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Stack Saver is a worthy winner of the first mini game-making competition, held right in our very own forum in January 2004 amongst forum regulars. The official description of this 3D shooter, from the README file, is as follows: "You are a green square with a minigun. It is your job to keep the four levels clear of red square enemies for as long as possible. Enemies cause damage to the levels. The more enemies, the more damage. The game ends once one of the levels is destroyed. You start on level 1. To move up or down a level, stand on one of the arrow 'blocks' and press SPACE. Moving between levels creates a brief shockwave that will destroy any enemies within a small radius. Every ten seconds (signified by a cheap 'ding') an increasingly greater number of enemies will spawn. As well as a minigun, the green square has bombs that will clear the level of all enemies, and repair the level a bit. At the start of the game, he has two. For killing 200 enemies, one new bomb is awarded. And for killing 100 enemies, a brief period of invulnerability is awarded." The game plays like a 3D version of Space Invaders: great gameplay cloaked in a simple concept. The unique perspective and nonstop action are expertly combined with a very intuitive interface. Similar to Robotron and other classic arcade games, Stack Saver is easy to learn, offering smooth controls and interface with frantic action. Moving the square-with-detached-gun 'thing' that you control takes some getting used to, but becomes second nature once you get used to the mouse-driven controls. The only two quibbles I have are the lack of a high-score table and of a 'rotate' option that would have made the action easier to follow. If you are looking for a fun and unique take on Robotron, Tempest, and similar "abstract" action games, check out this excellent and addictive underdog from CaptainVeg, one of our forum regulars who managed to code a cool game in only six weeks :) Two thumbs up, way up! Reviewed by: Underdogs | 
Stack Saver 
