Hover!
Opening screen of Hover!
Developer(s)Microsoft
Publisher(s)Microsoft
Composer(s)Stan LePard
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseAugust 1995 (1995-08)
Genre(s)Bumper cars
Capture the flag
Mode(s)Single player

Hover! is a video game that combines elements of the games bumper cars and capture the flag. It was included on CD-ROM versions of the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system.[1][2] It was a showcase for the advanced multimedia capabilities available on personal computers at the time. It is still available from Microsoft.[3][4] The game will not run on earlier versions of Windows.[5]

Gameplay

Hover! gameplay, showing the first map

Hover! has three mazes that resemble a medieval castle, a futuristic city, and a sewer. Each maze has its own unique texture maps, music theme, and spawn locations.[6]

For each level, Hover! will cycle through each of the three mazes, or randomly select one (if that option is set). The goal of each level is to capture all of the blue flags hidden throughout the level (playing as the red hovercraft), before the opposing (blue) team collects all of the red flags. A game starts with having 3 red flags and 3 blue flags in each level, but will go up to 6 flags of each color in higher levels. Higher levels also have more opposing hovercraft and a more difficult AI. The opponent hovercraft are split into two groups: One group acts as the capture team, trying to secure all the red flags before the player collects all the blue flags, while the other group serves as the protection for the capture team, trying to defend their flags and prevent the player from interfering with the capture team's efforts. If one of those hovercraft see the player, a tone will sound, like a sonar ping, indicating they've seen him and will move to attack.

There are also orbs scattered throughout each maze that will give the player a collectable item or a status effect (such as increasing or decreasing the hovercraft's speed, or temporarily giving an invincibility shield). The collectable items are Wall (which can be placed to temporarily impede an opponent hovercraft), Spring (to make the player's hovercraft jump really high), and Cloak (to temporarily hide the player's hovercraft from the opposing team).

The HUD shows the player's score (in the top right corner), an indicator of how many flags have been captured (in the top left corner), a mini-map (in the center of the bottom), indicators of the player's speed and direction (in the bottom right), and a display of how many items the player has (in the bottom left).

Remake

Hover! was officially re-released by Microsoft in 2013, as a browser game. The re-release, although published by Microsoft, was mostly developed by Dan Church, with help from Pixel Labs and Microsoft. It was made to showcase the WebGL support in Internet Explorer 11 (but will also work on any WebGL-enabled browser). This version includes updated graphics and touch control support, as well as a multiplayer feature for up to 8 players.[7] Microsoft also offers more technical details about this release on its modern.ie website.[8] In April of 2019, the website for the game was shut down.

This version of the game was also released as a Windows 8.1 app available on the Windows Store (no longer available).[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Manes, Stephen (August 1, 1995). "Personal Computers: What Is Windows 95 Really Like?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  2. ↑ Chen, Raymond (26 December 2005). "Why did the Windows 95 CD have extra fun stuff?". The Old New Thing. Microsoft. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "The flag collecting drive game "Hover!" That came with Windows 95". gigazine.net. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Microsoft adapts Windows 95 game 'Hover' for web browsers". neowin.net. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Hover! Does Not Run with Windows NT Version 3.5 or Win32s". Support. November 15, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hover!". 1995. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  7. ↑ Capriotti, Roger (2 October 2013). "Hover: Bringing a Classic PC Game to the Web with Internet Explorer and Modern Web Standards". Windows Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "HTML5 Hover". Developer. Microsoft. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hover". Microsoft. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
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