POIZONE

Originally released in 1991 for the Acorn Archimedes RISC computer, Poizone is now ported to PC by its authors, 32 years later.

Poizone is inspired by the classic Pengo arcade game, but with a major puzzle twist and an ecological theme. The original plot is:

"Looking at the ecological disaster due to human irresponsibility, penguin Zozo decided it was time to do something. Help him to decontaminate the 50 zones were dangerous creatures live: they born from the toxic elements. But now let's go: your sacrifice is our hope!"

    

The game features 5 different lands to decontaminate:

• Ice Land
• Space Station
• The Moon
• Jungle
• RISC Computer

A tutorial is integrated in-game. Basically, each level is littered with toxic elements that need to be destroyed following their own rules. To succeed, at least 90% of the toxic elements must be destroyed in each level.

At the same time, avoid the agressive monsters that populate the level. Try to crush them by throwing blocks over them. 

                           

Pushing the electric border can also help !

If you have spare time, assemble the 4 magic diamonds to get a valuable bonus of 500 points:

Also, in the recurring Revenge zones, earn more points by crushing as many monsters as possible while you're invincible.

Toxic Waste Destruction Rules

   CFC Spray Can: Crush the nozzle from the top.

   Green Chemical Substance: Throw the glass far away to avoid the liquid.

   Red Jelly: Unstable substance! Crush it, don’t move it.

   Uranium Block: Crush it only when it is not in contact with another Uranium Block.

   DDT Barrels: Make sure they are in contact with another DDT Barrel when crushing. It is science.

   Batteries: Mind the polarity, only crush from top or bottom. 

   Aluminum Block: Fling it against the electric border to dissolve.

   Poison Skull: Only crush them while they are in contact with an Aluminum Block. I am sure it made sense at the time.

Controls

• Keyboard and Xbox 360 Controller are supported.
  
• Use directional arrows ← → ↑ ↓ or the left stick to move
• Use SPACE key or A button to push a block
• Keys can be redefined.

Notes

• Steam Deck is supported.
• CFC stands for Chloro-fluoro-carbon, a now banned ozone-depleting substance.
• DDT stands for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, an insecticide.

Development notes

• The game was originally written in ARM assembler, now re-written in Python using the pygame framework, to run on PC. Sources of both versions are available on github.
• This port tries to be faithful to the original version. That's why the screen resolution is 320x256 pixels. Menus have been redesigned for a better user experience.
• The original game features a 2-players mode on the same screen. It has been dropped in the PC version (for now).
• Cheat mode: if you want to skip levels, use F5 (previous) and F6 (next). But remember that true penguins never cheat.

Credits

• Code: Paolo Baerlocher
• Graphics: Marc Andreoli
• Music: Fabrice Hautecloque

Comments are welcome!