ZZAP!64 - Issue 2 - June 1985

MONTHLY 

review 

FOR 

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Yeh, it's me, your favourite Superstar, in my first-supa-game! I’ll 

need all your help to find my furry friends in the nasty Rodent World where all kinds of monster meanies 

live. Hurry now, and I’ll see you on your screen, from your cuddly, adorable me, Roland Rat, Superstar. 

» SPECTRUM48k COMMODORE 64 . lit 

Ocean House 6 Central Street Manchester M2 5NS Telephone 06 1 

Ocean Software is available from selected branches of: WOOLWOKTH . VVHSMI1 

H. 

, 

Spectrum Shops and all good software dealers. Trade enquiries welcome. 

6633 Telex 669977 

r JSSSUSS^. LASKYS, Rumbelows. CCMtzT,

ISSUE No. 

JUNE 1985 

Lode Runner 

At last it's here on cassette. 

Terrible graphics and sound, 

astounding addiction. 

Everyone's a Wally 

Tremendous follow up to Pyjamarama 

with multi-character 

control. The first review of the 64 

version, plus our very own map! 

JUNE SPECIALS 

98 

Tir Na Nog map 

Now at last you can find your 

way round the vast Celtic world. 

32 

Test your game skill 

Seven specially crafted tasks to 

let you discover if you're a master 

blaster or a Ludo player. 

Pipeline II 

Brilliant sequel to the popular 

Taskset game. 16 new pipes, two 

helpmates. 

International 

Basketball 

Superb sizzling follow up to International 

Soccer from Commodore. 

One of a stack of new 

sports simulations. 

M.U.L.E. 

One of the most addictive trading 

games ever - and up to 

FOUR people can play 

Pitstop II 

Incredibly exciting two-player 

road-racing game from CBS/ 

Epyx featuring split-screen action. 

Dam busters 

Blockbusting mega-release from 

US Gold with a remarkably, authentic 

atmosphere. Also an early 

review of the great new US 

Gold game Quasimodo. 

PRIZE COMPETITIONS 

JUNE SPECIALS 

46 

US Goldmine 

The complete rundown on Britain's 

biggest 64 software company 

in a no-holds-barred interview 

with manager Tim Chaney. 

91 

Impossible Mission 

tips 

Diagrams showing you how to 

get round the most difficult 

screens. 

ZZAP-TESTS 

Almazz 56 

Antics 109 

BC II: Grog's Revenge 25 

Big Mac 54 

Blagger Goes to Hollywood 104 

Brian Jacks' Superstar Challenge 71 

Castle Dracula 62 

Dambusters 74 

Estra 54 

Everyone's a Wally (S) 50 

Grand Larceny 63 

Gremlins 61 

Glider Pilot 112 

Hypercircuit 53 

Ice Palace 110 

International Basketball (S) 77 

Lode Runner (S) 73 

Moon Cresta 72 

M.U.L.E. (S) 24 

On Court Tennis (S) 22 

On Field Baseball 35 

On Field Football 48 

Pitstop II (S) 42 

Quasimodo 90 

Skyjet 82 

Sorceror 64 

Spelunker 110 

Starfire and Fire One (T) 36 

Super Pipeline II (S) 28 

Talladega 38 

Theatre Europe (G) 18 

Time Search 62 

World Series Baseball (S) 108 

Gfor Gold Medal 

Sfor Sizzler 

T for Tacky 

ZZAP! 64 June 1985 3

presents 

for ATARI 64 

BBC SPECTRU 

AMSTRA 

ESS 

TM 

MO 

300 

Thor is out to find the Meaning of Life but to get there he must have 

clams. Oh, but it’s a hard journey. Climb steep hills. Dodge rocks and 

potholes. Speed through treacherous caves. Avoid Tiredactyls and the 

Mighty Grog! 

Follow the straight and narrow. Cross each bridge as you come to it. 

Take the high road and the low road and you too can learn the 

Meaning of Life! Yes, it’s worth every clam to see GROGS REVENGE! 

DISK 

CASSETTE 

£14 95 £9 95 

Commodore 64 version manufactured under licence from Sierra On-Line Software. All other versions manufactured under Jjcence from Sydney 

Development Corporation. US Gold Limited, Unit 10, Parkway Industrial Centre, Heneage Street, Birmingham B7 4LY.

Incredibly important and dynamic 

publishers 

Roger Kean, Franco Frey 

Extremely unimportant and disagreeable 

editor 

Chris Anderson 

Game review king 

Bob Wade 

Reviewing minions 

Julian Rignall, Gary Penn 

Ed office wonder woman 

Lucy Anderson 

Hairiest columnist in galaxy 

Jeff Minter 

Michelangelo da Vinci 

Oliver Frey 

Layout layabouts 

David Western, Gordon Druce 

Advertisers' friend 

John Edwards 

Subscriptions supergirl 

Denise Roberts 

Male order 

Carol Kinsey 

Editorial shack (reviews, news, 

comps, fanmail, etc) 

Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace, 

Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1HX (Tel 

0935-78511) 

ofAct ivi- 

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9 w h'ci sissueo fZzap wi,lh 

spend h time nn/f sport s YOU T he,p 

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sr 3 to 

mer- 

Next month, 

next year 

I've decided that one of the 

worst hazards of publishing 

mags is the 'next month' page. 

Last time, ours said we were 

planning to: 

- offer prize trips to Los Angeles 

(but the software house we were 

doing the comp with pulled out) 

- review Deus Ex Machina 64 

(but Automata couldn't provide 

us with a working copy) 

- print a Psi Warrior map (but 

we're still trying to decipher the 

massive and rather chaotic map 

given us by the programmer) 

Sorry about that, folks - you can 

guess why there isn't a 'next 

month' page this time! 

Feel the quality, 

feel the width 

The starkly realistic 

picture of Gary Penn I 

published last month 

brought howls of protest 

from the Royal Society 

for the Prevention of 

Cruelty to Eyeballs. So 

here's a new, forged 

picture of him to make 

him look at least semihuman. 

Well, there are 

limits to what forgers can 

do. 

Oy, leave our 

machine alone! 

At time of writing, something of 

a war is going on between 

Commodore and certain shopping 

chains such as Boots and 

Lasky's. These stores have for 

the time being stopped buying 

in 64s, because they say the 

market has forced the 64's price 

down to £150, and at that level 

they're not making any money 

on them. 

Two things seem obvious to 

me: First, Commodore's policy 

of refusing to respond to the 

price-cuts of inferior machine is 

in danger of backfiring badly. 

And second, no shopping chain 

which takes computer selling 

seriously can afford to exclude 

the world's greatest home computer 

for long. For goodness 

sake, people, get together and 

work out a deal, will you? 

The Zzap labels 

GOLD MEDAL AWARD: Our 

biggest rave of the month. Get 

it. 

SIZZLER: we think it's very hot 

indeed - normally must score 

80% or more in value for 

money. We reckon any Zzap 

sizzler is a great buy, unless you 

really hate that particular type 

of game. 

TACKY: in our view, a lousy 

piece of software. Steer well 

clear. 

The Zzap Reviewers 

mk 

Publishers' palace (advertising, 

subscriptions, mail order, complaints, 

etc) 

Newsfield Ltd, 1-2 King Street, 

Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1AQ 

(Tel 0584-5851) 

• Wondrous technicolour 

effects created by Scan Studios, 

Wallace Road, London N1 

• Forests of paper covered in 

ink by Redwood Web Offset, 

Yeoman Way, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 

BAM 0 

• Intergalactic distribution 

organised by COMAG, Tavistock 

Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, 

UB7 7QE. (For circulation 

enquiries buzz Tom Hamilton 

on 021-742-5359) 

This is the bit printed in miniscule print to 

try to trick you into not reading it - but woe 

betide those who fail to heed the Awful 

Warning here given: this mag, every single 

square inch of it, is OUR COPYRIGHT. 

Hands off! You can't crib, copy, or otherwise 

steal any of it in any way at all, 

without our permission. OK? 

Zzap! 64 is a monthly event generated 

by a team of underpaid slaves on behalf of 

the frighteningly powerful Newsfield Ltd 

publishing empire. July issue coming 

soon at a newsagent near you. 

© 1985 Newsfield Limited 

Cover by 

0ktm. 

One interesting way to see if 

you're getting good value for 

money from a magazine is to 

count the number of pages. In 

fact there are THREE numbers 

worth checking: the overall 

number of pages, the number 

which aren't ads, and the number 

containing something you 

find enjoyable or interesting. 

Try this out in Smith's sometime. 

In particular, try comparing 

the different Commodore 

magazines this way. It's an exercise 

you'll find very revealing. 

Some 

phone 

The Zzap ratings 

PRESENTATION: Packaging, instructions, 

loading, play options, 

program facilities, onscreen 

impression - everything 

except the game itself. 

GRAPHICS: Variety, detail and 

effectiveness of screen pictures, 

quality of animation, smoothness 

of movement. 

SOUND: Variety and effectiveness 

of sound effects, quality of 

music. Also: does the sound 

annoy? 

ORIGINALITY: How similar is 

this to programs already available 

on the 64? 

HOOKABILITY: How strongly 

does the game make you want 

to keep playing? 

LASTABILITY: How long will it 

keep its hold on you? 

VALUE FOR MONEY: Takes into 

account the price plus all the 

above ratings, especially the 

last two. 

BOB WADE: Zzap's 20-year-old 

software editor. Bought a 

, but then decided he wanted a 

machine you could have FUN 

on. Supports Wimbledon football 

club, otherwise fully sane. 

Loves Boulder Dash. 

GARY PENN: Aged 19, born and 

bred in Berkhamstead, reckons 

to have played just about every 

single 64 title ever released. 

Loves drawing cartoons. Gets 

recognised walking about 

town. 

JULIAN RIGNALL: Wasted his 

youth and money in the 

arcades instead of at school, 

but passed six A levels in tactics 

on Defender. 20-year-old 

former Atari owner, who's seen 

the light. Eats pot noodles for 

breakfast. 

ZZAP! 64 June 1985 5 

i

I 

I 

enjoyed 

don't 

I 

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1 

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- M, 

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6 ZZAP! 64 June 1985

I haven't 

got 

picked 

walked 

saw 

thought, 

started 

hate 

don't 

had 

' 

- 

' 

, 

I have 

I 

saw 

the Speccy and changed to the 

64. 

Gary Duncan, Sunderland, Tyne 

& Wear. 

The vast majority of new games 

now have fast-loaders - we 

would certainly say if one 

DIDN'T - this would also mean 

a much lower presentation 

mark. We'd also say if we were 

particularly struck by a loading 

screen , but let's face it , the main 

thing is the game itself. 

Speak up, Harry 

Now that on the Commodore 64 

we've heard the Ghostbusters' 

chant, Professor Mindbender's 

warning (in Impossible Mission), 

and an Arab doing the 

voice over in Tales of the Arabian 

Nights, surely some inspired 

software house will 

come up with the idea of a Dirty 

Harry game?! 

Just think about the scope for 

speech in a game about the 

immortal, Magnum carrying, 

San Francisco police bard. 

How about 'Go ahead, punk, 

make my day' or 'Did I fire six 

shots or only five?' ? 

Andrew Clarke, Nr Atherstone, 

Warwickshire 

Did you know there's going to 

be electronic speech in Ocean's 

new game Roland Rat.? 

Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahh! ! 

an otherwise good margin. 

(2) Praise 

Having spoilt my chance of 

getting this letter published 

with the above criticism I will 

now surprise you with this 

statement: I LIKE THE MAGA- 

ZINE A LOT III 

The features are interesting, 

especially Minter's column. The 

reviews are in-depth, with good 

ratings with percentages. The 

reviews are also accurate, apart 

from Mama Llama and Frak 64. 

The tips are useful. The 

adventure section and competitions 

are enjoyable. The artwork 

is brilliant and Rockford is 

ANNOYING Ilf 

Phillip Merchant, Red land, 

Bristol. 

I 

m* 

J 

HUNGER for 

your mag 

I 

I had 

I 

Dear Chris, 

Last Thursday your 

magazine amongst the shelves 

of W H Smiths. I it up and 

started to flick through, as I had 

done with all the others. 

But I 

no intention to buy it. 

looked and saw pages after 

pages of reviews. 

I 

must get this. This is better than 

any other Commodore mag and 

even read it yet. 

My hand reached in my pocket. 

I had £1.05 that was my 

money for lunch. Glumly I 

put 

the mag back. I 

out. I 

wanted to buy it, but no lunch! 

But then for once I forgot about 

lunch and bought this mag. 

When I home, I to 

read. I was amazed - no listings, 

no interface ads etc. I couldn't 

Can't stand Carl! 

ARRRGH! He's here! (Gibber) 

We can't get rid of him. The 

illusive, industrious Carl Lyons! 

He gets everywhere! Not content 

with fouling the pages of 

PCG (I connect him directly with 

its demise) but now bursting 

forth into Zzap! 64 with his 

mind-numbingly boring reviews. 

It is my firm belief he is a 

video nasty which has crept 

from a pile of compost in CA's 

garden, to spread his deadly 

anecdotes throughout the thoroughly 

wholesome Zzap! 64 

thus wreaking havoc to all 64 

users. Please! (sob) no more! 

Mark Inglis (deceased), Densbury. 

I 

I 

had the same view 

believe it. I 

as you, listings. They 

never work (as you said). 

One and a half hours later I 

had finished Zzap! I 

astounded how good it 

was 

was. 

The two games which 

your team reviewed, my marks 

agreed with yours. The reviews 

are clear, accurate, and very 

good. Then my favourite part of 

the mag has to be Rockford - he 

made me laugh every time I 

saw him. Please keep up the 

amazing work. I think I can 

wait till the next issue, so hurry 

up please. 

Agent 4124 alias Alex Cohen, 

Totteridge. 

Anyone who goes without 

lunch to buy Zzap has got to be 

worth a free tape. It's on its way, 

4124. 

v ~ 

V 

> \j, 3s. ?£ s‘v V y a"" ' ' v ", * ? ^ ' 

- 

. 

: 

Wk 

OK you commies, so you think 

you're pretty smart getting your 

own computer magazine. So 

smart that you've got to slag the 

superior Spectrum owners all 

the time. Look, we all know how 

jealous you are of our Spectrums; 

which is clearly shown in 

your magazine. So we now suggest 

a solution to your problem. 

Why not upgrade your 64's to a 

more powerful machine like ZX- 

81 or Dragon 32? 

We feel sorry for you as you 

have been conned into buying a 

pathetic excuse for a home 

computer. Anyone who says 

the 64 is a good computer either 

has a gun held to their head or 

is stupid (really stupid). 

Evidence of the 64 inferiority 

is (1) The worst Basic in the 

known galaxy, (2) You have to 

wait 6 months for classic games 

to be converted to your computer, 

(3) Greatly overpriced for its 

j And as for the mentality of 64 

owners, by looking at the commy 

users in our school it can't 

be very high (you could mistake 

them for wild animals). 

LONG LIVE SIR CLIVE SINC- 

LAIR! 

< Yours unfaithfully, 

3 Spectrum owners (James, 

David, and Neil) Tullibody, 

Atioa. 

M 

The price is wrong 

Dear Sir 

just bought your new 

mag. When I the price, I got 

a bit of a shock. Ach mein gott! 

as the Germans say. 95p? What 

a rip off, I thought. But I bought 

it all the same. I still think that 

the price is totally wrong. £1.95 

would be far more realistic. 

By the way, did you know that 

Yugoslavia have started to produce 

software. Their first game 

is called DESTROY THE ENTIRE 

NATO FLEET IN 8 DAYS. Talk 

about sick!!!!! 

Ford Prefect alias Agragag- 

,Wimbledon Village, London. 

Well, it's no worse than Raid 

Over Moscow. And who's 'Sir'?. 

Sycophancy time 

Dear Rockford, 

see how desperate you are 

for fan mail so I 'm writing this 

bit just for you. You're brill, fab, 

super, amazing, outstanding 

and many more. I hope you feel 

better! 

Derek Tweedie, Portsmouth, 

Hants. 

Don't knock the 

Speccy! 

Dear Sir, 

On the letters page in the firsl 

issue you argue that Zzap!64 is 

NOT Kiddy. However on nearly 

every page you slag off the 

Spectrum in true 'My Dad is 

better than your Dad' style. I 

may be slightly biased being an 

ex-Spectrum owner, but I still 

feel it is very unfair and childish 

. After all not every one can 

afford a Commodore 64 and 

cannot enjoy being told how 

superior it is. 

After this moan however I will 

getôn to say that your reviews 

are excellent, by far the best 

and overall Zzap! is simply 

breathtakingly Mega-Kosmic. 

Matthew Skidmore, Halesowen, 

West Midlands. 

Slag off the Speccy??? Us?????? 

It's great to have had at least 

ONE semi-critical letter - 

thanks , Phil. I know the Hairy 

One shares your opinion of our 

Mama Llama review, but was 

big enough not to let it stop him 

doing his column for us. 

He's a cool guy, Carl Lyons, 

don't knock him. Besides he 

doesn't write reviews. The 

mind-numbingly boring ones 

you're referring to were probably 

written by Gary Penn. Anyway, 

have a lucky dip program 

for making us smile. 

Tell you what, guys, it's just as 

well I haven't printed your full 

address . Your appalling letter 

has won you what I see you 

clearly need : a piece of real, 

living, 64 software. 

'HONESTLy UHOT IS RLL 

THIS STUPlOTiT FORTfrmNG? 

RQC£PT -THAT SOTH (Y19CH/Ne-S 

fl«c GRSflT qccfcpr 

^(ARS&AjeS 3S DNt 6*W 

BUNCH OF qPPICTSutTH 

ME as HtoUfc 

” 

/ 


I 

I am 

am 

; 

ever 

I 

ware. 

did 

almost 

doubt 

was 

got 

got 

couldn't 

bought 

was 

saw 

was 

warn 

Review war 

games properly! 

>. ... 

Dear Sir, 

As a subscriber quite 

I 

pleased with the magazine and 

in my opinion it gives good 

value compared with other publications. 

My only complaint is, being 

an avid player of Strategy, 

Simulation and Wargames 

only, I am not interested whatever 

in zapping aliens; everyone 

to their own choice. I am 

somewhat disappointed in your 

reviews of the two wargames in 

the first issue, Combat Leader 

and Battle for Normandy, for it 

is obvious by their own admissions 

that two of your three 

reviewers are not interested in 

this type of computer game 

namely JR and GP. 

appreciate their honesty, but 

I think it is wrong for someone 

with this attitude of mind and 

experience of the type of game 

to be paid to give a verdict on 

the software reviewed. 

A D Saulter, Exmouth, Devon. 

Have you seen this month's 

gold medal game? 

Multi-comp entries 

Dear Chris, 

writing to congratulate 

you and the team on a superb 

first issue of Zzap! 64. When I 

read the cover of the magazine I 

was amazed to read that you 

offered 50 pages of reviews! 

The setting out of the mag is 

also brill, offering four competitions, 

all of which I entered. 

Continued on page 114 

8 ZZAP! 64 June 1985 

WOW! 

YEAH! 

Dear Zzap! 64, 

Wow! Fantastic! Stands-backin-amazement! 

What a magazine! 

Zzap! 64 has got everything 

I 

wanted in a magazine! 

The reviews are outstanding, 

the layout is perfect, with 

the main review surrounded by 

personal remarks from Julian, 

Gary and Bob, who are the best, 

most professional games players 

I have ever come across. 

The photos of the games are 

crystal clear (well almost! - except 

for pages 116 and 49, but 

that didn't matter as those two 

games weren't too brilliant.). 

The marking system is the best 

I've seen. 

The illustrations by Oliver 

Frey are fabulous and really add 

to the enjoyment of reading. 

Talking of illustrations, really 

I 

liked the Rockford character, in 

the margins and his amusing 

comments. He was great and I 

hope he's in the second and 

further issues. 

One of the other important 

contributors to the magazine, 

are the competitions and special 

offers, which are excellent 

and challenging. I've entered all 

of them but it's cost me a bomb 

in postage! Talking of challenging 

things, the new Zzap! Challenge 

look very promising, but 

I've a long way to go to beat any 

of your scores! 

Jeff (Yak the Hairy) Minter's 

page is great and is just as 

entertaining and informative as 

Llamasoft's 'Nature of the 

Beast' newsletters. 

The Tips column is the most 

informative I've seen for a long 

time, especially the Karnath 

Map, which is far better detailed 

and informative than another 

map featured in a lesser magazine. 

I'll be sending my tips to 

you soon but I'm content in 

carrying out the ones you feature 

already. 

The new software chart being 

formed, sounds very promising, 

much better than the so called 

compiled-shop-to-shop charts. I 

have already sent in my votes. 

The adventure pages by the 

White Wizard are really great 

and very helpful. 

So far I've had several 'Crash' 

readers other magazine readers 

swarming round me when I got 

Zzap!64 out of my school bag at 

break at school. Three or four of 

them were so jealous they said: 

'Oh, it's awful (or words to that 

effect!), just all writing.' But ten 

minutes later, they came back 

trying to get a look in. 

I'm one of those few 64 owners 

who only buy originals of 

the games, so your reviews, 

previews, news and charts will 

help me a great deal in selecting 

only the best software as £8 a 

game is a lot. Well done on a 

great mag. 

Steven Medcraft, Ralleigh, 

Essex. 

Have I got this right - you liked 

the first issue? 

Dear Chris,(or his secretary, or 

whoever else is reading this) 

First, let me apologise for the 

had, and I 

paper, but it's all I 

simply could not wait to write to 

you about your sizzling, zenzational, 

zeductive, zuberb megamagazine, 

Zzap! 64. ..It's pretty 

good! 

Of course, the hairiest thing 

about it is the amazing number 

of incredibly in-depth reviews. 

To tell you the truth, when I saw 

Zzap! on the shelf of my newsagent 

for the first time, with the 

unbelievable claim of '50 pages 

of reviews', fell flat on 

I 

my back, knocking over the 

'Pick'n'mix' counter in the pro 

cess. (By the way, thanks, to the 

old lady who saved me - and 

about 20 pounds of toffees, 

fudges and strawberry supremes 

— but I if she'll see 

this). Anyway, the claim WAS 

true, so I bought the (THE?) mag 

and, as the Hairy One might 

say, was 'totally zzapped into 

the cosmic era, complete with 

funky vibes and fluffy bits' (or 

something like that, in any 

case.) 

Anyway, to get back to the 

reviews, you, and your team 

have an excellent system, giving 

fair and precise ratings on 

the most crucial subjects in software. 

Now, I'd like to give you my 

opinion of Zzap! 64 in the 

method you use to judge soft- 

(It is, as I'm sure you 

realise, fair and unbiased, and 

yes, stay up most of the 

night testing the magazine out.) 

PRESENTATION: 98% very colourful, 

plenty of screen shots. 

Good, full reviews. 

ORIGINALITY: 90% Combines 

the best parts of other 64 magazines, 

but adds that little something 

special! 

GRAPHICS: 95% Er...well, good 

drawings of BW, JR and 

GP...mmm... Rockford looks 

good! 

HOOKABILITY: 99% Grabs you 

in the ...neck immediately. 

Stands out from the rest on the 

mag shelves. 

SOUND: 96% Sounds like it's 

going to be a 'sizzler' itself! 

LASTABILITY: 97% It's here to 

stay, and you'll get withdrawal 

symptoms if you miss it just 

once. 

VALUE FOR MONEY: 93% If 

a newsa- 

you're reading this in 

gent and haven't bought it yet - 

what are you waiting for!?! 

Great value! 

Brian Don, Milngavie, Glasgow. 

Dear Editor 

I think that Zzap!64 is Excellent! 

Fantastic! Absolutely Brilliant!. 

Before Zzap I 

roaming 

my newsagents looking for 

a magazine just for the 64. But 

to my horror, find 

I 

one. very angry, the 

I 

magazine every month 

I 

was Computer & Video Games 

that had only an average of 

three 64 reviews. The reviews 

are very short and wrong in 

many cases. But one day when I 

went into my newsagents to 

buy some sweets, I 

up 

there on the far shelf, a magazine 

with the number 64 printed 

on it. I jumped for joy and 

grabbed it off the shelf. had a 

I 

peek at it and thought 'Just the 

kind of mag I've been looking 

for, for months.' it, and 

I 

when home I 

so 

I 

pleased with the quality of the 

reviews, I decided to write the 

Editor a letter, and here it is. 

Cem Akbay, Bromley, Kent. 

And here's the reply! 

I 

Dear Zzap!64, 

I've just rushed out and 

bought your magazine. (They're 

selling like hot cakes in Holyhead). 

All my friends agree that the 

magazine is brilliant and that 

hope 

the reviews are good, 

that you can keep to this high 

standard which puts other 

magazines like C&VG to shame. 

By the way kindly review Black 

Thunder and Gryphon, and 

Everyone's a Wally. 

Here's a joke for Zzap. 

Q. What's small, black and rubbery 

and wears tartan trousers? 

A. Rupert the Spectrum. 

Bad wasn't it! and I 

you, 

if I don't get a free tape there'll 

be more. 

Arwel Owen, Holyhead, 

N.Wales. 

Looks like you'll have to send us 

some more.

mine into Action 

Welcome to Blabgor, 

home of Gribbly 

Grobbly, one of a race of 

peaceful creatures who 

have developed their 

brain to such an extent that they 

can move around entirely by 

thought power alone, their 

intelligence - or Psi - being stored 

in their Psi banks which must be 

topped up regularly. 

The hills around them are infested 

with more primitive creatures who 

are out to attack and carry off the 

younger 

Blabgorians, known 

as Gribblets. 

In this exotic world the 

Gribblets iead a carefree life 

and can be found playing behind 

rocks, over the lakes and on mystical 

floating islands. Can you herd the 

threatened Gribblets to the safety of 

the cave? Trying to stop you is Seon, 

a wayward Blabgorian, who is now 

imprisoned in the skies behind the 

energy web. But for how long? 

Played over 1 6 colourful and titled 

screens, each 30 times the on screen 

display this highly original 

game incorporates detailed 

graphics, smooth all direction 

multispeed scrolling, stunning sound 

effects and is controlled entirely by 

joystick for quick response. You'll 

see how well you're doing by 

Gribbly's expressions - too many 

frowns means that you need more 

practice! 

Bounce out and get your copy 

now 

3D Lunattack 

Flying your Luna Hover Fighter, try and 

penetrate the 3 successive Seiddab zones 

to destroy their command base. 

Up to the minute status reports on 

your fighter's condition and the Seiddab 

defences make Lunattack the space 

adventure of the decade. 

May the power be with you! 

For the Commodore 64 £7.95 

HEYfton conMJLUArra 

•nan 

56B Milton trading Estate. Milton, Abingdon. Oxon. 0X14 4RX 

Heathrow International ATC 

Use you r detailed radar screen to guide 

incoming aircraft - including Concorde - 

safely down from holding stacks to the 

runway at Heathrow. Emergencies such as 

unknown aircraft intrusion and radio 

failure call for ice-cool concentration. 

For the Commodore 64 £7.95 

As part of our continuing development of innovative software we are always happy to evaluate software sent to us with a view to publication

%£* 

’ 

: 

: 

l 

- 

; .-i, 

m 

m 

BigTive Sof 

'P 

3 * *#• 

y 

Bounty Bob 

even tougher 

mutant org< 

survive the 

Bob’s only he 

Yukon Yota 

Bounty 

Elevators, 

Suction 

2049er. This time around it’s 

>b needs your help more than ever to guide rough the mines. The 

fciplied and over-run the mine entirely, makin 

icult to 

mderground passageways! Using the high-[ 

ent is 

ing his objective of securing the mine and defeati ans of the evil 

lack features 25 of the greatest platform screens ever produced including: Grain 

Energy Food Bars, Gravity Lifts. Acid Rain, Suction Tlibes, Hydraulic Lifts, Mobile 

msporters, Cannons, Utility Hoists, Pulverisers, Moving Weirdos. MutantGrganisms, 

TYeats, the greatest High Score Factory in computer history and much, much 

Special features include: 

Multi-Channel Music, Game Adjustment Screen, Ai 

joystick capability. Level Warp abjity. 

Available for: 

‘Miner Z049er emerged as the unequalled 

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le voice of the gaming nation, 

created this 

a 

victor/ as Electronic 

this delightful multi-screen climbinc 

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the ladder of fame in the same high style by 

coasting to a triumph in the Hall of Fame 

voting. Miner 2049er has historical 

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ST EVER MULTI-ROLE ARCADE ADVENTURE 

Includes Hit Single on reverse “Everyone’s A Wally” performed by Mike Berry 

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Commodore 64 £9.95 

Available shortly on Amstrad CPC 464 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Berks. 0344 427317

CHALLENGE 

SCALPED! 

Rotten Rignall slays the Warwicks challenger 

Terrible news, games-players, terrible, woeful news. 

Despite my most careful efforts, my cunning, dastardly 

plans, the appalling Zzap upstart Julian Rignall is still 

Britain's 64 games-playing champion. 

I had hoped for different. I, the Scorelord, the greatest 

games authority in the universe, had hoped to have him 

overthrown. Ever since the first issue of the Zzap journal 

hit the streets, I had been scouring the sacks of mail 

delivered to my command module in search of a suitable 

challenger. 

In the person of Andrew Clarke, from Atherstone town 

in the planet of Warwickshire, I thought I had found him. 

Here was a joystick handler of class. Impressive high 

scores on Raid Over Moscow and Spy v Spy. The 

supplier of expert playing tips on both these games and 

also on Bruce Lee. Surely he could defeat the rancid 

Rignall. 

A brilliant idea occurred to me. Let us hold the 

challenge not on just one game, but on' three?! Surely, 

by choosing games young Clarke was proficient at, and 

two of which were, I knew, fairly unfamiliar to Rignall, I 

could ensure that the champion was disposed of. 

Alas, dear games-player, I can hardly bring myself to 

recount what followed. But tell it I must. Read it 

carefully. Absorb the details. And LEARN. Discover the 

champion's weaknesses, the chinks in his armour. He 

can, he MUST be beaten soon... 

THE FIRST BLOW: 

Raid Over Moscow 

This politically controversial, 

graphically exciting game from 

US Gold provides the first part 

of the contest. It features the 

American response to a Soviet 

nuclear strike against US cities 

- the idea is to try to take out the 

three launch sites followed by a 

nuclear reactor in the Kremlin. 

• As the players settle down 

two launches are made from 

sites on a map of the northern 

hemisphere and as the time to 

impact starts to tick down both 

players swing into action. They 

each have nine fighter craft in 

an orbiting space station and 

their first problem is to get FIVE 

planes out. They need five because 

in the next stage there are 

terrific opportunities for high 

scoring at the end of which you 

are awarded with up to four 

more planes. Thus the tactic is 

to deliberately crash three or 

(but this is risky) four planes at 

the end of high-scoring 

bombing 

runs and reclaim them all 

with the fifth. 

• This 18-year-oid is tough, 

fast, cunning and dangerous. 

But not enough. The evil Zzap 

champ got the better of him in 

a three-game thriller. Farewell 

Andrew Clarke. Rest in peace. 

• Both players successfully 

launch five craft and guide one 

to the first Soviet iaunch site on 

the map. The screen changes to 

a scrolling view a Zaxxon type 

landscape where missiles, 

tanks, buildings and installations 

are blasted while trying to 

avoid crashing into various 

obstacles. 

• Clarke successfully makes 

four attack runs, crashing three 

planes before moving onto the 

next stage. The champion, fresh 

from a rushed training course 

by Zzap Raid expert Gar y Penn, 

is taking more risks though and 

deliberately crashes four 

planes. Then - HA! - he 

accidentally crashes the fifth 

and has to return to the hangar 

for another, losing valuable 

time. My hopes rise dramatically! 

His excellent score of 50,100 

masks the dire trouble that he is 

now in. 

• Things are going from bad to 

worse for Rignall as he crashes 

his sixth plane on the 

am 

-.K : 

' 

Zaxxon stage and then 

another trying to get out of the 

hangar! The champion is sweating 

hard now, with only two 

planes left and very little time 

before the missiles impact on 

New York. The seconds tick 

away and the Big Apple is rocked 

to the Core by a massive 

explosion. The champion is 

rocked by the 50,000 lost points 

leaving him on 3,500 and in 

deep trouble. I can hardly contain 

my glee! ! 

# Clarke meanwhile is tackling 

the next stage on his first 

launch site. These are the five 

missile-launching silos on 

screen: the main one when 

blown up will destroy the missiles 

in flight. The silos, at the 

top of the screen, have slits in 

them through which to shoot 

and the players usually eliminate 

the four minor silos and 

then continually blast a fighter 

plane which appears at the left 

hand edge of the screen to build 

up the score. With 20-30 

seconds left to impact of the 

missiles they go for the main 

silo slit and destroy the whole 

launch site. 

# Clarke successfully takes out 

the silos and blasts many a 

fighter plane and then eliminates 

the launch site, taking his 

score to 49,700. He's now well 

ahead but has no idea of the 

trouble the champion is in (except 

for the odd expletive). I fear 

he is still feeling the pressure. 

# The champ, who still has all 

three sites to take out only two 

planes left! He only launches 

one in response to a new missile 

strike but crashes - he has 

only 13,100 on the score! Only 

chortle quietly. 

one plane left!! I 

Rignall sweats. It's now or never 

as he emerges from the hangar 

and heads for the site. 

Dodging, weaving and blasting, 

the blood pounding through his 

temples, he makes his progress. 

He's still alive. My heart sinks. 

SICKNESS! He makes it to the 

silos and with an enormous, 

nauseating sigh of relief reclaims 

a buffer of four new 

planes. 

# Unaware of this drama, the 

challenger makes his own mistakes 

on the second launch site 

and crashes one plane in the 

hangar. His score suffers a 

further dent as accidentally he 

gets his first plane through to 

the silos and misses out on 

three valuable point scoring 

runs. WALLY! Oh why did I 

select this incompetent?! A 

score of 80,000 still looks good 

at this stage though. I not 

without hope. 

# Clarke is well ahead of Rignall 

CHALLENGE 

and tackles the next stage, the 

KREMLIN, as the champ begins 

his third launch site attack. The 

approach to the Kremlin is the 

same as the one to the launch 

sites and once there, the Kremlin 

appears on screen. It is 

guarded on either side by 

guards on high walls and a tank 

in front of it. You are equipped 

with a single shot bazooka and 

have to take out all eight soldiers 

and the tank (who reappear 

after a time). You also have 

to shoot five doors at the front 

of the building, one of which 

hides the reactor room. 

# The challenger loses one life 

on the approach and as he takes 

out the guards, tank, doors and 

Kremlin towers he loses 

another three to their rifle fire. 

The screen finally falls quiet and 

in the hush he moves into the 

reactor room. 

• The challenger dispatches 

both robots with consummate 

ease and collects a hefty bonus 

as his remaining pilots escape 

the exploding reactor. With an 

impressive score of 231,900 he 

sits back and waits for the 

champion to finish. 

# Rignall, now totally wrapped 

up in the action, crashes the 

standard four planes on the 

runup to his third launch site. 

With repeated shooting of the 

plane at the silos he achieves 

151,000 as the site blows up. 

# With his ships total restored 

to nine the evil, cunning champ 

goes for broke on the approach 

to Moscow. Although unaware 

of the challenger's final score 

he risks everything on building 

up enough points with repeated 

runs at the approach. He 

crashes plane after plane as his 

score counter rattles away. My 

heart pounds. Surely he's risking 

too much. But no, disaster! 

He successfully takes his ninth 

and last pilot to the Kremlin. 

# Here death comes quickly 

with a bullet through the chest 

but Rignall's gamble has paid 

off. A score of 259,400, his personal 

highest, had secured vic- 

My only hope was that he 

tory! ! 

had paid a high price in nerves 

and stamina. 

THE 

DEATH-BLOW: 

Bruce Lee 

The deciding game is filled with 

tension, both players fearing 

the others' ability. Rignall, I fear, 

is an old hand at this game, but 

Clarke has pushed him close so 

far and could produce an upset. 

# The game has you in the role 

of Bruce Lee, martial arts master, 

who must penetrate the 


give 

m 

1 

’ 

fortress of the Wizard and destroy 

him to gain wealth and 

immortality. To do this you 

have to get through 19 screens 

by collecting magic lanterns, 

opening secret doors and following 

complicated routes. My 

contest was to see who could 

reach the end of level 

one first 

and destroy the wizard. 

• Alas, it is obvious from the 

start who is most familiar with 

the game as Rignall leaps his 

way gracefully along collecting 

lanterns. Clarke is having more 

problems with the two other 

nasty features of the game, 

Yamo and the Ninja. These vicious 

adversaries assault you 

with karate blows and weapons 

and you have to defend yourself 

by chopping, kicking, ducking 

and jumping. Rignall was hardly 

encountering them at the 

speed he was moving though 

and Clarke also left them in 

his 

wake. 

• Clarke's problems grow with 

some of the other obstacles in 

the game, running into a laser 

on screen four and wasting time 

on the light particles on screen 

five. My heart sinks. 

• Rignall's sickening progress 

continues and at half way he is 

two or three screens ah-ead. By 

the time Clarke has reached 

screen ten Rignall is nearing the 

finish and Clarke's fatal fall onto 

some spikes seems to seal the 

contest. 

• As Clarke deals with screen 

12 the noise of the wizard going 

up in smoke breaks the tension 

and Clarke's shoulders sag, a 

beaten man. I choke back a sob 

of pain. Rignall had finished 

with 55,625 points and six lives. 

Three minutes later Clarke's 

game reflects his feelings and 

crashes with the score on 

70,250 with two lives left. 

• There it was. Defeat for Clarke 

by two games to one. He was a 

brave challenger, and to console 

him I him copies of 

Activision's Decathlon and 

Elite's Airwolf. But next month, 

don't you worry, I shall find 

someone of greater metal, to 

destroy the insufferable JR. Ah, 

revenge will be sweet. 

\ Alas and alack. Woe *$ me. 

The challenger failed. Rignall 

reigns supreme. 

WOTS x*c, 7 

IS H€ 

n 

ZAMDRfl RHODES 

OUTFIT? 

How to enter your challenge 

1. State games and scores clearly on the form provided (or a close 

copy). You can give fewer than four games if you wish. 

2. State level achieved at the end of each game, either the wave 

number (if possible), rating or some indication of how far you went 

into the game along with the time taken to complete the game. 

3. In the space provided write further details about the game which 

might help to confirm your score. If it's an arcade adventure then 

write the percentage and if it has a time limit or bonus then state 

how long was left and what bonus was awarded. Other details 

include things like the game crashing because of the high-score 

achieved or whether the game resets at a certain point. Any other 

relevant details will be useful. 

5. Post your entry to: Zzap Challenge, Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace, 

Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1HX. 

Yes, I'm ready to challenge the Zzap champion on the following games. 

âme Score Level reached Time taken 

Other details 

Game 

Score 

Level reached 

Time taken 

Other details 

Game 

Other details 

Game 

Other details 

Score Level reached lime taken 

Score Level reached rime taken 

I 

promise these scores are genuine. Signed 

Name. 

Address 

Post code 

Telephone number (if poss) 

NO CHEATS 

; 

rr\IND‘' 


; 47,848 

: 

117,300 

"V 

I 

f 

/ 

: 

t 

v 

pr . 

% GHOSTBUSTERS (starting on 

37,000 10 ) 

41.000 James Bonnet, Eastbourne 

25,600 

^ 

37,400 Damian Drabble, 

Beighton, Sheffield, 

37.000 Darren Casker, Bargoed, 

Mid Glamorgan, 

Martin Wild, Rochdale, 

IMPOSSIBLE MISSION (CBS) 

D J Roberts, Stevenage, 

§?< Herts 

|p 

25,157 266,000B Knight, Slough, Berks 

g- 23,755 259,400 Joseph Gibney, Islington, 

London 

I RAID OVER MOSCOW (US 

Gold) 

|v| 320,500 Darren Casker, Bargoed, 

Mid Glamorgan, 

Bob Wade, Zzap! 

Julian Rignall, Zzap! 

BRUCE LEE (US Gold) 

V 3,212,000 Andrew Thomas, 

&£ Haverfordwest, Dyfed, 

2,193,000 Julian Rignall, Zzap! 

|p 

I POLE POSITION (US Gold) 

129,650 Julian Rignall, Zzap! 

Terry Bailey, Pencuick, 

Midlothian, 

112,050 Matthew Barrat, Bedford, 

I PASTFINDER (Activision) 

93,010 Alan Ireland, Currie, Midm 

lothian, 


I BOULDERDASH (Statesoft) 

Paul Broadway, Andov- 

M er, Hants, 

25,411 Terry Bailey, Pencuick, 

Midlothian, 

L . 

^ 

u- 

am pleased at the response to 

my pleas in the last issue. 

Promise is shown among the 

ranks of potential heroes, and 

I'm sure someone will soon be 

able to conquer the Champion. 

One thing the Scorelord notices 

with interest is the lack of 

female response. Will male 

domination on computer 

games be supreme or are there 

SCORELORD’S 

SUPERSCORERS 

GUARDIAN (Alligata) 

1,019,400 


255,200 Carl Lyons, Huddersfield. 

QUO VADIS (The Edge) 

Dirk Lee, Andover, 

Hants. 

167,150 Mark Flowerdew, Playstreet 

Ryde, Isle of Wight. 

SKRAMBLE (Rabbit) 

204.000 Carl lyons, Huddersfield. 

SPY vs SPY (Beyond) 

9972 Sam Doust, London. 

9972 Gary Penn, Zzap! 

SON OF BLAGGER (Alligata) 

98.000 Dirk Lee, Andover, 

Hants. 

TALES OF ARABIAN NIGHTS 

(Interceptor) 

26,275 Mark Flowerdew, Playstreet 

Ryde, Isle of Wight. 

TAPPER (US Gold) 

133,125 David Carter, Yeovil, 

Somerset. 

1985 (Mastertronic) 

2,685 David Wheeler, Ilford, 

Essex. 

PITFALL II (Activision) 

139,100 Graeme Mottram, Boston, 

Lines. 

148,000 

BUCK ROGERS (US Gold) 

565.600 Julian Rignall, Zzap! 

352.600 David Carter, Yeovil, 

Somerset, 

Graeme Mottram, Boston, 

Lines, 

ZAXXON (US Gold) 


175,700 Terry Bailey, Pencuick, 

Midlothian, 

114.500 David Carter, Yeovil, 

Somerset, 

UP 'N' DOWN (US Gold) 

85,270 (Round 5) Bob Wade, 

Zzap! 

82,900 (Round 5) David Carter, 

Yeovil, Somerset, 

BLACK THUNDER (Quicksilva) 

31,250 David Wheeler, Ilford, 

Essex. 

CADCAM WARRIOR (Taskset) 

1,181 Sam Doust, London. 

FALCON PATROL (Virgin) 

8875 Benji Dale, Loughbrough, 

Leics. 

5475 David Clarke, Atherstone, 

Warwickshire. 

H.E.R.O. (Activision) 

174,456 David Barnett, St Annes 

On Sea, Lancs. 

120,450 Gary Penn, Zzap! 

some plucky, game playing 

females out there with high 

scores? 

Two things have angered the 

Scorelord this month. Firstly 

the lack of sycophancy from his 

troops. Where is my fan mail? 

In my infinite wisdom, I have 

made vast gaming knowledge 

available to you. So where is 

the praise I so richly deserve? 

Secondly, along with the 

hordes of honest recruits to the 

highscore tables I have witnessed 

lies : Paul Broadway of 

Andover, Hants claims to have 

130,000 

had 252,600 points on Pole 

Position. Never! I know the 

scoring potential on that game. 

is closer to the maximum 

points attainable. I also 

doubt a claim from M Chuda, 

Sudbury of 29,959 on Impossible 

Mission. Details were lacking 

and the scorelord needs 

details. I am made angry very 

easily and future dishonest 

troops will be serverely reprimanded. 

I have spoken. 

ENCOUNTER (Novagen) 

213,140 Graeme Mottram, Boston 

Lines. 

ANCIPITAL (Llamasoft) 

10.101.000 Gary Penn, Zzap! 

SPY HUNTER (US Gold) 


SEASIDE SPECIAL (Taskset) 


763,600 

TOY BIZARRE (Activision) 

87,590 Gary Penn, Zzap! 

MAMA LLAMA (Llamasoft) 

898,924 (CF158) Phil Merchant, 

Bristol 

Gary Penn, Zzap! 

STAR WARS (Parker) 

1,150,666 Julian Rignall, Zzap! 

RAID ON BUNGELING BAY 

(Ariolasoft) 

85.500 (6 factories) Bob Wade, 

291,400 Zzap! 

RIVER RAID (Activision) 


GALAXY (Anirog) 

126.000 Graeme McKenzie, 

Dunbar, East Lothian. 

BEACH HEAD (US Gold) 

Stephen Kelso, Corbridge, 

Northumberland. 

MATRIX (Llamasoft) 

74,182 Stephen Kelso, .Corridge, 

Northumberland. 

SKRAMBLE (Anirog) 

85,965 Graeme McKenzie, Dunbar, 

East Lothian. 


IKW flOtH OlTH IT - 

in/- 

M a 

ON -JPONT LET O.P BNP

_ 

Cute. 

Clever. 

Mischievous, 

Intelligent. 

Dangerous. 

0 

AVAILABLE NOW! 

ALREADY A SMASH HIT! 

I 

V 

venturi 

INTERNATIONAL ('») 

Dealers contact: Nigel Banford, Adventure International 

85 New Summer Street, Birmingham. 

Telephone: 021-359 0801 

© WARNER BROS INC 1983

I 

I 

i 

I 

\ 

JUNE 

Cold, grim nuclear reality. 

That's what this game is 

about. This new approach 

to a war game brings home the 

horrors of a global nuclear holocaust. 

Here though it's up to you 

to stop it from happening. 

Although this is essentially a 

war game it uses a series of different 

screen types to depict the 

action in an atmospheric, nailbiting 

way — and there are also 

a couple of actual arcade action 

screens. 

The game starts with an absolutely 

magnificent and appropriate 

piece of music - the Lennon/ 

McCartney song 'Give Peace a 

Chance'. This, coupled with a 

pledge in the instructions that 

the game is dedicated to peace, 

give it a superbly sober atmosphere 

from the start. 

You then have several selections 

to make: 

• one of three levels against the 

computer. 

• whether you want to command 

the NATO forces or the 

Warsaw Pact. 

• whether

naissance. Other options include 

interdiction, assault breakers, 

deep strike and iron snake. 

STRIKES are 

COUNTER AIR 

attacks on enemy airfields and 

bases, this will all help in the 

overall battle for air superiority. 

INTERDICTION is sending 

planes behind enemy lines to 

attack the enemy supply and 

movement network. It has a 

minor risk of setting off a nuclear 

strike. 

The other three are are respectively 

an attack on one particular 

unit (high success rate), a strike 

into enemy territory and an 

attack on railways to disable 

enemy reinforcements. 

Finally you have the option to 

use a SPECIAL MISSION, basically 

setting off a strategic chemical 

or nuclear launch (see 

separate box). 

After your go it's the computer 

turn and it'll take its go in exactly 

the same way as you. This time, 

though, it'll fire any special 

missions at the beginning of its 

move. 

JR 

A massive enemy launch of nuclear 

weapons is under way and your 

reflex system has responded with its 

own devastating strike 

The computer's 

three skill levels. 

There are three computer 

levels, each with its own 

characteristics. Each new 

level plays an increasing 

standard of conventional 

warfare plus more underhand 

tactics. 

On level one the computer 

will play a totally conventional 

war game and unless 

provoked will not use the 

nuclear or chemical option. 

On levels two and three the 

computer will use nuclear 

and chemical options to prevent 

you winning the game. 

Especially level three which 

plays a highly intelligent and 

unpredictable game. Nuclear 

escalations on this level are 

usually enormous. YOU 

HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

With levels two and three 

there are some new options 

which don't exist on the first 

level. Usage of tactical chemical 

weapons in standard 

warfare is allowed. This 

gives an attacking unit far 

greater effectiveness. Once 

Defter 

war >ce 

,s un/?!??'*'on n 

ke,ya 

. 

tth% 

m J??sthat 

r sta °fd. 

9e OocA ear 

a Vs s Co 

"ice rs°rth 

c°nft 

*tco 

'ctb 

ntro/ e 9an 

s th e °o/ts 

m 

This triumph ofgaming and 

common sense should prove 

the most popular war game 

yet. It has the atmosphere 

and action appeal to attract 

many who may have disliked 

war games up to now. The 

political angle has been 

struckjust right so that the 

program presents a realistic 

simulation that actively 

discourages nuclear war. 

Needless to say the mindless 

blasters should steer dear of 

this game because it's got a 

conscience. Everyone else 

will love it. 

used, it is in constant use 

throughout the game. 

If you are commanding the 

Warsaw pact then on the 

high levels, special units are 

made available to you. These 

are the 1st Airborne Army 

and the 1st Amphibious 

Army. The former can be 

flown directly behind enemy 

lines whilst the latter can 

move over the sea to a tactical 

attack point. 

The total destruction of the city 

leaving only rubble and an evil 

nuclear mushroom cloud 


, unrivalled 

vj’ 

STARTING A 

NUCLEAR 

WAR 

The most controversial part 

of the program involves the 

use of chemical and nuclear 

weapons. You are given the 

option of selecting these 

'special missions' at the end 

of each turn. 

A CHEMICAL LAUNCH is 

automatically targeted on an 

enemy supply city. A special 

readout will give you the de 

tails and expected results. 

will also tell you the results of 

the attack. Using this mission 

carries the risk of an enemy 

nuclear response. 

A STRATEGIC NUCLEAR 

ATTACK involves some nailbiting 

and tense moments. 

When you first switch to 

nuclear mode you are given 

30 seconds to ring a phone 

number and obtain a special 

authorisation code. This is a 

real number, 0203 668405, 

contactable 24 hours a day. 

If you enter the correct 

code number (it's always the 

same) then you are allowed 

direct control over all targeting 

and warheads. There are 

three separate settings: 

• Standby, which you revert 

to if you decide against a 

launch. 

• Strategic launch, in which 

a single nuclear strike can be 

targeted on an enemy city or 

unit (see below). Enemy reaction 

will be severe. 

• Fire-Plan, a full-scale 

strike. This should NEVER be 

used. Retaliation is extreme 

beyond measure. 

Targeting a single nuclear 

or chemical launch is alarmingly 

simple. You are given 

control of a cursor which you 

can position over the desired 

target. Press fire and the rest 

is done automatically. 

When under enemy 

nuclear attack, a launch will 

be detected and a large 

Impact Predictor cursor will 

precede the target cursor. If 

you have an option called 

'reflex system' switched on, 

your forces will automatically 

launch a strike of similar 

size. There is nothing you can 

do but watch the targets 

destroyed in a chilling sequence 

of graphic screens. 

As you play this game, it 

becomes increasingly clear 

that the war cannot be won 

with nuclear weapons. Only 

lost. 

It 

hopes that his program will 

Effective noises plus 

QQ O/ 

one of 

Q^ Q 

/Q All three levels are very 

0/ encourage peopleto work for 

n the bestpieces of micro 

music ever. 

/0 

different, and you can play 

' either peace. 'I think 

side. 

it's a crying 

shame that there are so 

many problems in the world 

Q Ji ft 

0/ y°u re strong enough to grapple with the alarming game and all we can 

concept, 

do is sit back 

/Q you'll find this one very, very special indeed. nuclear weapons 

because we mistrust each 

Developing Theatre Europe 

gave experienced war games 

programmer Alan Steele one 

of the frights of his life. It happened 

The atmosphere 

ng| 

generated 

\ by this excellentgame is 

incredible, and virtually 

K 

by an ything else 

}%. available on the 64. Using the 

unpleasant and horrific 

subject of nuclear war, for 

| 

mm the purpose of a game, may 

Jjf appear distasteful to some. 

But on playing it will be seen 

as the game reached 

that, as in real life, the use of completion. He and the rest 

Ilf nuclear weapons for the of the PSS team had done 

11^ purpose of winning a war, is extensive research into the 

a futile one and gains 

relative strengths of the 

nothing. 

NATO and Warsaw Pact 

/ was amazed: me, a wargames hater loving a 

forces, including contacts 

war game. It must be special and it is. The 

with the Ministry of Defence 

combination of the most tense and atmospheric 

screens yet seen on the 64 with a 

London. 

and the Soviet embassy in 

simple to use, yet complex war game is 

With the information, they 

stunning. Although the game is controversial 

programmed in the figures 

it in fact makes dear the horrors of a nuclear 

and then let the computer 

conflict. The graphic details ofthe outcome of 

play itself to see what happened. 

The result was chill- 

a nuclear war in Europe was a far cry from the 

'blast the Commies' tone of other games. 

ing. Every time the communist 

forces scored an overwhelming 

victory, leaving 

Nato with the stark option of 

The arcade screens 

using nuclear weapons, or 

allowing West Germany to 

At the start of the game there is an option: choose wh 

fall. 

you'd like action screens or not. (Serious wargamers shou 

Alan says the experience 

take this option). 

had a big impact on him. 'For 

When you attack or are under attack you are asked to select a a long time I'd wanted to 

battle. Move the cursor over the desired unit and a picture of a write a war game based on 

plain with mountains in the background will be presented on the current situation in 

screen with planes, helicopters and tanks moving about. 

Europe to see what would 

A target cursor is under your control in Missile Command si 

happen. I didn't start out with 

and you use this to destroy the enemy. 

any axe to grind, we just took 

The tanks which trundle up and down the road 

the program and put in the 

reground are your forces. Be careful not to hit them as they fire most reliable information we 

it the planes too and can bring them down. 

could get. I find the result 

How well vou do on this screen — ie. how many tanks and very disturbing — after all it's 

rvr 

roy with how many missiles — plays a major part NATO's avowed policy to go 

erformance is taken into consideration as a nuclear if its conventional 

actor deciding the fate of your forces elsewhere. So if 

forces cannot hold back the 

dly in this phase then expect severe losses all round. Warsaw pact forces in a 

future war.' 

The superiority of the 

Q 

Warsaw Pact was so great 

0 / The large package has an 

that PSS have actually had to 

/q excellent instruction Q A Certainly 

Q/ 

not just another 

booklet, a/ossv maD. Qtf /O w 9ame. 

fiddle the figures in the version 

of the program that's 

been released. Otherwise, 

they say, 

Certainly better than most Q Ey 0/ Be careful. The effect this 

war games! 

71 % 

it wouldn't make a 

13 /O 9ame can have on you reasonable game — 

is 

the 

alarming. 

same side would always win. 

50UND 

^STABILITY 

Alan himself strongly 

other.' 

Why the figures 

were fiddled 


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THE FIRST ADVENTURE GAME WITHOUT TEXT»1 

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?OU HAVE SIX FUTURE HEROES AND 

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SHADOWFIRE IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM BETTER 

SOFTWARE DEALERS EVERYWHERE 

MAILORDER: BEYOND, COMPETITION HOUSE 

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Timing your shots 

T 

here are already two 

tennis games forthe 64 for 

this superb new Activision 

title to compete with: the extremely 

difficult Wimbledon 64 

and, more significantly, the excel 

lent Matchpoint from Psion. 

Screen presentation in the 

new release is quite different to 

Matchpoint. The men are a 

lot 

larger and chunkier and the 

court is viewed from a lower 

angle. The whole of the court 

Wonderfully easy game to 

get into bringing rapid 

enjoyment and great 

addictiveness. The lack of 

movement control may 

frustrate some players but it 

lets you have more variety in 

the type of shots you can 

play. The smash in particular 

is great. The players' 

movement is occasionally a 

bit crude but this isn 't very 

noticeable because of the 

flowing manner in which the 

computer moves you around 

the court. The size of the 

sprites and the way the 

picture scrolls more than 

make up for this. 

isn't constantly in view, so it 

scrolls 

ON-COURT 

slightly if a ball goes near 

TENNIS 

Activision, 

disk, Joystick only. 

Exciting tennis simulation with authentic ‘feel 1 

Directed serves, lobs, smashes, drop-shots, angled volleys 

The key to On-court Tennis is timing. You have to allow for the 

significant amount of time it takes for your player to take his 

backswing and then play the shot. 

When you first play the game you're likely to miss every ball, 

(and also serve piles of double faults.) But once your mind slips 

into the rhythm of the game, you not only make contact every 

time, you also start using the timing to DIRECT your shots and 

make winning plays. 

Try this, for example. Serve wide to the left of the left hand 

court, drawing your opponent out to the sidelines to make his 

return. If you're playing on grass, and your player is 'John' he will 

now almost certainly move to the net for a volley. If you delay the 

shot for a fraction of a second, the racquet swings late, and the 

ball angles gloriously into the open right court. 

Once you've got properly into the swing of things, the timing 

gives the game a superbly authentic feel. Hit a smash too late and 

it rockets into the net, swing early on the serve and the ball will be 

long. Get it 

right and POW, what a shot! 

Look out for some electrifying rallies with both players at the 

net. To avoid being passed you have to act only a fraction of a 

second after the computer's played its shot. Just like the real 

thing. 

Vtm 

cukmot 

/WUCH BETTCR/ 


V

I 

1 

the edge of the playing area. 

Gone are the crowds (although 

they can be heard) along 

with the ballboys, umpire and 

touch judges. This doesn't really 

detract from the game but it 

gives it a rather lonelier feel. 

Activision's tennis also has a 

different approach to the play: 

priority is on the different type of 

ball to play rather than running 

about after it. The computer will 

automatically move your player 

toward the ball - you simply decide 

which sortofshotto play and 

when to play it. 

The disadvantage of this is 

that you have little control over 

whether to stay at the back of the 

This proves to be an easier 

game to get into than the 

great Match point as the 

computer does all the 

running, and you only have 

to time the shot. But 

although this offers a good 

deal of scope for varied play, 

/ would prefer to have fuller 

control o ver the player. The 

animation quality of the 

impressively large, 

effeminate sprites is marred 

* by occasional puppet-like 

actions whilst running. Even 

so, the game has a pleasing 

atmosphere and a really 

good feel to it. 

court or move to the net. The 

advantage is that you can get a 

lot more variety in the type of 

shots you play. 

In normal play, the different 

joystick directions and the fire 

button give you five main options 

which are flat shot, topspin, 

lob, slice and drop shot. This 

gives plenty of scope for tactics. 

For example, if you're standing 

at the net with your opponent 

back, a drop shot will probably 

be a winning play. But if you play 

one from your own back court, 

chances are it won't clear the 

net. 

If your opponent lobs you, you 

automatically enter 'smash 

mode', and use the joystick to 

direct the shot in one of five 

directions. The smash into the 

corner, leaving the computer 

player stranded is one of the 

game's most satisfying moments. 

It looks very authentic too. 

Similar control is used to 

serve. Your man will automatically 

throw the ball into the air 

and it is up to you to time his 

racquet to hit the ball correctly in 

one of three directions. Pressing 

fire will give you greater speed 

but makes it harder to time the 

hit. 

There are three types of surfaces 

to play on: clay, grass or a 

hard court, grass being fast and 

clay slow. There are also four 

men to choose from called John, 

Jimmy, Ivan and Bjorn. Who 

could they be? They all have different 

styles of play which are 

suited to different courts and 

matches. 

You have a one or two player 

option and can play either a one 

set warm-up or best of three or 

five sets. The computer opponent 

is very good and has 'floating 

intelligence': the more you 

improve the better he gets. 

One minor bad point is that a 

player always serves from the 

nearest court to you and players 

change ends after every service. 

This is contrary to the rules of 

tennis! 

JR 

Clear instructions and 

four opponents to choose 

from. 

Large, but chunky players 

on scrolling court. Amusing 

touches. 

Good racquet and ball 

noises and a title tune. 

VALUE FOR MONEY 

r\ Q 

Q / 

yj /q 

Unfortunately - 3 more than Matchpoint, but still a 

terrific simulation. 

Graphically , 

some excellent touches like 

the ball increasing in size as 

it's thrown or hit high, and 

the McEnroe like grimaces 

the players make after 

playing a winning (or losing) 

shot. The players' serves are 

superbly animated, but they 

look a little silly walking 

down the court. Sound is 

good, with great ball and 

racquet noises, plus a jingle 

when you win a game. But 

the crowd sounds feeble. 

This is certainly a great 

tennis game, although 

overall / think Match point 

still offers more challenging 

this game has 

play. 

Preceeded by two other 

tennis games. 

Automatic player movement 

helps you get into it. 

Great tennis feel. 

/ As you improve, so does 

Q the computer opponent! 


, 

he initials stand for 

Multiple Use Labour 

Element but the creatures 

they refer to look very similar to 

the animals we know and love. 

Put simply this is a trading game 

where mules produce goods for 

you and you try to make as much 

money as possible by selling 

them. It is also one of the few 

computer games for FOUR different 

players, although the 

computer can control up to three 

of them, if you're on your own. 

The game is set on the planet 

I rata (Atari backwards - ho ho 

ho), where the four characters, 

which you can choose from 

eight aliens, try to develop its 

resources. A spaceship lands 

you in the only town with each 

player having a small amount of 

money and goods, depending 

on which character he has 

chosen. 

Surrounding the town are a 

river, a number of mountains 

and mostly plains. This area is 

broken up into plots of land and 

at the start of each turn a cursor 

moves across the screen allowing 

you to pick a plot. You can 

only get one plot per turn on the 

beginner's game and you will be 

in competition with the other 

players for them. 

Having selected your plot you 

can go and buy a mule in the 

town and outfit it. There are 

three resources which can be 

tapped: smithore, energy and 

food. Once outfitted to get one 

of these goods you can install 

the mule on your plot where it 

will produce units of the good at 

the end of the turn. Its success 

M.U.L.E. 

Ariolasoft, El 1.95 case, £14.95 disk, joystick only 

t Sophisticated trading game for up to four players 

/ found this to be an 

excellent trading 

game. The 

complexities of 

pricing and the need 

for swift action make it 

more absorbing than 

most. The graphic 

action also adds 

variety and the 

characters and mules 

are well animated. 

Although it won't 

appeal to all gamers it 

should interest a wide 

range ofpeople giving 

you plenty to do in a 

well presented 

program. 

Advanced mule marketing 

Once you've mastered the 

beginner's game you can 

move onto the standard and 

tournament games which 

introduce new features and 

are both run over 12 months. 

The standard game has land 

auctions for random individual 

plots and also the ability 

to sell plots. You will also find 

that mules run into short supply 

and vary in price, and you 

have more control over the 

auctions being able to sell 

below your critical level of 

supply and chargeenormous 

prices for goods in short 

supply. 

The tournament game introduces 

a new commodity, 

crystite, which sells for high 

prices but is vulnerable to 

pirates and not always easy 

to find. It also has collusion 

whereby two players can 

transact a private deal without 

the general interference 

of an auction free-for-all. This 

can be used for lots of dirty 

dealing against any dominant 

player. 

The comprehensive 

instructions and 

helpful hints make it 

easy to get in to this 

game. The 

combination of 

frenetic auctioneering 

and strategical 

development make it 

difficult to get out. The 

simple, but 

representative 

graphics and the 

boppy, catchy tune all 

added to the fun. 

Recommended to 

both novice and 

skilled traders alike. 

will depend on its location, food 

going best nearthe river, energy 

in the solar rich plains and 

smithore in the mountains. 

If you've got any time left you 

can go and gamble in the pub 

(you never lose), or go Wampus 

hunting in the mountains (bet 

you can't catch one). Once all 

four players are finished a 

random event may occur like a 

planetquake, acid rain, pest 

I 

The problem with BC's Quest for Ti res was 

that each of the stages was too easy , and 

interest waned quickly. Grog's Revenge on 

the other hand, has less screens and is harder 

but has a much longer lasting interest The 

graphics are better (the Tiredactyl is great) 

and there are a variety of amusing ways to 

lose a wheel. Some great little sound effects, 

most of which are unusual and imaginative, 

all add to the game's humourous and lasting 

appeal. 

One of the tunnels 

through the 

mountainside 

Your tyre 

Toll booth 

An impassable crack in 

the path. 

Your dams. 

After the exhausting task of 

rescuing his loved one in 

BC's Quest for Tires, the 

stone-age cartoon hero Thor is 

out and about again, this time to 

find the meaning of life. It is said 

to be found atop an ancient 

mountain, the last in a range of 

Grog's dams. 

The plan ofone side ofthe 

mountain showing Grog 

as a white diamond. 


Smithore outfitting 

Energy outfitting 

Food outfitting 

keep your mules producing. 

You may have shortages or 

surpluses of goods so you can 

buy some and sell others. This is 

done on an interesting auction 

screen where sellers at the top 

and buyers at the bottom move 

towards each other so as to 

meet at a mutually acceptable 

price. If no one is trading, the 

store itself may be able to sell 

you goods. You cannot sell 

below a critical level which are 

your essential supplies. 

After trading has finished you 

are shown the financial state of 

each player and the colony's 

overall situation, before returning 

to the land screen where you 

can choose another plot. The 

beginner's game lasts for six 

months at which point the ship 

returns to check on the colony's 

progress and award the title of 

first founder to the player of 

greatest worth. 

BW 

You have a 

MULE in tow 

The pub where you can 

gamble 

The MULE corral 

Your time left 

Q 

Delightfully illustrated 

instruction booklet. 

64% 

A trading game but in 

a bright new format. 

attack or pirate raid which can 

dent your productivity. 

The mules now get on with 

producing and you may get the 

occasional bonus or bad news 

scroll across the screen. You 

take the fruits of their labour to 

the store where you can trade 

them with other players or the 

store itself. Each turn you will 

need certain amounts of energy, 

food and of course money to 

A really funky bop 

tune paves the way 

into an involved and 

boring game. 

Unimpressed by the 

graphics / played the 

game in hope of 

excitement. I found 

little. Apart from a few 

breaks (complete with 

funky bop ) and trying 

to sell products there 

was nothing to keep 

me interested. 

Not many graphics 

but what there are are 

well animated and fun 

Funky tune plus effects 

during game. 

VALUE FOP MONEY 

72% 

81% 

The best pure trading game we've seen. 

Not too simple 

and economics may 

put some off. 

Three different games and 

so much to do. Great for 

four players! 

US Gold/Sierra on Line, £9.95 case, £14.95 disk, joystick only 

9 Thor returns for more enjoyable cartoon action 

five. A network of caves run 

through the very mountains 

themselves, and a long and 

winding track runs around them. 

Linking each of the mountains 

are toll bridges that Thor must 

cross, getting him a step nearer 

to his goal. This is where his 

problems start 

On screen, the mountains are 

shown one at a time on a small 

radar in the bottom right. On this 

radar are shown all cave 

entrances, a symbol representing 

Thor and one of Grog. The 

part of the mountain Thor is 

currently on is shown on the top 

half of the screen in reasonable 

graphical detail. It scrolls left to 

right, depending on the direct- 

I 

i 

k 

How to lose a life 

When you're a stone-age guy 

riding round a hostile mountainside, 

it's awfully easy to lose your 

unicycle. You can: 

• Hit a pothole or a rock. OUCH! 

• Ride too close to the mountain 

wall. SPLAT! 

• Slip off the edge of the mountain 

path. AAAAAAAGH! 

• Blunder into a falling stalactite 

inside one of the dimly lit caves. 

CRASH! 

• Have your tire gobbled by the 

massive, green, loathsome Tiredactyl 

which inhabits the higher 

levels. SCRUNCH! 

All these deaths are depicted in 

hilarious cartoon style. But Thor's 

main problem is in the form of a 

sort of time limit. The Mighty 

GROG is pounding his way down 

the mountainside, collecting 

clams as he goes and hungry for 

revenge 

He is represented as a white 

diamond on the radar, and you'll 

soon know if he appears on your 

level from the ominous tune that 

echoes forth. Should you ever see 

Grog's nose appear at the edge of 

the screen then you know all is 

lost. Thor is unceremoniously 

pulled off screen, and Grog 

makes a sudden and noisy 

entrance. 

Hilarious cartoon fun 

lies in BC Il's cassette 

box. Brilliant graphics 

and animation with 

some of the most 

hysterical death 

routines since Cliff 

Hanger along with 

fitting sound will grab 

you instantly. Lasting 

appeal, like its 

predecessor is rather 

dubious although a 

greater challenge is 

presented with this 

one. 

ion he's going in. The scrolling is 

smooth, but does get a little 

jerky at a higher speed. 

To cross a toll bridge Thor 

must pay the exorbitant sum of 

100 clams to a waiting toll-man. 

Luckily the mountains have a 

plentiful supply of clams lying 

around, and in case you've 

never seen a clam on a mountain, 

you should know that these 

are lesser spotted craggy peak 

clams. 

The clams are to be found on 

A HELP/ 

" 


001 Arcade VIC 20 (UNEXPANDED) 

SNAKE BITE- Simply the slitheriest 

game of its kind. 

002 Arcade, VIC 20 (UNEXPANDED) 

MICKEY THE BRICKY - Four 

screens packed with fun. 

003 Arcade BBC MICRO B 

BIRD STRIKE - Wing the planes 

and shoot the pigeons. 


GOLD DIGGER - The hazards of 

digging for gold down under. 


DUCK! - Comedy and music in this 

duck shoot. 


ACID DROPS - Fly through to tackle 

the mutant spinners. 


ESTRA- Recover the sacred statue 

of Estra the snake god. 

023 Arcade/Strategy BBC MICRO B 

THE HACKER -Terminal to modem, 

telephone network to mainframe. 

006 Arcade SPECTRUM 1 6K/48K 

RUN BABY RUN - Multi-car cop 

chase and shoot-out. 

009 Arcade SPECTRUM 1 6K/48K 

TERRA FORCE -Terra man 

defends earth against all odds. 

010 Arcade SPECTRUM 16K/48K 

MENACE - What happens when 

teacher turns his back. 

02 1 Arcade SPECTRUM 1 6K/48K 

CRAZY CAVERNS - Ten crazy 

caverns, ten hungry mouthsto feed. 

007 Arcade SPECTRUM 48K 

EXODUS - Strange creatures 

emerging from the pits. 

014 Arcade/Strategy SPECTRUM 48K 

MR. FREEZE - Six compartments, 

each tougher to de-ice. 

01 6 Arcade Adventure SPECTRUM 48K 

BOOTY - Twenty holds crammed 

full of pirate loot. 

008 War Game SPECTRUM 48K 

VIKING RAIDERS - A test of strategy 

against the computer or friends. 

SCREEN PRINT SERVICE 

SINCLAIR SPECTRUM AND BBC MICRO B USERS ONLY 

Notice the quality of printed screens on the front of our Silver range packs. If you are a computer 

artist we can offer you hard copy of your creations in the form of: 

1 2" x 9" FULL COLOUR PRINTS by ink jet printer. These are available in two formats: 

1. PAPER- £6.95p each, or 2. LAMINATED (Board-backed) -£9.95p each; 

both prices inclusive of VAT and postage. 

Send your saved screen on cassette or disc (state border colour, if Spectrum) with a crossed 

cheque/PO made payable to FIREBIRD SOFTWARE, to the address below. Your cassette or disc 

will be returned with order. Allow 14 days for delivery. 

SCREEN PRINT: 

‘FREEPOST FIREBIRD, WELLINGTON HOUSE, UPPER ST MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON WC2H 9BR 

‘No stamp required. 

MAIL ORDER 

Please state name of game (and machine) and 

numbers required. 

Enclose crossed cheque/PO made payable to 

FIREBIRD SOFTWARE. 

All offers are subject to availability. 

Orders are despatched promptly. All prices 

inclusive of VAT and postage. 

MAILORDER: 

‘FREEPOST FIREBIRD, 

WELLINGTON HOUSE, 

UPPER ST MARTIN’S LANE, 

LONDON WC2H 9BR 

‘No stamp required. 

FIREBIRD SOFTWARE, WELLINGTON HOUSE, UPPER ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON WC2H 9DL. TEL: 01-379 6755/5626 

Firebird and the Firebird logo are trademarks of British Telecommunications pic.

panocsac 

# + 

wanrac 

I M . 

fill 

- i. -Kg" 

NEW RELEASES: 

MR FREEZE 

AMSTRAD 

THE WILD BUNCH- \ 

k MR FREEZE- 

'S! I ilk BBC MICR0 B 

O591T0 *** MR.FREC2E *** 059170*130 


BIRD STRIKE- 

ELECTRON 

THE HACKER 

k 

ELECTRON 

01 1 Arcade SPECTRUM 48K 01 2 Adventure SPECTRUM 48K 018 Arcade COMMODORE 64 01 5 Arcade/Strategy COMMODORE 64 

THE WILD BUNCH - Accused of EXODUS - Strange creatures MR. FREEZE - Six compartments, 

murder, hunt the real killer. 

emerging from the pits. 

each tougher to de-ice. 

BYTE BITTEN - Solve the clue then 

play Sea King. 

~~~~N 

% ^ 

M- 

'W A 

] 

1 

A ^ 1 

r f>1 •5 "1 

M 

| 

POWER: 

TIME: 

1 

SCORE: 

ROOMNUM8ER: 

01 7 Arcade Adventure COMMODORE 64 

BOOTY - Twenty holds crammed 

full of pirate loot. 

019 Arcade COMMODORE 64 

HEADACHE - Nervous Ned’s quest 

to serve The Brain. 

020 Arcade COMMODORE 64 

ZULU - 1 00 golden masks hidden 

in a magic maze. 

024 Arcade Adventure COMMODORE 64 

GOGO THE GHOST - 1 50 different 

haunted castle chambers. 

201 COMMODORE 64 

DEMONS OF TOPAZ 

202 SPECTRUM 48K 

BUGGY BLAST - 

1 00% Graphic Exploration. Space Mission Simulation.

.RND 

At first glance it seems as if 

this isn't any different 

from its predecessor. On 

playing the game though, you 

soon notice, and feel, that it is. 

The original Super Pipeline 

had you in control of a foreman 

and helper, maintaining a flow 

of water through complex pipe 

networks, in order to fill a barrel. 

This sequel follows the same 

theme, but is superior in every 

way. 

You still control the self same 

foreman, only this time you 

have TWO workmates to help 

you. One of the game's most 

appealing features is the way 

they tag along behind you, 

mending broken pipes where 

necessary and intercepting 

otherwise fatal nasties. Getting 

them to do exactly what you 

want and when you want it, 

takes considerable skill. 

At the top of the screen is a 

tank containing a supply of 

water. This supply is constantly 

flowing through a tangle of piping, 

where it will pour into a 

waiting barrel. Depending on 

which level you're on, there can 

be between one and four barrels 

to fill. 

Things are not so simple, 

though, as unpleasant objects 

roam the pipes, and must be 

shot or avoided. These things 

are in fact tools of various descriptions. 

Some cut holes in your 

pipe and allow the water to escape: 

this calls for immediate action, 

so you must lead one of 

Superlative follow up with arcade quality graphica 

1 6 pipelines, two helpmates, hilarious intermissions 

vr£“ V ! h *r e thin9s get tougher 

vl 

kJ 

Stunningly impressive 

Cl/ 

fully, avoided, or intercepted by 

'y-. program - experienced game- 

I / U players will rave over it. 

an expendable workmate. 

your workmates along to repair 

GROG'S REVENGE 

the damage. Even under the attention 

of his hammer, holes take 

the tracks running around the To pick up a clam Thor must the secret of the meaning of life. time to seal, leaving your henchman 

mountain, or within the caverns. ride over it on his stone-age unicycle 

Should you get that far, you will 

open to attack from hostile 

The caves are dark and so a 

(equipped this time with a discover the programmer is tools. 

source of light is needed to see tire). Once he has collected 100 something of a cynic. You'll also 

If you spring too many leaks 

the way through. Thor, being or more he can take them to the discover that the only thing left 

way ahead of his time, carries a toll bridge and move on to the to do is to try again on a harder 

flashlight with him. Unfortunately, 

next mountain. 

range of mountains (there are Attack of the 

the torch isn't very power- 

If Thor should have 25 or more three in all). 

ful, and only a small amount of clams over the quota he will buy 

GP 

mutant tools 

the screen is shown under its an extra life - there are five to 

The game features a large number 

of hostile tools, and as is the 

light. This effect is very realistic start. 

and makes the going tough on The levels are lettered A to E, E 

case with the other sprites, they 

This is the first game 

higher levels. 

being the final stage, containing 

are graphically wonderful. Power 

where / have laughed 

drills, buzz-saws, pneumatic 

every time I died. The 

ORIGINALITY 

marvellous cartoon 

drills, blowtorches and a host of 

animation and 

others all try to cut holes in the 

hilarious adversaries piping. 

Instructions are very slick in 

The very first icon-driven 

make this thoroughly 

every aspect. adventure. 

Other, less destructive tools 

93% 

94% 

entertaining. The among them plungers, spanners, 

lastabi/ity is the only 

GRAPHICS HOOKABILITY 

toolboxes, caterpillars and hammers 

questionable aspect 

but personally / round 

Stunning definition and use of 

it 

OOn/ 

Although initially daunting, 

tough enough and 

colour all round. 

>< >< '-'A. the original approach soon 

with more than 

92% 

merely wander aimlessly 

around the pipe, and contact with 

any proves fatal. There are also 

yJU / U drags you in. 

enough levels to keep appearances from the lobster and 

me a happy unicyclist. 

SOUND 

spiders from Pipeline / (especially 

The sound effects add on later levels) plus the introduction 

of some newer problems. A 

pleasantly to what is 

OO O/ Su Perb musical scores, with 

an addictive and 

Q^ vVq 

160 locations, scores of 

adjustable tone. objects and enemies to 

cluster of tacks 

93% encounter. 

amusing 

make an appearance 

on pipe five, and follow the 

game. 

VALUEiFORMONEY 

path of the pipe. They cannot be 

killed though - they must be skil- 


*Nf> NOT q JXZpp IQ 3>fiNK/ 

and the water supply level 

should get too low, all water will 

start to flash and your score will 

decrease. If you don't fill all the 

barrels before your score runs 

out, then you'll lose a life. 

Once all of the barrels have 

been filled, one of eight excellent 

and humourous intermission 

screens is played, and it's 

onto a longer, more twisting 

The original game was 

brilliant and this improved 

version takes the game to 

new heights of excellence. 

The graphics are superb and / 

loved the humourous 

touches at the end of each 

screen. The varied nasties 

and complicatedpipes make 

this much harder than the 

original and even more fun. 

The music and colour are 

marvellous as usual, having 

a real arcade feel to them. If 

you haven't seen the original 

then you're in fora real treat 

and even if you have you'll 

love this new version. 

pipeline. 

You can start with between 

one and eight lives, and there is 

a one or two player option. An 

amusing and brief set of instructions 

exist within the game, and 

some excellent, detailed ones 

come on the inlay. 

The graphics and sound have 

both been improved greatly. 

Sprites are large and have excellent 

definition and animation, 

each being outlined and well 

coloured. The effect of water 

flowing is superb, and the animated 

intermissions have real 

class - in one a Sinclair C5 trike 

gets sledgehammered by one of 

your workmates, while in another 

caricatures of the Taskset 

team prance across the screen. 

The quality music is easily 

recognisable as being that of 

Taskset, and four or five jaunty 

pieces are played throughout 

the game. The sound effects are 

very good, and very unusual. 

GP 

Supersmooth, slick graphics 

C and catchy tunes instantly 

attract you to this game. 

There's plenty ofcomplicated 

and challenging screens 

which will keep many 

perplexed for months to 

come. / found this game fun 

and enjoyable to play apart 

from one thing. The 

transition between the easy 

screens and the difficult is 

rather sharp and dying on the 

same screen game after 

game was annoying. 

PRESENTATION 

Q 

Q 

Very, very slick. Great 

cartoon interludes between 

screens. 

Arcade quality. Great 

animation and detail. Many 

humourous touches. 

There are 16 different pipe 

networks (compared with 

eight on the original), and 

dozens of evil nasties to 

contend with. Even after 

days of extensive, 

exhaustive and exciting play, 

I can't getpast screen 13 (and 

that's with eight lives!). In 

other words, it's tough and 

enjoyable enough to keep a 

wide range ofarcade 

gamesters busy. 

ORIGINALITY 

Q 

Q 

The basic idea is the same 

as in Super Pipeline 

outstanding 

Very powerful addiction 

sets in instantly. 

TOPQUALITY 

PROGRAMS 

URGENTLY 

REQUIRED! 

An overseas software house is planning to launch several 

new computer games onto the U.K. market. 

To complement our growing list of titles, we now 

urgently require top class programs from U.K. authors. 

As we plan to release only games of the highest quality, 

your program must be original, exciting and graphically 

So why not send your program on cassette or disk to us 

and you will be offered the best possible deal! 

Q 

Four different pieces of 

great, catchy music, plus 

other good effects. 

16 pipes of increasing 

difficulty, the last few VERY 

Q 

State of the art arcade game. Enormous appeal whether or not you've 

already got Pipeline I. 

Lonsto House, 1 ,2 and 3 Princes Lane, London N 10 3LU 


£1,SOO of Activision games and 

sportswear as prizes in our great 

spot- the-ball competition 

If joystick exercise isn't enough for you then we're offering you not only the chance 

to win Activision's three new sports games but also a superb bag of athletic 

goodies to get you out and about this summer. 

We have FIVE sets of sportswear to give away, each one including: a tracksuit, 

tennis shirt, shoes, socks and sportsbag to pack them in. Wow! Now you can put 

that muscular joystick grip to good use on the tennis court or practice your 

decathlon events for real. 

The five winners will receive all this sportswear PLUS the set of Activision's 

impressive new sport simulation programs all reviewed in this issue: On-Court 

Tennis (what a sizzler!), On-Field Football and On-Field Baseball, while 

TWENTY-FIVE runners-up will get the three games. 

To win these marvellous prizes all you have to do is spot the ball which has been 

removed from the screen shot of On-Court Tennis. You only have ONE attempt at 

putting a cross where you think the ball is most likely to be. The winners will be the 

ones who get closest to the ball's actual position. 

Cut out the form and picture with your name and address on and a cross marking 

where you think the ball is. Send it to us at: Activision competition, Zzap! 64, 1 

Church Terrace, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1HX. All entries should reach us by the 13th 

of June. The editor's decision is final. 


1 

^rxrr 

\ 

1 

1 

*‘-‘‘*‘*'*-*-*‘* 

«*«**-•-*•*-*•**• .•.*.*«*»!^Wl«*»‘ •!•.•«* *''‘‘, . , «‘i*»*,t , .'.*«'«‘»*v. , t*i*«'»l , .'.*i*« 

Name 

Ad d r*os 

•••••• 

••a a 

a a a 

Pn

I 

1. 

I 

I 

Enter these pages, proud gaês-play 

^ 

delectation a series of cunning 

handler you really are. We have P'®P® Y° 

ct of your zzapping skills. Allow 

tests to enable you to ,n''e*t ‘ga 

d t 

Yake each test in turn, writing down your 

yourself a clear unmterrupted hour and take e 

wj|| ^ gb(e^ ca|cu ,ate your 

answers. Then by referring to our official answ 

game addict rating. Good luck— —— 

7esf 7. 

RECOGNITION 

Printed here are a range ot 

screen-shots from 64 games. 

Well, in fact we've only printed 

PART of each screen shot. Your 

task is to match each picture 

with the correct name of the 

game taken from the list below. 

Just write the letter of the game 

above each picture and prove 

that you're not a games-playing 

innocent. 

A. Tapper 

B. Impossible Mission 

C. QuoVadis 

D. Breakdance 

E. Traffic 

F. Spy v Spy 

G. Cliff Hanger 

H. Seaside Special 

I. Kick Start . 

. 

J. The Hobbit (disk version) 

K. Give my regards to Broad 

Street 

L. Jack Attack 

M. Pole Position 

N. Mr Robot 

O. Trashman 

P. Toy Bizarre 

Slimers, FK de 

2. Warriors, vermii 

3. 8a 1 1 boys 

4. Missiles, oil si 

5 . 

Riddles, lava pits 

6. Telephone klos 


; 

which 

USfiR? 

ONEOFF 

mmm 

lilii 

m 

if umi're a sophisticated own® , . 

are absolutely 

just don't do and certain othw whether you can differentiate 

mandatory. This section 's to t 

^ hamstrung . 

ôst'appropriate 

answer after 

Wrtte the” letter oftite 

question. 

names better than the 64's. 

1.Your friend says his Spectrum games are 

Would you: 

(a) melt his keyboard? 

4. 

' 

(b) ignore him? 

-• 

mental asylum? 

(c) paying h»s bills at 

,c) keep peyino 

would 

2 .The local know-all offers to 

»» «>C V 

5. 

you: 

(a) die laughing? 

«sts*1 

(c) let him 

1 

see^ 

m 

. a. dt ^ n 

* 

1r 

3aYour joystick breaks in the middle ol a game o 3 

6. 

C"Mm' 

a eal "” "? 

^ 

13 prhh dowSloekpeCed operating losses? 

You get given an Interceptor game which doesn t load. 

y°u: iK 

(a) throw a ht 

, 

th\ sav 'thank goodness^ 

/ 

c 

\ adjust your cassette heads. 

ds away from smashing your high score 

Just as you're secor '^ . 

a p0wer cut. Would you 

on Raid Over Moscow^ sa P.^ ^ tei everyone a fake 

, 

(a) throw your joystick our 

high score? 

t0 COme back on and startagam 

13sSiSSSSSSt 

“'“d K"d 

A burglar stealsyour ®J ôclÂtari owners? 

(a) check the houses of all me . 

on. sensihl. hurgla. -round. 

begraWhd'here^saUeast 

13 

Test 4. REACTIONS 

_ 

stuck on an adventure you know 

7. You watch someone 96 9 

JKSSS. 

wm ‘’“""^mggot a. fa, as h« has. 

Sh to hln,»he.r. 

BsS^S^Sl^=- 

8 Your disk drive starts making funny noises. Would vou 

StSe 

it, 

»»'= sister ,o shop 

because it's supposed to do that? 

d aets cramp in the middle of a Pitstop II race. Wou 

9. Your hand gets cramp 

Ustruggle to the finish line as best you can? 

la) 

SS^he— 

am>iWoua 

lO.The government puts an extra takon computer 9ames 

w 

IS 

^ 

».«. P-. 

£^sKtsr^! 

5STp~»7 

• worH Would vou* 

,w“ 

y&s£&gsaags*~~ 

13. You're spotted in 

copy of Computer Comer Would you 

. 

lb) prhhtcattttiat h was only for a gifl9'e 

S a 

ow hard and buy the mag? 

1 

U 7, a n. Challenge. Would you: 

14 You are invited to take part m the Zzap. c 

~ 

SEsSSS*hope your opponent 

asleep first? 

SW&flTV. 

TH€R€'S AAOfcfe 

TO CO/V\6.

J 

ONEOFF 

Are YOU a MftSTtB BlASTER? 

Test 5. SCREEN A WARENESS 

Pictured here is a special screen 

we've created from a fictitious 

platform game. Your task is to 

work out the most efficient way 

of getting round the screen collecting 

all the keys. The maximum 

gap you can jump is TWO 

spaces, the maximum height 

you can gain or lose while jumping 

is ONE space (although you 

can fall two spaces). 

So for example you can jump 

from Y to Z, from d to f, or f to d. 

And you can fall from q to K. But 

you CANT manage Y to d, or k 

to q, or Y to R. Also, although 

you could normally jump from, 

say, U to P, in practice this is 

impossible, because you will 

land on W first. 

Using this information, work 

out the route which uses the 

fewest number of leaps, and 

write down the sequence of 

letters this route requires. 

Test 6. GAME 

SPOTTING 

Can you identify the following 

game titles? All we're giving is 

the first letter of each important 

word in the title (no 'the's and 

'of's), followed by a clue linked 

to the game's content. Write 

down each game title in the 

space available. 

1. RMC, pyramids 

2. GMRBS, roads 

3. CCW, screen after screen 

OUT 

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a good deal of 

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menttf demand 

n 

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tal . 9ilitv 

4 Jeff ' Minin. 

Vffi m® to be solved h a ®,W off 

*V if 

X9 U Minter R U 

mind work? 

H°w T„ 

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thlnk round cnr„, Can 

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pf V Cr °wher, 

you 

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fWo M have anyS, ,f so « nave anv nmki - V«u ^°u 

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4 

- tmg the ODD ONEnT ONEo ?? s spot‘ spot' 

ofthe follo 

Wina^°^T m each 

some we've After even??' a "- «n 

brackets. 9 ' ven a hint in 

1' Eoco, Son of Ria 

Express, Black Suic,c,e 

Thunder' 

2- Chiner Miner d 

Hunt^' 

P 

EruceLee n (odgj^gj 

- 

^ 

H orace, Bilbo. 

Wa 

Michael Jack 

" 

Julian Rignali, Rockfo 

a 

J 

k lately, 

np 1 

& n tt/1 

4. RBB, aircraft 

COm^r^0oX?don V°Ur 

5. SK, witch 

6. JSW, bug 

7. DTD, exhaustion 

8. LM, views 

9. FABMMMM, switches 

10. BBSB, adiction 

7 “THE BN510ERSW i*- 

„ PNP> JjV.ii f — 

SCORE CHART Wr ! f 

\ ARE ON 

( 

.VIM 

S^PA&E ) V- / l JJS) 

vV 

;/ 

T 

his game comes hot on 

the heels of Imagine's 

World Series Baseball 

(reviewed in this issue) so it's 

inevitable comparisons will be 

drawn between the two. 

As far as graphics are concerned, 

there's no question 

which is better. In this one a 

reasonable looking baseball 

ground is impaired by the presence 

of titchy, indistinct players, 

who wouldn't go amiss in a 

game of Robotron (No offence, 

Robotron players). The batter 

looks like a crippled golfer, 

about to tee off, and the catcher 

bears a resemblance to ET at 

times. 

The animation of the players 

is crude and jerky by today's 

standards - the fielders look as if 

they're skating across the grass 

(but they do produce a pleasing 

throw on the run). Sprite priority 

is virtually nonexistent, as 

players run through, instead of 

around, each other. Also the 

flight of the ball is sometimes 

Developing 

batting technique 

There are three main skills while 

batting: 

TIMING is essential to hit the ball 

at all. You have to press the fire 

button before the ball reaches 

your batter so that he has time to 

swing. But since the pace of the 

deliveries varies, this takes some 

getting used to. The practice 

mode is very helpful here. When 

you're desperate to at least hit the 

ball, you can opt to 'bunt' - use a 

dead bat. This gives almost certain 

contact, but the ball won't go 

too far. 

JUDGING the nature of the delivery 

is also crucial. Even the computer 

will sometimes let fly balls 

which are unplayably high or low. 

If you swing at these, it'll count a 

'strike' against you. 

BLUFFING your opponent is the 

third skill. As in the Imagine game 

it is possible to 'steal' bases at a 

moment when your opponent is 

off guard. You can even trick the 

computer that way - try running a 

man from second to third base at 

the same time that the computer 

is pitching a delivery. You'll 

sometimes make it. 

The graphics of the game are very offputting 

butonce you get down to its great gameplay 

and 'feet this becomes less important The 

action seems very realistic with fielders 

having to struggle with good outfield shots , 

but the batter at a disadvantage with infield 

shots. The inevitable comparison with 

fmagine's baseballgame leaves this a close 

second but with more variability in the 

pitching andgame options. 

There is a similarity to fmagine's baseball but 

I found fmagine's to be easier to control 

especially with the big TV screen. On Field 

Baseball r s graphics were certainly lacking in 

detail and the animation was pretty awful 

Judging the pitches was extremely difficult 

since everything seemed so far away. Even 

so, these niggling details didn't stop me from 

enjoying the game immensely. 

has possession of the ball, 

making the moment of pick up 

absolutely clear. 

At start of play there are several 

choices to be made. You can 

similarly, although 'Heat' has 

one almost unplayably fast delivery. 

(Well, the computer can 

better. The sound of bat hitting 

ball is more authentic and the 

play it.) Both pitchers tire during 

unrealistic - it appears to skate ball doesn't stop dead on bouncing 

as it does in the Imagine select a pitcher - either the fast- 

too many fast balls, so at the end 

the game, especially if you use 

along the ground after bouncing 

and at other times it actually game. 

throwing 'Heat' Muldoon, or the of the seventh innings you're allowed 

to bring on a relief 

bou nces off the crowd 

Another useful feature is that tricky 'Curves' Cassidy. In practice 

they appeared to play very pitcher. 

Nevertheless, it's gameplay the fielder turns black when he 

ON-FIELD BASEBALL 

Activision, £10.95 case, £19.99 disk, joystick only 

that really counts, and thankfully 

this is good. Indeed in some 

ways it is better than the Imagine 

game. 

For a start, the pace of play is 

greater - you do not have to wait 

between each ball to select outfield 

and steal options. Secondly, 

many people will find that the 

actual 'feel' of striking the ball is 

supposed to hit for the fences 

the Liners are average, but 

haven't spotted any real differ 

WBmm 4 

illlllpf i 

mSKM mum 

The stick man characters are ready for action as the 

batter prepares for the pitch 


, , , 

’ 

' 

f— 

1 

1 

(8, £1 1.95 disk, joystick only 

Tired, uninteresting battles in space and at sea 

T 

hese two games have 

been resurrected from the 

far distant mists of time 

and thrown together in a less 

than cheap package. Both originated 

in the very early days of 

the video arcade and will bring 

back nostalgic memories to 

many ageing zappers. Unfortunately 

they may not bring back 

the excitement. 

Starfire is a 3D shoot-em-up 

Star Wars style where evil Exidy 

fighters try to protect their 

freighters from your murderous 

fire. 

The display is of the forward 

view from your cockpit and you 

are also given a radar scan of the 

surrounding space, your laser 

temperature and fuel status. On 

screen from time to time will 

appear your tracking computer 

which locks onto the enemy 

targets for a while if you can 

centre them. 

The only other hazards are 

asteroids which can crash into 

you. The ships themselves come 

in three different colours, blue 

rookies, green seniors pilots and 

red enemy commanders. These 

are worth 10, 20 and 40 points 

respectively with any freighter 

worth 50 points. 

On each level you have to 

score enough points to gain a 

fuel bonus to allow you to carry 

on until the final sixteenth level. 

This is the main pressure since 

shooting ships isn'ttoo hard and 

a last minute panic to get the 

points is often called for. 

Fire One takes you out of 

space and under the water 

The stars streak towards you as an enemy ship 

flickers across your view. 

who can sinktheopposite sub or 

the entire fleet. 

You are equipped with nine 

torpedo tubes and unlimited torpedoes. 

These can destroy both 

enemy and friendly ships so you 

have to aim carefully. 

The screen shows a sonar 

scan of the whole playing area 

and a periscope's view of the 

local area when surfaced. Indicators 

also show your torpedoes 

ready to fire, time left, damage 

to both subs, direction and 

speed and your tracking computer. 

There are eight types of ship 

and unless you score a direct hit 

in their dead centre they will take 

several hits to destroy. Each hit 

and sinking will score points 

with the sub being by far the 

most valuable. 

BW 

Y 

is also crowd noise and a pleaswhere 

your submarine has to 

protect its fleet from enemy sub 

and ships. You do this in a series 

of battles that take place within a 

time limit and are decided by 

[PRESENTATION 

OC7 /O 

0 / Good instructions. 

GRAPHICS 

f\ f\ / Jerky but colourful 

W '/n 

in Starfire. VERY crude 

SOUND 

Q 00/ 

Back int' good old 

days when I were no ' 

but a lad I sat in this 

machine, ft were 

really ace, like / were 

playing star wars ont' 

telly. Many years later 

Hook upon t'game 

with nostalgia and 

nowt else. V graphics 

are bad and wobble 

about sommat awful 

As for t' other one it's 

just as old andjust as 

bad. 

1 

/U in Fire One. 

O Q 0/ 

^ 

ORIGINALITY 

000/ Old games and old 

yfLO /O gameplay. 

HOOKABILITY 

Vl. Cs /0 

Epyx baffle me. How 

can they release such 

drive! as this, when 

they've given us such 

classics as Summer 

Games and 

impossible Mission? 

Neithergame on the 

tape stands up on its 

own, and they don't 

do too wet! together 

They're very 

monotonous and 

don't hold any 

reasonable lasting 

interest I suppose if 

you tike archaic 

arcade decrepits, you 

could choose worse 

than this. But not 

much. 

These are really 

ancient games which 

unfortunately don't 

live up to their 

packaging and are 

nowhere near Epyx's 

best. They mightbe 

okay as budgetgames 

or in a compilation but 

with just the two of 

them most people will 

be left wanting, ft 

brings the memories 

flooding back but 

these are probably 

best left covered m 

cobwebs. 

Initial nostalgia 

but nothing else. 

Banging and blasting 

Jo / 0 

0 0 / Unless you like 

effects. living in the past. 

WMMW 

. 


Old favourites but new disasters. 

J Q /Q 

ences. 

The game is played over nine 

innings, with extra innings 

should a draw result. The computer 

always fields first, leaving 

you the arduous task of batting. 

Sound during the game is 

between the Activision game and the 

Imagine one. Bothare newreleases, andboth 

have some very strong points about them. In 

my opinion though , ifyoujust want a good 

game 

f 

ofbaseball on your computer, then 

fine i 

get On-Field Baseball, if you want to 

bring allthe fun, excitementandhkmatatz of 

the game into your home, then go for World 

Series Baseball - it's§otbettergraphics and is 

three goidcheaper 

pretty good and includes some 

short musical strains at the beginning 

of the game (complete 

with the American national 

anthem), at the end of an innings 

and on hitting a home run. There 

ing thud as ball hits glove. 

The two player option adds 

further excitement to the game, 

and a practice mode allows you 

PRESENTATION 

74% Q 

GRAPHICS 

32% 

SOUND 

Good instructions and 

game options. 

Rotten stick men, 

badly animated. 

Q/ Authentic baseball 

sounds and stadium 

64%oq ^ 

tunes. 


73% 0 

to bat away for as long as you 

like, without fear of losing - an 

excellent feature. 

ORIGINALITY 

72% 

Not quite as many 

new touches as Imagine's. 

HOOKABILITY 

72% 

The graphics put you 

off, but hitting the ball 

feels very good. 

LASTABILITY 

0 / More expensive and overall not quite as good as 

World Series. 

0*7 

You'll still 

0/ 

want to play 

q / yyj 

even after beating the 

^ computer. 


Itw** 

c Onnn 

'On* 

"J 00$F 

Xror*. 

wftfc Oi 

No, not another 

computing magazine. 

Micro Chalienge is unique. Colourful and exciting, 

— devised specifically for microcomputer owners. 

it 9 s packed with intriguing puzzles — and prize competitions 

hOLOU 

Brush up on your geometry to unravel the answer. 

This is an example of one of the 

many types of puzzle to be 

found in Micro Challenge — but 

its also your chance to win a 

superb JVC portable colour 

television with remote control. 

Solve the problem, using skill, 

judgement and your own micro, 

then send the solution, on one 

of the prize puzzle entry forms 

from the May/June issues of 

Micro Challenge, to the address 

given in the magazine, marking 

the coupon API. (A proper form 

must be used; no photocopies 

or facsimiles are permitted). The 

competition closes first post on 

June 17, 1 985, and the first 

correct entry opened wins the 

prize. 

It is possible to find many examples of three 

different right-angled triangles which are all 

equal in area. Can you, however, find three 

such triangles for which every side is a whole 

number of units (an integer)? Try to devise a 

program to find the trio with the smallest 

possible area. 

Moving at the speed of light you could still snap up 

our fabulous launch issue. Order a regular copy 

from your newsagent now. Details of subscriptions 

or postal deliveries contact: 

MICRO CHALLENGE 

Somers House, Linkfield Corner, Redhill, Surrey 

RH1 IBB

lt 

''YWW>-:j>ON'r 1X6Y 

SOUND MK€ 

OLp pfcOS,,,? 

R 

acing games are ail the 

rage this month and 

there's plenty of fast 

furious action in this one. It 

doesn't feature two player 

racing but you may find yourself 

with up to six cars on screen at 

once. 

The setting is the Nascar circuits 

of America and you have to 

take on 18 other cars, including 

Richard Petty's (a famous 

Nascar driver). However before 

you can race against the best 

you've got to qualify. This is 

done around a tri-oval circuit or 

a random circuit. Both of these 

have only left hand turns with 

the former having three and the 

latter a random number each 

race. 

Qualifying is fairly easy as 

long as you keep at maximum 

speed and don't bump into the 

other cars on the track. At this 

stage they're easy to avoid but 

they won't be so charitable in 

the race proper. 

Your qualifying time determines 

your position on the grid 

and it's best to be in the top four 

or you'll have a lot of catching up 

to do. The start usually causes 

large jams as the leaders jockey 

for position and you have to be 

extra careful not to get sandwiched 

and crash. This isn't the 

only way to meet your doom 

though. 

You have tyre wear and fuel 

levels which if allowed to get to 

zero will cause you to crash. 

Tyres are worn down when your 

car rubs against the curb while 

heavy contact in front or behind 

from another car will also result 

in disaster. You may also get 

some random engine trouble 

but this will only slow you down. 

All these factors can be repaired 

in the pits. 

To help you avoid the other 

drivers you have two handy 

techniques. The first is slipstreaming 

(driving close behind 

another car) which won't speed 

you up but will conserve fuel so 

that you can avoid doing too 

many pit stops. Secondly you 

can use turbo boost which 

allows you to travel at 294 mph 

instead of the usual 250 mph 

and is great for overtaking manoeuvres. 

However it eats up the 

fuel and should only be used for 

short periods on straights. 

The other cars have distinct 

personalities and there are five 

general types. Three individuals 

are your main competitors and 

drive distinctive numbered cars 

which are most easily out driven 

on the bends. Theothers fall into 

two classes: the bumpers and 

the demons. The bumpers are 

slow and easy to avoid while the 

Although the graphics andsoundaren 't up to 

the standard of Pitstop li the competitive action 

is every bit as demanding. The computer 

controlled cars are incrediblymean and you 4 II 

have to be a realace to beat them. The best 

action is at starts when you can have jams of 

five or six cars scrapping for the lead and 

making driving very dangerous. The fact that 

you can only do left hand turns is disappointing 

but the random circuits can make things 

more interesting. 

game. After hastily turning down the 

ating sound andplaying a couple of ga 

soon found (with numerous crashes ) \ 

wrong. It turnedout to have quite an adt 

quality. Several days latermy opinior 

hasn't changed, only my driving has - 

experienced andcertainly more aggre. 

AH three tasks have been 

completed 

demons are really nasty and 

baulk you. 

The engine noises aren't that 

good but the tyre screech round 

corners is nice. The graphics are 

disappointing with a flickery 

track and although the cars look 

great, their movement is 

jerky. 

The perspective does allow you 

to see a corner before you are 

into it and this helps you 

prepare. 

Each race is over thirty laps 

and you have continuous 

updates on your position in the 

race, who is in front of you, your 

last lap time and your points 

score. 

r».«, 

Your three pit crewmen 

/ Good instructions, high 

Road-racing 

score table. 

Q 

Your car in the pits 

Tire wear 

’he dark demon is the car 

i front of you 

ORIGINALITY 

game with a 

few new touches. 

/ Fast-moving, but flawed by 

/ Immediate excitement with 

Q juddering. Q stacks ofaction . 

? 

/ 

Q 

o 

Screeching car noises. 

Nothing spectacular. Poor 

title screen music. 

Pit stops 

If a crash occurs on the track a 

yellow flag goes out and at the 

end of the lap you get a free 

chance for a pit stop and restart 

on the grid. 

You can replace your tyres and 

fuel and also check out your 

engine - all this'is done more or 

less automatically by three 

mechanics in your pit. Your car 

looks extremely beaten up with 

several bits of the bodywork having 

had major panel work and 

resprays. 

You can call into the pit at any 

time by stopping in the pit lane 

but it's best to do it under the 

yellow flag when you won't lose 

anytime. 

f 

Q 

Tough challenge to finish a 

race, let alone win. 

An enjoyable, exciting game. Bound to suffer by being released at the 

same time as Pitstop II 


j Airs 

f*i h*j thf; 

"THE STAEE Of KARNATH" recommended retail price £9.95 me VAT 

Available from W.H.SMITHS, BOOTS, J.MENZIES, WOOLWORTHS 

and all good software retail outlets. Also available from 

ULTIMATE PLAY THE GAME, The Green, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire LE6 5JU 

(P8fP included) Tel: 0530 411485

I 

I 

’Nott 

' 

Ib*l(h«y4< 

At 21.15 hours on the evening of May 

16th 1943 a flight of specially prepared 

Lancaster bombers left Scampton 

Airfield for Germany. After months of 

planning and preparation Wing 

Commander Guy Gibson and his 617 

Squadron were at last embarking on a 

mission so( daring that it would 

guarantee them a place in the annals 

of history. 

The mission would strike at 

Germany’s industrial heartland. If the 

giant dams of 

Moehne, Eder 

and Sorpe could 

be breached, 

millions of tons 

of water would 

BALLOON 

flood the Ruhr, 

cutting vital 

water supplies 

HORIZON LIGHTS 

to steelworks 

and homes, 

flooding 

factories, power 

stations and 

farmland, and 

SPOTLIGHT 

ALTIMETER DIRECTIONAL ARTIFICIAL AIRSPEED 

COMPASS HORIZON 

YDS 

J»h 

iPOHKMTS 

T0HPE00 METS 

bring the important Mittelland Canal 

to a virtual standstill. 

Of course the successful conclusion of 

this raid is now legendary, the 

young men who took part are 

acknowledged as heroes; and now XJ.S. 

Gold in conjunction with Sydney 

***}&> 

‘O'I'f/ 

*A ‘lO»' 

s **0/f,, 4 

*"'0#. 4 

Muni "^*|V 

Development 

Corporation and the 

International 

Computer Group are 

giving you the 

opportunity to relive 

the excitement, tension 

and drama of this 

famous mission. 

You will be able to play 

the part of PILOT, 

flying the Lancaster 

from Scampton to the 

target, NAVIGATOR 

using screens maps of Europe, 

W*r#r»dor?*J~ 

D«tm©l

FRONT GUNNER, REAR GUNNER, 

BOMBARDIER and FLIGHT 

ENGINEER. 

You will have to fly across Europe at 

low level to avoid radar; lookout for the 

deadly ME109 night fighters, dodge 

barrage balloons, spotlights and flak. 

At the target you will need all your 

nerve and skill to control the aircraft 

and release your deadly payload at 

just the right moment while avoiding 

enemy attack. 

BOOSTER GAUGES 

^ 

fj 

1 

RPM~GAUGES 

* ¥ ¥ 

FIRE 

EXTINGUISHER 

CONTROL 

THROTTLES 

BOOSTERS 

mvnw 

CONTROL DOT 

Game Features: Superb graphics and 

sound, realistic joystick control. Pilot’s 

screen and indicators, multiple screen 

navigators maps, front and rear 

gunners screens, bomb sighting 

screens, engineer’s indicators, and 

much much more. The package comes 

complete with comprehensive flight 

mans, and confidential 

LANCASTER B. MK l/lll (DAM BUSTER) 

documents 

including 

authentic material 

by Barnes Wallace 

and Wing 

Commander Guy 

Gibson. 

Officially endorsed 

by 617 Squadron 

of the R.A.F., 

Dambusters is available for Atari and 

Commodore G4 computers with 

versions for Spectrum, BBC and 

Amstrad coming soon. 

All 

£ay i 

so 

^0/ 

XJ.S. Gold is available from all leading computer 

stores and selected branches of 

BOOTS -W.H. SMITH -JOHN 

MENZIES • W00LW0RTH • WILDINGS 

Dealers! For information on how to become a 

U.S. Gold stockist contact CentreSoft, 

Lightning, Microdealer, Tiger and all other 

leading distributors or write to: 

U.S. Gold Limted, Unit 10, The Parkway 

Industrial Centre, Heneage Street, Birmingham 

B7 4LY. Telephone 021-359 3020. Telex 337268.

— 

* Try 

Z 

OOOOOOOMM! Remem 

ber the time you first 

stepped into a Pole 

Position arcade machine and 

wowed at the graphics and 

sheer exhilaration of the experience. 

Well, it returns again with 

Pitstop II, a motor racing game 

which allows you to have the 

race of your life against another 

player. Believe me, it's amazing 

stuff. 

When you load the game you 

are presented with several options, 

the first being a one or two 

player mode. Selecting one 

player will pit you in a duel 

against the computer. 

Six race tracks are available, 

ranging from Brands Hatch to 

Vallelunga, complete with its 

mile long straight. You can 

choose any of these ortakethem 

all in one great Grand Prix 

competition. Select the number 

of laps and one of three skill 

levels. Then you're ready to 

race. 

Immediately you experience a 

big surprise. The display is split 

horizontally across the middle. 

Each display is a screen in its 

own right and shoyvs speed, 

time and fuel left. The cars are 

seen from behind and above, 

I i ke Pole Position 

The screen halves show the 

views from the separate cars, 

and here's where this game 

scores over all the competition. 

The action is accurately 

portrayed from both players' 

viewpoint so if player A was 

ahead of player B then B would 

see A in front of him. If B then 

overtakes, A will be highly 

annoyed to see his opponent 

appear from the bottom of the 

screen, pull level and then roar 

ahead of him into the distance. 

When jostling for the 

optimum line around a bend or 

fighting for the front at the start 

much aggression will be 

experienced. It is possible to rub 

tyres and try to knock your 

opponent sideways to get a 

clear path to overtake. 

The trouble with driving like a 

totally crazed maniac is that 

your tyres will wear out. 

Murderous tendencies towards 

other cars like bumping and 

Tyre mechanic with rear 

wheel 

Fantastic! This game takes its predecessor, 

Pitstop I, and improves on it immensely. All 

other 3D driving games, including some of 

the arcade ones, pale into insignificance 

when compared to this. The perspective on 

the track and cars is near faultless, a point 

where a majority of other versions fail. 

Planning your race, as well asactually driving 

it, is thrilling stuff, making this the best of the 

Pole Position genre currently on the market. 

Player 2 moves left into 

the slip lane to enterpits 

nudging, also taking corners at 

251 mph. will eventually result 

in a blowout. This sends you out 

of control, off the track and your 

race will be over. 

The tyres start off black but 

throughout the race they will 

turn lighter and lighter as 

damage increases. When 

they're white, the slightest 

bump will hurl you from the 

racecourse. However if your 

tyres show a lot ofwear then you 

can make a pit stop and change 

them. 

When you race you'll see your 

fuel gauge ticking steadily 

down. The faster you go the 

more fuel you'll use, therefore 

needing more pit stops to fill 

your tanks. It is just possible to 

make three laps on some circuits 

before you have to fill up. If you 

try for a fourth on any course 

you will find your engine 

splutters and dies when you are 

halfway round and nowhere 

near the pits. 

If your car does crash, it will 

leave the track and stay there. 

The other player will see the 

wreck as he whizzes by, and it's a 

great feeling to look in the 

wrecked player's screen as you 

Fuel attendant fills up the 

tank 

•Ultra-realistic split-screen motor racing duel 

•Excellent 3D graphics, superb competitive action 

pass him and see yourself 

positively whip past and hurtle 

into the distance. 

The actual game controls are 

simple: left, right accelerate and 

brake. You can also switch on 

your turbo by pressing the fire 

button. This will give you 

greater acceleration and speed, 

and is useful at the beginning of 

a race. There is a tendency to use 

it all the time, but beware. On 

longer tracks you will only be 

able to do two laps with turbo on 

non stop before having to refuel. 

The control has a great feel to 

it. If you're speeding along and 

try sharp turns you will find 

This has to be the best ever 

driving game. It makes Pole 

Position look like a Sunday 

afternoon trip in a Morris 

Minor. The sheer thrill of 

actually racing against an 

opponent, even the 

computer, makes all the 

difference. With groovy 

graphics, smashing sound 

and a panicky pitstop this is 

enough to keep any manic 

drivers happy. Myjoystick 

hand is still killing me after a 

nine lap grand circuit with 

every muscle throbbing, but 

boy is it worth it. 

Rear tyre replacements 

Front tyre 

replacements 

Diagram of circuit 

(Hochenheim) 

yourself swinging all over the 

shop in a desperate effort to 

straighten. As with most 

computer race games a certain 

edge is lost by using a joystick 

for control. But when you play 

there is still a realistic feel to the 

car, partly because it's so easy to 

lose control. This does not detract 

from the game in any way 

Beware the 

Dreaded Cramp! 

The game seems so realistic 

that Jthere is a tendency to 

wrench the joystick from side 

to side. This is especially true 

at corners where the feeling 

is that the harderyou wrench 

the joystick the quicker you'll 

get under control. You have 

to remember that this is a 

normal game and that only 

normal control is necessary. 

to use a joystick with a 

trigger — constantly holding 

the fire button down on an 

Atari type joystick will, give 

you horrendous cramp over 

long periods of ‘time. (Even 

so involved 

so, the game is 

we didn't notice until we finished 

the race: that's when 

• 

the pain starts.) 

"TdEY pOGrZT CÎ€.P

merits 

, , 

( 

y re 

iments 

ircuit 

but makes it more of a challenge 

- with practice there is potential 

for a high degree of control. 

When you are racing, a map of 

the course will appear in a small 

box on the right hand side of 

shows the start- 

your screen. It 

ing point, pits and your current 

position — to see where your 

opponent is you need a quick 

These blue marks indicate 

that both drivers have 

suffered slight tyre 

damage on front left 

wheel. When the mark 

turns white, you're in 

danger. 

glance at his map. 

The 3D effect of the game is 

stunning. The realistic perspective 

of a road has always been a 

problem on race games, but 

here the track is represented 

accurately. The cars rush up in 

full 3D and are beautifully portrayed. 

Each car, including the other 

Speedometer reads zero 

well, we wanted to take a 

dear picture! 

This is a SUPERB 

implementation of the 3D 

race game format. Sound is 

excellent, both cars can be 

heard independently of each 

other, and pit stop sound 

effects like the tyre nuts 

being undone are terrific. 

The graphics are dear, crisp, 

detailed and very 

convincing. Pitstop II is a 

stunning and innovative 

arcade game and should 

prove to set new standards in 

the race game approach. 

computer cars have their own 

colour and personality. For 

example the yellow and green 

cars have homicidal tendencies 

and try to cut you up when you 

Player 1's screen. He sees 

player 2 (blue) trying to 

storm past him. 

Player 2's view is very 

similar at this point. He 

can turbo past - or maybe 

crush player 1 against the 

side of the road. 

try to overtake. The detailed 

background scrolls smoothly 

from left to right as you hare 

round bends at suicidal speeds. 

The corners themselves rush 

up quickly and adhere closely to 

those of the map: the sharper 

the bend the more you will skid 

to the opposite side of the track, 

so if you take a sharp corner at 

high speed you will end up careering 

onto the red and white 

curb, slowing you down and 

ruining your tyres. 

The eight computer cars apart 

from your main opponent are 

not just randomly placed things 

to pass and gain points for. They 

actively race you and you'll have 

to overtake them to gain first 

place in the race. 

Since they never have to make 

a time-consuming pit stop they 

do present quite a challenge. 

They also don't like being overtaken, 

let alone lapped and will 

try to thwart your efforts by hogging 

the middle of the track or 

swinging from side to side in an 

attempt to cut you up. 

When playing in one-player 

mode the computer's 'Epyx 

Robodriver' will fill the role of 

player two. This driver proves 

himself a formidable opponent. 

Although it's easy to gain some 

seconds over him he drives 

much more safely and therefore 

does less damage to his tyres 

and needs fewer pit stops. When 

he does take a pit stop it's done 

in record time, so good, fluent 

racing is required to beat him. 

If you choose to take the grand 

circuit then the computer will 

keep track of all the scores and 

results of the races. Scoring is 

the same as a real Grand Prix: 

nine points for a winner, six for 

the second placed anpl so on. All 

the cars feature in this table so if 

you have a bad race you might 

find yourself overtaken by a 

computer car in the points table. 

If you fail to complete the race 

then you won't get any points at 

PRESENTATION ORIGINALITY 

17" 

t ^ _ 

„ 

7 OX Excellent instructions 

A Cl / 

O i /O and in game options. 

n^7 yX-) 

v/ f / U racing. 

GRAPHICS HOOKABILITY 

; 

..... !SH 1 

Q OX Great perspective, pits 

sJ\J /O 

Q 

and cars. 

SOUND 

. _ 

yA xA X0 

Another race game but 

With split screen, twin 

O/ Belt yourself in drive 

till your muscles throb. 

LASTABILITY 

~ 

; ; ; ; ; ; : 

j~ 

W / '/Cl ^ excitement. 

Good engine roar and 

^ 


• " “““ 

-j /N 

O / A QJ Lots of variability 

/ J 

tyre screech but no 

and two player 

* * / U music. 

Qfi 0/ The best race game 

OO /O ye,

I 

Has our dapper little thief overstepped the mark this 

time or can he truly outcon the best conmerchants 

in the business. Dazzled by the bright lights, 

stunned by the stars,, Blagger has decided his way 

to fame and fortune is in the movies - he’s off to 

nick the next megadrama to hit the big screen. 

Guide him through 12 loony film sets as he gathers 

the objects that will open room 1 3. 

Arcade fanatics and Adventure buffs alike, 

BGTH has something for all ~ only skill at the 

joystick and determined brainpower in 

the unique use of the movie 

props, will solve this 

intricate puzzle / 

for you. / 

only 1 /70th of total playing area, 

s 

Software Lt< 

Ailigata Software Ltd., 

1 range street, 

. Sheffield si 4DW 

Tel:

1 

# American simulation: complex tactics. crunching tackles 

youg. 

Planning 

your plays 

The two teams go into their huddle to decide the 

next play. 

merican football is the 

igame in question and this 

simulation is for two players 

or one against the computer. 

Instead of the normal eleven 

players you only have four a 

side, but this is about all you can 

control. 

To start with you can choose a 

quarterback, wide receiver and 

tight end from the two of each 

on offer. These have different 

characteristics and your choice 

will affect the type of plays you 

should use. 

Once your team is chosen and 

you've selected the length of the 

four quarters you can get into 

the action. You start with the 

kick-off and from there on the 

offense (attacking team) always 

faces up the screen. If you are 

receiving the kick, a player will 

automatically catch the ball and 

you then control him to run back 

down the field, while the computer 

controls your other men. 

You will be tackled and two 

bodies will splat audibly to the 

turf. You will now have possession 

and can try to move the ball 

upfield. You're trying to score 

points by getting a touchdown 

(like a try in rugby) worth 6, a 

fieldgoal (like a penalty or drop 

goal) worth 3 or a safety worth 2. 

You can do this through a series 

of running and passing plays. 

Progress is made in ten yard 

sections and you have four 

attempts or 'downs' to get more 

than ten yards - if you make it, 

you get another four attempts. 

There is a pause before each 

down, when the teams go into 

separate huddles to decide their 

next move. You must have the 

play called and executed before 

a thirty second clockexpires. 

Once the play is underway 

you control the quarterback - the 

other players will run their set 

routes and you have to time 

when to throw the ball, or 

whether to run with it instead. A 

pass will give you control of the 

intended receiver who must 

move to catch the ball (you 

hope) and run upfield with it. 

Eventually you hope to get the 

ball into the opponents endzone 

for a touchdown and the 

one ppint kick that follows. 

You can relieve tired players 

at the end of the third quarter 

(there are four) and you also 

have three timeouts per half to 

stop the game clock. 

The player graphics are fairly 

simple on the all-green screen 

and there is only the occasional 

start, finish and scoreboard tune 

to add to the tackle sound effect. 

BW 

1 don't know too much 

about American footbait 

and ! found this a 

difficult game to get 

into. Bv removing the 

game s violence and 

adding some complex 

cbntrot, what doyou 

end up will) . . ,a fairly 

boring sports 

simulation 

Good instructions with 

dear diagrams, but heavy 

going for the beginner. 

Chunky sprites which 

occasionally pass 

through each other. 

Great splat tackle 

noise plus touchdown and 

title tunes. 

The enthusiast will like it but not many 

others will. 

The offensive and defensive 

plays are fairly complicated at 

first and will take a lot of practice 

to get used to. They differ according 

to whether you're attacking or 

defending and involve choosing 

one of several types of play and 

then giving specific instructions 

to each player. 

The patterns that the players 

run are detailed in the instructions 

and once you've learnt them 

you may be able to come up with 

quite complicated plays. 

The diagrams and joystick controls 

will at first appear very confusing 

but perseverance will reveal 

that the action is in fact fairly 

straightforward. 

Once you've found a successful 

play against the computer you 

can simply keep repeating 

- 

it 

something of a flaw in the game 

design.^ However human opponents 

will prove more unpredictable. 

First attempt at 

a full simulation. 

/ Difficult rules and 

control are offputting. 

fQ 

For the enthusiast it 

presents an admirable 

lasting challenge. 

CATCH N*. \F YO* CAN.-.'" 

* ii{ 


US Goldmine 

Massive! Superb?! Exciting??! Rich!!! Greedy??!!!! All kinds of words are used to 

describe US Gold, the people who in the last year have shaken the British software 

industry to its core. To get the lowdown on the company, Zzap ed Chris Anderson 

trekked to their massive premises in Birmingham and recorded this interview with 

US Gold general manager TIM CHANEY. 

ZZAP: Everyone knows that US Gold is 

big. But how big are you? 

CHANEY: Our first year turnover is 

expected to be $6m. 

So how does that compare in size to 

other British software houses? 

I suppose our turnover is actually 

comparable to our output - and our output 

is immense. We do put a lot of products 

onto the market. I don't think 

there's anything wrong with that. 

Basically the UK market in 1985 is big 

enough for, say, a maximum of 400 hit 

products, a hit product being one which 

maybe sells over 10,000. As far as I'm 

concerned there's nothing wrong if US 

Gold have 1 50 of those products - if that 

150 has been advertised OK and gives 

the consumer better value for money 

than its counterparts. 

You expect to release 150 new games 

this year? 

That figure takes it across all the machines. 

On the 64 alone I think we'll probably 

be putting out 70 to 80 new titles. 

That's a lot of products. 

I guess that's quite a bit more than 

anyone else? 

Well, I would have thought so. But 

there again we spend nearly five times 

as much on advertising as our nearest 

competitor anyway. So maybe it's relative 

to our advertising. The fact is 

there's a difference between a lot of the 

advertising that goes on and US Gold 

advertising. With the exception of one 

ad that comes to mind as being a little 

lacklustre, I think basically the US Gold 

ads, because they use very high intensity 

colour, they are very jump-off-thepage 

ads. They add a lot of colour and 

panache to a magazine, and they are 

very expensive to produce. 

And how many of the year's new US 

Gold 64 games would you expect to 

see in the charts? 

Depends what you mean. If you're talking 

about the top 50, I'd expect 80 per 

cent would be there. That's a very aggressive 

stance to take, but at this moment 

in time every US Gold release has 

charted in one chart or another. Why 

should we break that pattern? 

Do you think the average American 

game is better than the average British 

game? 

It depends how you evaluate games. I 

think a lot of British software is great. A 

lot of it stands out for various attributes. 

But I think basically that a lot of 

American titles take a lot longer to write 

and are a lot more costly to research. 

Things like F15 Strike Eagle took nine 

months to write, was play tested by 

and the president of 

three FI 5 pilots, 

the company is a combat pilot with 

3000 hours, so he knew that the end 

product would be as identical as a program 

can be to a real simulation. Solo 

Flight is used at 20 flying schools in the 

States. The same kind of work goes into 

the arcade games. Things like Beach 

Head 2, it's been about eight months in 

the writing. And programmers over 

there are paid anything up to £35,000 to 

produce decent software. 

Which is presumably why software is 

so much more expensive in the States. 

That's correct. 

What is the going rate at present? 

Most of it is 29 or 34 dollars a time. But 

an ad in the States costs £4,000 (about 

five times the UK cost - Ed). And then 

you have to pay people like K-mart 

£40,000 to do promotion. You are talking 

big bucks. We are not there yet. 

We're still 

at the level where you try to 

do a deal here and a deal there. 

OK, so the stuff costs 30 quid in the 

States, how is it that US Gold can sell it 

for ten quid over here? 

What Geoff Brown had to initially do 

was to convince the Americans, that if 

they reduced the retail price and 

bought the programs into the UK to be 

manufactured under licence then the 

extra volume of UK sales would recoup 

the States enough money to give them 

a decent return on it. The first two companies 

that acutally agreed to do it 

were Access and Micro Prose, Access 

putting out Beach Head and Micro 

Prose putting out Solo Flight. When 

people saw Beach Head, it changed a 

lot of the writing in the UK because it 

was just a cut above. Those two products 

between them have sold about 

190,000 copies, with Beach Head taking 

the bulk. 

So which way are things going? Are 

games going to change? 

I don't know how much the arcade 

element, the graphics element can be 

improved. But I think what is happening 

is that people now want more than 

four or five hours out of a piece of software. 

We've got to produce software 

that is longer lasting, as it is in the 

States. It needs - what do you call it in 

your magazine? - testability. That's 

where things are going, towards lastability. 

If I paid $8 for a piece of software 

and play it for four hours, that's 

cost me $2 an hour. That's expensive. 

We're now planning to launch a new 

brand, not called US Gold, to licence 

products that will be played for two or 

three hundred hours. 

How do you negotiate all these deals? 

Does Geoff Brown spend a lot of time 

in the States? 

No. Basically, we have three people in 

the States working for us. Their objectives 

are to source American software. 

They do source a great deal of what we 

get hold of. The thing is, if you're an 

American software company, why 

should you give your software anywhere 

apart from US Gold? Some good 

American titles brought to the UK by 

other companies have not done well. 

What would you say to people who say 

US Gold are very slick, very clever, but 

are basically marketing people, they're 

out there to make a lot of money, but 

they don't really care about games? 

I'd say that the industry has matured, 

right? When an industry's a growing 

industry, you get a lot of cottageindustry 

type sitations. When an industry 

starts to reach maturity, that's when 

the marketing people and the professional 

people come in. The entry level 


7S> "MHPRenive/"

Origins and links 

US Gold has close links to two 

other software houses. Ocean 

and Gremlin Graphics, and the 

distribution company Centresoft. 

Basically Centresoft's directors 

Geoff and Anne Brown were the 

people who set up US Gold in the 

spring of last year. As business 

boomed they forged a close relationship 

with Ocean through directors 

David Ward and John 

Woods for help in marketing the 

games and in writing conversions 

for other machines. 

Meanwhile the Browns played 

a key role in setting up Gremlin 

Graphics to give themselves a 

neat full house: distribution company, 

licensing company and 

software house. 

in the software market is high now. You 

can't just have $1,000, buy a singlepage 

ad and expect to sell some. It's a 

professional's industry. If somebody 

has a game which is technically the 

best game on the market, and I had a 

US Gold game that was an above average 

game, I could probably sell more of 

the US Gold game. 

So you would take pride in being able 

to sell a game which you might even 

admit wasn't as good as a competitor's 

game, but because you can actually 

market it better, you sell more 

copies. 

I think if our competitors have a good 

product, and they don't know how to 

market it, they should maybe come and 

ask us howto market it. 

But some people would say that what 

you're talking about here is hyping 

games. 

I suppose the meaning of 'hype' is misrepresentation 

of a product in order to 

secure unwarranted sales. To my 

knowledge we have never misrepresented 

our products. We've never had to 

say 'this 

is the greatest' because only 

the buying public can make that decision. 

Yes we do advertise very heavily, 

but then we represent 24 US software 

houses who all want to see their product 

advertised. We believe in the quality 

of our products and we have to bring 

them to the attention of the public. The 

buying public want to know about our 

releases. They won't thank us if they 

buy an average software title because 

they were unaware that products of the 

calibre of Dambusters and Bounty Bob 

Strikes Back were just around the 

corner. 

Do you think there's any risk that you 

can actually shut out some of the creativity 

and originality in the British software 

market by raising the stakes so 

that small companies can't compete? 

Well, it's nobody's intention to do that. 

Tim Chaney 

The only problem with originality is 

that it's only any good if someone 

wants to buy it. If I had a green and 

purple suit, it may be original but I can't 

sell it to anyone. At the end of the day 

we are about selling software. Having 

said that. I've got to reiterate that we try 

and get the best. Out of about 35 releases 

that US Gold has put together, I 

would say that three or four of them 

only are average, the rest are very hot 

product. And some of them coming in 

are of a higher standard still. In the past 

US Gold has been selling basically 

older, back catalogue American software. 

We now have parity with the 

States in terms of production. We are 

waiting for Beach Head 2, we are wait- 


ONEOFF 

ing for Kennedy Approach by Microprose 

- but they're not yet out in the 

States. When they come out in the 

States, within a month, when they have 

a cassette version, they'll be available 

in the UK. Therefore a after a product's 

been worked on a year in the States 

and comes out, it'll go straight into this 

market. So it's going to be tougher for 

the guys over here now on in. It won't 

get any easier. I think sometimes software 

houses think they have a right not 

to compete against imported products. 

Any industry in any country competes 

against imported products. Software is 

no different. You either match it or you 

suffer. 

Returning the flak on 

Raid Over Moscow 

What about the actual titles you 

release? Some of them have been a bit 

controversial - like Raid over Moscow, 

Nato Commander, Strip Poker - where 

do you draw the line? 

Well we certainly wouldn't draw the 

line at Raid over Moscow because 

really the only controversial thing 

about it is the title. I can't get away from 

the fact that it is an offensive title. In 

fact in the States it was marketed under 

the name Raid. But the actual scenario 

inside the program isn't going to indoctrinate 

anyone. Nobody really believes 

that if they get inside the Kremlin during 

a nuclear war that they're going to 

throw a disc that rebounds off a wall to 

knock out robots arming nuclear 

weapons. I think it's just a very good 

game - technically it's a clever game, 

graphically brilliant. The 64 users deserve 

that standard of software whether 

it's got a title like that or not. Any other 

British software house would have 

taken Raid overMoscow if they had the 

chance. You show me one that says it 

wouldn't, and I'll show you a liar. 

So you don't lie awake at night worrying 

that you're helping to bring up a 

generation of warmongering kids. 

Listen, I'd rather have a generation of 

kids that extend their aggression on a 

64 rather than take it onto the streets. I 

don't think you can compare a computer 

game to reality, not that kind of 

computer game. 

Are there more controversial ones on 

the way? 

Well, very shortly we're bringing out 

another Microprose product, called 

Mig Alley Ace. People will probably 

initially think that we're talking about 

(American) F15s fighting (Russian) 

Migs now, but the fact is, the only war 

in which Migs were used was the 

Korean war. That's when the game 

takes place. Really, I don't think it's 

controversial at all. 

The massive US Gold catalogue 

Here's the complete list of titles released for the 64 by US Gold since it started last year. 

They're grouped according to the American company they were licensed from. 

ACCESS 

COSMI 

DATASOFT 

ARTWORX 

FUNSOFT 

SEGA 

J V SOFTWARE 

MICROPROSE 

MINDSCAPE 

GRAPHICS PEOPLE 

CENTRESOFT 

SYNSOFT 

CC| 

BIG FIVE 

SYDNEY PRODUCTS 

ORIGIN SYSTEMS 

ARENA GRAPHICS 

Beachhead, Raid Over Moscow 

Aztec Challenge, Caverns of Khafka, Forbidden Forest, Slinky, 

Super Huey, Talladega, 

Monster Trivia 

Bruce Lee, Dallas Quest (disk only), O'Riley's Mine, Pooyan, 

Pole Position, Pac-Man, Mr Do, Dig Dug, Conan the Barbarian 

(disk only) 

Strip Poker 

Flak, Snokie 

Zaxxon, Tapper, Spy Hunter, Buck Rogers, Congo Bongo 

Mystic Mansion 

Nato Commander, Spitfire Ace, Solo Flight, F15 Strike Eagle 

Indiana Jones 

Stellar 7 

Datapro, Textpro 

Fort Apocalypse, Blue Max, Sentinel, Drelbs, Doughboy 

Battle for Normandy, Combat Leader 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back 

Grog's Revenge, Dambusters 

Exodus: Ultima II [All American Adventures label) 

Dropzone 

And just round the corner... 

US Gold say these are just a sample of the goodies to come: 

JUNE : Kennedy Approach, Championship Boxing 

JULY: Stunt Flyer, Blue Max 2001, Tigers in the Snow, Knights of the Desert, 

Ghost Chaser, Mig Alley Ace 

AUGUST: Beachhead II, Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz, Whirlynurds, Castles of Dr Creep 

SEPTEMBER: Stealth . . .plus lots more. 

Piling up the titles. Geoff Brown (left), Tim 

Chaney and stacks of US Gold cassettes. 

Quote from Geoff Brown, US 

Gold director, on why the 

company release so many titles: 

'If we don't release these titles 

someone else will anyway, because 

they're available for British 

licencing. So when we put them 

out, we try to choose the best programs, 

and because we're so 

strong now on licencing, people 

are offering them to us before 

they offer them to anyone else. A 

lot of the American games released 

here by other companies 

are ones that we rejected. 


mini 

Nowafterthe gloryofgold enter 

PISTOL SHOOTING 

SPRING BOARD DIVING 

TUG O’ WAR 

GIANT SLALOM 

CYCLING 

PENALTIES 

mrni 

Ocean Software is available from selected branches of: 

WOOtWORJM. WHSMITH.(^) 

VJimmm . 

LASKYS, Rumbelows, COMET 

Spectrum Shops and all good software dealers. 

Ocean Software 

• 

Ocean House 6 Central Street 

Manchester M2 5NS 

• • 

Telephone 06 1 832 6633 Telex 669977 Oceans G

Members of the gang 

After considerable time 

spent playing the game we 

are able to give this brief run 

down of Wally and his bumbling 

gang of four (no, not the 

SDP): 

Pyjamarama was criticised 

for being ultimately too 

simple but that certainly 

can 't be said of this 

follow-up. The familiar 

format means players of the 

first game will feel at home 

but the multi character 

control and new tasks will 

pose everybody a challenge. 

Getting started may be 

frustrating but once the tasks 

start to get solved you 'll ha ve 

hours of fun and fury 

cracking each job. 

WALLY. A builder 

and odd job man 

by trade, and gaffer 

of the group by 

nature. Will perform 

many menial 

tasks such as mixing 

cement. 

WILMA. Wally's 

wife. Likes to do the 

shopping when 

she has the time 

and money to do 

so. Enjoys reading 

and collecting 

novels, but only if 

they're a complete 

set in the correct 

order. Would like to 

stamp out parcel 

theft. 

TOM. Punk and ace 

mechanic. Doesn't 

charge for his services 

on flat batteries. 

Don't let 

Wilma's hobby and 

Tom's jump, lead 

you astray though. 

HARRY. Hippy and 

electrician. Drinks 

vodka and orange 

while he works and 

enjoys the odd 

game of asteroids - 

the really odd 

game. His current 

record is 40. He's 

an insular kind of 

guy, but likes to 

'pile on' the work. 

OHE's 

Wally and his wife Wilma 

game by the broken founl 


DUCH'KiWBT

This is a lot harder to get into 

than Pyjamarama ever was, 

and may prove initially 

offputting to most It's worth 

persevering though f since 

once you do get going and 

actually solve a few 

problems, it becomes 

EXTREMEL Y compelling. 

You don't happen to know 

what the red herring and tin 

ofbaked beans couldbe used 

for, do you? 

hen Pyjamarama was 

released it broke new 

ground in arcade 

adventures with its brilliant use 

of objects to set teasing puzzles. 

Everyone's a Wa‘ly takes its predecessor 

a stage further in 

gameplay, and is the first arcade 

adventure to feature multicharacter 

control. 

The game looks and feels like 

Pyjamarama — the graphics are 

excellent with large, colourful, 

varied locations and five highres 

well-animated characters. 

But being able to control these 

characters adds a new dimension. 

Each of the characters has 

their own particular skills (see 

panel), and if left uncontrolled, a 

will of their own. 

The game is set in a town of 

about 40 locations (each a different 

screen), and some 40 or so 

objects lying around, for example 

a parcel, an empty bottle and 

a monkey wrench. Working out 

what to do with these is the aim 

of the game. 

Different types of nasties occupy 

some of the locations and 

move around screen in predictable 

patterns. For example there 

are a pair of postage stamps 

floating around in the post 

office. 

Most of the objects have a 

useful function, while some are 

red herrings (in fact one actually 

is a red herring). To pick up an 

object you simply walk over it or 

jump through it. Only two objects 

can be carried at one time, 

and will be displayed at the top 

of the screen. 

These objects must be used to 

complete various jobs, such as 

stamping a parcel to be taken to 

the docks, building a wall and 

mending a fountain. This is 

where the problems start - certain 

tasks can only be carried out 

by certain characters. These are 

usually dependant upon their 

trade, and just to help you out 

there just might be one or two 

cryptic clues scattered about 

this page. 

Whenever someone finishes a 

job they get paid a certain 

amount depending on the complexity 

of it, and it goes towards 

the gang's pay. When a certain 

amount is reached then tea 

breaks are awarded. 

There are five main jobs to be 

done, but each can only be finished 

by previously completing 

simpler tasks. When you do actually 

finish a major job, you can 

76% 

Pleasingly packaged with 

free single. Deliberately 

sparse instructions. 

and colourful. Well 

3Large 

denned and nicely 

84% animated. 

47% 

Screechy title screen music 

and sparse sound effects. 


get a letter towards the combination 

of a bank safe. The letters 

must eventually be taken backto 

the bank and used in the correct 

order to open the safe. The gang 

can now have their well earned 

wages, and you the glory of 

completing the adventure. 

You start the game in the town 

square with control over Wally. 

If you wish to control another 

character you must first occupy 

the same location as them. Pressing 

the corresponding number 

key will then transfer control to 

the required character. If the relevant 

character isn't present 

then selecting their number will 

just give their current position. 

The five characters have individual 

endurance factors, in the 

form of three lives. Contact with 

anything nasty will decrease 

their endurance until a life is 

lost. When all three lives are 

gone then the game is over. But 

if one character is close to death, 

you can always switch to 

another and continue the game. 

Fortunately there is food lying 

around which can be eaten to 

boost endurance. Unfortunately 

each character, excluding Wally, 

is fussy about what they eat, and 

some foods are better for them 

than others. 


Pyjamarama-based with 

multi-character control,, 

new plot. 

O O/ ^ lot of initial frustration 

QQ /q and puzzlement. 

87% 

82% 

Anothergreat Wally of a hit from Mikrogen. 

Extremely difficult 

challenge, potentially 

months o f brain-work. 


Commodore 64 

and all 

48K Spectrums 

£7.95 

> v II the speed and excitement of 

championship squash is now available at your 

fingertips in a game so realistic - you’ll need a 

shower afterwards! 

Written with the help of Jonah Barrington, former World 

Squash Champion, the game keeps to the International 

Squash Racquet Federation rule§ as far as is possible. You 

serve in a 3D glass-backed court to play against your 

computer, or, using the game’s two player option you can 

challenge a friend. 

There are 4 levels of difficulty, and depending how fit you 

are you can play 1 , 

3 or 5 game matches! Check your score 

with the on screen display, but as your eyes are too busy 

watching the ball, Jonah Barrington acting as marker calls out 

the score for you. All this is due to a programming 

breakthrough that enables your computer to accurately 

reproduce the human voice without any hardware 

Ik add-ons! 

The game also incorporates a User Defined 

Joystick/Keys option which means that you can 

set your keyboard to suit you, or play with 

just about any make of joystick. 

S° get in training for this high- powered 

action game now. 

m.KM ! M. It’s your service next! 

_____ WMM 

Software'^, 

FREEPOST, Bath BA2 4TD. Tel: 0225 3 1 6924 

New Generation products are 

sold according to their terms 

of trade and conditions of sale.

The Who's Who of the circuit. 

T 

shooti 

are made of 

and this has the right 

ingredients. Plenty of 

fast moving, frantic 

action to keep the 

reflex merchants 

are few and far I 

between on the 64and 

aggression to even 

needy a hard day 

theZzap office 

he action takes place on 

the circuit board of the 

6510 chip inside the 64 

and in some ways is reminiscent 

of the arcade game Defender. 

You patrol the circuit trying to 

protect a collection of 'base 

units' - small coloured squares 

which are preyed upon by the 

evil Destructors. 

You are given 35 base units 

initially and must kill 20 destructors 

in order to progress to further 

levels. Each new level sees 

the return of a full complement 

of units for you to look after. 

The actual circuitry is larger 

than a single screen, and scrolls 

A destructor sneaks upon 

you from behind. 

Here's the lowdown on the 

game's evil inhabitants: 

DESTRUCTORS. Look like a 

squashed green poppy with a 

glowing centre, and are worth a 

mere 100 points. They move 

slowly about the circuit in search 

for your base units, firing occasionally 

as they go. They represent 

no real threat, but on abducting a 

base unit they mutate into the 

more vicious... 

CHARGERS. The green, and 

deadlier version of the above. 

Faster, and more aggressive than 

it's previous incarnation, it spews 

Awkward to avoid and just, 

out a lot of bullets in your direction. 

as difficult to shoot. 

PULSERS. Look rather like blue 

liquorice allsorts, with pulsating 

acne. This prize pain roams slowly 

around the circuit, releasing 

mines onto the tracks, and bullets 

in your direction. Worth 300 

points, it has an annoying habit of 

leaving a mine for you to kill 

yourself on, as you run into it 

shooting. Any mines left behind 

will disappear after a short spell, 

but during their stay nothing can 

pass it - bullets, enemy or your 

good self. 

FIGHTERS. These fly across the 

surface of the chip, throwing out a 

few bullets as they do so. They' 

resemble a butterfly with only 

one set of wings and a glowing 

centre, and are worth 400 points. 

They can only be killed when they 

are crossing a track, and a well 

timed shot intersects with it. Difficult 

to hit, but not too hard to 

avoid. 

MAINS SPIKE. This mass of 

charge, looking like a piece of epileptic 

cotton wool, appears at 

intervals during the game. It 

moves fast and is certainly furious, 

spewing out bullets asjt 

goes. Very difficult to avoid, and 

is usually killed more by luck than 

design. Worth 500 points, the 

cream of the crop. 

game with the sound 

HYPERCIRCUIT 

Alligafca, £7.95 case, £1 1 .35 disk, joystick only 

Frantic shoot-em-up inside a microchip 

nature 

tthe 

JtO 

understand or play, 

with the philosophy of 

blast anything and 

everything in pursuit 

of a high score. The 

scenario and enemies 

most important thing 

is that you could zap 

on this for hours. 

to defend your base units for as 

long as possible, and an extra 

life is given at 10,000 points (unfortunately 

the only one given). 

In case things should get a little 

too heavy, you are provided 

with a form of smart bomb - the 

hypercharge. This is in fact a 'rechargeable 

smart bomb', and is 

activated by a swift bash of the 

spacebar. Anything hostile on 

screen will then be destroyed 

instantly. Once used, the hypercharge 

needs around fifteen seconds 

to replenish itself, and can 

be used as many times as you 

I 

I 

You have 33 base units 

left. 

in all directions to compensate. 

It is a good representation of the 

internals of a microchip, complete 

with components and 

wiring. 

It's this maze of wires that 

your craft moves along. There 

are several dead ends around 

the maze, where your base units 

are normally found. 

Due to this unusual structure, 

strange things occur in play. The 

most noticeable is the firing. 

When you release a bullet it follows 

the path of the circuit until 

A fighter skims low over 

the circuit. 

hits something nasty goes off 

it 

screen. 

Another more frustrating 

example is when something 

nasty occurs on an adjacent, but 

separate wire to you. You can't 

immediately do anything, and 

usually have to work your way 

round an awkward piece of 

maze before you can. 

You have five lives with which 

/ like it Zapping and 

exciting and 

|jjtou/f.l 

3hies and 

means detrimental to 

the game , as an 

immensely playable 

nature holds it 

together 

Mine layers leaving a 

deadly trail. 

Circuit point where 

enemies emerge. 

PRESENTATION 

Skimpy cassette cover 

instructions, but reasonable 

help on screen. 

GRAPHICS 

'q 


Q / Credible sprites, pleasing 

SOUND 

spectacular. 

Reasonable shoot-em-up 

sonics. Pacey tune can annoy. 

wish. 

Each of the five nasties, yourself 

and your base units are depicted 

with graphical simplicity. 

Even so, they don't offend the 

eye, and suit the game well. 

As is the case with the graphics, 

sound is simple, but competent. 

A frenetic piece of music 

adds to the hectic pace of the 

game, but even so, it does become 

tiresome to listen to after 

several plays. Sound effects are 

good, and befitting for such a 

game. It's a shame to lose them 

for the sake of not hearing the 

tune, and a music off facility 

would have been appreciated. 

GP 

ORIGINALITY 

68% 

A pretty unusual 

approach to a shoot-em-up 

despite Defender ideas. 

HOOKABILITY 

83% Luv a good zap 

LASTABIUTY 

-y00/ p,ent y 

£ J /q 

fast action to 

keep you stimulated for 

some time. 


’* 

"//// 

The art of 

switch-leaping 

One of the hardest aspects of the 

trying to make sure that 

game is 

MORE ADVENTURES OF 

BIG MAC 

THE MAD MAINTENANCE MAN 

Mastertronic, £1.99 case, joystick or keys 

# 18-screen platform game, excellent value 

B 

udget software really has 

carved a little corner for 

itself in the market and 

with games like this it's no 

wonder. It may be based on the 

good ol' platform game but it's 

got plenty to offer and at a great 

price. 

You play Big Mac who has to 

walk, leap, climb and float his 

way around an enemy power 

station shutting down each of 

the 18 power vaults (screens). 

You do this by finding and pushing 

switches which are usually 

very tough to get to. 

The switches control a host of 

defensive barriers and flicking 

them off will remove the obst- 

Another addition to 

the infamous 

This one though is 

pfetty goodanddefin- 

This is splendid value 

formoney with 18 

action packed 

Screens, passable 

graphics and a lovely 

tune. Thejumping can 

be a bit annoying at 

times but on the 

whole it is very playable. 

With an extra 

man per screen you 

may find it easier to 

crack the many 

games but the nasty 

hazards still have a lot 

to offer. Definitely 

worth buying this one 

— not so long ago it 

would have been 

worth a much higher 

'v " price tag. m 

once a switch is off it stays off - 

having passed over a switch once 

to deactivate it, you may find you 

have to pass by it again to escape 

from a dead end. This means you 

could find yourself switching it on 

again 

In order to get back over a 

switch in a tight corner without 

reactivating it, you have to stand 

as close to the handle as possible 

and jump up, moving left or right 

at the peak of your jump. Where 

you can get a run up this doesn't 

apply but on the third screen this 

technique is particularly useful. 

You find your way around 

most screens by using ladders, 

lifts and your own jumping 

capability and even by falling 

from any height. You can also 

move while falling which comes 

in handy when drifting across a 

long gap. 

On each screen there is a limited 

amount of air which runs out 

and a bonus that ticks away the 

longer you take. If you can make 

it to the exit you move to the 

next stage and gain an extra 

man. 

The animation on your character 

is amusing with a hat that 

flies up and down as you leap. 

The tune that plays throughout 

the game adds nicely with a fine 

range of expression. 

JR 

verything about this game 

is simple and bland — 

graphics are undetailed, 

uninteresting and have as much 

colour as a corpse. Sound isn't 

much better, and asprin played 

an increasingly important part 

after much play. 

You must collect the 24 pieces 

of a statue (one at a time) from 

around the edge of the screen, 

and bring them back to the 

centre where they're assembled. 

The pieces alternate with 

small, deadly dots, and care is 

needed to extract them. 

Two different types of guardian 

float around the screen in an 

attempt to kill you. The first type 

is a couple of diamond shaped 

thingies that simply bounce 

around the screen in predictable 

patterns, but are still difficult to 

avoid. 

The second is a sort of small 

blob with a claw, that homes in 

on you every so often - especially 

if you stay still for too long. 

Contact with one end kills you, 

with the other end kills it. 

a 

\ 

'ju/m 

\ 

/ 

'i 

/ 

' 

stuff. 

y to 

all 

didn't like it much, but 

then I loathed Manic 

Miner. 

acles that bar you from reaching 

the exit on each stage. These 

defences are different on many 

screens but all can be deadly. 

The most common problem is 

the simple force wall which 

blocks off sections of the screen. 

It won't kill you unless you hit 

the top or bottom of it but it will 

prevent you going past. Other 

problems are rotating gun turrets 

which fire shells, bubbling 

pits of acid, moving electrical 

charges and crushers. 


Mac (centre left) has four switches to flick (the 

fourth is top left) in order to get to the exit house 

near the right hand ladder. But there's a cannon 

(top) and a lethal liquid bath (centre) to watch out 

MMeekeiUTA'fifllU 

“rfCdCIv I I SImPIÎ laaP IW B J • 

58% 

59% 

Q/ 

65% Q 

Simple instructions 

and hi-score table. 

Mastertronics cassette box. 

Crude but with nice 

animation on main 

character. 


79%o 

Nice tune plays throughout 

game plus 

67% 

effects. 

Q 

65% 

18 screens of action for very little cash. 

a i 

/ Apart from the switches 

it's the same old 

U platform stuff. 

/ Platforms prove pretty 

addictive as usual. 

V Switches fiddly at first. 

0/ 18 screens, easy at first 

but getting harder. 

Q 

This is exactly 5 Ipmore 

than 

r standards of their 

latest £l$9 specials. 

The graphics are 

basic, so is the game , 

so is the sound and 

why a BBCscreen 

Shot on the 64 cover? 

Buy a Mastertronic 

and put the change 

toward the next issue 

QfZzapi 

You are given a time limit in 

which to complete the screen, in 

the form of energy. This can be 

replenished though, by moving 

into a re-energiser that hangs 

around on screen. 

Occasionally the small dots 

around the edge of the screen 

move towards the centre. 

Should any of them reach the 

centre, without you intercepting 

them first, then a life will be lost. 

Each time one of your five lives 

is lost, the bonus for completing 

a screen goes down. 

If all of the pieces are assembled, 

then you receive a bonus 

depending on the number of 

lives remaining, and move on to 

a slightly harder version of the 

same screen. Yawn. 

GP

' 

l 

t 

f 

j 

1 

\ | 

' 

1 * 

| 

f, , 

1 f 

' 

The statue of Estra the Snake God is being built in 

the box in the screen centre. The diamonds, bug and 

dots are the guardians out to get you. The 

horseshoe-shaped object must be entered when 

your energy supply needs replacing. 

j 

tag means you might 

not fee/ too aggrieved 

ruy it, but even 

50 /wouldn't 

tighten my wallet for 

pReseNmnoN 

^ 

1 

A 

LLr) 

OO/ 

GRAPHICS 

O Q Q 

ORIGINALITY 

1 

Standard Firebird cassette box. 

Simple collect and 

/n Adequate instructions. 

w Annoying pause 

nZt 

on death.^—< 

yn build game with 

^ r / L/ a few new touches. 

/ /q characters. 

r~ A Q/ 

HOOKABILITY 

A Q 0/ 

/ Small, uninteresting 

' Not many of them. 

^1111 

Fairly interesting 

^40 to start 

/0 

with. 

SOUND 

: 

O £TO/ 

Music at start. Simple 

JO /O effects. 

VALUE for money 

HH_ 

^ 0^ 

lAAtalLIT t 

ACTA mi ITV 

• i f 1 f 

Very ordinary game at a low price. 

1 

^—t 4 | If 

/}^ Q / Only one screen 

that 

/q 

soon becomes 

f v/ monotonous to play. 

- 

I 

* 

* 

\ 

QUICKDISC 

Incorporating Menu Maker 

NOW EVEN FASTER 

Speed up your 1 54 1 disc drive with this new 

program. Loads most programs at 4 times normal 

speed. A flexible package that allows you to 

incorporate a menu and fast loading on 

your own discs. Also includes a file exchanger 

for programs put on disc with "Disco" (THE 

tape to disc utility), another way of making fast 

load disc programs. 

y 

ONLY £11.95 

Now operates with printer or second 

Disc Drive connected. 

DISC DISECTOR V2.0 

At last a really powerful disc copier and utility program. Incorporates a 

range of powerful programs. Includes "Fastcopy" Takesjust 4 minutes to 

read and write a whole disc. "Error Copy" automatically reads and writes 

all error types, now you can make a security back up of those expensive business 

programs. "Quickdisc" more than halves disc loading time, very 

useful "File Copier" allows selective copying from directory. "Track 

and Sector" a slower but very thorough program. Also includes the following 

useful utilities Viewbam, Fast Format, Unscratch, Disc Monitor, 

Menu Maker, Index, Retitle, Rename, Scratcher, Disc to Tape 

and Tidy If you have a 1 54 

1 

you must have Disc Disector. Supplied on disc 

with full instructions. 

ONLY £29.95 

TAPER 

A powerful utility. Works 

with almost all normal speed 

software. 

ONLY £5*95 

All prices include P&P and VAT. Send cheque, 

Postal Order of Credit Card No. Credit Card orders 

accepted by phone. Callers welcome. Wide range 

of goods stocked. Trade enquiries welcome. European 

orders send price as advertised. Outside 

Europe £3.00 for airmail. Mail order to Evesham 

Shop please. 

DOUBLER 

Tape Back Up Device 

Includes hardware and software. This 

amazing new cassette port adaptor allows 

you to make back up copies of "turbo" 

software. Tests have proved 100% successful. 

Requires access to two cassette 

decks. The special software generates a 

brand new machine copy onto one deck 

while loading from the other. Fast and reliable, 

they said it couldn't be done. 

ONLY £12.95 

COMMODORE CONNEXION 

Connect any 'Centronics'' type 

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lead and software on cassette 

with special disc conversion 

program. 

Simple to use and 

very reasonably priced. 

ONLY £14.95 

3M SCOTCH DISCS 

Lifetime guarantee Box of Ten 

SS/DD. £ 1 6.00 DS/DD. £23.00 

FASTBACK 

Fast Load Utility 

Convert your slow loading software to 

high speed load with Fastback. The 

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loading versions of most single and 

multipart software that load independantly 

of Fastback Simple to use 

no programming skill needed 

Example: Load "The Hobbit" or "Manic 

Miner" in 150 secs. Tried and trusted 

(over 2000 sold). 

A very professional program. 

ONLY £9.95 

ROCKET 

Fed up waiting for programs to 

load and save? Rocket is a utility for 

the programmer, speeds up loading 

and saving by about 8 times while 

still allowing for normal speed operations. 

Does not affect the speed 

of BASIC as no wedge is used. Programs 

can also be saved with high 

speed system to reload independantly. 

A must for serious programmers 

who have no disc drive. 

ONLY £7.95 

MICRO CENTRE 

BRIDGE STREET, EVESHAM, 

WORCESTERSHIRE 

Tel: 0386 49641 

DISCO 

THE TAPE TO DISC UTILITY 

We guarantee that this is the best 

tape to disc utility on the market. 

Very easy to use no programming 

knowledge needed 

Automatically handles device numbers 

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auto load and run once 

transferred and can also be made to 

fastload with Quickdisc Handy 

for making your own disc programs 

auto run. 

ONLY £9.95 

BIGMOUTH 

The superb new speech 

synthesis program for the 64 . 

Uses "speak'' as a basic command. 

Very easy to use. Can be 

incorporated into your basic programs. 

Words are entered in 

phonetic English, ie. spelt as they 

sound. Therefore vocabulary is 

unlimited Great fun and 

good for educational purposes. 

ONLY £7.95 

DATA RECORDER 

A dedicated data recorder designed for use 

on the CBM 64 or Vic-20 Specification as 

C2N but with pause button. Model 

available for the PLUS4 or 16 at same 

price. 

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. 

ONLY £29.95 

MICRO CENTRE 

1 7S6 PERSHORE ROAD, 

COTTERIDGE, BIRMINGHAM. 

Tel: 021 -458 4564 


Tips on exploring 

Try to walk around most of the 

time and only run when closely 

pursued — this should stop you 

getting overheated. When being 

chased try to block lions and natives 

with obstacles and if this 

fails, shoot them. When you've 

run out of bullets only then use 

your precious water supply and 

run. 

Keeping very close to rivers 

and lakes edges will keep you 

safe, particularly where it is very 

jagged. You can also lose a posse 

of pursuers by nipping across a 

bridge. 

The other important point to 

remember is to map everything 

so that you can retrace your steps 

on successive turns (and send us 

a finished map of course!). 

mauled by a lion 

You've just been 

in vour death 

and the injuries r 

• Diamond hunt: in 1 700-screen plsying ares 

Quo Vadis heralded the 

arrival of the BIG game. 

This one is even bigger 

featuring a multi directional 

scrolling landscape of 1700 

screens. But is big still beautiful? 

The action is set on an African 

Savannah and your task is to 

locate the Almazz diamond in 

the wilderness before the 40 day 

time limit runs out. The landscape 

is a green pattern crisscrossed 

by rivers and lakes. You 

can only cross these where there 

are bridges. The sound is a repetitive 

tune which can be turned 

off since there are no important 

sound effects. 

The terrain is in 3D, although 

you only recognise this from the 

features on it, because you can't 

see the horizon. The features are 

trees, bushes, rocks, logs, tall 

stones and huts, all of which 

throw shadows. 

You can move around the 

landscape at two speeds, either 

an automatic walking pace or 

running. The faster speed however 

causes you to heat up 

under the beating sun and you 

need frequent drinks of water 

from a flask. At walking pace you 

cool down gradually but there 

are two hazards that may hurry 

you along. 

LIONS and NATIVES carrying 

spears appear in great numbers 

to harrass you. The natives only 

travel at walking speed but 

throw spears that can kill you. 

The lions can go at running 

speed once they have sensed 

your presence and can maul you 

if they catch you. You have a gun 

to defend yourself but it only 

carries six bullets at a time. 

To replace your bullets you 

have to find a hut with an open 

door - once inside, game time 

will pass very quickly and you 

will gain a bullet every hour. Inside 

the huts you are immune 

but the rapid loss of time forces 

you back into the open. The 

other useful features are the 

springs at which you can replenish 

your water bottle. 

In your search you may find 

some interesting objects lying 

Ifotting: along at slotijj speeds 

through an immense savannah 

didn’t exactly appeal to me, 

especially with the lack of action. I 

liked Quo Vardis which had considerably 

more excitement but 

this, in my opinion, failed to live 

up to expectation of a grand 

sequel. I can see that this has 

giant exploration potential but it 

didn't grip me enough to justify 

hours of patient play., 

This massive game won't suit 

everybody's taste but once you 

make a couple of discoveries I've 

found you're hooked on exploring, 

Arcade zapsters may find it 

boring but if you liked Quo Vadis 

(and plenty of people did) you 

should like this. It looks tike it will 

be just as compulsive to explore 

and map and contains more of a 

strategy element than ns predecessor; 

/ 

Q amazing. 

/ 

Q 

f 

Q 

Satisfactory. Nothing 

A mixture. Some pleasing 

landscape features. Simple 

animation. 

Very forgettable tune that 

soon gets switched off 

around and, not to give too 

much away, some of these are 

pieces of a sacred tablet which 

go into a grid at the bottom right 

of the display. Other objects 

you'll have to find and use by 

yourself. There are also riddles 

to be found, and these are said 

to play a more central role than 

those in Quo Vadis. 

Your temperature can rise 

fatally for lack of water or because 

of your injuries, but in 

either case you are back to the 

start with everything to collect 

again. For that reason it's advisable 

to map everything out so 

you know where you are going. 

Once you've found the diamond 

you'll have to solve a final puzzle 

and then you can claim the real 

Almazz diamond from The Edge. 

f 

Q 

f 

Q 

A new scenario and some 

novel game-play touches. 

You may find the action 

slow, but the desire to 

explore is strong. 

The vastplaying area offers 

weeks of challenge. 

/ Plenty to do, plenty of challenge. But in terms of atmosphere and 

fj addictive appeal, perhaps not as good as its excellent predecessor Quo 

Vadis. 


"it’s m/vmzziNG

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ijirW * 1 

Ocean Software is available from selected branches of: 

wootmHrmy/usMnH, r JEn^,^ laskys 

Rumbelows, COMET, Spectrum Shops and all good software dealers. 

Ocean Software Limited 

6 Central Street, Manchester M2 SNS.Telephone: 061-832 6633

Retailers don't always have everything «in stock you 

might want, but if it is within our power to get it for 

you, then we will. Any of the software reviewed in this 

or any issue of ZZAP! 64 can be ordered using the form 

below — in fact any available CBM 64 software that 

exists we will get for you. 

y' 

ZZAP! 64 Mail Order is backed by the resources of 

Crash Mail Order (in association with the Spectrum 

magazine CRASH) which has been supplying more 

than 100,000 Spectrum users with mail order items for 

over 20 months, so you can be sure of the very best in 

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you. Anyone may take advantage of the discount 

coupons on the form which allow £1 off orders worth 

more than £20 and 50p off orders worth more than 

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Nothing could be simpler— fill in the form today and 

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L 

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*?*£*?* «* m»,r s 

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ZZAP! 64 June 1985

Vizardfor all 64 owners who prefer games involving typed commands rather than wiggled joysticks. 

irst, my embarrassing experience with those 

pesky gremlins. I'm always excited by the 

prospect of playing a game created by Brian 

Howarth of Digital Fantasia fame - if you 

haven't tackled games like Waxworks or 

Perseus andAndromeda then you've been 

missing out. Gremlins, distributed by 

Adventure International, looks rather similar 

to the recent Scott Adams games (Hulk and Spiderman) with 

excellent split-screen graphics and a great storyline. 

If you haven't seen the film, don't worry, since you can 

succeed in your task without having a degree in gremlin 

psychology -although I'm of the opinion that those who have 

endured the movie may survive a little longer in the game. 

The graphics in Gremlins really are superb. Many of the 

screens feature animated gremlins - waving their arms, 

chucking darts (at guess who), and even ending up in the 

blender. Within minutes of switching on, I'd cooked myself a 

truly exotic meal in the kitchen, though unfortunately I didn't 

have time to sit down and enjoy it. 

Before you could say 'knife and fork', in popped a gang of 

evil little green creatures who chased me all over the house 

and ended upbymaking mincemeat out of me!! Fora wizard 

who's bested balrogsand had dragons for breakfast, this was 

really too much to bear. Even worse, however hard I tried, I 

couldn't get much further - not, that is, until I'd found a very 

useful piece of cutting equipment, but that's another story. 

Gremlins has many enjoyable touches - enter 'Examine 

gremlin' (if there's one there) and you are rewarded with a 

close-up view of the horrible little creature. On my copy there 

was also a bug which, if you typed 'Enter' on its own, spirited 

you to a nameless location which is in fact part of a department 

store. Presumably the location's name was missed out 

of the data tables, but the effect can be rather confusing if you 

don't know what to expect. Adventure International assure 

me that the bug will be fixed on future versions, however. 

There are over 40 locations, which isn't an enormous 

amount by today's standards, although you'll find quite a bit 

to keep you busy in each place. What's more you'll need to 

re-visit locations several times before you can get anywhere 

near cracking the game, which you do by wiping out the nasty 

GREMLINS 

Adventure International, £9.95 cass 

Atmosphere 82% 

Interaction 65% 

Lasting Interest 88% 

Value for money 80% 

little critters before they get you and the rest of the town. As it 

is. Gremlins is definitely up to Brian Howarth's usual high 

standards and worth splashing out on. 

ZZAP! 64 June 1S85 61

tzr 

'i 

crO 

he name of Duckworth should ring a few bells 

for most adventurers. They publish a 

comprehensive series of adventure books, 

including 'Exploring Adventures on the 

Commodore 64' and The Adventurer's 

Notebook'. Recently, however, they've been 

branching out into games software and have 

released a number of titles, each of which uses 

the techniques propounded by Peter Gerrard in the Exploring 

Adventures series. 

There are now three new titles on the market. Colossal 

Cave (yet another version of the old favourite, to join those by 

Melbourne House/Abersoft and Level 9), Time Search by 

John Ryan, and Castle Drecula by Ray Davies. The White 

Wizard had every intention of giving you the low-down on 

Colossal Cavethis month but his copy was stolen by a mutant 

troll, so instead I'll tickle your fancies with details of Time 

Search and Castle Dracu/a. 

Well, I'll TRY to tickle your fancies, but somehow I don't 

think you're going to end up shrieking with delight. Let's face 

it, neither of these two text-only games is exactly state-ofthe-art. 

Time Search gives you the chance of owning your 

own time-machine, but you have to find it first. The game 

starts off by warning you that if during play you need to 

restart a game you will have to reload some of the program 

data first. It suggests that when the message 'Loading Data' 

flashes onto the screen you should set the tape counter on 

your cassette unit to zero so that you will have no difficulty 

locating the correct position. 

Unfortunately this means that you have to watch the 

screen like a hawk while the program loads, because the 

message 'Loading Data' flashes onto the screen for approximately 

0.25 seconds. Now the White Wizard is the most 

patient of souls, but this sort of user unfriendliness didn't 

exactly endear me to the prospect of playing the game itself. 

My fears were justified — I'm afraid I found I myself 

rather 

shocked by the quality of what followed. There was a time 

when all text-adventures were two-word input only, and had 

pretty limited vocabularies. Only problem is, that time is long 

past and those of you used to games like Castle of Terror and 

Sherlock are going to find Duckworth's offering very 

primitive. 

The program, for example, understands 'Get', but not 

'Take', and scans only the first three words of each word. 

Sometimes this can lead to some very obscure results — 

'Shine Torch' is interpreted as . . . well, perhaps I'd better not 

say as this is a polite publication, but suffice it to say that 

when I tried to 'Shine Torch' I received a very severe ticking 

off. 

Apart from the small vocabulary and minimal location 

descriptions, I was also rather disappointed to see that the 

player's inputs scrolled the rest of the display (including the 

location description) off the screen. A number of games 

nowadays use windows for input and output to prevent this 

happening and I was sorry to see that I was expected to type 

'Look' every time I wanted to recall a location description (not 

that there was much to recall). 

Some of the puzzles in Time Search are genuinely original, 

but then most games have at least some touch of originality 

so I'm not inclined to award many extra marks for this 

redeeming feature. There were some nice touches of humour 

— 

I found a map in the second location, but when I tried to 

read it I was told 'Fill this in as you go along!'— no short cuts 

there! I do feel, however, that a game of this calibre belongs 

in the history books or in the £2.50 price bracket, and certainly 

not on the shelves today for £7.95. 

TIME SEARCH 

Duckworth, £7.95 cass 



Lasting Interest 35% 

Value for Money 20% 

eeling that I'd really been wasting my time on 

Time Search, I loaded up Duckworth's other 

offering, Castle Dracu/a. I'm pleased to be able 

to say that this game was rather better than its 

predecessor, despite the extreme lack of 

originality in the subject matter. The program 

seems to have a rather larger vocabulary than 

Time Search, although the same points apply 

about presentation. Nevertheless, the location descriptions 

were considerably more elaborate, though from time to time 

they served only to underline the limitations of the program. 

For example, one room features nothing save a grand 

piano, but unfortunately the program doesn't understand 

'play' or even 'piano'. I suppose one could argue that tinkling 

the ivories in a vampire's castle is a little risky, but it would 

have been nice to hear a little night music. 

The atmosphere in Castle Dracula was certainly a little 

more gripping than some of Duckworth's other releases, and

A rather Basic display from Duckworth's Castle 

Dracula 

some of the puzzles are really quite tricky. I wasn't too keen 

on the jokey humour that ran throughout the text, as the 

player is asked to wait for just 'a tickey poo', and the game 

responds to some of your inputs with 'Okey dokey'. 

As befits games programmed using the techniques from 

the Exploring Adventure series (a fact you are carefully 

reminded of on the intro screen of each game), both these 

adventures are written in Basic, but I could have done with 

less jokes and more pokes, especially to the sound chip. If 

you're going to have graphics, why not have a little sound? 

Even a creaking door would be better than nothing. 

Castle Dracula belongs to a well-worn tradition, but if you 

fancy staking a vampire, my advice would be to fork out an 

extra £2.00 for Melbourne House's Castle of Terror. Not a 

game that the White Wizard can recommend. 

ow for something completely different. Well, 

almost completely different. Remember Zim 

Sala Bim from Melbourne House? Or African 

Safari from Interdisc? These games, in case 

you've been imprisoned by Shareth the 

Heartstealer for the last few months, belong 

to an unusual category known as 'joystick 

adventures' and Grand Larceny , 

by the same 

author, falls into the same slot. 

They feature a split screen with a horizontally scrolling 

graphics window above and a text window below. You 

control a character using direction keys or a joystick, and as 

you move him (yes, girls, it's a 'him' again) left and right, he 

wanders past moving scenery to reveal new locations. 

The locations and objects therein can be manipulated and 

explored by entering simple commands at the keyboard 

and the results of your inputs (if valid) are shown in 

animated sequences on the screen. The only drawback is 

that the range of commands is limited, and in Grand 

Larceny you only have 24 verbs to play with. 

The action takes place in the Grand Hotel which you must 

infiltrate and explore as you search for the plans for a new 

super computer, probably the Commodore 512 but I 

One of the problems with Zim Sala Bim 

couldn't swear 

was the agonising slowness with which you walked from 

location to location. Grand Larceny is much better in this 

respect and you can select different action speeds using the 

number keys. Personally I doubt if anyone will want to play 

at less than the highest speed, which is just about tolerable. 

The graphics aren't anything to write home about and 

there are some rather minor glitches in the scroll routines, 

but the music is excellent. My only gripe was that it didn't 

vary sufficiently throughout the game. 

Unfortunately the program isn't very kind to the player if 

he/she enters an inappropriate command, responding with 

'I can't' to everything it doesn't understand. Another 

drawback is that there aren't a huge number of locations to 

explore since the graphics are pretty greedy on memory 

space. 

Traditional adventurers will probably throw up their 

hands in horror at the sight of Grand Larceny ( and rightly 

reckon that some younger players will enjoy it. 

so), but I 

GRAND LARCENY 

Melbourne House, £7.95 cass 

Atmosphere 

55% 

Interaction 

25% 

Lasting interest 

40% 


Grand Larceny — don't just stand there, do 

something! 

CASTLE DRACULA 

Duckworth, £7.95 cass 



Lasting interest 38% 


“UW.NOT Vfl/Ap 

R

: 

inally this month the White Wizard waves his 

wand over another disk-only game. Seriously, 

tape users, how much longer can you go on 

before you start saving up for a disk drive? 

Read on, and eat your hearts out 

Most 64 owners will have heard of Infocom, 

and most disk drive owners will have cottoned 

on to the fact that although Infocom games 

change hands at more than £30 a time. Commodore have 

started releasing them at an earth-shattering £1 1 .99. You can 

already get hold of the Zork Trilogy, which was the series 

originally responsible for forging Infocom's world-leading 

reputation, and recently Deadline, Starcross, and Suspended 

have been added to the list. The White Wizard will be looking 

at some of these next month, but this month we'll splash out 

on a fully-priced Infocom game — Sorceror. Can it really be 

worth paying over £45 for an adventure? 

Whether or not you've braved the earlier Infocom titles and 

defeated the infamous Krill, you'll find Sorceror a 

tremendous challenge and full of surprises. The game comes 

excellently packaged with a copy of the Enchanter's Gazette 

and an Infotater. 

The gazette is really only there to add a bit of variety to the 

package, but the Infotater is essential to playing the game 

since it contains various code patterns that you will need to 

refer to during the game. 

The plot is simple. Belboz, master enchanter, has 

disappeared. There is every indication that something is 

seriously wrong and as a young enchanter of reknown you 

must sally forth, locate the errant wizard, and set the worldto 

rights. 

Like all Infocom games Sorceror is text-only, but don't let 

that put you off. The vocabulary is enormous and the 

program can understand extremely complex inputs. Even if it 

can't give you a direct response, it will often suggest a way of 

finding out what you want to know, although there are limits 

to what you can find out by asking questions directly (as 

indeed there should be.) For example, entering Where is 

Belboz? will get the reply: You last saw Belboz a few days 

ago. You can't begin to guess where he is now. 

The game features numerous spells, including the 

notorious Meef spell (causes plants to wilt), not to mention 

the Gaspar Spell, the Izyuk Spell, and many others, all of 

which can be experimented with - often with hilarious effects. 

Even if you use a spell in circumstances which are not 

appropriate you will often be treated to some highly original 

sequences - for example, trying to dry up a moat (thereby 

stranding the horrible creatures that inhabit it) doesn't help 

much, but does reveal details of the moat's automatic 

refilling system! 

Sorceror is not one of Infocom's best known titles, and at 

£45.30 a throw it's certainly not cheap. However, if you have 

an unexpected windfall you can be sure of a tremendous 

game, with lengthy location descriptions, great atmosphere, 

and highly addictive qualities. 

You'll meet a number of quirky characters, face some 

extremely tricky (but entirely logical) puzzles, wander 

through locations that are so well described they could 

almost be real, and have tremendous fun, whether you 

decide to look for Belboz, or simply want to wander around 

exploring. 

Nevertheless, the White Wizard has to say that £45 seems a 

very high price to pay. The sad truth is that, although many 

disk-based games offer a great deal, they do more than 

extract their pound of flesh for the privilege. 

SORCEROR 

Infocom, £45.30 disk 



Lasting interest 88% 


64 ZZAPI64 June 1985

Argus Press 

SoftwareCroup 

Liberty House, jt 

222 Regent Stree# 

London W1R7D 

Telephone 01-439^666 

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Which 

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Wizar 

help f unct'3 

ADVENTURE NEWS 

"-"•rTfSiS 

about the seq 

wizard 

d°m 

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reveal plans 

can now y 

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for what coul 

t ,nd j nq megaof 

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adventures yet seen u 

^Trevor Hall the man response 

... r TKV is working on a ga 

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Tnteractive 

characters and 

KS, o”Sr ,«oun®B 

doming soon: 

Fantastic four 

taking delivery t0 

of 

Adams 

the e ,at®st 

Marvel p,“; 

Sc °tt 

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, 

n> t, Tr,i;r d“° 

further details. 

h th,s space for 

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pêtLz; s^: Return to 

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uttering Un th* !)tC*) u tfle y have 

relase 

bdunti, the enclot this year, 

hasrVt mZ She'Ves ^ 

but 

ar1odore 128 rnach^ne, rather than shops yet Keep 

the trusty old 64 jW crossed for 

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national. ure /nter_ 

the 9ame - £ see whether 

watched close ^ftoendent on 

“s ' "“book m°»* » «•» 

Spn of Hobbit 

Philip Mitchell, programmer of 

hard 

at work on Lord of the Rings Melconfident 

that the game will be ready 

this Christmas, probably 

late September or 

October, it will be sold in three 

separate parts, each with a copy 

of the relevant volume of the original 

Tolkein trilogy. Lord of the 

Rings is one of the White Wizard's 

favounte books (and Gandalf one 

of his favourite buddies) so watch 

early review of this one. 

Holiday in Carpathia? 

different c V'oui ^ Air |jnes 

will 

promotion?) P^| 

9 

° (hopefully) 

in 

s^silîbls 

shoif 

about a month’s time. 

Cryptic dues 

Here's another bundle of terrific 

tips to add to your library. The 

White Wizard gratefully acknowledges 

the invaluable help 

of demi-wizard Tony Treadwell 

for compiling the bulk of these 

cryptic clues. 

Don't forget that you are invited 

to send in tips for publication 

on these pages. Put your 

clues on a postcard, giving your 

name and address, the name of 

the game, a clear description of 

the problem, and the solution in 

riddle or puzzle form. As I said 

last month, you should also include 

the answer to your riddle, 

just in case it's so obscure that I 

break my magic staff trying to 

decode it. Alternatively, seasoned 

adventurers can always win 

fame and fortune by offering 

help via the Help Function. The 

address to write to is given 

below. 

VALKYRIE 17 

Can't get out of the hotel? Make 

sure you've got everything you 

need, including a good head for 

heights. 

It may not be Christmas, But 

the butcher could do with a little 

gift. 

Inspect ALL far horizons. 

CASTLE OF TERROR 

The ladder holds the key to the 

castle, but you'll have to cart it 

around! 

DRAGONWORLD 

Can't get into the city? Seek help 

from a birdbrain. 

DALLAS QUEST 

Round and round the garden like 

a teddy bear, find the anaconda 

and... 

ERIC THE VIKING 

Only penitent souls may enter 

the place of worship. 

SNOWBALL 

The cat could help you out of a 

slippery situation. 

PIRATE ADVENTURE 

Walk nine less than Buchan's 

steps to find a chest. 

SPIDERMAN 

An interest in art could be an 

advantage. 

TIR NA NOG 

Drowsy - why not. Take that (and 

a chopper) to kill the Sidhe. 

Clever 

contacts 

Hear me master adventurers! 

Assorted humans, elves, 

dwarves, and even a reformed 

troll or two, are crying out for 

your assistance as they struggle 

for survival in the tortuous 

world of Adventure. If you've 

solved a game, or games, why 

not achieve undying fame by 

adding your name to the list of 

those offering assistance via the 

Wizard's Help Function? 

All you have to do is jot down 

your name and address on a 

postcard together with the 

titles of the games you are offering 

help on and send it to: The 

White Wizard, Zzap! 64, 1 

Church Terrace, Yeovil, 

Somerset, BA20 1HX. Don't 

delay! It's getting mighty hot 

and stuffy in the Goblin's 

Dungeon! 

The White Wizard apologises 

to those intrepid adventurers 

who sent in their names and 

addresses to offer help via the 

Help Function this month. Unfortunately, 

due to the tight 

pressure of magazine printing 

deadlines, we were unable to 

include any new names and 

addresses, but the White Wiz 

Quest of Merravid, Heroes of 

Karn, Erik the Viking and others 

Tony Treadwell, 41 Fernhill 

Road, Oxford, 0X5 1RR. Tel. 

08675 6670 

Quest for the Holy Grail 

Jonathan Gill, 108 Kineton 

Green Road, Solihull, West Midlands, 

B92 7EE. 

Tel. (021) 706 5572 

Colossal Adventure, Dungeon 

Adventure, Lords of Time, 

Snowball, Hobbit. 

Philip Chan, 7 Rushmead Close, 

Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7RP Tel. 

0227 45391 1 between 6 and 9pm 

only. 

ard reckons that the brave souls 

below should still be able to 

help you with most problems. 

Demi-wizard Tony Treadwell 

runs a small club for adventurers 

and will give help when 

possible. He asks me to warn 

you that he is usually out at 

work during the day, but if you 

write — or telephone between 

7pm and 9pm — he or one of his 

colleagues may well be able to 

help you out of whatever difficulty 

you find yourself in. You can 

get membership details of the 

club from Tony at the address 

below. 

Heroes of Karn, Empire of Karn 

Colin Loosemore, 29 Rufus Gardens, 

Totton, Soton, S04 3TA. 

Tel. (0703) 871960 after 5pm. 

Hobbit, Valhalla, any Level 9 

game 

Stuart Henderson, 61 Stevenson 

Drive, Edinburgh, EH1 1 3DU 

Spiderman, Hulk, Voodoo 

Castle, Pirate Adventure, Quest 

for the Holy Grail, Hobbit, 

Classic Adventure, Mission Impossible, 

Ten Little Indians. 

Adventureland. The Count 

S.A.Williams, 32 Hornbeam 

Close, Horsham, Sussex, 

RH13 5NP. 

66 ZZAP! 64 June 1985 ’•ÔtSN'T HE LOOK. 

TlRfi? SAP-"

NSC/ 

-- ••' 

J . A-"?" 'i >9 S' s 

• 

.... 

: ".-v: 

THE FUTURE OF MANKIND IS IN YOUR HANDS! 

It's the year 2085. Only a handful of people have survived the robot wars that rocked the Solar 

System. In a final desperate bid for survival a Tacheon propelled star cruiser has been developed 

on Earth to transport survivors to new star system. But the cruiser relies on rare Ionian crystals for 

its power; crystals which are only abundant on Jupiter's 

second moon lo. A moonbase established on lo is under 

constant attack by aliens from Jupiter. St is your mission 

tb escort the-men and their precious crystals safely from 

the surface of- Id to the.Dropzone where the landing pad is . 

located. You pre equipped *with the latest pulse-laser 

’ 

’ 

,/iy, 

eback-papk system which u 

E2SCC 

will make you invisible 

± 

_ * V 

short periods of 

and indestructible for 

. 

t 

timeJ.You tnust . " 

_ 

succeed, the future 

| 

m 

» 

’ i "": **^-^> 

WJK 

.. s 

-.: 

sssms 

U.S. GOLD Ltd., Unit 10, The Parkway Industrial Centre, Heneage Street, Birmingham B7 4LY 

Telephone: 021-359 3020. Telex: 337268. 

mxm

* 

I 

I recently 

I wasn't 

a* 4. 

' 

’ “ 1 

• 

: 

' 

: 

: 

' 

Clumsy, opinionated superhack EDWARD BANGER bungle: 

games scene's hottest news and juiciest gossip. 

that got me thinking) and I 

wasn't too pleased. 

the only one 

annoyed, it appears. Rod Evans 

of West country based New 

Generation Software (the company 

that produced Knot in 3D) 

had done the same thing as me, 

and was quite rightly disgusted 

when he received the copies. 

He got on to the trading stanmmm. 

can spot a good deal when I 

see one and a £100 solid gold 

krugerrand for designing a Lode 

Runner screen sounds like a 

good deal to me, especially if 

you're into supporting apar- 

The prize is being offered by 

Arioiasoft for the 10 best 

screens designed by Britons. All 

0 screens, plus 50 American 

nes will then be included on a 

pecial championship version 

E 

f the game to be released in 

the autumn. (This disgraceful 

racial imbalance will hopefully 

inspire us Brits to put the Yank 

screens to shame.) 

sent off for some 

tough sounding software from 

one of those small ads companies 

selling stuff on the 

cheap. Knot in 3D was one and 

Ant Attack the other (funny they 

wouldn't load on my 64 - must 

be the deck). 

When I finally got them they 

didn't look quite like originals 

(maybe it was the plain boxes 

or the photocopied instructions 

m pnnted a 

111 month 

If you reckon you ve got a 

creen good enough then drop 

arioiasoft a line enclosing a disk 

r cassette with the screen to: 

:live Brown, Arioiasoft UK Lifted, 

Asphalte House, Palace 

itreet, London SW1. The competition 

closes on 30th June so 

urry up, Brian. 

I'm still 

/ • 

COMPLETELY stuck on 

Staff of Karnath de- 

Ultimate's 

spite all the so-called tips on the 

qame printed in various magazines. 

I did find one piece of the 

pentacle once, but then got sat 

on by a toad. 

Anyway, I'm dismayed to discover 

that Ultimate are on the 

point of releasing ANOTHER 64 

game to get me even more 

frustrated. It features the selfsame 

Sir Arthur Pendragon in a 

completely new quest. It's cal- 

. 

led Entombed so I reckon it'll 

probably take place in outer 

space just like Underwurlde on 

the Speccy. Er, did I 

.MM 

wrong...? 

say some- 

, . 

thing 

trace Leosoft (the company who 

were illegally copying and selling 

the game) through several 

mailing addresses to a location 

London. 

in 

They were then able to arrest 

one Anthony Arnold, a council 

clerk from London's Mill Hill, 

who later admitted being involved 

in cassette copying with 

another man. He was fined £400 

by Bath magistrates and 

ordered to pay £190 costs. 

Tell you what, if the Copyright 

Act is brought into effect in 

June as expected, nasty commercial 

pirates can expect higher 

fines still and possibly even 

imprisonment. As far as Banger's 

concerned that's just what 

they deserve. Cage 'em! 

Findlng4||oughijgoing to solve any 

I'd better ask Mikrogen for a few ch 

Mikrogen have decided to do a spe 

. service, to helplrblibled individual 

^^lipaB0344^6447i a soc 

welcome you to the helpline. It'll t 

much needed hints about the game 

^^Bbo|®pRaneviiset of illi 

" 1 4'. 

ii&fsBi r P. : a, 1 

‘- r L ‘SSf? °n' P: Va 

finish the game after about a year 

s service will be up 

eveif&hould be a 

nft: of pNone calt^

I 

wasn't 

hear 

v- 

THose KeoiewiN6 

WHO "THINK, TH€Y KNOIO 

IT RU- •JUST' Nonofcp f 

/" 

-THfcV' PWmB> Wi£L

I 

I 

The process is quite simple. 

The software house sends an 

ordinary audio tape of the required 

speech to US Gold who 

will then send it off to Electronic 

Speech Systems in America 

where they have a massive 

speech synthesizing computer. 

After a fortnight the speech will 

be returned in micro usable 

form. 

And the price? A cool £100 a 

word plus 5 pence royalty per 

disk or cassette sold. But there's 

a ban on any game using the 

word: supercalafragilisticexpialidocious. 

Astonishing what indignities software house 

managers are prepared to go through to 

promote their new games. This completely 

natural and unposed picture shows Rod 

Evans of New Generation Software 'caught 

in the act', it says here, of having a squash 

lesson from star player Jonah Barrington. 

This, of course, is quite unrelated to the fact 

that New Gen are in the process of releasing 

a game called Jonah Barrington's Squash. 

The person who sends me the funniest 

caption for this picture will win a free copy of 

that classic, exciting, all action game 

Valhalla, which I'm good at because it plays 

by itself. (The second funniest wins TWO 

copies - Editor) 

Do what 

grandad did 

Mirrorsoft's latest release, Spitfire 

40, looks pretty interesting. 

This flight simulator puts you in 

control of the plane that won the 

war for us. Training, practice 

flying and full combat are all part 

of the game. There's also a 

chance to rise through the ranks 

and earn a VC. The cassette will 

set you back £9.95 and the disk is 

£12.95. 

Not the Beatles 

CheetahSoft's new game has a 

most odd sounding name: Parky 

and the Yellow Submarine. The 

first in a new series, this arcade 

adventure is available on cassette 

for £6.95. Included in the price 

is a voucher giving you 10% off 

the price of the sequel. 

Chopper chop 

It's suddenly become cheaper 

to own a copy of that great 

sizzler of a helicopter flight 

simulator Super Huey by American 

company Cosmi. When 

first released here by US Gold, 

the cassette price was £11.95. 

Soon after, a phone call from 

Audiogenic revealed they've 

licensed the same game and are 

selling it for a mere £8.95. Days 

later, wonder of wonders, US 

Gold cut their price to £8.95. An 

astonishing coincidence, Brian. 

Rockford returns in triumph 

see from a sneak peak at this 

month's top 64 that word is 

gradually spreading about 

Boulderdash being the most 

addictive game this side of Bognor 

Regis. I'm addicted to it and 

I can't even complete cave A. 

Anyway, the great news is 

that Boulderdash 2 is only 

weeks away from release. This 

offers another 16 very different 

(harder!) caves, based around 

the same collection of enemies, 

and with a couple of new ones 

thrown in here and there. It's 

being released on a brand new 

label, and not by Statesoft! I 

better get a move on solving 

Boulderdash 1. 

Boppalonga Commodore 

Commodore have released a eludes an easy to read music 

range of 'play along' packages book and an actual LP record of 

for use with their Music Maker 

the relevant music, and a piece 

program. They're to enable of software to allow you to use 

budding musicians to listen, or both in conjunction with the 

learn to play everything from computer. I'm sure I'll find it 

the Beatles to Mozart. Each useful when I play at our next 

package costs £9.99 and in- knees-up. 

Banger notes with interest 

that the US Gold disk price 

stays at £14.95 - nothing to do 

with the fact that Audiogenic 

aren't releasing a disk version, I 

don't suppose. 

Here comes 

Superwrinkly 

The game I've long been waiting 

for (it says here). Super Gran, is 

now on release. Based on the 

zany TV series of same name, 

my favourite Sunday viewing, 

it's produced by Tynesoft in 

association with Tyne Tees Television. 

Also, it includes a free full 

colour poster! Yeah! 

Beach Head 2: 

it talks! 

hear that the long awaited sequel 

to the immensely successful 

Beach Head, called (gasp!) 

Beach Head II, will feature digitised 

speech. Subtitled The Dictator 

Strikes Back the game is 

claimed to have several 'amazing' 

screens and a true two player 

'head to head' option. What 

does that mean, Brian? 

US goodies line up 

Yet more hot stuff coming in 

from the States courtesy Of US 

Gold. The new batch includes 

Dropzone, claimed to be the hottest 

shoot-em-up since Defender, 

and Doughboy, an arcade 

style game which puts you in 

charge of recovering supplies 

scattered about a battlefield. The 

boys tell me they'll be reviewed 

shortly so keep your peepers 

peeled. 

ôo

1 

. .and 

• High-energy s joyetiok-wrenching sports simulation 

With excellentgraphics, animation and 

realistic sound this is a greatprogram for 

those not already exhausted by this type of 

games. Get into training now if you want to 

get to challenge Brian Jacks, letalone beat the 

man. Despite the hernias and heart failures it 

will cause, this arm wrenching, joystick 

breaking, eyeballpopping game is a real 

thriller. 

1. 

Sweaty action in the gym 

2. 

The whole thing looks and feels very much 

Neck and neck with the computer 

cyclist 

like Activision's superb Decathlon to me. It 

doesn't really offer anything totally new, and 

the so calledpowersync feature didn 't stretch 

much further than an elaborate, and rather 

sweaty, waggling session. Despite these 

criticisms l found the whole thing a 

thoroughly enjoyable, and exhausting 

experience. 

Eight gruelling events 

As I write, arm and shoulders 

a-throbbing, I wonder 

about the sadistic 

tendencies of software 

houses. Having just got over 

Decathlon and Summer Games 

my shattered muscles were 

forced to work on the latest arm 

wrencher. 

Plenty of deodorant is needed 

as you pummel your joystick 

through the eight energy-taxing 

events of the challenge. As usual 

in this type of game the faster 

you move your joystick back and 

forth the faster your man moves. 

When you start a game there 

The different events add enough novelty to 

make this a compulsive game with the real 

fun coming in events like the dips. The 

sadistic combination ofstop-start waggling is 

absolute murder particularly over the 

extended time limit The skill events like the 

boar shoot come as a welcome relief, 

although you may he shaking too much to 

shoot straight. I'm off to have a bath. 

are two options: challenge a fellow 

human or the tireless computer. 

It's much more fun with 

another player, the competitive 

spirit giving you just a bit more 

determination and takes that 

last bit of energy in a dramatic 

effort to win. 

The winner of the eight 

events, which score in Decathlon 

style, might well get to challenge 

Brian Jacks himself. This 

is only when you have passed all 

the 'qualifying' scores. If these 

are anything to go by I reckon ol' 

B.J. must be superhuman. 

According to the instructions. 

CANOE RACE. Not particularly 

simple by any means. Plenty of 

energy will be sapped as you 

cleave your way through the 

water. Steady rhythm is also a 

necessity or else you'll find yourseif 

careering into the markers of 

your lane. 

BOAR SHOOT. No waggling involved, 

just a steady hand and a 

keen eye as you move a crosshair 

about the screen in an 

attempt to fire at a moving target. 

Pressing the fire button will shoot 

off a bolt so you have to time it 

right to hit the targetsuccessfully. 

3. 100M SPRINT. Simply pulverise 

the joystick from left to right at 

horrendous speeds to come in 

first. 

4. SQUAT THRUST. With your 

arm hanging like a soggy toilet 

roll things take a turn for the 

better. Tap the joystick left twice 

and right thrice to complete one 

squat thrust. Easy though it 

sounds concentration should be 

at its utmost throughout this 

event. For every move made 

wrongly, valuable time will be 

lost as you try to regain your 

rhythm. 

5. SWIMMING. More horrific joystick 

thrashing. This time the fire 

button has to be pressed to allow 

your man to breathe as he sticks 

his head out of the water. We all 

know that a swimming performance 

is effected badly by either 

not breathing or breathing under 

water. 

6. ARM DIPS. If you haven't 

changed your shirt by now this 

event is guaranteed to bring tears 

to your eyes and make you sweat 

like a pig! Press fire button and 

your man will drop. When his 

elbow has touched the judge's 

fist; waggle like mad to get him 

back up to his starting position. 

Repeat the process again . . .and 

again . again. 

7. FOOTBALL. Those who haven't 

hacj already coronaries will find 

this easier to tackle, ho ho. Simply 

guide your man through the 

cones as he dribbles a ball, then 

shoot for goal. 

8. CYCLING. The final challenge 

which will turn even the coolest 

puce. A really hefty pummelling 

session, the last thank goodness, 

as you whizz down the track. The 

fire button will change your gears 

but other than that your forearm 

muscle will have to be practically 

torn away to achieve the qualifying 

time. 

WU-L IT END? ?... 


f 

MOON CRESTA 

Incentive, £6.95, joystick and keys (definable] 

9 Nostalgic delve into arcade past 

T 

his game has certainly 

taken a long time in being 

converted to a micro: only 

about six years! But the classic, 

ancient arcade game even now 

might be found lurking in the 

furthest recesses of a dingy 

arcade. 

To the uninitiated, the game 

entails blasting kamikaze aliens 

and after every fourth and third 

waves increasing your fire 

power by docking ships. 

There are five different aliens 

varying in speed and al! but one 

lot follow a predictable pattern. 

Nevertheless they are all quite 

difficult to hit and reach horrific 

speeds on level three. 

Only one shot is allowed on 

screen at one time so every shot 

counts and on high levels it is 

essentia! to hit your target otherwise 

you will find it crashing into 

you. 

You will encounter two waves 

of each alien, each alien appearing 

in a wave of eight. The waves 

all have to be approached differently. 

JR 

Graphically this game 

is arcade perfect and 

the sound is exactly 

the same as its big 

brother l enjoyed the 

arcade game when it 

first came out and this 

nostalgic trip into 

recent history was 

thoroughly enjoyable. 

A good old massacre 

never goes amiss and 

this should be of interest 

to any dedicated 

arcade player. 

7 O 0/ 

/ /O 

High-score table, 2-player 

option, etc. Competition to 

50% 

enter. 

63% 

Fast andsmooth if dated. C* 1“ O/ 

This is the licensed version 

— the rating doesn't mean 

much. 

Pleasing nostalgia trip for 

Good old arcade 

blasting stilt has its 

appeal but tsuspect 

that It won't fast long 

for mostpeople, 

•| There aren't that 

many waves but fahat 

there is is pretty 

tough. Tve always 

been a sucker for 

simplezapping games 

like this and this one in 

the Oalaxian mould 

SShould provide me 

with some untaxing 

r 

130 /O a 9 e,n 9 ar°ade goers. 

This is # superb 

I 

implementation oftfre 

archaic arcade class®. 

of the same name. 

The thing is Moon 

Q O/ dust as ted as in the r Q 0 / Six different waves, but 

Cresta wasn't much of 

ZJij /O ori 9 >nal. difficulty levels 

Q^ /Q 

soon get 

very hard. 

a game when it first 

came out and ft \ 

certainly doesn'thold 

its own with the 

\ 

destruction. 

63% A fairly cheap trip down Memory Lane. 

the control in this game is mostly 

by 'powersync'. Apparently 

you should move your joystick 

in time with your man's motions 

and only gradually build up 

speed. 

This sounds intriguing, but 

proves a little misleading. In 

most events the usual Decathlon 

-type hysterical threshing 

appears to be the best technique. 

However there are some 

events where additional timely 

button presses are required. 

At the end of a game, while 

you're stretchered out, your 

man will appear on a rostrum. 

Depending on how well you've 


done he'll take either first or 

second place. 

If you've done really well then 

you can challenge Brian Jacks. 

The trouble is that the challenge 

takes place immediately after 

the first one. This is unfair: your 

transplanted organs won't even 

had time to adjust to your body, 

let alone go through the rigorous 

tortures again. 

One criticism isthat there is no 

practice feature. Every game 

that you play has to be all the 

way through which gets rather 

painful if you have trouble with 

one event. 

JR 

r- ryo/ 

^ /O 

Concise instructions; annoying 

not to be ^/e t0 quit 

an event. 

54% 

Q/ 

Fairly impressive animation 

r\ / 

78% Q 79% 

and reasonable variety. 

f Cute title screen tune 

O but not too much else. 

76% 


0/ Cheaper than most of the games in its 

78% Q class. 

SoLDlES..." 

... w 

An adaptation of the 

familiar sports simulation 

games. 

9 your arms can take it, 

^4. hammering Brian is a strong 

O incentive to keep waggling. 

/ Eight events and constant 

cdallen9e to improve 

scores. 

IT'S 

SfentA

1 

1 1 1 

Deep in the Bungeling 

Empire lies a fortune in 

gold, stolen by power 

hungry leaders, and guarded by 

enemy soldiers. Luckily a highly 

trained Galactic commando, 

such as yourself, is on hand to 

recover every single ingot from 

the massive, and perplexing, 

underground caverns. 

There are 1 50 screens of Panic 

style action in this game, the difference 

being there's a lot more 

panic. Each screen consists of a 

number of gold chests scattered 

about, which you must collect to 

move onto the next level. But 

they are protected in devious 

ways. Some are embedded in 

seemingly impenetrable brick, 

others by apparently uncrossable 

gaps. 

Usually there are ladders of 

various length joining any platform 

formations. Horizontal 

bars of differing length are also 

usually present, and you can 

swing your way along these 

hand over hand. 

Ladders 

Your man 

Gold bars 

The Bungeling 

guards 

Floors which you 

can dig into. 

V 

Ip 

Not one of the most recent 

games but certainly one of 

the best. There are loads of 

screens , masses of action 

and lots of variation to keep 

you going. The slightly 

offputting graphics turn out 

to allow you a relatively 

massive playing area with 

consequently more to do 

than usual. This , 

will be a classic 

for a long time to 

come. 

n f 

# Classic panic game with forgettable graphics, unbelievable addiction 

# 1 50 different screens and you can create your own 

On some screens there are 

hidden trap doors to fall 

through. They look exactly the 

same as normal, diggable brick, 

but have the annoying property 

of being where you least expect, 

or want, them. Thankfully they 

appear at the same place on the 

same screens, so if your memory's 

good 

Getting the chests is not so 

easy though. A group of guards 

patrol the screen, all after your 

blood, and are far more intelligent 

than your average alien. 

These guards occasionally pick 

GRAPHICS 

Excellent screen design 

facility. On cassette, game 

loads in sections. 

1 1 1 1 4 

End of screen tune plus 

one or two effects. 


1 

Endless hours of designing and playing 

ORIGINALITY 

Strong Space Panic roots 

4 but you can design 

//"I 

your 

own screens. 

HOOKABILITY 

Tiny but well-animated 

O 

CyQ 

vy / 0 stick man C Extremely playable and 

graphics. addictive irom word go. 

SOUND 

^ 

O C7 / O 

INSTABILITY 

150 screens plus an infinite 

number for you to create. 

f 

D/Y screen designing 

The game generator facility allows you to design and play your 

m own screens of deviousness. You could shock your friends with 

your talent to design. The edit mode allows you to: 

I 

I 

I 

1) Edit a screen. Choose which of the 150 screens you wish to 

amend. Screens can then be drawn by moving a cursor using a 

tight cross formation of keys (which I found a little awkward to 

use). When you want to place a block, space, man etc., you just 

press the relevant key. When you've finished designing your 

screen, it can be saved to tape for use at a later date. 

2) Play. You can play test any, or all of the 150 screens — including 

the ones you haven't edited. Incidentally, this means you 1 

can 

I 

see the later screens as soon as you like. 

3) Initialize. Will clear out the currently stored block of levels, 

ready for you to define your own from scratch. 

4) Clear. Erases a screen from tape. 

5) Move. Allows you effectively to renumber the screens so that 

they appear in a different order. 

1 

g 

I memory. 

6) Score. This clears out all the high scores currently held in 

up a chest for themselves and 

must be tricked to falling into 

pits which you dig with your 

laser drill pistol. Any gold carried 

by them will then be released 

for you to pick up. 

You, and the guards for that 

matter, can fall any distance 

without dying. This proves useful 

should you become surrounded 

as you can dig a hole and fall 

through it to the next level of 

platforms. But beware, some 

bricks are undiggable. 

All of the screens have been 

designed with the utmost cunning, 

and prove difficult and 

enjoyable to play. The facility 

exists to make your own, equally 

Fast arcade action that'll 

make the platform wallahs' 

eyes drop out. A massive 150 

screens (more if you design 

them) which will keep the 

midnight oil burning in many 

a dedicated arcade players 

home. Graphically miniscule 

and aurally crude, the 

game's sheer addiction kept 

my eyes propped 

open until the 

** 

owls went to 

bed. 


SNIP-SNIP.

I 

I 

baffling, screens of action 

should the present set become 

at all tiresome {see panel). 

There are also a wide range of 

gameplay options. Keyboard or 

joystick control is accessible at 

any time throughout the game. 

If all is lost and your man is trapped 

without any means of death 

or escape, then there is an option 

to abort that particular life. 

It's possible to alter the overall 

game speed, pause and restart 

the game. You can toggle the 

direction that you dig (either in 

front of or behind you), or terminate 

the current game should 

you get too annoyed with your 

performance. 

There are also two cheat options, 

with which you can add 

additional lives or advance 

levels. However should you 

resort to using either you won't 

be registered on the high score 

table. 

With all these overwhelmingly 

good points it seems difficult 

to fault Lode Runner in any way. 

Nevertheless the sound and 

graphics must be criticised for 

their crudeness and simplicity, 

and the loading of levels for its 

laborious technique. 

The sound consists of little 

other than a few quirky tunes on 

completing levels, and some 

bloops and beeps thrown in for 

good measure during the game. 

The sprites used are nothing 

more than tiny stick men, about 

a character square high. But 

they are in fact well animated. 

Bricks, blocks, ladders and bars 

are all as simple as the sprites. 

Even the colour scheme is plain, 

consisting of a mere four 

colours. 

The 150 levels are stored in 

blocks of roughly 16 screens, 

and need to be loaded from $ide 

two of the tape (The main program 

is on side one and must be 

loaded first). This proves to be 

an annoying way of doing 

things, especially if you get to a 

high level, die and want to play 

again - you have to rewind the 

tape back to the beginning and 

Despite the below average 

graphics , sound and 

annoying level loading 

method. Lode Runner comes 

up with its head held high. An 

incredibly playable and 

addictive 150 screens of 

platform derivation, 

combined with a superb 

choice of options means 

you'll be playing for a long 

time to come. Despite the 

relatively few different 

elements on each screen, 

there's enormous variation 

between the different 

screens. Some are amazing, 

and amazingly difficult. 

reload the first levels. 

Still, the game doesn't lose 

out because of these* niggles - 

it's got playability, hookability 

and most of all, lastability. 

GP 

S 

mbu 

Gold/Sydney, £9.95 case, £14.35 disk, joystick and keys. 

trap on your goggles and 

leather helmet and take to 

the skies in a glorious 

flight simulation game where 

you have to blow up dams. 

The raid is one from the second 

world war which has been 

immortalised in film and nowon 

the 64. Your task is to drop a 

single 'bouncing' bomb and 

blow up a dam at night. However 

dropping the bomb is the 

easy bit, getting to the dam 

across occupied Europe in the 

dark is what's really tough. 

The whole burden of the raid 

rests on you - you do the jobs of 

all seven crew members. You 

can choose one of three missions 

of increasing difficulty. The 

practice dam run lets you just do 

ihe bomb run without any 

ground based opposition to fly 

over. 

The other two missions are 

much harder starting you on the 

French coast and a British airfield 

respectively. This gives you 

much longer and tougher flights 

to complete, with a take off required 

from Britain in the 

'squadron leader' option. 

When you're in the air you 

have seven instrument screens 

Excluding Super 

Huey, this is the only 

flight simulator to 

have really appealed 

to me in any way. The 

effect of flying was 

pretty poor, but the 

excellent attention to 

detail on the inside of 

the plane, made up for 

that. Successfully 

destroying the dam is 

easy enough on the 

practice dam run. 

Flying over Europe, 

avoiding enemy fire 

before getting to the 

dam, is incredibly 

difficult, frustrating 

and offputting, " 

though. 


I 

\ 

C 

.0 Lode Runner is very user-friendly/great fun! 

'v> 

FEATURES! 

/// Lode Runner is a very well thought-out package 

150 CHALLENGING SCREENS 

and is extremely playable. A must for 

g CHEAT KEYS PROVIDING 

lJ ilg l f a game connoisseurs. 

n. 

Q 

Tom Hussey 

, ( 

UNLIMITED LIVES & ACCESS TO ANY 

SCREEN VARIABLE GAME SPEED & 

FREEZE FRAME HIGH SCORE TABLE 

LODE RUNNER COMPETITION 

Send us your best screen design, on cassette or disk, 

JOYSTICK OR KEYBOARD CONTROL 

30th June 1985, to the address below. It may become 

PLUS PLUS PLUS ALSO INCLUDES 

one of the best British screens to be included on 

‘CHAMPIONSHIP LODE RUNNER’, for release b> 

H SCREEN GENERATOR - ENABLES YOU 

TO CREATE YOUR OWN SCREEN DESIGNS 

Ariolasoft later this year. 

A prize of a Mini Krugerrand 

will also be awarded for each screen used. 

I 

AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD SOFTWARE RETAILERS — If it's not there , 

please order it — or in case of difficulty send your crossed 

cheque/P.O. made out to Ariolasoft U.K. Ltd. including your own name and address , 

to Ariolasoft U.K. Ltd., Suite 105/106, 

Asphalte House, Palace Street, London SW1E 5HS. 

Lode Runner Cassette £9.95. 

^ Lode Runner Disk £12.95 - includes VAT&p&p. U.K. ordersonly. HIGH PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS

This is a great 

combination of flight 

simulator and action 

although the 

opposition is 

incredibly tough over 

the land. The lack ofa 

score is annoying as is 

the finality of the 

crash but these are 

minorpoints in a 

tremendously tough 

challenge. This won't 

be an easy mission to 

complete but it will be 

one of the most 

satisfying there is. 

Booster gauges. 

RPM gauges for each 

engine. 

Fire extinguishers for 

each engine. 

Very impressive with 

a superb Lancaster 

Bomber sound. A nice 

touch graphically is a 

view of the lights from 

towns and cities as 

you fty over. 

Instrument panels are 

excellently drawn but 

seem lacking in 

movement. Having 

great instant appeal 

this should be a 

commercial success 

but / think it could get 

rather boring in time. 

Throttle controls. 

Booster controls 

the dam 

PRESENTATION ORIGINALITY 

w~ mHHHT 

Q CT 0/ 

Q^ /Q 

' 

GRAPHICS 

QA 0 / 

SOUND 

Stunning package and 

impact, but lacks any 

scoring. 

“TP A Q / 

The still graphics are 

0/ 

/Q superbly atmospheric. 

jj 

A /q 

difference. 

A flight simulator with a 

HOOKABILITY 

V?U /O 

“7 0 / Hot too many effects, but 

tmm 1 O 0/ 

j /q what there are are superb. 

1VALUE FOR MONEY 

"7 0/ 

j Q /q 

Huge appeal thanks to the 

great graphics, 

superb feel. 

LASTABILITY 

J A / Q 

The squadron leader 

mission will take a lot of 

cracking. 

Bombing 

An excellent program and certain commercial success. Slightly 

tarnished by a couple of annoying quirks. 

Once you are within range there 

are a number of factors which 

have to be set exactly in order to 

successfully bomb the dam. A 

blue marker will appear on the 

speedometer and the needle 

must cover it exactly. Your height 

must also be exact and a special 

bomb aimer screen lets you 

gauge this. 

Once you are below 100 feet it 

allows you to turn on two spotlights 

which when perfectly overlapping 

mean you are at the right 

height. With that done you can 

get the bomb rotating and when it 

is Op to speed, sights will appear 

on the front gunner's screen. 

When these line up with the 

dam's towers you should release 

the bomb. 

The bomb is now seen skimming 

across the water and a successful 

drop will blow a huge hole 

in the dam through which water 

will pour. If you miss you will be 

told what you did wrong.

to control, plus an extra one on 

the squadron leader mission. 

Each of these represents a 

member of the crew except for a 

status screen which shows you 

your damage and success 

against the enemy defences. 

Each screen is accessed by a 

number on the keyboard, the 

most important being the PILOT 

where you actually fly the plane. 

Here you control compass direction, 

the plane's banking, height 

and also an airspeed indicator. 

This screen shows the terrain 

you are flying over: either blue 

streaks for sea or yellow dots 

(lights) for land. Searchlights, 

barrage balloons, night fighters 

and flak appear here and except 

for the flak you can shoot these 

on the FRONT and TAIL 

GUNNER screens. These feature 

/ill 

tracer fire which looks and 

sounds excellent. 

The BOMB AIMER screen is 

used to set your altitude precisely 

in the final bombing run [see 

panel), while the NAVIGATOR 

shows a six screen map of 

Europe including your Lancaster 

and lots of ground installations 

like population, military, industry, 

airport and radar centres as 

Well as the three dams. The map 

helps you to guide the bomber 

away from the main danger 

areas on its way to the dam. 

The other main screen is the 

ENGINEER in which you control 

the throttles and boosters for 

your four engines to maintain 

speed. A second screen is introduced 

for the SQUADRON 

LEADER so that you have to 

watch fuel and also use the flaps 

and undercarriage on take-off. 

The instructions come with 

some weighty briefing notes 

which are needless but interesting. 

The sound effects are realistic 

and atmospheric. One disappointment 

was the lack of a scoring 

system and the fact that after 

you'd crashed you couldn't access 

any instruments to see 

exactly why. 

BW 

INTERNATIONAL 

Commodore, £5.99 case, £1 1.39 disc, joystick only 

Superb sports simulation from the author of ‘International 

One or two players with nine computer levels 

T 

he long awaited sequel to 

International Soccer has 

been floating around for 

months in various pirated and 

rather unsatisfactory preproduction 

forms. Now at last 

the real thing is here, and it's 

brilliant. 

Anyone who has seen International 

Soccer will instantly 

recognise the players, only this 

time they are bigger and are 

dressed in really cool basketball 

gear. 

For the two of you who 

haven't seen Soccer 1, control of 

a team of players is easy. The 

nearest player to the ball is 

chosen by the computer and put 

under your control. You'll know 

which player this is by his vest 

changing colour slightly. If you 

pass a ball, then the receiving 

player is automatically selected 

for you to control. 

On loading you are presented 

with a series of options. Select 

one of the nine computer levels 

orplay two players with a friend. 

If you don't like your team's colours 

then you can change them 

from a varied choice of strips. 

This program also allows you 

to play three types of rules: 

NCAA, NBA and Olympic. Each 

setting has its own rules and 

characteristics. 

Once you are happy with the 

settings you can start the game 

which begins with four cheerleaders 

doing a little dance. The 

teams then run out of the changing 

rooms onto the pitch and go 

to their tip-offpositions. 

A whistle will sound and the 

match starts. The ball is thrown 

into the air and the players have 

to jump up and knock the ball 

Thoroughly enjoyable sports 

simulation which hadjust as 

much impact as its older 

brother Soccer. Action 

packed, with great attention 

to detail and play that you 

can really relate to, make this 

one an instant classic. / loved 

every minute playing it and 

it's released at a price that 

anyone can afford. Don't 

miss it. 


down to their own players. As 

the ball is thrown up and down 

the pitch the playing area scrolls 

up and down keeping the ball in 

the middle of the screen. The 

actual playing area is about 

three screens long and is viewed 

panoramically like International 

Soccer. 

On the far side of the pitch is a 

grandstand in which detailed 

and polite spectators sit, watch 

and applaud any good moves. 

Advertising hoardings and the 

scoreboard both feature on the 

grandstand giving it a really lifelike 

appearance. 

The players are large, chunky 

and superbly animated and look 

incredibly realistic. There are 

some really nice touches too like 

a player stooping to collect a low 

bouncing ball. 

The ball itself behaves like a 

real basket ball and bounces 

convincingly and has a clear 

shadow which increases and decreases 

as the ball bounces. 

The scoreboard displays the 

score (of course), time remaining 

and, depending on the rules 

played, the time the ball has 

been carried. It also prints up 

Well worth the wait and 

despite its long time in 

development still an 

excellent up-to-date game. 

The nine levels mean any 

standard ofplayer can get a 

good game against the 

computer. The only 

disappointmentwas that you 

can 't control the length of the 

game and / would really like 

much longer high scoring 

games. Should prove just as 

popular as International 

Soccer and at a delightful 

price. 

Ball control 

Control of the ball is really easy and takes only a little bit of 

practice. What is more difficult is actually scoring a basket, but 

again a little perseverance will reap its own rewards. 

When you receive a ball your man will automatically bounce it 

and will run with it without dropping it. If you press the fire 

button he will throw it: the longer the fire button is held down 

the further he will throw the ball. 

If there is a player in the general direction of the throw then the 

ball will go to him. If, on the other hand, there is no player 

present the ball will be thrown off the pitch. 

Actually going for a basket is the most tricky and important 

aspect of the game and practice at this is essential. Don't forget 

that manoeuvring in mid air is possible just before your player 

releases the ball. To do this simply point the joystick in the 

direction that you want to throw and your man will spin in flight. 

Remember that the longer you keep your finger on the fire 

button the further the ball will be thrown. Therefore when you're 

near to a basket tap the button. It takes a bit of practice to get the 

feel of the throwing action but is quickly mastered within a few 

games. 

Stealing 

If an opposing player is standing 

still, rush up to him (be careful 

not to go crashing into him or 

else a foul will be awarded 

against you). When you reach 

him you'll automatically steal the 

ball: quickly turn away left, right 

or back and the ball is yours. 

Blocking is another important 

factor in gameplay. Timing is 

crucial in this manoeuvre although 

the movement is simplicity 

itself. Just when the oppo 

sition is about to throw, jump up 

and if timed correctly you will 

either steal or block the ball. You 

don't only have to stand still to 

block, you can run in, jump across 

the throw and catch the ball in 

mid air which is really good. 

GOAL! and tells you when the 

ball is out, if you have fouled or 

made any sort of violation. 

At the end of a game the players 

will re-emerge from the 

changing rooms and are followed 

by a woman in an evening 

dress. A player from the winning 

team steps forward and she'll 

present him with a cup which he 

holds aloft, victorious. 

The gameplay is terrific and 

some complex and clever play 

can be performed easily. The 

game is easy to master and level 

one is a doddle to beat but level 

nine really gives you a run for 

your money. 

JR 

This game gripped me hard 

when / first saw it, and it 

hasn 't let go several weeks 

later. It's similar to Soccer to 

look at, but any similarities 

stop there. This is a brilliant 

sports simulation and is a 

worthy successor to its 

incredibly popular 

forerunner. 

OA O / 

oU /o 

Choice of difficulty level, 

award presentation after 

nla 1/ 

Bouncing ball, ref’s whistle, 

crowd applause. 

36% 

Another sports simulation, 

but it’s not like the others. 

65% 

QQ O/ 

O O/ 

Excellent game-play means 

very strong appeal. 

The computer is very tough 

on the high levels — also a 

great 2-player game. 

Very cheap for such a high-quality program. May even do as well as 

International Soccer. 

92% 


-. 

• 

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’ 

Tir Na Nog 

the land of youth, the other world. 

£9.95 

48K ZX SPECTRUM 

CBM 64 

Tir Na Nog the kingdom of the sidhe, the home of dagda's cauldron. 

Tir Na Nog a vast and complex adventure, in a magical Celtic landscape. 

Tir Na Nog a most stunning visual experience, with state-of-the-art film 

animation. 

Tir Na Nog -a true computer movie. 

ALSO FROM GARGOYLE: 

THE STUNNING SPACE GAME, 

AD ASTRA - £5.95 

WINNER -CRASH READERS' 

BEST SHOOT- EM- UP AWARD 

GARGOYLE GAMES, 74 KING STREET, DUDLEY, WEST MIDLANDS. TEL: DUDLEY 238777

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ZZAP! 64 June 1985

\ 

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. 

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1 

» 

Okay so it isn’t the 

T 

he Mastertronic range of 

games is continually 

growing and improving 

immensely. Skyjet is no exception. 

The game is a horizontally 

scrolling shoot-and-pick-em-up 

spread over several screens' 

length and five levels. 

Supply bases need to be built 

and nasties are to be disposed 

of. Only you, in your super-sleek 

futuristic helicopter can rise to, 

and accomplish this challenge. 

In order to build your supply 

bases you must collect a 

number of supply pods (marked 

ET for identification purposes, 

and no, I don't know why either) 

from around the landscape and 

drop them over a designated 

building area (with an accurate 

press of the fire button). 

The landscape is around four 

screen lengths long, and scrolls 

smoothly from side to side as 

level there 

you go. On the first 

are islands and 'oceans'. Pods 

are to be found on the islands, 

and ships and submarines in the 

water. On the next level there is 

a similar scene, but with tanks 

patrolling the land. 

Control of your wobbly helicopter 

is unrealistic, but doesn't 

affect the game-play badly in 

any way. Simple four way joystick 

movement moves the helicopter 

in four directions. Pressing 

the fire button fires missiles 

horizontally and holding down 

the button drops bombs. 

There is a form of gravity acting 

upon your 'copter that will 

YOUR 

ENEMIES 

Here's what to expect on the first 

two levels: 

SUBMARINES. Bombing these 

earns a measly 20 points, but at 

least quells their fire. Each time a 

submarine gets bombed, the 

next one to appear moves faster 

and is more difficult to hit. Should 

you be unlucky, or foolish 

enough to allow a submarine or 

two to pass, then the enemy will 

increase in number and ferocity. 

FUTURISTIC FIGHTERS and later 

UFOs marked 'US' will zip back 

and forth to hinder your progress. 

These can be shot, but not 

bombed, and even then only at a 

close range. This makes them 

tricky to hit, as well as being 

awkward to avoid. 

THE CRAFT patrolling the landscape 

on each level, can't be shot 

or bombed, and so must be 

avoided. They shoot frequently 

at you though, their explosions 

rocking the skies. 

Mastertronic, £1.99 casa, joystick or keys 

Exciting shoot-em-up at a low, low price 

Most of Mastertronics 

early efforts shouldbe 

X-rated because 

they’re so horrific. 

This is one of their 

£1.99 specials sol 

U 

» \ \ " "" \w 

\ \ iWvu 

\ 

pull you down if you don't 

counteract with a push in the upward 

direction. 

Should you come crashing 

down, or get hit by anything 

hostile (including the landscape), 

you will weaken your 

helicopter's shield. The strength 

of your shield depends upon the 

Your chopper is carrying a building block having just 

released a three-pronged burst of fire. The ships 

below are setting off explosions which start as small 

dots and end as whacking great balls of fire. 

mm ^ 

S&s&j mmm * * 

skill level chosen, and once it 

runs out, one of your five lives 

will be lost. Unfortunately there 

is no indication of your shield's 

status, and thus how close to 

death you really are. 

The explosions are reasonable, 

as are the rest of the graphics. 

Sprites have a cartoonlike 

appeal to them, and landscapes 

are simple areas of colour. 

Sound comes in the form of 

average WHEEs and BOOMs 

and little else. 

The instructions aren't exactly 

amazing, but they do give you 

enough information to get 

going. In game presentation 

gives you options for skill level, 

^ ^ 

: 

m&K 

’ 

XT. 

HU 

sound filter control, restart and 

pause. The filter control option 

is good and some great rumbling 

explosions can be 

achieved through it. However 

it's annoying to have to go 

through this option every time 

before play. 

GP 

PRESENTATION 

pnpnpnpHPHw—i—i—i 

f\ / Gredt loading screen, 

A^ < /Vj nice and concise 

v/vy / U instructions. 

6RAPHICS —>—*— 

mm 

fun . Bfasting away 

with your 

three-pronged laser at 

anything that moves 

white being really 

constructive with your 

own installations. The 

filter setting allows 

you to get some realty 

meaty explosions that 

thunder around and 

the action is nothing if 

not constant This 

makes a nice break 

from thinking games 

" 

' 

i &mpri 

" | 

snip 

sound effects mar 

your opinion of the 

game. As simple as it 

may appear on 

screen , 

you’ll soon 

find that it isn't so on 

playing. It's 

interesting enough to 

get vou hooked fora 

few plays and 

enjoyable enough to 

for a few more. Hook 

forward to more of 

such quality at such a 

low price, "t 

TORIBINALltY 

a Cl/ 

Fairly new approach 

A-) 

U 1 / ^ and dropping things. 

7 W /ci to shooting, picking up 

1 

/TOO/ Smooth scrolling, average -y ^ Q/ Enjoyable enough to 

/Q /J /O looking sprites. - 

LASTABILITY 

| 

uHBSS—+— +—+— 

F' 

m a r\ / Simple noise but ^ / 

ve different levels 

/l/l nice changeable rumbly 

r l* °i multi-screen playing 

q / £J 

nxnlosions. 

HOOKABILITY 1 

1 

SOUND 

VALUE FOR MONEY 4 

1 

1 

Q 

/ Good in its own right but particularly good I 

/Q /q at this price. [ 


• 

• 

We proudly present 

the first ever Zzap readers' games chart 

hits YOUR top 64! 

MISSION (25.9%) 

CBS, £8.95 cass, £1 1 .95 disk 

This superbly animated platform derivative certainly 

lives up to its name. Outstanding graphics, sound and 

amazing digitised speech as your agent leaps and 

bounds over electrified robots. Search through 

furniture and household objects to discover pieces of 

password. Collect 36 pieces of puzzle and assemble 

them correctly to create a password to save the world. 

2.BOULDERDASH (13.7%) 

STATESOFT, £8.95 cass, £10.95 disk 

Perhaps the most addictive game ever. The idea is to 

collect a certain number of diamonds inside a time limit 

while avoiding being hit by boulders which tumble as 

you clear the earth round them. Other enemies are 

fireflies, butterflies and amoeba, and the game's unique 

attraction stems from the fact that you must exploit the 

behaviour of these enemies to achieve your goal. There 

are 16 very different multi-screen caves and five very 

different levels- in all, months of challenge. 

3.INTERNATIONAL 

SOCCER (7.5%) 

COMMODORE, £14.95 cartridge 

If you're a fan of football then this game is an absolute 

must for you. Camera style panning follows the action. 

Graphics and animation par excellence and quality 

gameplay result in sheer addictionTA two player option 

and nine levels of the computer make winning the cup a 

real-life battle. 

4.STAFF OF KARNATH (6.1 %) 

ULTIMATE, £9.95 cass 

Joystick controlled adventure in a series of graphically 

stunning 3D rooms. You have to collect 16 pieces of a 

key to save the world. To help battle witches, toads, 

bats, spiders and other evils you have a series of spells 

at your disposal - but you have to work out how to use 

them. Great entry into the 64 market by Ultimate. 

5.GHOSTBUSTERS (5.7%) 

ACTIVISION £10.99 cass, £19.99 disk 

Film spin-offs extended to the computer game with this 

ghost trapping extravaganza. In a ghoul-infested New 

York you have to trap slimers to boost your bank 

balance and vacuum frozen roamers.The marshmallow 

man appears to try and dent your profit margin by 

stomping buildings and by blocking your path to the 

temple of Zuul. Brilliant mgsic and speech synthesis, 

enhance an excellent game. . 

6.BRUCE LEE (3.8%) 

US GOLD, £9.95 cass, £14.95 disk 

The legendary Bruce Lee comes to your screens in a 

kickin', leapin' all action platform variant. Plenty Jo do 

as you battle your way through the Wizard's 20-location 

fortress in search of wealth and immortality. 

7.SPY HUNTER (2.8%) 

US GOLD, £9.95 cass, £12.95 

Arcade quality vertically scrolling shoot-em-up in a 

James Bond style. Great atmospheric music and 

superb feel adds to the tension as you blast and bump 

cars and motorbikes off the road. Go far enough and 

you continue the action in a speedboat. 

8.SPY VS SPY (2.8%) 

BEYOND, £9.95 cass, £1 1 .95 disk 

The black and white cartoon spies from MAD magazine 

come to life in a race to get documents to the airport. A 

one or two pfayer game featuring booby traps and 

hiding places as you racd against the clock and your 

opponent to escape an embassy. 

Last month we printed our own 

top 64 games but now we've 

handed over to you and it 

seems for the most part you've 

agreed with us. 

IMPOSSIBLE MISSION, our 

number two, raced away to 

number one, with our personal 

favourite BOULDERDASH being 

a clear second. INTERNATION- 

AL SOCCER bounced up to 

number three while the rest of 

the top ten all had to fight hard 

for their places. 

This month we've printed the 

percentage of the vote that the 

top ten games got and as you 

can see Impossible Mission was 

streets ahead. The lower 

reaches of the chart are very 

close so every vote can make a 

difference. 

There are some interesting 

appearances further down the 

charts that look set to move up, 

notably ROCKETBALL, PITSTOP 

II, LODE RUNNER and EVERY- 

ONE'S A WALLY. ELITE, despite 

9.DECATHLON (2.3%) 

ACTIVISION, £9.99 cass 

' 

,• 

Much sweat and tears to be had in this brilliant joystick 

waggling sports simulation. Compete againstthe 

computer or three frienfls as you work your way 

through the ten events of the decathlon. Break records 

and hear the crowd roar you on, do badly and prepare 

for disappointment. Stunning graphics and astounding 

animation give this game the gold medal!! 

the fact that at time of writing it 

hasn't been released on the 64, 

has also appeared and from the 

interest shown so far, the only 

place it can go is up. 

Great to see that you agree 

with our tacky top sellers - not 

one of them has made an 

appearance in the chart. Mind 

you we're not all that sure 

about some of the ones you 

HAVE chosen. 

MARK SALMON of Edgerton, 

IAIN CUNNINGHAM of Kingston 

and MARCO SPINELLI of 

Bournemouth correctly predicted 

the top three games and 

Zzap! 64 T-shirts and £20 worth 

of games will be winging their 

way to them. Commiserations 

to KEVIN NG of Colwyn Bay 

and GARY O'SULLIVAN of Ruislip 

Manor who also made the 

right prediction but weren't 

drawn out of the hat. 

If you want to win just get 

that form sent in and send your 

favourite games up the charts. 

lO.RAID OVER MOSCOW (2.2%) 


The remarkable, but controversial follow up to the best 

seller.Beach Head. Prevent the oncoming missiles from 

annihilating America by penetrating Russian defences 

to destroy the reactor housed at the Kremlin. Exciting 

multi-screen arcade violence for war-mongering 

fascists. 

P 


399ft£ Toil RAT 

2.MV

1 1 .SUMMER GAMES 

QUICKSILVA, £14.95 cass, £19.95 disk 

Astounding graphics and animation make this Olympic 

simulation a joy to behold as well as to play. A large 

range of options and superb gameplay make it one of 

the best games simulations competing at the moment. 

Would be higher but for the price. 

2.ELITE 

FIREBIRD, £14.95 cass, £17.95 disk 

The greatest Beeb game of all time at last reaches your 

64. A galaxy awaits you in this incredible trading/ 

shoot-em-up adventure. All sorts of potential gameplay 

is available, see what suits you best. If you get bored 

( !?) there're six special missions to keep you on your 

toes. 

1 3.LORDS OF MIDNIGHT 

BEYOND, £9.95 cass 

The classic Spectrum adventure now on the 64. There's 

4,000 locations, each with 8 possible landscape views. 

Defeat the ice crown or the armies of Doomdark to win. 

Multicharacter control, vast playing area and great 

atmosphere make this a real biggie. 

1 4.AIRWOLF 

ELITE, £7.95 cass 

In a highly responsive helicopter you have to rescue 

five scientists from an underground cave complex. 

Tight control, slick graphics and a confusing cave 

layout make for an excellent game. 

1 5.TROLLIE WALLIE 

INTERCEPTOR, £7.00 cass. £9.00 disk 

Collect 40 shopping items from this deadly 4-way 

scrolling supermarket and deposit them five at a time at 

the checkout desk. Terrific platform game with amazing 

music nicked from Jean-Michel Jarre. 

BLACK THUNDER 

GREMLIN GRAPHICS/QUICKSILVA, £7.95 

cass 

Tony Crowther's excellent revamping of Loco in two 

slightly different versions for two different companies. 

Guide your futuristic super locomotive/moon buggy 

past the graphically outstanding background scenery, 

shooting a way through the lost cities. Avoid or shoot 

hovercraft/guided missile, spaceships, aircraft and 

other nasties to achieve a large enough score to leave 

the planet. 

1 7.SOFT AID 

SOFT AID. £4.99 cass 

The computer answer to Band Aid features ten well-, 

known games and the Band Aid song for only £5. 

Brilliant value for money, with all proceeds going to the 

Band Aid funds. Come on you measly pirates, buy 

something for once. 

UK, £7.95 cass 

Tremendous music and smooth graphics in this violent 

Rollerball-style sports simulation. It's the year 2010 AD 

and the only battles that are fought are on the circular 

Rocket Ball field. Are you tough enough to survive this 

daunting challenge? „ 


Complete with the smart graphics and sound of the 

original, this is an excellent conversion of the 

underrated arcade game of the same name. Keeping 

the thirsty customers satisfied by slinging them drinks 

is tough but compulsive work. 

NEW GENERATION, £7.95 cass 

In a Road Runner type cartoon you have to kill the bad 

guy with various traps of increasing deviousness. With 

50 screens it will have you puzzling and laughing for 

days. 

21 .FOOTBALL MANAGER 

ADDICTIVE GAMES. £7.95 cass 

A classic strategy game where you manage a football 

club. You control the players and the money as you 

battle to win the league championship and the FA cup. 

ACTIVISION, £9.95 cass, £19.95 disk 

Excellent arcade-action blast-em adventure in true 

Xevious style. A huge playing area awaits intrepid 

explorers as you bound and crawl over surreal 

landscapes in your questfor artifacts. Deposit them at 

the bases and uncover the map to rack up a rating. 

CBS/EPYX, £8.95 cass, £11.95 disk 

Bodypop your way to the highscores in this breaking 

game. Gyro, moonwalk and up rock your way through 

four screens of action. Get down to the electrobeat 

soundtrack, but don't break a leg. 

THE EDGE, £9.95 cass 

Massive scrolling caverns (over 1000 screens 

altogether) are filled with alien beasts and lava pits 

preventing you finding the precious sceptre. Treasure 

chests nourish you as you search for the riddles and 

explore the platform filled landscape. 

US GOLD/AUDIOGENIC, £8.95 cass 

£14.95 disk 

Outstanding helicopter flight simulator with superb 

graphics, sound and feel. Four different games 

available: combat mode, mapping, rescue and for 

someone who's unfamiliar with flying a helicopter, a 

training mode. 

26.PYJAMARAMA 

MIKRO-GEN, £7.95 cass 

A superbly colourful, humourous and teasing graphics 

adventure. You have to wake the sleeping Wally from 

his nightmare by setting off his alarm clock. Before you 

can do that you'll have to work out how to use lots of 

objects as you explore Wally's weird mansion. 

FIREBIRD, £2.50 cass 

Set in a pirate ship you must explore the decks 

collecting treasures and booty while avoiding the 

fearsome cutthroats and other dangers that bar the 

way. Good value multi-screen game with unusual 

elements. 

28.HERO 

ACTIVISION, £9.99 cass 

Explore the caverns in search of lost miners. With the 

aid of a prop pack, dynamite and a microlaser, R. Hero 

must rescue the trapped miners from the mine shafts in 

Mount Leone. An initially simple game but is soon 

found to have considerable depth in more ways than 

one. 

29.TIR NA NOG 

GARGOYLE, £9.95 cass 

Fantastic film quality arcade adventure. Guide 

Cuchulainn around Middle Earth in search of the 

fragments of the Seal Of Calum. Large playing area, 

fantastic animation and loads of challenge make this 

one a real arcade adventurer's adventure. 

30.FORBIDDEN FOREST 

US GOLD. £8.95 cass, £12.95 disk 

Atmospheric music and graphics mark this dangerous 

stroll through an eerie forest. Defend yourself against 

outsized spiders, skeletons, snakes and dragons with 

only your trusty bow and arrow to help you. Failure 

results in a very gory end. 


"if veu JPON'T 

3»nT rADqN-VOIt.' 

VV

\ 

31 .POLE POSITION 


The officially licensed arcade conversion bringing the 

thrills and spills of Grand Prix racing to your screens. A 

series of options give this one plenty of challenge as 

you battle your way to that elusive record time and 

score. 

32.LODE RUNNER 

ARIOLASOFT, £9.95 cass, £11.95 disk 

A platform fanatic's dream come true with 150 difficult 

and devious screens as you try to steal all the gold from 

the evil Bungelings. If you complete all of them you can 

use the screen designer to build some of your own even 

harder ones. Challenge unlimited with this one! 

33.PSI WARRIOR 


This highly original game places you in an abandoned 

military silo on your magnetic surfboard. You have to 

capture the psychic energy forces of psi and id in order 

to defeat the Source at the bottom of the 60 level silo. 

Your job is made difficult by the tortuous route you 

have to follow and the psychic powers that you must 

gain. Exciting graphics and game-feel. 

CBS/EPYX, £10.95 cass 

Absolutely amazing simultaneous two player Pole 

Position. Great arcade-quality graphics and sound as 

you battle either against the computer or a human in a 

Grand Prix race. Six tracks and a variety of options give 

this long lasting challenge. 


The definitive version of the legendary arcade game. 

Blast your way over the 3D diagonally scrolling Zaxxon 

fortress in true and destroy the giant rgbot before he 

destroys you. 

ANIROG, £8.95 cass, £10.95 disk 

Two player ice hockey simulation with a scrolling ice 

rink. Try to put the puck into your opponents net or get 

violent with your hockey stick. 

LLAMASOFT. £7.50 cass, £9.50 disk 

The battle against the Zzyaxians continues in Jeff 

Minter's strangest and most wonderful creation yet. 

You, as a half-goat, half-man, must blast your way 

through 100 rooms of weirdness. A unique fouf way 

gravity system makes this a superlative shoot-'em-up 

38.RAID ON BUNGELING 


Deep in enemy territory in your helicraft, you must 

destroy the six factories supplying the War Machine. 

You face increasingly heavy opposition and must 

protect your carrier or you are left alone. 

39.CAULDRON 

PALACE, £7.99 cass 

Terrific arcade adventure featuring a witch in scrolling 

shoot-em-up and platform action. Atmospheric 

graphics and sound in an extremely tough game. 

40.GRYPHON 

QUICKSILVA, £7.95 cass. £12.95 disk 

Collect gold bars to bridge the perilous waters blocking 

your escape. Six levels of nasties to contend with over 

three superb backdrops. Unusual control, mind 

blowing graphics and astonishing sonics make this an 

impressive addition to any collection. 

41 .TALLEDEGA 

AUDIOGENIC/COSMI, £8.95 cass 

Novel approach to the 3D road race theme. Violept 

tendencies are needed as you battle your way to the 

front of the race' If Nascar racing is your scene then go 

for this one. 

- 

42.THE GUARDIAN 

ALLIGATA, £7.95 cass 

Arguably the best version of Defender available for i 

micro. Hurtle over barren landscapes protecting yoi 

humanoids against six types of marauding aliens. Tl 

classic arcade game requires total concentration, 

mental skill and manual dexterity as you battle your 

way to that elusive high score 

43.UP ’N’ DOWN 

US GOLD, £9.95 cass 

This fun-to-play arcade conversion will frustrate you 

immensely. Rush and jump your car around the rounds 

in search of the coloured flags. On completing a screen 

you progess to an even harder level, and eventually to 

flags that trundle about on trollies. 


Trogg the caveman, armed only with a yoyo, has to 

battle his way through platform-type screens filled with 

weird and wonderful monsters. Find the keys to 

progress to an even harder level filled with even 

stranger creatures. 

45.SHADOWFIRE 


Superb graphics and Depeche Mode type tune are all 

featured in this brilliant icon driven adventure. Rescue 

the Kryxix ambassador from the evil General Zoff in the 

allotted to win the game. Fail and interstellar war will 

breakout. 

46.WHEELIN’ WALLIE 

INTERCEPTOR, £7.00 cass, £9.00 disk 

The first in the trilogy of interceptor's infamous Wallie 

games. Guide Wally on a wheel through four scrolling 

landscapes. Gobble dots and avoid low flying teapots, 

frogs, spiders, snowballs and perilous jumps along the 

way. 

THE MUTANT CAMELS 

LLAMASOFT, £7.50 cass, £9.50 disk 

Jeff Minter classic in which you guide a fire-spitting 

camel along a superbly drawn horizontally scrolling 

landscape. 42 waves of aliens make life difficult, and 

boy are those creatures weird. 

TASKSET, £6.90 cass, £9.90 disk 

As Bill Stickers you have to charge all over town putting 

up posters while little beasties try to catch you. Your 

problems are heightened by either too runny or solid 

paste and mixed up posters in your box. Highly oriqinal 

game. 

49.BIG MAC 

MASTERTRONIC, £1 .99 

In the further adventures of Big Mac the maintenance 

man you have the task of shutting down the 18 power 

stations. Each power station comprises of one 

challenging screen. Go and turn all the switches off to 

move on to the next screen. Good old platform fun! 

50.DAREDEVIL DENNIS 

VISIONS 

Zoom round the perplexing film sets to earn your pay. 

The eight difficult and challenging screens on six skill 

levels for you to tackle will keep you going for hours. 

Get the oscar that your rotten brother has stolen to 

advance a level. 

51 .POTTY PIGEON 

GREMLIN GRAPHICS, £7.95 cass 

Guide Percy the Pigeon on his quest to make his nest. 

Hawks, balloons, aeroplanes and other nasties persue 

you to try to thwart your cretive instincts. 

52.ONE ON ONE 

ARIOLASOFT, £9.95 cass, £1 1 .95 disk 

Basketball game where you can take on Julius Erving or 

Larry Bird. It's just two of you in a high scoring duel 

around the basket. 

HITS 


1 

predict 

HITS 

53.EVERYONE’S A WALLY 

MIKRO-GEN, £9.95 cass 

The brilliant sequel to Pyjamarama puts you in control 

of no less than five odd-looking characters. Each 

character has a certain set of jobs to do. Complete a job 

to earn money and when all the jobs are completed, go 

to the bank and crack the safe to earn your dough. Great 

graphics, brain-teasing action. 

COMMODORE, £14.99 cass or disk 

Fourty real diamonds have been hidden on the Isle of 

Wight and this game will give you clues to their 

location. Loads of screens of platform action, a large 

scrolling replica map of the Island itself and a book 

make this game great value for money. 

TASKSET, £9.95 cass 

A vast number of screens of competent zapping. Battle 

through 8192 'memory locations' in order to repair a 

faulty design computer. Collect tokens to aid your 

mission and take short cuts as rewards for good play 

55.MONTY MOLE 

GREMLIN GRAPHICS, £7.95 cass 

Another scrolling platform game where Monty Mole 

goes in search of coal and the legendary Arthur. All 

sorts of hazards face him including flying pickets, 

hairsprays, coal crushers and acid baths. 


Platforms of ever increasing complexity have to be 

cleared Q*Bert style by a monkey and kangaroo. A zoo 

keeper and his net add to the confusion of being upside 

down for every other screen. 

INCENTIVE, £6.95 cass 

Super accurate copy of the ancient arcade game. Blast 

your way through nine waves of fast and furious aliens. 

The chance of docking to increase your firepower if you 

survive is all part and parcel of this basic but old zap. 

PSS, £7.95 cass 

BMX action as you try to negotiate a series of obstacles 

on your bike. Involves frantic joystick waggling and a 

good deal of skill and timing. 

63.COMBAT LYNX 

DURELL, £8.95 cass 

Fly your heavily armed helicopter across a 3D 

landscape hunting for enemy units to destroy. Watch 

out for those hills though and act fast to avoid enemy 

fire or you'll be a mess of broken rotor blades. 


This is a bombing mission with a difference. A great 3D 

diagonally scrolling Zaxxon style game puts you in 

control of a W.W.1 biplane with the task of destroying 

enemy factories, roads, and airstrips. 

2 


This really ancient game is still fun to play. Rescue the 

United Nations delegates who've been kidnapped by 

those evil Bungelings. Once your chopper's full make 

your way back to your base avoiding the tanks and jets 

Then return to rescue more, the going getting even 

more tough. 

MARTECH, £8.95 cass, $12.95 disk 

Tacky shirts are guaranteed with this new joystick 

waggling game. Score enough points on the qualifying 

round to challenge the man himself. Eight tough and 

different events will tax your strength and skill to their 

utmost. 

Here's the form on which you 

can vote for your favourite 

games and help build up the 

nation's best chart for 64 

owners. 

Basically you have a total of 

TEN votes which you can allocate 

any way you like - you can 

put them all on one game or 

split them between up to FIVE 

different games. This is the best 

way of ensuring that our chart 

accurately reflects people's preferences. 

To ensure that people only 

enter once you MUST use the 

ZZAPI64 TOP 64 VOTING COUPON 

I 

(Please write clearly) 

Name 

Address 

The games I 

£20): 

Post code 

64.ALIEN 

MIND GAMES, £8.99 cass 

* 

Based on the film the game is set on the spaceship 

Nostromo where the Alien is terrorising the crew. A 

menu driven real time adventure that taxes the mind 

TOTE YOUR VOTE! 

Help your favourite games into the top 64, and win a great Zzap prize package 

would like to win are (total price MUST be under 

form below. This form also 

allows you to predict what you 

think will be the top three 

games in the next chart. The 

first three people we find with 

the correct predictions will win 

a great gift package consisting 

of a Zzap! T-shirt and games of 

your choice worth up to £20. 

This is an opportunity you 

can't afford to pass over, so get 

voting. Entries to: Chart vote, 

Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace, 

Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1HX. 

am voting for the following games (up to five): 

Game (and software house) 

No. votes 

My T-shirt size is S/M/L 

the top three games in the completed chart will be: 

1 

3 

Maximum total vote%10 


Chart 

Ffigv* * 

No* on 

a6A 

cPy 

4 

BY D.K. MARSHALL 

ADAPTED BY DARRELL D. 

A SPECTACULAR FLIGHT 

SIMULATION OF THE 

WORLDS MOST EXCITING 

JET FIGHTER WITH 

STUNNING 3D COCKPIT VIEW 

AND DEADLY 3D AIR TO AIR 

COMBAT 

The SUPREME SIMULA TION 

it leaves the rest at the runway threshold! 

SPECTRUM VERSION VOTED 

“Simulation of the year - 1984” 

by CRASH MICRO READERS. 

AMSTRAD CPC 464 

Fighter Pilot 


Fighter Pilot Disk 

Figher Pilot Cassette 

LOADING TIMES 

DISK- 147 SECS 

CASSETTE - 300 SECS 

SPECTRUM 

Night Gunner 48K 

Fighter Pilot 48K 

Tomahawk 48K 

TT Racer 48K 

£8.95 

Cheques payable to Digital Integration Ltd 

I enclose a cheque/P.O. for 

Name 

£1 4.95 Address 

£9.95 

Or debit my Access Account No. 

Total 

£6.95 

Tele Sales 

£7.95 Please send to Digital Integration, Dept zpi (0276) v , 684959 „„„„ 

Coming Watchmoor Trade Centre, Watchmoor Road, Camberley, Surrey GUI 5 3AJ. 

Soon VAT and p. & p. inclusive within UK (Overseas inc. 55p. per cassette) 

DIGITAL 

INTEGRATION 

Watchmoor Trade Centre, 

Watchmoor Road, 

Camberley, Surrey 

GU15 3AJ 

Trade and Export enquiries 

welcome. Lifetime Guarantee.

I 

Now YOU can fly with the 

legendary Red Arrows - 

in the most challenging 

flight simulation ever! 

It’s the most exciting flight simulator ever 

written for a home computer - the product of 

many months of dedicated work by some of 

Britain’s top programmers, enthusiastically 

aided by the talents of aircraft designers. 

Be a VIP visitor 

with the Red Arrows! 

Everyone who buys a Red Arrows computer 

program will be invited to enter an exciting 

competition. The winners will be given a VIP visit to 

the Red Arrows base at RAF Scampton, the wartime 

home of the Dambusters. Your visit will include two 

nights' accommodation at a luxury hotel. And while 

you are at Scampton you will be invited to sit at 

the controls of a Hawk. There will even be a flypast 

of the Red Arrows in your honour! 

Now on sale at: 

BOOTS COMET Currys Dixons 

Greens 

BUMBELOWS 

WHSMITH and other leading computer stores 

ORDER FORM 

engineers, mathematicians - and the Red Arrow 

pilots themselves. 

Every ounce of power contained in the micro, 

and its enhanced sound and graphics 

capabilities, is used to give the utmost realism 

to re-creating the most spectacular aeronautical 

displays ever seen in the skies of Britain. 

You start by practising take offs and landings. 

Then, once you have won your wings, you fly in 

formation as part of the Red Arrows team. 

There’s no margin for error as you fly a mere six 

to 10 feet from each other - at speeds of 

between 300 and 350 miles an hour! 

But the real drama begins as you plunge into 

the death-defying manoeuvres that have 

been thrilling crowds at air shows for the 

last 21 years. 

On the panel in front of you are all the 

instruments you need - plus a screen giving you 

an external view of the complete formation you 

are flying. Slip out of line for a second and the 

eagle-eyed Red Leader will be on the radio 

ordering you back into position. 

The program comes with a detailed flight 

handbook that will soon give you the confidence 

to take YOUR place alongside the ace pilots of 

the Red Arrows, even if you’ve never flown 

before! 

Tape 5£" Disc 3" Disc 2 ±" Disc 

(£8.95) (£11.95) (£12.95) (£12.95) 

Amstrad N/A N/A 

Atari N/A N/A 

BBC B 

N/A 

Comm. 64 N/A N/A 

Electron N/A N/A 

Spectrum N/A N/A 

wish to pay by: 

Access/Mastercard/Eurocard No. 

i I 1 l l i i i I I I I I I I—I 1 1 1 

Barclaycard/Visa No. 

i i I I I I i I I I—I 1 1 I 1 1 1 

Cheque/PO made payable to Database Publications Ltd. 

Name — 

Address 

Signed 

Send to: Database Software, FREEPOST, Europa House, 

68 Chester Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport SK7 5NY. 

(No stamp needed if posted in UK) 

Please allow 28 days tor delivery 

I 

YOU CAIM ALSO 

ORDER BY PHONE: 

061-480 0173 

(24 hours) 

Don't forget to quote your credit 

card number and full address. 

22 AP 

J 

Put yourself in the pilots s§ 

of the most manoeuvrable 

fighter in the RAF!

yr/ 

A gripping, realistic 

computer simulation 

for the 

Commodore 

Spectrum 

Amstrad 

Electron 

BBC Micro 

Atari 1

QUASIMODO 

US Gold/Synaoft, £8.95 case, £1 1.95 disk 

% New Hunchback adventure with 4-way scrolling screen 

T 

he bells, the bells return 

in the latest and greatest 

Hunchback 

game. 

Although not having anything 

to do with the Ocean offerings 

this can still be classed as the 

return of the hump, with the 

familiar figure hobbling around 

his new tasks. 

This game has an original 

scenario, more of a collecting 

game than the 'rescue 

Esmerelda' tones of Hunchback , 

even though the familiar battlements, 

soldiers and bells make 

an appearance. 

Collecting jewels is what it's 

about and there is a reasonably 

large, smooth-scrolling playing 

area which you have to explore 

to find them. 

When you start a game, and 

at the start of each new level, 

you are presented with an Ore 

Attack type screen where the 

battlement walls are being 

scaled. Ladders are put up and 

soldiers, whilst throwing many 

spears, will attempt to climb to 

the top and attack you. Never 

fear, you have plenty of rocks to 

hurl down on their heads which 

will stop them with a grizzly 

thud. The animation here is 

excellent as you throw the rocks 

in any of five directions (down, 

left, right and diagonals). 

Once these have been disposed 

of it's exploration time: 

collect the jewel from its box 

and take it to its rightful place 

Another slick US 

game hits the streets 

and this should be 

another big success. 

It's an odd sort of 

game which has a lot 

of instant appeal and 

should be popular 

with dedicated arcade 

players . The sound I 

found was slightly 

annoying but the bell 

sounds were 

particularly good and 

the graphics are good 

too. 

I really liked this 

game on my first few 

goes. Something big, 

I thought. It was after 

a hour or so of play 

that I discovered 

there wasn't much 

more to it than I'd 

already seen - any 

great interest that I'd 

had initially was lost 

This was a pity, 

because fora while it 

proved very 

enjoyable and taxing. 

on a pedestal at the bottom of 

the playing area. Depositing the 

jewel will give you access to 

further sections by extending a 

ladder you can climb up. 

You then have to work your 

way round the playing area, 

swinging across chasms on bell 

ropes and avoiding deadly bats 

until you reach the battlements 

again. The use of the ropes, in 

particular jumping off them, requires 

careful timing. Unlike 

Hunchback you actually have 

, 

to swing the rope yourself, and 

when you've reached full 

momentum, this causes the bell 

to ring with a wonderfully authentic 

sound. 

While you're swinging on the 

bell ropes, you're safe from a 

bat attack. But if you're in mid 

air or walking about, the bats 

carry a deadly touch. 

If you can safely complete 

your tour, it's back to the soldiers 

and level two. As you 

move through the levels new 

playing screens are made available 

to you, but on each new 

level there's an extra bat to 

contend with. 

JR 

Even level 

extra screen 

On each even numbered level a 

new playing area opens. Scale 

the castle walls to acquire the 

gem which rests atop its battlements 

and then go back down. 

There are windows all the way 

up the walls from which soldiers 

with crossbows lean and shoot. 

This makes going rather perilous, 

and to make things harder 

still four soldiers patrol the battlements 

and drop rocks on you. 

Once you have the gem you'll 

have to wend your way back 

down to the bottom of the 

screens to deposit it and start the 

next level. 

Despite first appearances, 

there is an easy way of doing 

this screen on the early levels. 

As you'll maybe discover... 

This game looks set 

to bring swinging on 

ropes back into 

fashion . It has an 

addictive mix of 

exploration and 

frantic arcade action 

that keeps you 

coming back for one 

more game. The 

different control 

methods needed for 

some 

life interesting and 

you need several 

joystick skills. Apart 

from the bells , the 

sound effects are earnumbing 

but the 

animation of Quasi is 

terrific. 

o 

GRAPHICS 

No high score feature. 1 or 2 

player game. 

58% 

“7 O O/ Smooth movement, 

pleasing 

I £ /Q 

3D effects. 

SOUND 

*2/10/ 

/q 

Excellent bell noise. Most 

other effects are simple and 

annoy. 


J 

A nice collection of familiar 

arcade ideas. 

HOOKABILITY 

85% 

Immediately compelling. 

Very enjoyable game-play. 

^STABILITY 

"7 A Ultimately not too big a 

0/ 

/ Li /r\ playing area, but plenty of 

# ^ 7 w challenge. 

O/ Addictive arcade game with great new action for Hunchback fans. A 

little 

/q more variety and it would be a smash hit for sure.

GARY PENN works his way through the piles 

of maps, pokes, cheats and general playing 

strategies now flooding the Zzap offices - 

and adds a few of his own! 


Penn-tips part 2: the rooms 

As is the case with all good 

platform games, everybody has 

their problem screens. So here 

are my tips on the ones which 

seem to give the most problems. 

Something that a lot of Impossible 

Mission players don't 

know, is how to tell the number 

of a room. Simply log on to a 

terminal, and the number of the 

room is that of the terminal. 

ROOM 00: 

Possibly the toughest 

room of the lot. To get to the 

centre platform/lift looks nearly 

impossible, but is in fact quite 

simple. Instead of jumping from 

platform to platform, you step. 

To step from one platform to 

another you simply move to the 

edge of the platform, so your 

toes aren't overhanging, and 

push right on the joystick, holding 

right as you step. This will 

work whenever two platforms 

are close enough, and is a useful 

skill to master. 

Once you are on the lift move 

up to platform A, and search the 

desk and terminal. Then, move 

up to B and search the objects 

on this level. To get onto platform 

C, jump from about the 

third notch along B. If you wish 

to get to F and then G, move to 

far right of C (so that your toes 

hang over the edge). Tap the 

joystick lightly to the left so you 

face left, and then jump to F and 

lastly G. 

The other way to get to G, is 

via D. Jump to D from C, and 

then from the second notch 

along on D, to E. Move to the far 

left of E and jump to F, then G. 

A point to remember when 

jumping is that you don't need 

to push the joystick in the direction 

you wish to go in. Just face 

the way you want to jump, and 

press the button. This saves you 

from unnecessarily falling off of 

a platform when attempting to 

jump. 

ROOM 04: 

How do you get the 

elusive chest of drawers on 

platform C? There are two 

methods for this, the first being 

the easiest but most laborious. 

Go to the lift at the bottom left 

of the screen and move up to B. 

Stand anywhere along the block 

indicated, and jump to the right. 

Hold your breath as you plummet 

to the ground. ..and land 

safely on platform C. 

The second method is the 

most difficult and dangerous, 

but once learnt it's the quickest 

and easiest. Move up from the 

bottom left lift to platform A. 

Run to the end of platform A, 

and just as you fall off, jump 

and land on C. Yes, I'm serious 

- jump. The timing is crucial 

and may take time to master, 

but it's worth it. I don't know if 

it's an intentional feature or not. 


| tip 

but it certainly is a useful one 

and can be used elsewhere. 

ROOM 06: By using the lift in 

the centre of the room, move up 

and jump across to either of the 

lifts at the far sides of the room. 

Move up a level with these lifts 

and step to A for example. 

Jump from A to B and from half 

way along B to C. From C jump 

to the other set of lifts, move up 

to the top level of the room and 

examine the furniture there. 

ROOM 07: To go from left to 

right. Don't move as soon as 

you have entered the room. 

Press the fire button four times 

to get to the other side and out. 

To go from right to left, run to 

the edge of A after entering the 

room, and jump four times as 

before. 


3. 

9. 

ROOM 19: Run to the second of 

the set of two platforms and go 

up once. Step over to the first 

platform and go up twice - you 

can now jump to A, then B, and 

search the juke box. 

To get to C, jump back onto 

the first platform, move to the 

edge it and jump to C. Fall down 

to D and then E. Stand at the 

intersection between the 

second lift and E, and jump 

right, over D, onto F - The coke 

can machine is all yours. 

ROOM 21: To get across to the 

armchair and lampshade, use 

the stepping method previously 

described. 

7. 

ROOM 29: It's extremely rare to 

be able search all objects in this 

room with any real ease. I've 

always had to use a snooze and 

move pretty darn fast, and I 

advise you to do the same. 

1. 

2. 

4. 

Ten classic cheats: trusty and rusty 

This is a list of some of the 

really old and crusty tips that 

many 64 owners probably know 

about already. By all means 

send me tips on anything and 

everything, but please try to 

make sure it's not one of those 

below - I'm getting sick of the 

sight of them! Still, may as well 

print them once for^the record. 

DT's DECATHLON (Ocean). 

Instead of waggling your joystick 

feverishly left and right until 

it breaks, you can hammer 

away in frustration on the keys 

CTRL and 2 until they break. 

On the high jump, set the bar 

as high as possible and you can 

jump 'under' it to qualify. 

BEACH HEAD (US Gold). 

Everybody must have seen this 

for this classic US Gold 

game by now. You haven't? OK 

you two, here it is: When you've 

shot an enemy tank on the tank 

stage, keep firing at the points 

displayed to gain extra points. 

(Yeah, you've heard it before -| 

so stop sending it in, OK?) 

REVENGE OF THE MUTANT 

CAMELS (Llamasoft). 

5. 

A quickie for Jeff Minter's much 

loved classic. ..If you pause the 

game on certain screens the 

nasties just float past harmlessly. 

Restart when they've gone 

past and repeat when neces- 

6. sary. 

Typing GOATS when on the 

[title screen will put the game 

into cheat mode. Start the game 

and simply press a key to advance 

a level (No, high scores 

using this method WON'T be 

accepted). 

MATRIX (Llamasoft). 

Another cheat for yet another 

Minter marvel. Press the CTRL, 

RUN/STOP and CBM keys in 

[conjunction with the fire button 

(or space bar) and you'll adv-| 

ance a level 

BLAGGER (Alligata). 

[When you're on the title screen, 

lightly press the space bar so 

that your lives read 5 and the 

game doesn't start. Pressing 

CTRL with certain keys will start 

you off on certain levels (Can I 

have some newtips on Blagger,) 

please?) 

ZAXXON (US Gold). 

Type RED on the title screen, so 

that, it appears above SEGA, 

and start the game. You wil 

now have an invincible ship] 

(even if you run out of fuel you 

won't die) until you turn off. 

10. 

MOTOR MANIA (Audiogenic). 

How about infinite lives...? OK, 

load up the second part of the 

|game (VERIFY, then LOAD 

" 

1 1 as before) and use the 

, 

, 

[following: 

POKE 8646,255 

SYS 8000 

CHINA MINER (Interceptor). 

If you haven't got the turbo 

[version of Interceptor's China 

Miner, then here's a crusty for 

you. Load the second part of the 

game (the simplest way is to 

enter LOAD "~hMIN2",1,1 and 

then start the tape from the 

beginning) and once loaded, 

enter the following: 

POKE 32776,0 

POKE 33301, number of lives 

POKE 33320, n u m ber o f 

screen 

SYS 33127 

If you wish to change the screen 

number then press RUN/STOP 

and RESTORE in simultaneously, 

and retype stages 3 and 4. 

There, that's about the lot. I 

don't want to set eyes on any of 

the above ever again. 

MANIC MINER (Software Projects). 

Type- VERIFY [RETURN] to skip 

| 

8. 

the first part of the loading 

(dort't worry about the verify 

error). LOAD'"', 1,1 to load the 

second part of the game (this 

will take some time, and don't 

worry about the load error). 

Now enter the following for 

(unlimited lives: 

POKE 16573,234- 

POKE 16572,234 

POKE 16571,234 

| 

In addition, to play the screen of 

|your choice, enter: 

POKE 16419, number of 

screen 

You can then start the game by 

entering: 

SYS 16384 

If you later want to play another 

screen, press RUN/STOP and 

RESTORE together to quit the 

game, and repoke a new screen 

number. 

ATTACK OF THE MUTANT 

CAMELS (Llamasoft). 

Load up the first part of the 

game without running it. (Use 

the 'Verify' method as above.) 

Now LOAD "",1,1 to load the 

second part of the game, and 

enter the following: 

POKE 11639,255 

SYS 4096 

[You will now have unlimited 

^ 

lives. 


Seven dirty tricks in Spy v Spy 

THE START. In what has to be 

1 . 

a pretty savage game your first 

act should be to slaughter your 

opponent - vicious, eh? Well, 

against the computer this is 

definitely the only way to win. 

Once he has been killed, rig up 

traps on the exit doors from the 

starting room. Collect any items, 

then rig up the doors. When 

your opponent reappears and 

tries to get out, a trap will get 

him. Then do it again. 

If you can, do it on the first 

door then on all the others that 

you pass through. This way a 

complete line of doors from the 

starting room will be inaccessible 

to your opponent unless he 

fancies dying several times! 

During this you must try not to 

run into your own traps or else 

it'll be you going back to the 

beginning! 

The initial cold-blooded 

murder is easier than you think. 

On a low IQ computer opponent, 

bash him with the club. Otherwise 

try to catch him with a trap 

as soon as you can. 

2. THE TIME BOMB. A great way 

to beat the computer on any 

level. You may have found that 

sometimes the computer's spy 

will try to get through a door that 

you are blocking from the other 

side. As long as you do not 

move, it will struggle without 

success to get through. 

This isthe idealtime to use the 

time bomb. Get the time bomb 

ticking away. Count to 10 or 15 

then run for another door. Try to 

get the computer's spy to chase 

you. (By the way, this doesn't 

work in rooms where the only 

exit is the one you're blocking. 

Unless you manage to dodge 

the computer's spy and get 

through it again.) 

Block this door in the same 

way that you blocked the others. 

If all has gone well the computer's 

spy will be struggling to 

get through the door you are 

blocking. And he will be in the 

'time-bombed' room. It 

shouldn't be too long before he 

turns into an angel and flutters 

away. It helps to know how long 

the fuse on a time bomb lasts. 

Play 'suicides' by using it on 

yourself, and get to know the 

time needed to escape. 

The time-bomb can be used 

after your opponent has been 

killed in the start room. Again 

Andrew Clarke from Baddesley 

Ensor in Warwickshire reveals 

how to outcheat the computer 

in Beyond's great title. 

knowledge of the fuse helps a 

great deal. Timed right the 

bomb will blow up just as your 

opponent reappears! 

3. THE BARRICADE. Another 

sure-fire way to win is really 

sneaky, but in this game you 

need to play really dirty to win. 

Find a room where there's an 

item to be collected. Now booby 

trap every door with buckets of 

water and/or guns and strings. 

Try to use traps for which the 

remedies are not around. For 

example, if using the gun on a 

string make sure that the scissor 

cabinet isn't easily discovered — 

not in the adjacent rooms. 

To be exceptionally sneaky 

concentrate on one particular 

door trap - best is the water 

bucket as it is easily set up. 

Whenever you come to an umbrella 

stand where the only remedy 

for the water bucket is to be 

found, booby trap it. This way a 

wjly computer spy gets blown 

up whilst trying to find the 

remedy! All other remedy cabinets 

can be booby trapped too. 

The whole thing works when 

the computer's spy comes looking 

for the item that you have in 

the booby-trapped room. The 

moment he tries to enter - dead 

You can then go into the room 

where he was and collect the 

items he left behind. Transfer 

them into your room - and if you 

still don't have a complete collection, 

booby trap the doors 

again, ready for when the other 

spy comes looking again! 

4. THE STING. In a game where 

foul play wins the day - good 

catch phrase, that! - it should 

only be natural that the surest 

way to win is the most sneaky, 

dirty trick yet. 

You must have found the 

room with the airport door in it 

for this to work. To win just 

booby trap yourself in. Use the 

tips as given earlier and you 

should win everytime. The computer 

spy will come into this 

room only when he has all the 

items in the briefcase. When he 

gets there your door traps will 

nail him and you just go into the 

room where he ceased to 

be, 

collect the items he has left and 

depart through the airport door. 

5. THE SUICIDE. Can be useful, 

honestly! When you can see that 

the computer spy has found the 

correct remedy to open the door 

to the room which you are locked 

in you should drop the time 

bomb so that it goes off when he 

comes in - you'll both go up together 

but at least he hasn't 

won. 

6. THE SEQUENCE. This is essential 

when the computer's IQ is 

3 or above. At this level it usually 

finds the remedy to every trap, 

and in hand'to hand combat it is 

very tough. It is possible to confuse 

even a high IQ computer 

spy though by using the line of 

traps as mentioned earlier. This 

time, though, using first the 

water bucket then the gun on a 

string and so on. The computer 

can naturally remedy most traps 

but this will confuse it for sure - 

just using the gun trap takes 

longer. 

7. THE CACHE. This final tip is 

simply a way of beating a 

human player, although the 

computer will fall for it just as 

often. First you must find a room 

in which there isonlyone item of 

furniture, use this to store your 

finds. 

When you hide an item in it 

booby trap the single piece of 

furniture. Whenever you find 

another item just enter the room 

and press fire - it will automatically 

go behind thesingle piece of 

furniture. 

Alternatively select a certain 

type of furniture to use as a 

hiding place - say televisions. 

Always use a trap on it that can 

be remedied - if using a spring 

make sure that the wirecutters 

are available. Not too available 

though - you don't want your 

opponent plundering your 

secret hideaways. 

When you have all the items 

safely hidden, dispose of your 

opponent and then collect all the 

items and make a runner for it. 

As I've said, the only way to 

beat Spy vs Spy is to play really 

really dirty! So don't forget to 

wash afterwards. 


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TIPS 

Four juicy 

new cheats 

1. BOOTY (Firebird). By holding 

down the key K,E,V,I,N (at the 

same time), you will get the 

message 'CHEAT MODE OPERA- 

TIVE'. You will now have unlimited 

lives at your disposal. 

Thanks go to Patrick Jefferson 

of Whitley Bay for that one. 

2. TROLLIE WALLIE (Interceptor). 

I've received quite a few 

letters stating that 'if you type 

every single letter on the 

keyboard in »: certain order then 

you'll get into a cheat mode 

wherby you can't die'. Well, I've 

managed to cut it down to just a 

few keys, and here they are... 

While in actual play, hit (back 

arrow key),M,U,G. The message 

'CHEAT MODE' will appear at 

the top of the screen and you 

won't be able to die. 

There are a couple of occasions 

where you may get stuck, 

and because you're immortal, 

won't die as you would have 

normally. If this occurs, or you 

just get bored of invincibility, 

then pressing Return will put 

things back to normal. To regain 

cheat mode, simply repeat the 

above method. 

3. RAID OVER MOSCOW (US 

Gold). Stuart Fraser of 

Gwynedd, has a nifty tip for the 

hanger stage. If you're going to 

crash a plane in the hanger, give 

the space bar a quick press. This 

will put you outside the station 

- press the bar again and you're 

back inside ready for another 

launch. Great one, that... 

4. STUNT BIKE (Ocean). Another 

one from Stuart on this rather 

tacky little game. Pressing key 3 

will skip levels. 

Summer Games 

sneak 

Graeme Watt of Aberdeen sent 

in this useful cheat on the classic 

Epyx Summer Games from 

Quicksilva. If anybody is having 

problems setting a fast time on 

the 100m dash, here is an easy 

way of getting a time below ten 

seconds (using a Quickshot II). 

Just switch on the auto-fire, and 

let the joystick do the work! 

He also suggests waggling the 

joystick a bit so that no-one will 

guess that you're cheating. 

Sneaky, sneaky... 

Spy Hunter: licence to bump 

Julian Rignall reveals 

how he gets mega scores on the 

excellent game from US Gold. 

This ace arcade conversion requires 

skill, dexterity and a very 

violent tendency. 

First of all, select the expert 

level. This will give you a more 

realistic arcade level game with 

many more point-scoring 

opportunities: the novice level 

is somewhat tame, even for a 

beginner. 

Here's how to cope with the 

various enemies: 

THE ROAD LORD: This large, 

blue car is fairly harmless unless 

agravated. To bump him 

off the road, first make sure 

there's at least half a road's 

width between him and you. 

When you are level with him 

and are travelling at the same 

speed move left (or right) sharply. 

This should smash him off 

the road, if it doesn't then try 

again at a further distance. Beware 

though, this time he will 

retaliate and try to bump you off 

the road! This is all quite a tricky 

manoeuvre, especially on a 

busy road, and takes a bit of 

practise. 

THE ENFORCER: This is only 

seen if you don't go into the 

river at a turning. It is a cross 

between the former baddies: it 

fires a shotgun from the side 

and is bulletproof. The only way 

to destroy it is by ramming it at 

an angle from behind. This requires 

plenty of practice. 

HELICOPTER: Hitting the fire 

button on the main joystick will 

automatically fire a missile 

when you're under attack from 

the helicopter. Fire from behind 

to destroy it. If you haven't got a 

missile you are in deep trouble 

and will have to try and dodge 

your way up the road. 

OTHER ROAD VEHICLES: These 

are a light blue car, a red car 

and a motor-bike. Don't shoot 

or bump the bike and although 

you can bump the cars, you 

shouldn't shoot them. If you do 

you won't score any points for 

about five seconds. 

BARREL DUMPER: These little 

boats drop barrels which are 

fatal to the touch. They'll only 

drop them when you're in line 

with them so keep on the move 

and keep firing. 

DOCTOR TORPEDO: It fires a 

torpedo from behind you. If you 

zoom along at a rate of knots it 

won't be able to catch you up 

and will appear at the top of the 

screen. You can then shoot it for 

a large 1,500 bonus. 

Three disk drives 

must be won! 

It's not too late to enter our 

disk drive giveaway and get 

your hands on this invaluable 

add-on. We want the best tips 

and maps for 64 games and we 

know you can provide them. 

The three set of tips that give 

the most help with a game will 

get a spanking new 1541 Commodore. 

This offers you reliable 

and fast loading of games and 

access to disk only games like 

the amazing Infocom adventures 

being sold over here by 

Commodore at bargain prices. 

We'll be printing the tips 

from the three winners while 

runners-up may have their tips 

printed and get a game from 

the Zzap! lucky dip. 

Tips should be sent tO: Disk 

Drive Competition, Zzap! 64, 1 

Church Terrace, Yeovil, Somerset 

BA20 1HX. You've only got 

until June 1st to send them in 

so get cracking and show us 

how great you are at games. 

Don't forget to enclose your 

name, address and phone number, 

and if you want to write 

about more than one game, feel 

free. 

David’s magic 

high-score 

Having trouble convincing your 

mates that you got a cool million 

last night on David's Midnight 

Magic from Ariolasoft? 

Despair no longer, I shall reveal 

how to use the elusive high 

score table... 

As soon as you've finished a 

game and the high score table 

is displayed, simply press the 

Commodore key in conjunction 

with a shift, twice. You only 

need to do this on one occasion 

and from then on the high score 

table will be at your mercy. 

Better still, if you have a disk 

drive, plug it in, turn it on and 

stick in a (reasonably) blank 

disk. Each time you use the high 

score table, your outstanding 

scores will be saved to disk for 

your sceptical friends to get 

annoyed at, at a later date (On 

later plays, before loading 

David's Midnight Magic, load 

the file 'SCORES',8,1 from your 

disk. Now load the game, and 

jump for joy when you see your 

name up on the screen). 

No, no please - it's all part o" 

the service. Well, if you insist. 

Send all donations to... ( Back in 

your box now, Gary - Ed). 


irililVATti 

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ACTIVISION 

HOME COMPUTER SOFTWARE 

ALLAVA LABLE ON COMMODORE C64 CASSETTE. ACTIVISION DECATHLON ALSO AVAILABLE ON ATARI HOME COMPUTER AND MSX. 

ACTIVISION UK LTD., 15 HARLEY HOUSE, MARYLEBONE ROAD, LONDON NW1. FROM SELECTED BRANCHES OF BOOTS, WH SMITH 

JOHN MENZIES, LASKY’S, SPECTRUM, GREENS, WOOLWORTH AND GOOD COMPUTER SOFTWARE STORES EVERYWHERE

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Here's another great competition based around CRL's new release the Rocky 

Horror Show which is based in turn on the musical spoof horror film of the same 

name and promises the same sort of wacky tuneful action. 

We have no less than 55 prizes to give away. The first prize will be an album 

signed by the show's principal creator Richard O'Brien (who plays the part of Riff 

Raff, see pics) PLUS a t-shirt and a copy game. The first four runners-up will get 

the same package (but without the signature) and another 50 will get copies of 

the game. 

The competition itself is a piece of cake. Printed below are two illustrations

Rl(rWT 

based on a scene from the film. But the dastardly Oliver Frey has introduce* 

certain differences between the two pictures. Your task is to discover HOV 

MANY. 

When you think you ve spotted them all, send us a card or a sealed envelop* 

and write on the back: the NUMBER of differences and your name and address 

Send it to: Rocky Horror Competition, Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace, Yeovil 

Somerset BA20 1HX. All entries should reach us by June 13th when well b< 

picking the winners at random from the correct entries. 

Please note: Only ONE entry per household allowed. 

„ aHNo/fNOr 

MEAT Loqf 

flCrfllN.../" 


.J 

i 

i— 

THE 

DEFENDER SYNDROME 

Complex games with a multitude of control methods and sequencing 

options are undoubtedly one of the ways the game market 

is going to progress. As we get more memory and faster 

processors we're going to want to explore new, strange game 

systems. Unfortunately (and I'm finding this already) in doing so 

software authors fall foul of a phenomenon known as 'Defender 

Syndrome'. 

a games 

id can't ii 

it's not so 

sort of person buying 

new, complex 

The other, more dam; ' is achievattempt 

expect to be good from the 

mless full 

go 

instance of Defender Synd 

to 

familiarity 

occurs at reviewer level. He >ass judgement on a game by 

the reviewer(s) encounter leans of percentage, rating or 

ie which normally needs my other method. To do othermid 

days play before profi 

be like trying to pass 

iency. Reviewers typically spe four Eng Lit 'A' level after only 

a couple of hours max. on laving read the first chapter of 

single game. The result is tha four set books! The Llama Llord 

they never achieve proficien tas spoken ... ignore him at 

in thejiew modes and canno 

make valid criticism. A good rev 

/our peril 

Oh yes, 

. 

why Defender Syn- 

. 

iewer will acknowledge the f« Irome? Weil if Defender (the 

and not attempt to judge th ircade game) never existed, and 

J I 

. I .ill I m I , 

,say|

MINTER 

Unbiased 

or what???HH 

The function of a good computer 

magazine should be to present 

news, articles etc. in an unbiased 

manner, not giving undue prominence 

to particular companies or 

people. I found it most surprising, 

therefore, that in magazines published 

by a certain 

house (who shall ren 

less), 

full-colour page adverts for a 

sinale software house. Tfr -~jjj&CH| 

HE Got HOLD or 

VXNCIPITA U HE’S 

NEVER. BEEN ~twe: 

1 SA/ÂE 

9* 

ft 

lanations of its 'parentage' from 

PCG and Crash. What some of 

you may not remember, however, 

is that PCG and Crash absolutely 

detested each other; PCG 

referred to Crash as Trash magazine' 

and Crash ran a suitably 

vitriolic editorial about PCG. 

ies should come together in the 

end 

Atari looking good. 

One of the least-regarded 

machines on the market 

today must be the Atari. You 

can get a 64K Atari 800XL for 

the price of a spectrum, but 

still people buy Speccies 

rather than Ataris. The 

reason must be simply to 

most people, the Atari is an 

unknown quantity. 

Anyone 

who has once seen an Atari 

running would never, ever 

consider buying a Spectrum 

instead. 

For those interested in 

playing good games, the 

choice of computer has to be 

between Commodore and 

the Atari. The Commodore 

you all know about; it is 

superbly designed for the 

game-player in mind. The 

main drawback of the Atari 

compared to the Commodore 

is in the sprite department. 

Commodore's 8 

sprites are a sensible 24x21 

allowing plenty of detail. 

Atari, on the other hand, 

have only 4 'players', each of 

which is only 8 pixels wide. 

(You also get 4 'missiles' but 

they're only 2 pixels wide! !). 

Thus, to make the camel for 

AMC, I had to bolt together 3 

players, thus leaving 1 player 

and a few missiles left for the 

rest of the game 

Whilst this is a fairly major 

drawback, the Atari makes 

up for this in other departments. 

Smooth scrolling, for 

example, is ludicrously easy 

on the Atari. Raster interrupts 

are a lot less arcane 

than on the 64. The screen is 

the best I have ever come 

across on any micro at any 

price. You can build up 

screens with any amount of 

fixed modes on them, mixing 

text and graphics freely, 

even varying the resolution 

dynamically. 

As for software, there's no 

problem there: most of the 

US hits you might have on 

your Commodore started life 

on the Atari (we were playing 

Choplifter three years 

I didn't 

. . . we've 

ago) and include such favourites 

as Bou/derdash and 

Decathlon, not to mention 

such superb Atari only 

games as Star Raiders and 

Rescue on Fraeta/us. 

Any Psychedelia fiends out 

there would be well advised 

to get an old, cheap Atari 800 

too, because the unique 

screen hardware in the Atari 

has enabled me to do things 

in Psych that even 

think possible 

spent an entire weekend 

listening to Steve Hillage's 

Rainbow Dome Musik and 

trying to establish some of 

the limits of the system! 

/(S') "frTR£| ? 

1SNT1WT RWaet'fr HlSsnbRv'?" ZZAP! 64 June 1985 103

HOLLYWOOD 

Alligata, £9.95 case, £10.35 disk, joystick or keys 

CArcade adventure set in movieland 

E 

veryone seems to be going 

to Hollywood these days 

and Alligata are no exception. 

The third in the Blagger 

series takes the lovable rogue to 

the sets of Steven 'Speijbum' 

(whoever he is). The theme of 

the game is, of course, stealing 

things and this one pits you on a 

quest to steal Speilbum's new 

film. 

Naturally the quest isn't that 

easy: many evil characters are 

present to thwart your illegal efforts. 

In each of the 12 film sets 

there are characters which you 

have to destroy before being 

able to enter the offices of Speilbum. 

Even then your quest is not 

finished: all the baddies are 

resurrected and you have to 

fight them one by one in a final 

confrontation in Speilbum's 

office. 

The game is presented .in a 

multi-directional scrolling 3D 

map with walls and obstacles littered 

over the terrain. Entering 

another set is done by finding a 

gap in the wall surrounding the 

room and crossing the threshold, 

so all sets are easily accessible 

and exploring is quite easy. 

The 3D effect is quite reasonable 

but sometimes it looks like 

you can go past an object when 

in fact you can't. Control, on the 

other hand, is very tricky and 

when being chased is fiddly. 

When trying to turn and fire 

under pressure it's practically 

impossible — one of your lives 

will nearly always take a trip to 

the mortuary. 

Graphics aren't particularly 

detailed and not at all crisp although 

the scrolling is fast and 

smooth. 

rything, even 

h tt gets harder 

on subsequent levels 

The sound is quite 

good with excellent 

renditions of the 

appropriate theme 

tune to each 

character, my 

favourites being Jaws, 

Koiak and James 

Bond. This is a worthy 

follower to the 

B!agger tradition but 

*consider*. 

Blagger encounters a werewolf in its skull strewn 

lair. 

TO 

PRESENTATION 

Better packaging 

and reasonable 

instructions. 

- 

How to destroy 

the stars 

Within the game there are 12 

characters which -you have to 

destroy - for example, James 

Bond, Jaws, Tarzan and the Hulk. 

Each character is easily recognised 

by its theme tune as you 

enter the room. For example 

James Bond is hailed with the 

Goldfinger tune. 

To kill 

a character you have to 

find the prop (or props) connected 

with it and throw the object at 

it — any other prop will have no 

effect. 

When you start you will find 

only one prop, but as you kill each 

character it will drop some new 

objects to use against other characters. 

Strategy is involved to find 

the quickest way to destroy the 

stars so you don't have to backtrack 

to find other props left 

behind. 

ORIGINALITY 

74% 

Film stars and use 

of props are new. 

enjoyable game. The graphics weren 'i up to 

much, and made it hard to identify the on 

screen characters, with their cinema screen 

counterparts. The great music helps though, 

unless you're like me and can't recognise 

such classics as 'The Incredible Hulk' theme 

tune. 

£> “7 0/ 

\J / /O 

in teresting 3D layout 

but unclear characters. 76% 

Great tunes for 

each star, including 

78% 


"7 1 0/ 

/ I/O should. 

Jaws, Batman and Kojak. 62% 

Even if the game doesn't last the T-shirt 

Plenty of initial 

interest in how to KO 

each character. 

Less interest when 

you know which props 

do what. 


Ht>»o fA&KJif 

FftlXS? STRP5 UP 

1 N QmPWflcft CsflOiei ...

Trouble In Store for Herbert 

Spectrum 48K £9.95 

Commodore 64 £9.95 

Amstrad CPC 464 £9.95 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Berks. 0344 427317

•••••:•; 

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- 

SPY HUNTER. 

This new release is a SUPERR 

game t° n 

k- ^ Sega ade 

,n which you drive 

lethally-armed a 

car and must 

thTroad Cn St e ,nemy a 9ents off 

t 

hooked for 

eages "|f Jou're 

convinced, not 

read our rave review 

Subscribe to 

Zzap!64 

and you 

can choose 

any two 

of the games 

on this page! 

RAID OVER MOSCOW. This 

follow up to the mega-hit Beach 

Head has been another chart 

smash with its stunning 3D 

graphics and exciting shoot-emup 

action. The idea of turning a 

bombing mission over the 

USSR into a game may put you 

off - but if it doesn't, be prepared 

for some dazzling excitement. 

ttSSS&Si 

super-tank 

which "2 

tZT U T around a 3D 

erect with obstacles an 

blast 

,eS- An excitln 9 

GRAPHICS 

CDCZDCZl CZZ1 C3 EZ3 CU CZI n~2 [= HZ! 1=3 E 

Zzap!64 special offer subscription form 

Yes, I want to subscribe to Zzap!64 and receive two free US Gold 

games. 

Name 

Address 

The games I 

would like are (circle TWO): 

Post code 

Spy Hunter/Bruce Lee/Raid over Moscow/Sentinel/Tapper/Stellar 7 

I 

enclose a cheque/postal order for £14.50 made out to Newsfield Ltd.

- 

N» ; 4* 

N — 

Rfl Rfi - Rockford// 

The bases are loaded and the batter is on 

the video screen as the pitch.screams in. 

Classy simulation of the American mega-sport 

Detailed graphics, with close-up video screen 

WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 

Imagine, £7.95 cass, joystick only. 

t's the ninth innings, two men 

out and the bases loaded, the 

I 

visitors have a 4-3 lead. You, 

the visiting pitcher, stride to 

the mound, spit out your gum 

and survey the field. Then wind 

up that infamous sidewinder 

pitch and let go. CRACK! The 

ball spins off the bat and high 

into the air where a grateful first 

baseman takes the catch and ensures 

victory overthe computer. 

i'm not exactly 

well clued up in 

the field of 

baseball and have 

never thrilled to the 

delights experienced by your 

average American. But a 

couple of plays of this soon 

changed my whole outlook. 

Love it! The excellent 

attention to detail is really 

good and adds immensely to 

the game (Not that a' lot 

needs adding). 

This tale of thrills and excitement 

can come true every time 

you play this baseball simulation. 

You can take on another 

player or the ace computer side 

in a struggle of skill and bluff. 

The battle is over nine innings of 

the American game, which is 

like rounders, except more 

sophisticated. 

There are two sections, pitching 

and batting, and each needs 

skillful timing and cunning tactics. 

The action takes place on a 

field of which you have a view 

from above and behind home 

plate, where the batter stands. 

There is also a close-up video 

screen in the stadium which allows 

you to see the pitching and 

batting in detail. 

When pitching you have sev- 

Stealing bases 

The Imagine name returns to 

the market with a sports 

simulation. Will they be lucky 

second time around? Well, 

judging by this game's 

standard they should do a lot 

better than before. Detailed 

graphics , 

jingles and 

animation all add to the 

razzmatazz of the game 

giving it true realism. Control 

is tricky and the computer 

will hammer you at first, but 

with perseverance, revenge 

will be sweet 

An excellent 

release. 

If your human opponent is inattentive you may be able to steal a 

base from him by sneaking your man along before he can get the 

ball to the base. Don't try it against the computer though since it 

fields far too quickly for you to catch it out. 

The pitcher also has a steal option which allows him to try and 

catch out a runner at a base by throwing it there instead of 

pitching. This is particularly effective against players who push 

continually on the joystick and can absent-mindedly run out of 

their ground. Once again, though, you can't catch the computer 

out since it only steals when the ball is actually in play after a 

pitch. 

eral types of ball all of which are 

thrown using the joystick. These 

range from fast and high to slow 

and slow. Some of the pitching 

options are illegal, but still very 

useful when playing a human 

opponent (though not the computer!), 

as you may trick him 

into swinging at an unplayable 

ball. 

Your initial aim is to 'strike 

out' your opponent by getting 

him to miss three balls. If he 

does hit the ball your control 

switches to the fielder closest to 

it. You can either try to catch it, if 

it is in the air, orfield it and try to 

get the runner out at a base. You 

can throw between bases as 

well and even get more than one 

man out in a single play. Once 

you've got three men out the 

sides change roles and you take 

over the batting. 

When batting you see the ball 

fairly late and have to decide 

quickly what sort it is and how to 

hit it. You have fast, normal and 

slow batting strokes. Pick the 

right one and time it well and 

you could see the ball sail for a 

home run. A little triumphant 

tune is played as your man 

steams around the bases celebrating. 

Your men run 

automatically 


Clear instructions and 

cute cheerleaders. No 

congrats on victory. 

/ Small, but nicely detailed 

characters and a great 

O close-up video screen. 

Thwack ! Roar of crowd 

and home run victory 

tune. 

/ The better buy of this month ’s two baseball 

0 simulations. 

when the ball is hit, so well 

placed blows are necessary to 

avoid getting caught or run out. 

If you can get the bases 'loaded' 

f 

Q 

/ 

0 

One of first baseball 

sim u/a tors, novel large 

video screen. 

Easily mastered controls 

and gripping action. 

Tough computer player 

plus two player thrills. 

(a man on each base) and hit a 

'homer' you'll get four runs and 

a massive psychological boost 

over your opponent. 

There's nothing quite so 

mt&h fun as a tarn gasp win 

against a franticopponent 

particularly if it's the computer. 

The graphics are passable 

and so is the sound but 

the real key is the two player 

game and the atmosphere 

and competitive spirit that 

goes with it. it's frustrating at 

first against the computer so 

I advise you to start against a 

beginner friend and move up 

K 

' " 

- 

to the expertiatei? 

The computer plays a very 

canny game, fielding brilliantly 

and hitting nearly everything 

you throw at it. The only way to 

beat it is to close it down as 

much as possible when it is batting 

and hope to score some 

home runs off its pitching. This 

is easier said than done though 

and victory over the computer 

will be harder than against a 

human. 

It is a pity that there are no 

wild celebrations at the end of a 

victorious game. However after 

the first and sixth innings there 

are sets of cheerleaders who 

come out and leap about to support 

their team. These are accompanied 

by a tune and other 

ditties play at the start, on the 

title screen and for home runs 

ḂW 

• Bee stars in multi-maze arcade adventure 

B 

uzzzz . . .here comes an 

arcade adventure con 

verted from the Spectrum. 

BarnaBEE is the hero of 

the hour and he's on a quest to 

find his cousin who's been kidnapped 

by a vicious gang of 

ants. 

Deep inside the ants' nest 

you'll have to delve to rescue 

poor Boris. Naturally this is not a 

simple task and yukky insects 

will block your path as you enter 

the depths of the nest. 

There are also little spikey 

blue blobs left lying around 

which the instructions don't tell 

you about but which you'll soon 

suss are poisonous and sapyour 

stamina. 

Controlling your bee is quite a 

simple task: left and right and 

fly, although BarnaBEE does 

have a lot of inertia. 

There are many screens in this 

adventure most of which are 

easy to fly around. Collect the 

pollen from each flower on the 

This conversion took a 

long time coming and JgP** 

unfortunately the wait ^ 

has taken its toff. The " T 

simple maze-type . j 

V 

arcade adventure ts 

no longer m the 

forefront of things w jil 

having been 

superceded by more 

complicated games. 

The straightforward mazes and 

relatively simple object of the 

game make it very dated and 

money would be better 

spent on newer 

offerings . 

This game is 

graphically \ . 

Spectrumesque and 

also sounds very 

much like its rubberkeyed 

counterpart. 

The tune is a version 

ofBach's Toccata and 

fugue and although 

having the right notes, 

sounds thin ahd reedy 

through a feeble one 

channel, Although it'll 

keep the mappers 

happy for a while t 

can 't see it doing any , 

better than the A 

Spectrum version, I 

screen: sometimes this will 

open a door to another screen - 

indeed the door opened may 

itself be on a different screen to 

the one you're on. These ants 

nests are complicated places. 

Another way to make a new 

exit or entrance is by touching 

certain walls: they may dissolve 

Sparse instructions 

but a great high score 

table. 

Spectrumesque 

giving you a new passage. 

There are two entrances to the 

underground complex, both of 

which need to be used. 

Occasionally a room can only be 

half searched and you will need 

to backtrack before you can 

complete your exploration. 

/ 

0 

Spectrumesque. 

/ 

Spectrum game at a Spectrum price. 

0 

64 owners haven 't had 

too many arcade 

adventures. 

Exploring and mapping 

keep you going. 

Little to do once 

you've mapped it. 

How to lead 

a long life 

On screen throughout the game 

you will see a bar marked 

'stamina'. This ticks down slowly 

acting as a timer - when it's gone 

the game ends. Collision with an 

insect would normally cause a 

large fall in stamina. However 

you can guard against this by 

collecting pollen. 

Basically the more pollen you 

have (as indicated on another 

bar), the less your stamina is 

affected by collision with insects. 

However each collision also 

causes you to lose pollen, so to 

ensure a long game, it's in your 

interest to keep collecting the 

stuff. 


his is one of a new breed 

of games which combines 

T adventure and arcade 

action in more than just a 'walk 

round collecting things' scenario. 

Here you actually have to 

figure out what to do with 

objects and how. 

Your task is to get together the 

seven pieces of the Ice Crown 

which are hidden throughout 

the seven levels of the Palace 

and thus destroy the power of 

the Ice Queen. These levels consist 

of about 170 hexagonal 

rooms in a honeycomb arrangement 

where about 30 are visible 

on screen at once. 

Your character can walk between 

these rooms and you 

have an overview of him Evil 

Dead style. You also have the 

same form of movement by 

turning left or right and pushing 

forward. 

There are five types of room 

marked by different symbols: 

empty, swords, firesticks, lakes 

and Moline crosses. The 

SWORD rooms contain objects 

and the FIRESTICK rooms replenish 

your only weapon, yes, 

the fi restick. 

The LAKE and CROSS rooms 

are impassable and on later 

levels form the screen into a 

maze type layout which you 

have to work a way through. The 

entrances to some rooms are 

blocked so that you have to 

rotate the adjacent hexagons, 

using joystick down, in order to 

line up two gaps in the wall and 

move on. 

•Exploration, combat and puzzle-solving 

The Ice Queen's minions 

The creatures that attack you are 

highly dangerous and rapidly sap 

your goodness if you let them hit 

you. A rotating sphere, wobbly 

amoeba, spinning sword, eagle 

and raven all have to be fended 

off. The first three can be destroyed 

by the firestick, by holding 

down your fire button and guiding 

the fire into the beast. 

The eagle and raven can only 

be deflected and from the fourth 

level it takes two hits to destroy 

the others. This isn't the only 

thing that gets harder since the 

number of attackers also 

increases with the levels. This 

makes the attacks gradually 

more prolonged and gives you 

less time for finding the Crown. 

After destroying a wave of 

minions a spinning, multicoloured 

cylinder will appear and 

walking into this will cause it to 

explode and increase your goodness. 

A strange blend of 

arcade and adventure 

that kept me intrigued 

forsome time. The 

various creatures 

flying around are all 

well defined and 

animated, and help 

the game along. The 

large number of 

objects and 

commands mean 

there is a tot to think 

about and a lot to do. 

A tot of the 1000 plus 

locations are in fact 

very similar, but the 

rt'am/a /e A H ail 

From time to time when you 

are moving about the Palace a 

warning will sound and various 

enemies will appear. You have 

/ groaned inwardly at 

another grotty arcade 

adventure. This time 

the hero is fat and 

wobbling. It may be to 

American taste to 

R lllili 

Ariolasoft/Broderbund, £9.35 case, £1 1.95 disk, joystick with keys 

•Scrolling platform adventure: treasures, bate a dynamite, flarea 

~Jt for me it's preL, 

revolting. The sound 

‘ 

Me'as 

are tacky 

-this game 

was fairly addictive 

and has a lot in store 

for a fearless 

adventurer. 

Aspelunker is someone 

who scavenges caves. 

This activity provides the 

basis for one of those games 

that doesn't look up to much initially, 

but proves its worth with 

some play. 

The graphics and sound are 

both poor, and do nothing to enhance 

the game's appearance. 

Sprites are small, crude and 

simple. Sound is mainly short 

bursts of single channel music, 

bloops and incredibly annoying 

bat squeaks. 

Spe/unker is a form of arcade 

adventure set deep in a large 

cavern. This cavern is divided 

into six different levels of multiscreen 

exploration — each level 

being several screens in height 

and width. With only a small 

portion of the cavern displayed 

at any time, the screen scrolls in 

four directions to reveal any further 

playing area. 

Each level consists of platform 

-like areas of rock connected by 

ladders and ropes. Scattered 

around these areas are numerous 

treasures and objects to be 

collected. Weapons such as 

dynamite and flares are to be 

found and utilised. The dynamite 

is to blow up impassable 

piles of rock, and the flares to 

scare off bats. 

There are also various treasures 

to be found, ranging from 

ancient mining equipment to 

valuable artefacts and magic 

dust. On collecting treasures 

you gain extra points, and dust 

rewards you with either a 

new 

life, a stick of dynamite or a flare. 

Separating each level are 

huge coloured doors and can 

only be passed when carrying 

the correctly coloured keys. 

There are also various dangers 

to be avoided or temporarily disposed 

of. Lava pits and jets of 

steam kill on contact, but small 

piles of rocks only bounce your 

man away if incorrectly jumped. 

The ghosts of previous Spelunkers 

also inhabit the caves, 

and appear at random throughout 

the game. Thankfully you're 

armed with a phantom blaster, 

activated by a bash of the space 

bar. The problem is that firstly a 

lot of battery charge is used up 

on firing, and secondly the ghost 

must be near enough to hit. Battery 

charge can be replenished 

though, by collecting any batteries 

lying around. 

GP 

An energy source 

The ghost is approaching 

you 

You have five sticks 

of dynamite 

You've got two blue keys • 


to destroy or deflect these since 

they are trying to make you evil. 

During lulls in the action you 

can access the second screen of 

the game which is where the 

adventuring takes place. At the 

top of this display are indicators 

of your status. A crown shows 

the number of pieces you have 

and a measure of your goodness. 

A skull's eyes light up 

when there are nasties on the 

action screen and a fi restick 

which turns grey when discharged. 

Lastly there is a candle 

timer which burns down and is 

your time limit. 

The lower half of the display 

has a list of objects you are 

carrying or are in the room on 

the right, and a list of adventure 

commands on the left. These 

can be accessed using the joystick 

— blue commands require 

an object while red ones don't 

The items which you need are 

all found in sword rooms and as 

you progress through the levels 

these get harder and harder to 

get to. On each level you have to 

work out what to use and how in 

order to reveal a piece of the 

Crown. If you can't work it out— 

and there are some red herrings 

— a help function may give you 

a clue to the answer. 

From time to time the ghost of 

your dead father, the King, floats 

across the screen and contact 

with him boosts your goodness. 

More of a problem are rooms 

which occasionally freeze up 

and and make it difficult to move 

about. 

The music is haunting and 

lovely while the graphics are 

nicely detailed on both the game 

screens. The actual problem of 

movement and real time has 

been overcome quite well, although 

I wish you could walk 

diagonally through the hexagons 

instead of having to stop 

and change direction all the 

time. 

BW 

/ rapidly got into the swing of this game and 

there were lots ofnew ideas to get to grips 

with. For once the combination of real time 

adventuring and arcade action has been 

playably achieved so that you have to fight 

hard and think fast to solve all the problems . 

My only reservation is that I easily got to level 

four and although things then get a lot 

tougher,, / wonderjust how long it will take to 

crack because there will be little lastability 

afterwards* 

ORIGINALITY 

To the point 

instructions and 

great adventure screen 

/ New form of arcade 

0 adventuring. 

Detailed hexagonal 

layout and atmospheric 

adventure symbols. 

The adventuring is 

absorbing and the 

action is hectic. 

/ 

0 

Lovely tunes, 

nice sound effects 


Early levels are 

easy but gets tough 

after level four. 

Excellent new form of game 

) 

presentation of the game on screen - there's 

great play lurking beneath the feeble exterior 

With six large , interlinking levels to explore, 

all having incredibly tough and devious 

aspects about them, there ’$ no chance of 

interest waning quickly. In ail honesty / found 

it difficult to write anything, with Spelunker 

x 

sitting seductively beside me, 

Neat instructions, but 

annoying to have to 

reload start position. 

Small but detailed 

caves, objects and 

animation. 

ORIQINALJTY 

/ 

0 

Dynamite, flares and other 

new touches to the 

scrolling exploration game 

Making progress in these 

caves is really compulsive. 

Magic dust 

f Incredibly annoying 

0 bat and ghost noises. 

Massive cave system 

and hundreds of treasures. 

Very tough challenge. 

f 

0 

Another really enjoyable round of exploring, 

collecting and dodging. 

Energy gauge 

Three lives remaining

"TMWK i’ll £ ON...* 

Glider Pilot 

CRL, £3.95 cass, joystick or keys. 

•Flit 

Compass. # 

Cumulus cloud indicates 

a thermal. 

Advanced 

flying 

Experienced pilots might like to 

employ the techniques at the 

back of the flight manual. When 

starting climb high and then dive 

underneath the maximum height 

of 3281 feet fo start, pulling up to 

regain height afterwards. Also 

when finishing try to glide in as 

low as possible so as not to 

waste time climbing earlier. 

The key to making fast time is 

to climb as rapidly as possible 

and not waste time in weak ther 

mals gaining little height. Also 

use the flight director to get the 

best possible speed between 

thermals, flying faster in sinking 

air and slower in rising air. 

wmm 

to*’ 

:*/. v-. 

Yet another ftight 

simulator hits the 

market, this time for 

glider enthusiasts. A 

really nice intro tune 

leads the way into dye 

simulation, and really 

that's about the most 

exciting part of the 

game. Floating about 

, the heavens wasn't 

my cup of tea, and the 

sound effects were 

almost 

brainnumbing. 

Ifyou tike 

the thought of 

spending hours 

looking for thermals 

then this is fine, 

otherwise there are 

many more exciting 

flight simulators on 

the market 

Variometer which 

indicates rate of climb or 

descent. 

Director to indicate your 

nose angle. 

L 

ast month we had a helicopter 

flight simulator and 

now we've got one for a 

glider. No roaring of engines or 

blasting of guns, just the rush of 

the wind as you cleave through 

the atmosphere. 

Your task is to pilot your glider 

around a 160km triangular 

course in the fastest possible 

time. To do this you have to 

make the best use of the thermals 

(warm air currents) you find 

along the way since these are 

your only source of lift. 

You have the usual flying controls 

of nose up and down, bank 

left or right, plus open and close 

airbrakes. You also have an instrument 

display showing your 

speed, height, rate of climb, 

angle and a map of the course. 

You start about 2000 feet up in 

the air and you can select whether 

you have to cross the starting 

line or not. This is an airfield, as 

are the other two turning points 

on the course and the brave or 

foolhardy can try to land on 

them, which I haven't managed 

yet. 

There are three main things to 

think about while flying: your 

direction, height and speed. You 

Your flight time. 

Map of the triangular 

course. 

want to follow the most direct 

route possible, at the greatest 

speed and with the least possibility 

of crashing the glider. Your 

speed is determined by your 

nose angle and you can bank to 

change direction. 

Maintaining height is altogether 

harder until you get the 

hang of finding thermals. What 

you have to watch for are cumulus 

clouds that mark rising air 

columns and fly towards them. 

Once your rate of climb becomes 

positive you need to put 

your plane into a tight spin at 

about 40 knots to gain height as 

rapidly as possible. Depending 

on the 'inversion' height the 

thermal will peter out between 

2500 and 5000 feet. 

Hopping between thermals 

you pass each turning point until 

you arrive back at your starting 

point. Crossing the airfield here 

finishes your task although trying 

to land is a difficult but enjoyable 

problem. 

Once you have completed a 

flight you are given a readout of 

your time and average speed 

and also a barograph of your 

progress as you glided down 

and then climbed again. 

/Vof f/?e most exciting 

simulator I've played 

but it certainly has 

some different 

touches to it Whether 

it is as relaxing and 

exhilarating as the 

real thing is supposed 

to be wu! be up to the 

individual, but if 

you're looking for 

action don f t look here 

The simple graphics 

t 

simulator, as you may 

a e 

%peatmB 

wedfind yourselfbecoming more than a trifle 

bored. I found little to appeal to me, other 

but as they say , 

the 

fee! of the simulator is 

| fthan the atmospheric ami soothing music, 

| and the reasonably effective graphics. Even 

9Zf 

PRESENTATION 

— y /* / Helpful instructions 

anc* 9reat barograph 

J 

0/ 

47% Q 

23% 

31% 

chart. 

Altitude. 

Jerky cloud movement and 

little else. 

There are various pre-set 

weather conditions or you can 

alter them yourself by determining 

inversion height, thermal 

strength, thermal frequency, 

thermal difficulty, wind strength 

and wind direction. You can also 

determine the simulator speed 

from real time to four times 

faster, although it's not advisable 

to try and land at four times 

normal time. 

There are some annoying 

sound effects to the instruments 

but these can be switched off 

and the title tune is excellently 

atmospheric. __ 

BW 

I suppose ifyQu yyahif 4$ would tike to, soar 

around the hgpmmto a gfidpr for hours on 

stimulation in this boring simulation . 

ORIGINALITY 

52% 

O/ 

Q 

Ear-numbing alarm 

noises but atmospheric 

title tune. 38%O 

Unlikely to interest non-gliders. 

We've seen flight 

simulators, but not for 

gliding. 

Long uneventful 

flights prove boring. 

Fine for experts 

but little to interest 

the rest of us. 


Quasimodo likes beds. They make him feel good - they make 

him happy - they are his friends. 

All Quasi wants is to be left alone, but those nasty soldiers think 

that he stole the royal jewels. Quasi didn't steal them! 

Quasi wants the soldiers to leave him alone. They fire 

nasty arrows at him. Quasi doesn't want to, but 

Quasi will throw big rocks at the nasty 

— — 

soldiers. 

Quasi knows a secret! Quasi knows f 

where the jewels have been hidden * 

in the castle and only Quasi can | 

climb there. 

They better leave Quasi alone, 'cause 

Quasi is getting mad. Quasi better hurry 

and find the jewels. Not much time. 

Quasi sees lots of soldiers. Quasi has 

lots of rocks. 

Now the noise has stirred up the bats in the 

belfry. The bats are mean, they make Quasi fall 

down. Quasi betterjump away from those bats. 

Quasi thinks he got up on the wrong side of 

the bed today. 

^ 

cassette £055 

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7

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When sending entries away 

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head 

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save me money. 

also think that your offer (It 

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was exceptional. 

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Yes, you can certainly put all 

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we can sort them into the correct 

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Competition Entries. 

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ZZAP!64 - Issue 2 - June 1985

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