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SwordQuest FireWorld
Name:
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SwordQuest FireWorld |
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Company: |
Atari |
Model #:
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CX-2657 |
Programmers:
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Tod Frye (Programmer) & Mimi Nyden
(Graphics)
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Year: |
1982 |
Released?
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Yes
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Notes:
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Originally titled
Adventure III |
The second game in the ill-fated SwordQuest series (see
EarthWorld for more information), FireWorld is the worst of the
three games which is saying alot given how bad the other two
are. The main problem with FireWorld is that the action
sequences are very difficult (much harder than the other two
games), and the room structure is based on the Tree of Life
(found in the Jewish Kaballah), which most people aren't
familiar with. FireWorld is also riddled with bugs making
an already difficult game nearly impossible. It seems
Atari wanted to get the second game out as soon as possible at
the cost of proper gameplay testing.

The storyline for FireWorld continues the adventures of Torr and
Tarra as they search for the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery (no I'm not
making this up). Konjuro relates to King Tyrannus how the
twins' adoptive parents were also killed, and how they became the
fugitive thieves they were when we first met them. Then
Tyrannus (through a spell), offers the twins part of his rule but
of course they refuse and are dumped into FireWorld. The
Twins split up in search of water. Using the Talisman, Torr
summons Mentorr who reveals the Chalice of Light and says it will
quench his thirst (and more). Both Tarra and Torr discover
armor and weapons, which they use to dispatch various creatures
that are attempting to kill them. They are eventually
reunited and pass through a gateway of flame to find a
chalice. Startled by a voice behind them, Torr drops the
chalice, which shatters. They turn to see Herminus drinking
from the true Chalice. He hands it over to them, stating
that he no longer needs it, and an image of the crown can be seen
at the bottom. After Hermanus's departure, the twins quench
their thirst and the Chalice begins to grow. They
mysteriously find themselves inside the Chalice, which is the
gateway to WaterWorld

FireWorld has more action sequences than EarthWorld, but many of
them are buggy and completing them is more a matter of luck than
skill. All the action sequences suffer from poor collision
detection and graphic glitches. The more clues you reveal,
the harder the action sequences become making many of them
unwinnable past a certain point in the game. Are we having
fun yet?
Goblins |
In this test you have to catch little
falling blobs (goblins) in a box. The more goblins
you catch, the faster they fall. If you miss eight
goblins you will fail the test, but there's a bug in the
game that causes you to miss a Goblin as soon as the test
starts so you really only get seven misses. Having
the Amulet will make this test slightly easier. |
|

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Snakes |
This is the easiest of the six action
sequences, and is actually almost fun to play (almost).
In this test you control a bird that must shoot the
snakes that come crawling out of the walls. If a
snake hits your bird you fail the test. The only
snag in this test is that you must actually be moving the
direct you want to shoot, which can be frustrating at
times. There is also a bug that sometimes doesn't
make you bird appear when the test starts. There are
no help items for this test, but you really don't need any
anyway. |
|

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Knives
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Similar to the Goblin test, except this
time you control the knives instead of the box.
Beating this test seems to be mostly a matter of
luck than skill, as you obviously can't get a screenful of
knives into a tiny box in the center of the screen.
Having the Shoes of Stealth will make this test easier (I
guess you sneak up on the knives). |
|

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FlameDragons
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This test shows a bunch of "FlameDragons"
flying around the screen breathing fire at you. You
must throw your little knife at the dragons in an attempt
to kill them. The problem is usually when you're
about to shoot the knife a dragon it decides to breath
fire, killing you instantly. You only get one life
in this test, so make it count! Having the Dagger
will make this test easier, but not by much.
Occasionally a beam of fire will shoot out from the
bottom of the screen when you start the test, killing you
before you can even move. Another fun bug from the
friendly folks at Atari. |
|
 |
Firebirds |
This test is the absolute worst! Not
only is it overly difficult, it's so buggy it's almost
unplayable. The screen is very similar in appearance
to the Salamander test, except this time you're a long
pole (hehe.) that must avoid touching the falling
Firebirds. The Firebirds fall at a frantic rate
making for many impossible to avoid collisions. If
you hit eight Firebirds you fail the test. The
Firebirds have a nasty habit of changing to obnoxious
colors during the course of the game making them almost
invisible at times. The screen will also appear to
jump from time to time since the display code for this
test is very buggy. Having the Cloak of Invisibility
will supposedly make this test easier, but I haven't seen
any evidence it does anything. |
|
 |
Salamanders |
Be thankful this test only appears in one
room, it's hard as hell. The Salamanders test is
similar to the Firebirds, except the Firebirds have been
replaced by rotating knives of different sizes
(Salamanders). The jumping screen bug from the
Firebirds test is very bad in this test and makes an
already difficult test much harder. Having the
Leather Armor will make this test easier. |
|
 |
There are many items in FireWorld, but only a few
of them have a secondary use.
Amulet |
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Makes the Goblins easier |
Cloak of Invisibility |
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Makes the Firebirds easier |
Chalice |
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Opens up hidden passageways |
Dagger |
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Makes the Flamedragons easier |
Leather Armor |
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Makes the Salamanders easier |
Shoes of Stealth |
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Makes the Knives easier |
The following items don't have any secondary use, but are used
to trigger some of the clues.
Shield |
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Rope |
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Talisman of Passage |
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Oil Lamp |
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Water |
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Ring |
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Food |
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Warrior's Sword |
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Short Sword |
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Unlike EarthWorld, the clues for FireWorld are
simply numbered 00 trough 09 and don't seem to correspond to pages
in the comic. The reason for this is that these are actually
placeholder numbers and would have been filled in with the
page/panel number once the comic was finalized. However for
whatever reason (probably due to the rushed developed) the real
clues were never added, making the entire game worthless as a
contest tool (not that it's worth much as a game either).
Instead players had to look through the comic book and guess at
which words were the correct ones for the phrase. Another
example of how this game wasn't properly tested before release.

Another oddity in Fireworld is the ability to
"warp" through the corners of various rooms. This can be
accomplished by standing in a corner and moving the joystick in a
clockwise direction. If you do it correctly your character
will be sucked through the wall into the next room. It's
unknown if this was put in by design or is the result of a
programming bug. The "warp" is not mentioned in the
instruction manual, but it seems too convenient to be a simple
bug. Perhaps it was a shortcut left in by Tod while he was
programming? The world may never know.
FireWorld is quite simply one of the worst 2600
games ever made. It's difficult, not even remotely fun to
play, and has no redeeming features (especially now that the
contest is over). It's hard to believe Atari let a game this
buggy out the doors, it's as if they didn't even bother to
playtest the game. Perhaps Atari was feeling the pressure to
release the next game in the series as quickly as possible and cut
a few corners?
Version |
Cart Text |
Description |
?/??/82 |
SwordQuest II FIREWORLD
Cartridge |
Final Version |
1/25/84
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Fireworld Cartirdge 1-25-84
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Contest Version
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