Fire and Ice by Graftgold is an old school game with arcade style action. It is a basic jump and run game where you are a coyote that is going after Glemm, who has escaped from prison.
Glemm had been trapped in prison for over 2000 years prior to his escape and now that he is on the loose he has control over the monsters on the planet that you have to fight on your way to capture him to put him back behind bars.
You are not alone while you travel from your home on the polar ice caps to Glemm’s home. You have a bunch of little coyote pups that, although annoying and not that strong, are very helpful in fighting along the way. This is a platform game, which is ok for those who like those kinds of games.
It does have sound and music, both of which are not that bad. Neither the sound effects nor the music take anything away from the game. The graphics are not the best but the game is very colorful. Just like any other platform game, the monsters in here drop things, which you must collect to continue to the next level. You only
have three lives to use and not many continues, which can make it a pain in the butt to play. I do not know many people that can play right through a game without dying more than three times before getting to the end of the game. I know I can’t do it. With the lack of saves and continues, it really is aggravating.
Let’s say you reach the sixth level, you are on your last life, and then you get killed off almost immediately. That can be a heart wrenching experience after you have done all that work and then you find out you can’t continue from there or save your game. The goal of each level is to find the door at the end and unlock it, which requires a key that you have to find on your way. These keys are in pieces so make sure you pick up everything the monsters drop. If you don’t pick up the pieces you will find yourself frustrated by the time you reach the door and realize you do not have the whole key that unlocks it. The monsters are just paralyzed when you throw items like ice at them and then you have to touch them to kill them, which I thought could have been a little better made.
