Lava Hero is based on a cell phone game that has a single binary that loads on a Coco 1,2 or 3 - but it auto-detects if it is running on a Coco 3 and asks for the player's monitor type and then uses enhanced colors. The game has a single control - the primary joystick button. The game starts with the player (a Ninja) on top of a platform over a bubbling lava pit, and another random platform (random in position horizontally from the player as well as a random width), and the player needs to "build" a bridge straight up by holding the button down. Once the player thinks the bridge is long enough to reach the 2nd platform, they let go and the bridge angles down from the players position. If it lands on the 2nd platform, the player can run across and gets points. If they land it dead center, the game says "PERFECT!" and awards bonus points. If the players bridge is too short or too long, the player character still runs across the bridge, but then plummets into the lava and the player loses one of their 3 lives.
Some rounds also add a "magma gem" floating above the lava between the two platforms; once the bridge is built and the player's ninja character starts running across, the player can click the button again to run underneath the bridge and grab the gem, but they have click one last time to get back on top before they reach the 2nd platform, else they die on impact at the 2nd platform.
As with most of Paul's games, this is a free download from his itch.io site (see below for the link).
Title: Lava Hero
Author: Paul Shoemaker
Publisher: Shoemaker's Last Software
Released: September 19, 2024
Requires: Color Computer 1,2 with 64K RAM or Coco 3 with 128K RAM; joystick or mouse. (an MC-10 version is available as well.)
Download Lava Hero from itch.io.