| Spectrum Software Scene |
CONTRAST Software has produced a tape for the 48K Spectrum called Pontoon which has little to commend it to anyone who has played the original card game.
Without real-life opponents you can bluff and stakes with which to gamble, whether cash or matchsticks, this simple game loses much of its attraction.
The Contrast version does not have the presentation to compensate for the deficiencies of the computer as a medium for playing pontoon. Although the responses are fast, the cards are too small to make an interesting screen and it is not possible to bet more than a single-digit number, so that even if you want to do so you cannot gamble your entire wealth on the turn of a single card.
The tape also includes computer versions of Cribbage and Mastermind, with simple screen instructions which are difficult to follow if you have never played either game. It is also a pity that there is no menu option at the start of the tape, so that you have to load each game separately.
Pontoon is available from Contrast Software, Hampshire and costs £4.95.
MICROMANIA'S Tutankhamun for the 48K Spectrum is a maze-type arcade game with sufficient variety and incident to provide hours of entertainment.
The game features an explorer searching a Pharaoh's tomb for treasure while being pursued by cobras, spiders, skulls and mummies. He can fire against the monsters, but only horizontally, with his laser, and must at the same time collect keys to open the doors between one part of the tomb and another. Picking up treasure increases your score and you have to make your escape with the treasure before your time runs out.
One of the assets of the game is that the screen scrolls left and right, so that you have a constantly-changing setting, and a wraparound facility for the explorer at the top and bottom of the screen maintains the smooth flow of the action.
There are also five tombs from which to choose, each with a small-scale map at the top of the screen for reference.
Any of the tombs bears exploring several times to find the best route, without dangerous dead-ends, to the central treasure chamber.
Another advantage of the carefully-designed game is that although the various monsters present you with plenty of difficulty and challenge, you do not have to face the discouragement of starting again every time you are zapped; you have several lives to resume your search from wherever you finished.
Tutankhamun is available from Micromania, Surrey. It costs £5.95.
DEEP DUNGEONS and an attic full of ghosts, witches and spiders await the player of Atic Atac for the 48K Spectrum.
At the start of the colourful game you can choose one of the characters available and they include a wizard, knight and serf. Each of the characters uses a different weapon. The wizard uses a fireball, the serf a short sword and the knight an axe.
When your character is set, you will be transported to a three-dimensional representation of the entrance hall to the castle. To pass the entrance door you have to find the golden key. On the way you have to pick up food to keep you going. The authors have created an amusing and original representation of the strength of characters as it is whittled away by the attacking monsters. At the right of the screen is a turkey which, at the start of the game, has all its flesh. As the monsters attack the turkey will lose its skin and become bones. When it has been picked clean you lose one of your three lives.
Dotted around several of the rooms - which you will enter - are time-warp generators which, if not locked, will transfer you to another room or floor. There are also barred doors through which, on occasions, you will be able to pass to other rooms.
The lower levels of the castle are probably the most dangerous because they have specific monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. They can be destroyed only with objects which you collect and not with the weapon you are given at the start of the game.
Atic Atac is highly recommended for children and adults as the depth of plot and the GAS graphics make it a superb game. It can be obtained from Ultimate Play the Game, Leicestershire. It costs £5.50.
KRAZY KONG and Frogger are two original arcade games which PSS has converted to the 16K Spectrum. The name of the latter game has been changed to Hopper.
In Krazy Kong you have to get up a tower of scaffolding, using a series of ladders, to save Jane from King Kong, avoiding fireballs, barrels, pies, lifts and flans.
If that is not difficult enough the authors have made it almost impossible to get a good control of the movement keys, as they are so close together. You may also have difficulty starting the game, as the control keys are in the top left-hand corner of the keyboard and the start key is at the bottom right.
Hopper is not much easier, although the control keys are all in a better position for play. The difficulty is in the speed of movement which can make you take several jumps at a time.
All the usual elements are there, including turtles, crocodiles, a train and some fast cars on the highway but they make the screen overcrowded and it is difficult to follow the path of your frog. That does not make the game unusable but it would he suited to those with knowledge of Frogger who can cope with fast play or many options - is not the beginner.
Both games can be obtained from PSS, Coventry. Cost: £5.95 each.
DEVOTEES of murder mysteries might like to try their deductive skills on Murder at the Manor, a graphics adventure for the 48K Spectrum. The local squire has been murdered by a thief in search of the squire's hoard of gold coins. Making good his escape, the murderer has scattered about the countryside pieces of a page containing the combination number of the squire's safe which still contains a vital clue. It is your job to find the combination, the clue and the identity of the murderer.
The search starts at the town cross, from which paths lead to various shops, the police station, the car park, the church or the open countryside - beware of the sheep. As you reach each location, a picture of it unfolds and a compass in the corner of the screen shows which way you can go.
Walking about or fighting with any of the characters you encounter will sap your strength and eating any food you are lucky enough to find will restore it. If you run out of strength before you have solved the mystery, you lose the game.
At any stage you can check your score, the clues you hold and your strength level.
The computer understands a comprehensive range of commands in this ingenious adventure and the graphics are attractive but a major fault is that the relationship between the various locations is not always consistent, so that however carefully you keep track of your movements, you may find yourself returning to the same spot repeatedly. The time it takes for each picture to appear also slows the game.
Murder at the Manor is available from Gemtime, Fife, and costs £6.95.
STRIKING 3D graphics are the outstanding feature of Android 2, a complex arcade adventure for the 48K Spectrum from Vortex Software. The game starts as you swoop over the Death Maze in your space transporter. As you land, you are confronted by a host of hazards such as millitoids, hoverdroids, bouncers and land mines which can remove your five lives.
Your objective is to kill all five millitoids before returning to your transporter, which will then take you to the Paradox Zone and finally to the Flatlands where your mission ends.
This well-presented game is definitely not for beginners. The millitoids have to be blasted three times before they disappear and there is only a limited amount of time before your transporter takes off without you, so that getting out of the maze and on to the next level is a challenging task.
Skilled players, however, should derive some satisfaction from the game, which features a scrolling screen and a great deal of fast action. Your score, and the number of lives you have remaining, are shown on the right of the screen, where there is also a grid showing your exit position in the maze, as well as a gauge telling you how much time remains before your transporter takes off.
Android 2 is produced by Vortex Software, Manchester and costs £5.95.
MR WIMPY for the 48K Spectrum is an unusual product in more ways than one. Commissioned by Wimpy International, it is billed as the first British computer game to feature a promotional character, complete with company, logo and advertising jingle.
Mr Wimpy manages to be an entertaining game in its own right. It has eight levels of difficulty and the first screen entails guiding Mr Wimpy across the screen with his tray, to collect the ingredients he needs to make his hamburgers.
On his way, he has to avoid manholes which engulf him and the burger thief who darts about intent on upsetting his tray, compelling him each time to return to the start and collect another one. If he manages to assemble his ingredients, the next level brings out the kitchen rebels in the form of Oggy Egg and Syd Sos.
The game can be played with a joystick and if you are using the keyboard you are unlikely to be able to match the speed of most hamburger restaurants in taking food to the table. The action is extremely fast and steering Mr Wimpy across the screen and back again without mishap is a feat possible for only the very expert player.
Mr Wimpy is produced by Ocean Software, Manchester, and costs £5.90.
SEQUELS are often a disappointment but anyone who enjoyed the Mikro-Gen Mad Martha will probably be happy to add Mad Martha II for the 48K Spectrum to their collection.
Subtitled Henry Sails the Spanish Main, the lively graphics adventure is set in a Spanish holiday resort, as is clearly indicated by the blazing sun and a spirited rendering of Viva España at the start of the game.
The story features such things as a perfumed letter, a succession of doors, a dark alley and a bullfight. Events unfold at a brisk pace, with plenty of variety in the locations and incidents. You may well find yourself on a beach or in a hotel bar, or blundering on to someone else's balcony, a faux pas which will land you in the local jail.
There is also a challenging maze game played against the clock to enliven the action, although you may want to avoid it if you suffer from slow fingers. The game also features a good sprinkling of useful objects such as spectacles and matchboxes to find.
Although the commands which the computer understands are limited, the graphics are unsophisticated and the author's grasp of Spanish appears shaky, it is a well-constructed adventure in which it is possible to keep track of one's movements and explore new areas when replaying the game. You can choose between three levels of difficulty and the setting and light-hearted approach make a welcome change from the gothic castles and space odysseys of so many other adventure games.
Mad Martha II is produced by Mikro-Gen, Berkshire. It costs £6.95.