Hover Bovver GBA

Hover Bovver
General
Author	Neil Balmer (spinal_cord)
Type	Arcade Games
Version	2005
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2005/07/18
Links
Download
Website

This is a homebrew port of the C64 classic Hover Bovver.

It was presented in the PDRoms Coding Competition #3.33.

User guide

The purpose of the game is to mow the lawn (using the neighbour's mower) whilst avoiding static obstacles, the flowerbeds and mobile enemies, including the neighbour himself.

The player's pet dog will antagonise the neighbour and keep him away, but as the dog itself is vulnerable to the mower, care must be taken not to run it over.

Completion of a level requires to mowing every square of grass on the screen.

The mower moves slowly at first, but accelerates rapidly if it is moving in a single direction, encouraging the player to optimise a route to include as many long, straight lines as possible.

The player is pursued by the neighbour, an antagonist who always moves directly towards the player. And mowing flowers results in a second antagonist, the gardener, appearing who pursues the player in the same way as the neighbour.

Unlike the neighbour, the gardener will not walk over the existing flowerbeds. Moving the mower too fast results in the mower heat gauge rising; if it reaches maximum, the mower will stop moving until the gauge drops back to a particular level. It usually results in the player being caught by the neighbour or gardener.

Helper

The player's only weapon is their dog. Player can set the dog on the neighbour or gardener, which causes them to run away or freeze in place. The amount of time for which this can be done is limited (displayed as a Dog Loyalty meter).

The dog also remains active, roaming randomly on the board even when not being used to attack. A Dog Tolerance meter slowly drops, representing a time limit. Once this reaches zero, the dog begins to attack the mower, causing an immediate overheat if he manages to bite it.

If Dog Loyalty remains, the dog can be distracted from attacking the mower by commanding it to attack the neighbour or gardener instead. Also, if the mower collides with the dog, the Dog Tolerance meter immediately drops to zero.

Controls

D-Pad - Move

A Set the dog on neighbour or gardener

Screenshots

Online emulator

Can use gamepad or customise in the control settings.

Game Boy Advance	Keyboard

External links

• PDRoms - http://www.pdroms.de/pdrc3_33-submissions.php (archived)