Tarzan Goes Ape


by Chris Graham, Martyn Hartley
Code Masters Ltd
1991
Crash Issue 87, Apr 1991   page(s) 43

Code Masters
£2.99

Arrraggggarrrhl Not a very good impression, was it? Tarzan... lord of the jungle. Not content with being brought up by apes, he's now gone and got turned into one! That's what comes of upsetting witch doctors. To cure the spell, Tartan has to collect herbs, a diamond, a mask, bones, a ring and a cauldron. In his new guise the natives don't recognise him, so Tarzan has to fend off their attacks with an Infinite supply of coconuts. Gameplay is essentially platform based as you work your way up through the vertically scrolling jungle.

This is the type of game that Code Masters have got so good at. A simple idea coupled with excellent graphics and sound makes a thoroughly enjoyable arcade romp.

The detailed graphics have a great cartoon style and are very colourful. The anti-colour clash mob can't complain about this either, as you can play in colour or monochrome.

A fast trigger finger is needed is some situations, as the creatures you encounter can get very nasty. There are many levels of jungle action to battle through, as well as bonus levels where you collect as many diamonds as you can within the time limit. Tarzan Goes Ape is a bit of a stonker: it's completely addictive and a good laugh too!


Overall: 85%

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 66, Jun 1991   page(s) 73

BARGAIN BASEMENT

RICH PELLEY goes dizzy over the latest batch of Codies games and JON PILLAR has quite a bit of trouble getting a word in edgeways.

CodeMasters
£2.99
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

The title to this game is a rather amusing pun because the 'local' witchdoctor (Witch doctor? Oh, that one. Ho ho ho) has turned Tarzan into a monkey. I mean 'ape'. So he has indeed "gone ape" as the title suggests, as well as no doubt being rather cross. Anyway, you take the part of Tarzan, in monkey form, and your only hope of becoming human again is to to collect the various ingredients needed to make a special magic potion. (Sounds ever so like the up-and-coming Toki from Ocean, if you ask me.)

As with most Codies game of late, it's all a simple concept. You start at the bottom and have to reach the top of each vertically-scrolling level by jumping between platforms and climbing vines, killing nasties as you go by throwing rocks at them. The ingredients have been conveniently scattered throughout, and bananas and doughnuts can be also collected for score as you go. Death is always a result of you walking or jumping into a baddy as they don't actually come at you (and it can be a bit too easy to kill yourself in the process when all you really wanted to do is climb a vine).

There are no other probs as far as the programming goes (the graphics are fine for a start). It's just that after minimal plays I found that the novelty soon wore off and boredom set in. There are different levels, to say nothing of the different baddies and backgrounds and bonus levels too, but so far as the gameplay goes nothing really changes. It's a shame, because with a bit more to it (the screen scrolling horizontally as well for instance) it would have been a bit of a corker. This is just one of those games that's slickly programmed, but at the end of the day everso slightly too simple and repetitive. Ho hum.


Overall: 68%

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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