SUPER GAME GUIDE
Look, over there, through that swirling cloud of strange mist... No, it can't be, but it is! SU's guide to the game-greats of yester-year. Yes indeedy there have been some good 'uns on the market in the last few years so now's the time to start polishing up on your collection if you've missed out on any of these fabbo titles. Mark Patterson, who's been in the business since before he was born and who has written not just for SU but also for Amiga, ST, PC and Console mages gives us an extra critical run down of the best...
STEG
Label: Codemasters
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Mark Patterson
The Codies seem to be specialising in weirdness, especially with the star of this game - Steg the Slug! Guide him through loads of treacherous levels as he attempts to feed his hungry children while collecting bionic slug packs and nitrous-oxide speed-ups!
Steg is strange concept, but an awesome game. The controls are responsive and there's loads to do. Yet another winner from Codemasters. Also available on Super All Stars Compilation.
Label: Code Masters
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Alan Dykes
Game plots come and go and when a totally original idea comes out it tends either to be completely obscure and unplayable or extremely interesting and addictive, Lemmings being a prime example of the latter. Well Codies, masters of the strange storyline (and it must be admitted the odd simulator or two hundred) have managed to top the scales yet again.
Steg is a slug, pure and simple. He doesn't have any nasty vices like drinking or smoking or eating ten tins of beans every day, in fact his only worry in life is the fact that as an asexual invertebrate he (she? It?) can't stop producing babies, known as t'yungunz. Naturally, as a responsible parent and potential computer games star, Steg must feed these hungry little creatures. Herein lies my only problem with Steg. You see, I always thought that birds and rodents ate maggots (and for that matter slugs) and that slugs ate grandad's cabbage and other yummy vegetable matter, but it seems that Steggy and his yungunz are unusually carnivorous and eat maggots (though presumably not other slugs) too.
Living in a strange underground world Steg isn't bothered at all by the aforementioned predatory animals, he has much more on his plate. As he travels through the shafts and corridors of his home catching maggots and trying to deliver them safely back to his hungry brood he is, himself, quite invulnerable. However, because he must trap and imprison each maggot in a bubble of slug slime which then floats upwards and away, hopefully towards his offspring, the precise location for trapping the maggots must be chosen carefully and the little green fellow must follow them all the way home. This is because Steg tunnels are littered with blowing bellows, sharp objects and various traps and obstacles, all of which have been designed by a benign maggot god to effect their escape by bursting Steg's bubbles and thus freeing them.
To help him along there are various energy, speed and score power ups as well as a special bionic slug pack consisting of robot legs, a rocket backpack and a nitrous oxide booster. These can be picked up and give him super speed for a limited period.
Steg is a very playable game. It takes a little while to get used to what is, admittedly, a very strange concept and strange gameplay. However excellent graphics and smooth sprite control combined with more tunnels than you've probably ever had to explore before in search of maggots, means that this game is a very worthy purchase, made even more so by the fact that it is completely original and still only £3.99. Unbelievable.
STEVE:
This game is a a little gem. When I started to play it I was impressed by the graphics and overall feel but I seriously doubted the playability and lastability margins of such a strange storyline. I was proved wrong. Feeding Steg's offspring takes lots of skill and thought and promises to keep you busy for a long time.
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