Anoter Graftgold release – another title to add to the C+VG List Of All-Time Classics. Simulcra combines Battle Zone with Tron to produce a tremendous 3D shoot 'em up, the like and standard of which I’ve not seen in years. The graphics are absolutely superb – glittering explosions, swooping bombers, menacing helicopters, sinister-looking tanks, and even the occasional Tron-ship […] Even when the screen is packed with polygons, the game still zips along […] The pace of the game makes playing it a totally dextral experience, and all your joystick skills will be called upon when you blunder onto a platform surrounded by six laser towers which promptly train their sights on you and begin blasting your shields off. The pickups and the flight mode build the basic blasting into something really special, and Simulcra is undoubtedly a game that will keep any ST owner awake way after bed time.
With such a derivative plot and apparently tired game design, I wasn’t looking forward to Simulcra. But slap my wrists and eat my words, Graftgold’s latest 16-bit creation is one of the most immediately playable future combat games ever. The SRV is a speedy and highly manoeuvrable craft […] In flight, there’s a sense of organised chaos in steering, a bit worrying but all part of the fun of the craft. It moves in smooth, fast 3-D […] Although gameplay’s basically shoot-'em-up, there’s plenty of exploration involved […] and the search for those elusive projectors and the best places to go for a quick flight mean brain power’s needed, too.
The move to a new generation of hardware always bears risks. Graftgold had scored major hits on the Spectrum and the C64. Even by the late 1980s, they were still clearly reluctant to leave those platforms behind. The company’s first foray into the Atari ST/Amiga world therefore had to be the initiative not of the founders, but of a more adventurous employee: Dominic Robinson.
At Simulcra’s core, like honestly for many previous Graftgold games, is a technology rather than a gameplay idea. A full-fledged 3D engine powers this shooter. On each map, several power generators need to be destroyed to clear… well, nobody cares about the “plot”. Let’s rather focus on the gameplay on top of the technology.
Which cleverly incorporates the idea of limited resources and their targeted, planned use at key moments. The tank-like vehicle drives across the grid pattern, blasting smoothly animated enemies. Those leave behind power-ups, such as special missiles or fuel. The latter enabling short periods of flight: extend those wings and lift off, in an elegant move of the joystick. Plan ahead, though, because fuel burns fast, and you better have a controlled landing on solid ground.
Where those extras may seem gimmicky in the first few levels, they turn essential later on. The later levels feature fiendish layouts, turning them into small puzzles. Extra resources tied to the risk of facing off with enemies and being overall limited, there are trade-off decisions to be taken constantly. Within split-seconds given the frantic pace of the action, to boot.
The 3D graphics enable this well. Smoothly moving and turning in all directions, the sense of threat and urgency is increased as you can never be sure what is behind. Admittedly, the surroundings are rather abstract visually. Lack of distinctive landmarks make it hard to keep an overview without resorting to the map frequently. This, of course, disturbs the game flow each time, or it could be seen as a welcome opportunity to breathe for less skilled players (like myself…).
Robinson left Graftgold during Simulcra’s development, leaving it to his former boss Steve Turner to quickly finish the game up. With some more development time, some time to let it mature and be polished, such minor glitches in the otherwise smooth and well-balanced design surely could have been weeded out still. In the state the company was in, it is unlikely they could still afford this, however.
As it stands, Simulcra is an immensely playable game. Yesterday’s 3D engine is still abstract enough for the look to be considered “charmingly stylized” rather than outdated and ugly. Not quite up there with Graftgold’s best, but then, that’s an extremely high level to judge it by. In the oeuvre of most other companies, this would be the cream of the crop. On a sad note, however, it is not just the beginning of Graftgold’s 16 bit career, but also probably their high point in this generation…
