Fire & Ice
From Sega Retro
Fire & Ice is a platform game initially released on the Amiga, but brought to the Sega Master System in 1995.
Contents
Story
The god Montezuma, angry at not having enough power to dominate the world, has cast a wrathful spell on four civilizations, transforming their denizens into his disciples. Wolf must restore peace by finding the pieces of a magic key in each civilization to break the spell.
Gameplay
The game is a platformer that follows an "adventurous wolf" known as Wolf, who must travel across several levels constructing ice keys. Each key is composed of six fragments, which Wolf can find in ice blocks in each level. Once an ice key is completed, Wolf can open the door to the next level. There are four worlds consisting of three levels apiece.
Wolf walks with 
and 
. He ducks by pressing 
while on the ground. He jumps by pressing 
, and he can fall faster by holding while in midair. Wolf can lob a snowball by pressing 
, which can be done while standing, ducking, or jumping. Snowballs freeze enemies. Some enemies require more than one snowball to freeze them. In a similar manner to Bubble Bobble, Wolf must touch a frozen enemy to defeat it; otherwise, the enemy eventually breaks free from the ice. Snowballs rebound off surfaces if they do not hit an enemy. There are power-ups that temporarily replace Wolf's attack with special weapons. He can also find snow bombs, which are used by pressing + (so he cannot throw snowballs while ducking when he has a snow bomb). Using a snow bomb freezes every enemy on the screen in one blast.
Wolf loses a life if he touches an enemy or a hazard (such as a spike or water). He revives nearby if he has lives left, or else the game ends and can be continued from the beginning of the level. The status areas on the top of the screen alternates between showing the score, the number of lives remaining, the equipped weapon, and the number of snow bombs and showing the ice key fragments collected.
Objects
| Ice Block | |
|---|---|
| Touching an ice block causes it to melt and release an item. | |
| Button | |
| Stepping on this button causes three temporary ice platforms to appear above it. | |
| Exit Door | |
| Jumping in front of an exit door takes Wolf to the next level if he has found all of the ice key fragments in the level. |
Items
| Ice Key Fragments | |
|---|---|
| These shards form an ice key when collected, which allows Wolf to exit the level. There are six fragments in each level. The shards follow Wolf once they have been released from an ice block, so he cannot miss collecting them once released. | |
| Snow Bomb | |
| Gives Wolf a snow bomb. He can hold multiple snow bombs in reserve and use them by pressing +.
| |
| Iron Balls | |
| Replaces the next ten snowballs with iron balls that are shot at a slight upward trajectory and can pass through multiple enemies (as opposed to snowballs, which fall in a downward arc and splat on the first enemy that they hit). | |
| Sonic Bark | |
| Replaces the next snowball with a bark that freezes any enemy in its path with one hit. | |
| Ice Arrow | |
| Augments the next snowball with an ice bolt that shoots straight across the screen, passes through terrain and multiple enemies, and freezes any enemies it touches in one hit. | |
| 1-Up | |
| Awards an extra life. |
Worlds
| Ice Civilization | |
|---|---|
| Jungle Civilization | |
| Incas | |
| Egyptians | |
History
Release
The Master System was initially due for release by Virgin Games in Europe in March[1], later May[2][3] then June 1994[4]. However, the European version of the game was cancelled, presumably due to slowing Master System sales. As the console was still very popular in Brazil at the time, Sega's Brazilian distributor Tec Toy published it there. The game likely had not completed playtesting as there is considerable slowdown in the later levels.
Versions
The main character is called "Wolf" in the Master System version but "Cool Coyote" in the original Amiga game. Several gameplay changes were made to accommodate the weaker hardware. Levels are shorter and are less detailed, there are fewer enemies on screen, and Wolf has been given green overalls, possibly to make him appear less like Sonic the Hedgehog. Ice key fragments are found in enemies after freezing them in the original game, but they are found in item blocks in the Master System version. The Amiga version has "puppies," miniature versions of Cool Coyote, that can be found in the level. They follow Cool Coyote and fire snowballs concurrently with him.
Production credits
- Game Design by: Andrew Braybrook
- Converted by: Darran Eteo, Steve Turner
- Graphics by: John W Lilley
Magazine articles
- Main article: Fire & Ice/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
Master System version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
81 |
|---|---|
| Based on 2 reviews | |
| Master System, BR |
|---|
 Cover
|
 Cart |
Unreleased versions
|
| Fire & Ice |
|---|
| System(s): Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive |
| Publisher: Virgin Games |
| Developer: Graftgold Creative Software |
Planned release date(s):  |
Developers Graftgold wanted to bring Fire & Ice to the Sega Mega Drive and were in negotiations with a Japanese publisher, but found it difficult to get approval from Sega Europe[12].
A Sega Game Gear version was reviewed in the March 1994 issue of Sega Pro, but never released. Both European Master System and Game Gear versions were scheduled for release in February 1994[13], with the Game Gear version later being listed for May 1994.[14]
Game Gear version
| Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
74 |
|---|---|
| Based on 5 reviews | |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
256kB | Cartridge (BR) |
References
- ↑ Sega Power, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 91
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sega Magazin, "Juni 1994" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 8
- ↑ Play Time, "6/94" (DE; 1994-05-04), page 26
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-15), page 12
- ↑ File:Fire & Ice SMS credits.pdf
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sega Power, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-02), page 90
- ↑ Super Juegos, "Abril 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 136
- ↑ Sega Force Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 8
- ↑ Sega Pro, "February 1994" (UK; 1993-12-30), page 14
- ↑ Sega Pro, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-01-27), page 14
- ↑ Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 12
- ↑ Mega Power, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-09-23), page 15
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-10), page 14
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-05-16), page 21
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-15), page 83
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-26), page 24
- ↑ Sega Pro, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-01-27), page 53
- ↑ Sega Zone, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-23), page 78
| Fire & Ice | |
|---|---|
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