Leaderboard August 2020: Harlequin & Zerosphere

[Biscuit]

This month we have two platformers done in very different styles and released 23 years apart. Both top quality games that may be new to a lot of people.

Harlequin (1992) by The Warp Factory is a slightly surreal looking game set in a world of dreams and memories. Where it is your task to save the world from crumbling away. Run, jump, swim, float, bounce. 'H' turns off your space hopper! The rules for Harlequin are a little different than normal, please take a look below.

Zerosphere started life as a winning competition entry at Evoke 2015. A platformer that drastically alters your view of the world with a strange warping effect. Creating a new type of challenge when moving around. After the competition, a bit of tidying up led to a more complete version, which is the one we will be playing because it is freely available.

Then in 2018 an even larger commercial version came out on physical media, boxed and as a digital download. If you enjoy the free version on Leaderboard then consider buying the 2018 game with more levels and other additions. Available from PolyPlay.


Harlequin
* Get the highest score (percentage) you can.
* Credits/Continues work like lives, so use them.
* You are allowed to use the save game system for all badges (that includes scores). F2 to save. F1 to load. There are 6 slots. If you are using ADFs you will need a blank save disk.
* Recommend using WHDLoad to avoid disk swapping.

Zerosphere
* Get the highest score you can.
* We are playing the free version so that the score competition is fair and accessible to everyone.
* If you own the 2018 version you can play it for the beat the game badge only.


Round Ends: 23:59 (UK Time) on Monday 31st August 2020


Score Badges:

• Post a screenshot of your score and write it nearby.
• All scores must be achieved during this round without the use of save states, trainers, passwords or any other cheats.
• No infinite score leeching.

Beat the Game Badge:

• Finish the game during this round and post a screenshot of the ending as proof.
• So long as you are not submitting a score, you can use continues, passwords, and in-game saves. Play the game as originally intended.

Downloads:

• Harlequin - ADF 1 - ADF 2 - ADF 3 - WHDLoad (1MB) - WHDLoad (512kb) - (if adf 1 doesn't work you can boot from disk 2)
• Zerosphere - ADF and LHA available on the official website (also has a trained version)

Never played here before? Why not? Chat, play, chill.


Harlequin

 89% john4p 
 20% Biscuit

Zerosphere

 80,010 manossg 
 77,850 Biscuit 
 77,290 Harry 
 33,360 RuySan

[Biscuit]

I voted for Zerosphere blind. I mean, it looked good. And it is. Really nice quick to play game. Will definitely go for a completion on this. This is my first attempt. I was far too gung-ho and made lots of silly mistakes getting used to it. Should be a lot of fun to whizz through the early levels when they are in the memory bank. Got up to about level 10.

30,025

[manossg]

Zerosphere is a great game, with only a couple of negatives! Will definitely buy the commercial version after the Leaderboard!

I managed to get to level 19, even though I lose a bunch of lives at &^%&^*& level 14.

Score: 53080

I am not so fond of Harlequin after all, I voted for it because of its originality, but the floaty controls and the respawning enemies put me off. Maybe I'll warm to it, but for now it's Zerosphere practice!

[Biscuit]

I gave Harlequin a go last week and the jumping takes a bit of time to feel right. More fluid that Myth or Gods though so I think it'll be fine for me. I'm interested to explore the levels anyway. Good that we allowed saving. Will make it better to play through.

[RuySan]

I never really liked harlequin that much. I really tried to back in the day, because the game has a really nice atmosphere but like it was said, it's too floaty. I'm really curious to try zerosphere when my holidays are over

[Biscuit]

Enjoy your holiday. Europe is baking.

[john4p]

4%

Not bad so far though I'm not a fan of the constantly respawning enemies.

[Flimbo]

Had a quick blast around with Harlequin and only managed 2% so far. Seems like a fun game though.

I don't have Zerosphere on my 1200 but will have a look for it on my emulator soon.

[Biscuit]

Toughest part of Harlequin for me is the jumping. Getting the hang of it bit by bit. The respawning is not too frequent. I'll go for avoiding enemies when possible. The interconnected levels is cool. Something of a metroidvania feel with multiple exits looping round. Liking it so far, but need to get better at the controls. Done some swimming already.

7%

[john4p]

Yes it's the closest thing to a Metroidvania that the Amiga has.



9%

Stuck now at the pyramids. Went and swam everywhere but can't proceed.

[manossg]

Yay, after lots of practice, I managed to beat Zerosphere, with my last life!

I am not sure if I will give Harlequin another chance, though...

[Biscuit]

Well done. I'll see if I can match that score!

I think Harlequin has potential when you get used to it. There's lots of exploration. But if it's not your thing that's cool.

[manossg]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Well done. I'll see if I can match that score!

I think Harlequin has potential when you get used to it. There's lots of exploration. But if it's not your thing that's cool.

Thanks, mate. A better score should be possible with the optimisation of route in quite a few stages.

I reached the second level of Harlequin and got a hopper which controls even worse than the hero and it's got a bloody limit as well, so it expired and I ended up stuck in a dead end. Might study a long play.

[RuySan]

Originally Posted by john4p

Yes it's the closest thing to a Metroidvania that the Amiga has.



9%

Stuck now at the pyramids. Went and swam everywhere but can't proceed.

O Would say Exile and the dizzy games could also be borderline metroidvanias. And I heard Odyssey is a full on Metroidvania but I haven't tried it yet.

[Biscuit]

Originally Posted by manossg

Thanks, mate. A better score should be possible with the optimisation of route in quite a few stages.

I reached the second level of Harlequin and got a hopper which controls even worse than the hero and it's got a bloody limit as well, so it expired and I ended up stuck in a dead end. Might study a long play.

yeah, it's not the best mode of transport.

I think the main use of the hopper is to reach higher platforms, but I've no idea which ones yet. Not sure if it's necessary or how easy it is to get more. I only ever turn it on by accident at the moment.

[john4p]

Taking a break for a while in order to beat Soccer Kid.

Originally Posted by RuySan

O Would say Exile and the dizzy games could also be borderline metroidvanias. And I heard Odyssey is a full on Metroidvania but I haven't tried it yet.

Didn't know that. Odyssey is pretty much a lock for September - now I'm looking forward to it.

[Biscuit]

Quick go. Small improvement. But halfway through Zerosphere now and it's showing it's teeth.

36,165

[Biscuit]

Every go gets a little closer.

41,975

[Harry]

Zerosphere completed: 77.290


Nice little game.


I wont play Harlequin, I gave it a try and its not my thing at all.

[Biscuit]

That's cool and well played. There will probably be one game that is more popular each month, and that is why Leaderboard is designed this way. Everyone can choose where to spend their time.

I think Zerosphere is the more compelling game but I'm still enjoying Harlequin and want to explore it more. Will have a couple more goes at it this weekend.