.

A NEWSFIELD PUBLICATION
No.1 MAY 1985

MONTHLY
review
FOR

Exclusive review!

r
r
f
mi i
FIREBIRD
j n 3
£
m A

1
L
sa

The new Miner 2049er, Pole Position,

Beyond's new sizzler, Super Huey,
Mama Llama, Cauldron, etc, etc, etc. .

Karnath solution, pages of.playing tips,

Minter, Crowther, the White Wizard,
£20QOin prizes and . Rockford! 0*
. . .
 OFFICIAL LICENCE
FROM NICHIBUTSU

'mmm

TRIPTO THE mam

SPACE WAR!
THE CLASSIC MOON CRESTA MANUFACTURED
UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENCE

SPECTRUM/SPECTRUM + £6.95
m mm
m mm **
COMMODOREmm. mm.
64 £6.95
' a

TRADE AND CREDIT CARD ORDERS

TELEPHONE (0734) 591678
INCENTIVE
54 London Street, Reading RG1 4SQ
ISSUE No.1 MAY 1985

The all-time classic

game returns with a >

Elite is here

of Activisi
pJtZT
f-astfmder to
be w ,

Pa McCart
Snsf
Pi 18) and
n' 200
con
Ho"

The greatest adventure writer Z ZAP-TESTS

of them all casts his spell on Aqua Racer 42
Zzap with reviews, news, help Airwolf (S) 54
Battle for Normandy 113
and his personal top ten. BC's Quest for Tires 34
10 RAP Bounty Bob Strikes Back (S) 38
Castle of Terror 72
And you have yours Buck Rogers (T) 59
Cauldron (S) 110
25 INFO Caverns of Sillahc 57
Combat Leader 114
News and gossip from the Dark Tower 56
Banger Elite (G) 16
Emerald Isle 72
Frak! 112
70 ADVENTURE Give my Regards to Broad Street 68
The pages of the White Hobbit (disk) 73
Jack Attack 58
Wizard Lords of Midnight (S) 82
Mama Llama 116
86 CHALLENGE Master of the Lamps 124
Mindshadow 74
Highscores from the Pastfinder (S) 20
Score Lord Penetrator 49
Pole Position 52
Rock 'n Bolt 22
89 TOP 64 Seaside Special 33
Greatest chart Shades (T) 36
in the land Shadowfire (S) 66
Software Star 43
97 TIPS Spy Hunter (S) 40
Maps, tactics, advice, Super Huey (S) 48
The Tracer Sanction 74
cheats 1
he first Tim Love's Cricket 44
Tir Na Nog (S) 80
120 MINTER Sophies. advent Web Dimension (T) 34
Witch's Cauldron 73
The most
hairiest, Valkyrie 17 71
awesome column G for Gold medal
S for Sizzler
130 NEXT MONTH T for Tacky
The goodies still in store

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 3

 GOES TO
HOLLYWOOD

6 4 AMSTRAD ATARI
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NEXT MONTH
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«T he first Zzap reader
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Wh°teWrzard
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teOUtpOU in
9®^^^S^5 pen ofthe

>A special Zzap one-off

guaranteed to make you smile.

Health warning and a map of the perplexing

•Another massive pile of playing tips
The withdrawal symptoms scription offer in this issue, why
Psi Warrior .

caused by missing Zzap for a not fill in the form below and
month are EXTREMELY painful. give it to your local newsagent?
If you don't have the dough to (You'd be doing us a favour too!) 93meS SCGne than any ° ther
^ublica t k> nTh te* side oT A n d
rom ed^^
take up the extraordinary sub-

Dear Newsagent, ADVERTISERS' INDEX

been completely zzapped by the first issue of Zzap! 64. Please Activision 23/63 Martech 37
I've
you can to make sure can get a copy every month. Alligata 15 Microcentre 50
do all I

Argus Press Software 117 Mikro-Gen 29/45

Adventure International 53 Ocean 4/5
Many thanks
Beyond 85 Palace Software 24
Database 64/65 PSS 115
(Name) .

Elite 127/ba< i page Softaid 96

Firebird 46/47 The Edge 30/31
(Address)
Gargoyle Games 75 Ultimate 93
Gilsoft 77 US Gold 69/79/109
Hewson Consultants 6 Virgin 131
Incentive Software 2 Zzap! Mail order 128/129
Imagine
PIG THElR, CRflGH AV3G-"
Vo -HUM' iVAOfPto BUY B SPECTRUM
130 ZZAP! 64 May 1985
You COME
ERE, MATS *<.
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For time immemorial man has been challenged by the mystery of his
dreams. Deep within each dream lies an enigma as yet unsolved.
Go now through the Gates of Dawn and experience the recreation of the
surreal world of dreams in this vibrant arcade adventure. Enter these
portals and lose yourself in a dazzling and perplexing world where
nothing is too fantastic.

B
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ATMOSPHERIC SOUND Mil

* COMBINES STRATEGY WITH A ,

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umii Gates ofDawn Commodore 64
is available for the
.

from all good software retail outlets from 15 th April.

R.R.P.£S 95 . CBM 64
| Also available from Virgin ( tames Limited, 2-4 Vernon Yard / 19 Portobello Road
Wmm London W1 2DX.
1 Telephone: 01-727 8070

\
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CLOSED

Produced with technical

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 .

A MZWSF1ELD PUBLICATION
MAV1985
'

\ No.l

Pvr.lusive review

FIREBIRD

The new Miner 2049er, Pole Position,

Beyond’s new sizzler. Super Huey
Mama Llama, Cauldron, etc, etc, etc. .

tips
O insidei Karnath solution, pages of playing
Af inter, Wizard,
Crowther, the White
£2000 in prizes and Rockfofd! u fe
. . .
 OFFICIAL LICENC
FROM NICHIBUTS J

TRIPTO THE
SPACE WAR!
THE CLASSIC MOON CRESTA MANUFACTURED
UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENCE

SPECTRUM/SPECTRUM + £6.95
COMMODORE 64 £6.95
TRADE AND CREDIT CARD ORDERS
TELEPHONE (0734)591678

INCENTIVE
54 London Street, Reading RG1 4SQ
]

ISSUE No.1 MAY 1985

the
Hailed as perhaps when
game i

ever computer last aut-

anneared on the Beeb game
3D space
umn ihe great Our three-page
now'hits the 64.
one you U see
review is the only
this month.

Amazing words penned by •

greatest animal lover of th

all. Followed by achancefdrf
illlil ^peopleg^n the entire ran^
1 2 Llamasoft games for the &

the 64, We review It,

White Wizard Another great eonveiel

turers is TirNa Noq (»8l

lives on
The greatest adventure writer

7 ED of them casts his spell on

all
Aqua Racer
The boss has his say Zzap with reviews, news, help Airwolf (S)
and his personal top ten. Battle for Normandy
BC's Quest for Tires
10 RAP Bounty Bob Strikes Back (S)
And you have yours Castle of Terror
Buck Rogers (T)
Cauldron (S)
25 INFO Caverns of Sillahc
News and gossip from the Combat Leader
Dark Tower
Banger Elite (G)
Emerald Isle
Frak!
70 ADVENTURE Give my Regards to Broad Street
The pages of the White Hobbit (disk)
Jack Attack
Wizard Lords of Midnight (S)
Mama Llama
86 CHALLENGE Master of the Lamps
Highscores from the
ScoreLord
Win a disk drive! Mindshadow
Pastfinder (S)
Penetrator
Pole Position
Rock 'n Bolt
89 TOP 64 Seaside Special
Greatest chart in the land Shades (T)
Shadowfire (S)
97 TIPS Software Star
Spy Hunter (S)
Maps, tactics, advice, Super Huey (S)
cheats The Tracer Sanction
Tim Love's Cricket
Tir Na Nog (S)
120 MINTER Web Dimension (T)
Witch's Cauldron
The most
hairiest,
Valkyrie 17
awesome column 11

G for Gold medal

S for Sizzler
130 NEXT MONTH T for Tacky
The goodies still in store

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 3

\
SPECTRUM 48K •
COMMODORE
\
6
64 •
AMSTRAD •
ATARI 800
 ip^ine into Action

Welcome to Blabgor, younger screens, each 30 times the on screen

known display this highly original
home of Gribbly Blabgorians,
as Gribblets.
game incorporates detailed
Grobbly, one of a race of
graphics, smooth all direction
peaceful creatures who In this exotic world the
multispeed scrolling, stunning sound
have developed their Gribblets iead a carefree life
effects and is controlled entirely by
brain to such an extent that they and can be found playing behind '

joystick for quick response. You'll

can move around entirely by rocks, over the lakes and on mystical
thought power alone, their floating islands. Can you herd the
see how well you're doing by
- too many
Gribbly's expressions
'intelligence - or Psi - being stored threatened Gribblets to the safety of
frowns means that you need more
in their Psi banks which must be the cave? Trying to stop you is Seon,
practice!
topped up regularly. a wayward Blabgorian, who is now
imprisoned in the skies behind the Bounce out and get your copy
The hills around them are infested now\
with more primitive creatures who
energy web. But for how long?
Only £7.95
are out to attack and carry off the Played over 6 colourful and titled
1

For the Commodore 64

3D Lunattack Heathrow International ATC

Use your detailed radar screen to guide
Flying your Luna

to destroy their
Up
Hover

command base.
and
Fighter, try
penetrate the 3 successive Seiddab zones

to the minute status reports on

% incoming aircraft - including Concorde -
safely down from holding stacks to the
runway at Heathrow. Emergencies such
unknown aircraft intrusion and radio
as

your fighter's condition and the Seiddab

failure call for ice-cool concentration.
defences make Lunattack the space
adventure of the decade. HEWiOn COnMILEAna For the Commodore 64 £7.95
May the power be with you!
For the Commodore 64 £7.95 56B Milton trading Estate, Milton, Abingdon, Oxon OX 1 4 4RX

we are always happy to evaluate software sent to us with a view to publication.

As part of our continuing development of innovative software
Money bags
Roger Kean, Franco Frey
Slavedriver
Chris Anderson
Tape collector
Bob Wade
Joystick junkies
Gary Penn, Julian Rignall
Typing queen
Lucy Anderson
White wizard contacter Cause by fw «»
in,no'i
*
*
Steve Cooke We SuP*rb
ar
far *n “
a*ay
Art supremo Qa S
ydrr)Q y wemo?t c°mm,
thp

Oliver Frey Seated „ ^ entertaT

ent sn
Layout loonies
David Western, Gordon Druce
Gentle persuader
John Edwards
%%Z%jP^Z1d%yy *0 he J n

Fe-Mail order
Carol Kinsey
Subscriber's friend
?*«wS?“
»»». “*w*w«**~
'»»»
Denise Roberts I

Writing palace (reviews, news,

comps, etc)
Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace,
Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1HX (Tel
0935-78511)
Home base (advertising, sub- What you
scriptions, mail order, etc)
Newsfield Ltd, 1-2 King Street, WILL find in Zzap!
Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1AQ. • Page after page of ultra-
(Tel 0584-5851) detailed, up the minute
to
reviews by our expert game-
- Colour magic brewed at Scan playing team on just about every
Studios, Wallace Road, London new 64 game.
NT • A unique ratirigs and
- Transfer to paper achieved by comment system designed to
Redwood Web Offset, Yeoman make crystal clear the games'
Way, Trowbridge, Wiltshire strong and weak points.
BA14 0QL. • Detailed playing tips, maps
- Distribution throughout known and cheat methods on dozens of
universe by COMAG, Tavistock different games to allow you
Road, West Drayton, Middlesex more enjoyment of the titles you
UB7 7QE.
Circulation
Tom Hamilton
Manager
already own.
• A large section dedicated to 64
adventuring.
How Zzap was bom
All circulation enquiries should • The most exhaustive and up
ring 021-742 5359 to date news and gossip on the Like most living things, Zzap! 64 Late in the year they printed
Now get this, people. Every word and pict- game-playing scene. has parents. Its Ma and Pa are an enticing ad: Editor wanted. It
ure in this mag has been sweated over and • A comprehensive list of nat- the magazines Crash and was spotted by PCG's editor,
is OUR copyright. You can't go pirating
without our written say so. OK? Also, since
it
ional high scores on 64 games Personal Computer Games. Er, who adored working on PCG,
we're pretty busy people, we can't promise plus regular playoffs against the respectively. except it meant commuting to
to return things you send to us unless you record holders. It was Ma who started it off. London. From Somerset.
include a suitable stamped addressed • Special features on the 64 Crash had had an incredible The people at Crash were
envelope.
For the record the company who publish
games-Scene's key people, impact on the Spectrum games amused to receive his applic-
us each month are Newsfield Ltd (see products and issues. industry during 1984 and sold ation, since it was he who had
Home base address above). • A regular column by the amaz- every month like hot cakes. So it started a slanging match with
Pretty cool they are, too. ing Jeff Minter. was natural that the guys behind Crash at the start of the year with
© 1985 Newsfield Limited • Stacks of competitions with it would want to try to do the an unfortunate gossip item in
great prizes. same for the 64. PCG.
Coverbv

Z2flP-flH-PE-Po-Pfl/-ZZRP'5 HERE foppW'

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 7
 As a punishment they ordered move West, becoming the Zzap the Computer and Video Games
him to start work immediately software editor. PCG's White arcade champion of 1983, and
on the new magazine. Thus it Wizard also agreed to divert his the nation's top scorer on
was that a draughty, tumble- outpourings on the adventure Defender. Both were among the
down, upstairs hideaway in an scene into the new channel. five finalists in the PCG compet-
anonymous Somerset town The other two main writers on ition to find Britain's meanest
became the new editorial office Zzap were selected for their player.
of Zzap! 64. game-playing experience and The team was assembled, the
Finding staff to fill it was made expertise. Gary Penn had played games played, the words writ-
easier by a sad, out-of-the-blue just about every game ever re- ten, the issue produced. Now let
announcement from the publ- leased on the 64 and had a pers- it be read.
ishers of PCG. The magazine's onal collection of several hun-
financial prospects for 1985 dred titles. Julian Rignall was
were said to be poor. It had to
close.
One of those put out of a job
was reviewer Bob Wade. He
agreed to get on his bike and

It won't take you long to notice

that a large part of Zzap is taken

up with reviews of new 64
games. Game reviews are hope-
less unless they really do pro-
vide a RELIABLE guide to buying
games. We've therefore put con-
siderable effort into planning
what we believe is the best re-
viewing system anywhere.
Here are the key points:

1 Every game is played by

.

THREE people. This is really the

only way of avoiding inaccurate
reviews caused by a single
person's quirky tastes.

2 . Every game is played

EXTENSIVELY. The Zzap
reviewers are games fanatics ratings, more a sort of com-
who don't know the meaning of promise reached at the end of
the term 'office hours'. Indeed, the argument. Obviously plenty
on a couple of occasions police of people will still disagree with
officers have called at the office our ratings, but at least we're
to see why the lights were on ready with a detailed defense!
after midnight! We just say:
'Sorry officer, but to review this 5 Our OPINIONS on the game
game fairly we just have to reach are stated clearly. Some mag-
the final screen.' azines are forced to devote what 6 We try to make most possible
little space they have for reviews use of SCREEN PICTURES, not
3 The SAME
. three reviewers to simply describing a game. We just to show you the game's
play every game. The advantage think you also want a clear graphics, but also to explain
of this is that comparisons opinion on it. That's why on what's on screen. That's why BOB WADE
between the games can be fairly each review you'll find com- you'll find detailed captions on
and consistently made. ments printed in speech bubbles many screen shots.
linked to each reviewer. In some But finally, it must be stressed
4 Enormous
. care is taken over cases our reviewers disagree, again that nothing can remove
the RATINGS. All three and this will be reflected in the the element of personal taste
reviewers give their own printed comments. Where from the appreciation of a game.
ratings, and then we argue. A there's more than one opinion No matter how much care we
lot. The final ratings aren't a on a game, you should know take, it's still possible you won't
strict average of the three initial about it! agree. It's just less likely.

8 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 W

The Zzap ratings this:

titles
how similar
already available on the
is this game to rating.
-
Here are some examples.
A game
with a thousand
64? In other words a company screens but which is completely
Ratings are probably the most GRAPHICS. which makes a brilliantly orig- unaddictive scores low on both
Fairly straight-
inal game on another computer hookability and lastability. (If it's
studied part of a review. We've forward. How impressive are the
adopted what may at first seem pictures on screen? Are they
and then converts it to the 64 not addictive you won't keep
a strange system, but we think large? Colourful? Detailed?
some months later, will still get a playing it.)
you'll get to like it. Original? Is the animation good.
high originality rating for the - A game which is difficult to get

Firstly, like our sister magaz- Is movement smooth? How game. into,but has plenty of depth and
ine Crash, all ratings are marked much variety is there to the Bear in mind also that what interest once you're into it could
as percentages. The advantage graphics? Note: only some of makes a game not so
original is score low on Hookability and
of this is one of extra flexibility these points can be judged by much an original scenario, but high on Lastability.
and precision. There is a real looking at a screen photograph. an original approach to game- - A game which is incredibly
difference between a rating of play itself. compulsive but only has two
SOUND. Again, straight-
screens to solve could score
forward. the sound impress-
Is
HOOKABILITY. This word has high on Hookability and low on
ive, exciting, effective, varied?
been invented by us because we Lastability.
couldn't find another one which
said what we wanted to convey. VALUE FOR MONEY. This
It's kind of a cross between rating takes into account all the
'playability', 'addictiveness', other ratings and also the price
and 'game-feel'. When award- of the game. It is not just an aver-
ing it we ask: age since some ratings are more
- How difficult is the game to get important than others. It repres-
into? ents our overall conclusion on
- How strongly does grab you? it how good a buy a particular
- How good does the control game is.
feel?
- Is the action fun, attractive,
compulsive?
- How much do you want to keep
i
playing?
Clearly this is a key rating. A \
low Hookability rating means
either that the game isn't
?
addictive, or that it just takes
86% and 94% - if we were
mark-
ages to get into.
ing out of 10, both would have to
be rounded to 9. Certainly it
would be impossible to resolve Or is it simple, uninteresting, LASTABILITY. Another key
some of our arguments over rat- annoying, repetitive? Is there rating. This one measures the
ings if we didn't have individual good multi-channel music? Is depth of a game. How many /
percentage points to play there effective speech? screens are there? How many
around with. playing levels? How much long-
As
to the ratings themselves, ORIGINALITY. Controversial, term challenge? Will you be
still
we've settle on seven different this one, since a can be game playing it a month after buying
labels which we think cover all of very good without being orig- it?
a game's good and bad points. inal. Indeed there are some Clearly the rating also has to /
games where originality is very take into account the Hookability Wa !fn?? ySPOr
PRESENTATION. This is the hard to award, in particular WILD? What drives
woolliest. Basically it covers all where you have a conversion pom P n0rant'
business com
aspects of a program other than from the arcades or another at° rS She
the actual game itself. For micro by the company licensed
•ng
TV, saying
thei^ZZZ
* °”
example: to make the conversion. thefL me natio
m boom is OVER compu
- the way the game is packaged. However we think it is still a
Does impress you from T
it right crucial rating, because there are WItT Who
when you first pick it up? many games whose originality Sl afl,n9,
«

- the quality of the printed instru- is what makes them (or vice
ctions. Some games offer a versa). ° tK* that
have run Aco,
superbly-printed booklet packed We shall use the term to mean /

with all you need to know. ff.

h8S 6n '

Others leave you in the dark, or

[jgjgSRr
even worse, mislead you. * for Acorn
troubles
- the way the game loads. Is
it 68 % ^9S Pc%r C 0
fast and reliable? Is there a good
loading screen?
]not
pe
9in9-but
There are
games on
%% Buck,<°9< S?£. mean
micro A
Machine beinn
u**^ 91
»

Sy la di '
^ 1

5
- the way the program is presen-

ted on screen. This is the most

48%'Ot&f g"opro9
r ^ but not
!SSv ULOUSLYhtoh
so d at a R,D
'C-
.

important factor. Is there an 54% start I

°n'y two
to
iw 'un
orthreede*
run on It.
a " d with
decent ^mes
it
appealing introductory sequ- gjABlLiTY lx

ence? Is the player offered Sorr> e

0
tapping
ILOOIW , bn,
35 %
i

enough playing options? Is '

bunu<‘°n,,vap
ormes s, t to
'
1.2SiSIS'_°
t Pi
there a two-player game? A high £29ney Zzap! 64
score feature? Are there any
annoying enforced delays betw-
38% released
these
® days
*?*tvvare b
LASTLY s.m! on
een games? Is the overall FEEL baps they'd Chine'
of the program slick or shoddy? think^

I'M S.0 ANGRY- -

ICOUUPTH^DW q
ard, V be
esist '
„ able
— ...
(• • • C °0tlnuednn Donii
 .

tern requires doing all the re-

viewing here at the office by my
team of three joystick demons.
Until one of them snuffs it (hint
hint) I'm afraid there's nothing
doing.
Playing tips are another mat-
ter. . .

Calling Minter freaks

Slag off the dross!
Hi!
I note with
demise of Personal Computer
some sadness the
The zzingiest letters page in town! I'm writing to you to ask if
there are any like minded
Games. am pleased however entities out there who are fans of
9

OK, so how come a magazine can have a letters page in its first
that you and some of your coll- Jeff Minter, who want to exch-
eagues from PCG have moved issue? The letters have all got to be made up, right? Wrong. These ange hints, tips, or just say what
on to continue in another public- are all genuine letters from people who got to hear about Zzap they think about his latest game,
ation: before it was published. would they please write to me.
hope that the title of the new
I
Most of them, it must be said, are from former readers of Personal Yours hair fly
venture, obviously aimed to Computer Games, so please forgive the occasional reference to that Mark Pearson, 2 Eynon Mews,
catch the 'kiddy market', is not magazine. It won't happen again.
Christchurch Road, Ringwood,
an indication that you will be Now listen, everyone, it's your editor speaking. want to see this I
Hants
trivialisingthe editorial stand- section of the magazine doubled or trebled in future issues. It can be PS. Hope the mag's a roaring
ards which were clearly evident done - provided you write to me. About anything to do with the
at PCG to the levels perpetrated
mag, computer games, your pet guinea pig, anything.
I'll reply to as many as possible in these pages. And if
I'm particu-
by some of your competitors. Shouldn 't that have been a Bory-
I'm sure you are aware of the larlyimpressed, amused, or nauseated by your letter. I'll even send ing success?
publications mean (who will
I I
you a game or two from the Zzap lucky dip as reward. Wow!
not slander in print) and, as far Wing your words to: Chris Anderson, Zzap Rap, Zzap! 64, 1 Church
as recall, there was a professed
I
Terrace, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1HX.
dislike for some in the pages of Stumped by Kong
PCG, at one time or another. Dear Editor,
also hope that you will be
I

carrying forward some of the

No more Spectrum nausea I was delighted with the news
• ••

that there was going to be a

format of PCG, particularly the am writing to tell you how reviews, but now 64 owners x

I
magazine dedicated entirely to
well-presented and extremely pleased am that you have dec-
I need never be driven sick about
Commodore software, so I

readable reviews section. ided to do a magazine especially Speccie magazines again,

thought would put pen to paper
I

would also ask that if you are for €64 gamesters. The u It imate in computer
and ask for any playing tips on
going to award points to a game PCG is dead
don't care that games mags. .Long live Zzap!
. .
I
Kong Strikes Back, especially on
in a review, say in a range 0-10, althoughPCG was the best sheet four, with the merry go
that you indulge in actually games mag for the 64 at the PS, Can you please tell me
round.
using the full range of marks time. There weren't enough whether Elite is going to be con-
I'm glad someone has seen
rather than restricting vourself reviews for the 64, but this mag verted to the Commodore 64?
sense to start a magazine like
to just the upper 5-10 region. If should put Crash collectors to Gavin Sparky, Beading, Berks
this. It was sad to hear that I

you're going to give a real indic- Iharine*^®;^' won't be able to get PCG any
ation of quality in software to 1 have, up until now, envied on, Gavin, you haven't
•;
more, but Zzap! 64 has a lot
your readership, you'll have to Spectfiim magazines and esp- even SEEN the mag yet As for
more to offer, I hear. I hope this
be tough on the dross. ecially Crash, for their games lite, what can Isay?
is true.
look forward to an extended
I
Could you review Stellar 7? I

tips section, which is always Giz a job have heard it is a good game,
illuminating reading to those of but want a professional's ver-
us who haven't completed I'm afraid that at the moment I status! (See Issue 4 page 56)
I

dict before I draw the readies out

Manic Miner yet, and hope you am not a 64 owner (to be really The only hurdle is the afore
I
of the bank and pop down to the
may be able to include articles honest I've never owned or even mentioned lack of a 64. But I'm
local computer shop which is a
from behind-the-scenes at the seen a 64 outside of the local sure you wouldn't let that stand
mere .eight miles away. wish I

top software houses. shop!) But getting to the point in the way of a great career in
the magazine well.
Good luck, and I'm awaiting now I'm sure Zzap! 64 will be the computer journalism- (what do
Robert Tapp, Newhaven, E
with anticipation your first most exciting 64 mag for thous- you mean you- would!?!) you
Sussex
edition. ands and thousands of years could charge the cost to deprec-
J A Fagandini, Dulwich, London (how's that for hype?), but excit- iation or admin.
/ hate to say this, Robert, but
ing mags as you well know are If however you want to com-
equivalent of none of us here is all that keen
Now get Mr Fagandini, difficult to produce; ergo offer mit the literary
this,
on Kong Strikes Back. So we
I

Zzap is NOT kiddy. NONE of the my services as a 64 games Decca rejecting the Beatles, will I

haven't played it enough to help

Zzap team is under 10 years old. reviewer to you in a munificent settle for letter of the month and
you. However as soon as some-
And cuddly teddy bears are gesture of unadulterated altru- any prize that entails.
one sends us the definitive tips,
BANNED from the office. Kiddy ism for the sole reason that your J Singh, Hadley, Telford, Shrops
preferably not copied out of that
indeed! burden may be eased. other mag, we'11 print 'em.
But yes / agree about some Mycredentials for this thank- Sorry, J, / think / want to commit
Stel la r 7 is certainly good - and
magazines using only a tiny less yet satisfying occupation the literary equivalent of Decca
if you turn to the subscription
range of their possible ratings. are of the highest order; an avid rejecting the Beatles.
you may find
offer in this issue,
Pathetic, innit? We're trying hard interest in software, a humorous In fact I've already had piles of
you can get hold of it with fewer
to avoid that. And our playing yet pertinent writing style, a Bic people wanting to help out with
readies than you thought.
tips section is likely to get even ballpoint, cuddly toy and most reviews. But as you'll see from
fatter in future. importantly Crash reviewer the review pages, the Zzap sys-

10 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 V % /fe
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Question time
Dear Zzap 64,
It's great to see a mag for us 64

/ooo
m gamers
great. I've got a
at last. I'm sure it'Jj be
few questions I

hope you can answer.

1. Is the Datasoft Pole Position

the Atarisoft. version under an-

other label?
2. Is there likely to be a Crystal
Castles out by anyone?
llfliii
3. Which is the best trackball to
buy?
4.Are there any, or be likely to*
any, alternative,and/or fast
J'KyffiwM- . :

lllixill::;:::-.-:
.• cheaper disk drives out. 1541s
tfei
life:: Mil are old and slow.
Hi 11$
••
;
''fe:feife
Finally a tip for anyone want-
:

ISlfe
«P •X-X-:-
•••••

ing to put all other micro owners

:y |:
lim f m ” im
HI mM them
l l

fefel feiliSife
; ;'wXy.’.-X’ •» •§ in a state of shock. Let play
n'
ggfiii
i

imt 1#§H iy.v-v.

Aztec Challenge. The music on
iilfefei
ii MBS this game is unbelievable,! In
fact when Spectrum owners
III
pi life
ffe
•hwJI§ iliill hear this game they sulk for
HI
weeks!
IH
fefel
Xv'-’XvX’X-
Carl Lyons, Huddersfield
fell Hi
IP1II
mm 111
ii fefefei
1. Yes. Not
yet. 3. The Wico. 4.
2.
fell: hwi-Ji

life;
mm •fei
Yes, Atari say they're bringing
out a 64 compatible drive at a
m WXw-w-vX
much lower price later in the
•lli
llpi
.

x«&v: hi
year. And you never know, Com-
Pip:
Px^P
modore might have a few plans
•Hi of their own I
The speed problem isn't caus-
ed by the 1541, it's down to the
internal design of the 64 itself.

•
'j However, the next few months
may well see the introduction of
;

'turbo-loading' disks, just as we

already have turbo cassettes.
feifeifeifeiife
The cheapest way to get hold of
:
:
::: : ::fe:Sfe::::::::fe a 1541 is to enter the competit-
lliilfei
ion in this issue.

Zzapiest mother in the west

Dear Chris, of money for software, so find Mummy! What did you do?
Sad though I am to see the reviews not only interesting, but
demise of PCG, I am looking for- essential, if am not to waste my I
When read in a letter from Jeff
I
Don't tell me - you were just
ward to seeing the first copy of hard earned cash. Minter that PCG hfad crashed, I about to hit 100,000 when Mum
Zzap! 64. Question for the White Wiz- went through a great deal of pulled the plug and made you go “WHKfi
I have tried other 64 mags, but ard. Any clues for The Pettigrew agony, Even the feline inter- to bed. Alas, a common tale. AW
findmost rather boring. As a Chronicles ? bought it without galactic king by my side gave a The Mother truble idea is FAN
I

mother with a full time job, a cry in vain. So you can imagine great - we'll do it. A free tape for NHUlU"
seeing any reviews, (that'll teach
Guide company and various me), and though rather disapp- how pleased was when found I I the most touching tale of
leisure pursuits, my computer out about Zzap. maternal persecution. Ditto for
ointed, will finish it some
day.
provides much needed relax- Clues on first cassette please,
have a few ideas for things in
I
the best letter from a mother.
ation (?) and entertainment. that's as far as we've got.
Zzap, such as a 'Mother truble'
use it purely for games play-
I Liz Tomlinson, Havant, Hants section. Also would like to put I

ing, (adventures mostly), as I

forward the first high score for
don't have time, at present, to Great to hear from such an the mag. This is a score of 96,200
ienrn programming. Between enlightened lady Maybe you .
on Activision's Ghostbusters.
Guides, an 'A' level Maths should pop over to Petersfiefd Just for proof, my account
course and guitar lessons, and have a gentle word in the number is [censored).
there's not a lot of time left. ear of Bruce Raven's Mum Anyway, hope the mag goes I

have a very limited amount

I (below)..?. O.K.,
Bruce Raven, Petersfield, Hants

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 11

 £5iwj=! psopJs s-iy :hs iurj'uuotd .is :uci:y, 001110 psopl
syn'i siijfji] :h-i Cssis. 2 o//j 3 piojjJij find :iis colour oi
pk&dz tmkos ziiotn Sunji poopio uro jus: plul
iJJ.

3u:miu: do hoy pooplo hi dio micro indusir

ji'iiJpus.
su f( Js i/i3 S4 tuolYf dj3 JxorJd's rjrsjrss: yiiiniis
rnuchhibi A/id doss k /lovs u iuiurot Chris Andsrson
ssitsd :/J3 ijussdons.

FACT The 64 is the world's best selling computer.

:

FACT There are 64s in more than

: half a million British homes.

FACT More games are being written for the 64 than for any other micro.
:

manager
arkettng

cWoe toP»aV9a^^u^
onto theS^
vebestmacj'^^^
are
vJlSdrinWng ^^fcapabttVtiea
1

•
TheV sh «»aement is stitt y*+. former
any -s manage Cam modore business
,

«* W» * »<« t0
°’

12 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 sTEv\iabt cs director
miin Graph‘
W- W' Wmm
„fitsnar uvv
oTiK " yy!-yy-r/'‘

>rms .

^ ^ T&k the on the

sU
but
ctrum, b
Atari

chines
have the el iemf
vm° dor
ui in the
f^ at
‘software
it
didn't get
houses.
|
a support of been some
there softwa re
Onthe 64 ^
ptee
ary exciting
think there
smo^(0 c ome. |

nd I

he but I don
^'wits
tretched to
limits,
he
jon oit
tmag been
hink the
.

writer hgs
software con cerned
So as far
aS
ha ve a
9°° d
mart"5 atdweshaM

.
SS
the

no d have
I softwarert ^ e ^ ican s
1 Sof3 w
n\A/ithmuch
up
I been coming eha ve

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 13

besesbp
understand w at t
l
,

( 1( be looking
comes out t0 its ful
Atarfwhen it
\ e m
1 The 64
- no one's

included,
is stilt not
aPPtoachede
v® n
Spectrum^
t
9

ryone
even/
eve
n
fuU
yet K
says. V ou
game
^
capacity,

“ n
ever B & ,

the bgst

“5'STo"' S rvo“
9 that tne
i don't know ga mes use
oses too
much
memory ava
^J^S're
D
about!
L because
alt the Jn ’
at S
I

1 ^InymtSSr^^SlSS
go
1 memory space ha^ a ( 0n g way to
1 The software stuff
that's.la

m WBmm '

'mmmmmmsmmmimm »iii
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WHRTlS THAT NU/V\8EK Pi-Rtfi

DOING THSR6?/"
 mm yf l

ms* BL
*CC£d _
'**<££>« To

..k

\ J

only 1/70th of total playing area

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 Software Ltd
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
Alligata Software Ltd.,
skill at the .
joystick and determined brainpower in
1 Orange Street,
the unique use of the movie v Sheffield Si 4DW
props, will solve this \Tefc (0742) 755796
intricate
for you.
puzzle
// X.
Send for full colour
product brochure
XsJ(enclose a stamp)

9
 I

broke into a sweat as Elite challenge to trade in certain to find yourself a suitable destin- the planets indicated on the
loaded into the 64. Would it basic goods so as to make ation and get into space where local chart and target them for a
I live up to expectations? enough money to buy sophistic- you can get familiarised with hyperspace jump.
Could survive in the murder-
I ated weaponry. Once you've got your ship and practise flying. Launching yourshiptakes you
ous space lanes? As settled I that armament you can take on If you cut to the galactic chart out into a whole new world of
down in my executive class the universe in ship to ship screen you'll find yourself in the planets, ships, space stations
comfy swivel chair knew was I I combat so as toimprove your bottom left of galaxy one. There and asteroids. Ahead of you will
about to experience the game of ratingfrom Harmless to the are eight galaxies in all and 250 be a planet (Lave) and if you use
a lifetime. much sought after Elite. planets in each one, so running your rear viewer you'll see the
Elite is already a classic game You begin your quest on the out of planets is pretty hard to station behind. Left and right
on the BBC but its arrival on the planet Lave in your Cobra Mk III do. You can lookatyour position scans are also available so you
64 is a much more important spacecraft. You have one hun- more closely on the local chart can see everywhere but directly
event. Despite problems of con- dred credits with which to buy screen which shows the planets above and belowyou.
version, the game has been im- fuel and a cargo, but that won't within about seven light years. As you travel 'space dust'
proved and is still the same brill- buy much (you need to build up This is the maximum range of moves by you - well, it's called
iant mixture of 3D space laser your finances very carefully on your ship so many journeys will space dust for the sake of real-
combat and trading. your early trips). Once your be needed to cross a galaxy. ism, but the effect is of stars
At its most basic the game is a cargo is complete you're ready You can obtain data on any of shooting past. Other craft may

May 1985

Firebird,
LIT £14.95 case, £17.95 disk, joystick with keys or keys.

The amazing space mega-game hits the 64

Real-time 3D shoot-em-up plus deep strategy
2000 planets plus 'trumbles' and extra missions

• Space dust - or are they stars?

Entrance to space station
where you must dock.

Forward shield
strength

Rear shield
strength

Foe/ level

—f »L i
^ t/
Altitude 4L
'
am /r
Laser temperature C-#

16
Cabin temperature

ZZAP! 64 May 1985

Flight grid scanner

£
TheZzap! review
The 64 Elite due
in the shops in mid
is
April, the same
time as this mag-
azine. The version of the game we
reviewed was not quite finished,
although Firebird assured us there
would be no more significant
changes.
We were shown the game exclus-
ively by Firebird's game-testing
whizz kid Colin Fuidge who made a
weekend Yeovil guarding the
trip to
precious pre-production disk. (Unfor-
tunately two of the Zzap! team were
away, but Chris Anderson and Bob
Wade were able to give the game a
thorough test. Bob continuing with
the game late into the night.)
One change you will notice on the
finished version involves the text
appearing on screen - the character
set will be different. Firebird had not
yet finished the new version which
will feature computer-style letters.

fpfayedthisg^rtB mr
hours at my first sitting and
was only dragged away from
it then by fatigue and want-

ing to tel! everyone out there

about it it is a brilliant game
of blasting and trading and is
certainty the best game I've
seen this year. The controls
are terrific and aren't too
responsive as on the BBC.
The action is always absorb-
ing and as for the size of the
W
also appear and depending on
their make, they may or may not
be hostile. In general, unless you
are near a space station, it's a
case of shoot first and ask quest-
ions of the floating mass of
space debris later.
While you're near a space
station take the time to get the
feel of your ship and to under-
PRESENTATION
94 %
lap a puirc:

y
4 n/
| 'yQ
Marvellous booklets:
informative, funny and
convenient.

Wonderful vector graphics

showing great 3D action.
ORIGINALITY
Q / O/
q
“7
^
HOOKABILITY
y Q O/
r-
/O
- ^
30 shoot-em-up and trader
game, but what a brilliant
combination.

From your first space flight

yOU ^now this Is a winner.

game what can you say but

,

that this is truly a

stand the instrument display.
Your controls are left and right
SOIMD LA STABILITY
megahgarmMS- roll, which spin you on your axis, p- r\ r\ / Laser blasts, crashing noises,
H aq q / 8 galaxies, 2000 planets,
and climb and dive which do just ^J ^ sounds.
|
^^Q
hyperspace and docking
u endless trading possibilities
and tireless action.
that.
The roll controls are tough at
X/ALLIF
W MOMFYT
C. POP IVIUIlIC
first but once mastered provide
95 %
Even at £14.95 it's a must.
excellent movement - to actually
bank left, you must first roll left
and then pull joystick back to
climb (or roll rightand dive). You orientation and energy. The ships. It indicates whether a craft

can use either a joystick or the shields and energy are affected is above or below you and in
keys. For flying though most 64 by hits on your ship and if you front or behind you and whether
owners will feel more at home fire your own laser too much it it should be in view of your for-

with the joystick. will overheat and fire less ward scanner.
The instruments at the bottom rapidly. Now you know your way
of the screen indicate your for- The most complicated instru- around you can try a practice
ward and rear shield strength, ment is the flight grid scanner docking back at Lave. All you
fuel, cabin and laser temper- which indicates where objects have to do is flip your ship over
ature, altitude above a planet, are around you and is vital in the and head for the slit in the
number of missiles, speed. middle of dogfights with other station side. This always faces

Two rich programmers

Here are the mega-brains behind the mega-game. Ian Bell (left) and
David Braben, both in their early twenties, must be two of the
wealthiest guys around. They've been paid a fortune by Firebird for
world-wide rights to the game - those in the know reckon it's a
six-figure sum!
That's in addition to the money paid them for the original BBC
version by Acornsoft, who incidentally must be kicking themselves
for not picking up worldwide rights at the same time.
Ian and David have done the conversion to the 64 at the same time
as studying for final exams at Jesus College, Cambridge where they
both won scholarships, (Prince Edward is a fellow student there -
wonder what his combat rating is?).
was David who first began programming Elite - and the machine
It

he used? None other than the BBC's prehistoric ancestor, the Acorn
Atom!

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 17

 A deadly Police
Viper fires across
your bows.
Zzzzap!
Got him. Enemy
ship hit by your twin lasers.

towards the planet but you need

to centre up carefully and slow
down or you'll crash into the
station or scrape your way down
the docking entrance walls.
When you you can
feel ready,
hyperspace chosen
to your
planet where you may have to
fight pirates,bounty hunters or
mercenaries all out to get your Galactic chart Instruction screen for one
cargo or blast you for the sheer - total of 250 planets per galaxy. of the special missions.

fun of it. You may be able to

make a quick jump to the planet. Make a Killing without getting Killed
If not there are other ships
around and you had better be
Short range chart shows planets Trading is your key to success since it enables you to make enough
you can reach in one hyperspace
ready for a fight.
cash to buy highly advanced weaponry. There are 17 goods in which
jump.
Making it to the space station you can trade although some bring better profits than others and >
three are officially illegal.
will bring a new set ofmarket
prices and hopefully a profit,
Your cargo bay only holds twenty tons, although for 400 credits
that is you've picked your
if
you can buy a 35 ton bay. The most profitable forms of cargo are
slaves, narcotics and firearms, but these are all illegal and trading in
planet and cargo properly.
The game comes in an excel- them will get you a rating of fugitive and bring the police onto your
trail. You can remove this rating by trading in legal goods for a while
lent package along with a very
but be warned, police Viper ships are lethal.
thorough and humourous instr-
Items don't always provide a good profit margin and you need to
uction book, a quick reference
guide to controls and ships, and study the data on a planet before you travel there to determine the
price you are likely to get for certain goods. Rich developed worlds
a marvellous scene setting story
will pay well for foodstuffs to support their high populations
called the Dark Wheel by Robert
Holdstock.
whereas undeveloped agricultural worlds will pay a king's ransom
List of local market prices.
for technology.
BW
The nature of a planet's government should also determine how
wise istogothere since anarchies are likely to harbour a very nasty
it
Fighting the Elite
reception committee but democracies are easier places to stay alive.
Once you do get involved in a any ship with a couple
virtually If you just remember to buy low and sell high you won't go far

fight there are several things to an energy bomb which

of hits, wrong, although bear in mind a pirate can smell a valuable cargo
remember and numerous ways destroys every ship in your from light years away and you might have company very fast.
of killing and being killed. To immediate vicinity and an ECM
start with you are equipped system which destroys incorn-
with a pulse laser and four ing missiles. ,
Guide to Ships
missiles. Lasers can be mounted on all Your Cobra is not the only ship blasting the space waves. Many
Additional weapons you can four sides of the ship but you'll other models exist but all are named after snakes and are danger-
buy are beam lasers, military mostly use the front firing ones, ous. Anacondas, Boas and Pythons are all large cargo carrying
lasers, energy bombs and All of these are very expensive vessels and if destroyed will leave an awful lot of space debris and
mining You can also buy
lasers. though and will take a while to hopefully some cargo cannisters to scoop up (if you've got a scoop).
extra defensive equipment - an get but once acquired they can Pirates, bounty hunters and mercenaries will use a wide range of
ECM system, fuel scoops, be devastating. Even with such ships including Asps, Cobras, Fer-de-Lances, Geckos, Kraits and
escape capsule, extra energy power the same basic combat Mambas. Most of these are flown by experienced pilots, have nearly
unit docking computers and rules apply, either kill your as much speed as you and are heavily armed - so watch out.
galactic hyperdrive. enemy by getting on his tail as Most dangerous of all are Police Vipers and Thargoid invasion
these can be bought at
All of fast as possible before others ships. Vipers are faster than you and will be encountered in large
planets with the appropriate arrive. Or
if the odds look too numbers if you have erred in any way, while Thargoids may appear
tech level. The most handy are and run by making a
great, try with you out of hyperspace and swarm all over you, both resulting
military lasers which will blast hyperspace jump. in rapid deaths unless you really are Elite.

64 version v BBC version

The first thing to be said is that the game bugs in the BBC game (and there are plenty) Then, unique to the 64, there are the
runs quite a bit more slowly on the 64 - this have been eliminated . Trumbles. These cute little furry guys will
is caused by a combination of the fact that Secondly, thanks to the 64's larger mem- reproduce on your ship to fill the cargo bay
the central processor in the BBC runs at a ory, the entire game is present in memory and also your ears with a cacophony of
higher speed, and that vector graphics are allthetime, a considerable improvement on breeding squeaks. They could eventually
harder to program on the 64. the BBC cassette version which had certain stop you carrying cargo and even start
However we don't think this detracts sig- features trimmed. appearing on screen where the cute little
from the game. In actual play the
nificantly More important still, the 64 version con- bug-eyed bundles of fun may get in your
64 graphics do not seem slow at all - you tains some new features: there are extra way during a heavy battle or difficult
only notice the difference by running the 'special missions' that can occur if you docking. How you acquire them, and how
two versions side by side. However if prove yourself in battle. These are highly you eventually get rid of them remain two of
you've played the BBC version extensively, secret but we know that one of them is to the universe's closely guarded secrets.
you'll probably find the 64 game has a dif- track down a stolen ship which can only be Ones which only 64 owners can hope to
ferent feel. destroyed with a military laser with repeat- uncover.
There are more than enough improve- ed hits. The others you'll have to discover
ments to compensate. For a start, all known for yourself.

••
IT'S Too MUCH - CRN'I" COPE *'

18 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 |

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-. g ZZAP! 64 May 1985 19

Nj
? a
m Wtiy
 Controlling
the amazing Leeper
One the most unusual
of be critical at some points, the
aspects the game is the
of leaping has to be carefully

t'sthe year 8878 and explor- movement of your Leeper timed.

ation has become a thing of
spacecraft. Looking more like a However, should you need to,
I the past, apart from the footless frog it's a joy to watch a quick pull back on the joystick
select few known as the Past- as it leaps and spins its way stops the craft dead, while
finders. through the landscape. movement and right causes
left
The control takes a little to spin towards the appropriate
Exploring and mapping host-
getting used to. Joystick up side of the screen.
ile territory is the aim of the
causes the craft to accelerate by Overall the control has a great
game. Armed with scant sup-
leaping forward off the ground. feel to it.
plies and five' Leepers' you have
to scuttle and bound your way Since the height of the craft can
across a vertically scrolling 3D
landscape.
mercilessly. The baddies are all
extremely detailedand well
The playing area itself is very
animated.
large and the scenery crisp and
varied with clouds, walls, towers
The landscape, too, is detail-
and abstract designs to be ft took only a couple of plays and colourful with clear
ed, crisp

negotiated. Basically this is a to convince me that there shadows to make it easier to

very addictive shoot-'em-up/ was nothing ancient about gauge the height of an obstacle.
strategy game in the Xevioust this game. Its more than just On later screens the going gets
a good solid shoot-'em-up tough with moving spikes,
River Raid style.
expanding walls and rising
When you begin the game you
ideas Some of the back- towers to thwart your explor-
are presented with a small .

ground colours were a bit ation attempts.

portion of a map with coloured
areas: green which are low in rough on the eyes but t
Sound is very disappointing
radiation and red areas which
for a game of this quality -

animation are excellent The reduced to a Space Invaders

are high. The idea is to explore
sound/ although simple was type heartbeat and few zaps and
as much of the map as possible. , ,

effective, apart from the beeps.

You can choose the direction
you want to go in by moving an unwelcome return of the As well as a score, the pro-
arrow. Space invaders' heartbeat In gram also awards a playing
Then you you are presented my view, a very worthy status. This starts as 'raw
with a list of four supplies for addition to the growing recruit' and rises according to
you to choose from: heavy Activision range .
how many artefacts you
deliver.

Activision,
A3TFINDER £9.99 case, £19.39 disk, joystick only
30 shoot-em-up with unusual graphics
Large map to cover with leaping, rotating craft

metal, which acts as a radiation

barrier, a deradiator which
IWMiiMIM at first but removes all the radiation
the different obstacles, game absorbed, a beam shield which
size and other complexities gives the Leeper protection from
reveal themselves it turns enemy fire and a scrambler
into a tough game of skill and which stops the enemy from
tactics The control method
. tracking you.
adds a new dimension to the All the supplies should be
gamepfay, although it takes a used only extreme emergen-
in
while to get the hang of it cies - although there are other
You'll find yourself coming supplies littered over the lands-
back to this one time and cape these are all few and far
again trying to avoid being a between. There is also an oppor-
'raw recruit* ora ' clod tunity to pick up extra lives, but ‘°S%?$nZP<£Jh° f
l
.
the
hopper'. Hiked the animation these too are extremely scarce.
of the spaceship and once Throughout the land you will
you 've mastered its see plate-like objects, artefacts,
movement it is highly lying discarded - pick these up
manoeuvrable, f can't see and deposit them at either a
what it's got to do with the base or station, marked on the
past but I'd like more games map. You will be rewarded with
like this in die future. bonus points plus a period of
invulnerability or immunity
from radiation. You should also
keep an eye out for small boxes
which each contain five artifacts.
The aliens themselves present
little challenge to the player - the
real skill is negotiating the land-
scape safely and quickly. Occas-
ionally a drone ship will come
towards you and track you

20 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 "FOR THOSE OF SbU

 PI»P
milms

Shootab/e
enemies

JK

Radiation level

The Leeper spacecraft

at full height

No. of lives

Artifact

There is plenty in this game

to keep the hardened player
going for hours, and prov-
ides enough frustration to
keep you coming back for
more. Don 't be put off by the
game's appearance, it has
plenty in store and it takes
quite a while to appreciate
its' more subtle touches.

mCTirsi^Zcip! some crystals.

pldyino
K y ^ tips
-
^
Only jump walls when. you have
good momentum. Never try to
w* I. #%! StdPfH
\
mm
0^0/
;

r\/ Copious instructions (in six devious-related but with

Keeping your radiation down is jump any wall when you are
vital/either with a deradiator or moving slowly,
X <
vJw /U
languages!}, high score
feature.. QQ /q much more to do.

by shooting the small crystals Try to head towards a base or HOOKABIL.ITY

which oscillate above the land- station. These are clearly !

scape. Use the crystals as the marked on the map, but keep QA 0/
Qt
Simple, but strikingly original, "7r 0/ Not stunnin 9 at first play, but
main way of keeping radiation your eyes peeled because they /0 1 especially the spaceship. / Q /q great thereafter.

levels down as supply of deradi- are easy to miss,

ators are very limited and are Although extra lives are earned
fjppfjjiM LASTAEIUTY
only to be used in emergencies, every 5,000 points there are
A 00/ A A A large landscape and plenty
v Q/
H
Repetitive pulse plus a few
Heavy metal
your radiation
is best used when
levels are high
Leepers located somewhere on
the landscape to collect. The two
HO /o zaps -
/o
1
'
of strategy to keep you
intrigued.

and you are entering a red zone - arrows on the map screen show
\/A I I ICS Pf*!****
IVI VmhP*\I (E lr
v
this will help slow radiation the general direction to follow. If 1 1 * * * 1 1 | f

absorption and will give you a you are heading towards a OCO/
OU /0
Despite Activision 's price, an
excellent buy.
chance to seek and destroy Leeper they will both point up.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 21

 ,

The nature of the puzzle

ROCK 'n' BOLT introduces some new elements to an arcade style
game. It combines arcade quick thinking and control with a strat-
egic and logical approach.
In some ways it's a sort of 2D Rubik's cube with sliding pieces.
Fortunately it's not as hard as the cube. Unfortunately there isn't as
much lasting interest as the cube either, but there's enough to keep
Activision's
you going for some time
puzzle, Zenji
The skill is to choose carefully the order and position in which the
girders are bolted down to ensure you don't isolate yourself.
for ages. I initially thought
Rock W
Bolt would do the
On the later levels of several screens width, the best approach is "it's
ROCKFORD
to sort out the farthest screens first, arranging some form of route
same, but unfortunately its Kior
appeal died exponentially
back. The same applies to each individual screen as you go - take the Rock V
external areas first, working your way inward. BOLT/"
with play. For once a few
nasties to upset your play
Remember that you need to get back to where you started, so
always leave a return route. In every case it's apparently possible to
would be appreciated, but as
it stands. Rock 'n' Bolt didn't
do this without having to undo girders.
rivet me to my
chair for hours
oriend.

Acfcivieion, case, £19.39 disk, joystick only

Slick, original puzzle with great music

Activision's Zenji as an
arcade /puzzle against the

equally as absorbing. Many

100 of them it will be tough to

finish them all. As with most
of their recent releases,
music is always in
accompaniment and adds to
the game. The graphics are
plain but breakdancing a bolt
into its hole is fun This could
.

You are given a time limit in well provide hours of

which to complete each level, concentration and with the
and this becomes longer or layouts extending over
shorter depending on which several screens it may drive
level you're on. Once you finish you crazy, ^
one, the points awarded for each
successful bolting of a girder, exceedingly well animated -
are increased. watching him walk and spin is
You can enter at one of three very amusing. The colours used
starting levels (1, 9 or 18). On were fitting and attractive on
later levels the puzzle extends both sprite and background.

H igh
Louie
above the
the
construction
worker struts to the sound
of a contemporary rock beat, in
city streets any reason, then his pay (score)
will decrease by more than he
earned for bolting it down. Once
all the girders have been bolted
over several screens. These
screens are linked, but unfort-
unately don't scroll to one
another, they switch abruptly.
Sonically Rock 'n' Bolt is in-
credible - some of the most out-
standing music yet on the 64.
Activision have really done
this new arcade puzzle from down, then he needs to get back There are three levels of diffic- themselves proud this time, and
Activision. to where he started in order to ulty: practice, easy and hard, but there can't be much more to be
Girders move back and forth move up to the next level. these are only time orientated, squeezed out of the SID chip.
and Louie needs to bolt them There are basically two differ- not really giving much other var- Other sound effects are great
down within a given time limit. ent types of screen in Rock 'n' iation. too - just listen to that guy spin.
For each girder he successfully Bolt, alternating through 100 The score and timer are disp- Despite all these good points,
stops moving, he is paid a cert- levels. In the first you simply layed on screen in 3D - the first I'm afraid the game is still some-
ain fee, depending on the level have to bolt everything down time I've seen this. Louie himself what flawed. Gameplay is inter-
of play. and get back to the lift at the side looked as if he's wearing a esting and enjoyable to start
If he needs to undo a bolt for of the building as quick as poss- turban, but he's well defined for with, but it fades due to there not
ible. a multicolour sprite, and being quite enough variety.
In the second type, you must GP
bolt downgirders to a specific
Don't be seduced by the slick blueprint, as shown in the bot-
PRESENTATION ORIGINALITY
graphics and superb music tom right corner of the screen,
There is no real challenge in
this game, and boredom
returning to the liftonce finished
correctly.
“7 pi
/O 0/
/O
Choice of level, time
allowance, 1 or 2 players
"7
/ ^ 0/
U /O
Bolting
us.
down girders is new to

GRAPHICS HOOKABILITV
during my first play. The time
ticking down is the only thing "7^ 0/
81 %O
Louie bops and spins Immediate desire to complete
tomake your palms sweat, / /O beautifully, otherwise plain. 3 layout.

and even that can be fixed. SOUND INSTABILITY

chased you or undid your
93 % U / 0/ many are
Seven fantastic foot-tapping 100 screens, but
work would have made the /0
funky tunes. easy.
game far more frantic and
challenging, but as it stands
VALUEFORMONEY
this is just an average arcade
* r\/ Expensive, but almost a really
style game with amazing good game. Not quite enough
music ,
v I /U variety.

22 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 .

You are the heir to a great fortune. But the crown that
was once your father's is almost beyond your grasp.
How can you win it back?
First you must fly down an ever-changing corridor in
space. Here is flying as it was meant to be. Just you and
your magic carpet, flying literally by the seat of your pants
Reach the end of the corridor and you will meet the
first of three Genies who will set you a complex puzzle

r&mmmmi needing all your skill in colour and sound co-ordination to

solve. Do this and the first secret of the lamps will be yours,
But you have only just begun. — j

Another twenty levels of intense

challenge, with no less than seven j ,
A,
OT
.-.7^
I
.
\/
n
v
,
I S I O
,7.
]\J I

different musical themes are waiting. .

 X

'

SCREEN-SHOTS FROM A spectacular new arcade

SCORE HAGS THE COMMODORE adventure game from
0000000
HflGIC
99
<*•
*«?>
t<- ..se.

#. VERSION. «. % Palace Software that

sets a new standard
-
in graphic realism.

Commodore 64 and
48K Spectrum.
£7.99.

^PCORe *—O HAGS

00004 2 S (&&
H ft G C
1 v—0 V—0 s'«f- iff’ {&-
89V:

SCORE HAGS
0000000 *•-
HUG 1C .*- »<r- *40
99VC <40 ilC-

Sff»
4*k,

111 .'
m : . 49

“... will be one of THE games of 1985 >\ .

.

This one is HOT so don’t miss it! bigk

Explore an entire world in ‘Cauldron’ -The first game ever to feature
*
scrolling shoot-’em-up and platform jumping.

i r Palace Software,
275 Pentonville Road, London N1 9NL.
Dear Palace Software, Please add 80p P&P to your order. Payment
Please send me the following cassette(s) by cheque to Palace Software, Postal Order
Cauldron (CBM 64) @£7.99 or by Access/Barclaycard No
Cauldron (Spectrum) @£7.99
Evil Dead (CBM 64) @£6.99 Name:
Evil Dead (BBC) @£7.99 Address:
Valkyrie 17 (CBM 64) @£9.99 PALACE
Valkyrie 17 (Spectrum) @£9.99 Postal Code
 Misprint in the directory
Had an interesting phone call from British Telecom, the other day. 'Is'
that Zzap! 64?' they wanted to know. That's right, said, the people at
I

the back, the VERY back, of your directory.

"But that's just the problem,' said the lady. 'We can't put you in the
directory.Our computer can't handle exclamation marks.'
Icouldn't believe that! But it was true! BT the multi-billion pound
!

pinnacle of British computerised telecommunications. And their

computers can't punctuate.
Come on, BT, get with it. Buy yourselves a 64.

Mystery of the
'
altered ' cassette player
Here's an intriguing story, especially for anyone who's had trouble recently getting Gremlin
tapes to load reliably. You are not alone. Several software houses have admitted to
me that they had serious difficulties earlier this year trying to get their fast loaders
bounce back
Tony Crowther's departure
to work properly. And they pin the blame firmly on Commodore. from Gremlin Graphics depleted
their 64 programming team but
The story they give goes like spent much time changing their In general the problem, if they are bouncing back with a
this: Shortly before Christmas process to boost the signal on there was one, appears to be set- new title called Thing on a
something happened to the C2N the tapes. One told me: 'We tling down since most duplic- Spring.
cassette player sold by Comm- were extremely displeased by ators have adapted to the new The game involves your Thing
odore. New models would no Commodore's attitude in all this. machine. Indeed some software finding eight jigsaw pieces in a
longer load certain fast-loading It cost us a lot of time and houses using Pavloda, such as factory plagued by an evil
tapes reliably. trouble.' Taskset and Melbourne House, goblin. Once the jigsaw is com-
When the software houses' Commodore, however, deny say they haven't had extra tapes pleted it shows a weapon which
duplicators approached Comm- that there is any problem with returned at any stage. you have to collect and kill the
odore for an explanation they the C2N. David Tomkins, the re- Meanwhile Beyond say they goblin with. x

were apparently told (event- tail sales manager, told me that have had a substantial number No release date has been set
ually) that the far eastern comp- the only modification to the deck of tapes returned, but they be- for the game yet but Gremlin
any which supplied their latest happened in the middle of last lieve the problem is caused by a told me that the lovable little
batch of recorders had changed year when components were 'Commodore compatible' cass- bouncy character was 'like
some of the components. changed to reduce interference ette player manufactured in nothing previously seen on the
The effect of these changes, from TVs. He said the change Taiwan by a company called 64 .'
according to the Banger's had not caused loading Phonemark. Also on the way is Monty on
sources, was that the signal problems. Banger's advice to anyone the Run which I'm hoping to see
coming from the player was But he also software
criticised who bought a tape-player rec- around August time and contin-
much weaker. Certain fast- houses for using fast loaders ently and has had consistent ues the Monty series. hope they
I

loaders, in particular Pavloda, which demanded more from the trouble with fast-loading tapes? bring him above ground. I'm
would no longer load reliably. machine than it was designed to Take it back to the shop and ask getting claustrophobic in all
As a result several duplicators give. for another. those mole burrows.

BflN&ER

EP

Fearless newshound Edward Banger sniffs out the 64 gamesworld's hottest

events and juiciest gossip.

m
 wmmssm

—
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ill
mwmmmmm
>•*

:•

mmm
t£
'

#' s

;
be&s-sts
INMP
jmmzmz
illiii

|P1|
lllllilllllli
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gglil
mmmmmm
mmmmmm NMiMHhiii ;:::':*::i:i:if5:::f

Bigger than Everyone's a Wa//y part

Everyone's a Wally, the follow
7

Quo Vadis) .
up to the Mikrogen classic
Pyjamarama, is being released
on the 64. The game takes a T
Inthe wake of the still unsolved have found the sceptre, got it
back to the surface and even stage further the strong advent-
Quo Vadis The Edge are releas-
,

solved all the riddles, but have ure content of Pyjamarama -

ing another large scale arcade
still not qualified to win the real-
this time you control four separ-
adventure and offering another
tempting prize.
pian for 'diamond', don't you
Almazz (Ethio- life gold and silver sceptre val-

ued at several thousand pounds

ate characters as well as Wally,
and intriguing complications :U-
quote, 1500 conditional prize of are introduced. For example,
know), offers, I iplus a
screens of full scrolling action, £30,000 which Banger will some objects can only be used
set in a savanna desert. believe when he sees it). by certain characters.
Strategy and thought are What more must they do? Tim The object of the game is to
required as you set out to refuses to say, but he insists that open a safe in a bank, in order to
recover pieces of a stone tablet one day someone will see the pay the gang's wages. This is
and the riddles that surround light. He also says the riddles in
done by completing various
the new game into the action tasks to obtain letters for the
them. Solving these riddles will fit

roundabout way. safe's combination.

lead you to a hidden temple, in a less
where worthwhile reward
a
awaits you, in the form of a
diamond. .
you don't think Quo Vadis is
If

challenging enough a disk vers-

ion has now been released
The tasks are spread over a
large player area, and include
things like mending fountains
mp
Yes, the first person to which includes a routine for gen- and repairing the gas main.
Tools are usually needed, and
complete the game will find erating 1 million different play-
themselves presented with a ing areas (each the size of 1000 food has to be eaten to keep up
real one by The Edge. Hot stuff screens). I'm prepared to offer a each characters strength. The
indeed, but price, release date genuine chocolate and caramel game is priced at £9.95 on cas-
Mars Bar to the first person who sette.
and value of the prize, are as yet
unannounced. can map out all million.
Meanwhile The Edge's Tim Also due for release from The
Langdell has admitted that they Edge soon is a 64 version of their
may have demanded too wacky platform game Brian Everyone's a Wally part 2
obscure a solution for Quo Bloodaxe.
Vadis. A fair number of people
On the flip side of the Every-
one's a Wady cassette is a
recording by Mike Berry, titled .m .

The PM's CBMs

Commodore have presented Margaret Thatcher with their one mill-
'Everyone's a Wally' (seems P
sensible). It was whilst getting
down to this musical delight,
that some interesting lyrics
filled my ears. At least I thought*
ionth and two millionth computers manufactured in Britain, both
they were interesting. There
64s.The presentation was made at the House of Commons by two followed a telephone call to
young workers from the Corby factory. Mike Meek of Mikrogen:
Sad to say Maggie will not be r
rushing out each month to buy THRNK MDli BANGER: I've just been listen-
Zzap! 64 or the latest batch of MY P6RR5, ing to Mike Berry singing 'Every-
Sizzlers because she has donat- BUT HUEN one's a Wally'.
ZAPPING- MEEK: Oh, yes.
Goes
ed the machines to a local
school in Corby. BANGER: was wondering if
BERRY & WALLY
MV5C£AE/ I

The computers made at Corby you could possibly clarify some

are of course for distribution in - of the lyrics at the beginning of Be with you in a moment.
6
cu 5
Trffrr

Europe as well as Britain. Still, i Hflvej the chorus, for me. (Chuckle.) (Long pause) (With
congratulations from me. MEEK: Just a moment. (Pause) amusement) What exactly was
ship?
Commodore. I'm now standing
by to celebrate number three
million. Why not hasten the day

i^cnJ/THe
by cutting the price, eh?

Tramiel attack
was intrigued by the scenario in cv “i two - ld J° r
buqi
I

thp Qi
the new Commodore game Jack
Attack reviewed in this issue.. It
features a guy called Jack going
around getting pleasure out of
squashing people's heads. That
wouldn't by any chance be a ref-
erence to big tough Jack
Tramiel, the former Commod-
ore boss who deserted them for
Atari, would it. . . ? You naughty
boys.

26 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 ALLIGATA BAIT
1 see that Alligata are trying to
tempt people to buy their latest
game by giving away a free T-
What's THAT shirt with
goes to
every copy. Biagger
Hollywood features
doing under there? Alligata's anti-hero Blagger who
Visitors the LET show in
to this time is rampaging round a
London during February may series of film sets trying to steal
have been impressed with Fire- 'Spell bum's latest film.
bird's demonstration of their To do this he has to knock out
new masterpiece Elite only a various celluloid heroes using
matter of weeks after they had the different props that appear.
secured rights to the game. The stars all appear on their own
What they v may not have film set accompanied by their
known is that the version on own theme tune.
show was loaded into the 64 The game costs £9.95 on cas-
from a BBC! This was made pos- sette and includes a voucher for
sible by the Firebird Special claiming a free Blagger goes to
Cables department. Hollywood T-sh rt and badge
i

Purchasers of the finished Also new from

Alligata are
version will be relieved to know Hypercircuit and Fistful of Fun,
the game now loads in direct. the former being a simple shoot-
But take care next time you go to em-up for £7.95 cassette, £1 1 .95
disk, and the latter another great
a computer show - you never
value for money compilation because as well as releasing an version will be set back
know what might be hiding first
containing Loco, Son of Blagger, improved version of their £9.95 for the cassette or £11.95
under the table.
Guardian, Aztec Tomb Revisited Contract Bridge program All ig- for the disk,
and Haunted House all for £9.95 ata are, for a fee of £1 .00, trading To replace your old tape send
cassette or £1 1.95 disk. in old versions of the game for itto Alligata at 1 Orange Street,
Bridge players are in luck too the new one. Those without the Sheffield SI 4DW.

it?
BANGER: Er, the first chorus.
You know, where he sings Look! No engines!
'Everyone's a Wally, or a Chari ie,
or a something or a berk'
A new flight simulator is the lat- The instructions include the game.
est release from CRL and it's a basic principles of cross-country This will be available on fast
MEEK: (Jovially) Oh, right.
novel one too. Rather than sit- gliding together with advanced loading tape at a price of £9.95,
(Pause - then, very amused) Yes,
ting at the controls of a Boeing tips. There are also several fly- which also includes a chance to
it's: 'a Charlie, or a BUNGLER, or

a berk' etc. (Knowingly) Why?

747 or the latest fighter plane. ing options to give variety to the win a real glider flight.
What did YOU think it said? Glider Pilot puts you in control of
BANGER: Er, well, I'd rather a comparitively leisurely glider.
not
say. Written by Richard Bris-
Greatly reassured by Mike's bourne, an experienced compet-
words I listened to the cassette ition pilot. Glider Pilot claims a
realistic simulation as a reward
again. Yes he was right.
BUNGLER it is. for perseverance. There are
But wait there's another thermal air currents a user can
word on which even Mike
later exploit to stay airborne, navig-
can't deny is improper. And it ate and maximise cross country
isn't RIGGING. Take Banger's speed as in real life.

advice, stick to the game. •i#:#

James Scoular dies

Great ideas department microbiologist would care to
contact Taskset, they could per-
Those who enjoy playing Elite
64, this month's gold medal
Suggested to the editor the had had actually tried building a haps try again. Then Zzap could game, will be sad to hear of the
other day that he should print a 3D model of the game using 1cm print a 3D hologram of the fin- death of the man responsible for
map of Taskset's Cad Cam War- square pieces of tile for each loc- ished model. We'd only have to bringing it onto the 64. James
rior.After all, with 8,000 locat- ation. 'We worked at it for ages,' put up the cover price to around Scoular, publisher of Firebird
ions to wander round, there said Taskset's Andy Walker. £48. games, died in March of a heart

must be an awful lot of lost play- Unfortunately it grew to about attack.

ANDY WALKER was he who obtained the
ers out there. six foot tall and began looking It .

So he rang up Taskset to see if more complicated than a DNA rights for the game from the pro-
they had one we could use. 'We chromosome in Jeff Minter's grammers. Before joining Fire-
tried to produce a map but brain after five hours with bird he worked for VNU Public-

couldn't.' 'Why
not?' 'Because Psychedelia. Eventually the pro- ations and was the publisher of
the game three dimensional. It
is ject was abandoned and con-
Personal Computer Games.
just can't be clearly represented sequently no known map of Cad James was known and much
liked by several people on Zzap.
on a flat surface.' Cam exists.
We'll miss him a lot.
Then Taskset revealed they If any structural engineer or

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 27

i
 . —

pfiSg:
:

Saga of Swords and Sorcery

The Edward Banger award for
the Most Delayed piece of soft-
ware must go to Swords and
Sorcery from PSS. Originally
due for release one year ago,
and heavily advertised for
months, it's still under develop-
ment by an increasingly frustr-
ated team of programmers.
Cause of the problem is the
game's innovative nature. It's a
Dungeons-and-Dragons-based
3D maze game with some 400
locations, and very impressive
graphics.
A gloomy Gary Mays, PSS
supremo, reckons the game has
accounted for no less than 9
exhumed ann
THOUSAND programming
hours. At, say, £5 an hour that The good news is the game is '
ma 9'ne name ,° V ° cean 'he
-
Baseball,
°f Ameri
works out at almost as much
. . now due for release 'very soon'. coan's first
US a9a,n s,rr>ulati
0l
release -

s Port.
as the cost of my annual holiday was s Pectato

in the Seychelles.
Just like itFebruary, and
December, and October, and
in
2^ ne la bel,
Wor/j
n
%*° Imagine
It c
tl
1
cassette

Ice created by Sparks!

VIOLENCE ON THE
KEYBOARD A huge arcade adventure of Quo Vadis proportions is the promise of
Creative Sparks. Their latest release. Ice Palace, features over 1000
Anirog have and furious
a fast locations of multi-directional scrolling rooms, superb music and
release with Slap Shot: a two
fast and furious fighting.
player ice hockey game, com- This, according to product manager Gordon Reid, will be the first
plete with the violence, thrills
all
in a series of action adventures from Creative Sparks. It'll cost £7.95.
and the real thing. Three
spills of
levels of play and a restart
option are the features included
in its price of £8.95 cassette and Argus go into battle
£10.95, disk.
Isee Argus Press are releasing a The Battle of the Bulge will
64 title called The Battle of the include a book about the battle.
Well hi there, Bulge. Apparently this is not a No price or release date has
oblivion slimming course, but the been set for the program yet but
company's first wargame, foll- Argus hope that this will be a
CRL weren't giving too much owing a link up with renowned new type of wargame with wider
away to me about their new pro- battlefield specialists Lothlor- appeal.
gram The Rocky Horror Show,' ien. The game and succes- its The program will contain the
but they did let slip that was a it
sors will be sold under the Loth- usual strategy but will be 'more
joystick controlled graphic adv- lorien label but Argus will be visually attractive and anim-
enture, be in 'Rockyrama-
It will providing the financial muscle ated'.
scope' {whatever that is) but behind them.
also 'Hot Patootievision' (I wish
they'd make up their minds.)
They think it will be a big chart
success and don't see why it The £150 64
shouldn't get to number one. Commodore me they
One ominous note, the press have no plans
tell

to cut the price of

still
Why you need a Y
release warns you to be pre- the 64, despite the fact that
pared to 'say goodbye to ail of Boots are selling it for £150, £80 At last can use my monitor and
i

this and hello to oblivion.' oelowthe recommended price. Currah Speech unit together.
The Boots move followed Welwyn Systems have produc-
The Brian Jacks Commodore's decision to slash ed a Y cable adaptor to allow
exhaustion test the price of the Plus 4 to well frustrated monitor owners like

Brian Jacks, judo and TV super- below that of the 64. Boots me to use the Currah, which they
appear to have concluded that aiso produce, at the same time.
stars champion, has now had a
the 64 would not sell unless it The cable is available mail
game named him. Brian after
were brought into line. order at £3.99 from Welwyn Sys-
Jacks Superstar Challenge by
Commodore's David Tomkins tems, Bedlington, Northumber-
Martech takes you through eight
confirmed to me that Boots can- land NE27AA.
tough events. Arm dips, squat
not be making any real profit on
thrusts, canoeing, cycling, foot-
the 64 at that price. But he doubt-
ball, swimming, archery and the
ed Boots would no longer stock
100 metre dash all make an
the 64 once their present supply
appearance.
runs out. 'If they sell home com-
The game available on is
puters, they have to sell the 64.
either cassette or disk at a price
It's as simple as that,' he said.
of £8.95 and £1 2.95 respectively.
UC'MOM .CH9PS ~
28 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 VI £R<cR K /
 ST EVER MULTI-ROLE ARCADE ADVENTURE
Includes Hit Single on reverse “Everyone’s A Wally’’ performed by Mike Berry
Spectrum 48K £9.95
Commodore 64 £9.95
Available shortly on Amstrad CPC 464 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Berks. 0344 427317
 COMMODORE 64
SPECTRUM 48K
immm

_ __ ,
. mmm
ik

SIS

WmmimimiMm

Sif
is

"v;.-a >
-
S
:4

“What makes Wet Set Jelly sound

a computer game?”
like
Brian Bloodaxe, with Primary
Imbalance
^
Spectrum 48K £7.95 on Turbo Cassette
Commodore 64 £9.95 on Turbo Cassette, £12.95 on Disk.
The Edge, 31 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2 Tel: 01*240 1422/7877 Telex: 892379
 .

COMMODORE 64

Over 1700 screens of African Wilderness,

Nine pieces to the Sacred Tablet, But only one AJmazz . .

. . Find Almazz, solve the AJmazz mystery, and

the real Almazz Diamond could be yours.
*

Commodore 64 £9.95 on Turbo Cassette, £12.95 on Disk.

Available at all good stores throughout Great Britain. Details of overseas distribution can be obtained at the address below.

The Edge, 31 Malden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2. Tel:- 01-240 1422/7877 Telex: 892379
 )

Three great prizes for star tipsters

te°^'SzvzT ia “

'*‘ e - 6
4%°^vr.f'
ai r°^"
OM
g '* pes
Moi
Kin 9 new disk
ssirzZ'Sjz^i
^orld forvnnr
M " m » '"
?n^ 0,
°

S
n n s
onh^ -/' ne ^'tebte th« ?5
f,0 °d
int

et to add
Possible

The prize you could win

The 1541 can store up to 144 different programs or files containing a
total of 174K bytes on a single floppy disk. It's compatible with both
the 64 and the Vic 20. It has its own 16K ROM and 2K of RAM so that
all functions are performed internally and do not reduce the com-
puter's memory.
The drive takes standard five and a quarter inch disks and is
attached to the computer by a serial bus, the connector for which
comes with the package. This also allows you to hook up to five
drives and a printer at the same time, but we're sure that one is
enough!

••V • •’ ': :. ; -::• .

•
.
.•

32 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

i
TORY FACES ON SCREEN
One thing that stands out in Seaside Special is the impressive
lampooning of the Tory Cabinet. These are all wicked portrayals of
the real life equivalents and it looks as if Taskset are doing for
computers what Spitting Image does for television.
Geoffrey Howe, Nigel Lawson, and (we think) Keith Joseph were
all there, as well as a rather piggish looking Maggie herself. But the

best of the lot is Norman Tebbit who's quite unmistakeable.

It's a shame the moving sprites weren't up to this calibre of

definition.

the dosimeter, climbs to a dan-

gerous peak.
After collecting at least ten
pieces of seaweed, you can
move off the bottom of the
screen to Downing Street.
In this scene you must throw
the previously collected sea-
weed at the various members of
the cabinet. This bit is basically a
simple shoot-'em-up. The polit-
icians' faces (nicely drawn - see
panel) appear at one of the
Downing Street windows, and
you have a short time to move
underneath and fire, while
dodging cruise missiles, banana
skins and various other objects
hurled at you.
number stan ds Each one of the five Polyt-
70 front,n
b must be hit five times, and
at bottom r ti °»o^ left Window 0 ikians
tc>P left?
e bbit.
is then 'Maggie' appears. If you
But can get hit her five times (which
is out and there are
seven isn't exactly a doddle), I'm afraid
[away beach. The tide
top of the screen to back to the beginning, with
ces of seaweed# near the
it's
—a . nn thp rinht
no apparent differences.
collect
What's more, if you persevere

SEASIDE SP m n IAL
Taskset, £6. SO case, joystick only
through to the second demise of
'Maggie' and co, the program
decides you've done well
enough and stops the game,
revealing your score and how
• 2 screen action on a political theme many Polytikians you killed.
The graphics in general were

T he idea of throwing radio-

active seaweed at Tory
politicians had never really
crossed my mind until played I
seagull, crabs to nip your toes
and some devious sandpits to
sink into.
Meanwhile the tide keeps
good, if a little fuzzy around the
edges. The backgrounds were
superbly drawn and even
though the sea made realistic
this satirical new release from coming in and after a while this wave noises as it moved in and
Taskset. The 'Polytikians' have causes the sandpits to become out, graphically it didn't move
landed and have taken over the invisible. The sea itself is radio- me. The sound was sparse apart
cabinet. Only you, Radium Rod- active, as is the seaweed, and from the rushing of the waves
ney, know about this and so you contact with either for too long and clips of 'Oh Do Like To Be
I

rush down to Rotaway beach. proves fatal. Staying to collect Beside the Seaside' when, and
Once there you collect the radio- too much seaweed takes it's toll if, you die.

active seaweed washed up by as the radiation level, shown on GP

the waves and take it back to 10
Downing Street to throw at the
politicians.
“7 0 0/
The game itself consists of
just two different screens of
/
humourously
Instructions
^ / O presented by Radium Rodney. 78% Some old gameplay but a
great scenario.

action: the beach and 10 Down-

ing Street. Collecting the sea-
weed beach “7 CO/ Excellent political caricatures,
at the is fairly
at first but increases in difficulty
easy
/ Jj /O but some sprites indistinct. 70%0 r
Great fun zapping those polit-
icians.

rapidly on higher levels. There

are rocks and clams for you to
dodge, but they're the least of
your problems. D
A
I
r
/co
Timely effects but the tune will A
0 / annoy. Q O/O
/ Not too good once you've
kMed Maggie.
A guard has been posted on
the beach and fires whenever
you get near him while vicious
jellyfish attempt to sting you.
Later there's a rather persistent
61%0 f
Fun fora while, especially if
you vote Labour.
 .'

his aging American game

T by Sierra-on-Line has now

been licensed to Software
Projects and imported to Britain.
The cartoon-style action takes
place on a landscape which con-
stantly scrolls right to left.

Cute Chick is being held by the

hungry dinosaur and you, as
Thor the caveman, must set off
on your stone-age mono-cycle
to try to rescue her. This means
successfully negotiating nine
separate stages of increasing
difficulty (see panel).
Using the joystick you can get
I
Thor to jump, duck, accelerate or
slow down - and as usual in this
it kind of game, timing is of the
:

I
essence. Crossing the pond needs careful timing. The two
Any mishap along the way central turtles are submerged, and the evil woman
naturally causes Thor to come is about to swing that club. _
crashing off his stone wheel. But
he has a total of four at his dis-
posal and can continue each
time disaster strikes from where
he left off.
Once the course is completed. Software Projects, £9.95 cass, joystick only

This is an instantly appealing

Simple action from the US
game, but one that tacks any
great lasting interest Once the whole thing is repeated, but and well defined, nicely captur-
completed there isn't much at a higher minimum speed. ing the character of their cartoon
to come back to - only your Much of the appeal of the counterparts.
speed changes ft's certainly
.
game is in the graphics which However, sound is unimagin-
enjoyable white it lasts, but were very original when it was ativeand repetitive, and had me
it's just too easy - / was able first released. Although the retching, sorry, reaching for the
to complete it after only a few backgrounds are fairly unsoph- volume control.
games , isticated, the sprites are large GP

somewhat

T his
program is
music and
a

intended more as an executive

strange
mix of puzzle,
light which is

time waster than as a game in its

own right. Disappointing musical amusement
The web in question is in 3D
perspective stretching away to
the back of the screen. On it ap-
pears a musical note which you take two main forms, one in When the beasts are leaving a
control and enlarges to a cluster which the creatures leave a trail trail it will disappear when they
when the fire button is held and one in which you leave a reach the end of their pattern
down. Also on the web appear trail. and double back on themselves.
The best way to stop them is to
I

creatures which move about fol- Both trails are fatal to you so
lowing different but regular you must avoid them depending stop at a junction of web lines )

’HELP"
patterns. on which of the two is in oper- and let them hit you. When you
There are six creatures on the ation at the time. Collision with a leave a trail you can just run into
web at one time and you have to trail will send you back to the them anywhere.
touch each one with your cluster start so that you have to freeze At the end of each of these )

of notes to paralyse it. The webs all the creatures again. webs you get a musical and
graphic interlude which
changes as you progress. The
Intrigued by the game's description I loaded the ' experience patterns which the creatures
with great expectation and was horrified with the result: one follow also change from turn to
boring screen with six different things trundling about AH you . turn.
have to do is run into the things without going into their trails Getting around the web is a
This is then followed by the same screen only this time you tricky at first since the junc-
little

run into the things without crossing your trait. There is no tions and directional control are
score or aim to the game and lives are unlimited A stupend- , complicated.
ous soundtrack does not compensate for a hugely boring There are no lives or end to l

game An advanced stage of rigour mortis set in during the

.
this game it just goes on and on
first game and I haven't been back to it since. until you switch it off.
BW

34 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 .

Nine stages
of hazards
The original cartoons wer^
Stage one is simply a matter of leap- 'llimvery funny, and Thor's
ing over rocks and holes in the
wheeling animated form
ground. In stage two you also have to
captures some of that
duckto avoid overhanging branches. 1

Stage three requires crossing a humour. After that the game

river. Here the evil Fat Broad pounds becomes disappointing. The
the ground with her club, urging you repetitive nature of the
to cross the river on the backs of tur- sections makes it boring after
tles with the encouraging words, dis- a few p/ays as you bounce
played in a speech bubble, 'JUMP over the same old obstacles
SUCKER'. Success is a matter of Some sections provide more
timing your passage to avoid sub-
variety but on the whole they
merged turtles and Fat Broad's club.
Next Thor must climb a rock- are too easy - the only
littered hill* down which boulders are problem on successive runs
rolling. At the top more jumping is is increasing speed. Cute and
required to clear yet more bouldersto wonderful to start with but it
try tokeep pace with a Dooky Bird won keep your interest
't
flying overhead.timed correctly the
If
tong* jpr '

Dooky Bird will carry Thor over an

otherwise impassable lava pit - but
only into more problems.
He must build up enough speed to
jump a lake at the bottom of the hill,
leaping holes and rocks on the way
down. Once over the water Fie must
slow down to avoid the falling
shower of rock from a volcanic
71 % Hi-scores, screen shots in
instructions.
61 % Some pleasing cartoon
touches.

eruption.
The turtlesmake another appear-
ance and time it's a dinosaur that
this
thwarts Thor's attempts to cross the
stream. At last he reaches the final
71 % Nicely capture the cartoon
atmosphere.
72 %
Easy to get into.

screen, jumping and ducking stalag-

mites and stalactites to eventually

40 %
Jumping noise and short little
receive a kiss from his loved one. ditties.

VALUE FOR MONEY

51 % Unfortunately
to finish.
it's quite easy

US software showinq its aqe

again.

GENE MACHINE that this won 't interest you

The creatures in Web Dimension take touch more tasteful, except for the for long. However as a thing
the rough form of a Darwinian evolu- wiggly things which we are convin- to doodle with while you try
tionary cycle moving from atoms, ced are sperm and not the claimed and relax or take your mind
through molecules and ova to germs. off something else it does
foetuses and finally a full blown Some of these biological sprites have its merits The music is
,
astronaut. are nicely animated as they weave
This concept was used in Deus Ex
impressive although the
around the web, particularly an egg-
Machina but you'll find this game a graphics weren't the stun-
like wobbly amoeba.
ningfevelations / was exp-
On the whole the pro-
ecting.
gram is more of a failed
game than an attempt at
entertainment software and I
can Y see it being a success.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 35

 ,

o, Durell haven't gone into

sunglasses - game title
the
I
refers to the phenomenon
of people vanishing from one
location and then reappearing
elsewhere.
Fully animated graphic adv-
entures are very popular with
most people at the moment,
including me. Reading through
the instructions as the program
loaded, Shades sounded inter-
esting. 'You must rid Arulan of
the evil that is at work fighting . . .

through the land struggling

. . .

against the traps and monsters .

The idea behind it is a

. 'Yeah, great!
.

commendable one, though

After entering one of three
not totally original Unforfr
skill levels, you are given a map
:

unatety between realisation

of Arulan to study on screen
while the rest of the program
and coding something was
map lost The game is let down by
loads. And a very nice it is
its graphics, sound andptay-
too.
Once loaded though,
notice that the game's graphics
you ^ ^ ability.

aren't quite up to the quality of

the map. The backgrounds and Durell, £8.35 case, joystick needed
sprites are crude, as is the anim-
ation, (your character tends to Flawed 3D arcade-adventure
slide his way along.) The sound
is even less impressive.
Basically the program allows (as does collecting certain the hardiest arcade-adventurer.
you to explore various locations objects). Mapping is possible, even
(64 in all) using joystick control, However fighting such evil though the game is slightly diff-
beings takes its toll in the form of erent every time you play. But
and then carry out various act-
a depleting 'physical state' bar combining joystick with keys is
ions selected from a menu. As
awkward, especially since
you wander through Arulan you at the bottom of the screen. If
objects to be taken, this bar goes too low, it won't movement is through joystick
will find Don't be misled by the
dropped and used (there are replenish and you soon die. only and fighting is with the
At times you are affected by keyboard. Flitting between the
over 30) and an inventory is being a 3D, animated, real
SHADES which cause you to two whilst action is taking
all
affected accordingly. time adventure, this is a very
magical return to an earlier location. This place time, is difficult and
in real
Monsters and
the land, can prove very annoying when it incredibly quick thinking and
creatures also lurk in
reactions are required.
making your task that much occurs frequently, especially if sets in when you are fighting,
you get quite far. Traps and GP
more difficult. These can be
attacked and hopefully killed, secret doors are to be found, but
picking up an object whilst
thus increasing your experience only if you press the correct
being gobbled by a monster
keys. Several 'searches' are
Although designed to appeal
sometimes required as these are to both arcade adventurers
not always found instantly.
and adventurers alike, this
There's also a crossbow and
hasn't enough interest and
bolts lying around, and if you are
quality to attract buyers from
lucky enough to find them, they either group. Unless you
can be activated via the fire loved Valhalla, don't get it!
button. If you lose one of your
three lives, any objects you were
carrying are scattered amongst ORIGINALITY
the land in true Valhalla style.
Unusual mix of adventure and
64 %
Playing this game requires istructions sound very
ng arcade.
perseverance and will tax even
•

This is one of those unfortunate games - a re eadventure

will take a long while to get
Some nice sprites but boring It

The attacking of monsters means you don't havt f

locations and poor animation. into.

and work out clues. So either you die a lot or you don t achieve
much progress, The other major problem is trying to use both
joystick and keyboard at once - always difficult unless you've
64 locations - plenty to do
got a friend to help. The lack of reward is another annoyance Occasional buzzes and hums. if

you can stick with it.

with little in the way of startling discoveries to keep you going.
Worst of all are the Shades which move you around randomly
at very inconvenient moments. Perseverance will be needed
to gain any pleasure from Shades and I fear most people — r\ Not enough arcade or
/
won't have the patience. K Jj /Q adventure to be satisfying

"FROM OF
TR.OURLC
36 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 •SUU&Le. P*
 fi
Brian Jacks, world famous Brian Jacks challenges
Judo and TV Superstars you to these eight events:
champion made it very clear. ARM DIPS SQUAT THRUSTS
“It better be good,” he said. CANOEING CYCLING
We didn’t feel like arguing the FOOTBALL SWIMMING
point, so we just got to work. ARCHERY 100 METRES
The resultis one of the most exciting,

addictive and challenging games you will Available from all leading software retailers
ever have attempted. OR order today by mail.
CBM-64 £8-95 fast load cassette £12-95 disc
We feel it only fair to warn you though - challenge 48K Spectrum/BBC-B/Electron/Amstrad £7-95
Brian Jacks to anything and YOU’D better be good! prices include VAT & p/p

martech Martech is the registered trade mark of Software Communications Limited

Martech House, Bay Terrace, Pevensey Bay, East Sussex BN24 6EE
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME. PHONE: (0323) 768456 TELEX: 87465 EXIM Brishton

48K SPECTRUM •
COMMODORE 64 •
BBC ‘B’ •
ELECTRON AMSTRAD •

i
 .

No frills spared
cover the whole floor area of Part of the greatness of this game lies in the special features that you

T his
first
isthe successor to the
ever platform game.
Miner 2049'er, and
same character Bounty Bob.
stars the
each screen.
As before it is set in Bob's
mine where the evil Yukon
have to discover. The most important are special messages that tell
you how to jump levels in the game. There are six of these messages
but you'll have to find them for yourself. Once you have, it'll save you
It follows the same basic pat- Yohan has dumped radioactive a good deal of boring repetition on the early screens.
tern as the original where Bob waste and turned all the cute, Also on the options screen is a Special Code function which is a
(what taste in names these furry animals, who had stored number you can set between 0 and 65,535. US Gold say it's to allow
people have) walks and jumps their food in the mine, into the programmers to toggle around inside the game. Exactly what it
around platforms and has to deadly radioactive mutants. does is anybody's guess - we envisage quite a few hackers trying to
find out!
Finally there's an amusing routine which allows you to 'dial' (ie
type-in) the telephone number of Big Five software when you need
Initially it fooks like an emergency help. We
make no guarantees you'll get it, mind, . .

unoriginal follow up, but as

you progress you realise the
amount of work that has
gone into the program and These mutants are all over the However on some screens
just how difficult and screen and can only be destroy- there are alternative transports
addictive it really is. The high ed by jumping through one of like matter transporters, hoists,
i

score table and special the numerous household items slides and suction units. The last
|

functions round off an which makes them vulnerable of these is a pipe through which
excellent package and when for a few seconds. This calls for you get sucked and sometimes
you hear that it took the good timing. is reversible. All these movers

programmer two years to You can get around screens can often drop you into trouble
produce you can well believe by a number of methods, the though.
the complexity involved. most obvious of which is jump- Later screens - there are 25 in
ing. This is variable so that once all -get really tough with diabol-
you have jumped upwards you icallypositioned platforms and
can time when to move left or nasty clangers such as cannons,
right for a long or short leap. pulverisers and even acid rain.

BOUNTY BOB STRIKES

US Gold/Big Five, £9.95 case, £14.35 disk, joystick only
I
• Incredibly addictive 25-screen platform game
• Hoists, suction pumps, transporters, pulverisers

38 ZZAPI64 May 1985

 . '

"Germ? seta
ZZ flP ' saWSHNSX
_

Bounty Bob strikes back with

a vengeance in this fantastic
follow up. Appearances can
be deceptive, and that
certainly holds true for this
game. The high score fea ture
is brilliant, and is the first
instantly appealing point Th
e game itself needs some
playing before discovering
the finer points, such as the
special messages. Once
struck by this game though,
you won't recover.

US Gold themselves apparently

haven't managed screen 25 yet -
even when they start at 24!
The title screen has birds pick- Another Zzap nap!
ing up letters and making them
into words while the incredibly
We cheated slightly to bring you this
sizzling review as early as possible.
slick high score function has a
You see, the 64 version of Bounty
factory where you can bulldoze Bob wasn't going to be available until
the letters of your name into your name your score is physic- way past the press deadlines of the
place on a conveyor belt or ally lifted onto the table by the magazine. But US Gold promised us
delete them with a 'mobile suc- birds who shuffle the scores that the Atari version was 100%
tion cup! Once you've entered around as on the title screen. identical, so that's the version we
reviewed.
Any score that drops off the
It's possible that graphically you'll
table is bulldozed into a lump
notice miniscule differences to the
and booted off screen by Yukon Atari screen shots published here.
Yohan. But we don't think the game will be
warning should be issued
BW one iota less addictive on the 64.
with ttii$> From when

was instantly hooked. Now,

two days later t have hot and Brilliant high score table and The usual thing with lots of
title screen. new features.
cold flushes, shaking limbs
* and hallucinations if / don't
have a game for an hour
Although the graphics aren't Very much the same as Miner The great, wacky action forces
2049'er. you to play
stupendous, there is '

’just-one-more-game
.

something in it which will

keep video gamers frustrated
and tantalized for weeks and 25 screens which just get
/ Harmless title tunes and
weeks. This is one of the all wibbly-wobbly sound effects. better and better.
time platform classics, and
q
knocks spots off its
predecessor. Buy it at your
May well be as successful as
its predecessor.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 39

\
 Superb arcade feel aa you amaah care off the road
Smoke acreena, oil alicka, miaailea, vicioua enemiea

Evil switchblades extended from tires

udding James Bonds can

B now live out their fantasies

in this exciting new Ameri-
can release. The bits with
women are out. I'm afraid. But
the thrill of being chased across
land and water by evil baddies in Road lord - can only be bumped off road
their sleek, deadly craft, while
blasting and bumping anyone
and anything that gets between Extra cars are awarded every ersion
you and a high score, is most 1 0,000 or 20,000 points, depend- tion of
definitely in. ing on which level you select
)

All this action takes place on a before play (novice or expert). he tremendous rr k. The
vertically-scrolling plan view of Points can be earned by either car crashing, tyre ming,
the landscape. A weapons van shooting, or bumping, enemy boat bumping ex ?ment
j

pulls up on the side of the road, agents off the road or just by ms the same feet < he real
allowing your spy car to roll out staying alive. Some enemies thing and ec,
onto the road, armed at first only can only be bounced off the road iddictiveness. Tht
with machine guns . . and
. to earn points, others both shot motions of track a
you're off! and bumped (See panel). As add to the game <

A counter reading 999 ticks well as enemy vehicles, there

away at the bottom of the are a few of your own side that you can pick up. The only
screen, and during this time you shouldn't be shot or bashed —it
slight disappointment is that
have an unlimited supply of temporarily haltsyour amassing you lose the music
cars. Once the timer runs out of points and besides, it's bad sometimes when you die and
though, you only have one extra form. this detracts from the
life. Others have to be earned. As you race along the contin- atmosphere .

40 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 Fans of the arcade game won't be disappointed with this
version The graphics and sound are on a par to the original
,

including the great atmospheric tune But the most outstand-

.

ing thing about this conversion is that the 'feel' of the game
i

has been reproduced perfectly - something usually lost on

translation from arcade to computer. My only quibble is that
to really enjoy the game two jo ysticks are required. Don 't let
that stand in the way though - get out and buy another one!
iiil Compelling stuff, reinforcing US Gold's hold on the British
software market

»r*armmm'—* hun whw h»

in and. mtaiaa r*r«ty»
V®8u«

mimilttii auppJled by tht weapon* vei,V«tut

is****y: on w«t;*r.
^lb«!BLpiTr«§sw^r^* -
i^f^oi* c*i£fvi*ii^^ w^iwfyfiip iirMwacs OT wfsyy qcjmsto*
•

t*M**am fco kili^ ttnci ytfMdh out* barfii)tt« VtthM «

In firing

and feHe doctor hiro**lf Bet beHirsd him, arid give *im a tsmmtm of
.

hi* own medicine. Value . . . BOO point?* «

£ If

hut He
mm

®» ;:|

The superb arcade btast-em,

$mM&
ys&'.<y>¥$
liili
?Sgf3
g#?
bump-em, cmsfbem alt
H^g«; action shoot-em-up
explodes onto your screens
with this ace no-holds barred -

conversion. This done has

ually changing terrain, you will you will come to a waterway, every feature of its arcade
meet forks the road, cross
in preceded by a 'bridge out' warn- counterpart and also plays
bridges and hit a stretch of icy ing. you are foolish enough to
If just as well Smoo th
road, making your car harder to ignore this, you will find yourself scrolling, fast graphics and
control. All this must be dealt in deepwater literally.— that great tune give frenetic
with whilst the enemy tries its However on entering the boat- gamepiay. This is a must for
best to dispose of you. house at the water's edge, your any shoot-em-up addict's
v
Fortunately, you have luck car is instantly transformed into ^ V.
J to flection.
'

(well, more other agents) on

like a high powered amphibious
your form of other,
side, in the vehicle. Your problems don't
more sophisticated weapons. ease up though as the river also
Along the way you pass contains enemy boats. It's poss-
67 %
fy i
Q 0/
No high score feature or New features plus elements of
weapons vans on the side of the ible to return to the road by way
/Q |
2-player option
road, marked on top with a of another boat house.
symbol representing the type of Control of the car is via joy- GRAPHICS HOOKABILITY
weapon they carry. Once you're stick or keyboard, the former

66 % Q
3 O/
1
past, they give chase, dropping being the preferable as the keys Simple scenery, small cars, Grabs you immediately -great
but smooth movement /O Playability
ramps for your spy car to drive are awkward, and misplaced un- I

up. less you have three hands. | ACTABILITV

If you can make it inside, the The sound effects are good
van will pull over, stopping to and very appropriate, as is the "7 0 0/ Great atmospheric tune, Q"7 Helicopters, ice, and lethal
equip you with an extra weapon. music played during the game. /o/o simple effects O / 0/
/O foes on higher levels

This is where the second joystick Graphically the game is by no « #ai i ies
\(r ^Wkp«wlJlii»»
enn aJBf^f^iesvr
^IwJPp* fwf%Jl*lKS «r
comes in, as it is used to fire your means outstanding, but the
additional hardware (see graphics are an effective repro-
87 %
Another truly addictive title
dossier). duction of those in the arcade from the US
At some point in the course. version. GP
 ,

his is a water born versi-

T on of Pole Position, with

speedboats instead of
cars and a lake in place of the
race track.
You have to guide your boat
around 20 courses, firstly in a
qualifying round and then in a
main round, beating a set time
on each run in orderto continue.
The courses are marked out by a
series ofpoles, occasionally
marked with a direction arrow to
indicate the curve of the bend
ahead.
Other boats are also on the
course and will do their best to
get in your way and cause you to
crash or force you into the poles
or off the course.
Your boat has two gears and a
top speed of 1 10. You accelerate
by pushing the joystick forward
and decelerate by pulling back.
The fire button changes gear.
Once on the course your boat
responds very sharply to left and
right movements and this will
take a while to get used to. The hinder you or let the game go in

corners provide the biggest to demo mode where it crashes

With all the duff versions of
hazard and you will have to hug frequently.
Pole Position around it's nice
the edge of the course to avoid The sound is just the roar of
to see this one with a new
the oncoming traffic. the engine and a crash when you
slant to it and lots o f
The 20 courses increase in dif- sink. The other boats are the
difficulty. There are one or
ficulty getting narrower and same as yours and the far hor-
two things that could be
more twisty as you progress. izon shows a shoreline which
improved though. The
You can practice on any of the moves left and right as you do.
course wants to be more
clearly defined and some of
routes without other boats to BW
the graphics and sound
effects at crashes could be
enhanced. The movement of
the boat also needs to be
made a little less sensitive to
AQUA RACER
Bubble Bus, £6.93 case, joystick only
stop you careering alt over • Pole Position at sea
the place.

Learning the courses

The real value of the game is in the increasing difficulty of the
courses. They present a strong long term challenges since you have
Well, well, well, what does
to first familiarize yourself with the bends and then improve your
out to be but
this turn
technique till you can beat the time.
another Pole Position deriv-
This means that just another Pole Position rip-off justifies itself by
ative, albeit an above
being tough enough to threaten any driving experts, particularly
average one. This time the
since the other boats home in on you by appearing in your path and
race is set on a fake with
swinging slowly after you if you move.
appropriate graphics and
unimaginative sound (it
PnEBENTATION OHIOMMALITV sounded a bit too much like a
racing car to me). / wasn't
exactly o verawedat first but f
64 % 42 %
The instructions are sparse Pole Position in water.
but adequate. have to confess / found
A Pole Position with a rip- myself coming back to this
roaring burn around a power one. A credible rip-off.
boat track. Rather unconvinc-
% 58 %
Fast 3D action, but the boat Control is touchy and off-
ing graphics and no real feel
to the steering don't give
65 movement is jerky. putting at first.

much realism to the game

although the 3D effects are
^^
quite reasonable. Twenty
courses add variety but they y /o
/ Just engine noise and

68
crasbes> but a nice start,n 9
tune. % 20 courses, the later ones
almost impossible.

are all pretty similar with value for Money

thinner and more twisting
tracks increasing the diffic-
OD 0/
C^C*. Enjoyable action for water
ulty levels. Still, the game /O sport fans.

rises above most in its class.

42 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 1 . ,

program comes from

T his
the same author
enormously
as the
successful
Foot-ball Manager and therefore
ADVERTISING PA TH TO
SUCCESS
Fans of Football Manager
an exceptionally
will find this
promised much as a strategy disappointing follow up. This
game. Sadly the promise hasn't The advertising section of the game is the most crucial and will is just a simple strategy
really been fulfilled. determine your success or failure. Deciding when to really push a game with little control over
You are placed in the role of a game is judged by three main factors. what you really want to do
budding Kevin Toms, Tony In the winter months the market is very large so plenty of advert- With not much real action
Crowther or Jeff Minter who ising can reap big rewards, whereas the summer is a bad time to going on in this one this is
,

wants to get to number one in spend a money:

lot of perhaps a game fora boring
the charts and be famous. You Games also have a limited shelf life and after four or five months
start with one game appropr- won't be selling enough to justify advertising them. Finally, quality
iately called Software Star, will also affect your policy since good programs will be worth
which you have to sell in orderto selling hard and even a mediocre one can be hyped to the. top of the
get to number one to attain star- charts.
dom and profit.

Addictive Games, £7.95 case, keys only

TAR
9 Simple stretegy game based on micro industry
Each game costs £10,000 to
launch at which time you can Many software houses will wish that their job was as easy as
start development of another in this game because you spend most of your time just hitting

program. The quality of the soft- the return key. The excellent presentation covers tots of
ware improves as monthly dev- interesting areas but it just doesn't give you enough to do. The
elopment continues until it is most exciting thing is watching your games flip up the charts
ready for launch and the critical but even that pales after four or five number ones. In Footba II
gaze of the reviewers. Manager you felt tike you were really controlling things but
Marketing the game is your Software Star doesn't give you that same feeling of power.
next task where you have to try Nevertheless on the harder levels you still face a reasonable
and improve productivity, sales, challenge and this game will probably make a showing in the
public image and advertising to — charts itself.
make your brainchild a best-
seller.
Productivity can be boosted or
harmed by incentives, discipline
or inaction, while your sales
force can spread its attentions
between four areas of the
country. Your image can also be
improved or damaged by being
honest or hyping.
Now all you can do is sit back
and watch your games climb up
the charts. If sales are high

^^
enough you'll match your over-
heads and make a profit. If you The game development screen. 'Penn invaders' has
only been under development two months - release
fail to make your profit target
it now and poor reviews are likely.
two years in a row you'll be
sacked.
Your other aim is to achieve Advertised as the long
ten months of stardom, which is awaited follow up to Football
done by keeping your games in Ma nager, but as far as I'm
the top three. Once you reach concerned it's just a follow
ten you are set a target of 20 up. In Football Manager you
months, then 30 and so on. As PRESENTATION j
had a fair bit to do see and do
with Football Manager there is a 1 1 1
as you battled to win the FA
save game option allowing you O O 0/ The screens are very well laid Q 0/ A new idea fora business sim- cup and become top of the
to play some very long games. OZ fO out. OO /O ulation.
league. Software Star seems
BW GRAPHICS HOOK ABILITY to follow a similar pattern of
® ®— 1 1
1 ) 1 1 1
ideas and it sounds interest-
1 f“ A Q 0/ Some initial fascination to ing in the instructions, but
0/ action.
There is no real graphic
| 53 /O /O reach number one. fails to shine due to the fact

SOUND L- Jk ni lity that you have relatively few

decisions to make.

O O/ Only a few beeps as the chart A ^ 0/ Not enough to do to keep you Y/ttoff
O /O
1

isformed. / 0 hooked.
1
Tt> PlRV'
CRlCKfr"
VALUE FOR MONEY
1 * \ 1 * 1 1 ] 1

A O 0/ Not nearly as good as Football

t+O / 0 Manager.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 43

J
 1

This is a fine attempt at cricket on a micro and in a two player

game will demand plenty of skill and hectic activity Playing :

against the computer is less of a challenge once you have?

sorted out the cheat methods, but it gives you a chance to
knock up some ridiculous scores The graphic flicker o f the
,

bowler as he runs makes him look like he has a crab in his

cricket box. As with alisport simulations, if you like the real
jjll thing you'll probably enjoy the computer game.

for determining the angle and

height of the bat and also the
batsman's position on the
wicket.
Once the batsman has played
his shot, an overhead view of the
given showing the eleven
field is
stickman fielders.
The player controls any of the
eleven fielders if bowling or the
runners when batting. At this
ricket is a difficult game to stage you can be caught if the
ut onto a micro and this ball is between one and eight
simulation has some very feet high when fielded, or run
interesting features to it. You out the ball is returned while
if

play a 60 over match against you are out of your ground.

either the computer or another Other features allow you to
player, although fatigue and lack move fielders around between
of concentration ends most balls and select village, county
HMlf ' i 1 aames Iona before then. or test match skill levels. BW

•Cricket simulation with unusual features

You can choose your own
Look out for the googlies! teams or be supplied with World
and England elevens containing
six bowlers, four batsmen and a
When playing against the computer there are one or two quirks
wicketkeeper. Each has a batting
which allow you to produce some very unlikely scores.' or bowling skill, although these
Firstly if you concentrate on hitting balls in one half of the field you
have little effect in a two player
can draw fielders out of position, so that they gradually can be
game.
distributed in the other half of the field, leaving a clear area to hit into.
If you are bowling you choose
There is also a bug whereby very infrequently two fielders get
one of your six bowlers, who can
stuck going for the same ball and you can pile up an infinite number
be fast, medium or slow. He
of runs. The only way out of this is to load the game again.
appears with his back towards
When bowling against the computer, if you always pitch the ball you at the base of the screen and
short and fast you will rapidly bowl out the opposition.- as long as
runs up to the crease. You
your aim is good. This, of course, is an accurate simulation of control his speed with the joy-
England's batting against the West Indies.
stick along with the direction
and pitch of the ball as you rel-
Tim may well love cricket ease. You also control the spin
but Hind it a very dull sport and swing of slow and medium
and the thought of playing pacers.
the game on a computer The batsman has more to con-
struck me as even more troland uses the second joystick
depressing. The general
presentation of the game ORIGINALITY
wasn't bad and l did enjoy
batting and bowling. The
65 % 57 %
Reasonable number of
coarse ffickery sprites and options.

spindly fielderswere crude

and I feel that more could be
done with a cricket
H simulation.
^ 42 %
They're either flickery or
crude. 34 % Won't convert non cricketers.

LASTABiLITY
game and so
Cricket is a slowtgame
you One thud and one boooop. /'QO/ Cricket lovers could get plenty
ts if i

QO /O of hours' play.

disappointed: flickery, crude ((

Pr+ X^UJEFORMDNEY
graphics, no sound and user
dpfnendliness contribute to&\ CT Q O / Higher if you really like the

make a bad game worse. OO /O sport.

"0W2ZBP'"
44 ZZAP! 64 May 1985
 Trouble In S tore for Herbert
Spectrum 48K £9.95
Commodore 64 £9.95
Amstrad CPC 464 £9.95 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Berks. 0344 427317
\
 , —

f
tj

I !i

001 Arcade VIC 20 (UNEXPANDED) 002 Arcade, VIC 20 (UNEXPANDED) 003 Arcade BBC MICRO B 004 Arcade BBC MICRO B
SNAKE BITE - Simply the slitheriest MICKEY THE BRICKY - Four BIRD STRIKE - Wing the planes GOLD DIGGER - The hazards of
game of its kind. screens packed with fun. and shoot the pigeons. digging for gold down under.

m .

r 53: * *
\l

C,i

EP PI <•-

B= t n

*
^ I ^

005 Arcade BBC MICRO B 013 Arcade BBC MICRO B 022 Arcade BBC MICRO B 023 Arcade/Strategy BBC MICRO B
DUCK! - Comedy and music in this ACID DROPS- Fly through to tackle ESTRA- Recover the sacred statue THE HACKER-Terminal to modem,
duck shoot. the mutant spinners. of Estra the snake god. telephone network to mainframe.

006 Arcade SPECTRUM 1 6K/48K 009 Arcade SPECTRUM 16K/48K 010 Arcade SPECTRUM 16K/48K 02 1 Arcade SPECTRUM 6K/48K 1

RUN BABY RUN - Multi-car cop TERRA FORCE - Terra man MENACE - What happens when CRAZY CAVERNS - Ten crazy
chase and shoot-out. defends earth against all odds. teacher turns his back. caverns, ten hungry mouths to feed.

HI OGOOOO f ? 5 CORE 000000+200

aaEsnii

«
„ ti™ V Ifc

L.
u
Pi
H .

p. .Q.

** I E vR R
^
’

'mv
% BtoSL ^0
~wv
a I
8
,

r a b I e *

L Jt*. &m2> E O 3T TSEflSl'RE iSS

007 Arcade SPECTRUM 48K 014 Arcade/Strategy SPECTRUM 48K 01 6 Arcade Adventure SPECTRUM 48K 008 War Game SPECTRUM 48K
EXODUS - Strange creatures MR. FREEZE - Six compartments, BOOTY - Twenty holds crammed VIKING RAIDERS- Atest of strategy
emerging from the pits. each tougher to de-ice. full of pirate loot. against the computer or friends.

SCREEN PRINT SERVICE MAIL ORDER

sfNCLAIR SPECTRUM AND BBC MICRO B USERS ONLY name of game (and machine) and
Please state

Notice the quality of printed screens on the front of our Silver range packs. If you are a computer numbers required.
Enclose crossed cheque/PO made payable to
we can offer you hard co py of your creations in the form of:
artist
FIREBIRD SOFTWARE.
1 2" x 9" FULL COLOUR PRINTS by ink jet printer. These are available in two formats: All offers are subject to availability.
1. PAPER - £6.95p each, or 2. LAMINATED (Board-backed) -£9.95p each; Orders are despatched promptly. All prices
both prices inclusive of VAT and postage. inclusive of VAT and postage.

Send your saved screen on cassette or disc (state border colour, Spectrum) with a crossed if
MAILORDER:
cheque/PO made payable to FIREBIRD SOFTWARE, to the address below. Your cassette or disc
*FREEPOST FIREBIRD,
will be returned with order. Allow 14 days for delivery.
WELLINGTON HOUSE,
SCREEN PRINT: UPPER ST MARTIN’S LANE,
*FREEPOST FIREBIRD, WELLINGTON HOUSE, UPPER ST MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON WC2H 9BR LONDON WC2H 9BR
i *No stamp required. *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. '
...
 -

MR FREEZE
AMSTRAD
THE WILD BUNCH
AMSTRAD

levuig ,
MR FREEZE-
BBC MICRO B
ESTRA-
COMMODORE 64
BIRD STRIKE-
ELECTRON
HI --'bLOKt
0591T0 MR. FREEZE *** 059170+130
THE HACKER
ELECTRON

LIVES

01 Arcade
1 SPECTRUM 48K 012 Adventure SPECTRUM 48K 018 Arcade COMMODORE 64 01 5 Arcade/Strategy COMMODORE 64
BYTE BITTEN - Solve the clue then THE WILD BUNCH - Accused of EXODUS - Strange creatures MR. FREEZE - Six compartments,
play Sea King. murder, hunt the real killer. emerging from the pits. each tougher to de-ice.

COMMODORE 64
01 7 Arcade Adventure 019 Arcade COMMODORE 64 020 Arcade COMMODORE 64 024 Arcade Adventure COMMODORE 64
BOOTY - Twenty holds crammed HEADACHE - Nervous Ned’s quest ZULU - 1 00 golden masks hidden GOGO THE GHOST - 1 50 different

full of pirate loot. to serve The Brain. in a magic maze. haunted castle chambers.

201 COMMODORE 64 202 SPECTRUM 48K

DEMONS OF TOPAZ BUGGY BLAST -
1 00% Graphic Exploration. Space Mission Simulation.
 .

a
R HUEY
£11.95 cas8|£14.95 disk, joystick with keys

Superb helicopter flight simulator

Great 3D graphics, easy joystick control

O h no. Not just another flight

simulator', thought. And
was right
I

- this isn't just

another flight simulator. It's a
superb one. In which the thrill of
I

flying low over the landscape at

high speeds in a helicopter is
brought to your screens with
startling realism.
Personally, I don't like flight
simulators much. But this one,
from the author of such classics
as Forbidden Forest and Aztec
Challenge, has changed all that.
You control a Huey UH-1X - an
experimental high performance
helicopter, and there are four
assignments to attempt (see
panel).
Actually flying the UH-1X
takes patience and time to per-
fect. Flying is mainly via the joy-
stick, with the keyboard used for
on-board computer commands.
The computer has a large range
of functions, 29 in all. These incl-
ude various gauges and indic-
ators, a compass, radar and
other very necessary functions.
The function keys turn on the
computer, start and cut the helicopter movement in one One of the best flight
engine, and engage the rotor. plane (forwards, backwards, problem, and is certainly easier
Basically, there are two banking right and left, and actual under £30, Control of the UN- than using two joysticks.
modes of joystick control: cyclic turning right and left of the heli- IX is extremely realistic and , Once familiar with the Huey,
(firebutton not depressed) and copter-yawing). there's plenty of things to do landing (for refuelling, emerg-
collective (fire button held In collectivemode, the joy- once you've learnt how to fly ency or otherwise), can be per-
down). stick gives up/down thrust and The effect on take off will formed with ease and you'll
In cyclic mode, the joystick control of throttle for speed. Flit- bring back memories to soon find yourself executing
responds almost like a normal ting between the two proves no those who've experienced more complex manoeuvres.
form of flight before - a
this Flying low and hard over the
few stomachs might bring ground gives an impressive
back something too. view of a speeding landscape, as
trees and houses pass beneath.
This is a very strong point about
the game's graphics, and some-
thing that a lot of flight simul-
ators fall down on.
The cockpit itself is graphic-
ally effective, and a nice touch is
the instrumentation coming

pniaiNASjrrY
H
Q P O/
1-

New approach to flight

72 %
Excellent instruction booklet

Q Q Y/q except inadquate info on

missions
simulation.

GRAPHICS
82 Q%
The 3D flying effects are /
87 %
Surprisingly easy to get
superb. addicted.

SOUND
“jQQ/
J Q /q
Excellent realistic helicopter
noises and a great intro tune.
/\ r\
M / O/
yQ
Eour separate missions, and a
massive landscape to explore.

rj / One of the cheapest flight

q J V/ simulators around. A great

48 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 !

alive on powering up the heli-

copter. The title screen at the
beginning is outstanding. 3D
credits float around the screen
to the sound of some excellent
backing music, and the bit helicopter, l found, is a lot

where Paul Norman's name flies easier than flying an

like a helicopter across the aeroplane, and more
screen . . . wicked controllable too. After only a
The sound of the Huey's few minutes t was having an
rotors in motion is brilliant, absolutely exhilarating flight
giving a very effective recreation over an extremely realistic
of a helicopter in flight. Other 3D landscape. With different
sound effects too, are very good. missions and, my favourite, a
The instructions with Super combatmode ail l ean say is
Huey are excellent. They give a complete list of the instruments watch outAirwolf I'm
run down of the Huey itself (plus is given, and the description and
coming to get you.
references for further reading), a function of each is noted.
summary on how to fly a heli- The latter two are definitely
copter and step-by-step instruct- worth reading, as they really do only annoying point about the
ions on flying the UH-1X. prove to bean aid when flying. A instructions, is that there isn't
The latter two are definitely complete list of the instruments enough depth on the assign-
worth reading, as they really do is given, and the description and ments.
prove to be an aid when flying. A function of each is noted. The GP

Fighting past the rockets on the first stage

cramble explodes again to

S your screens with this

'new' release from Mel-
bourne House. wouldn't mind
I

playing a good Scramble - I

haven't seen a new one for ages

-but this latest effort hasn't got
mm
anything over its predecessors M
other than a ripping soundtrack
and a landscape edit mode.
There are five separate
ISmm mmm
WHO -TOOK
sectors of horizontally scrolling
action before you reach the PIC ?/

neutron bomb which you have

to destroy. Most sectors are
quite easy to penetrate and the
rocketsand radar stations are
justcannon fodder, although it
gets much harder second time
round.
The colours used throughout
the caverns are rather unimagin-
ative and bland, and the actual
rockets and radar dishes are

Melbourne House, £6.95 case, joystick only

t Scramble variant with landscape editor

Melbourne House ha ve
made a backward step with AARGH! Please, not another
the release of this game - Scramble! There 's a great
there are too many Scramble m usical score, but the grim
games available and the 1
use of colours and boring
Scramble theme is very old graphics don 't exactly add to
hat. Perhaps two years ago this initially easy and rather
this would have been a real i bland version The ability to
.

smash but today even the * design your own screens

addition of a great isn't really worth writing
soundtrack and edit mode home about either.
this doesn't justify anything
above an average rating .

A
 .

very boring, consisting of only

two colours. There is quite a nice
firework display when you com-
plete the mission, and your ship
explodes with stunning finality
but this isn't enough to make
any game great.
There is a facility to design
and save your own landscapes,
so you can make Penetrator as
easy or as difficult as you like.
Editing is very user-friendly, and
you have options to edit the
ceiling, floor and place rockets
and radar stations wherever you
like. OHieilMAU This conversion of the Spec-
trum game has taken a long
JR
time coming and unfortun-
73 %
Usual high Melbourne House
standards.
21 % Apart from the edit mode just
another Scramble.

ILITY
,

ately it shows. The flicker/

graphics are annoying and
combined with the colour
scheme make it tough on the
p- r\ / Occasional juddering scroll p m r\t Immediate pleasure like most
eye. Versions of Scramble
1^ q /O anC* b° rm 9 colours
j^/j *~/q shoot-’em-ups.
are two-a-penny and this
isn't even one of the better
ones. The spaceship crash

45 %
Atmospheric tune right There's nothing new about looks good but dying is a
through game. these caverns.
o heavy price to pay for a
groovy graphic. The marvel-
lous music adds to the game

56 %
Basically a good, but very old but it's a case of too little too
game. fate with this one.

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Uses "speak” as a basic com-
range of powerful programs. Includes "Fastcopy". Takes just 4 minutes to Connect any "Centronics" type and saving by about 8 times while
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and Sector" a slower but very thorough program. Also includes the follow-
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Menu Maker, Index, Retitle, Rename, Scratcher, Disc to Tape very reasonably priced. dantly. A must for serious pro- unlimited Great fun and
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50 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

\
 WRIT Hu- You
SEE- PITSTOP % *

f maybe in a n
think this cot
second-rate. Th
view of the track is inaccurate
and the cars are bfocky. The
sound is better as it faithfully
;

reproduces the tune and

most of the effects of the
original (but not the speech).
Pole Position has been
around for some time now in
the arcades, and I don't think
this official conversion is
good enough to excite 64
owners.

POLE POSITION
US Gold/Datasoft, £9.95 case, £18.95 disc, joystick only
Pleasing copy of the motor-racing arcade classic
The cars are quite convincing
Race-track driving techniques as you hurtle pastthem in excel-
Control of the car is very tricky to a novice but is soon mastered. lent 3D and the way the track
Don't wrench the joystick from side to side as you scream round scrolls from side to side as you
bends: two gentletaps will send you from one laneto another. If you switch lanes is another nice feat-
see a car round a bend on the inside, let yourself drift to the outside ure. Signboards on the side of
lane. If the opposite happens then work yourself into the inside with the track whizz by as you race,
a series of taps on the joystick. although they haven't anything
On later stages you will often find two cars side by side. Speed up written on them which is rather a
behind them and zoom along the grass verge: although you slow shame.
down you can easily overtake them, but beware of the dreaded Colours are nicely used, and
signboards. several types of cars are in evid-
ence during the race. When you

Acopy
rcade

of
action
your screen
Atari's
explodes on
in this official
top
earner. The Fuji Grand Prix isthe
money
sought pole position and a 4000
point bonus. Lower grid plac-
ings mean less of a bonus and a
harder battle to fight your way
crash, your car explodes in a
crescendo of flame. There are
some nice tunes at the begin-
ning of the qualifying lap, remin-
The most impressive part of
the game is the crash
explosion but some areas
leave something to be
iscent of the arcade game, while
setting and it's up to you to burn up front. desired. Control is rather
the actual race itself and the
round the track overtaking other The number of laps is option- tough, it being difficult to
sound of the cars as you zoom
drivers and notch up record- al,but if you complete the race make fine adjustments. The
past them is quite convincing.
breaking lap times. you are given a bonus for the car graphics are also a
As you accelerate through the
When youstart the race you number and time
of cars passed problem since it is difficult to
gears the engine roars and if the
have to complete a qualify-
first remaining. You with 75sec-
start tell exactly when you have
car goes out of control there are
ing round in an allotted time. onds and extra time is given for cleared another car.
the appropriate skidding noises.
The faster the lap time, the bet- a successfully executed lap. : However, the game stiff
The game ends either when
On a high lap race the going
ter your grid placing. retains the basic
gets rough and the other drivers
A lap faster than 58.50 sec- your time runs out or you finish addictiveness of racing
have almost kamikaze tenden-
onds will give you the much- the race. Needless to say speed games and I'm sure most
cies. There's plenty in this to
is always of the essence. people wiffbe satisfied with
keep you going for that elusive
Graphics are similar to its arc- this conversion.
chequered flag.
Although by no means stun- ade counterpart - you're given a
JR
driver's eye view. But they lack
ning, this is definitely the
best race game for the 64. No
somewhat in detail and crisp-
ness - and according to the
other has the realism of the
game there are now four Mount
much, yet unsuccessfully ,
C 0 0/ A nice screen, options all
50 % games There are already road-racing
copied ace race game. The
Fujis!
DO /co at hand.
title
on the 64.

3D effect is excellent and cars

are clearly visible far away as
you speed up behind them.
Control, although taking a bit
of getting used to, soon
"7OO/
/Z /o
Fast, realistic
with
and colourful
good 3D effect. 73 % Instant appeal as you belt
round the track.

becomes second nature, and

within a few games you will

69 %
be hurtling through hairpin Always possible to improve
your time and score.
bends at truly monstrous
speeds. This game l would
heartily recommend to
anyone who enjoys living
70 %
Aging idea, but still the best
dangerously. race game money can buy.

52 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 6

venturi
Gremlins the Adventure,
available early April on Dealers contact: Nigel Banford, Adventure International
85 New Summer Birmingham.
Spectrum, Commodore 64, Cl Street,
Telephone: 021-359 0801
BBC and Electron. © WARNER BROS INC 1 983
 I

Shoot this switch and the white wall vanishes - but it also
sets the huge boulder (right) rolling toward you. You have to
speed left down the corridor. And only one shield left!

•Difficult, addictive helicopter rescue

•36 screen area, great graphics, tricky traps
The idea of this game is a
familiar one, but its ^|§
execution is original and full
of pleasant surprises. The \
deviousness of the caverns
and the sharply presented $
scenes make it a terrific game
i to look at as well as play. The \
hints that are dropped by the *

pointing arrows are needed

and without them it would be
a terribly confusing game. Be
i

warned though, they don't

give everything away.
A great game.

54 ZZAPI64 May 1985

 Trap Trouble
The hazards that face you can be very complicated, even once you
have worked out your route to rescue the scientists.
Near the base are three columns down which fall massive lethal
rocks giving you very little time to get through them. Other tight
spaces have pinball bumpers which bounce bullets around the
room to knock off some of your shields.
Particularly nasty locations are those that hide a flying saucer and
two blue monsters since these sap your protection very rapidly.
Other hazards are one way force walls, a giant boulder Indiana
Jones style and a murderous lift.

us the entire playing area is 36 screens big (9x4). That's

Elite tell
far bigger (and more interesting) than the Spectrum version of the
game. Bearing in mind the quality of the graphics and difficulty of
the traps, it's about as big as you could reasonably expect.

which unless moved upwards

will fall through gravity (but
when travelling left or right
maintains its height). On screen
the Airwolf has been made a
Graphically if$ vary smart,
large helicopter and consequ-
even if the sound isn 't {the
ently the whole game is of large
tune is a bit tedious - but you
size with lots of clear graphics
cart turn it off). Controlling
and objects. your helicopter is very
The game features many diffimlttbgetusedto, and
doors and walls which have to even after several games, I'm
be opened by shooting buttons stiff getting problems. So
or switches or just plain blasting what if it appears to be a Fort
through them. You can fire Apocalypse derivative - /
Reviewed in this issue are 1 horizontally or downwards and don't care. What we have
two Fort Apocalypse you have auto fires when the
here m an extremely
variants. One is pretty grotty, button is held down. This is
addictive
and one, namely this one, is handy for ripping through two shoot-and-pick-em -up.
even better than the original. when in a tight spot.
layer walls
i)ll

/ found myself very addicted Bumping into walls and small

to this fast moving rescue objects causes shield damage
shoot~em~up as / tried to find but collision with a hefty rock
the scientists. It's ail too
all splatters you immediately. How-
easy to make a mistake, so ever if you manage to pick up a
games can be numerous and scientist and get him back to
over very quickly. I had to be base you are rewarded with a
forced away from my 64 with completely new set of shields.
The theme tune from the TV
series plays throughout the
game but it is uninspiring and
the space bar will turn it off. The
other sound effects are just blast
and crash noises but are gratify-
ing enough.
BW

ential since thecaves are a mass

ORIGINALITY
of traps and vicious enemies. Helicopter games aren't new
/ Short instructions but helpful
You only see a small part at any Q in-game hints but lots of different touches to
this.
one time, the picture scrolling in
ased on the highly suc- any of four directions as you

B cessful
this game
television
puts you in the
role of Stringfellow Hawke and
series move.
The scientists are located on
small platforms and have to be
Mean caves and smooth
movement of all characters.
Control quickly established
and each new discovery spurs
you on.

you have to rescue five scient- reached one at a time, collected

ists from the underground and brought back to your start-
—QO/ 86 %
complex of the evil General ing position. These platforms Removable tune and bump Five scientists each on a very

Zaranov. are, as you would expect, in the o '/O ar, d bang sound effects. difficult route.

You are flying the Airwolf heli-

copter and it is equipped with
most tortuous places to get to
and since you only have one life
VALUEFORMONEY
forward firing missiles and nine
shields that resist impact with
accurate flying
You should
i£a must.
rapidly get to
00 0//q
QQ
Hours of frustration and
jubilation guaranteed.

objects. These shields are ess- grips with the chopper's control

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 55

\
 .

Why a software company of

Melbourne House's reputa-
tion has decided to release
this type of game now I can't
understand. When other soft-
ware houses were releasing
Miner Willy type games Mel-
bourne House were releas-
ing original so ftware. Now
the tables have turned. . .

With this and Penetrator Mel-

bourne House stand to lose
some credibility. Come on
let's have some orig-
guySr

Hazards of the tower

The various screens of Dark Tower present a typical collection of
dangers to be negotiated. There are ropes which Harry can use to
O h no ... It's platform time
!

again. This is yet another

Jet Set Willy clone and is
marred by uninteresting graph-
You are Prince Harry and have
been turned into a mutant by the
Guardian of the Dark Tower. To
restore yourself you have to col-
swing across chasms in true Hunchback style - but jumping on and ics and a lack of original feat- lect all of the gems littered about

off requires careful timing. ures. the 28 screens of the castle. Let-
Also in evidence are falling daggers and slopes, both of which
force you to plan your route carefully. The daggers fall behind you

DARK TOWER
effectively blocking your path back, and you can't walk back up a
slippery slope once you have started tumbling down it.
Avoiding the baddies themselves, as in most platform games, is a
matter of studying their movement patterns and timing your moves
carefully. Melbourne House, £7.95 Cass, Joystick only

The similarity to Fo rt
pocalypse and the contn
of your craft am initially
Bug in the demo
If long enough the program
left difficulty I was
able to move it
the game and discover m goes into a demo mode as in
Trollie Wallie where you are
through the scenery and
all
dangers, although
size and complexity it couldn't
I

becomes more attractive. shown the whole playing area pick up robots. When fired, the I

The fact that everything is so and the hazards within it. This is noise persisted but no bullets
small detracts and handy for planning your way emerged,
sometimes bullets don 't around and spotting where all The author, Andrew Challis
destroy objects unless you the robots are. (Sillahc backwards, OK), told
hit them dead centre. If you However at one point when I me that the bug had also app-
can get over the fact that it's a was playing an interesting eared on his machine but attrib-
copy you'll quite enjoy this. alternative occurred. My ship uted it to the old graphics chips
suddenly appeared in the mid- in some 64 s and said it didn't
die of a tower and with a bit of occur on newer ones.

CAVERNS OF SILLAHC
Interceptor Micros, £7.00 case, joystick only

n an alien world you are Your craft can carry ten robots are set up in small spaces where
taking sides in the fight at a time and behaves much like it hard to manoeuvre and con-
is
Ibetween the Torms (a nice a helicopter in that it responds to stant concentration is required.
enough bunch of lads) and the gravity unless you maintain up- The robots are dotted around
Humans (a real nasty bunch of ward movement. You are armed in groups where they shuttle left
invading farmers). with bullets that shoot
in the dir- and right waiting to be picked up posed to destroy is located in the
The Torms who live under- ection of movement but only from above. But you must be centre of the underground
ground have pinched the farm- destroy the antigravity mines careful how many you take be- complex. There is some robotic
ers' robots to drive them away and blocks that are put in your cause overloading will cause sounding speech synthesis, a
but your job is to get them back way. you to crash. Touching anything jolly title screen tune and bone-
from the underground caverns The maze of force walls, elec- else except the robots and the marrow-irritating sound effects.
where they have been hidden tricbeams and other moving landing places is fatal. Landing Your craft looks like a ham-
and protected. As a secondary defences are what you have to spots are occasionally refuelling burger with big ears but the rest
aim you're asked to destroy the negotiate and this takes stops as well - your power runs of the graphics are competently
Torms' power plant - charitable patience, skillful joystickcontrol out very quickly. done.
huh? and good timing. Most of them The power plant you're sup- BW

56 ZZAPI64 May 1985

 . ’

How come the market seems

able to absorb endless jump-
ing, collecting games? The
only original thing about this
one is the excellent music
that bops along as you play.
You may be deterred by only ters are given after the complet-
I must confess it was the
having 28 screens which for
ion of each screen and these are
music in this game that realty
hardened fanatics won't to be used to solve a puzzle appealed to me - a venerable
present much of a challenge
when you complete the game. masterpiece. Graphics to me
Your egg character and most are reasonable (especially
The first 500 people to solve the
of the other graphics aren't
puzzle win a free Melbourne the title screen picture) and
very detailed and show none even though the animation is
House game of their choice.
of the humorous touches of nothing special\ the colours
As in JSW there is more than
other games. Personalty Tm are well used. Unfortunately
one exit to each screen, so you
fed up with the continual this 'arcadedpuzzle' is in fact
can explore the tower without
reworking of the platform
necessarily completing every .ANOTHER platform
. .

*%/**<+ game. screen you pass through. game. There are now so
However, a bonus is awarded many of these that new
forcompleting a screen without attempts at the format need
losing a or leaving the room.
life
to offer something special.
The graphics
are disappoint-
ing. Although smooth, they are
very small and spectrumesque.
PRESENTATION ORIGINALITY
The baddies aren't very detailed
76 % Plenty of attention to
12% Yawn bore, we've seen
detail, it
and haven't the humour of Jet great loading screen. before.
Set Willy, while mutant Harry
looks like an egg on legs! GRAPHICS HOOK ABILITY
The sound is the best thing
O 0/
49 %
about this game: a thumping The characters are small and rr Would be compulsive if it was
good tune plays throughout, but
crude. Do /o your first platform game.

it can be turned off if it gets on SOHIIO IBASTABIUTY 70

n
z.
your nerves. m
The option to start a new 0^0/
OD Dood/ey-doodley-doo
/O shoo-wop.
bop-
56 % 28 screens, some of them very
game from where you left off the tough.

old one will keep the map-

makers happy, but overall this is
VALUE FOR MONEY
a below average example of a
tried and tired theme.
JR
41 % It's too expensive for old hat.

Iwasn't impressed with this

very poor copy of Fo rt
Apocalypse; Control of your
egg-tike craft is poor and the
graphics aren't anything
special. Within the caverns
controlling your spaceship
through the tricky maze-tike
passages is frustrating fy
difficult and death from
mysterious causes made me
soon sicken of the game. If
you want a good Fort
Apocalypse type game buy
Y°ur cr, the original - it's far better.
visible uses betwe
£ !?
a voided hree too vin
. Wanden
throuah
he
**te JS

[ORIC
HNS
r~ r\
1
n/
^ ^ */Q
Skimpy instructions
lnterce
scenario.
with
P tors osual s iHy 21 % Fort
with
from
Apocalypse

Trollie Wallie.
look-alike
some obstacle elements

P“70/ -4 ttractive settings but jerky

m ^ / Nasty control and a
’

y! /q movement on small graphics. /| ^ perplexing environment don’t

Large caverns provide tough

—m
ww /\J
/ Harmless uue
narmtess speech
title tune, spat
and teeth-grating sound
effects.
'

KJ °PP
/Q challenge.
os it,on good long-term
'

60 % Cheaper than
but not as good.
Fort Apocalypse

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 57

\
JACK ATTACK Put off by the title, I found
myself fearing the worst, but
ended up reasonably impres-
but; challenging arcade action sed. It has quite an original
scenario - squashing heads

T his is a simple game where

you have to bounce around
a ten column screen trying to
time you move a block you score
points and if you splurge the
heads fast enough there is a
was a new experience for
me I Play is quite difficult and
challenging and the 64 differ-
squash rotating heads. This is ididn't like this one to start time bonus. On somescreens ent screens will take any
done amidst a scene of blocks, with, but after a few plays it there is also a bonus for touch- player's ability to the limit.
platforms and water arranged grew on me. Squishing the ing all the platforms. Despite mediocre graphics
differently on the 64 screens. heads in various ways was Jack is curiously allergic to and sound my view of the
Jack has to crush eight heads very amusing, but the control water which kills him, but this game grew fonder towards it
on each screen and he can do took a bit of getting used tol can be overcome by pushing as f played. Unfortunately
this in a variety of ways. The The graphics are simple but blocks into it, which float and £15 is too high a price to pay
straightforward method is to there are amusing touches - / can be walked on. Jack can jump above average
for just an
jump onto a head but there are particularly liked the rotating up to three blocks high but the arcade game.
lots of techniques for doing this heads and Jack's anima tion. heads can gotiigher and so Jack
and you can also crush the However the sound is poor must time his leaps carefully to
heads using the blocks littered and it's not a game fd Want avoid being trapped.
around the place. You jump by pushing the joy-
Jack can push or pull the stick up and gravity brings'you
blocks by pressing the fire down naturally. Moving left or
button and moving in the desir- right makes you shuffle or hop
ed direction, but he must be- one column, although the react-

ware since the heads can also ion isn't always immediate. You
squish him and a careless push can start at any of the first nine
can bring a block down on his levels but once you've past ten
head. you will have to crush all eight
There are points for each head heads in one go instead of being
you destroy and also several able to get them a few at a time.
bonuses are available. Every BW

US Gold/Sega £9.95 case, £18.95 disk, joystick and keys

a

and great 3D effects: only a boring plain with gates which

must be passed through. Aliens make their appearance later
but are badly animated, cumbersome and easy to hit The
space sequence is another let down, with the same alien
saucers floating around and again they are cannon fodder
The giant ship is a doddle to destroy and with only a few
games practice huge scores came quickly and easily.

avo/cfo

58 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 t

This is one of those simple

but addictive games which is
enjoyable without having
stunning graphics, sound or
complicated scenarios The .

64 levels provide plenty of

new challenges and different
tactics although the game
does ha ve a limited scope
because of its simple nature ,

fatso liked the way you could

either concentrate on high
scoring by collecting bon-
uses or just on beating as
many screens as possible.

A humourous ‘almanack
good on-screen presentation f Simple set up but original
O gamep/ay.
>

crummy box

JACK ATTACK ALMANACK /

Q there
Rotating heads look good but
is little else.
/ Frustrating until you get the
Q hang of the timing.

No tune and only a few sound

effects.
/ 64 different screens - a game
O which grows on you.

/ Unfortunately expensive
O because it's on cartridge.

US Gold have brought some

omeone once said: 'If a pro- deep space. Moving excellent games across from

S
into stars,
gram bears the US Gold as Gyruss, form the 3D effect
in America, but unfortunately
label, you can bet your joy in space, emanating from the this isn't one of them. The j
stick it'll be good.' Judging from centre of the screen. Here, a cert- arcade game o f the same even
this program, someone has just ain number of aliens must be name wasn't exactly
lost a joystick. shot before meeting the mother- amazing, but this version
Buck Rogers is a plain and ship - which also must be dis- lousy I don't know whether it
. em~up$, out puttmg this on
simple shoot-em-up spread posed of in a similar fashion. was the crude graphics, the market won % do US
over several screens. The action After this brief encounter with mediocre sound or bad Gold's reputation any good.
takes place on a distant planet the mothership, it's on to level gameplay that put me offjbut Perhaps we've learnt to
and in the far reaches of outer two, and not a lot of difference. f certainty can 't recommend expect too much but this just ,

space. (The pylons fire to the sides, so f seems too old to be

ifcfe this one' -S/£ & ; "

You start on the planet itself, you need to fly through, instead , worthwhile. ,

and must fly through, or avoid, of around, them).

two electrified pylons hurtling There's not a lot to say about
they way toward you in 3D (it the graphics in this game, exc-
says here). In order to score any ept they're bad. The crude, ex-
points or move onto the next panded multicolour sprites
level though, you need to actual- made me cringe, and the pylons
ly fly through the pylons. literally jerked out of the screen
In the top right hand corner at you - some 3D effect! NATION ORIGINALITY
lORl
there are a number of planets The actual 3D on the planet's — t-
H 1 1 1 1
h

68 %
representing the number of surface was
reasonable. The
18 %0
Competent packaging, but There are other Buck Rogers
f
pylons still to fly through or bands of colour coming out of nothing special games on the 64
aliens left to kill. Once this coun- the screen looked good, and the m
ter reaches zero you move onto stars gave a fair feeling of 3D in
fl# ILfTY
1 1 1 H H
the next screen. space. The mountains in the 1 (-

This doesn't differ much from

the previous screen, except that
background were unimpressive
and impassive and there was an
48 %0 f
3D is hard to program, but not
that hard
C A 0/
Ur /O
Some zapping appeal to start
with

spaceships can also be shot. annoying split screen glitch that LASTAOILITY
These can either come from gave them a seismic effect. -t 1 1-

behind yo%u or from out of the

% 35 %
Apart from a short introduct- Nice tune plus some zapping ...but soon evaporates
screen as do the pylons. The ory tune, the sound was weak 51 it

third screen adds bouncing and simple.

aliens to your quota. GP
On the fourth
38 %0
screen you actu- Not so rnuch the 25th century
f
ally leave the planet and blast off as the 15th

”
wqs much gerre#/"
ZZAP! 64 May 1985 59
CROWTHER: Super being a
superstar!
really passed the A level. I wanted to go to
art college - in fact I was going to, but I

thought: oh. I'll have a look at software for a

bit. So stayed on that for a year with
I

Alligata - and then thought: ay-up, this is I

quite fun this. So ended up staying on it I

and never went to art college.

I

But most people think that if you're good at

art, you're bad at science and vice versa. So
how come you can program?
I am bad at science. never passed my I

Physics - took it four times, the O level, and

1

failed every time.

So how come you can program?

(Iaughs)\ think because I've taught myself. If

someone had tried to teach me I'd have had

no chance.

All right, let's take it through. When did

your computer bug start?

Two to three years ago when was about 16. I

My Dad has got one of these rich friends

who keeps flying away and marrying mil-
lions of people and then divorcing them
again. He had a computer and he lent it to
me - was
a Pet 4032. So borrowed that
it I

for a and couldn't make head or tail of

bit, I

it.Ihad it for three months - couldn't work 1

a thing on it, nothing. used to type in list- I

ings, but they never used to work.

They never do.

So thought
I right. I'm going to learn it, find
out what's getting me mad. So I picked up a
little bit and wrote a program on it. You
know Mastermind - wrote that on the Pet. 1

A really good version. It worked. You know

the plastic model version you can get with
the pegs. It looked identical to that.

So Mastermind was the first Crowther

game?
It'sbarely a year since the yellow-topped, lightning-fingered Tony Crowther burst
upon the games-playing scene with a series of stunning programs for Alligata: Well, never got anywhere. sent it off as a
it I

Killer Watt, Blagger, Loco and Son of Blagger. He's continued to make waves since listing to Computer and Video Games and
then, changing companies twice and rewriting his earlier hits as well as producing waited ages and ages for a reply. showed I

new graphical wonders. But what kind of person really is this 19-year-old whizz my mates and they loved it - and it never
kid? Zzap 64 reveals for the first time the full Tony Crowther story in this interview
! even got anywhere, they never even replied
with editor Chris Anderson back. So whether they used it don't know, I

but never got anything for it. It was just

I

getting me mad, so bought a Vic - out of I

Ithink probably most people in the industry from Sweden and places like that. You get frustration. It was a new machine - it had
now see you as one of THE big names - do the odd one from Great Britain. Then you colour! So started playing around with that
I

you actually feel like a star? get these obscene phone calls. What they obviously. also started picking up machine
I

do is, they ring up to speak to Tony and then code, not very well but ... wrote* a type of I

Yes. Tworeasons. One, you get fan mail. I they say Tve just bought this. It's brilliant! Ga/axian game, and was quite pleased I

really like that. usually reply to it which is

I Bye!' Bang. That's all they say. with that. But it didn't get anywhere. Then I

good fun - you get replies back again and wrote a car game on it - I'd just got a mach-
you keep in touch that way. And then, The thing that seems to mark out your ine code monitor for it, I was obsessed by it

people come to see you. The other day games is amazing graphical
their quality. - so I showed Systems who it to Superior
someone just came round from York just to , Where's that come from? had just started. Mike looked at it and he
meet me. said: Look, tell you what, Tony, I'll give you
Oh, I'd always been top of my art class. I a Commodore 64 on loan. can't pay you, I

How much mail do you get in fact? passed my 0 level with a grade A. Went for but you can have it as advance royalties.
the A level but kept flunking it because I The 64 had just come out, it was at £299. I

Oh, about one a month (laughs), usually could never turn up for the exam. So never
I thought: free computer, I won't complain.

60 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

i
 .

Two weeks later came up with a program, I working companion doesn't like it. But my
Lunar Rescue. It was the first commercial brother has never liked any of my games,
program ever did. I but he's never stopped playing this one. And what happened there?

Do you think you're a particularly compet- You've had quite an interesting history Well again didn't like the people
I was I

itive person? over the last year or so. Some people feel working with - well, not so much didn't like I

you have a reputation for not being at all them ... it was just that ... I'd never seen a
settled, for chopping and changing a lot. company in my life, and suddenly was in I

I love competing with people. But also love I What actually happened? Why did you one. All right the company was doing well,
people to tell the truth, what they really feel leave Alligata? but wasn't satisfied with that. It's not the
I

about my programs. When write a prog- I money I was after, it's a satisfying job. I

ram it's how like it, but that isn't the way it I I know a lot of people who've got standard noticed that the company was not set up
should be when you think about it because jobs, like working in insurance. If they're not correctly, it seemed as though no one knew
it's not just me that's having the program. happy with the people they're working with exactly how to run the company ... don't I

So what do is usually show it to people. If I I they leave. Some people stick at it, some want to go into that ... lost interest in that I

they're not impressed with it scrap it and I people decide to leave. I've become one of and didn't find was getting what wanted
I I

start again. those people. out of it.

You're working on a new program at the So were there particular reasons for leaving Did you feel they weren't giving you
moment. Tell me about it - as much as you Alligata? enough share in royalties?
can at this stage.
Ithink it's just the fact wasn't happy work- I No it's nothing to do with the money - was 1

Well, a system - how can you explain it it's ing. didn't get out of the company what
I I quite happy with what I was on. There were
without giving too much away? -well hope- wanted to, could have got a lot more. was I I just certain advantages I wasn't getting.
fully it's going to be a new side to computer told in fact that shoulddo what Minter's I

games, that 99 per cent of them will appear doing - work on my own, get my own com- To do with control over how the programs
like this is. other people feel about it what If I pany. But obviously - I'd just left school, I were marketed?
feel, they'll follow it. It's going to make a didn't like that idea at all. What did was I

package worth the money um it's . . . . . . leave Alligata and attempt to work along I had no say whatsoever, the way saw it. I

difficult to explain. I'd love to show you, but those lines. But as soon as left got tied up I I Obviously said what wanted, and they
I I

it's best not to I'd say it's going to be a . . . with Gremlin Graphics. just said, it's all right, we'll do it. was left on I

new format to games. You know you've got the outside writing my programs. So dec- I

scrolling screens as a format, and flick Were you actually lured away from Alligata ided to leave. met up with Roger Taylor
I

screens - those two types - well it's a new by Gremlin Graphics? and we decided to split Wizard in half - we
type. would own half each. Now we have the situ-
No hadI already left. ation if want to do something I'll do it. If
I

You're spending quite a bit of time on it by Zzap!64 wants an interview I'll do it.
your own standards. Over a month. So you stayed with Gremlin Graphics for
three or four months, was it? So you feel more settled now?
It is a long time, but I'm hoping, with it being
my first program for my new company, Wiz- Yeah, around that. I don't think I'll be leaving Wizard, don't
ard, I want it to be a success. In fact my worry about that.

Crowther on Minter
In recent months Jeff Minter has had interviews in about five diff-
erent magazines, and in some of them he's been saying things
about Tony Crowther, implying that all your games are very similar,
all with scroll routines, and that you're not too good. Does it hurt
you when you read that?

Idon't know, do in a way,, but find it's a compliment because I'm I I

being mentioned, because he knows I'm there - and so do a lot of

other people. know I'm not bad because people are buying these I

programs I'm writing. Whatever write they go into the charts. They I

may not get that high in some cases, but they still go in the charts. I

don't see why should be criticised just because all my games are I

scrolling. I'd say there are two types of screen you can have - a flick
screen or a scrolling screen. find a scrolling screen more advanced, I

and it's also harder to write on, than a flick screen.

Do you like Minter's games? *- '

'V imm v *, - r -
J&.

lwon't answer that f(laughs) ~ do like one of his, Mower Bovver, I

one do like though. Only because I'm too thick to

that's the only I

understand them - that's my problem.

• •: •
'
-x
•’
Y /; Y .
• . .
\
'
.....
'
.
'

.
‘
...
••
•
. ;
x x

Do you see you and Minter as big rivals?

• :
. Y.
''
. : ,-x .• x : :Y: : : : : :Y:;
:

;
YxY |
'•
> x •
.
'
. x '
.;.
•' •
••. .. > . x .'
. x.- x .
••
... '•
Y • : -:
;
:Y

don't know. What I'd like to do is to get together with him and write a
I

game, splitting the profits 50*50.

>
'
'
...

That sounds interesting - have you put the idea to him?

No, haven’t talked to him about it, because he won't talk to me. We
I

don't even get to that stage! I don't really mind what he says about
me, became I really like the guy.
atoiuiiiitewiiiin

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 61

You mentioned you were quite
earlier that What do you think of the games market as a your money's worth.
a competitive guy. Would you really like to whole at the moment, do you think it's in
be clearly recognised as the number 1 UK decline? Do you think quite a lot of software on the
games programmer? market won't even hold people's interest
In what sense? for that long?
I'm not sure if I am a\red^iy\(/aughs)
Well, people talk about the home micro Idon't think they will, some of them. can I

But would you like to be clearly recognised boom being over. only play games for about 10 minutes in
as that? some cases. In some cases play up to three I

The boom over, yes. I'm still worried if

is hours.
Um ... don't know,
I don't think you can I
people are going to go on buying software.
class anyone like that every- - because not Eight quid a shot is so expensive - I'd love to Long term, what are your plans? Do you
one's going to like my games, just like not release programs at four quid, but it's not want to keep writing games?
everyone likes Minter's games. But think I advisable for us because we don't get much
everyone knows I'm here. Like rang up I money that way. know they're even more
I I want to keep writing games as long as the
Currah a while back and said: hello, it's expensive than records, that's what worries market's there. As far as know can keep
I I

Tony Crowther, and they said: not THE me about the price of software — you some- writing games till it comes out of my ears
Tony Crowther -you get all of this. Every- times find you get more enjoyment from a because I it. With writing them
enjoy doing
one knows who am, it's really good.
I record than you do from a program. It so fast it's because can spend
really nice I

makes the programmer think then because three weeks on a program and then a full
That gives you a buzz? he's got to put so much in it that he keeps month just thinking about it. You just sit
them happy for at least two or three hours. there with a book - when you're bored you
Yeah, it does. can scribble, watch telly. That's the beauty
In all, you mean? - for the game's entire of it - 'cos obviously the software house
Where do you get the ideas for the amazing lifetime? can't release more than so many, they
graphics that you have in games like wouldn't be able to cope with it.
Suicide Express, or should I call it Black For someone who buys the thing he's got to
Thunder? be happy for at least three hours. Do you have anything else lined up after
your next program?
What happened was started doing Suicide I A lot longer than that, surely.
and disappeared off to Spain. And when
I
No, but then I've got a month to think about
you're on the beach, sunbathing away, you No, buy a record, listen to it once and never
I it - that's the beauty of it.

get really bored. got a little pad and started

I hear it again. Right? So I'm only happy with
drawing things like giant mushrooms, it for about an hour. With software you're

mazes, even things like the words in stone. paying twice as much, so I'm saying that if
So when got home just put it straight in.
I I you play a game for three hours you've got

'I don't like playing games 'i

Tony Crowther always insists THE GUARDIAN I cheated on

that he doesn't 'like' playing that too, and got right up to level
games - on the other hand, he'll 99. There's a bug up there some-
admit that those below did 'keep where. The aliens start running
me happy' for a while. His away from you!'
verdicts: STAFF OF KARNATH I like the
GHOSTBUSTERS:'Completed it 3D background, but not the
the second or third time I played sprites.'
it.' POLE POSITION Kept me
CLIFF HANGER:'Kept me happy happy.'
for a reasonable amount of time. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION Played
Really funny.' it for half an hour, didn't finish
BOOGA BOO 'Played it for a it.'

long time.' BOULDER DASH It's good, I

DINKY DOO developed a cheat

'I played it a lot until my copy went
version which was a lot more wrong. It's written completely
fun.' without sprites.'

Crowther the person

ATTACHMENTS: Engaged for 18 months to Lisa, gorgeous, after
meeting in nightclub. No marriage date.

OTHER INTERESTS: Travelling, going to exhibitions (really enjoyed

recent visit to Las Vegas), woodwork (once built a crossbow!),
sewing using a sewing machine (Lisa can't)

FAVOURITE TV: Don't watch much except videos. Last of the Sum-
mer Wine

FAVOURITE MOVIES: Clint Eastwood, horror

FAVOURITE FOOD: Snack pots

FAVOURITE DRINK. Yorkshire bitter. Plenty.

62 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

I

The old way The new way

How many of us have the feeling that if we will help you create your own sounds, step by step,
could only write down music in the same way that with no previous knowledge of music whatsoever.
we can write words, there would be no holding us. There’s even a menu of fifteen assorted
now you can.
Well, melodies, ranging from Ravel to
With Activision’s Music Studio. Joplin, for you to experiment with.
4
Note by note, you can build a ('Ey scoring Mapleleaf Rag for
melody from the music in your Keyboard and Steam Train. It takes
head. And see it on your TV screen two seconds with Music Studio!)
as well as hear it. If you are a musician, you’ll
Tbu can add harmonies. wonder howyou ever lived without
Lyrics. Change key Change tempo. the Music Studio.
Change instruments (from a choice If you’re not a musician, you
of 15 including keyboard!) You can soon will be.
scroll the melody through the TV £14.99 for the cassette and
screen and then print out the result. £19 99 for the disk from all good
Y)u can do all this with your software stores.
computer and a joystick.
If, musically, you’re a
beginner, don’t worry Music Studio
ACTIVISION
HOME COMPUTER SOFTWARE TM
FROM SELECTED BRANCHES OF BOOTS, WH SMITH, JOHN MENZIES, LASKYS, SPECTRUM, RUMBELOWS, WOOLWORTH AND GOOD COMPUTER SOFTWARE STORES EVERYWHERE.
 .

Now you can use your Commodore 64 to write a letter or a report to ,

compile a mailing list or classify your record collection, to check your bank
statement or sort out your family finances (and then translate them into
colourful graphics) TTTaTl for Just £5.95.

Quick to learn, easy

MINI OFFICE marks a
long-awaited breakthrough
in dramatically reducing the
cost of personal comput-
ing.
For the first time it makes
to
processing, database manage- people this could be the first
that’s it again. It can also be printed
available to everyone an ment, spreadsheets and gra- time they can send out a out.
easy-to-operate version of phics had been turned into a perfectly typed letter without The Database program can
four of the most popular full scale suite of programs outside help. be used to store a mass of
business computing appli- covering all four applications. Primary school teachers are information. It can be
cations - and at a price anyone In fact the only part of the also expected to make great retrieved, in its entirety or just
can afford. brief that remained was our
Never before has a word original insistence that the 1
processor been sold for any- package should be quick to
thing as low as £5.95. Nor a learn and easy to use.
database manager. Nor a And despite all the extra FUEL CHARGES
spreadsheet. Nor a graphics sophistication that has been
program. written into it, we decided
Yet Mini Office contains that, as a service to our
them all. readers, the price should still
So how was it done? be kept at the very low figure
It started with a sugges-
all originally fixed.
tion that we should prepare a How does Mini Office m i-i :w jjf’Vfj

package to give readers a operate?

gentle introduction to the kind Using the Word
of software that businesses Processor is simplicity itself. Figures on the spreadsheet can produce a bar chart
were running on their com- There are none of the cryptic
use of the double-size func- the parts you require for a
puters. coded instructions that had to
tion,both on the screen and on particular purpose, whenever
At that stage there was no be mastered by people learn-
hard copy printouts. you need it.
intention that it should be an ing the early word processors.
While you are using the The operation is so simple
ambitious package. Just a You by selecting the
start
word processor three useful that a useful database can be
simple program that could be size of type you prefer - either
pieces of information are created in minutes rather than
sold at a very low price. normal or double-size. The
displayed across the top of the days - and you certainly don't
We called in experts in latter is a feature that you
screen. need any computer experience
They tell you how much to set it up.
flunique f eature is time has elapsed since you The powerful search facility
the double size text started using it, the number of
words you have written so far,
is very easy to use. You can

search for a particular word or

option in both and how many characters you words or you can order a
printer an d edit can key in before the numeric search - such as
node — p e rf ect for computer's memory is full.
At any time you can press a
telling the computer to find all
the numbers greater or less
young chil dren and key which tells you your typing than the one you provide.
people wit h poor' speed. This is a most useful You can carry out multiple
vision function, and can play an
important part in increasing
sorts. For instance, if you
have built up a mailing list
The word processor - with double size characters your efficiency at the key- containing a list of names,
board. addresses, telephone num-
business software program- cannot find on any other word You can also decide the size bers, occupations and ages
ming, told them what we processor. of the margin, the line length you can ask the database to
wanted and sat back to await It is particularly suitable for and the tab positions. Text can provide you with a list of
results. the partially sighted - in many be moved from one part of the teachers living in Liverpool
What happened next was cases giving them their very document to another. whose ages range from 25 to
totallyunexpected. For they all first opportunity to use a word At any time you can 30.
came back with ideas that processor. preview the text to see how it One powerful option allows
were to considerably expand Thismeans they can use a would look when printed out. you to replace anything on the
our original brief. micro to compose a letter, As with all the other database without having to go
In the end what had been using the double-size mode, programs in Mini Office, your through the whole lot making
planned as little more than a and then print it out using work can easily be saved and amendments yourself. You
beginners' guide to word normal size type. For many loaded when you want to use could, for instance, instruct it
 )

DATABASE SOFTWARE

ing you with an effortless accidentally erasing formula - producing graphics you can
to find each reference to
means of keeping tabs on your a very useful precaution. also print out hard copies for a
"teacher" and replace it with
income and expenditure - and The Graphics program permanent record.
"lecturer".
The Spreadsheet is our enabling you to work out your uses the standard business Because our original inten-
own budget. graphics — line, bar and pie tion was to produce a package
version of the program that
milestone our Spreadsheet pro- charts - colour. Which is forpeople new to all these
marked a in In in full

business computing- Visicalc. gram - as well as in the something not always avail- applications, we have
Database - we have provided able on far more expensive produced a fully-detailed, easy
It is often pointed out that

graphics packages. to understand manual.

this one program alone has
The program uses data you This 32 page free booklet
helped to sell more personal
have already prepared on the gives clear instructions about
computers than any other.
Visicalc and its
Certainly spreadsheet. You have to how to use all four programs
derivitiveshave never been identify which set of informa- and in itself forms a concise
shaken from their position tion you require to see in graph introduction for first-time
at the top of the list of form - such as by indicating users.

best-selling business pro- which row or column — and If you want to start doing

grams. then which of the graphs you more with your micro than
require. games, this pack-
just playing
Yet the concept is very
The graph then auto- age your ideal introduction
is
simple - a giant worksheet of is

matically configured exactly as to the four most popular

rows and columns, only part of
you require you have applications for professional
which can be seen on your it. If

screen at any one time. Into suitable printer capable of computers.

... or a pie chart
any position on the sheet you • Graphics illustrated here are from theAmstrad version
and are slightlydifferent on the Commodore version.
can put numbers, labels and
mathematical formula. a sample file so that you can
experiment with before Cat. CHI Please send me copy/copies of
And when you alter any it
9002 Mini Office for Commodore 64
figure its effect ripples through entering your own data.
Payment: please indicate method (/
the rest of the sheet, changing One feature we have
)

**£
any totals as may be necess-
ary.
included which to our know-
ledge does not exist in any |
Access/Mastercard/Eurocard
Card No. >

Barclaycard/Visa
* . *.
5.95
warning Card No. YOU CAN ALSO
The Mini Office version is other spreadsheet is a *

Cheque/PO made payable to Database Publications Ltd. ORDER BY PHONE

ideal for home finance, provid- device to prevent you Orders 24 hours
(

Name _ Signed 061-4800173

Address Alt other enquiries

061-4800171

Send for it today Send to: Database Software FREEPOST, Europa House,
,

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

Also available from Comet, Currys, Dixons, Greens, John Menzies, (No stamp needed if posted in UK) Please allow 28 days for delivery ZAP5j|
Rumbe/ows, Boots, W.H. Smiths, Laskey's and other computer stores^__

\
A
method
hits
i
new concept in adventures
your screen. This stun-
ning game has a unique
of command
(unique to adventure games at
input
mos, and

team
is
alien spaceship.
being held on an
You control a
of six tough heroes, whose
mission is to infiltrate the ship
and rescue the ambassador
by alternating between
erent menu screens, all icon
five diff-

based. (For details, see panel).

Each member of the team has
their own strength, agility and
ual skills, such as Sevrina, who
is an expert at picking locks. If a

character carries more than their

physique allows, then they will
become tired easily, eventually
least) - it makes extensive use of from execution, thus preventing stamina, all of which determine dying if appropriate action isn't
icons, a feature usually only the outbreak of war. the weight of objects that can be taken.
found in business software. The mission starts on board carried. They also have individ- The graphics in this game are
An icon, for the uninitiated, is
a picture symbol depicting an
object to be manipulated. The
action or object required, can be
accessed by moving a cursor
onto the symbol representing it.
SHADOWFIRE
Beyond, £9.95 case, keys, joystick or lightpen
This symbol then highlight-
is

ed in some way, so as to let you The first icon-driven adventure, great graphics
know it's been selected, and on Six separate characters, 160 locations
pressing the fire button, the feat-
ure will be activated. As confus-
ing and awkward as this may the Enigma Ship, as depicted in
seem, it has the great advantage graphical splendour on loading.
of completely avoiding text The first task is to get the team
input. Using just the joystick a beamed into the Zoff 5 space-
player can work through amaz- ship where the ambassador is
ingly complex adventure situa- being held. Once inside the when armed with the superb
tions. enemy ship, the ambassador As with all good
instructions .

The icons also have the effect must be located from amongst adventures, an atmosphere
of giving the program an incred- the 160 or so locations, rescued is generated. Before tong you
ibly slick and original feel. and taken to safety. All this must
The scenario is set far into the be achieved in the time limit of yourseff arid the six
future. The Kryxix ambassador 100 minutes which count down characters. Recommended
has been kidnapped by the evil in real time. heartiiy to experienced game
General Zoff, dictator of the cos- The game is actually played piayers who want to try '' '
r 4
•
:
*
something new .

Radar scan reveals current

location (spacecraft)
Icons showing status
of the six characters

Character currently controlled

(Sevrina)

Strength

Agility

Stamina

Weight carried

Monitors to select
different screens

66 ZZAPI64 May 1985

brilliant. The icons are clear and whilst selecting your input
mmmarn
well defined as are the superb device, and another during the
.

pictures of the team, displayed actual game itself. Both pieces

on the character scan. are excellent, and being able to
Sound is in the form of two change the tone on the latter
musical sound tracks - one tune is a great touch. __
Other sounds include a tone to
let you know when you've selec-
ted an icon, and a pulsating, per-
sistent beeping in the back-
ground (Makes a good backing
for the music, though).
Instructions are lengthy but
comprehensive, and there's an
excellent demo mode to help
you along if things still seem a
little confused.
GP

The five selection screens

I.The main screen is the 3.The yellow monitor is selected
CHARACTER MENU, which
in for OBJECT CONTROL. Any
you select the character you objects and persons in the same
wish to communicate with. The location will be displayed to the
six characters are shown on the far left of the screen.If there are

bottom half of the screen - any more than will fit a display, then
one can be selected with the a 'turn page' icon is displayed,
cursor. allowing viewing of the remain-
In the top corner of the
left ing objects, etc.
screen there isthe character Objects can be taken, dropped
mode indicator. This shows and used by selecting the
smaller icons of the six mem- correct icon. Not all objects can
about and do Hopefully
.
bers of the team, and their be taken, and some can only be
status, represented by a certain used by specific characters. The A new type of adventure with
colour. For instance, if Sevrina is only person, for example, who is superlative graphics and a
picking a lock, her character fantastic soundtrack/
capable of operating the trans-
mode icon will turn green, if she porter is Manto. Each object has Although a lot of initial
weremoving it would be white, a weight grouping - heavy, med- problems were encountered,
and if she were weakening it ium and light, and each weapon the excellent instruction
would be grey. has a different attribute.
manual dealt with them all
In the top centre of the screen and / soon got heavily
isthe radar display. On selecting 4. The red monitor moves you to involved in the game. The
a member of the team, this will PERSONNEL OR COMBAT only thing that dragged me
reveal a radar icon of the CONTROL, and is used primarily from the game was the
relevant character and a picture for combat. It also gives further thought of ha ving carbon
of his current location. If there is information on other characters granules for an evening^
more than one character present present. Anyone currently occu- meaf : % IP *
at a location, then the icon will pying the same location, will be
flash through images of those displayed on the screen. Any
present. member of your team can
To the top right is the current attack, defend or retreat and
character indicator, showing (in combat strength and the pres-
superb high-resolution) the ence of a weapon are taken into
character presently being com- consideration in determining
manded. the result.

2. The PHYSIOLOGICAL SCAN 5. Finally, the green monitor is

AND INFORMATION SCREEN, for LOCATION CONTROL, and
shows the physical status of the allows movement to other loca-
character being used (strength, The
tions. eight directions of the
agility, and stamina) and allows compass are displayed with
access to further control - the arrows, and possible exits are
other three screens. These are displayed as full arrows. In some
obtained by selecting one of cases locks will need picking to
three coloured monitors. gain access to further locations.
A brief text description of the
location is also displayed.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 67

 . .

GIVE MV
MIIMDGAMES casa £7.33, joystick only
0 Drive around London in search of the lost: music

/didn 't find this game partic-

ularly good. Although having
a large playing area, it will
take a tot of getting used to
with its maze of streets and
roads. Playability is spoiled
by the tricky controls of the
car. Without clairvoyance, ^ e
'> rfo

crashing into anything and

everything becomes a way of
life. Frustration soon over-
comes the desire to finish the
game.

T here's a scale map

London in Broad St's
ral
huge playing area. Only a
portion is displayed and scrolls
of cent- take a
game's
lot
final
you reach the
of doing)
in which you
stage
apparently have to assemble the
notes correctly in a hectic
as you move your car about the session in the mixing studio.
streets of the capital. Unfortunately you have to work
The scenario is based on the out for yourself how to use the
disappointing film of the same mixing desk. . .

name, namely that your potent- If you don't succeed inside the
ially mega-selling record has time limit, the robbers publish
been taken and amnesia has set the record and you are reduced
in. You have to rush about look- to busking.
ing for your friends who each During the game all the infor-
can remember fragments of 'No mation is nicely presented on
More Lonely Nights'. screen and the streets scroll
The problem isall yourfriends nicely when you are travelling.
are wandering around the The Wings hit 'Band On The
London Underground. With the Run' plays rather drearily
/ aid of your car computer, you throughout - other than that,
have to intercept them as they sound is nonexistent.
emerge from the tube. The graphics are competent,
This requires an awful lot of with a nice screen when you are
rushing around, usually from waiting for a friend outside a This was almost a very good game with a marvellous map of
one side of London to another. tube. If you stand around for too London and some in depth analysis of the seven characters
You are given your friends' long a traffic warden will put a However where it falls down is that while you are familiarising
haunts on the excellently pro- clamp on your car! yourself with the roads and the personalities there is little to
duced instruction sheet. Using The control of your car is very reward you for your efforts. Getting a piece of the music is
this and regularly updated infor- tricky and the map scrolls at a gratifying but most people won 't have the patience to get
mation on where they've been furious rate as you whizz along. really well acquainted with the program, ft seems the authors
seen most recently, you must It's also very easy to get lost in got too wrapped up in their own game to recognize the barrier
use your intuition to guess the maze of streets. Indeed, that such familiarity puts up to the first time player.
where they're going to pop up unless you're familiar with the
next. streets of London you'll find the
Should you succeed in recov- game impossible to play alone ORIGINALITY
ering the entire tune (this would without constant use of the
pause button and reference to
the map. works better if you
A very nice package with
maps and detailed instruct q
O
a q/ Agame-play
/O
unique scenario and new
elements
A strange blend of strategy, It
ions
I

luck and aforethought this have a friend to do the mapping

for you.
game. Racing about London
in your car proves tricky, and JR f
Smooth scrolling streets, plus Poor control and high
takes some getting used to. some nice screens difficulty damage the game
feel
Collecting the no tes is
frustrating work, especially
when people aren't quite
73 O%
/ Only one continuous tune / Plenty of game there once
where you expect them to be. you find some notes you're into it
q until
Completing Broadstreet will
take a considerable amount
of time and patience - a tot
more than I'm prepared to
give in fact. w 65 %
Some very nice features.

68 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

\
 ' 1

•
- :

Bounty Bob™ returns in this new and exciting follpw-up

adventure to Miner 2049er/ This time around it’s even —2*=
tougher than before and Bob needs your help more than ever
to guide him through the mine. The mutant organisms have
multiplied and over-run the mine entirely, making it extremely
difficult to survive the hazards of the underground
passageways. Using the high-powered special equipment in
the twenty-five new caverns is Bob’s only hope of achieving
his objective of securing the mine and defeating the plans o
the evil Yukon Yohan!™
 A complete monthly guide by the infamous White Wizard f

,dv eS
H a\\^ e"°^ rom the on
.u »rh ron»c'
stp
. „ nC\ rmion,'"
ano w
h
rev\ews-
s ^ shaH Ught°
,

^ ^ s,
to(np
^ost

bn thesePf
19
lives «n
s°
yoU wan
more

v° ul ®Ss >" theL^rla on V°“' s^“mtortaWe

aREAO° N a realpo
PVN to,9 ° nc - .
•
‘

r,
and ^T^ehave re ®‘ I s than eight fl
^
ns ^f^fews of
i.NN e
v eU5 ®
-JSU
Level The
new v erS at disk
9,^
n fhe latest *r,e f*
7
nd a ,
J
a '°° __ dotheV
iud ‘
?wsVa/ky ! betaWiog

^
.
l

eS
Pe"'"
"L;
us*-*-*--"
 1

Jard 64 owners who prefer games involving typed

for all commands rather than wiggled joysticks.

irst let's look at Valkyrie 17 which originally

appeared on the Spectrum last year and was hailed
as being a very promising debut from RamJam, a
division of Palace Software (of Evil Dead fame). The
game comes nicely packaged complete with a
'document file' of loading instructions and
background information.
Valkyrie 17 is a mysterious organisation that hails
backtothe darkerdays ofWorld War II. Rumour has it that they are
once again in operation, developing some unspecified super-
weapon and practising the usual death and destruction which you,
poor fool, must rush off and put a stop to.
The cassette comes complete with a series of ansaphone
messages on one side, containing reports from your now-deceased
predecessor, who seems obsessed with red kippers. By the sound of
the last message on the tape, cut short by what seems like a gunshot,
this obsession obviously cost him dearly — you have been warned.
The game is presented with frequent graphics (though not one for
every location) and is very high on atmosphere. The graphics aren't
tremendous, but they are carefully done and should be studied
closely if you're going to solve all the puzzles.
You start off in the bar of the Glitz Hotel in the company of a young
lady who seems more interested in alcohol than anything else. Once
you've escaped from the hotel (without paying your bill), you have to
negotiate the deep snow outside, a ski— slope that really ought to be
called a ski—cliff, and then a village with a particularly nasty line in

public aquariums.
The program will accept some quite complex inputs, but
annoyingly it doesn't always tell you if it hasn't understood what
you're saying. Typing 'Examine t&*!xz(' for example, gets you the
response 'You see nothing special' and this lack of precision
sometimes means that you're in danger of giving up on a particular
puzzle even though you may be on the right track.
A good example of this is when, on the second floor of the hotel, confusing. Nevertheless, as a general rule, the program is quite
you attempt to 'Enter room' and are told you can't. Typing 'Go adept at understanding what you're saying.
South', on the other hand, gets you in with no trouble at all — very What makes Valkyrie 17 so much fun to play, apart from the
excitement of the scenario, is a very logical design to the puzzles and
a great sense of humour throughout. At the very beginning of the
game, for example, you're asked whether the copy you're using is a
pirated version or not. Say yes, and the program appears to crash —
it's not until you press Run/Stop in despair to start again that it

suddenly reboots and lands you in the hotel.

This high quality and sense of fun is maintained throughout the
game. RamJam's next program. Holiday in Carpathia, is soon
making its appearance on the Spectrum, so 64 owners shouldn't
have to wait too long for a sequel. In the meantime, the program's
yours for £9.95, which seems a bit on the steep side, but it's an
enjoyable romp nevertheless.

VALKYRIE 17
RamJam Corporation, £9.95 cass
Atmosphere 80%
Interaction 65%
Lasting Interest 75%
Value for Money 67%
ZZAP! 64 May 1985 71
I

evel 9 need no introduction, unless you've been

H
languishing in the Goblin's Dungeon for the last few
years. Their latest game, Emerald Isle, marks
something of a departure from their previous
releases however in that it costs only £6.95 — £3.00
cheaper than the others.
The lower price is because the game has been
designed to be slightly more modest in scope than
the company's other blockbusters. Still, you can't complain — it has

over 200 pictures on the 64 version, which sounds to me like good

value for money. It's certainly not as tricky as, say, Snowball, but
don't let that put you off — this game is no doddle by any means.
Emerald Isle lies in the Bermuda Triangle, which means
essentially that it's one of those places that are difficult to get to and
impossible to leave. You startthe game hanging ignominiouslyfrom
a tree top, dangling by your parachute chords ... and before you can
say 'Knife' you've ended up as a tasty meal for a jungle predator.
In fact, saying 'Knife' won't do you much good because you
haven't got one, but there you go. Once you've sorted that one out,
and made it down to terra firma (which isn't very firm at all) you've
then got to find your way out of a charming little maze of mangrove
trees. Yes, just as in Return to Eden Level 9 are showing sadistic
tendencies by dropping you into the soup right at the beginning of
the game.
Your objective on Emerald Island is no less than supreme
domination, since the only way you'll be able to leave is if you
become king (or queen). The reward for failure, needless to say, is
rapid decease. The program uses split screen graphics which can be
toggled on and off using the commands 'words' and 'pictures'.
To be honest, the White Wizard doesn'tthink Level 9are too hot on
the graphics. The pictures are OK, but no more than that. Worse,
there's the famous Commodore split-screen glitch flickering away
in the centre of the screen — surely something that should have been
ironed out before releasing the game, but suppose you can't have
I

everything.
And there is a lot here, make no mistake. If you can get over the
occasional inconsistency, like entering 'Examine wall' and being
told that you can't see a leather wallet, then you're in for a great time.
The island may be hidden in the Bermuda Triangle, but that
doesn't stop it from having its own train network to whisk you from

B
location to location (on payment of the appropriate fare). Giant
spiders, preoccupied monarchs, and speeding trains are all there to
greet you, and should you have a fatal argument with anybody you 3 elbourne House's Castle of Terror really shows how
are simply resurrected elsewhere with all your possessions intact. fargraphics adventures have come in the past year.
I
Emerald Isle is a lot less daunting than other Level 9 games and I'm |
Although the subject matter is pretty unoriginal, the
afraid that for a number of seasoned Level 9 fans the program will be presentation is superb. Spooky music plays in the
J
something of a disappointment, though of course one must background, animated figures feature on some of
J

remember it costs rather less. The White Wizard has to admit that a the screens, and the design of the game as a whole
couple of misprints in the text combined with the slightly flickery [ is really excellent.
display and imprecise word checking mean that this game really ^no r?n!gTl
> l

You start in a village outside Dracula's Castle and

isn't up to the standards of its predecessors. must prepare yourself for a mercy mission into the vampire's
Level 9, of course, would probably say that it isn't meant to be up parlour to rescue a fair maid. OK, did warn you the plot wasn't
I

to the same standards, but can't help thinking that I'd rather pay a
I exactly the most original I've seen, but to Melbourne House's credit
bit more for a game like Lords of Time than a bit less for one like the game is good enough to stand in its own right. There are some
Emerald Isle. Nevertheless, for more inexperienced adventurers it very tricky puzzles as well, so you're in for a tough time.
may be just the ticket, and remember that a slightly inferior game
from Level 9 can still beat the pants off most of the competition.
Terror

EMERALD ISLE °L!*

es e
graves

Level 9, £6.95

Atmosphere fte/s/,
Interaction
Lasting interest
Value for money

I'M qu IT€
 "

The graphics don't just look pretty, they're also functional. You'll
have to examine the screens reasonably carefully to find that the
program doesn't understand many of the objects you can identify.
Some of the locations involve some interaction with other
characters, but don't expect any complicated conversations —
though you'll get to hear a story if you're prepared to pay for it.
haven't covered all the locations in Castle of Terroryel but there
I
,
sing disks can greatly enhance the potential of a
don't seem to be an enormous number. Some of the puzzles are game by- loading in location descriptions when
quite nicely thought out, though there are moments of confusion, required instead of having to keep them all stashed
particularly concerning the object you need to enter the castle with, away in valuable memory a far richer game can be
which seems to undergo a change of identity once it enters your presented.
inventory. In the next couple of issues we'll be taking a brief
There are no serious Hobbit-bugs here however, and a lot of good look at some disk-based games to see whether
programming features —
the pictures draw rapidly, the response programmers do in fact make good use of the extra
times are very quick, and if the program doesn't understand your possibilitiesand which programs you should add to your collection.
input it does you the favour of telling you which word it's having Even if you don t have a drive, you'll find that some of the games ;

trouble with. we'll be looking at will really make your mouth water, and in the
best
Don't let the lack of originality put you off —
Castle of Terror is up cases can give you a good idea of what a state-of-the-art adventure
to Melbourne House's usual high standard and well worth a look,
i

has to offer.
even if it is a bit pricey.

CASTLE OF TERROR
Melbourne House, £9.95 cass
r

Atmosphere 83% {

t Interaction 70%
Lasting Interest 68%
Value for Money 67%

now for something quite different. Mikrogen's

nd
Witch's Cauldron is a full-blown graphical adventure
[Q
in which you enter commands at the keyboard and
watch yourself move about the screen exploring
different locations. This game will certainly keep
you on the hop, since at the beginning at least you First, Melbourne House's new version of The Hobbit, with added
appear in the role of a small toad, courtesy of the locations and improved graphics. The game comes on a double-
wicked witch Hazel. sided disk —
you load the program side first and then turn over the
Your objective is to find certain magic ingredients and solve a diskto get the graphics during play. Thefirstthing you'll notice isthe
number of riddles which will eventually enable you to return to music, some of which is really great and adds a good deal of
human form, but not before you've put in some very different atmosphere to the game. The music changes as you move from
appearances! location to location and boy! does it get spooky in the Goblin's
The graphics are truly excellent —
well up to Pyjamarama Dungeon!
standards - and despite the obvious effort that's been put into them The game features thirty extra locations and many of the
the text side of the game hasn't suffered too much as a result. descriptions have been greatly enhanced. Add to that the fact that
There's a reasonable vocabulary and a number of things to find and Melbourne House have given the other characters, Thorin in
use. particular, a lot more to say and you have a considerably improved
Witch's Cauldron is great fun to play but very frustrating! The game.
White Wizard has been struggling with it for quite sometime and still Some of the new additions really do affect the way you have to
hasn't got very far. Being a toad is bad enough, but turning into a bat play and although the White Wizard has spent a good few hours
and getting eaten is a bit hard to take. Nevertheless I'm thoroughly Hobbiting in the past, he has to admit that this new version has a lot
enjoying playing this game and recommend you hop down to the to offer. My own feeling is that £17.95 is a bit too much to pay for the
shops and get a copy. if you haven't already got the tape version you
privilege, but might
be tempted to fork out your pennies for the satisfaction of owning a
WITCH'S CAULDRON I
truly classic game.
Mikrogen, £7.95 cass
Atmosphere 50% THE HOBBIT
Interaction 58% Melbourne House, £17.95 disk
Lasting Interest 72%
Value for money 65% Atmosphere 90%
Interaction 80%
Lasting interest 80%
Value for money 75%

Aren't you pretty?!

Time for a swim in
the Vy itch's Cauldron

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 73 i

i
 ne game that certainly isn't destined to become a
classic is Ripper from Eclipse software. The action
takes place in Hampstead Manor in 1900. A number
of famous characters, including Sherlock Holmes,
Houdini, and Florence Nightingale, are staying at
the house, which is also sheltering the dreaded
'Jack the Ripper'. Your task, predictably, is to track
a nnr>r> down this unsavoury character before he filjs the
larder with dead bodies.
It has to be said that the game has some ghoulish
touches which
do add to the atmosphere. As you play, the number of victims is
displayed at the top of the screen, and occasionally someone passes
you by carrying 'a fresh supply of meathooks'. This is all very
confusing until you stumble into the larder and discover a whole row
of maids strung up on the aforesaid hooks. Ugh. . .

The game is quite tricky to solve. Most of the characters will offer
help of some kind or another but it can't always be relied upon. Marie
Curie, for example, blotted her copybook as far as was concerned I which is delivered (don't ask me why) by a large bird, and is usually
by suggesting drink a potion which then turned out to be sulphuric
I
of little use. You can think as often as you like, but the bird will only
acid. make three visits.
Unfortunately, atmosphere is about all this game hasto offer. The The Tracer Sanction is very similar in design to Mindshadow
location descriptions are pathetically short for a disk-based game though with a very different plot. As an interplanetary secret agent
and there are unbearable delays while the program processes your you must roam the galaxy in your extremely fuel-conscious space
inputs. If these delays were caused by disk accesses, resulting in rich ship (only 500 gallons to the nearest planet). Heaven knows what
and lengthy descriptions, might be able to live with them, but
I
sort of engine your ship possesses, but as the stars scroll past your
they're not. cockpit you can hear what sounds like a very unhealthy motor-
As a tape-based game, this program would look pretty sparse and scooter in the background.

it's certainly not a good reason to rush out and buy a disk-drive.
Even There are some touches of dry humour, including an interminable
"Ll&H"
if you've already got one, you should thinktwice before
parting with queue of people that you can stand in for ever, never quite reaching
the necessary £12.95. the end. You'll also have some trouble with a certain crazed dwarf
and some unstable stalactites —
at least if yod go the way did.
I I

found this game rather easier than Mindshadow, though, and the
RIPPER atmosphere rather less enthralling in outer space than it was on
Eclipse Software, £12.95 disk board ship. Both games, however, are extremely attractive to look at
Atmosphere 65% and might be particularly suitable for first time adventurers who will
Interaction 50% no doubt appreciate the 'living tutorial'. What's encouraging about
Lasting interest 58% these games (and the disk Hobbit, of course) is that here we have
Value for money 50% adventu res with real ly excel lent g raph ics that make good use of text
and can handle some quite complex inputs. Again, however, you
pay a price for all this.

ar more enjoyable, but at £19.99 still on the

expensive side, are two new releases from
Activision, Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction.
Both games load up with a menu offering three
choices —
play the game, 'living tutorial', and
'sneak preview'.
The tutorial is a lengthy introduction to playing
adventures complete with a sample puzzle, all of
which could be of great use to novice adventurers. The games accept
complex inputs,such as 'Give the money to the bartender', and have
the useful facility of allowing you to issue multiple direction
commands. Entering N.N.N.E., for example, would move you
instantly North, North, North, and East to a new location, thereby
saving you a lot of time if you know where you're going.
The 'sneak preview' is simply an advertisement for the other game
in the series, designed to whet your appetite with juicy graphics and
a description of the plot.
—
The game format is striking and colourful a large illustration for
each location, and a small window for text underneath. You can get
rid of the graphics instantly at any time simply by pressing the
RETURN key twice. The pictures draw quickly and look very MINDSHADOW
professional, though felt somehow that they didn't have a lot of
I

character. Others might disagree.

Activision, £19.99 disk
Mindshadow is a very logical game in which you start off on a Atmosphere 70%
desert island and must travel the world in search of your own Interaction 70%
identity, your mission, and in fact the very purpose of the game.
Lasting interest 68%
There are approximately 80 locations to be visited, and most of Value for money 60%
these present a puzzle of some kind or another. The game has
obviously been well designed, and there are no stupid 'Suddenly a
THE TRACER SANCTION
rock falls from nowhere and kills you. Play again?' routines. If you die Activision, £19.99 disk
in this game, you usually deserve to. Atmosphere 55%
One interesting feature of Mindshadow \s the ability to 'Think Interaction 70%
about . .
.

', and sometimes you'll

get an insight into a certain Lasting interest 65%
problem, though it doesn't often work. You can also ask for help, Value for money 60%
74 ZZAPI64 May 1985
\
\
 msm

Mxm rj

W*W.r \ t

TJ-'i >} »

mm
:
-
.***5y
V'.v?,*a

£ 9.95 48K ZX SPECTRUM

Tir Na Nog -the land of youth, the other world.
CBM 64
Tir Na Nog -the kingdom of the sidhe, the home of dagda's cauldron.
ALSO FROM GARGOYLE:
Tir Na Nog -a vast and complex adventure, in a magical Celtic landscape. THE STUNNING SPACE GAME,
Tir Na Nog -a most stunning visual experience, with state-of-the-art film AD ASTRA - £5.95
» •
animation.
. r • — ' •
WINNER -CRASH READERS'
BEST SHOOT- EM- UP AWARD
Tir Na Nog -a true computer movie.

GARGOYLE GAMES, 74 KING STREET, DUDLEY, WEST MIDLANDS. TEL: DUDLEY 238777
 JI "W<M/ WWT fl BtUirFlJt.

O
ADVENTURE NEWS <
25*

Back to “S'"
Duckworth
Adventures on
ar d
among
brought out
the

si00
by

of
C
^
^ave just l
e orlglo
3 ^
by the ||
\

'
W '

B
,

a'
,
the
White
n»Sa». « xt month.
B
imesearch m
Rva
They've also Dracula by
^
flby John
f I

1
r
Ray Davies. e
the P nV ''®,?.
of oad,
'
'

".fsh
Mountain
They a s °^i\N'sa^' ce 1
I ALL-TIME
\

1
your L64.
palace
Adventure,

to stick
well clea
u
^
one
'l

gre at exam-
—
a 1
1 favourites
fioinq beyond ivi I
\

worthy dvenmre
progtamm-
^yortve beln enpy;
1
a
I i pie of the
Midnight, vou
Lords of
to tne
looking forward
ndent's Revenge
shouldn t be
nich
jming- »

Meanwhile, get

rnSsw.-l
riassg
adds up Enter the castle
that that Castle Bfackstar, a text-only classic
panoramic screen
'Magic game that forms part of a trilogy
says Mike, currently under development, is
the,
important role
about to be released for the 64 by
i polish your
wands,
CDS software. This game is a match
for some of the best British text-
games around, even Level 9's range,
and has you penetrating the infam-
ous Castle Bfackstar in pursuit of
fame and fortune. Don't miss it!

Artie sees the light

Artie,already well-known for their
range of Spectrum adventures, are
now releasing their titles for the 64. If

you've never played an Artie game,

beware I Many intrepid master-
wizards have shattered their staffs in
frustration on Planet of Death,
Espionage Island, Ship of Doom, and
Inca Curse .

worth
KI"!stru^go^w^ Twin Kin£

Just a taste of what's to come in Soul Gem of Rumour

up with a sequel.
Martek —a 150K, 6 part blockbuster coming soon
followed it

that the next game will evolve

from Anirog for £9.95. has it
sourceof
the player a search for the
in
but we're unlikely
the River of Gold,
to see the program much this s.dg of
fingers
your
November. Keep

ADVENTURE NEWS crossed

76 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

I«

that this seri^u^ mostsophistic atea a u

»*•'>“
,nd origin«llW'*“J^| eth at9,aces™nv ioussn<)

rSSs'®””"'
down to earth.

Honourable Mention: Mike Singleton and Beyond for Lords of , .

Midnight, perhaps not strictly an adventure, but a game that belongs

in every adventurers' collection
- ' .*

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 77

 Iggggg

Okay all you frustrated adventurers, just in case you can't summon
up the strength to pick up the phone or write a letter to the courage-
ous souls offering aid via the Help Function, here's a a whole column
of tips to get you out of trouble.
We'll be running loads of tips in each issue, so why not keep them
safely stored away somewhere, and after a few months you'll find
you've got a real library of lifesaving clues of keep you out of
trouble.
SPIDERMAN
Just one word of warning. The White Wizard is firmly of the belief (clues submitted by EMPIRE OF KARN
the honourable Steve Williams) (clues submitted by honourable
that anyone who plays adventures is a cut above the average, so I

demi-wizard Colin Loosemore)

won't insult your intelligence by actually printing SOLUTIONS to It'sout of sight, out of mind, as
he problems you'll encounter. The essential information will be far as the Ringmaster's con- Sailors claim to have seen the
Joncealed in a series of cryptic clues, which you —
snigger will — cerned. light through abuse of rum.

have to decipher.
Seasoned adventurers who would like to send in their own Just defeating Dr Octopus isn't
cryptic clues will see their names in glorious print on these hallowed enough. Timing is what's The Sorcerer can't stand cleanl-

pages. Those who excel themselves may even be rewarded with, important. iness, especially where lamps
are concerned.
gasp, exciting free programs from the wizard's private hoard!
Don't forget that all tips must be in riddle or puzzle form - nothing
too obvious - but should also be accompanied by the exact solution, HEROES OF KARN Is it a mongoose or a mouse?
it

just in case the White Wizard has been hitting the Pipistrelle 1946
01' Skull-and-Cross-Bones grins They seem to have a lot in

and is feeling a little woolly-headed as a result. and swaggers common.

But is no match for d.....s with
d s Can't go up in the world in the
Tower of the Moon? The Indians
URBAN UPSTART The BEAR could turn out to be a have a trick for this one.
Make sure you've got some- sticky customer!
TWIN KINGDOM VALLEY thing to read on your flight.

L
Corporal punishment is recom- Beanz grow higher than bricks
mended for dragons, but lurkers Remain properly dressed at ALL and mortar
are more broadminded. times. To find out how, just add

Here's a column of solid gold for harrassed 64 adventurers who keep

getting into trouble. Other adventurers from across the country are
holding out their hands to help you - just check out their addresses
on this page. Offering your services on the Help Function is a great
I

way to spread your wings, meeting all manner of adventurers and

making new friends, so get those postcards rolling in today!
If no one seems to be offering help where
you need it, then don't ref's help fu
despair - just pop your name, address, and problem on a postcard
and send it to The White Wizard, Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace, Yeovil, fiction
Somerset, BA20 1HX. Offers of help should be sent to the same
address. Let's all work together to make this page the liveliest,
friendliest column for adventurers everywhere.
Do remember, though, if you Ovrite to somebody and expect a The White Wizard regrets that, due to the extreme pressure of the
reply from them, to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Right Worshipful Union of Wand Wielders annual examinations, he
is unable to answer queries over the 'phone, but he is always eager
And if you're offering help and include yourtelephone number, bear
in mind that you may receive calls by the dozen, so perhaps
it's wise to enter into correspondance with fellow adventurers, though SAE's
to check the other members of your household first to make sure are appreciated if you want a prompt reply.

Helpline
Quest of Merravid, Heroes of Hobbit, Valhalla, any Level 9 News Ext
Karn, Erik the Viking and others game Ton V Treadwell
Tony Treadwell, 41 Fernhill Stuart Henderson, 61 Stevenson
Road, Oxford, OX5 1RR. Tel. Drive, Edinburgh, EH1 1 3DU
Heroes of Karn, Empire of Karn 08675 6670
Colin Loosemore, 29 Rufus Gar-
dens, Totton, Soton,
Tel. (0703)
S04
871960 after 5pm.
3TA. Colossal Adventure, Dungeon
Adventure, Lords of Time,
Spiderman, Hulk,
Castle, Pirate Adventure, Quest
for the Holy Grail, Hobbit,
Voodoo
!!?
e

os <ng an
« and oth er
to know m orl
SAE
^ °h
Wf,I{
Snowball, Hobbit. Classic Ad ./enture, Mission Im-
Quest for the Holy Grail Philip Chan, 7 Rushmead Close, possible, Ten Little Indians.
Jonathan Gill, 108 Kineton Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7RP Tel. Adventurelar d. The Count
Green Road, Solihull, West Mid- 0227 45391 1 between 6 and 9pm S.A.Williams, 32 Hornbeam
lands, B92 7EE. only. Close, Horshan Sussex,
Tel. (021) 706 5572 RH13 5NP.
"EEK/t ”
78 ZZAP! 64 May 1985
Upon escaping the crumbling ruins of
Snadowguar(C the black fortress of Minax,
you lay your weary body on the now-sacred
ground. As you rest, you remember your <— BnUIIJUUJLi..

first encounter with the evil wizard of

Mondain, whom you later tracked down
and destroyed. The existence of his
apprentice, Minax, was soon revealed and
the crusade was begun again. Younger and
more cunning than ner mentor, she has
been much more difficult to vanquish. But
now your sense of accomplishment is
touched by a chilling fear. Have all vestiges
of evil been removed? Somehow, you sense
that your treacherous foes have not been
eliminated. Without further feats of skill, jm
daring, and perseverance, all of your past
accomplishments may be lost. You stand
up, prepare your armour, and walk to the
V< V ww v« V* Vi 'U'U
A
Vi W
LA
Vi W U U VT U
dimension door. Stepping in, the hunt All American Adventures Ltd., Unit 10 Parkway Industrial Estate
resumes.
meage Street, Birmingham B7 4LY, Telephone: 021-359 3020
 Viewing the adventure world
On screen Cuchulainn can only screen. Although this is cohfus-
move left or right - to move in ing at first, only two keys are
and out of the screen, you must used to change the viewing
firstchange the viewing angle, angle. With practice it is easy to
Four views are optional from slip down a side path to avoid a
any standing point so it's poss- Sidhe.
ible to see Cuchulainn from However the amount of paths
behind, front and facing left or and viewing options make it
right without actually moving. very easy to lose yourself in the
Moving him !into' the screen maze of roads, and careful map-
is done by selecting the view so ping is almost a necessity. If you
that the path which was leading want to get anywhere you'd bet-
into the screen, if there was one, ter get out the paper and felt tips
is seen horizontally across the once again.

ack to pre-history you go

B with this very good real-

time arcade adventure. You
control a superbly animated
Celtic warrior, Cuchulainn, on
his quest to locate and re-unite
(and then activate) the frag-
ments of the Seal of Calum.
The first thing that strikes you
about this game is the size and
superb characterisation of Cuch-
ulainn. Twice as large as most
computer heroes he strolls into
his quest with long, flowing

background scenery - the

area of pfay is massive, and

takes some time to explore
• Stunningly animated arcade adventure fully Keys are wetlarrangec

• Large playing area with strong Celtic atmosphere and comfortable to use Loc

'°Usly c/
0s
 wmm * 1 i i , ? WM I 1

'fogy Cuch
of possibilities for
r ^inn
of adventuring and
ig* The animation of
B arr>
vhutainn is of course the az '"
9 anin
l

'°«
t immediately noticeable 0n .

mature but the rest of the

me is equally impressive ,

places to explore, ive can be selected for the right of them seem worthless but all
i iscovering everything wit creature. have some use within
your
take long enough but wh ,
Some of the creatures will quest. All of them can be used to
1 you have to figure out what
to do with them as well
have parts of the Seal and you
will have to fight for them. Some
attack a creature, but some are
definitely more effective than
things really get tough. of the parts of the Seal may be others!
located off the beaten track, so a This adventure will keep even
secondary quest might have to an experienced arcade adven-
be undertaken to obtain these. turer tantalized for many hours.
strides, his hair flapping in the Weapons and other objects Even when solved it should offer
wind. are located along the paths and more because it can be compl-
The landscape is varied, with can be picked up for use. Some eted in many ways.
distinctive landmarks to help JR
you work out your position. them with they will you and
Sometimes you might see a you'll
kill

have to start all over [PRESEjfTATIONIM^

castle, with ravens flying around again! This, by the way, is Great instruction booklet,
its grim battlements, at other terribly frustrating. complete with story.
joystick option.
No Q / 0/
Q
"T
/q
A new concept in arcade
adventuring
times mountains ranges with Some of these creatures can
low clouds scudding over them. be persuaded to help you, but on GRAPHICS! HOOKABILITY
Along the paths you will pass most occasions a weapon will
cairns and standing stones. be the only way to avoid restart- QQO/ New standards set in
There are also doors leading ing. There is a mention of
com-
QQ /q character animation.
79%0 f
It
full
takes a few games before
addiction sets in

underground, some of which

are unlocked and others whose
bat rules in the comprehensive
instructions - objects and the
SOUND LASTABILITY
key has to be found. weapon selected for the fight A
When on your travels you will
meet horrible creatures - these
will betaken into account during 6% Non-existent apart from a few
bleeps H
W
4
I
O/
/f\
targe playing area and plenty
°- wa Ys °t solving the game
u 9've this one plenty

too are excellently animated.

the battle and will determine
your effectiveness in this area.
VALUE FOR MONEY
They walk along the paths and All this deliberately ambig-
is
One of the great arcade
career into you; unless you have
some sort of weapon to fight
uous and will require a lot of
attempts before the right offens-
87°/c adventures

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 81

Beyond, £9

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 T his
on
game, released
last year
the Spectrum, was
heralded as the first 'epic'
game - its size, complexity and
originality certainly earn that
title.

The program is a combination

of adventure and war game. It is
set in the land of Midnight which
offers no less than 4,000 locat-
ions in each of which you can
see the 'view' in any of eight dir-
ections.
It is this innovative 'landscap-

ing' feature and the highly orig-

inal gameplay - you control sev-
eral independent characters -

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 tture strategy ,

rly fives up to its

The3ZQ00, or

a
i
views are very
ie
a high standard
sand a strong ^
which give the game its unique are maintained
feel. lit* The tack of

At the start of the quest there sound hardly detracts at all

are four characters under your Recruiting an army to aid the
command, and as you explore destruction of the ice crown
you can recruit others. The is tough, and because of this
action revolves around two fasting interest is high A .

main characters: Luxor and his Vrpust for adventurers and

son Morkin - they must elimin- Iwm^$mte0sts afike,''
ate the power of the evil Doom-
dark who is trying to control

Midnight through his over-

powering ice-fear and massive
armies.
There are two ways to defeat
Doomdark - Luxor can comm-

and the armies of the free to a

military victory by seizing the
Citadel of UsKgarak, or Morkin
can destroy the source of Doom-
dark's power, the Ice Crown at path, THINK - allows you to The land with mount-
is littered

the Tower of Doom. The first is examine your character's state ains, citadels, towers,
forests, nights of pfay. The graphics
akin to a war game and the sec- in more detail - or CHOOSE from keeps and ten other types of are superb and the size and
ond more of an adventure. a range of action which varies feature. At each of these you detail of the ptaying area

You are defeated with the according to your situation. may find information, men x>r stunning , Although you-
death of both Luxor and Morkin. Usually the latter involves shelter, or even a more hostile know-what owners got it
However the death of only one seeking information, recruiting reception. first it is stiff a brilliant

will still allow the other to try men, hiding or going into battle. Movement around Midnight indeed superior game on the
and complete his task. 64 The combination ofadv-
When controlling the charac- ORIGINALITY
tersyou have four main choices
as to what to do. You can VIEW . Marvellous booklet, facilitTes Introduces a unique game and we can took forward with
f and text, plus a tremendous f
the landscape surrounding you
Qplaying format eagerness to the rest of the
O loading screen.
trilogy. '

in eight compass directions,

MOVE towards any of these
unless something blocks your The game's atmosphere and
/ No animation, but endless f uniqueness make it very
Q terrific panoramic views. O compelling
to the 64yy0h no notideabfe

None A vast land to explore, an

immense amount to do

Worth it if ever a game was. is regulated by the passing of

the days with your characters

unable to move at night when
Doomdark's forces are at large.
64 owners up unti Monster map of Midnight Your progress is also affected by
the terrain and the creatures that
may block your path.
Other handy controls allow
you to save the game or even
print a record of your progress.
Because of the number of char-
acters to control and the size of
the land, these are much needed
functions for very long games.
There is no sound but the
graphics are exceptional with a
marvellous animated loading
sequence and the amazing pan-
oramic views of Midnight as you
play.
I
jflr y'Vi BW

vJWWXv.v

!
The Map was supplied by H J Douglas from Belfast and
i the second half is on pages 98/99

"HtY Ni\ Kfc/ WJtflTE 'EM

ovj IWfc kH Fifc&T//

\
COMING SOON F OR SPECTRUM 48 K
AND COMMODORE 64
Bend your ear to me, proud games-player, listen to my words. am the ScoreLord.
I

Thanks to my infinite brain, know all there is to know about the delectable pastime
I

of computer gaming. And have an interesting proposition to put to you.

I

The cocky young bloods at Zzap! 64 journal believe themselves to be the greatest
game-players in the known universe. They claim that after only a little practice they
can notch up higher scores on any game than any other joystick warrior. WANT I

YOU TO PROVE THEM WRONG.

Cast your eye over the form on page 88 You see what is required.
. I

want you to send me proof of your game-playing prowess. Fill in your high-scoring
details on any game you are expert at. (But be warned. Only the best and most
honest video fighters need apply - any phoney scores will be instantly recognised
and dealt with accordingly!)
Then even/ month we shall have a little sport in the cobweb covered confines of
the Zzap attic. shall summon there the person among you whose high score claim
I

has impressed me most. He will have the opportunity to play his top-scoring game
against the champion of the Zzap video junkies.
If you win I will award you with a grand selection of programs from the Zzap
treasure chest - and more importantly the title of Zzap Conqueror. If you lose, your
scalp will be stored for posterity in the Zzap cellar, and the head of the Zzap
champion will grow even larger. THIS MUST NOT HAPPEN.
I entreat you, get your scores in quickly. And make sure they're good.
In the meantime have organised a little contest between the three Zzap
I

contenders to determine who will be the first Zzap champion. You will read how that
sharp, mean upstart Julian Rignall emerged victor. This position he will maintain
until one of you has beaten him. pray it won't be long.
I
 . ». •
.

I j

The battle to determine the first Zzap champion was fought over the
game Impossible Mission, an astonishing test of skill and stamina.
Players must struggle through a series of robot-infested rooms in
search of pieces of puzzle. If they can discover 36 pieces inside the six
hour time limit (noon to 6pm) they have a chance to solve the puzzle,
uncover a code word and defeat the evil Professor Elvin.
There are an infinite number of lives available, but each time one is *1
was confident about this chall-
lost, ten minutes are knocked off the time limit. The robots are enge. Only the night before had
aSv c'i'r'
I
;

MEAN, but they can be temporarily disabled if the player can find cracked the mission for the first
'snoozes'. time in preparation for the day's
m The three Zzap players had all had plenty of experience of the ordeal.
game's terrors, so tension was high as the battle got underway. Here My confidence rapidly evap-
are their personal accounts of what followed. orated as lost life after life and
I

ran into all the hardest rooms

early on. By 1.20 had got only I

nine pieces and things were

THE ZZAP CHAMP looking bad. desperately

needed snoozes but couldn't
find the code rooms and all my
I

im can technique had gone to pot.

Xi-M
Ipersevered and by 2.05 had revival as I backtracked to tne
14 pieces. At 2.30 and 2.58 got I
By 5.00
early difficult screens. I

the breakthroughs of finding the had 25 pieces and by 5.25, 29.

code rooms and by 3.01 had 19 Within three minutes had I

pieces. It wasn't going to be easy cracked two puzzles and hope of

but I still had a chance to finish. a last gasp miracle revived.
Here disaster struck though as kept chasing and by 5.55
I
I

This is the smug, lives tumbled and found the I

had 33 pieces but no time left. A
satisfied face of ominous 'nothing here' sign suicidal attempt at a tough piece
Julian Rignall, the first time after time. Between 3.01 of furniture brought my end and
Zzap! 64 high scores and 4.14 didn't find another
I only 6000 points. To the jeers of
champion. Who will piece and by then it was a losing 'old man' left the room beaten I

conquer him? battle. but vowing to return another

Can you? For the sake of my honour I day and show these young
kept going and managed a late whippersnappers a thing or two.

GARY PENN
No practice! Only one attempt! the second room - a very good
Yuk! Several squirts of oil were start.Four pieces from four obj-
needed to remove any traces of ects . Sorry Julian, but I'm
. . !

rust from my joints, before settl- afraid this one's mine.

ing down to play one of my all But then :'Mean robot!!' . . .

time favourites. 'Who the heck left that hole

Completing the game would there?!' 'Robot cheat!'
. . . . . .

present no problem, as could I 'Aaargh!' 'But he didn't fire

. . .

consistently do so. But could I before!' ... 'I don't believe it . . .

finish faster than Rignall? Yep,

no sweat, said to myself cock-
I
Time crept up on me as I

ily. assembled the 36 pieces of puz-

Three pieces in the first room - zle. As the password took shape,
good start. Three more pieces in the 36 pieces looked rather like .

.35! What's more at this point

the sudden demise of the joy-
stick, meant another was need-
ed to replace it, post haste!
Speed was of the essence, as I

searched any remaining objects.

ious about lives. Despite many oaths utter-
how my performance would ed atevery mistake, found to I
What's this? An untouched
fare with only one game allow- my surprise that I'd collected all room! Eight objects to be
ed, I quite confident. With
felt 36 pieces by 4.09. searched, no snoozes - only pure
'old timer' Bob and that young Several tense minutes follow- skill could pull me through now.
whippersnapper Gary challeng- ed as pieced the puzzle togeth-
I
Nothing in the bureau, vending
ing me a cool and methodical er. Then success. rushed to the I
machine or any of the three
approach seemed necessary. professor's room and had the computers My chances were . . .

Things started well. With just pleasure of seeing him scream looking empty.
three minutes gone I'd been able 'NO, NO, NO, NO...' The time It was a lonely fridge and the
to establish the position of all 32 was 4.28 and my score 16,193, loss of several lives, that led to
rooms. The collection of pieces just 1000 below my previous the final piece, eventual success
began. high score. The others woujd and much aggression. Julian
By 2.15pm had already obt-
I have plenty to do to beat that. should be discharged # from
ained 23 and had lost just four hospital any day now . .
 1

corelord's table of high-scoring heroes, I am listing

,
he boastful Zzap upstarts. beg you. Put these t
I £16,400(1
ias possible.
lookout for scores on other games - send thes
‘

- , "'ur challenge. am particularly interested in

I (Ariolasol
>y

POLE POSITION (US Gold)

129,650 by JR

DECATHLON (Activision)
12,101 by GP

1USS (Parker Bros) RIVI

>0 by JR

leg res clearly on the form provided (or a close «v .

You ca er than four games if you wish. how I

tate level a red at the end of each game, either the wave include
(if achieve i point. Any otf~
int game relev e useful.
_
1

‘t--
•

3.1 5. Post y
mi
'

o confirm your score. If it's an arcade adventure then Yeovil, HX.

Yes, I'm ready to challenge the Zzap champion on the following games.
Game Score Level reached Time taken.
Other details

Game Score Level reached Time taken,

Other details.

Game Score Level reached Time taken.

Other details.

Game Score Level reached Time taken.

Other details

I promise these scores are genuine. Signed

Name
*

Address
Post code
Telephone number (if poss)
Here are some pages to provoke a few arguments! creek you should: (1) get your head seen to, (2) write
There were certainly plenty at the Zzap! office while and tell us to get our heads seen to, (3) use the form at
they were being written. What we've done is to select the end of this feature to vote your favourite games
from the hundreds of '64 games available our 64 into our top 64.
favourite all time '64 greats. In order.
If you're looking for a new game we can heartily Most games reviewed in this issue haven't been
recommend any one of these titles (at least, most of us considered, and neither have text-input adventures
recommend most of them - there were arguments, (but see the adventure section ) or titles available only !

remember). And if you think our selection is up the on disk.

cass* jACTIV/SlOi
STATESOFT, £8.95 this is 68 ' 8 f-" Cass
that
It's no coincidence
the fayou'
^spot
hrjf
0rtSs 'm
'
3rs to be k
an •

a lot o>f
on Zzap! 64 - it's to he been missed by ,on -
Compete ao iSbr
it seems much >n he decath?Sai
it Incredibly
because doesn't look up to itforib
owners, possibly just try playing
ads, or when you first ^ it. But

unDe diamonds inside a *

ld astound; pre

m S a
Ullect a certain
n imber of which tumbl® _ y've this
na m„
The' idea is ?o by boulders
Jelimrtwhrleayoidihdbernph,
as you clear
the ea
^ and the game;
3Ct that you
i..—
goal
l

achieve your in a wall and reach

blast a hole
i

refly you can

Edible diamonds. caves and five
ver/
mult.-s creen
,
ery different Pester your local
months of ch allenge. wont
. in all, Rename. You
they give you
t
until

V n an
oned mil 93^'
,nc,
Vou h
capture the savetl '
serie s

° you h
d efeat the
Job
-.te- :
to
collect 7
r
9rapb/
P'eces c
(

"tat yon Z ave to is made fe'-ayerc

f
w a nd the marl of Pells bats
£19 9* a,5»* <et bw f*
SION £10.99 cass,computer game
1 ,
f
aphics and 5 3 use
them.
kour di
to the re etentr
offs extended
ghoul-infest ed we
In a
extravaganza.

man app*
.TmersThe marshmallow

Ssasssasssss
S-THE GUARDIAN
cass
is
game.
enhance an excellent

ALUGATA, £7.95 Defender^availab

Arguably the best version of
protecting you
Hurtle over barren landscapes
ahens-Thisd.
against six types of maraud, ng
name requires total concentration,

dexterity as you battle your

mental ski
way to that elus.v BLACK THUNDER 1

GREMLIN GRAPHICS/QUICKSILVA, £7
Tony Crowther's excellent revamping 95 cass
of Loco in two slkjhdy
5 f ° r tW ° diff6rent com P an ies. Guide your
fuScsun^V
0^dZTJr
outstanding
lost cities.
r'^
background
m0t " V past the graphically
scenery, shooting
Avoid or shoot hovercraft/guided
bu
a way throuqh 9 the
missile,
paceships, aircraft and other
nasties to achieve a lame
B d dr 9 e
anOUOh score tr, tl

“s cold£
SEES***
if Celleni
the sam*
6 nanr)e ine
Hnginnm
y n 9 'hem
'
'

original
drin
J^degame
* fished bv

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 89

s
 oiiCKers you hawn UISK
—
*
; „ I || 1 V, ...' ''

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P P° S,erS in
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V0Ur box
.
-
‘"C mtS
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speedboat.

'Ks°^
Xn£
filled it h
the Precious
W caver "s
and
,ava P»te
D,a
(over tonn
15 alt °
9ethe r) are
search for
sce^rer
6 ^reasu prevent
nt,n
the
‘

re
chestc findina 9 you

2a. STELLAR 7 Escape.

riruii
«* erWor^^Wu., ™ mastertronic £r99
Mss^
d on the arc
US GOLD, £9.95 cass, £12.95 disk Another superb value P ’

S^aft to pick fuel pods

Battlezone is taken to new heights with your struggle against anc
Gir Draxon's mighty forces. Stunning 3D graphics and a ^aSoftuSren. planets. Superb.ee,
readout on each of the enemy craft feature, as your Raven tank
graphics.
tries to free seven planets from military oppression.

LO FLIGHT
1.95 cass, £14.95
disk

^
simulator with a difference:
er a Cns 30 landscape.
t
.
n variations P
you can see
Three large
give this the edge over
9
its original sound experience.
CDS, £9.95 cass
Quite simply the most powerful and comprehensive chess [
rnUS,5’, ~6 cartO<*9® vth
«*
program available for the 64. A large range of options, l(JtV\tRS' .riP" the
including the ability to solve chess problems, and a very
high
standard of play make this a must for any level of chess uitiess - a
player.

41.CAD CAM WABft'OB

through 8192
VnemojytoMjo^ and take
aid your mission
t'g^dplav
waves S^cuTs^—
weird.

y SCfo Him
e
^ecko
n, cked
fr
.

'
JPace-sheen h M,nter game y di,
tolling een the 9U de ar '

p/anef M *Wosurf
46. ENCOUNTER ,0B •«

NOVAGEN. £8.95 cass

A tense 3D battle against flying saucers and missiles in an
obelisk littered landscape. A classic shoot-'em-up with
wonderful fast-moving graphics on the surface of an alien
planet. 360 degree movement and great explosions.

56. PITFALL II
ACTIVISION, £9.99 cass
An excellent exploration/platform variant.
“S'* 12 * disk
Find Rhonda
0 C3t the
' diamond and 28 gold bars without
fall!?
dia gonaUyscmli' arc£ de
NERAT\ON,e 3 S n9 e dan9 °' ,0 aCWeVe Perfect
NBN Gtr:’na\scenarioai
' '
9am 3 Score 0
>

199.000 S*°
Jiant robot
A highW °^ n. Bins
to
before’ he
SSoys work as ^
a du stma

b ,kers 0okeepvou
'

\ keep y
nd a busy
coming
action to

US GOLD, i
cass £12.95
58. SPACE PILOT
Backed by an £ disk
jump your way Cyprian sound
„k track
Spears, blocks
hinder your nrr ' snakes spiders
-
and oirr.

6 1.BOOGA BOO
QUICKSILVA, £7.95 cass o d cavern in this
flea get n and the
Help Booga Boo
the
ea eating drago
f,

and^urnp higher and higher

tmfriendlv fly traps
freedom.

ZZAPI64 May 1985

 HITS
£14 95 bo?cCiisS
U din99raphics redrt Ca O/)» i
*
and« b\s 'Gvc
tetfa„
'at » joy to
on a
behold as w <
andSUperb9arne
simu°l^ P
C° mPet n9 at'
(l
forthe price.
p.
Wmmm
,s
'/W^Co^.e'V a

'fl' rEflOSr tfRCULCr. 81.1

.1" ’"teres; '
95 «
'be titl * n9 and d«,, Cass
caT*“®S
e f'
£1295 disk^
US GOLD. £8.95 cass.
graph
dangerous st(oU
Atmospheric musicand |fa gains, outsized

e ran
9e jn
through an eerit forest
i
Defe i V
with only your trusty
results ,n a
-
vapory end.
bow^n^arrowto helpTo^Faiiure
aJI f
he / T
,
as
yo(y
®d/ »e
/ / —
/ / >

*'•</» L
ac Vo«6,
«A

35. FALCON PATROL II

37. MONTY MOLE
VIRGIN, £6.95 cass
The superior follow up to the classic Falcon Patrol. A fast,
smooth scrolling shoot-em-up. Speed across the detailed GREMLIN GRAPHICS, £7.95 cass
desert landscape below, eradicating the enemy helicopters U Vtbe Another scrolling platform game where Monty Mole goes in
and avoiding flak batteries and radar jamming. on”»«U<919am the search of coal and the legendary Arthur. All sorts of hazards
comt *nh facehim including flying pickets, hairsprays, coal crushers
"tin ""Oq
9st, 9h and acid baths.
Vth

ZZT * hot
V£1*nn
a* No PL°P
db y ‘rate tv ,
hot n
^'“•“^'ClO-SSdjsk
ya monkey andS!?o,! e*' ty have ,0
44. KILLERWATT
ALUGATA, £7.95 cass
^‘onoZ,^^
Another Crowther classic. Thi s zany
scrolling shoot-em-up
consists of blasting lightbulbs
in a fast scrolling
cavern. Whales, dolphins underground
and ducks must also be
zapped on
SO R
^VISION. £9-*
.
many
vertically
becomes a
;

\‘

53. QUANGO :

OUICKSILVA INTERCEPTOR, £7.00 cass, £9.00 disk

ro/t lffer

SSSZ^
b^rop S<
obndge the
cass,
(
stvi2
task o 6
en c& A
fdest? Puts Vo
9 eat 30
J
You have to collect mushrooms from eight hazardous caves in
this cross between Dig Dug and Boulderdash.
Beware the
tj

uT'
astonishiL UusUi
nasbestoc'; droids and Quango birds that roam the cave.
9SOn,Cs
collection

58. SHAMUS £14.95 disl

SYNAPSE, £9.95 cass,adventures. Fir
One of the original arcade
Heaps of action
destroy the evil Shadow.
Shadow's lair, robol
way through the evil
himself track your every
move making
confrontation.
•:
S--:- :

ALUGATA, £7.95 cass, £9.95 disk I*1N*£W »

Although similar in some ways to Son of Blagger, still a good

(and difficult) game in it's own right. Collect the 99 crystals dodging
"no and
spread over 30 screens of platform shoot-em-up and refuel S&areWo
your space ship.

ZZAPI64 May 1985 91

1 1? 1

I ^
 HITS
Ten tackiest top-sellers d caf
chases

WlLf= " reen action

cause /es s
More arguments here. These are the games which hit el/te
9rovv.

the charts but we think shouldn't have. They Wa s beher'than /° der the
Pretense
represent a triumph of marketing hype over quality. beaslow ?ruZJBtSe'M» y- turned it
ocre UStraf '"9
title and 9enerall
Mind you, it's just possible some of you won't quite y

agree... /
— JL
Litvastly overrated
Hangar
little othe
consists of very

5 JET
.
SET WILLY ng spinning
,ur first
plates for hour.
you can whi|
game
SOFARE
^ ^6^,,;— after level, after
level...

TOTE YOUR VOTE! us your favourite Tell

games and win one of three fantastic Zzap! gift packages
How about this for a prize? Games of your choice worth up to £20 how much you like it you have a total of ten votes,
-

plus a fantastic Zzap! T-shirt. We'll be giving away several of these So by far and away your favourite game was Boulder Dash, but
if

super-packages each month to encourage you to help us create the you also liked Decathlon and Tapper quite a lot, you could give 6
nation's best games chart. votes to Boulder Dash and 2 each to the others.
Everyone loves charts, but there are serious problems with those Alternatively you could split your votes evenly between five
appearing in most magazines. They are supposed to be based on games, giving them 2 each. Use whatever combination best suits
which games have sold most in the previous week or month, but your feelings about the games - that way our charts should accur-
few of them appear to reflect accurately true nationwide sales. ately reflect the overall mood.
In any case, just because a game sells well doesn't mean it's any Remember, to be valid you must enter using the form below, and
good, so such charts make a dangerous basis for buying new your total number of votes must not exceed 10.
games. As for the prizes, they work like this: you'll notice on the voting
What we want to do is print a chart showing the games people slip a space where you can predict which games will take the first
actually LIKE. That's where you come in. Use the form below to vote three places in the final chart. The first three entries we find which
for the games you think are great, and we'll add all the votes predict the top three correctly will win the Zzap! prize packets!
together to produce Britain's greatest chart for 64 owners. That's an opportunity you can't afford to pass over, so get voting.
Rather than just ask you to name your top five games, we want Entries to:Chart vote, Zzap!64, 1 Church Terrace, Yeovil, Somerset,
you to give a certain number of votes for each game according to

ZZAPI64 TOP 64 VOTING COUPON I am voting for the following games (up to five):
(Please write clearly) Game (and software house) No. votes

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Post code
The games wouldI like to win are (total price MUST be under
£20 ):

My T-shirt size is S/M/L

1
predict the top three games in the completed chart will be:
1

3 Maximum total votes 10

ZZAP! 64 May 1985

” ItfONP&R ETH^R
92
WOT
TVS'LL
NOTICE. %

si \
| j|
 s -
m
.

'\
i '

3 fi

1
- 1

V6

)/

"THE STAEE OE KARNATH" recommended retail price £9.95 inc 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
/nn .n j
_ v nr /v ^a -a -m

(P8fP included) Tel: 0530 411485

 \a\
^ P ™o s9
aS
t Jout » sU
mot 64 o*"®* pTO ducedu<
’ript\on
ao
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to
^ g,ot

oU 1a
®^l te house
hoUS *n
•
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64
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^„e a,„odd hot
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O^ere*
jorth £
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94 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 Another SPY HUNTER.
TAPP®-
conversion ^ P
ror Thisnew release
part of{
is a SUPERR
P'av the
YOU
bar-tender t^g
q R.P In'
garr^e
1®
0
°h-
,n which ^ Sega arcade
you drive a
growing cro lethally-armed car
and must

5S&
garne-plav
and
tiveness as Y
n
h
S
»
oU ut
jrZnHr*
3
3St e emy a
the'road C °™ P
pnics and sound
superb feel, it'll
9ents off
plete with arcade
and a
have vou
looked for ages. If
you're not
convinced, read
our rave review
6
Isewhere in this issue.

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 SWP«B3D^crohGR-
Head has been another chart r>riics
smash with its stunning 3D
graphics and exciting shoot-em-
up action. The idea of turning a Programming this^The P °
't^
bombing mission over the ' v»
USSR into a game may put you
off - but if it doesn't be prepared U
manoeuvre a roimH o£ must
for some dazzling excitement.
"».d «; d mean
enemies. An xciting meoa-
olast

Zzap!64 special offer subscription form

Yes, want to subscribe to Zzap!64 and receive two free
I US Gold
games.
Name
Address
Post code

The games would I like are (circle TWO)

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.

o
n
 east your eyes on this, games player.
Page after page of detailed playing tips
to help you boost your scores and
shame your friends. For this opening
issue, the tips have been produced
by CARL LYONS, PAUL BEARD,
GARY PENN, JULIAN RIGNALL and
BOB WADE. But ultimately the best
advice is going to come from YOU. So,
vid kids, if you have a technique for
scoring high, whether by fair means
or foul, zzap it off to us fast.
Star tipsters will be entitled to
programs from the Zzap! 64 lucky dip.
Wow! Why not wing your winning
waysto:Zzap-tips, Zzap!64, 1 Church Terrace, Yeovil,
Somerset BA20 1HX.

Sussing the robots in Impossible Mission

within a few seconds, in which
Gary Penn has spent hours playing the smash CBS game, studying in particular the case precision jump timing is
robot movement patterns. Here are the names he's given to the different types as needed to clear it. Otherwise, it's
well as some general tips. Gary's lowdown on the rooms next month. safe to continue.
- PD Mk8 Moves faster than the

Mk7, but once you've seen it, it's

GENERAL ADVICE. normally need snoozes for Mk2 PDs, but fires whenever it no harder to avoid. Both the Mk7
- advisable to 'map' your
It's these. reaches the ends of a platform, and Mk8 PD will cease firing if
progress through Elvin's lair on -LD Mkl. Faces one direction, turns, fires again, then repeats you move out of their line of
paper. Mark any unfinished and doesn't turn or fire. No movement pattern.
its vision. But beware, because as
rooms, making a note of the sweat. -PD Mk4 A faster version of the soon as they see you again,
number of pieces of unsearched - LD Mk2. (Colloquially, a wally Mk3. Neither the Mk3 or Mk4 they'll fire.

furniture. Note any 'exhausted' droid). Turns to observe your present any real threat. Treat
rooms, and the two code rooms. actions, but does little else. them as the Mkl and Mk2, but D. HOMER DROIDS (HDs) ... the
Also mark the position of Elvin's Again, no sweat. don't wait at either end of a plat- ones that home in on sighting
control centre, so you can get - LD Mk3. Turns and fires, slowly form when they're about. you.
back there with ease once the but predictably. Time your jump - PD Mk5 This one moves back - HD Mkl. Even though this one
password has been assembled. carefully, as he turns to fire in and forth, firing intermittently as moves simple enough pat-
in a

- Attempt the rooms as you your direction. he does so. Time your jump be- tern, once you're in its line of
come across them. Once you - LD Mk4. Fires in the direction tween firing, in order to leap it vision, it will home in on you,
enter a room, don't move unless it's facing, but doesn't turn. successfully. following your every move. Just
Awkward, as precision timing - PD Mk6 Fires more frequently don't hang around too long if it's
you have to. Observe robot pat- is

terns and any safe spots before required to jump or pass it. than the Mk5, making it a lot heading towards you.
attempting anything. harder to jump. - HD Mk2. A faster, nastier, vers-
- When faced with a tight jump- B. DEVIOUS DROIDS (DDs) . . .
- PD Mk7 Looks like a Mkl, Mk2, Keep moving
ion of the Mkl. . .

ing space, wait until the robot is the more devious stationary Mk3 or Mk4, as it moves along - HD
Mk3. Very similar to the
about a robot's width away, and robots. the platforms in a predictable Mkl, except that this one fires
jump him. Slightly earlier if it's a - DD Mkl. This one fires on sight- pattern. But, as soon as it spots when it reaches the ends of a
fast-moving robot. You cannot ing you. Beware moving next to you on the same level, it lets rip platform. Don't let it - keep
jump the bubbles when they're when using the lift, as you
it, with a steady stream of high
on the same level as you, so may regret it. voltage charge - watch out! To
don't even think of trying. -DD Mk2. As soon as this robot test if a droid is in fact a PD Mk7,
- Don't use a snooze unless you spots you, be activated, and
he'll move up to the same level as it
really have to. Even if a piece will moveyour direction at a
in (out of possible zapping range).
takes time to get, it's usually fairly slow speed, unlike . . If it's a Mk7, then it will have fired

worth it, as snoozes come in - DD Mk3. A faster version of the

handy later on. above. Both DD Mk2 and Mk3

- Don't get too greedy when can be fooled, by leaving their
searching. By this mean, don't
I line of vision through either
hang around too long if a highly jumping, or using a lift. They will
electrified robot comes belting then turn round and leave you
toward you, flashing aggress- alone to get on with searching,
ion, lights and all, even if you've etc. Repeat if necessary.
only got 'just one more pixel' to
search. Better to waste 10 C. PATROL DROIDS (PDs) . . .

seconds than 10 minutes. relatively unintelligent patrol-

ling robots.
THE DIFFERENT ROBOT - PD Mkl The most unintelligent
.

TYPES PDs. This one simply

of the
trundles back and forth along a
There are basically TWO kinds of fixed route, displaying no signs
robot: The ones that move of hostility whatsoever. A nov-
(types C-F below), and the ones ice's delight.
that don't (A-B). - PD Mk2 A faster version of the
above - still no real problem.
A. LAZY DROIDS (LDs) . . . don't - PD Mk3 Moves like the Mkl and

96 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

moving. Make sure the colours of the display in memory, the right kick you at first opportunity.
- HD Mk4. A speedy version of pieces are the same, when att- way around. The second, is to Kicking the Ninja to death is
the Mk3. Don't stand around for empting to overlay, although see if you have the other three sadistic but easy - but you'll
too long. the colour of the overall block pieces in memory, to go with the have to run half a screen in all to
doesn't matter. piece currently on display. do it, so the best thing to do is
E. SNIFFER DROIDS (SDs) . . . There are also set pairs of Don't bother using either of punch, wait half a second,
better equipped homing robots. semi-completed puzzle, that are these, as both are a waste of
- SD Mkl
punch, wait, punch. If your
Sniffs you out as soon
. the same every time you play. time. You should have all 36 timing is right the Ninja won't
as you enter a room. Equipped This means that when you fit pieces when you attempt to- ever be a problem.
with a highly sensitive sensor, two pieces of puzzle together, complete the password, so
this robot will follow your every
Now that you've controlled
and get a shape fairly 'regular' in checking if the others are in the Ninja and forgotten Yamo,
movement, regardless of which appearance, you know you're on memory is unnecessary. Putting your main concern is the lands-
level you're on. As far as avoid- the right track. pieces in their correct orient- cape. The first 16 rooms are no
ing them goes, it's not too diff- There are two functions acces- ation, via the phone, is also a hassle - the only dangers are the
icult to get past. If, for example, sible through the phone. The
you wish to go up, or down, on a
pointless exercise. • two simple electric combs and
first, is to put the two pieces on
the many bush traps. These
lift to a lower, or higher, level,
traps can be used to your advan-
lead the robot over to the oppo-
tage: let the enemy follow you
site side of the room. Quickly run
across one, and because it expl-
and jump your way over to the
other side of the room, and up,
Zuccess at Zaxxon odes behind you, so will the
pursuer.
or down, the lift onto the next
JR's tips on the US Gold classic However, don't hang around
level.
near the bushes because if you
- SD Mk2. Moves a lot faster than
are punched near these, you'll
the above, but only when you slide to your death uncontrollab-
appear on it's level. • Stay low: you won't hit the • When confronted by the ly. This also applies to the white
- SD Mk3. Movement wise* the floor, but keep that trigger zaxxon robot fire like the clap-
finger pumping. electric sparks that fly across the
same as the Mkl SD. The only pers and try to destroy the
• Fuel dumps are the prime holes connecting platforms.
difference is, that, once it sights homing missile he carries under
you on the same level, it'll fire target, especially on higher his arm. If thou failest thou art
Somewhere around the 15th
levels. Blast everything out of screen a couple of yellow suns
mercilessly. Approach with dead.
will appear. These are extra lives
caution. sight without endangering your • On level two heat-seeking
ship if possible. so don't avoid them as you'll
-SD Mk4. A speedy equivalent of missiles make their appearance.
the Mk3. Use of a snooze • When in space stay as low as Try to gain as much height as need all the lives you can get for
possible and shoot those rock- possible white blasting like screen 17.
wouldn't go amiss here.
ets to kingdom come. mad. You'll be sure to hit them. Here there are four electric
F. PARANOID DROIDS (PaDs) . .
• On the fortress make sure • On high levels keep an eye on combs with multiple charges in
your way is clear by firing the fuel and make sure that varying directions. This seems
slightly intelligent, and very
through the gap, if the bullets there's a trail of destroyed fuel impossible until you get the
paranoid, robots.
detonate on the wall then re- dumps in your wake, otherwise hang of things, but once master-
- PaD Mkl. Moves along plat-
adjust your position until they the end will soon be upon you. ed the screen is quite easy.
forms at a slow pace, stopping
regularly to
pass through the gap. On comb 1 jump up with short
look over his
runs in between charges.
shoulder. If you happen to be in
Combs 2 and 3 are similar and
the Mkl's line of vision, then
he'll stop to fire intermittent
warning shots. Make sure this
one's out of range before mov-
ing on to the same level.
How to better involve waiting, whilst comb 4 is
easy.

sight,
However, don't make
mad dash when
it's too
the end is
risky. And always
a
in

it
PaD Mk2. A
ligent version of the
slightly

trundle rapidly towards

will
you if you are seen. Otherwise,
more
Mkl,
intel-
in that Bruce L ee anticipate the jumps, for Bruce
has to bend his knees first.
Screen 18 needs no guidance,
but there are nasty tricks galore
No matter how much we may the handle is always facing up. in 19. This is the first time you
harmless. If timed correctly, you pretend, we've got to admit that
can jump out of the Mkl and
When you start the game, Yamo definitely need the duck funct-
the American software currently will be permanently jumping up ion.
Mk2's scan, thus avoiding any swimming the Atlantic is sup and down and is rendered harm- Get the first lantern to make a
unpleasantries. erb. Bruce Lee distributed here less, but the big advantage is the ladder appear, and climb it as
by US Gold is no exception. fact that you get
five extra men! early as you can. Wait on the
PIECING THE PASSWORD In this all chopping, all jump- You must keep the second stick solid platform and lie down.
In order to obtain the password, ing, all kicking arcade adventure in this position all the time you When the electric spark goes by,
with which you will save the you take the role of the legen- play, otherwise the machine jump left and repeat. To get to
world, you must first collect all dary film star in his fight against cottons on to yourevil tricks and the second lantern you must
36 pieces of puzzle. the evil wizard and his two docks your men eventually. shin horizontally along the white
The password is nine letters henchmen, Yamo and the Ninja. Anyway, get over your guilt bar two thirds of the way up.
long, and is randomly selected The game is set in a cleverly des- complex and get playing. Then you have to negotiate a
from several each time you play. igned 20-chamber fortress and Golden rule number 1 is that you comb made more hazardous by
Each letter of this word is form- is difficult to complete normally, must collect every single access- an electric spark. But once done
ed from overlaying four pieces but need not be so
it ible lantern in every screen, you're home free.
of puzzle, to form a solid, albeit If like me you are totally ruth- even though a door may open The final chamber is mega-
sandy in appearance, block. less when playing games you'll with some left. Don't take short- high res, but there is little to do.
Once this block is correctly want to cheat at every oppor- cuts - there are no time bonuses Just run as fast as your little
orientated produce mult-
it will tunity. When the game loads but masses of points available yellow legs can go and jump at
iple bleepings from your 64, and there is a nice option screen. for hanging around beating up the fiery switch on the right hand
a letter towards a completed Plug in two joysticks and choose the Ninja. edge of the screen. won't reveal
I

password, on your screen. a one player vs opponent If ever you're cornered, lie what happens, but don't believe
When manipulating pieces, option. Pick up the joystick in down until your adversary re- the instructions about immortal-
look for obvious fits, treating the port 1 and play as normal, but tracts his foot/bokken stick, then ity, because it's all too easy to
whole thing like a complex jig- put stick 2 on the floor and put get up and punch. Yamo should die on round two.
saw - look for edge pieces etc. your foot on it in such a way that ALWAYS be kicked because he'll CL •
ZZAP! 64 May 1985 97
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LORDS OF MIDNIGHT' Map part 2 from pages 82/83

Can you survive the Aztec are fatal. However, if you duck
early and the spear is low, it is
ing in the same place. This idea
is transferable to a wide variety

Challenge? possible to correct by springing

up into the air as soon as you
of games and can be very useful.

have realised your error. PHASE THREE. Next you must

Carl Lyons on the Cosmi game available from US Gold run through the temple, avoid-
PHASE TWO. If you survive that ing being crushed, spiked, skew-
One of the first American im- PHASE ONE has you running stage, your next quest is to climb ered or falling down bottomless
ports (not including Ian towards a temple with anti- the stairs, which are protected holes. Spikes and holes are
MacGregor) and still remains a social throwing their
natives by groups of three rolling cubes. exactly the same hazard-wise,
challenging game even by spears at your Standing far side. The first three always come as are the bricks and arrows.
today's standards. It can be away from the TV is recom- from the left so it's sensible to Always stop as you run into a
i roughly categorised as an mended, as you then have a nar- move right as the screen starts. room, in order to identify the
arcade-adventure, but is com- rower viewing angle, necessary The best technique have I enemy. If they are bricks or
pletely different to the usual since you don't know which side found to rely on probability:
is spears, then carry on running,
4
;
formula. Its gripping music and of the screen the spear will when a set of three has gone by, stopping only when necessary.
i
-
imaginative setting make this appear from. You must duck for stand in a direct line with where With the holes and spikes, you
seven screen thriller a cut above a high spear and jump for a low the last cube fell, hence there is can bounce over the first two but
j
the rest. one, needless to say mistakes less chance of the next one fall- must run a couple of steps
i

98 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

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before clearing the last one. use high

spider is
unless a
bouncing
by some
preceded
TIPS
PHASE FOUR. Now it is time to thing, in which case, you'll have
meet the disgusting vermin, to combine a short jump with a river. The best method is to hide ances, controlled joystick-wise
which in real life would have me large one in that order, because in the safe spot at the top of the by up, left, and down respective-
running a mile, but give me a landing on a bouncing spider is screen (where you can't be seen) ly. One gap needs a low jump,
joystick and I'll take on the Zzax- fatal. until you spot an opening. If you two gaps needs a medium, and
ians! You are given the choice of find yourself about to be sand- three needs a high. You must
high or low jumps, but always PHASE FIVE. The Hopaztec is a wiched, press the fire button for concentrate fully on the right
matter of memory only. The best a second (delay this as late as hand half of the screen and not
tactics are to line up vertically you can) to escape danger, but jump left too early, because
firstly, and then move forward don't retreat. there might be another gap
as far as possible. When you die sneak out at the last possible
next time follow the same route PHASE SEVEN. After you've moment. So, again, delay your
Cup to the doomed square and dried out, your escape is but a decision!
bypass it. hop skip or jump away. This is Finally, if you do escape, you'll
the ultimate test of hand-eye re-enter at a higher difficulty
PHASE SIX. Penultimately, you coordination, because you can level where you really will have
have to swim a piranha-infested jump medium
far, or short dist- a challenge on your hands. #
ZZAP! 64 May 1985 99
 BUST THOSE GHOSTS! him securely every time
ENERG Y and the MM MAN
To make as much profit as
possible you need to use the
Despite its simple appearance compact, vacuum, image inten- to trap
there's a surprising amount of sifier, bait and two traps - the without quite crossing the time between 0 PK and 5000 PK
strategy in Activision's Ghost- cheapest sensible package. streams. wisely. You must let as few
busters. Even expert players Both players agree on one Firing again to activate the slimers as possible escape, pref-
disagree on the best methods. thing. The marshmallow sensor trap will now
catch the ghost. erably none, and stop roamers
Aft&NREW CLARKE of Baddesley* is not worth having. You don't However occasionally the ghost getting to Zuul for as long as you
Essex and Zzap's BOB WADE need it and it isn't reliable. will move sha rply just as you set can, although for the first 2000
have both notched up hundreds off the trap and veer away to PK this need only be done in-
of thousands of dollars playing safety, for this reason wait until frequently since they move
the game. Here is their (some- just after he has made some vio- slowly.
times contradictory) advice. lent moves before activating. Once you are over 5000 PK
CLARKE's method: Don't use you can forget about the
the first man at all, just position roamers and concentrate on get-
EQUIPMENT him to the out of the way.
left ting the Marshmallow man. He
The first thing budding ghost- This avoids the danger of cross- appears after 5000 PK and every
busters must know is how to ing beams. Place the second 1000 after that,i.e. five times.

spend their cash wisely. Andrew man on the far right' of the You need to be ready to put
Clarke believes the equipment screen, facing inwards,. Then down ghost bait when you top
selection stage is wrongly wait until the siimer moves each thousand mark.
regarded by some as being bor- between him and the trap at a When you switch to the map
ing, If is in fact crucial to the suc- height below the sill of the top screen you'll see the roamers
cess of your game. storey window. swerve off course to form the
Hebelieves that no matter Now fast, decisive action is MM man and you should imm
how you are the hearse is
rich required. Press fire. The siimer ediately hit the B key one firm
the car to go for. It offers enough should be under the beam or tap.Any more hits will mean you
space, a reasonable speed and possibly even speared by it. won't have enough bait to deal
above all, it is cheap. CLARKE's CATCHING SLIMERS Move the man left, forcing the with all the men. This is the most
ideal list of equipment is the foll- Once again the two have starkly siimer over the trap and immed- crucial part of the game - good
owing: The hearse, vacuum, PK contrasting methods. iately press fire again. Hey baiting massively boost
will

t£ energy detector, image intens- ,

WADE's method: When a presto. your score but failure will result
ifier, bait and five traps. If you're building flashes red and you Should you fail to catch the in disaster,

tt.yU starting on £10,000 you must do arrive, the key things to remem- siimer under the beam do not
«3 without some of the traps. ber are to make sure the trap is despair. Just move the second ZUUL
ttg Clarke believes the sports car as far up the screen as possible man left until he stands right on When PK reaches 9999 and you
I* and the laser confinement sys- and in the middle. The left hand the trap. Now wait until the have enough money you go to
*0 tem are expensive white eleph- man should be about three siimer moves over the trap, and Zuul. As Clarke points out, it is
ants. WADE strongly disagrees.* quarters of an nch from the trap,
i
preferably Is reasonably low. Hit wise ,tomake sure you have
His ideal equipment list for so that when activated his fire and you may well get him. three backup men in the car -this
advanced ghostbusters is: stream will end directlyabove Both players claim 99% succ- means you can afford to lose
sports car, laser confinement the trap. The right hand man ess for the methods, so take one as you attempt to sneak past
system, image intensifier, PK should be as fa r to the right as he your pick. They also point out the MM man.
detector and ghost bait. Al- will go. that the sooner you catch a Here there are two methods
though expensive this
very The siimer usually follows a siimer the more money you get. The easiest is to go to his left
allows you to move round at roughly clockwise path round That is why the PK detector is so hand side and follow him as he
high speed, only returning to the screen and once it is inside important. It allows you to arrive jumps sideways, sneaking in the
GHQ after catching 10 slimers. the line of the right hand at a building and sometimes side of the door before he hops
Wade reckons you can make up streamer you hit fire to activate actually witness the slimer's back.
the extra cost fairly easily - so the streamers. Move the right arrival. By trapping one almost A harder technique for fool-
long as you don't miss any hand man in so that the ghost is instantly Wade has earned the hardy ghostbusters is to go
slimers trapped under the pyramid maximum £1,000 on one occas- through his legs. This takes per
But if you have just £10,000, formed by the two streamers. ion. £800 should be regularly feet timing but is very satisfying
Wade recommends simply the With practice you should be able possible. if you can manage it. #

Reducing risks on
River Raid
* Don't worry about fuel on lower
levels: there are many dotted about
Making Kong crazier
and it only needs one slow pass over
a fuel depot to refill your tanks. Shoot
tfae depots after you have used them. The aging Crazy Kong from appear as soon as reached.
* Try to shoot everything but don't Interceptor is written largely in Once you have created your
put yourself at risk. Helicopters, boats Basic and is easy to break into
- own screen, just type
and balloons on the shores need only just press the Run/Stop key. You CONTINUE and the game runs.
to be dodged, you might crash into Here are the editing controls -
can now alter the maze of lad-
the riverbank if you try to go for them
* Try to learn which routes are safest ders, conveyor belts, hammers use the cursor keys to put the
when the river splits in two. Some and diamonds and make the cursor where you want it and
thin strips of river contain helicopter game a lot more fun. (Well, you then use any of the following
gunships or tanks. certainly couldn't make it any keys:
* When negotiating a tricky stretch of worse!) Shifted 2 - extra diamonds
river try to gauge the direction which Shifted G - extra hammers
Your imagination's the limit -
the enemy will go so that you can
you can fill the screen with dia- Shifted D&E - conveyor belt
dodge behind them unscathed.
* Hit the bridges when the tanks are monds worth 50 points each and Commodore Q - ladder left
trundling over them: you get more amass magnificent scores. The W
Commodore - ladder right
points and on later levels they fire at only thing you can't do is put Shifted A - flooring right
you if you don't kill them. hammers on the uppermost Shifted B - flooring left
JR
level on all screens - they dis-
PB

100 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 TIPS
How to 111
m
mm
my.

trick a computer goalie

International soccer

Here are two well proven techniques for scoring goals in the classic
SOL, WED! sm

Tmm
jmgggjglgR i
mfff
football simulation from Commodore:

METHOD Get the ball to the wing. Advance to your opponent's

1 .
mmm Stsiff t% lir 1UP Ifc iMf if m fUr m
®
IPP
:
;V
goal and when you draw level with the front of the penalty area
shoot diagonally. This nearly always puts the ball in the net because
the goalie responds with a totally useless straight jump (I think he
may be Scottish).

METHOD 2. Move up the centre of the field and when you get behind
Karnath r-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-: x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x •x-x-xx-xy

iplli '^igi
the penalty spot shoot directly at goal. The goalie will save, but you
! * i. *-ii
nKKwwuwsv
should be able to pick up the rebound with ease and slot the ball V.-JxX

home before the keeper has a chance to recover.

WINNING POSSESSION. Obviously before you can use these meth-

ods you must have the ball. To win possession at GOAL KICKS, wait
at the screen's edge in line with the ball. When it is about to be
kicked move away from The ball should fall conveniently on to
it. Here's another great ZzapI exclusive - detailed
your feet or head. At THROW-INS forget trying to follow the oppon- hints on one of the trickiest games ever to hit to
ent - just get in line with the thrower's angle and wait for the throw.
Using these methods have achieved a top score of 6-0 on level 9.
I
the 64. Ail over the country ©4 owners have been
PB scratching their heads over Ultimate's Staff of
Karnath - and at time of writing. Ultimate have
had only one claimed solution - from Lee
Goldstone and Matthew Porter of Newbarn
m
mmm
Getting to Longfieid, Kent. It's they who are responsible for
grips with the guide to the game on pages 102/ 103
Just to make things a little more fun, however,
the reds Guardian we have deleted some of the information they
gave, especially names of particular spells you
Here's some advice on the contr- Defender still perplexes many
oversial Raid Over Moscow arcade addicts and Guardian,
have to use. After all, you wouldn't want ALL the
from US Gold. the no holds barred clone from secrets given away, would you?
Alligata,is no exception.
Run to the Cities The sheer amount of controls
Fly low (no higher than 5m) until make mastering the game a
the missile has gone overhead,
daunting prospect. (DON'T use a
then climb to about 17m and joystick: lack of true Defender
shoot the missile from behind.
control makes the gameplay
Descend to below 5m again and much harder.)
shoot everything in sight. Facing
Press fire and thrust simultan-
the helicopter, do not move left
eously and rapidly - a nice med-
or right, and fire at it until it is
ium speed will be attained. Only
destroyed. Only move if you are
belt along when there are only a
definitely going to be hit.
few aliens left on the other side
of the planet.
Silos
The silos are only at three sep-
Beware of LANDERS, al-
arate heights so it is easiest to though easy to hitthey DO shoot
shoot them down in the follow- back! Also, when they warp in
ing order: 5,4, 1,2,3 (numbering stay low otherwise you might
them left to right). If you are have one land on your ship.
patient you can shoot down the MUTANTS can be dealt with
white plane until you have about easily: turn towards them and
20 seconds left, and only then oscillate in the middle of the
destroy the central silo (number screen firing rapidly and they
Lee Goldstone and Matthew Porter
3). will walk into your laser spray.
BOMBERS are best blasted by -
vlvjY.WiV; ;;

Moscow following them carefully

Remember the height settings through their minefields and
for each of the
the targets
targets.
are at the same
Some of shooting them as quickly as
possible.
The Ultimate
height. When hitting the upper-
most turrets guide the tank
Beware of PODS, these
plode into swarmers when
ex-
hit.
trophy
underneath the falling masonry These are tricky to hit, but if you Here's the stunning prize won by Matthew
to destroy it. let them go past you and follow and Lee for their impressive efforts. The
them closely you can massacre trophy was commissioned by Ultimate for a
Reactor Room them without being shot. competition run with Personal Computer
The robot is most vulnerable BAITERS appear usually with Games. Unfortunately PCG died before the
next to the back wall. To be the last batch of landers to be competition had ended, so it was taken over
successful you must learn the
by us. Matthew and Lee were the winners nm -ms
pattern of its movements.
by a mile!
PB

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 101

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QUARTERS •J THE &RERT HHLU

WEST TOWER ARMOURS' South -tower

LOWER. lower

0 B dungeons c TUN&EONS
4-
LEVEL Ti/Oo

OBELISK OF KORN

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LEVEL ONE lUinO, LVT a&\V> BHIWM.

 >::<

->-•••• -

•-••••

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K> PI 2ZAP-F8&
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^t)S /

COLLECTING THE KEY PIECES

1. (found in room C: The Dungeon) 9. (found in room N: East tower Lower)
Hitthe ogre with the spell to stop him for a few seconds when he When the green skull is furthest away from you, quickly get piece I.

isfurthest away from the piece, rush up to it, grab it and retreat very You will lose energy but not much.
quickly. You will only lose a bit of energy.

2. (found in room C: The Dungeon)

Go to the dungeon (room C). —
the wall between the two lower
Then HURRY back to the main
coffins, avoiding or shooting ghosts.
10. (found in room Q: Upper Guard Room)
Avoid or shoot witch with spell to get piece J.—
dungeon. There a pleasant surprise will await you.
3. (found in room D: West Tower Lower) 1 1 (found in room P: Timeless Room)
.

You cannot kill the toad so go to his left and wait until he has jumped
to the right. Quickly go to the centre collecting the piece and then go
right to safety when the toad jumps left.
the carpet with the
can get piece K.
—
Don't hang around in here too long as it is a great time waster! Shoot
spell and walk on it to make it fly up so you

4. (found in room F: Lower Guard Room)

12. (found in room 0: West Tower Upper)
i

I
shooting the armour with the —
Enter room by the left. Walk up the right edge of the long table
spell. When you have reached the
top wall, walk along it to get piece D.The armour will retreat right
him with —
Get piece L fast or the Invasion Troll will appear. If he does then shoot

i
allowing you to get it safely.
5. (found in room I: Great Hall)
You must avoid the scimitar and the arrow but you can shoot the axe
using Use.
—
to quell the fire and get the piece before the
13. (found in room S: The Treasury)
Shoot the snake with the —
spell to make it rise so you can get piece
M. On returning to the balcony make the snake rise again so the
i

flames return, and the scimitar gets you. bullets won't hit you from the snake.
6. (found in room J: Laundry Room) 14. (found in room U: Waiting Room)
i
Enter room and quickly get piece F before the vampire gets it. Just wait in the room for piece 14 to appear above the fire.

M M
. .

7. (foundroom L: The Kitchen)

in 15. (found in room W: Morning Room)
Shoot or dodge the bats to get piece G.
the bowl —
times with the
turn into piece O.
—
Enter room from the left doorway. Wait in the doorway and shoot at
spell. It will fall off the table and will

8. (found in room M: The Store Room)

Shoot the green spider in room K with
hurry back to the store room where you will know what to do!
—
When a ting sound occurs .
16. (found in room X: The Library)
Shoot piece 16 with —
spell to stop the skeleton appearing when
you get it.

DEALING WITH THE EVIL ENEMIES

ARMOUR (found in rooms F,l,and J) DEMON (found in room A)
You can shoot the armour in room F (lower guard room) with the Avoid by walking along lower edge of the pathway or shoot with the
-- spell. The armour in room (great hall) is harmless, but
I some of spell. Avoid their ghosts when you shoot them.
the armour in room T (balcony) has energy sapping force fields
around it.

TROLL (found in room 0) WHITE FALCON (found in room A)

Younger brother of ogre (see below). It has the ability to turn Cannot be killed. To avoid bomb, wait at the bottom of an upward
its
invisible although
Shoot
it

in visible state
can still

with the —
be heard.
spell.
path.When the bird gets near you walk up the path. The bird will
follow you up but will drop its bomb early thus missing you.

GHOST (found in rooms H and B) HOODED MONK (found in room J)

Can be quite deadly if you are trapped by it.
for a while.
— spell will get rid of it Again,
be
—
careful.
will kill the monk, but he appears again on the balcony so

VAMPIRE (found in rooms G and J) SNAKE (found in room S)

Go to the upper guard room. Avoiding the witch, shoot the cross on
the wall with the — spell, shoot
again with
it — to make it fall off
Shoot the snake with the —
spell to make it rise
get past it. The spell does not last long though.
in the air so you can

the shield. Collect it and go get that vampire.

You cannot kill the vampire in the laundry room.

SPIDER (found in rooms R and K) BAT (found in rooms L and W.)

You cannot shoot the red spider in room R
although shooting the green spider with the —
(south tower upper)
spell will come in
Shoot with
kitchen.
— spell or avoid, found in morning room and the

GIANT TOAD (found in room D) WITCH

The toad cannot be killed - walk along the back wall to avoid it.

careful
(found in room Q: Upper Guard Room.)
Shoot the witch with the
she appears again!
—
spell, but avoid the ghost she makes. Be

OGRE (found in room C) SKELETON (found in room X: The Library.)

•

Older brother of the troll, the ogre can also be stopped with the
spell. However, be careful for the spell does not last long.
Cannot be killed but shooting piece P with
when you get the piece.
— stops him appearing

104 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

RR£ with rwr sta* sr^Tvisr
 Quirks in
Pitfalls of Pitfall 2

warped in or when you take too

The Guardian In this Activision game dodging
,
This title from Alligata is the ult- you deserve a medal. the bats and birds is a risky bus-
long at the end of a wave. Turn imate Defender on any micro. It
quickly and rake across them iness unless you have a method-
leaves the jerky-scrolling Planet- COLOUR CHANGE. you're fed
If
ical attitude. Because nothing
with bursts of fire whilst moving oid for dead, and your craft is up with the screen it is
dull, black
in the opposite diagonal direct-
goes faster than you, always run
even more manoeuvrable than possible to change the screen
ion to them. towards the enemy reversing at ,
the arcade one! Here are two colour. First shoot all but one of
When competent use the the possible
last moment.
oddities you may not have dis- your humanoids (murderer!)
SCANNER for locating trouble- Because you are so close to it,
covered. and follow the final lander along
spots and blast your way there V you are much better able to
•

the planet surface, always keep-

without running into any Sur- judge when it is safe to go under.
HIDDEN BONUS.
the last If ing below its level.
When low on humanoids However, remember that it is
prises. lander in a wave
carrying a is As it drops to pick up the
the landers pick them up, always safe to walk off the edge
let humanoid, then don't think the humanoid, shoot the humanoid
of a screen to try again.
blast the landers, catch the fail- wave is ended once you shoot it. and then the lander as quickly as
ing humanoids and carry them If you fly full tilt at the lander, fire possible. Your planet blows up
When holding a balloon, al-

until the wave is over. Beware at the last possible moment and as you know, but because the
ways pull down on
the joystick,
though, baiters will appear earl- drop immediately after firing, it screen flashes white whilst because it is better to accelerate
ier than normal. Conserve smart is possible to shoot the lander doing so, the end of the wave when avoiding bats than
bombs for use on three or more and catch the falling man. If you prevents it from changing back decelerate.
pods, and detonate when travel- are close to the surface you can to black.
ling slowly so that swarmers also put it down, but if you can CL
don't escape. JR do this intentionally every time
LEARN
How to avoid bungling at THE ARCADE
Bungeling Bay LANG UA GE.
Bob Wade unveils his tactics on with fighters responding rapidly We know 64s are great at clon-
to the call of a radar dish. ing arcade games, but should
Raid on Bungeling Bay from Ariolasoft Always remember that if dis- you wander into a real arcade
aster strikes and your heficraft is you will be set upon by people
There are two distinct strategies going down try to find a factory talking a foreign language. They
when playing: either go for the or the battleship to crash into are easily spotted: they own
factories or build up a mega- since a direct hit will do them Spectrums, have masses of pir-
score by just blasting away at severe damage. You may even ate software and read boring
planes, radar and gun emplace- be able to take something with magazines. Arcade ace Carl
ments. The latter method is you which isn't a bad price to Lyons compiled this translator:
frowned upon by purists since pay.
the real a i m of the game is to get The lastthree factories are They say: Wanna play doubles?
all six factories. really tough and thereis no sure But mean: I'm ace at this, let me
way to guarantee success, how- show off.
PART 1. With this in mind the *ever follow a few basic rules and
first factories you should go for you should have a chance. They say: I've had a million, but I

are the two on the large airfield Strafe up islands before can't be bothered doing it again.
island so that you can get at the attempting to bomb the factory But mean: I've never played it.
supply of bombs on the airfield to try and remove radar and
without danger. These factories guns. If there is heavy fighter They say: I write freelance for
shouldn't be too difficult in the cover try to draw them off to Ultimate.
early stages since the opposit- another island before making But mean: I've written noughts
ion is light. your assault. and crosses on a ZX 81
Once these two are dispatch- sinks. You'llneed nearly a full If you take heavy damage
.

ed (eight or nine bombs on each load of bombs

again and don't while bombing make a run for
should do the trick) go and get
They say: No, honest, it can be
approach the ship head on or the the carrier rather than being
the factory on the other airfield.
done, I've seen it.
heat-seeking missiles will crash tempted to hang on to drop
By this stage the opposition into you and rack up several
But mean: It's totally imposs-
those last couple of bombs.
ible.
should have wised up a little but hundred damage points. Lives are much more precious
with a couple of trips back to the Once sunk the battleship land you'll always get another try
carrier you should be able to won't return, whereas merely They say: Hey, you're brill at
at the factory.
wrap this one up without loss as this!
bombing it in dock only puts When blasting bombers and
well. back its completion time. Your fighters try to get into a circling But mean: Grease, grease, lend
That deals with the largest carrier is only at risk from bomb- pattern so that you can follow
me lOp.
islands which if left till later will ers at this stage - an attack warn- the enemy as they also circle
present terrible problems since ing should be acted upon and then let them have it up the They say: Wowwww, heyyy,
they will be packed with def- immediately since loss of your mmpphhh!!!!!!
ences and well supplied. It carrier means almost certain There is little you can do to
But mean: I've done it at last!
leaves the three smaller islands death. avoid the fighter's missiles but
which won't be easy but at least flying diagonally at full- speed They say: £%£!*?!*
you'll have a chance. PART Having despatched
3, will shake off heat seeking miss- But mean: I've just lost a man.
three factories and the battle- iles which are faster than you
PART 2. About this tirpb the ship, things are really getting horizontally or vertically. In tight They say: I'll tell you how to
battleship should be nearing mean, the gun emplacemen ots these can also be avoided clear it.

completion. Wait until it is fin- fi re heat-seeking missiles and an

frequent turns until they But mean: I've just read Zzap's
ished and then bomb it till it forces are replaced very rapi ash. • •
:
# tips.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 105

 Julian Rignall looks at six very different
programs all of which can turn your 64
into a music machine.

There are many music programs, sound processors,

and add-ons available for the 64, catering for anybody
from the casual tinkerer to the budding professional.
The price range also varies from £6-125.
Some music programs are designed especially for
composing, some for playing and others for less tune-
ful renditions. This survey should help any interested
person choose exactly which music package will best
suit his requirements.

MUSIC MAKER.
Activision, £14.99 cass £19.99 disk can all be used, in fact it's easier represented on screen is crystal
to compose tunes with this clear: any types of changes
piece of software than with possible are marked with a
Activision's Music Maker can be placed you can listen to the end some very expensive profess- beautiful little picture, so there
described as THE best music product. If you think it's awful ional music composers. are no doubts when you move
synthesizer for under £50. At a then you can erase it all by mov- The VOICE CREATION MODE the baton over a picture about
price that most can afford it is ing the baton over a picture of a is represented on screen like a what will happen when you
the best presented and easiest rubbish bin and pressing the fire mixing deck. To move any press the fire button.
to use music program available button twice, or just change a switches, just move the icon The instructions, although
for the 64. In particular it stands few notes by putting the new over a slider, press fire and pull only really necessary for tech-
out for having that most trendy ones over the original. back, forward, up or down to nical data, are excellent, taking
of labels: icon-driven - the opt- If you don't like the sound of move the slider in the corres- a novice step by step through
ions are represented by picture the voice then you can switch ponding direction. the basics of music program-
symbols, allowing the program your whole tune to another one All sorts of features appear on ming but also catering for a
to be largely joystick controlled with ease. Move the icon to the the deck: three filters, customiz- more advanced composer. was I

arid extremely 'user-friendly'. change note picture, select an- ing wave formation, ring modul- very impressed by its complex-
There are three different other voice and put the icon ators are but a few options. ity, but simplicity to use: within

modes: one for a musical nov- over one of the notes and press Some quite original and com- half an hour had 'What is Love'
I

ice, one for the more experien- fire. They will all change and you plex sounds can be produced ringing round the review room.
ced and a facility to define your can instantly hear the results if ranging from a drum to flute, If I were to recommend one
own voices (instruments). Al- desired. and from a double bass to a vio- music program for a 64 owner
though it helps to have some Once you think that you are lin. It is also easy to change the then this would be it.
musical knowledge, program- competent at writing you can large range of instruments,or if
ming tunes has never been so switch to the ADVANCED WRIT- you feel unadventurous you can
easy. ING MODE. Here, using the use them in your tunes as they
NOVICE MODE. Choose a same techniques, you can place stand. Once you're happy with
note from the large range using notes and also crotchet rests, your tune, you can save it on -RIGNALL RATINGS-
a music baton as a cursor and quaver rests and other musical tape or disk for future enjoy- Presentation 93%
move it onto the stave. When notations to make your tune ment. Ease of use 91%
you think the note is correct sound more professional. While using this music utility, 88%
it struck me that a huge amount
Sound potential
then press the fire button, and You can choose the key you'd
then you can put the next one in. like to play in and get compos- of thought must have gone into Value for money 85%
After several notes have been ing. Bars, rests, sharps and flats the programming. Everything

106 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

 CMK49 KEYBOARD
Seil, £125 through guitar and synthesizer
to UFO.
With this set-up there is no
Here is the current apex in mus- having to go through the rigmar-
ical add-ons for the 64. This Seil ole of defining voices, program-
CMK49 keyboard brings the ming the tunes and then getting
professional touch to your home the computer to play them
computer. The instruction booklet is only
Although costing £125 the adequate, leaving you to do
keyboard also comes with its most of the finding out (which
own software, either disc or cas- even a non-mu§ician should be
sette based. If you think that's a able to do without much bother).
little too much to pay for musical On screen presentation is nice
hardware then see the package and simple, with options of play-
in the flesh. ing or creating new sounds.
The keyboard has 49 notes There is also a MIDI Master Key-
and is of high, 'robust quality. It board function where you can
also has the real 'feel' of a key- link the keyboard to control MIDI
f
board. Interfacing is simple: just equipped instruments.
plug it into the back of your com- The big limitation to the pack-
puter, load the software and age (shared by all the others in

you're away. this survey) is that imposed by

The software itself exploits the SID chip itself - you cannot

the SID chip to its full capabil- play more than three notes sim- will bring new features like prog-
ities with a possible 99 voices to ultaneously. rammable rhythms, split key-
define at any one time. However there will be a series board, hand chords and auto
left

There are already 39 pre- of add-ons available for use with accompaniment.
defined instruments, so you can this keyboard later on this year Although seeming very -RIGNALL RATINGS—
play straight away with the key- which will overcome even this expensive, synthesizer
this Presentation 78%
board. Some of these are very A hardware /software
limitation. package offers some very adv-
Ease of use 69%
realistic while others bear no package scheduled for June will anced sounds and features that
clear resemblance to their allow the user to have full con- are comparable with a synth Sound potential 94%
names. There is a wide range of trol over a new and much many times its price. For the Value for money 84%
instruments available from bass stronger set of sound chips and right person, it's a fantastic buy.

MULTISOUND DANCING FEATS

SYNTHESIZER Artie, £7.95 cass

Romik, £14.99 cass Here the computer keyboard This, the cheapest music maker
acts as a musical one. On screen available for the 64, isn't much
Not a very friendly sight greets a there is a representation of a of a music maker at all, but for
user when this music program musical keyboard. Press a key someone who has no musical
loads. You are instantly pres- and a dot will light up on the experience it's great Don't
ented with a cluttered screen, corresponding note. Once you worry about setting up notes,
and this is terribly off putting for have sorted which key plays noises or complex beats, just
anyone. each note you can start piaying. load, select a rhythm from jazz to
The instructions say that a There are 8 octaves selectable rock, start and move the joystick
'rudimentary knowledge of the so a whole musical feature is back and forth.
Physics of sound is helpful'. I playable. OK, so it doesn't sound brill-
reckon a BSc might be more Other features include a type iant but with a little bit of prac-
appropriate! of composer, loading and sav- tice some quite good, jazzy
Firstly you have to select the ing new sound creations. This tunes can be created4 Moving
includes eight drum routines to the joystick back and forth quick-
actual voice you'd like to play.
This is done by switching all the play along to. of notes being
ly results in lots
•9? i b )/

various options given on thetitle Although being a competent played over two octaves. Keep
screen. Everything is set at zero, synthesizer, and being able to the joystick tugged left and a the total non-existence of pre-
so you have a lotto experiment actually play a tune, this one suf- lower octave will be played. progamming this program is
great value for anyone who iB
with before you can accurately fers from overcomplexity and Each note played is
wants to make simple music d <^8
:
define the sounds you'd like to difficultkeys to remember when represented by a coloured bar ZZ3
play. actually playing a tune. rising from the bottom of the simply.
Wave formations can be screen which grows and then
chosen, and then you can —RIGNALL RATINGS— shrinks as the sound diminishes, —RIGNALL RATINGS—
change to the next screen, which 37%
Presentation giving an aesthetic picture as Presentation 72%
is even more complicated and well as making a tune. One nice
Ease of use 39% Ease of use 87%
deals with the wave formation feature a record-as-you-play
and sound in more detail. Sound potential 68% facility.
is
Sound potential 21 %
Once your sound is defined Value for money 44% With the many varied beats Value for money 69%
you can switch to play mode. and sounds to choose from and

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 107

 ONEo
ULTISYNTH
Quicksilva, £14.95 cass

Where Romik's synth package

suffered from an over complic-
ated title page Quicksilva's has a
nice simple title page with seven
options.
But what appears behind this
title page is more important and
here'swhere the program falls
flat its face. Unless you know
on
the instructions inside out them
you will find yourself lost within
a few seconds.
Thereare the selectable
attack, sustain, delay and
release options familiar with all
these types Of programs. There
are also wave formations and
bar charts showing the frequ- boring and difficult process,
ency, filter frequency, reson- with only numbers needing to
ance and various others. There
-RIGNALL RATINGS-
be typed in. With a detailed, yet
are 154 key combinations for complicated manual and the dif- Presentation 76%
each channel so many sounds ficulty of actually getting any Ease of use 34%
can be produced. There are also sort of musical satisfaction, one Sound potential 71%
six accompanying tunes but can only say that this old piece of Value for money 46%
other than that it is all up to you. software is now rather long in
Composing a tune is a long. the tooth.

MUSIC MAKER
Commodore, £29.95 cass or disk
This is the second example of a music program which comes with its
own keyboard, although unlike the CMK49 this is only a clip on type.
The software which is included in the package is very well
presented and incredibly simple to use. On loading you are
presented with eight options which, as with every future selection,
are chosen by the using the function keys.
If wanted, you can instantly play using the keyboard - just select

one of the 8 voices. If you find the voices rather nauseating then it's
simple to define your own.
Press F6 and.you can modify and experiment with sounds. There
are 15 settings on attack, sustain, delay and release. Once selected
you can choose which waveform you'd like to play from the four
options, then choose whether you'd like to have any filters on or off.
When you are making your choice you'll be presented with the filter
options and a short note on each so it's crystal clear what the
outcome will be if you switch on a filter.
There are six octaves in which you can play, selected with F4. The
lower the octave number the deeper the note.
There is also a sequencing option, or in layman's language a
composer. Tap in the tune you'd like to hear and then play it back. If it
sounds out of rhythm an easy remedy is at hand. Pressing F3 will
give you a timing mode: tap a key to control the rhythm so you can
make the notes as long or as short as you like.
There are three preset rhythms to play along to and also three bass
lines to add a bit of depth to your tune.
With the package comes an excellent instruction manual with
simple and concise explanations of all the functions. Also included is
a music book and stickers so you can label the keys for quick and
easy identification.
If the tunes aren't your cup of tea (they include the horrendous

Birde Song ') then at an extra £3.50 you can order other music books
'

which include ones with Duran Duran, Michael Jackson and the
Beatles.
The whole package retails at £29.95 and is perhaps just a touch too
expensive for the casual musician. But if you can afford it this is a
great piece of software for an inexperienced and keen beginner.

108 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 T>0 WOP t>E PO-VERH,YEAH ETC ...MMM... 2222 ../ •>
 At 21.15 hours on the night of May 16th M3
a flight of specially
prepared Lancaster Bombers
led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson of 617 Squadron
left Scampton Airfield for a mission so daring,

that if successful, would do immense damage

to the German war machine and change
the course of World War II.

reproduced by kind permission of the

Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon.

On May 16th 1985, a computer program will be

launched, so excitement and realism that it
full of
will change the course of games software production.

You will relive the spine chilling experience of this famous raid as
you take the place of some of the bravest men in recent history.
You will play the role of pilot, navigator, gunner and bomb-aimer
- in this real-time multiscreen, arcade/strategy game which is an
authentic recreation of that fateful flight.
 3UST VMHE.N yoU
THOU&HT TVie
Renews WE*?E
OVER**' *

D ecent arcade adventures on

the 64 are few and far
between at the moment
Cauldron attempts to expand
—
this category. It is essentially an
slowly.
Flight control is very remin-
iscent of that arcade classic.
Defender, with a large amount
of inertia to take into account
CAULDRON
Palace Software, £7. S9 cass, joystick only
1

arcade game (combining plat- when you change directions - Large arcade-adventure with pretty graphics
form and shoot-em-up elem- this takes some getting used to.
ents) with adventure overtones. On your travels you pass 64 underground location*
Scrolling planet plus
Six strange ingredients must be
retrieved from the very bowels
of the planet to form a spell. This At last a great arcade-
spell must be used to dispose of adventure so we 64 owners
the evil Pumpking. can boast our own against
You start in the witch's house the Speccy crowd. Large and
surrounded by six parchments, enjoyable playing area with
one for each ingredient to be some original touches to
found. This is where the final keep zappers happy as well
spell is to be made, so every- as adventurers. Plenty of trees, bats, ghosts and very ag-
thing must be brought back here original creatures which are gressive plants spitting death.
-
'juice of toad, eye of newt, wing graphically excellent. / Shark fins and seagulls roam the
of bat and Hemlock root, mouldy had problems with
initially seas and volcanoes spout fire-
piece of splintered bone, the witch's control, but balls. Some
of the nasties you
doesn't sound too appetizing. perseverance has its reward. can destroy by firing magic, but
Out of the attractive cottage Don 't play it after midnight! this only works when you're
hobbles the witch, and then into flying. some superbly defined skulls,
a forest, depicted in detailed 2D. The four keys are placed pumpkins, bats and
rib cages,
In order to collect the ingred- randomly around the world, fireballs allfollowing predict-
ients she must find four colour- making the game slightly differ- able, but awkward, patterns.
ed keys scattered around the ent every time you play. Once Some of the ingredients can
planet to open the doors to the you've collected one, or all, of only be taken when carrying
underworld (see panel). the keys, it's down into the certain containers, and because
Collecting these keys is diffi- darker depths of the globe to get you can only carry two ingred-
cult.Your hag can walk a fair the components for your spell. ients at a time, you need to make
distance around the world, but The five doors lead to four several return journeys to the
mountain ranges, sea and a separate caverns of platform cottage. Once all the ingredients
graveyard are impassable action (one cavern has two are collected and mixed, it's off
unless flown over. To take off on doors). In each of the caverns to the Pumpking's lair (one of
her broomstick, she must find a you must negotiate various plat- the caverns) to put the spell to
clearing. A quick push up on the forms and avoid the nasties good use.
joystick, and she takes off floating around. These include You have eight hags, or lives.

110 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

Structure of the planet
Atlast, arcade adventures are making an important and long over-
due appearance on a worthy machine (who needs a Spectrum
now?).
Cauldron has an interesting structure with the action dividing into
two types: flying above the smooth-scrolling surface of a large
planet and leaping around the platforms (rock ledges) under the
surface. The two are connected by five doors on the planet surface. detailed and very effective, as
The planet surface consists of forests, plants, volcanoes and areas are the sprites. The moon hangs
This marvellous cross
of sea If you keep f ly ng you eventu a ly retu rn to you r sta rt ng p lace - realistically in the night sky, and
. i I i
between Defender and a
the planet is round! - and Palace say the total length of the planet makes an impressive scene platform game should be a
surface is some 120 screen widths. when the witch flies in front of it. winner for Palace. It
Below ground there are 64 screens divided into four separate Animation is terrific and colours combines excellent
platform-filled caverns in which pits of red hot lava bubbles convinc- are superbly used, giving some
playability both above and
,
ingly, and stalactites hang menacingly. There's certainly plenty to excellent 3D effects all round.
below ground, with plenty of
explore. The sound isn't that impress- difficulty. The scrolling
ive - the opening music being
landscape is wonderful, as
fairly simple, albeit atmospher-
are the monsters, but watch
ic, but some sound effects are
out for those keys in the trees
put to good use. - particularly the green one,
The instructions given are it's almost invisible. Below
simple but adequate and are ground the action doesn 't let
printed in rhyme on a 'parch-
up and either section would
ment' in the inlay. qualify as a decent game in
GP its own right. Together
* they're great.

a nasty occurs.
Taking off, landing and pick-
ing up keys, accounts for a high
to attempt to achieve this feat, percentage of deaths. Energy
and initially these are easily lost. can be replenished though, by
You start with 99 units of energy sources of power which you
for each witch and a life is lost must hover or stand in.
when energy reaches zero. This The graphics in Cauldron, al-
is continually depleting, and is though very Spectrumesque,
made worse when contact with are great. Backgrounds are

/ Nothing notable except some Not many arcade-adventures

like this on the 64
Cauldron certainly has a Q intriguing poems
large playing area and will
take some time to complete.
Obtaining the ingredients Small but colourful, detailed The urge to explore is very
and well animated strong
and utilising them correctly
is fairly difficult. Mapping
isn't really worth doing
above ground, but below it Stacks of locations, tough
comes in useful as you need long-term challenge
to know What's coming when
you enter another screen.
Definitely an enjoyable chall-
An excellent combination of
enge to novice and proficient zapping, leaping and
arcade adventurer alike. exploring

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 111

\
 L

T his was originally a British

game for a British com
puter (the BBC), but has
now been assigned to a comp-
any dealing in American games,
for distribution in the UK on an
American machine! If you can
puzzle that one out, you
shouldn't have too many prob- itbecomes dark, and the yo-yo
lems with the game itself. Quite becomes ineffective. To put
simply, a platform game, but some more light on the subject,
with a humourous cartoon feel and to gain extra time and
to it. points, there a lightbulb that
is
Armed only with his trusty yo- can be picked up. Other bonus
yo, Trogg the caveman must be points can be acquired from the
guided around 96 levels of awk- jewels scattered about. These
ward, scrolling platform action. aren't necessary for completing
Every time he dies a speech bub- the level though.
ble containing
the expletive On each level there is a differ-
FRAK! is displayed. ent group of nasties to impede
Each level in Frak! is fairly example, the screen has
first The best part is the large your progress. Scrubblies,
large - larger than one screen in actual these
ladders, then character Trogg who sloths Hooters, Poglets, Bunyips, Ice
fact, so it's for this reason the change on the second
to ropes and hops around the screen Warriors and Trogg Clones must
picture has to scroll. The screens screen and chains on the third. in marvellous fashion. The face the wrath of the yo-yo.
!
1
i
are composed of groups of plat- In order to complete a level, animation and brightly col- There are also balloons that rise
forms and ladders' that only dif-
' Trogg must collect all the keys oured graphics look great as from below, and daggers rain-
fer on arrangement, and graph- lying around, within a given do all the characters. ing from the heavens to be
ics, on advancing a level. For time limit. Once the limit expires Occasionally it is a little avoided or disposed of.
F! 1

difficult to pick up keys and The yo-yo is activated by poin-

Ri

H
i
\

j
FRAK!
Statecraft, £8.95 caaa, £10.95 disk, joystick only
objects but the program
usually allows for some
inaccuracy in jumping. Also
it isn't always obvious where
tingTrogg in the right direction
and pressing the fire button. The
longer the button is held down,
the further the yo-yo goes, until
to go because so little of the it reaches a maximum of a
;
<
Cute, scrolling-window platform game platform network is shown screen width before returning.
on screen You are given three lives to
i get as far as possible, and if you
This stoneage platform attain a good enough score, you
variant provides plenty of
enter your name a high score
in

challenge as you trogg about table. The highest score achiev-

x..
some very difficult and ed given an unusual high
is

l!
varied screens. The music is score verification code, in the
ri [;

tedious after a while and it's form of a short scrolling mess-

best to play without it. / liked age at the bottom left of the
|f i»>r
<; the graphics, but control was screen. 'Hairy gonks hit crazy
rather fiddly, one wrong beetles slowly' - No, I'm not
There have been a lot of plat- drunk, that's an example of a
move and. . . FRAK! "
form games around since the high score code.
originator Miner 2049'er first Trogg is a graphic delight.
hit the streets. Most have
been very good, and this is
ON THE LEVELS Standing a quarter of the height
of the screen, he certainly looks
no exception. Its main differ- There are only six truly different lev-
impressive. His animation is
ence is that only a few plat- els in Frak! that is levels with differ-
-
nothing special, but his definit-
forms are shown at any one ent platform layouts (only three on ion is - a large, unexpanded
time. This makes it difficult, the BBC version). However you go group of multicolour sprites that
but still very enjoyable. through these in 16 different ways, are very well implemented.
giving the total of 96 levels as claimed Nasties, such as the Hooter,
on the the cassette cover. Indeed, are also superbly defined, and
^ Statesoft tell us that in fact there are
^

ORIGINALITY 256 different levels but '96 was

although inanimate, they have a
Qt t *® ? * !<

W — i 1 1
enough to put on the package'. distinct character about them.

III ? /> AC\/

v
Q4ji Vq
Instructions unhelpful, but
plenty of playing options.
^ 0J 0/
'yn
^ game platform
characters,
but big
yo-yos and off-
The later levels introduce shorter
ween.
Sound
A
effects
couple
few and far bet-
!,! t

^ screen action. time limits, and monsters which are of scratchy

BPIArtlliC S HOOKABIUTY NOT permanently dislodged by the

yo-yo. Other strange things happen.
noises as Trogg walks, a ting
when he gets an object, and
For example, the third time round the what sounds like him breaking
"7^0/ butfunny,
74 %
Big, beautiful characters, but It's appealingslick, -
six levels, all the platforms play
little animation
J £ /Q frustrating! wind when he extends his yo-yo.
upside down - unless you're prepar-
An annoying music track is prov-
cs&ftt aiksn CSPVABIII |n iMii ‘
^jr ed to stand a mirror next to the TV
I
>301 I m ided for the masochists among
screen and play from that, it takes
considerable readjustment. you, but at least it can be turned
Rotten tune and the sound

70 %
take ages to get through all

41 % effects are sparse.

It’ll

6 screens, even once. There are also two competitions off - phew!

uai i ic cno momfV —

mm*
linked to the game: a high score
competition (61,000 is the highest at
Options exist for up to nine
players to compete against each
time of writing) and a race to find the other at once, and a demo mode
secret word linked to each screen.
“"7 4 n/ An excellent British release comes as selectable rather than
from There have been no entries at all yet
! J /q Statesoft.
on that one, possibly because no one
imposed upon.
has noticed that the words are to do
GP
with the shape of the platforms
At Zzap's request, Statesoft have
agreed to extend the competition
112 ZZAP! 64 May 1985 closing dates to June 1st.
 !
I became thoroughly
engrossed in retaking France
|rand it is $asy to play this
game for hours on end.
;There is always plenty of
opposition, and the variables
built in to the program mean
thatno two games will be the
same. One criticism is that all
the figures can becohfusing
at first so a careful read of the
instructions is essential. The
card showing the map and
unit roster is helpful and well
w explained.

ATTLE FOIR NORMANDY

old, £14.95 case 9 disk, keyboard only.
• Large, absorbing war gam<e packed with detail
LEmm(ever mind all those history
lessons you can now re-
1

Dear Mum, glad your not

® enact D-Day for yourself — here. I'm on the beach near
you can even be driven off the The instruction booklet contains copious charts to help Cherbourg and under enemy
beaches and lose the second you plan
your actions. It also provides you with information
on the weather, fire. I'm no strategist and /
world war. and how it affects your transport, and expenditure of
supplies
know that soon l and all my
You command 33 combat for- which are limited and must be planned ahead in order not units will die. The controller
mations which you have to de- to run
out. of the German forces knows
ploy on the beaches of Norm-
The all important effects of combat points, air and naval strength, exactly what he's doing: at
andy and use them to establish one point l thought / might
interdiction and strategy are also detailed and constant reference to
the beachhead from which you
these is necessary. Lastly there is advice on the game
ratings and
have won the battle but my
can strike inland. You have 18 the effects of the terrain, truly a comprehensive list. forces were soon
American unit which can be
landed at Utah and Omaha
^overwhelmed by the
your three airborne divisions This main phase of the game Superior opposition. Why
beaches and 15 British units to and allocate importance to fuel, is repeated with both sides battl- they put me, a novice in ,
be landed at Gold, Juno and general, combat and amphib- ing for supremacy during the 24 charge of the invasion force
Sword beaches. ious supplies which your forces I'll never understand, alf f
day period of the campaign. The
The Normandy area is repres- require once they have landed. know is tha& never stood aj
Germans can be computer con-
ented by a map made up of hex- You will also have to allocate 'air trolled or you can have two *
II chance.
agons on which are marked the interdiction' which will hamper players fighting it out.
terrain, forces, bombardment the movement of enemy forces. You are given the option to
line and reinforcement entry Most of your time is spent change the game ratings, but if
hexagons - the units are indic- moving your forces and either you leave them as they are you
ated by small, rather unclear attacking or defending the Ger- will have to play the expert
symbols. mans. This is the most import- game.
There isonly one landing ant stage and victory or defeat
point at each beach and this
BW
will be determined by your
means congestion easily builds combat points, fatigue, leader-
W
up if you don't move your forces ship, air and naval support and
quickly. Next you have to drop attack or defence strategy.
/ L ong instructions, charts and Oldest of scenarios but
f
O helpful separate card.
O different implementation.

Confusing forces symbols but

in this issue)but my feelings a dear map and colour f The complexities are daunting
changed once! got into it scheme. Q unJess you persevere.
invading Europe to liberate
France soon proved to be
absorbing. The presentation,
as with most US Gold titles,
f
O
Noises of engagement and
alarms.
L aA single game can offer hoi
hoursl
KJ (or days) of absorbing play.
is excellent Being able to
change the difficulty levels
means you can go on for
/ Expensive but worth it for war
hours, or even days.
O gamers.
 1

hyperactive blasters it is an
excellent alternative for
those who like more strategy
in their games. The action

fight from the computer

whatever the odds against it
The single-colour display is
disappointing but is made up
h haven'tpf^edmany^/ar for by the strategy and
games or simulations so my thoroughness of the
•
: approach was one ^ program, ^
complete novice. At first /
didn't know what was going
on - detailed study of the HOW TO FIX A BATTLE!
instructions is essential
'Well here goes nothing/
The 'build your own game' option allows you to set up a battlefield
thought ahdsent m^tahks and two sets of forces yourself. Firstly you can determine the type of
terrain that will exist, giving heavy cover or none at all.
off into battle. After a few
incoherent messages my
You then decide the number and power of the two sides by
elite unit was no more,
choosing their speed, armour and fire ratings. This means you can
/

get your own back on the computer by setting up a scenario in which

Hmmml Back to the
it doesn't stand a chance!
instructions once more. My
You can also select the overall pace of the game and your level of
leadership from squad to company commander - if you wish you
better, but there is certainty
plenty of game variation and could command just a single squadron, leaving the rest of the battle these scenarios gives you a dif-
to the computer. ferent task and strategies with
loads of challenge if you're
prepared to spend time Another interesting option to go for is 'panic under fire' which will which to complete it.
cause a unit under heavy fire to disobey your orders and turn and The novice game<jives you a
J
“
getting to grips with the
'
game, jp lilP run. This cowardly choice can save a lot of lives if you don't have platoon of five tanks and you
time to order individual retreats - but it can also be mighty must engage and destroy a plat-
inconvenient in the thick of a battle. oon of enemy tanks. To move
the platoon around you use the
joystick and keys: the joystick to
position a cursor and the G key
to tell your tanks to goto it.
Other commands allow you to
target your guns, fire them,
9 Large, absorbing war game packed with detail hurry movement, provide
smokescreen, use infantry and
his war game presents you as they seem. patrols and also get reports on

T with a large rule book with

small type which at first
sight may discourage you. But
The game
battlefield
played on a green
is

covering three
screens. On this landscape are
the enemy forces. These comm-
ands can be issued to a number
of units - besides the tanks you
once you get as far as playing various features like trees, hills, may have carriers, scouts, patr-
the novice game though you'll depressions and rocks, and once ols and various squads.
soon find that things aren't as you start playing, your forces. Each unit can be controlled
complicated as they seem. The size and type of your individually while the others are
This war game presents you forces depends on which of the computer controlled or you can
with a large rule book with small seven possible game plans you try and control the whole lot at
type which at first sight may dis- have chosen; these are novice, once. Your opponent is always
courage you. But once you get intermediate, build your own the computer and believe me it
as far as playing the novice game, attack enemy, seize and is a very skillful and tenacious

game though you'll soon find hold position, mobile defence fighter.
that things aren'tas complicated and reconnaissance. Each of BW

Excellent background Real-time action unusual in

instructions and game f
Q war games.
options in a stick package.

comprehensive instructions,
made it easier to get into than
I had imagined. I'm not a f A wfui dispia y makes action / Less complicated than most

great fan of war games, bull

Q unclear. Q but still tough.

soon found myseff enjoying

thisone. Setting up your own
battlefields was '

time- f Explosions, rumblings and f Plenty of options and a tough

consuming but worth doing O fdmt machine gun chatter O computer enemy.

Definitely good for war-

gamers and maybe there's
;

even something here for * UOV£6

GflKf roJ / Expensive even for this slick
sceptics such as me. O package.

^...AND l KNOW WHO T,R

\
 ® Urope

EXT

MASSIVE US IWTERVENTIOW IN SYRIA,

J~BONN DECLARES DESIRE FOR
REUNIFICATION OF
TWO GERMa
MATO BUILD Up .
n Wr~-r
WE
* USS,Af
border
r TAIil
ST OERI
*J^
oerman

THEATRE EUROPE - THE GAME *

Theatre Europe simulates the first 30 days Whilst the producers of Theatre Europe
of the war. in addition to being able to have tak£n every care in researching this
command either side, the player is able to ^p#ogram to ensure the accuracy of details,
choose the style of his opponent (The we must stress that the events depicted in
Computer). The 1st level is a beginners this conflict simulation are entirely fict-
level, where the computer opponent will itious - They must never be allowed to
not use the nuclear option. If he selects happen, the danger is that they might!
level two, the computer will play a
“Rational” game following the accepted
strategies of NATO or the Warsaw Pact. In
level three it will play a highly unpredict-
able game. SlEMf
Features: Command either NATO or
Warsaw Pact forces.
Three level game option
Music by Lennon &
McCartney (Give peace a
chance)*
Full colour Map/Poster
included
Fully detailed instruction
booklet. ^

Disk Version £12*95

THE ULTIMATE CONFLICT SIMULATION

Wargaming lor the

P.S.S. 452 STONEY STANTON RD. COVENTRY CV6 5DG. TEL: COVENTRY (0203) 667S56
LA VERSION FRANQAISE EST DIE DEUTSCHE VERSION WIRT VON THORN EMI VERTRIEBEN NEDERLANDSE
DISTRIBUTE par
PI I IMrvi to-rmr-o r-» a r-*ir\ A
TAALIGE DISTRIBUTE
 a mind of its own. However, you
Minter fanatics will have a can adjust the 'inertia' setting of
right to be disappointed with killdroid during play which helps
this strange, hard-to-pfay a bit.

release Gaudy graphics and

.
addition to this there are no
In

lack of control make it in my less than SIX 'parameters'

view his worst program of which can be set at the start to
the last couple years t tried give you a custom-made game
hard to get into it. / failed. of your own. These cover such
features as warptime, number of
shields, rate at which enemies
are generated and the
being
number of timesyou can mistak-
enly select a 'nogo' symbol on
the grid (see panel).

MAMA LLAMA
Llamasoft, £7.50 case,
•Yak the Hairy's freakiest yet
joystick only
A nice tune plays throughout
the game - apart from that only a
few zaps and crunches make any
impact on the eardrums.
Animation, as always, is up to
Minter's high standards, but the
graphics overall aren't as good
as his other shoot-em-ups. They

T he long awaited follow-up

toAndpita I is here at last to
take you through another
100 waves of ultra-freaky shoot-
The strategy part of the game
As well as being a typical Minter shoot-em-pp. Mama Llama also
contains a strategy section which you play between attack waves.
are marred by the high speed of
play and confusion in the back-
ground - and with the killdroid
em-up. whizzing about the screen the
In this stage, you are presented with a square 10X10 grid, with
One of the game's original whole screen becomes almost a
each square representing one wave. There's a flashing square in the graphical mess.
features is that instead of having bottom right and by using two pointers it is possible to shuffle the
one hairy animal in your care, JR
rows and columns to select any desired wave.
you have three: a mama llama Each square bears one five logos, according to which of five
with two babies who imitate her scrolling backgrounds are present during that attack wave. The col-
every move. Any of the three can our of the square indicates how many aliens are present in the wave.
be killed separately, but the The idea is that the aliens are constantly multiplying, whether
game continues until Mama you're playing that wave or not. You have at your disposal a limited
herself perishes.
number of 'anti^genesis' and 'retro-genesis' devices which you must
Each of the 100 screens offers place on individual squares in the grid to Crespectively halt and
a different attack wave, as varied
reverse the population explosion. These devices can be moved later,
and freaky as ever. In many but you have only a limited time to spend on the grid stage before
ways they're remniscent of the you must select a wave to begin zapping.
Minter classic Revenge, al-
Should the number of aliens get too large a 'nogo' symbol appears
though in this game the action on that square - this symbol also appears if you complete a wave.
My first sight of the action
can scroll left or right, according You must beware - if while selecting a wave you move one of these
made me suspect that this
to which way you move the was uncomfortably similar to
symbols through the selection box you will have a point knocked off
llamas. Revenge. When you get
your 'nogoes' rating. Do this too many times and your game fin-
There's is also a fairly strong through the hefty (hairy?)
ishes.
puzzle element. In many attack instructions it is dear that
waves it's not just a matter of enemy and on how many killing the creatures: rather than
there are quite a few
destroying aliens, you have to shields you have. Losing all shooting you have a large cursor changes These changes
.

work out how to do it. This is energy ends the game, but it can (so-called 'killdroid') which
make things quite interesting
extremely difficult to do. Unlike be recovered by making the zooms about the screen at high but you are still left with the
Ancipital there are no 'help' llamas down feeling of having seen it all
sit for a spell. speed. To gain control over it
screens offered. The backgrounds are more before. It's fast action as
you press the fire button and
Being hit by an enemy will sap colourful than in previous then try to position it over an usual although just a bit too
energy, depending on the Minter games, maybe TOO col- attacking object. This is very
fast at times,and it generally
ourful: sharp flashes and lack of follows Minter's pattern of
hard at first, and even after a lot
strange and hairy games.
Mama mia, what has Jeff crispness make the game look of practice it still seemed to have
Minter done? Simple. He's coarse and gaudy. Gameplay is
taken Revenge, altered the damaged by the confusing ORIGINALITY
music graphics, level select
,
colour changes and after play-

62 %
Expansive, entertaining, but Despite plenty of new
ing for a few hours my eyes
and control method, and
come up with an inferior started aching. 76% complicated instructions.
Numerous options.
features, too similar to
previous Minter games
product Jeff loves to Another aspect I found frustr-
introduce new control ating was the new approach to 1 1 1 1

methods into his games, but Sorry, Jeff, despite all the Even after several games
his latest idea ~ a hard to
control hamburger, whoops
51% amazing creatures, we think it
looks horrible.
there didn 't seem too much
addictiveness.

droid, doesn't impress me at

all. The lurid backgro und

colours and crude blocky

/ A pleasant tune plus a few
pings and zaps
, OO/
“7
IS
H
y° u hke it then there's

q /Cl almost endless challenge.

graphics did nothing to
enhance my enjoyment of
the game. I loved Ancipital
Plenty there, but we suspect
but I can 't recommend this
one.
59% even Minter fans may not take
to it.
 ..7 busy characters, 10 lost chords, 12 hours, 48
Wardens, Traffic
95 London Tube Stations, 126,720 square feet of London,
7 million Londoners.* *943 action filled screens.

paul McCartney’s

music stops
the mystery

Argus Press
Software Group
SINCLAIR SPECTRUM
SPELLBOUND BEYOND
STARBIKE THE EDGE
KOKOTONI WOLF EL TE
|

THE PYRAMID FANTASY

HORACE GOES SKIING MELBOURNE HOUSE/PSION
GILLIGANS GOLD OCEAN
ANT ATTACK QUICKSILVA
3D TANK DUEL REALTIME
JACK & THE BEANSTALK THOR
SORCERY VIRGIN

10 Top titles on one cassette! only

£4.99 Features
the Hit
,o they
Single
^
know * s
Christmas?
BA ND-AlD^y

COMMODORE 64
GUMSHOE A& F
PITFALL ACTIVISION
STARTRADER BUG BYTE *
KOKOTONI WOLF - ELITE
CHINA MINER INTERCEPTO
GILLIGANS GOLD -
OCEAN
FRED QUICKSILVA
GYROPOD TASKSET
FALCON PATROL -
VIRGIN
FLAK U.S. GOLD
 WELCOME TO
In fact welcome to the Competition
IP?'
of the Game of the Film!
Signed album and
50 copies of
Bro adstreet the
game
must be won i

.^rpet' has

»-
his g'° a \ s o ottem
.n this
sandV,
The game*
^ ^s Viewed
“pawned s P eC
r e rs UP gtgrs t rom
-

i
t
. » _ i <^\m ano

him thre e qu
the game on the envelope- ° -

copiesoUh
*J£e nf g ft d o
based ^er the th kdoV
_ to .

2
|§§§ |^
fs\\
entries
runners
Ion
no more

'XMwx

>* £0 YOU KWOW *Q\jO MUCH

His Sl^wmURE IS WQffTH?
 MW#
J|P
H
Jill
I 1 1 m Hiwwi
illl
Wli**
iililiii!ll»iiliii|
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1 1

•x-x*X'X%<<<vX*x-x-XvXvXvX-j
i i

: :
1 |l ,

:v: : :^:; :: :; :-:; : : : :: : ::: ; : : : : : ; : ; : ; : ; : ::-: : :v: ; :;

:: : :;
aMHHwHMi
i
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I
..""V.'B f,
;K^f
::lllllilli:ii
lilllillli M
BBSS:*:?:?

illilliiiilli.
||
!!!!!!!!!!!
iiiliiiiiii :
Hairy, freaky, hilarious, unorthodox, irreverent, controversial,
liilillllill illlillill
x
.
;•••.:•••
:: That's JEFF MINTER, creator of the world's most bizarre
|!iililllliiiillllll:
computer games, and now regular Zzap columnist.
BfiS4:®S;S:5SSB:¥S::SSSij
Miss him at your peril.
.

;
x :>:

.SBSSSSSSSSS
mmmm
mm
mm iniiiill.M—
transfer stuff to disk) is to make games that me. It should be like that for software, too: if

are enjoyable, complex and with well- you could order 'Cippy or Deus or Psy it

written and extensive instructions, prefer- wouldn't really matter

'You do get the odd irritating ably in a little booklet. People will want to
if they weren't in
stock the day you went in.
verminous brat who SELLS have the original instructions and package if Unfortunately, distributors supplying the
they are attractively done. stores can 'play God'. If the guy looking at a
copied games to his It helps if software houses try to develop game you've sent in to show the distrib-
'
classmates an individual style, too. Part of the reason utors has a headache one morning, or can't
for my own success is that my games are get behind your game, then the distributors
distinctive. You can tell a Llamasoft game won't buy. NOBODY should have this
GREETINGS, fellow bit-blasters and mega- by one glance at the screen. Most of the
just power of absolute veto. What do these sel-
zappers! In these articles shall be attempt- I games around today can only be recog- ection people know about gaming anyway?
ing to give my view of what's happening in nised by looking for the company logo on Who are THEY to say whether or not people
the games scene. am somewhat lucky to I the title screen. People can't be expected to can play my games? Just because don't I

be in the unique position of owning a soft- be loyal to a software house if releases from —
place 8 zillion full page adverts of purest
ware house and at the same time being a the company are devoid of an individual hype, does that mean my game won't be
keen games player and programmer. Hope- style and just like releases from all the other allowed a chance?
fully won't seem too biased; love a really
I I houses. When write a game, I'm writing for
I That's the way it is at the moment. The
good game no matter who wrote it, and I those people who like my game style; I'm distributors are hype and profit oriented,
see innovation and clever design.
like to not too bothered if some people don't go for and not really interested in allowing original
I'll tackle some of the problems
Firstly it. I'm happy to satisfy the Llama fans, who stuff the exposure it deserves. They'd rather
currently upsetting the software scene. Lots tend to be keen and enthusiastic gamers. —
take re runs of the old formulas (ladders-
of companies are finding the market very Piracy isnot the main hassle in the indus- and-platforms, etc) backed by colossal
unresponsive at the moment, and there try at all. Perhaps the biggest problem in the hype, than promote truly innovative stuff
have been some spectacular crashes. Many industry today is that of DISTRIBUTORS like Deus and Psy.
people are ranting on about the great WHICH DON'T DISTRIBUTE. They virtually allowed to continue in this manner the
If

demon Piracy, claiming that it will be the killed my own Ancipital game. made all the I industry will stagnate, new ideas stifled
ruin of us all. In my opinion, piracy is the right moves; created an original and chal- under a tide of multi-screen ladders-and-
problems
least of their lenging game, got it reviewed (PCG Game platforms games, endless hordes of arcade-
Granted, commercial pirates are a nuis- of the Month in the same month as release), adventures with 16 zillion rooms each, and
ance and should be stopped, by finding and nicely packaged and duplicated. Then the huge quantities of pretty, pretty boring
busting them as soon as possible. However, major distributors didn't take it. still get I American imports.
allthe current effort is being put into anti letters and 'phone calls from people just Don't let it happen! We can do our own
copying devices and weird signals on tapes trying to buy a copy of Ancipital. The small bit to try to avert this crippling blight
to prevent audio copy. This is fairly futile, demand is there, the game is there, but on the industry.
since all that happens is that the 'crackers', there is a faulty link. The chain stores and DON'T USE CHAIN STORES. Find a
people whose hobby is breaking protection the distributors which supply them. specialist computer shop. They're usually
systems, bust into your code and make an knowledgeable, willing to order stuff spec-
unprotected copy, which then circulates as ially if it's out of stock, and often willing to
usual. ' Chain stores are the wrong let you try before you buy.
True commercial pirates can dupe any- HASSLE THE DISTRIBUTORS DIRECTLY.
thing they get hold of, funny signals not-
medium for the sate of Ifthey're preventing you getting something
'
withstanding. Kids copying games computer software you're interested in, write and tell them just
amongst themselves will never harm the what you think.
industry; we all copy music albums, but Software houses too: they can do some-
rock stars still get rich. You do get the odd The more you look at it, the crazier the thing, i.e.

irritating verminous brat who SELLS copied situation seems. Automata's ex Deus DEVELOP AN INDIVIDUAL HOUSE
games to his classmates; such people Machina was a bold experimental step, and STYLE: something for people to follow
should be stomped by their teachers or was voted CTA Game of the Year. The distr- keenly.
headmaster. ibutors barely touched it, and the game sold OFFER MAIL ORDER IF NECESSARY. It's a
Keen gamers aren't usually content with less than deserved to. Christian Penfold
it pain but until we get the distributors sorted,
pirate copies anyway. I have many Floyd was justifiably bitter about it when he went it's the only way to ensure availability.

and Genesis tapes, all originals. If a new to collect his award. Our own Psychedelia is PUT STUFF IN FOR REVIEW.The distrib-
album is released by Genesis, I'll buy it apparently just too original for some distrib- utors look pretty silly when stuff they've not
straight away copy rather than wait to get a utors; if their sinister 'selection boards' distributed properly gets rave reviews (like
off a mate. have In gaming, as in music, I can't categorise it neatly into arcade, adven- Psy) or wins awards (like Deus).
found that if you're really into someone's ture etc., then you're stuck mate. People Anyway, enuff moaning. Things can and
games or a particular group, you'd rather may want the game but if they can't buy it, will get better. Keep on zapping'em. The
collect original tapes than copies. Stuff you what can they do? game which has most impressed the Yak
have on pirate copies is usually stuff you For a start, as currently managed, chain this month has to be Realtime's 3D Star-
wouldn't have bought anyway. Sometimes stores are the wrong medium for the sale of strike on the Speccy, an extremely good
it even works the other way; you'll get a computer software. They sell it like they'd version of the Star Wars arcade game, and I

copy of a game, find it to be good, and buy sell bog roll: plunk it on the shelves and should know, I've got one! An astonishing
the later releases of the same author. hope it moves. You have to run it more like a bit of Speccy programming, even sceptical
Far better than wasting time on fancy pro- good record department. can go into I Commodore owners ought to like this one.
tection (which is extremely annoying for Smiths and ask for 'A Nice Pair' by Pink Until next time, kosmick good vibes to
those owning disk drives and wishing to Floyd. If they haven't got it they'll order it for you all from the Hairy One
 |7V?e biggest problem in the
industry today is that
distributors don 't distribute
ililllll

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 •ft'-ix

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Gridrunner
A superb game set on a grid where hordes
of invading ships are blasted into nothing-
«pt/rwE i* xt>vjs ness by your base. Segmented droids, pods
noct GMri£P&
and zappers attack you in a lightning fast bit
of zapping amidst a cacophony of explos-
ions.

122 ZZAP! 64 May 1985

\
 vX :£;
;

MR

Revenge of the Mutant Camels

This highly succesful sequel to Attack puts
you in the role of the camel this time and
you have to destroy 42 waves of weird
aliens. Smooth scrolling is again a feature
as in Attack, while the shoot-'em-up action
is faster than ever.

Laserzone
You have to control two spaceships in this Gate
Hell " -
one and if that sounds hard, wait till you see More mega-zapping mayhem as you blast
the opposition that you've got to blow away your enemies but try and spare the
away. goats.

Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of

Hower Bovver — Time
A departure from the hairy animals into the With a that it's obvious what this
title like

world of suburbia. Mow your 16 lawns as game is all about and needless to say you
your angry neighbour tries to get his mower play the llamas. '
^ _
back and your faithful dog chases him off.

Ancipital
Attack of the Mutant Camels
In one of his
The mutant camels in question have been
more recent animal games a
halfman/half goat has to traverse a 10x10 equipped with neutronium shields and
lasers. In your defender style craft you must
maze opening walls by various means. The \
100 screens all feature different aliens and destroy these giant walking death machines
sometimes the method before they reach the human stronghold
less than obvious. A
of opening walls is
great zapping adven-
and annihilate it. - - ^ ^ J •ivX

ture. ,

Sheep in Space ^ x^ s
Matrix Your Supersheep cruises between two
The follow up to Gridrunner and featuring planet surfaces zapping alien power drain-
even more hyperblasting aliens zipping ers. It slams them into meteor dust with its

after your ship as it tries to clear twenty Bonios of Doom, pausing only to nibble at
grids of the evil hordes. the grass along the way. Another great
super scrolling shoot-em-up.

Psychedelia —
This is a light synthesiser described as a
'software toy' which allows you to create
light patterns without the confines of lives,
scores or levels. Through your joystick and
keyboard you can accompany your favour-
ite music with a stunning, if not hypnotic,
light show. .

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 123

MASTER OF THE LAMPS
Activision, £10.99 case, £19.99 disk, joystick only

S stags action with amazing musical backing

f enjoyed thiscombination of Dig that funky beat!

arcade and fast moving strat-
Activision have set new standards in soundtrack music. Master of
egy.with its many varia tions
and levels of difficulty. The The Lamps has seven superb tunes and each tune has several varia-
tions as you fly on your magic carpet.
fact that there are only two
screens is a shame but they The tunes, specially written by Activision, incorporate a large
variety of different instruments and rhythms, giving the flying
are still a big challenge. The
graphics and sound are
sequences great atmosphere.
marvellous with a great
The sound of the gongs as you hit them is also excellent, the
reverberations dying away to a humming echo.
feeling of movement in the
first stage and tots of
different tunes to add to the
reverberation of the gongs.

A herit
long time ago in an eastern
country far, far away a
young prince seeks to in-
his fathers' throne.
prove his worthiness for his title
To
through a series of sparkling
gates. At first this is very easy,
but at higher levels (there are 41
altogether) the course develops
some very difficult twists and
he must pass a series of tests. turns.
For each test passed he will be Once the magic carpet sequ-
given a lamp. Three lamps ence has been successfully com-
awarded and the kingdom is his pleted, you are presented with
reward. seven coloured gongs along the
That's the scenario for what is bottom of the screen. Hit one of
basically a very simple two these three times to call up a
stage game. Stage one consists genie. He will puff on his pipe
of a 3D flying sequence. The and several notes will appear
and sound - the number varies
rr prince is seated on a magic
carpet and you must steer him from two on the first level up to a

£12.95 disk, joystick or keyboari

0 Jumping car, scrolling roads, amusing action

his isn't a game for boys or

T it'sforgrannies. If that
girls,
souhds bad you couldn't be
further from the truth because
the granny in this game can
jump more cars than Eddie Kidd
and even crush them as well.
In your buggy car that looks
like a Citroen 2CV (the corrug-
ated iron one), you play granny
who has to drive around a pat-
tern of scrolling roadways coll-

Se cond
away
'
U P the anoth er kill
slope?

/ Three game options, joystick / Has elements of the game

O or keyboard, 1 or 2 players. Q Burnin' Rubber

/ was unimpressed with this f Great little cars but little detail
1

f Easy control and the

game. The graphics were O on the backgrounds. O fascinating task will hook you.
uninteresting (although the
perspective in some cases
wasn't bad), and the sound Repetitive tune but quite f Plenty of variety and extra
/
wasn't much better (it really O enjoyable. O challenge at higher levels.

did drag on). After playing

monotonous game fora
this
it was the contents of
while,
f The upper price range but well
my stomach that was going O worth it.

GflRHV TSK - TSK '

 OV.' SET OFP
MH MHR&lN

Hit the
n ote s r<
Activision seem to be going
Qenie at order
all out for. outstanding music
nowadays, but unfortunately
this game doesn't seem to
TiUlM match that quality. The 3D
flying sequence was the bet-
Ac tiyis ion's usual stick Simon plus 3D Tunnel in new
package with plenty of format.
ter part of the game, but after
options. riding the magic carpet fora
while it soon wore thin.

Nice flying carpet 3D Very playable carpet flight.

sequence but not much else. virtually impossible 12.
When all the notes have rung
I
I
AC3TABII
I ADlLil
ITV
t they start to advance towards
you. Rush around hitting the
Wonderful variety of original Plenty of levels, but not much
catchy tunes. correct gongs to destroy the
variety.
notes before they touch you. If
you succeed you will be reward-
ed with a section of one of the
Our reviewers disagreed three lamps, and you can than
strongly on this one - try
before you buy! embark on another flight on the
magic carpet. ID

However on the times and the subsequent bonus

Jumping the
different levels
layout changes (although you need to really cover the
some sections and flag posit- ground.
board for Joy ions may still be recognisable).
Other objects including ice
You can go backwards if in
desperate trouble but it leaves
Jumping is your most vital tactic and creams and balloons are lying you vulnerable since you can't
you need to get the hang of tech-
around the course and running jump. You are also hindered by
niques for particular situations.
over them gets you bonus rolling back down hills if you
Watch out for corners since youcan't
turn in mid-air and you'll leap into points. haven't got up enough speed
thin air and a crash landing. There are three levels of play and on later stages the flags
Jumping up hills is also a danger- and on the easiest there is little appear on moving trollies which
ous occupation since the nasty to get in your way, but it will take you have to crush.
drivers may appear in awkward a while to determine the route to Following the roads is just a
sequences, so wait until the last each flag. Also appearing on the matter of pushing left or right at
moment before going in case you roads are a variety of vehicles junctions while joystick forward
have to clear two or three at once.
Flags on slopes are also a problem
ranging from slow moving cars and back controls acceleration
like yours to fast moving tankers and decelaration and the
since you can jump over them and fire
they are hard to get back to. and lorries. All of these have to button makes you jump.
Last but most importantly, never be jumped over or crushed for One helpful thing is that you
jump off a downslope since it sends points by landing on them. can also control the car during
you hurtling through the air to You have to be careful though the jumps to avoid suicidal
certain death. since on the ground collisions leaps. The music that burbles
are fatal and landing off the road along during the game is repet-
also writes you off. You can itive but curiously it still adds an
ecting coloured flags. Nothing jump gaps if you time things absorption factor to the game
to it until you find that the roads and to get fast finishing
right and doesn't annoy.
are only one lane wide and all
the traffic is trying to ram you so
BW
that you have to jump your carto
avoid or crush them.
The streets zig-zag about the
screen, occasionally going up or
down hills and over chasms,
through a scenery of mountains,
lakes, rivers and woods.
There are ten flags to collect
on each stage and they appear in
the same places each time.

ZZAP! 64 May 1985 125

\
200

to be won
Answer three questions and you could pick up

Penetrator and Dark Tower

Mmmm
wmmm.

Here's a really easy way to get some free games. Melbourne House, renowned for
high-quality programs like The Hobbit and Sherlock, have bestowed on us 100
copies of each of theirtwo new releases to give away to Zzap readers!
Melbourne House are one of the leading software houses and have produced a
string of great titles. Recently they've come to be associated mainly with
adventures, but their latest releases mark a return to the arcade market.
Penetrator is a conversion to the 64 of their classic Scramble game which sold in
huge numbers on the Spectrum. Dark Tower is a 28-screen platform game starring a
certain Prince Harry who's been converted to a mutant. Both games are reviewed in
this issue.

All you have to do to enter the competition is answer the questions below, which
relate to the characters in Melbourne House's earlier games. However you won't
need to play the games to know the answers.
1. Who is Sherlock's medical sidekick?
|2. What is the name of the hero in the Hobbit?

3. Who's hungry and goes skiing?

Write the answers on the back of a stuck down envelope or postcard and include
your own name and address. Your entry should reach us before the 15th of May
when we will pick the 100 winners out of a hat. Each will receive copies of the two
games Penetrator and Dark Tower. Only one entry per household is allowed.
Post your entry to: Melbourne House competition, Zzap! 64, 1 Church Terrace,
Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1HX.
<^«er»0NS,W)N'"
126 ZZAP! 64 May 1985
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1
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.
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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24 hours of receipt and certainly within 3 to 4 days
unless otherwise notified.
«

There's no mail order catalogue involved —just use

the prices quoted in the pages of ZZAP! 64 or the
khown retail price. If you have any queries just ring the
number shown on the form and our staff will advise
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
£10. Postage and packing is included in the price of the
game.

Nothing could be simpler — fill in the form today and

order whatever you like
 *

ilii

ZZAP! 64 MAIL ORDER FORM

Telephone Ludlow (0584) 5620.
Please send me the following titles: Block capitals please!
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if applicable

Address.

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OFF ANY ORDER WORTH
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[_ ess Discount £
OR MORE THAN CIO
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ZZAP! 64 MAIL ORDER, PO BOX 10, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE SY8 1DB

Please do not send any mail order correspondence to the Zzap! 64 editorial address as this will only result in delays.
NEXT MONTH
, TW£36 PUNY ^
%lf$oha
>
ME\JER A.
FEAR- NO N
en/v\E ESCAPES
OUR
BRTTlE TESTE P
,
KNOUO-WOW)/

°'d?
the °British Are the
Y
tersyZ arket? Or
M, es
scene
OU eC
Jt
^citing
Sndrt mp et' ‘
,uvv oown
rev a?
^are big, Ve ®
' m
9 the ,r
.

COrnpany
motives
should km °<*s, and j
>ut them. I

WF
Not to m ention- top 64 chart.
The first Zzap readers
U ti><(|IJIS ' leOUtpo *' n9s
Wh^e W^ard'. ^^^^^^^^^^^

Aspecial Zzap one-off

guaranteedto make you smile.
Health warning J
^Another massive pile of playing tips and a map of the p
The withdrawal symptoms scription offer in this issue, why
Rsv HCirr/or
caused by missing Zzap for a not fill in the form below and
month are EXTREMELY painful. give it to your local newsagent? •More news and gossip about the 64
Ifyou don't have the dough to (You'd be doing us a favour too!) publication this side of
take up the extraordinary sub- Andromeda.

Dear Newsagent, ADVERTISERS' INDEX

I've been completely zzapped by the first issue of Zzap! 64. Please Activision 23/63 Martech 37
do all you can to make sure can get a copy every month.
I
AUigata 15 Microcentre 50
Argus Press Software 117 Mikro-Gen 29/45
Many thanks Adventure International 53 Ocean 4/5
Beyond 85 Palace Software 24
(Name) . Database 64/65 PSS 115
127/back page Softaid 96
(Address) Firebird 46/47 The Edge 30/31
Gargoyle Games 75 Ultimate 93
Gilsoft 77 US Gold 69/79/109
Hewson Consultants 6 Virgin 131
Incentive Software 2 Zzap! Mail order 128/129
imagine
’Vo-HUM- i'MOPPTo BUY A SPECTRUM " DlGTHEl^ CRASH AVT6-"
ZZAP! 64 May 1985
[

130
'Vou COME
'EREWflT^V-
T

DAWN For time immemorial man has been challenged by the mystery
of his
dreams. Deep within each dream lies an enigma as yet unsolved.
Go now through the Gates of Dawn and experience the recreation of the
surreal world of dreams in this vibrant arcade adventure. Enter these
portals and lose yourself in a dazzling and perplexing world where
nothing is too fantastic.

: :

-'T

«-»• •

IfllJ

' • 1

SOT

“
' r

»or d

ral

URSELF FOR A
awn is
from all good software retail outlets from 15 th April.

R.R.P.£8. 95 CBM 64
Also available from Virgin Games Limited, 2-4 Vernon Yard, 1 19 Portobello Road,
London Wl I 2DX. Telephone: 01-727 8070
 _

ROAD
CLOSED

Produced with technical

assistance from:

SP TYPES UK LIMITED

Drive it

your guarantee of quality.

Mailorder: Just send a cheque or P.0, payable to

ELITE' or quote your visa number.
1

p ETEL
C