Fire Ant is another game I enjoyed on the Commodore 16. It was, in my opinion a puzzle arcade game. It was released in 1984 by Commodore Business Machines UK. The game was produced by Mogul Communications and converted by Choice Software. It was later re-released by Top30 and had a different cover.
Fire Ant was coded by David H. Bolton and if you have ever played the game you may have noticed in Chamber 6, the coders initials on screen "DHB".
Fire Ant is not a particularly difficult game. It may be a little tricky when you first arrive in a new chamber trying to work out what you have to do. But once you've mastered it is just a case of avoiding the scorpions.
The story of the game is that you are the last remaining soldier of an army of ants. Your army has been destroyed and your Queen has been taken hostage by Scorpions.
So, basically you have to save the Queen Ant. You have to make your way through the 8 scorpion chambers, avoid the patrolling scorpions and collect items that help you to clear your path of locked doors and other obstacles. Some of the items you need are hidden and what you need to do isn't always obvious. The eggs dropped by the scorpions just give you extra points. When you collect a mushroom (well I think its a mushroom) the scorpions will flash blue and green and their stings become neutralised, meaning that they wont hurt you for a limited amount of time.
At the end end of the game when you have saved the Queen Ant you will be greeted with a message of "Congratulations". The game then just simply restarts.
So, is "Fire Ant" Naff? No, it is not Naff. The graphics are good, although it is difficult to make out what some the items actually are. The sounds are basic but work well although there is no music. The controls are good and responsive. The playability is what makes the game. I think it is fun to play and it will keep you entertained for a while, until you complete it that is. Once completed, and you know what you have to do to navigate your way through each chamber. Fire Ant may become, umm... a little tedious. You could always play with some friends in a battle for the highest score.
Naffometer
8 / 10
Cheat Codes for Fire Ant
Cheat codes have to be entered into the Monitor. To access the Monitor simply press "RUN/STOP" and "RESET" on the machine. To restart the game after entering the cheat code type G 3F90
- Unlimited Lives: >1C1F A5
- ** = Number of Lives: >1B57 **
- Remove all Scorpions: >13F8 60
