The Adventures of Quik & Silva

The Adventures of Quik & Silva
Developer(s)Kaiko[1] (as New Bits on the RAM)
Publisher(s)Amiga Fun[a]
Composer(s)Chris Hülsbeck
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST
Release
  • EU: 10 May 1991
Genre(s)Platform game
Mode(s)Single-player

The Adventures of Quik & Silva is a platform video game originally released on 10 May 1991, in the United Kingdom for the Amiga[2][3][4][5] and Atari ST.[6] The game was developed by Kaiko,[1] pseudonymously as "New Bits on the RAM" (a play on New Kids on the Block), and was first published as a covermount disk in Amiga Fun magazine.[7][8][5] The game was made available in 1992 as public-domain software, with the Amiga version reviewed in issue 18 of Amiga Power.[9][10]

Plot

On the small island kingdom of Funnyland, King Walter steps down from the throne, wanting to enjoy his life like the rest of the island's inhabitants. His ambitious daughter, Princess Leila, takes over the crown, and is tasked to paint the royal carriage pink and light blue. However, at Funnyland's toy factory (currently doing a trade in soft, cuddly toys from the ozone hole), some sloppy workers leave the microwave open, and a rhinoceros-fly takes a rest on the main switch. This causes the microwave to start up and change the toys into destructive monsters, putting Funnyland in danger. The inhabitants of Funnyland confront Leila about the issue. The princess remembers two robots that she invited to her last birthday party, Quik and Silva, and decides to call their service "QUIK & SILVA Computer Game Heroes Inc." and ask them for help. Thus, the two robots set out to save Funnyland from the evil monsters.[11]

Gameplay

Players take control of Quik and Silva and must guide them through the levels of the game without losing their lives, while avoiding the monsters that stand in their way. Power-ups come in the form of "P" symbols that give extra scatter power to the robots' plasma torpedoes. Bonus points and extra lives come in the form of "B" and "X" symbols, and are obtained by hitting and bouncing on the blocks and platforms scattered throughout the levels, but many of them are hard to come by. The game spans eight levels, following two alternating styles of overworld and underground.[12]

Development

The Adventures of Quik and Silva was programmed by Peter Thierolf, with graphics by Frank Matzke and music, sound effects and voices by Chris Hülsbeck. The game was made in less than two weeks to collect money and given its name due to Kaiko having financial problems with Apidya. Kaiko got 15000 Deutsche Marks for each version, Amiga and Atari ST, from the Amiga Fun magazine, allowing the company to complete the game and publish and ship it almost immediately. In the end it turned out good, but since Kaiko did not want to be directly associated with the game, they released the game as "New Bits on the RAM" and invented pseudonyms for the credited developers (except Hülsbeck). The pseudonyms were a homage to Andrew Braybrook (Andreas Breebruck), a coder and key person at Graftgold, and Mark Coleman (Markus Kohlmann), a graphics artist for the Bitmap Brothers. The logo for "New Bits on the RAM" was a ripoff of the Bitmap Brothers' logo, with the hand changed to one giving a thumbs-up.[1][13]

The various enemies in the game are based on characters from other titles, such as Bubble Bobble, Nebulus, R-Type, and Super Mario. As the game was released as a cover-disk game, it was able to avoid possible copyright infringement for a few months. The game was not available outside of the UK during its cover-disk release and only started to gain traction when it had become public domain software. This game is also notable for being the first home video game to feature Sonic the Hedgehog, in an unofficial capacity, as an enemy.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ Amiga Fun only published the Amiga version.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Interview Chris Huelsbeck". Amigapd.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Ending for Adventures of Quik & Silva(Amiga)". Vgmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Adventures of Quik and Silva for Amiga". GameFAQs.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Adventures of Quik and Silva (Game)". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Sonic's Unknown First Home Appearance - GYCW". YouTube. 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Atari ST Quik & Silva : scans, dump, download, screenshots, ads, videos, catalog, instructions, roms". Atarimania.com. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Adventures of Quik and Silva, The : Hall Of Light – The database of Amiga games". Hol.abime.net. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Adventures of Quik & Silva, The". Lemon Amiga. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  9. ^ "PD with Dave Golder". Amiga Power (18): 88. 1992. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  10. ^ "The Adventures of Quik and Silva". Amigapd.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. ^ "The Adventures of Quik and Silva - Manual-ENG" (PDF). Amiga Fun. 10 May 1991. Every Monday she went to aerobics, Tuesdays was the self-discovery group, and from the middle of the week it was always the beginner's cookery course at the local night school. Princess Leila was certainly a really active girl; she did, after all, want to inherit the throne and sceptre of Funnyland some day and rule the small island kingdom with a wise hand. "Under my rule," she used to say to her friends at coffee, "there will never be any scandals!" The inhabitants of Funnyland remembered last summer with horror, as a horde of mutated biscuits suddenly attacked the local McMac branch. (Fortunately, the amount of colourings and preservatives didn't agree with the fast lollies!) "No, no, such a catastrophe will not occur under my control!" exclaimed the little princess. To clearly underline the importance of her words, she poked holes in the air with her well-manicured finger nails. (A crying shame, for it wasn't really her fault!) Now it came to be that the old king had no more interest in ruling Funnyland. "At 63, I've really worked enough. I want to enjoy my life at last like everyone else; go fishing, watch Sesame Street on the telly and grow peas in the castle garden!" "Great, daddy," thought Leila to herself, "then I can take over the reins at last!" The deserving King Walter abdicated in a magnificent ceremony in the castle's hall of mirrors and the ambitious princess took over the crown. "The first task is to paint the royal carriage pink and light blue!" Just on that very evening - how could it be any different in a computer game - a few extremely strange coincidences occurred! You should know that the worlds most beautiful toy factory is located in the north of Funnyland. (They are currently doing a fantastic trade in soft cuddly toys from the ozone hole!) And it was precisely at this spot that the horror started... A few sloppy workers had left the microwave open for reasons unknown (a pre-war model without a fuse!). It happened as a rhino fly decided to take a rest on the main switch: the thing started up and the dozens of fluffy and plastic creatures lying around received a megadose of microwaves! And as these things happen, the once cute little beasts mutate to become destructive, blood-thirsty monsters. Nothing and no-one was safe from them. Comment from the monarchy: "Heeelllp! Why doesn't someone help?" "So, Leila," thought the angry people of Funnyland, "now you have your industrial scandal! And what now?" It must be admitted that Princess Leila had real problems and no solutions! But then came the face-saving idea: "What about these two metal boys invited to my last birthday party?" She rummaged through her handbag: "Where's this cursed visiting card?" She discovered the card under tons of rouge and lipstick in the record time of nearly half an hour. "QUIK & SILVA Computer Game Heroes Inc. - we crack any nut with and without cheating!" Leila grabbed her cordless telephone: "Hello, hello! Can I speak to QUIK & SILVA, the robot heroes? Please come as fast as you can! I have an awful problem here!" Now it's all up to you! Must Leila abdicate? Will the toy factory be nationalised? Is Funnyland doomed? Question after question! Only you know the answers! May the joystick be with you - you can bank on Princess Leila's thanks and a high score!
  12. ^ "The Adventures of Quik and Silva - Manual-ENG" (PDF). Amiga Fun. 10 May 1991. The OBJECT OF THE GAME: is to guide the small robots through all the levels of the game without losing all their lives. The little metal chaps have the unbelieveable ability to fire plasma torpedoes (FIRING button) to defend their skin - sorry, armour! The spreading power of the light shells (max. 5 shots) is increased by collecting "P" symbols. Whoever prefers to collect "B" bullets receives bonus points and X symbols give an extra life. Some of the stones hide interesting features! So examine them all as accurately as possible by jumping at the blocks from below with the robot heroes (JOYSTICK forwards + direction). Touching the enemy or the peaks or falling into deep (water) trenches is fatal!! Such actions automatically lose a valuable life. This is prevented by avoiding all the dangers in good time! Note the extremely good jumping ability of the two heroes - practice also makes perfect with QUIK & SILVA! You can accurately check the effect of the individual special blocks again by using the graphics. One last tip: some tasks seem utterly impossible at first sight! But they aren't - almost every problem can be mastered by skilful practice. For example, look exactly where your shots are richocheting. You could in fact always stand there. But enough for now - the NEW BITS team and Platzhalter wish you happy puzzling! P key activates "pause" / M key: music on/off
  13. ^ "The Adventures of Quik and Silva (1991)". My Abandonware. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.