Grand Monster Slam
Encyclopedia
Grand Monster Slam is a computer game for the Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64
, Atari ST
and PC
. It is heavily based on the 1985 arcade game Penguin Wars. In Amiga Power
's first All Time Top One Hundred in the inaugural 'Issue 0', it was declared to be the 100th best Amiga game of all time. It never reappeared in the top 100 and its initial inclusion was said to be due to the insistence of a single writer.
The game is based on the fictional Grand Monster Slam tournament set on the fantasy
world of GhoID. The competitors of Grand Monster Slam are drawn from staple fantasy races including troll
s, orc
s, ogre
s and imp
s. The player plays an unnamed dwarf. The final boss is a golden goblin named Winner, based on the logo of the developer, Golden Goblins.
tournament, and, if he wins the final, successfully complete a game of Faulton Feeding (see below) to advance to the next league.
Upon becoming champion of the third and final league the player is awarded the Gold Medal and the Yellow Jerkin by the King. If the player loses a match, he is made the King's fool
. If he has made it past the first league, he will be given the opportunity to begin the league again, but will lose all his points.
. Each of the two players stands on each end. On each side of the court six Beloms (also known as 'Boms') are lined up.
The aim of Grand Monster Slam is to kick all one's Beloms over to the opposite side, then run across the pitch to claim victory. When kicked across Beloms land at the back of the pitch, then move to occupy one of the six spot's on the player's line as soon as one is free. To succeed the player must try to hit his opponent with his Beloms in order to knock him off his feet, thus briefly preventing him from kicking his own Beloms across the pitch. Gameplay is a mixture of dodging the opponent's Beloms while accurately kicking one's own in order to knock them down.
The Beloms themselves are brown, spherical ball-like creatures with faces, which tremble as the player approaches them.
The pitch is separated from the spectator stands by a low wall. If a Belom is kicked over the wall, the Belom player receives a 'Pelvan' (penalty). A duck
-like creature descends from above the pitch on a rope and makes its way to the opposite end of the field. The penalty-taker then kicks the Pelvan-creature, and the other must move to try to save it. If he fails to catch the Pelvan, three Beloms move from the opponent's end to his (if the opponent has less than four Beloms left on his end, enough move so that he only has one left). If he catches it, one Belom moves to the opponent's end. The Pelvan can either by kicked left, right, or straight ahead, and the receiver can move in the same directions, so any Pelvan has a one-in-three chance of being saved.
In the first league, the pitch is empty. In the second and third leagues the two opponents are separated by a low wall with a gap in the middle. This has two consequences: the balls must be kicked with more force to get them over the wall, and the players must finish in the middle of the pitch after having gotten rid of all the Beloms in order to run across through the gap.
points, which attack him one by one. They give warning as to which one will attack next by kicking up dust just before they move in. The player must fend them off with a weapon resembling a barbell
that acts like a pugil stick
. If a Belom gets past the player's weapon, he is tripped over, the other Beloms gleefully pile in and bounce up and down on his body, and the mini-game ends.
Before each game the King gives the player a target to meet, which gets higher throughout the tournament. Depending on how many Beloms were fended off relative to this target, the player will either lose some of the points awarded in the previous round or gain bonus points.
s, lined up on pillars on the opposite side. The player must kick the Beloms into the Faultons' open mouths, which involves applying the right amount of power so that the Beloms do not fly over or under the Faultons.
In the first game of Faulton Feeding, the player must successfully feed at least two Faultons; in the second he must feed four. If he succeeds, he advances to the next league; if he fails, he must begin the league again.
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It is heavily based on the 1985 arcade game Penguin Wars. In Amiga Power
Amiga Power
Amiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
's first All Time Top One Hundred in the inaugural 'Issue 0', it was declared to be the 100th best Amiga game of all time. It never reappeared in the top 100 and its initial inclusion was said to be due to the insistence of a single writer.
The game is based on the fictional Grand Monster Slam tournament set on the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
world of GhoID. The competitors of Grand Monster Slam are drawn from staple fantasy races including troll
Troll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
s, orc
Orc
An orc is one of a race of mythical human-like creatures, generally described as fierce and combative, with grotesque features and often black, grey or greenish skin. This mythology has its origins in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien....
s, ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
s and imp
Imp
An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy or demon, frequently described in folklore and superstition. The word may perhaps derive from the term ympe, used to denote a young grafted tree.-Folklore:...
s. The player plays an unnamed dwarf. The final boss is a golden goblin named Winner, based on the logo of the developer, Golden Goblins.
Tournament
The game involves two leagues of eight competitors each, and a final league with three "boss" characters with supernatural abilities. In each league the player must compete in a knockoutSingle-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
tournament, and, if he wins the final, successfully complete a game of Faulton Feeding (see below) to advance to the next league.
Upon becoming champion of the third and final league the player is awarded the Gold Medal and the Yellow Jerkin by the King. If the player loses a match, he is made the King's fool
Court jester
A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon was a person employed to tell jokes and provide general entertainment, typically for a European monarch. Jesters are stereotypically thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern...
. If he has made it past the first league, he will be given the opportunity to begin the league again, but will lose all his points.
Rules
The standard game of Grand Monster Slam takes place on a small pitch, apparently about the same size as a tennis courtTennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
. Each of the two players stands on each end. On each side of the court six Beloms (also known as 'Boms') are lined up.
The aim of Grand Monster Slam is to kick all one's Beloms over to the opposite side, then run across the pitch to claim victory. When kicked across Beloms land at the back of the pitch, then move to occupy one of the six spot's on the player's line as soon as one is free. To succeed the player must try to hit his opponent with his Beloms in order to knock him off his feet, thus briefly preventing him from kicking his own Beloms across the pitch. Gameplay is a mixture of dodging the opponent's Beloms while accurately kicking one's own in order to knock them down.
The Beloms themselves are brown, spherical ball-like creatures with faces, which tremble as the player approaches them.
The pitch is separated from the spectator stands by a low wall. If a Belom is kicked over the wall, the Belom player receives a 'Pelvan' (penalty). A duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
-like creature descends from above the pitch on a rope and makes its way to the opposite end of the field. The penalty-taker then kicks the Pelvan-creature, and the other must move to try to save it. If he fails to catch the Pelvan, three Beloms move from the opponent's end to his (if the opponent has less than four Beloms left on his end, enough move so that he only has one left). If he catches it, one Belom moves to the opponent's end. The Pelvan can either by kicked left, right, or straight ahead, and the receiver can move in the same directions, so any Pelvan has a one-in-three chance of being saved.
In the first league, the pitch is empty. In the second and third leagues the two opponents are separated by a low wall with a gap in the middle. This has two consequences: the balls must be kicked with more force to get them over the wall, and the players must finish in the middle of the pitch after having gotten rid of all the Beloms in order to run across through the gap.
Mini-games
Grand Monster Slam has two mini-games, which appear in between the main matches. They can also be practised from the main menu.Revenge of the Beloms
Revenge of the Beloms takes place after every quarter-final and semi-final. The player is surrounded by eight Beloms at the compassCompass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
points, which attack him one by one. They give warning as to which one will attack next by kicking up dust just before they move in. The player must fend them off with a weapon resembling a barbell
Barbell
A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, weightlifting and powerlifting. Barbells range in length from to although bars above 7' in length are used primarily by powerlifters and aren't commonplace...
that acts like a pugil stick
Pugil stick
A pugil stick is a heavily padded pole-like training weapon used by military personnel for training in rifle and bayonet combat since the early 1940s. The pugil stick is similar to a quarterstaff or Japanese bo, and may be marked at one end to indicate which portion represents the bayonet proper...
. If a Belom gets past the player's weapon, he is tripped over, the other Beloms gleefully pile in and bounce up and down on his body, and the mini-game ends.
Before each game the King gives the player a target to meet, which gets higher throughout the tournament. Depending on how many Beloms were fended off relative to this target, the player will either lose some of the points awarded in the previous round or gain bonus points.
Faulton Feeding
After winning the final of the first and second leagues, the player must complete a game of Faulton Feeding. This takes place on the same pitch as the main games, with six Beloms lined up in front of the player as usual, and six Faultons, which resemble frogFrog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, lined up on pillars on the opposite side. The player must kick the Beloms into the Faultons' open mouths, which involves applying the right amount of power so that the Beloms do not fly over or under the Faultons.
In the first game of Faulton Feeding, the player must successfully feed at least two Faultons; in the second he must feed four. If he succeeds, he advances to the next league; if he fails, he must begin the league again.