Attack of the Killer Tomatoes


by Dobbin, Fatman, Stuart J. Ruecroft
Global Software
1986
Your Sinclair Issue 6, Jun 1986   page(s) 59

Global
£7.95

At last a game that reveals the true danger of tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes, I say. And you thought they were virginal little vegetables, didn't you? Well, they're not! They're rampaging fruits and this proves it. Ever wondered about the colour of those red skins, eh? Oh, the Kremlin's certainly behind this one.

The hero, Wimp Plasbot, employee of the Puritron Processing Factory, has only eight and a half hours before the menace can ketch-up with him. This booby works from nine till five (thirty - sorry, Sheena) and attempts to rid the plant of plants. Can pure-hearted Plasbot purée the peril in this pulp pandemonium? Only you can decide.

Looking like an Ultimate offering - doesn't everything nowadays? - though without quite the polish, this extremely silly offering is more in the style of Sweevo's World - though it also lacks the lunatic logic of that game. The red menace takes various forms. Easiest are the little bouncing tommies (even sounds like commies, huh?) which can be stunned with a lotta bottle - there's enough power to nix seven of them before you need to seek a recharge. Bang into one then pick it up and carry it to the press before the purée bottle at the bottom of the screen empties, otherwise time will fly forward by half an hour.

The walking killer tomatoes pose more of a problem, because contact means instant demise for all you Wimps out there. You'll need to stun them during their perambutations but I can't tell you how - just remember the Beatles Max and all will go well. With the killer tom reeling you can now push him into a hole, but beware - if he comes to, it's back to the start for you.

The third type of tomato is big and static so it shouldn't prove too much of a menace providing you can master the controls which are of the rotate and walk forward variety.

If this all sounds like too much for one day, then it is. However, finding time cards will give you what every boss has always wanted - longer working hours. You'll have to take the punch card to a time clock and these may be a bit difficult to find - most of them look like two blocks in the centre of a room.

The colonization of the Processing Factory is well under way and you'll find walls of tomatoes that have to be hurdled and some carefully judged leaps are needed if you're to suck-seeds from the pulpy peril. That said it's probably a simpler game to get to grips with than many of the Ultimate type, being rather less cryptic. Fun though, and in converting the film nominated Worst Vegetable Movie of all time Global has created a tie-in far better than the original deserved - and far better than many superior films have received!


Graphics: 8/10
Playability: 8/10
Value For Money: 8/10
Addictiveness: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Computer Issue 5, May 1986   page(s) 43

Spectrum
Global Software
Arcade Adventure
£7.95

Nothing will have a games reviewer heading for the Valium faster than a 3D isometric adventure with a film tie-in. Never fear, Global Software has found a new method for this tired old approach. Film tie-ins are usually the province of large software companies with plenty of cash to buy the rights.

Global has hit on the idea of Golden Turkey film tie-ins with some of the worst pieces of celluloid ever to grace the silver screen. The logic is presumably that they will not have to pay rights, as no movie company will admit to having them.

In the game, your hero, Wimp Plasbot, clocks on at 9 o'clock to find the tomatoes at the local cannery have mutated. Wandering through the 208 rooms spread over four levels, our hero must use various objects he finds scattered around to trap the killer tomatoes.

As usual, there are all kinds of deadly things out to get you and various problems to solve. Meanwhile, you must keep up your puree level by crushing the unmutated toms.


Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 3/5
Playability: 4/5
Value For Money: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3/5

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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