction and both buttons.
The Goal
Shoot all the presents you can see. If you see a heart, touch it and get extra hit points. If you see a weird purple card, get it. You need to get the key cards to open doors. Shoot all the enemies you can, but don't shoot cards or hearts or they'll disappear.
Credits
POWER FLUX Programmed by Adam Tyner
Availability
This game is not known to have been distributed in any form, prior to its addition to the Archive.
Archive History
After an earlier wave of rediscoveries, on July 13 2011 Alan Caudel provided another archive of previously missing Game-Maker material, including the following:
Links
Downloads
- Power Flux (100 kB)
