Bugs II was the sequel to the first winner of Color Computer Magazines programming contest, and was an enhanced commercial version of that original game.
This game mixes arcade and adventure elements. It features 6 levels, each with multiple screens, of large mazes. It has multiple types of bugs to shoot, but you also you have to find keys, missiles, etc. to open doors, etc. There are also hidden passageways on later levels, and special secrets (worth a *lot* of points) later on in the game.You can only carry one item at a time, so if you find that you have the wrong key to open a door, you must exchange that key for a different one to try again. The ultimate goal is the destroy the reactor found on level 6. One nice feature - if you play the game and make it to another level, you are then given the option to start on any level up to the highest one you have made it to (rather than always having to start from level 1).
These two programmers teamed up with Dave Dies to create Gates of Delirium, an Ultima III style game for the Coco 1/2, a few years later.
Title: Bugs II
Author: Dave Shewchun and Roland Knight
Publisher: Four Star Software
Released: 1984
Requires: Color Computer 1,2,3, 64K RAM, disk or tape.
Download BUGSII_DSK_AND_MANUAL.ZIP. This contains the DSK image of the game, and a PDF of the original manual. Type LOADM"BUGS-II", followed by EXEC, to run the game. You can play with keyboard using the arrow keys to move, and spacebar to fire, or use the right joystick. There are extra keys used to use keys and fire missiles (see the manual for details).