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| requirements = console, monitor or television, (joystick and speech synthesizer are optional)
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Microsurgeon, designed by Imagic and produced by Texas Instruments, is arguably the best game cartridge ever distributed by Texas Instruments. It is also one of the newest and among the last to be manufactured by TI. In terms of its quality, I would compare it to the Scott Adams Adventure Series.
===Performance===
Microsurgeon has been produced for a number of computer and video game machines, ranging from the Apple to Intellivision. The object of the game is straightforward: you play the role of a surgeon whose job it is to save the life of a patient by directing a microscopic probe through his body to the organ or organs that are diseased. You determine the treatment to employ, choosing from ultrasonic rays, antibiotics and aspirin. Medication is introduced by using the fire button on the joystick or through keyboard input. Having stabilized the patient's condition, you guide the probe out of the body to conclude the operation.
This is a very sophisticated game and describing briefly how it works is difficult. It is impressive in many ways, including its excellent graphics, use of sound effects and overall design.
The first thing you notice about this game is the graphics. The sc·reen is divided into four separate displays of different shapes and sizes. The largest display is the surgical screen, displaying an inside view of the body of your patient and the location of the probe within it. This display "windows'' horizontally and vertically as you make your way through the arteries and veins.
The status screen monitors the patient's vital organs, warning you in advance of developing problems. A small close-up scanner screen shows a magnified view of the location of the probe. A fourth screen represents the patient's room in the Intensive Care Unit. The patient is in a bed, hooked up to an intraveneous bottle. Occasionally, he will be visited by a doctor.
Microsurgeon includes several types of sound effects. If you have a speech synthesizer attached, you will occasionally hear the voice of a woman calling for a doctor. Other sounds include representations of an electrocardiogram and heart beat. These can be turned off if desired.
There are three levels of play: Student, Intern and Surgeon. You choose the level at the beginning of the game. You also choose which patient to treat at the beginning. There are 1,000 to choose from.
Success in this game is a relative thing in most cases. You can treat your patient enough to stabilize his condition and he will survive, even though the status screen may show that some of his organs are in "fair" or worse condition. Of course, if you
do not treat his disease before the status indicator reaches the critical mark, you are in danger of losing him. A very critical condition can go terminal at any time. When two organs become terminal, the patient dies and the game ends.
Your score is measured in the amount of research dollars you are able to accumulate. You start out with a certain sum based on the patient's condition and add to or subtract from it based on your success at treating his condition.
Another complication in doing surgery in Microsurgeon is the need to maintain a power supply for your robot probe. This creates a time limit on your operation. The power supply is drained off according to how fast you are operating and how much
medication you use. You can gain power units by hitting viruses with aspirin.
The graphics used in this game are
like nothing I've seen in any other TI
game. Color is used to distinguish the
lymphatic system, veins, arteries
and organs. The graphics include a
representational display of the upper
torso of a human body.
Each medication has its own shape
and color, as does each disease.
Among the medical problems you
will encounter are tar deposits in the
lungs, tumors, tapeworms, kidney
stones, gallstones, cholesterol buildup,
viruses and infections.
Ease of Use: While the joystick is
used to control the robot probe (you
may also use the keyboard to do this
though it is easier to use the joystick),
commands to increase the
speed of the probe or turn the EKG
monitor or heart beat sound on or oft
are entered via the keyboard. Selection
of medications is also done
through the keyboard. Once you get
accustomed to which keys to hit. the
game is easy to play. Of course, you
must have a steady hand to guide the
probe through the patient's veins,
arteries and lymphatic system.
Docunwntation: The manual that
comes with Microsurgeon is comprehensive
and extremely well
designed. Included is a full-color
reproduction of the body as it
appears in the game. with coding to
allow you to identify the body parts.
Value: I enjoyed playing this game
for a number of reasons. It is multidimensional
and requires intelligence
on the part of the player to succeed.
It is also educational insofar as
a player must gain an awareness of
the body and the location of its organs
to do well. Though this is not a game
for younger children, those in their
early teens who tried it were fascinated
by it. Part of this may have
been due to the fact that were studying
the human body in school.
TI has always had a reputation for
producing mediocre game software
for its home computer. Finally the
company started corning out with the
good stuff. and now it's. out of business.
Too bad. this is good stuff.
-JK
