Vixen (video game)

Vixen is a platform game developed by Intelligent Design and published by Martech in 1988 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum. (Since "vixen" is pronounced like wichsen, an obscene word meaning "to jerk off" in German, the game was renamed She-Fox in German-speaking countries.)[1]

Vixen
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Developer(s)Intelligent Design
Publisher(s)Martech
Programmer(s)Ian McArdle
Jonathan Howell
Nick Jones
Artist(s)Malcolm J. Smith
Mark Eason
Composer(s)Jason C. Brooke
Platform(s)Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
ReleaseAugust 1988
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Each level must be completed within a time limit, by progressing from left to right. The player's character is armed only with a whip, used to defeat enemies and to collect bonus items such as gems (for points), extra lives and time. The player's character can also collect fox head tokens. If enough are collected by the end of the level, she will transform into a fox, allowing the player to enter a special underground lair. Here she can collect gems, mega gems (which increase scoring potential above ground) and weapon upgrades (to increase the power of her whip). A notable feature in the game was that the movements of the main character were (at least in some versions of the game) captured from the moving picture, thus the making animation more realistic than usual for a computer game of that era.

Plot

Vixen is the last human on the planet Granath, which is now ruled by a race of dinosaurs. Abandoned as a child and raised by magical foxes, she intends to follow through on a promise she made to her elders to wipe the dinosaurs out and restore the planet to humanity.

Reception

The various versions of Vixen received a wide range of review scores, including 452/1000 from ACE,[2] 8/10 from Atari ST User,[2] 7-8/10 from Computer & Video Games,[3] 60% from Crash,[4] between 42–72% from The Games Machine,[5][6] and 6/10 from Your Sinclair.[7] The cover of the game box caused a lot of controversy, as it features the Page Three girl Corinne Russell in the guise of the Vixen and also includes a poster of the box cover.[8] High street chain Boots refused to stock the game, prompting Martech to re-issue the game with a less provocative cover. The cover of the May 1988 issue of Your Sinclair, which featured the photo was equally controversial as it attracted a number of complaints,[9] in regards to the provocative nature of Russell's pose, different from the box cover. However, that issue became the second best selling issue ever released, with 80,368 issues sold.[10]

gollark: Yeeees?
gollark: Some sort of magic box with an internet connection and possibly video output? Yes.
gollark: They certainly seem to obtain PCBs from *somewhere* in fairly large quantities.
gollark: In one of the other departments.
gollark: I think the school also has some sort of PCB production equipment extant.

References
  1. Smith, Martin. "Vixen for Atari ST (1988) Trivia". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  2. "ACE Magazine Issue 11". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  3. "CVG Magazine Issue 081". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  4. "Sinclair ZX Spectrum Reviews". Zxspectrumreviews.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  5. "The Games Machine Magazine Issue 11". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  6. "The Games Machine Magazine Issue 08". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  7. "Vixen". Ysrnry.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  8. "Micromania Segunda Epoca (Spanish) Issue 03". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  9. "Dark Side : Your sinclair Magazine : Issues 31". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  10. "The YS Rock'n'Roll Years - Issue 29". Ysrnry.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
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