Jogos 80 em: Cadê os Artigos (ZX Spectrum)

INTRODUCTION

The deadline to submit articles for the next issue of Jogos 80 magazine is almost up, and the contributors—each from a different city in Brazil—have disappeared along with their pieces!

"Cadê os artigos"? "
"¿Dónde están los artículos?"
"Where are the articles?"
Don’t worry, readers! Stay calm! It’s all under control!

Choose one of the magazine’s editors — Eduardo Luccas or Marcus Garrett — to collect special items and chase down the "runaways" across several Brazilian states: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, and more.

Good luck!

MISSION

The game features eight rebellious editors of the Jogos 80 magazine, each from a different Brazilian city. They have refused to submit their articles. The mission? Retrieve nine scattered objects in each city and deliver them to the respective editor, convincing them to hand over their article without resorting to force!

CONTROLS

Keyboard:

Q – Up or Jump
A – Down
O – Left
P – Right

Space – Pause

You can also use the Kempston or the Sinclair joystick.

GAMEPLAY

Choose one of two playable characters:

Marcus Garrett is energetic and charismatic, ideal for levels requiring lots of jumping.

Eduardo Luccas is more laid-back but has better stamina, which is perfect for more difficult levels.

Each choice affects the gameplay experience, essentially offering two difficulty modes.

Your objective in the eight stages is to collect nine objects, one at a time. An item appears somewhere on the level. Retrieve it and bring it to the rebellious editor to unlock the following item.

Objects you can retrieve:

Joystick	Cassette	Floppy Disk
Cartridge	CD-ROM	CP400
ZX Spectrum	Famicom	MSX

Time is limited, but each successful delivery grants a time bonus, indicated by vertical bars at the top of the screen.

Beware! Familiar Brazilian folklore and pop and videogame culture characters—like Saci-Pererê and the Boozy Alien Invader from Em Busca dos Tesouros—will try to stop you. Touching them means losing a life. Lives reset at the start of each new stage, and you may earn extra lives as you progress.

Enemies you'll need to avoid:

Boozy Alien Invader	Come Come	Knight
Squid	Saci-Pererê	MASP witch
Bird	CBC bullet	Mr. Ghost
Locomotive	Ms. Ghost	City Car
Penguin	Dancing Demon

Study enemy movement patterns carefully. While some items can be reached in multiple ways, others require precise timing and execution.

Characters can jump and climb—sometimes even gracefully glide—to navigate the varied environments. Mastering the jump mechanic is key to success.

LEVELS

Each side of the tape (A and B) contains four unique stages:

Side A:

• Level 1 - Curitiba (PR) - Editor Flavio Matsumoto at Jardim Botânico.

• Level 2 - Brusque (SC) - Editor Eduardo Loos at Parque Zoobotânico. 

• Level 3 - Ribeirão Pires (SP) - Editor Robson França at Estação de trem e Igreja do Pilar.

• Level 4 - Rio Bonito (RJ) - Editor Saulo Santiago at Cachoeira de Braçanã.

Side B:

• Level 5 - Belo Horizonte (MG) - Editor Marco Lazzeri at Palácio da Liberdade.

• Level  6 - São Paulo (SP) - Editor Victor Vicente at MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo.

• Level 7 - Ribeirão Preto (SP) - Editor Emerson Cavallari at Choperia Pinguim.

• Level 8 - Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - Editor Mario Cavalcanti at Arcos da Lapa.

PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

Marcus Garrett

Eduardo Luccas

REBELLIOUS EDITORS

Flavio Matsumoto	Eduardo Loos
Robson França	Saulo Santiago
Marco Lazzeri	Victor Vicente
Emerson Cavallari	Mario Cavalcanti

PASSWORD SYSTEM

After completing Side A, a password is generated. Use it to continue from the same point on Side B with the same character and score.

MUSIC

Pedro Pimenta composed two soundtracks (AY chip and beeper), which are available on any ZX Spectrum configuration. The game detects the presence of the AY chip; if not, it uses the beeper instead.

ABOUT THE GAME'S DEVELOPMENT

Commissioned by Jogos 80 magazine to celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2019, “Where Are the Articles?” puts the player in charge of retrieving the articles for the upcoming issue that have been “hijacked” by rebellious writers. The story unfolds across several cities in Brazil, featuring real-life characters—contributors and friends of the magazine.

I started creating the game after Marcus Garrett challenged me to do so. Using Boriel BASIC and a set of external routines from several authors, I developed a simple engine that allowed me to build a platformer with character-based movement, collisions, and sprites. Depending on the ZX Spectrum hardware, the game features AY or beeper music, a password system that preserves the score, and other elements I have always wanted to see in a ZX Spectrum game.

I designed the levels and sprites myself, with some enemies inspired by classic 8-bit games and elements of Brazilian culture. Despite its shortcomings, I'm proud of the game I created in 2019. It was built without using any pre-built engines but rather by combining bits of code in the best way I knew how.

The game was initially released on cassette and Beta Disk as part of Jogos ’80’s 21st issue. After that, it faded into obscurity… until now.

CREDITS

Game: Filipe Veiga

Story contributions: Marcus Garrett

Music AY/beeper: Pedro Pimenta

Loading Screen: Ricardo Nunes

Beta Testers: André Luna Leão, Robson Rangel

Special thanks to Jose Rodriguez-Rosa (Boriel ZX BASIC), Britlion (printing routines), Damieng (Font Computing 60s), Einar Saukas (ZX7), LCD (random clear routine), Ubhres Productions (printing routine), and Marcella Cristina (YouTube vídeo).