Producer: Elite
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Andy Williams and Trevor Perks
It's almost as if the Elite team have been in hiding since their last effort 911 TS but they have in fact been very busy, putting together their contribution to the current fad for boxing games: Frank Bruno's Boxing.
Like in Rocky, your view of the action is given from behind your character. The characters are smaller, but they are able to move around the ring to a degree. Unfortunately you cannot control their footwork; this is a shame because this means that not one of the boxing simulations leaves any room for what has to be the smartest tactic legging it.
The program allows for a wide variety of movements. Not only are left and right head punches allowed, but body punches too, and if you opponent is tottering on the brink you can deliver a right upper-cut or even a right hook just to finish him off. You can make you boxer dodge left or right, and should you suspect a biggy coming your way you can duck. If you don't fancy exposing yourself to violence by dodging, you are able to put up a guard although you will have to drop it to deliver the body punches or the upper cut. As the two combatants slug it out, they give the appearance of moving round the ring, but this movement is all controlled by the computer.
The type of blow you can deliver rather depends on the state of your opponent's health. At the top of the screen there are two pictures, Bruno on the right and the current contender on the left. Between the two mug shots a clock, two status bars and a knock-out meter are displayed. The status bars increase or decrease depending on the performance of the appropriate boxer: if a boxer catches a lot of punches then his status will decrease until he topples. If his status is low but he manages to turn the tide for a while and give the other guy some gyp, then as his opponent's bar diminishes his own will increase.
If a boxer takes a count because his status bar has reached zero, he will get up to find that his status bar has only partially recovered, thus reflecting his weaker condition. The knock-out meter registers the number of successive blows dealt. If you rain down a hail of blows on your opponent, the arrows on his knock-out meter will build up with each punch until they reach the letters 'KO'. When they flash you can administer your final blows, the hook or upper cut. Should your opponent break your volley with just one return blow, then the arrows will rapidly diminish.
Thus there are two ways you can knock down your opponent: wear him down by reducing his status bar before he reduces yours; or administer a volley of punches culminating with a hook or cut as the knock-out blow. If you achieve three knockouts in under three minutes then you win that round, otherwise your opponent wins on points and you can only ask for a rematch.
After winning your first fight you are given a code which will allow you to load, from tape, the next opponent. The fighting styles of the eight boxers are all different, and each one is harder to beat than his predecessor. The game keeps a record of the best knock-out times against each of the boxers and also a highscore table for the points scored. If you want to defer a bout to a later date, like after Star Trek, then keep a note of the code number. They aren't so easy to come by!
COMMENTS
Control keys: 1/A guard up/down, I/O jab left/right, I/O with 1 body punch left/right, U/P dodge left/right, Q to duck, any on bottom row for knock-out
Joystick: Kempston and Interface 2
Keyboard play: easier than using a joystick
Use of colour: very little used
Graphics: lack clarity but have a lot of movement
Sound: pretty limited
Skill levels: eight
Lives: three per bout
Screens: N/A
The main question we were asked at the ZX Microfair must have been "which do you prefer, Rocky or Frank Bruno?" Well now its time to stop beating about the bush. I prefer, as boxing simulations go, this one. I agree that the graphics in Rocky are a good deal better and clearer but the movement is so limited and repetitive as compared with Bruno. This shortcoming is made worse because Rocky has four different levels of skill but only the one character. For my part, I would rather leave boxing simulations alone, but I think it must be plain that Elite, for once, offers much more.
Frank's boxing game is the type of game that gradually grows on you. At first, using a fair few keys, things were difficult. Using the joystick alone, the game was unplayable. Eventually, using a combination of both joystick and keys, l began to make progress. The graphics are messy at times when the boxers cross, but they are generally OK. I found this game addictive.
In my opinion this is the best of the boxing games that I have seen this month. Even though its graphics are slightly confusing I prefer them to Rocky's as there is more expression in the faces of the boxers. There are eight different characters in the game, each with their own personality. The first is a bully type who sticks his tongue out at you if you hit him while his guard is up. You can really get into playing this game as it seems very realistic in the way the boxers move and act. Generally this game is very good, although I can see myself getting bored with it as there are only eight characters to fight.
Roger: Despite fuzzy, naffola graphics that look like the view through my bathroom window, Bruno's attempts to deal with eight different sparring partners stands head, shoulders and boxing gloves above the competition.
This sparring simulation offers the same back of head shot as Rocco but the knockouts require a great deal more in the way of knuckle-dusting. On top of which movements, fight tactics and programming twists, like the knock down feature, make for maintained interest and complication. Slugging through the screens with our Frank saw me swimming in sweat until I was left out for the count. But it was worth it just to see the crowd go frantic at the front. 4/5 HIT
Rick: If you're gonna beat the brains out of someone, then it's better to do it here. 3/5 HIT
Ross: In the battle of the boxers, it's a knockout to Frank by one fall and two submissions. (Surely some mistake! Ed) 3/5 HIT
Publisher: Elite
Price: £6.95
Memory: 48K
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair
Three boxing games have been released simultaneously - all based loosely on Punch Out!! which is doing so well in the arcades.
Coming out on top is Frank Bruno's Boxing from Elite, more realistic and enjoyable than both Rocco and Knockout.
You have eight fights, before you are proclaimed world champ, against many top fighters including Andra Puncheredov from USSR and Fling Long Chop from Japan.
The two boxers step into the ring, put their fists up and the fight is on. Ducking, slugging and dodging you have to knock out your opponent three times in a three minute round, before moving onto the next bout. A high score championship table adds excitement to the game and is a feature lacking in the other boxing software contenders.
Rather unfairly, your opponent can throw right hooks and uppercuts at will, whereas you can only throw those when the knockout bell is ringing. When you do deliver a KO the result is spectacular - your opponent staggers then keels over. In comparison, the boxer in Alligata's Knockout merely sits down.
Keyboard control in all three games is more satisfactory than using a joystick, and especially in this game. There are eight separate moves which are difficult to simulate with a joystick, though simple with the keyboard.
The monochrome graphics are inferior to those in Rocco, but are reasonably defined. Of the three, Frank Bruno's Boxing is the most faithful version of the original arcade game, including the same scoring system. As usual your energy decreases for each blow received and marks are scored for every correct punch. When those marks reach the KO bell you can go in for the kill.
It's a pity that Frank Bruno isn't a two player game but if you are into vicarious violence - buy it.
Label: Encore
Author: To follow
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: 'Harry' Dillon
For those of you who are as brain dead as Frankie pretends to be, FBB is a 'simulation' of a boxing match in the same way as the classic arcade game, Punch Out. You view big Frank from behind and have total control over his dodging, weaving, bobbing, punching, and being hit very hard. Your aim is to win the title by beating hell out of 8 internationally stereotyped opponents ranging from the big but clumsy Canadian Crusher (a lumberjack by occupation) through to the USA champion, Peter Perfect.
Graphics are cartoony and very well animated. Sound is just a few thwaks here and there, but this doesn't detract from the enjoyability. Playability is high, and I can see it being played for quite a while.
MACHINE: Spectrum/CBM 64/Amstrad
SUPPLIER: Elite
PRICE: Spectrum £6.95, CBM 64 £7.95, Amstrad £8.95
Bruno goes all out to KO the opposition in Elite's boxing simulation, endorsed by Britain's top boxer.
The object of the game is to defeat eight opponents in a bid for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Fighting styles differ from opponent to opponent - so simply learning the controls of the game isn't enough.
To defeat each opponent, Bruno - the character you control - has to knock him down three times during a three minute round.
A KO is achieved by reducing your opponents "status" - indicated by a "bar graph" graphic at the top of the screen - by a barrage of punches or by activating the KO meter which enables you to land a devastating KO punch! If you fail to defeat your opponent, you get a chance to have another crack at him.
The screen shows the ring with a huge crowd of spectators surrounding it. You look over Bruno's shoulders at a cartoon style graphic opponent - each of the eight challengers are different. Frank began life as a wire frame figure - as can be seen from our pre-production screen shots. Since then Elite have altered him to become a fully animated and "filled-in " character.
You control Bruno using keyboard or joystick - either way you'll feel as if you've been through a couple of rounds with a real bruiser!
Overall a great sports simulation. The animation is great and play action really addictive. A champion game!
CBM-64
Elite Systems
Sport Simulation
£6.95
You can duck, dodge left, dodge right as well as landing right and left punches on your opponent s jaw. When the KO sign is flashing you can land a right hook/uppercut depending on whether your guard is up or down. Whether you make body blows or head blows is determined in the same way.
All of which makes Frank Bruno's boxing technically a more sophisticated game than Rocco, the other contender in the boxing stakes this month. If you win the bout you get a secret code which enables you to go on and load in the next boxer. You have to take on eight boxers as opposed to the four in Gremlin's Rocco in order to become heavyweight champion of the world. Each of the boxers has a different fighting style.
Yet somehow the game doesn't succeed graphically in the way Rocco does. Punches don't produce the same squelching effect on your opponent, and your first opponent the Canadian Crusher, could be anything from a gorilla to a barrage balloon.
The screen is divided into two main sections. The upper half shows fight time, score and bonus - together with Bruno's status. The lower half shows a perspective view of the ring, it's fairly easy to defeat the Canadian Crusher, sometimes you can knock him out with just left and right jabs. I'm not totally convinced about the difference between head blows and body blows. It seems to be largely a random piece of luck if your blows have any effect.
The eight boxers are all fantasy characters laden with boring old national stereotyping. Ravioli Mafiosi (Italy) knows all the dirst tricks and uses them without a care in the world. That's not going to endear us to any computer users in Turin, is it?
Elite Systems Ltd
£6.95
Sports simulations seem to be the in thing at the moment, and I have learnt more sporting personalities' names via these programs than I've ever known.
There are one or two similar programs out at the moment, and it is up to the individual to find the one which suits them, however this one has a satisfying variation of control options and eight individual opponents, each with their own fight techniques.
A joystick option is provided but you still need to use some keys, in fact I found it to be one of the few games where the keyboard was preferable. Operating keys are not redefinable but have been chosen well: 1-Guard up, Q-Duck, A-Guard down, U-Dodge left, I-Left punch, O-Right punch, P-Dodge right and bottom row keys-Right hook/uppercut.
The eight boxers represent different countries and their names are quite amusingly reflective of the nationality, good job the race relation board didn't notice!
The easiest boxer, Canadian Crusher, loads with the program but to meet other opponents you have to defeat him to get a code which will allow you to load in the next fighter from side B of the tape. Good fun, but perhaps not the variety or sophistication of action than many gamers are used to, the graphics are impressive, with a view over the back of FB who you control, and the boxers are well animated.
ARCADE
Clare Edgeley blasts her way through a wealth of challenging software.
Get fit quick just about sums up the last 12 months. 1985 has seen enough sports games to put you off doing anything more strenuous than lifting a pint glass, at least for the next year.
Since the 1984 Olympics, we have competed in every imaginable sport: played footie with Bobby Charlton, run rings round Daley Thompson and been KO'd by big Frank... There is hardly an action sport left which has not been turned into a money spinner, with a Sportsman's name attached. What is wrong with Tessa Sanderson's Javelin anyway?
Daley Thompson's Decathlon was first to the tape back in November '84 and notched up a gold for Ocean when it jumped to number one in the charts for a few weeks. You have to compete in all ten events of the decathlon, taking part in the high jump, long jump and pole vault as well as track events. The 400m is the most gruelling and to keep up speed you must pump the joystick back and forth, which may result in a touch of cramp. The graphics are colourful and the game does give a taste of the real thing.
Melbourne House also attempted a compilation of events with Sports Hero, although it was nowhere near as successful as Daley Thompson. Sports Hero has you competing in four events - 100m sprint, long jump, 110m hurdles and the pole vault, over three difficulty levels. To gain speed you must pummel the run button and press the jump button before takeoff. Aching fingers seem to be the norm in that type of game and in many cases you will end up with a sick keyboard as well. There is no sound and the graphics are not fantastic, although the scrolling background is interesting. A few more events should have been possible.
More recently, Brian Jacks' Superstar Challenge from Martech reached the top ten, although it came a poor second to Imagine's Hypersports. Both contain a weird hotch-potch of events - some interesting, others boring. Brian Jacks gives you a pretty raw deal. For £7.95 you can immerse yourself in such exciting events as squat thrusts and arm dips. Those may be thrilling to watch on TV but on computer they are about as much fun as a wet blanket.
Hypersports is a different ball game altogether. Licensed from the arcade game of the same name, the computer version is very like the original, although some events lack imagination. When swimming - or floundering, if you forget to breathe - instead of tearing down to the end of the pool, the end moves towards you. Clay pigeon shooting is certainly one of the better events, in which you must shoot the skeets through automatically moving sights. The vault is tricky and rather than vaulting as far as possible from the horse, you are likely to end up on your head beside it. The graphics are generally thought to be more professional than Daley Thompson's Decathlon, though whether the game is better is a moot point.
Jonah Barrington's Squash from New Generation is an interesting concept which seems to have fallen flat. Knock a miniscule black ball round the 3D court and try to beat Jonah at his own game. Jonah is one of Britain's leading squash players. Much was made of the fact that a taped recording of Jonah's voice calls out the scores. Unfortunately, all you get is an unintelligible gabble and it is easier to read them on the score board anyway.
We awarded imagine's World Series Baseball three stars in the June issue, which just goes to show that our forecasts are not always spot on. In June, July and August it remained at number three in the charts, only dropping to eleventh place in September.
The game opens with a traditional rendering of the tAmerican National Anthem. Then play starts, with one team pitching and the other batting. You can play with a friend or against the computer, adjusting the speed and direction of the ball when pitching and the strength and lift of your swing when batting. Loving attention has been paid to detail with a large scoreboard displaying genuine adverts between innings.
Last, but not least, boxing - the sport for ugly mugs. Cauliflower ears and battered brains are only half the fun - just think what you can do to your opponent. A few months ago three games were released simultaneously on the back of Punch Out!!, a highly successful arcade game.
Elite's Frank Bruno's Boxing knocks Rocco and Knockout for six, and is easily the most playable and realistic, offering more possible moves and a greater number of competitors than either of the other games. It is also the only boxing game featuring a sporting personality - Bruno helped in an advisory capacity during production which explains the close attention to detail.
Gremlin Graphic's Rocco squares up well in the ring, though you will find it is not as easy to dodge your opponent as it is in Frank Bruno, and there are only three competitors. The scoring system is simple and the graphics are the clearest of the three games. It is worth playing and annihilates Alligata's Knockout in the ring.
Knockout is appalling and lacks any addictive qualities. It is the only game which uses colour - the others being mono - although that could have been sacrificed for extra playability. Other than left and right punches to the body and head, there is no facility for ducking and dodging, but at least you can amble away if the going gets too rough. You tend to spend a great deal of time seeing stars after being KO'd. At least it lives up to its name.
The legendary success of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy lives on. Platform and ladders games are still the rage and dozens of versions have landed in the Sinclair User offices over the last 12 months. Two years ago Manic Miner was a sure recipe for success, and because it was ahead of its time a lot of money was made. Programming techniques are now more sophisticated and with games like Alien 8 and Spy vs Spy around, who needs a Manic Miner spin-off?
However, they are here to stay and some at least are worth the money you pay for them. One of the more successful games is Strangeloop, released late in '84, which has gone a long way to repairing the damage done to Virgin by Sheepwalk - one of its earliest and most awful games.
A half-crazy computer is the source of all your troubles in Strangeloop and, playing the part of a metagalactic repairman, you must shut it down. There are over 240 rooms filled with lethal swarf which attacks and damages your space suit. A jetbike waits somewhere and will make your task easier but you have to locate and refuel it first. Objects picked up will help with various tasks and friendly robots will patch your torn suit. The graphics are colourful and simple. and there is even a facility for saving your position on tape, to be resumed later when you have recharged your batteries.
Jet Set Willy II is the biggest rip-off of them all as Software Projects has done little other than add about 70 extra screens to the original. Essentially it is the same as Jet Set Willy which was launched back in 1984. The plot is similar; clear up the house before going to bed and avoid the hundreds of lethal thingummies found in each room. Despite being little more than a re-release, Jet Set Willy II is currently doing very well in the charts.
Despite the lack of original thought, if you are still hooked on the challenge of platform and ladders, try The Edge's Brian Bloodaxe. A loopy game if ever there was one. Brian, a viking soldier has been trapped in a block of ice for centuries, and as it thaws, he leaps out shivering, but ready to conquer the British. Flapping 100 seats, deadly ducks and mad Scotsmen are a few of the dangers that lurk on each level. Objects to collect and chasms to be leapt add to his daunting task. Brian Bloodaxe is at least as good as Jet Set Willy, with much visual humour and bright, clear graphics.
Hewson, which has made a name for itself in recent months with arcade adventures such as Dragontorc and simulations like Heathrow ATC, must have had a brain storm late last year with Technician Ted, which is totally unlike the semi-serious games released since. Guide Ted around a silicon chip factory while looking for a plate of the real things. Pick up knives, forks and other necessary implements and avoid several nasty traps. Easy to play and reasonably addictive, Technician Ted is not one of Hewson's best games but has done quite well in the platform and ladders stakes.
Artic's Mutant Monty is more sophisticated than Technician Ted and includes some extremely tricky screens requiring split second timing - if you are slightly out, a lemon or some other incongruous object will squash you flat, and then where will the beautiful maiden be? it is a constant source of amusement that so much work goes into preparing intricate story lines bearing absolutely no resemblance to the game you are playing.
On the whole rip-offs are uniformly mediocre in standard and not the sort of game you would buy for lasting playability. Real fanatics will find Activision's Toy Bizarre and Micromega's Jasper a doddle, and probably have more fun playing blindfold with their hands tied behind their backs. Both games are average and employ run-of-the-mill graphics. In Toy Bizarre, the player leaps round the levels of a toy factory popping balloons while being chased by a gang of irate toys.
Meanwhile, in Jasper much the same thing is going on, only this time you are a furry rat collecting money bags and treasure chests while avoiding furry cats, rabbits and other hairy animals. Platform games are usually fast moving and it is generally easier to keep up with the pace using a joystick. Unless you have very strong fingers, Jasper is doomed as your only option is to use the Spectrum's sticky keyboard.
Arcade adventures have come into their own in recent months, some remaining for weeks at a time in the top ten. With the advent of games like Gyron, fewer people are willing to put up with games like Jet Pac - classics two years ago but now gathering dust in cupboards across the country.
Superior graphics is the name of the game and the Spectrum is being stretched to its limits in a constant effort to improve software. Some games combine excellent graphics with originality, though equally large numbers have been launched on the back of the successful few. Ultimate's Knight Lore, Underwurlde and Alien 8 are three successful examples and Nightshade is expected to do as well.
Underwurlde is rather like a vertical Atic Atac featuring the Sabre-man who must escape a series of chambers while avoiding hosts of nasties. The pace is fast, the screens colourful - a devious game.
Knight Lore and Alien 8 could, at first glance, be mistaken for the same game. Featuring superb 3D grahpics, Knight Lore's hero must search a maze of rooms and find the ingredients of a spell to lift a curse placed upon him. Each room presents a challenge and one wrong move spells instant death. The scenario in Alien 8 is different from its predecessor and the quality of graphics is even higher.
Wizard's Lair from Bubble Bus is an Atic Atac lookalike with shades of Sabre Wulf and is an excellent game, even if you have seen the same sort of thing before. Bubble Bus has made some attempt to change the scenario which covers three levels, accessed via a magic wardrobe lift.
The programmers of Firebird's Cylu were influenced by Alien 8. Cylu is in the Silver range and at £2.50 represents very good value - it is almost as frustrating as the original but the graphics are a little patchy. Ultimate should be proud that so many companies want to copy their games, though it's a crying shame that those same software houses cannot put their combined programming expertise to good use, and produce something original of their own.
Games featuring film scenarios and famous names are often the subject of massive advertising campaigns, and Domark's A View to a Kill was no exception. Played in three parts you must guide the intrepid 007 through the streets of Paris, San Francisco and into Silicon Valley to stop the evil Max Zorin from tipping chip valley into the drink. The game received mixed reviews but, at the time of writing, it had just made it into the top ten - probably due to the James Bond name. It is an exciting game but lacks much visual detail.
The Rocky Horror Show from CRL is already sliding down the charts and does not live up to its namesakes, the film and play. Rescue Janet or Brad from the Medusa machine by finding 15 component parts of the de-Medusa machine. It sounds riveting. Your task seems enormous as you can carry only one part of the machine at a time and if you expect to meet normal sane characters in the castle, forget it. More could have been made of the graphics and the action is slow in places, but it is worth playing if only to meet Magenta who will strip you of your clothes. Wow!
Beyond's Spy vs Spy is unique and features simultaneous play between two players on a split screen. Take part in the zany humour of MAD magazine's two famous characters, the black spy and the white spy, each trying to stop the other finding secret documents in a foreign embassy. Set whacky traps as you ransack each room before escaping to the airport. It is fun, highly addictive and very amusing. Buying the licence to films, books and names is an expensive business, and at last one company has made the most of it with an excellent game.
It is interesting to note that when one unusual game is launched others of a similar nature swiftly follow. Perhaps all programmers follow the same thought waves. Last summer we had an unusual trio of games, reviewed in May, June and August issues. Two are based on the human body - not the most obvious subject for a game.
Quicksilva's Fantastic Voyage is a thrilling game based on the sixties film of the same name, in which Raquel Welch is injected into the body of a brain damaged scientist. Unfortunately, your mini-sub breaks up and you have only one hour to locate all the missing parts. Searching is a novel experience as you rush from atrium to stomach to lung and heart in a never ending circle. Finding your way to the brain is difficult as it is not signposted and the turning is easy to miss. Dine on red blood cells to keep up your energy and clear any infections which frequently break out - normally in the most inaccessible parts of the scientist's anatomy. A great way to learn about your bits, and where they are situated.
Icon's Frankenstien 2000 bears little resemblance to Fantastic Voyage, though it is played in a monster's body. Whoever heard of monsters smoking fags? This one obviously did and that is probably why it's dead. On reaching the lungs, battle with cigarette packets, avoid hopping frogs in the trachea, and fire at any oxygen molecules it is your misfortune to encounter. The graphics are uninspired and the game is simple.
Genesis' Bodyworks was reviewed in June and it is difficult to know what to make of it. It is hardly an arcade game - more of an illustrated, educational tour of the workings of a human body, describing the nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems.
Space Invaders was one of the first great games on the Spectrum and software houses have never tired of the theme. Space games crop up in all categories; simulations, adventures and arcade adventures. Activision has even brought out Ballblazer, a sports game played in space. Way out!
Moon Cresta from Incentive is a traditional game in which you shoot everything in sight, and then dock with another space ship before taking off to do exactly the same on the next level. With complex games like Starion around one would think that games of this calibre would flop. But no, there must be some people around whose brains are in their trigger fingers. Surprisingly, Moon Cresta is creeping up the charts. Long live the aliens.
Melbourne House's Starion takes space travel seriously and combines a number of features, including the traditional shoot 'em up, word puzzles and anagrams. Kill off enemy space ships and collect the letters they drop, then unscramble those to form a word. Fly down to earth and answer a puzzle to change the course of Earth's history. There are 243 events to rewrite - and that amounts to a lot of flying time. Starion is well up in the top ten.
System 3 has come up with the goods against all opposition with the dreadful Death Star Interceptor, which has proved surprisingly popular. If you are really into boring games, this is right up your alley. Played in three sections, first take off into outer space, next avoid assorted aliens and then, as in Star Wars, plant a bomb in the exhaust port of an enemy death star. It is all thrilling stuff.
Quicksilva's Glass is amazing to look at. Psychedelic colours make you want to blink in this repetitive but addictive game. There are hundreds of screens to blast through, and whole sections are spent dodging columns as you hurtle through a 3D spacescape. The rest of the time is spent shooting radar antennae off unsuspecting space ships. The graphics make up for any limitations in the game and demonstrates that a traditional shoot 'em up need not be boring.
This final section consists of a number of games which cannot be categorised. A strange mixture falls into this area - many are shoot 'em ups in some form or another, others require an element of cunning and strategy.
Gyron from Firebird, a Sinclair User classic, is a unique game in which you must travel through a complex maze, dodging massive rolling balls and keeping a watchful eye on the guardian towers to be round at each junction. Those shoot at you, but approaching from another angle may change the direction of their fire. As there are two mazes to get through, it should take months. Gyron is likely to deter arcade nuts, but for those with staying power, it is an attractive proposition. It did make a brief appearance in the top ten at the time of writing, but has since fallen away.
US Gold's Spy Hunter, based on the arcade game of the same name, is a faithful replica of the original. It all takes place on the road as you drive your souped-up sports car through a variety of traps laid down by the baddies. Equip your motor with a variety of weapons, obtainable from a weapons van which you drive into Italian Job style. Rockets, smoke screens and oil slicks are all strongly reminiscent of 007.
Elite's Airwolf is a game that we found so hard as to be almost impossible, and which everyone else seemed to find a cinch - and told us so in no uncertain terms! Try if you can, to fly your chopper down a long, narrow tunnel to rescue five scientists stuck at the end. Blast your way through walls, which rematerialise as fast as you can destroy them - a well nigh impossible task for those whose trigger fingers and joysticks have suffered from the likes of Daley Thomson's Decathlon. Airwolf has done better than we predicted. You can't win them all.
Ghostbusters, the mega box office hit last Christmas was a prime candidate for a computer game and Activision was first to the ghost. Featuring all the best parts of the film, it was an instant success and Activision did well to launch it simultaneously with the movie. Drive around the city coaxing ghouls into your ghost trap but listen out for a Marshmallow Alert. That giant sticky marshmallow man is quite capable of flattening whole streets unless halted. Greenbacks play an important part in the game as you have to buy your equipment to get started, and earn enough prize money for the number of ghosts caught, in order to take part in a final showdown with Zuul.
Finally Tapper from US Gold - another Sinclair User classic. Tapper is a simple but refreshing game centered round an all-American soda bar. You play a harassed barman, who must serve his customers with drinks. Easy at first as you slide them down the bar but wait until they have gulped down the fizzy stuff. Running backwards and forwards between four bars, make sure the customers have got a drink, and catch the empties as they come skidding back. There are three difficulty levels, each one faster and more hectic than the last. Tapper is moving up the charts and we are sure that it will go far towards refreshing the parts other games cannot reach.
The fierce competition over the last 12 months has chased many companies into liquidation. There have, however, been successes, particularly with a number of small software houses bringing new blood into the market. That can only be seen as a healthy sign.
The lack of QL games software is the only disappointment. Where is it? Other than a few basic programs such as Reversi, which cut its eye teeth on the ZX-81 years ago, there has been a dearth of games for this flagging micro. If games of the quality of Knight Lore can be produced for the Spectrum, why not for the QL?
All information in this page is provided by ZXSR instead of ZXDB