Juice!

Juice!
Title screen of the game
Game No.	523
Voting	7.50 points, 6 votes
Developer	Arti Haroutunian
Company	Tronix Publishing
Publisher	System 3, Tronix Publishing
Release	1983
Platform	C64, Atari 400/800
Genre	Arcade
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description

Edison the robot

In the game Juice! (colloquially meaning "electric current" or "electrical energy"), the humanoid robot Edison, controlled by the player, must repair circuit boards within a limited amount of time so that electricity can flow again. To do this, the robot moves sequentially to all the spaces on an 8x8 square game board, repairing the corresponding parts of the circuit board. The circuit board has cutouts of varying sizes and shapes, so the path across the game board must be planned anew each round; Edison must also defend himself against numerous opponents.

Design

At the beginning of each round, a circuit board is displayed, which Edison must repair by strategically moving to all the spaces. The game board appears three-dimensional because the player views it from a slightly elevated angle. As soon as Edison moves onto a space, it changes to the next state. The goal of a round is achieved when conductive traces are visible on all fields. In this case, the current begins to flow, indicated by a colorful flickering.

The individual levels differ in how the fields must be entered — whether one or multiple entries are required, and whether already repaired fields revert to their original state upon further entry. Furthermore, Edison must defend himself against enemies, some of whom attack him directly, while others undo his previous work.

Every three regular rounds are followed by a bonus round in which no enemies appear and in which Edison only needs to repair enough fields by entering them once to create a continuous conductive trace from the back left to the front right. The time for completing this task is very limited.

In a short intro, Edison explains the rules for the upcoming level (for example, "enter each square at least 3 times" in level 4).

Upon contact with the opponent "Nohm", Edison loses a life.

Once the circuit board is fully repaired, the time remaining is converted into points.

Graphics

The game board is displayed in multicolor bitmap mode (bitmap starting at address $2000, video RAM with color information starting at $0400). In the last 26 grid lines of the screen content (corresponding to the last three lines of text), the screen display switches to standard text mode (video RAM at address $0400, character set from character ROM at $1000) via a raster line interrupt to display the announcement "ENTERING LEVEL...", the current level and round number, or the instructions for the bonus round. All characters are represented by single-size, monochrome sprites; Edison by two sprites (one for his head and one for his body), and his opponents by one sprite each.

Sound

Each new level is introduced with one of six short, three-part melodies (see section "Theme"). Otherwise, the sound is limited to noises and short sequences that underscore Edison's jumping and events in the game.

Hints

The game is divided into a total of 6 levels, each consisting of 3 regular rounds and a final bonus round. As shown in the gallery below, at the beginning of each level, Edison demonstrates on a 2x2 grid the rules for repairing the circuit board in that level.

Level 1: Enter each square at least once

Level 2: Enter each square at least twice

Level 3: Enter each square 1, 3, 5, 7, ... times

Level 4: Enter each square at least 3 times

Level 5: Enter each square 2, 5, 8, 10, ... times

Level 6: Enter each square 3, 7, 11, 15, ... times

In the following three rounds, Edison must then repair all the squares of a circuit board in this manner. If the robot fails to complete the task within the allotted time, the game ends. The game also ends if Edison loses all his lives through collisions with his opponents. With a sufficiently high score, the player can then enter his name on the high score list. In any case, the configuration screen reappears, prompting the player to attempt another round.

Three regular rounds are followed by a bonus round in which Edison only needs to repair enough tiles to create a continuous circuit from the top left to the bottom right. The time limit for the bonus rounds is very short, but Edison's task is made easier by the fact that the circuit board has no cutouts and that he is not being pursued by opponents. In the case of success, a bonus of 2000 points is awarded.

For the circuit boards in the first level, Edison has 1500 time units, corresponding to 3 minutes. With each subsequent level, this time limit increases by 200 units, or 24 seconds; for the 6th level, a total of 2500 time units (5 minutes) are available. In the bonus rounds, the playing time is limited to 250 time units (30 seconds).

At the start of the game, Edison has 5 lives. He receives an extra life for every 10,000 points.

Screen Layout

Typical scene from the game

Controls

Configuration screen

Before starting each game, the starting level and the type of enemies can be selected on a configuration screen (see screenshot on the right). This is done using the function keys:

• F5 : Select the type of enemy that will appear
• F7 : Select the starting level (1-6)

The other two function keys control the gameplay:

• F1 : Start the game, or cancel a game that is already in progress and return to the configuration screen
• F3 : Pause (resume the game by pressing F3  again)

During the game, Edison is controlled exclusively with the joystick by moving it up, down, left, or right; diagonal jumps are not allowed. Jumping beyond the edge of the playing field or into the recesses in the circuit board is also not possible; thus, there is no risk of crashing.

• At the beginning of the bonus round at the end of each level, pressing the fire button starts the (limited) game timer.

Enemies

"Nohms" are the most common opponents. They move deterministically from top to bottom across the board and then fall from the front edge into the depths. Upon collision with a Nohm, Edison melts and loses a life.

The opponent "Capacitor" also costs Edison a life upon contact and predictably moves from the top to the bottom of the playing field. Once there, however, it quickly transforms into the dangerous enemy "Killerwatt".

"Killerwatt" follows Edison across the playing field, intent on melting him with a touch. He can only be shaken off if Edison jumps onto a teleporter while Killerwatt is hot on his heels. Killerwatt then follows Edison onto the teleporter, but finds no purchase and falls to his death. This maneuver is rewarded with 500 points (left animation in the gallery below). However, remaining on a teleporter for an extended period offers no protection, as Killerwatt can still reach Edison with a single jump.

"Flash" undoes Edison's work by destroying already repaired fields on his way down. He can be easily defeated by Edison touching him — and scoring 300 points in the process.

As soon as Edison touches the opponent "Recharge", all other adversaries are paralyzed for about 7 seconds: Now Edison can go about his work undisturbed for a while — and also receives 300 extra points (right animation of the following gallery).

Edison lures Killerwatt into the abyss and, in the process, devours Flash.

A touch from Recharge temporarily paralyzes all other enemies, giving Edison a breather.

Tips

• If there is still enough time available near the end of a round, it can be worthwhile to leave a single, easily accessible tile unrepaired and first lure Killerwatt to their doom one or more times. The bonus offered for this is significantly higher than the amount that can be earned by converting time credits into points (left animation in the following gallery).
• If the path of the continuous circuit is still unknown in a bonus round, it is worth briefly visiting the start and end contacts in the left rear and right front corners: This will quickly clarify the direction in which the circuit runs. Since this path does not change from game to game, you will soon memorize the optimal route (right animation).

Scoring at the expense of Killerwatt... the blue field above the right teleporter is intentionally left unrepaired until the very end.

Successful completion of a bonus round.

Solution

In "Juice!", skillful control of the robot Edison is paramount, requiring practice. Only in those levels where a repaired field reverts to its original state upon re-entry is a proactive choice of movement direction advantageous. It is helpful to first practice particularly tricky rounds without opponents and then attempt them with them.

A complete solution can only be provided for the bonus rounds: The path of the continuous circuits is always the same, so the following gallery can serve as an aid in achieving maximum scores.

Bonus Round 1

Bonus Round 2

Bonus Round 3

Bonus Round 4

Bonus Round 5

Bonus Round 6

Cheats

There is a crack CSDb of 5211 with a trainer function on CSDb:

Votes

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.50 points at 6 votes (rank 263). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	6	August 10, 2015 - "gut" - 21.790 downs
Lemon64	7	December 14, 2023 - 35 votes
Ready64	5,75	December 13, 2023 - 4 voti
Telematch	1 (Grafik 1, Sound 1, Action 2, Spielwitz 1, Motivation 2)	Nr. 7/86 (Dezember)
Home Computing Weekly	4/5 (instructions 65%, graphics 85%, playability 90%, value for money 90%)	No. 97 (Jan 29 — Feb 4, 1985)
Your Commodore	3/5	No. 7 (April 1985)
Universal Videogame List	4/5	December 14, 2023
Rombachs C64-Spieleführer	10	September 1984 - "Verdict 1"

Critics

Stephan64: "Exactly what you'd expect from a game from 1983: simple graphics, basic sound, and a clever gameplay idea. Levels 3, 5, and 6 (where the playing fields reset to their original state when Edison enters them again) are particularly challenging when playing against opponents... but 7 points is appropriate for a game that's still fun after all this time."

Shakermaker303: "Wow, amazing! There's a great game from around 1984 that I didn't know about. I was immediately captivated by the simple yet beautiful game concept. A bit of music, sound, and simple graphics — wonderful. That's how beautiful 8-bit gaming could be back then."

Rombachs C64-Spieleführer: "Of the Q-Bert variants, this one is one of the best in terms of gameplay. Its advantage over Flip and Flop lies in its more interesting storyline, while the latter is perhaps graphically superior (Rating 1)."

Miscellaneous

Cover

Cassette cover for the game "Juice!"

Inlay

Inlay for the game "Juice!"

Cassette

Cassette for the game "Juice!"

Fastloader

The cassette version of "Juice!" — found in the Ultimate Tape Archive — uses the Novaload fast loader. In the scrolling text displayed on its loading screen (middle image in the gallery below), System 3 not only advertises other games from its own catalog but also seeks talented programmers: "ALSO FROM SYSTEM 3 - SUICIDE STRIKE, MOTO CROSS, DEATHSTAR INTERCEPTOR. COMING SOON DISCUS AND TWISTER..... PROGRAMMERS CAN YOU PROGRAM TO OUR STANDARDS FOR THE HIGHEST REWARDS SEND A SAMPLE TO SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER SYSTEM 3 SOFTWARE. SOUTH BANK HOUSE, BLACKPRINCE ROAD LONDON SE 1."

During loading, a three-part melody shortens the waiting time; this melody is also used in the quick loader of "Suicide Strike" (right image in the gallery). For creative reuse, the sheet music is also available as a PDF document (File:SuicideStrike Loader PDF.pdf) and in ABC musical notation (File:SuicideStrike Loader.abc.txt).

Quick loader start screen Novaload

Loading screen with the beginning of the scrolling text

Sheet music for the accompanying melody in the quick loader, reconstructed by logging all write accesses to the SID

Video Recording

Demonstration of the first two levels of "Juice!"

Theme

The following gallery shows the six melodies that play at the beginning of each level, in standard musical notation. For creative reuse of the melodies, the sheet music is also available as a PDF document (File:Juice Theme PDF.pdf) and in ABC musical notation (File:Juice Theme.abc.txt).

Sheet music for the start melodies of levels 1, 2, and 3, reconstructed by logging all write accesses to the SID

Sheet music for the start melodies of levels 4, 5, and 6

Noises

Numerous events in the game are accompanied by short, monophonic sounds. Sometimes this is done with the noise generator, and sometimes with other waveforms. In the latter case, the characteristic sound results primarily from the exact frequency response. The following gallery illustrates this by plotting the temporal evolution of pitch during the jump at a resolution of 0.5 ms (2000 pixels/s in the original resolution) on a staff-like grid, and at the point of convergence with Recharge at a resolution of 1 ms (1000 pixels/s). The scale at the top and bottom of the diagrams is divided into 10 ms intervals.

Jump from field to field (120 ms sound every 0.54 s)

Convergence with Recharge (7.48 s)

In this representation, natural notes are plotted in their exact position; semitones are placed midway between their adjacent natural notes (for example, G sharp midway between G and A). For all other notes, the vertical position is determined by the exact interval of their frequency from the next higher and next lower natural note.

Highscore

The following list invites you to immortalize yourself with your personal highest score. To ensure comparability of the results, you should play with the default setting "ALL CHARACTERS" and start at level 1. The list is sorted solely by the score achieved; the level reached is only additional information, as it is not visible in the screenshot.

Topscore of Ivanpaduano

1. Ivanpaduano - 20.830 - 3 (01.11.2024)
2. Shakermaker303 - 15.130 - 2 (07.11.2024)
3. Stephan64 - 13.830 - 2 (17.12.2023)

	#2 Shakermaker303		#3 Stephan64

Links

• C64Games.de - Game No. 1321
• Gamebase64.com - Game No. 3979
• Lemon64 - Game No. 2991
• C64.com - Game No. 640
• ready64 - Game No. 3306
• CSDb - Release No. 89302 Crack von 5211
• CSDb All entries
• Test Report No. 895 on Kultboy.com
• Juice! at MobyGames

Magazines

• Happy Computer test report (p. 132)
• Happy Computer (Sonderheft) test report (p. 84)
• Telematch test report (p. 88)
• Home Computing Weekly test report (p. 14)
• Your Commodore test report (p. 77)