Zzap


Moonwalker

Publisher: U. S. Gold
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Zzap #57

Moonwalker

America, 'land of the free, home of the weird' as the Statue of Liberty says at one point in the movie. Possibly the world's weirdest rock star starts his adventure in The Studios, the scene of the Speed Demon video where Michael is pursued by a mob of Claymation fans. To escape he must disguise himself as a rabbit and roar off on a motorbike. The Studios are represented by an overhead view of a smoothly scrolling maze infested with such Jackson fans as the Granny, Cowboy, and Biff brothers. There are seven pieces of the suit to be found, from shoes to rabbit head, which must be collected in the correct order. A camera, microphone, spotlight and key are also to be picked up and Michael must run over any packets of drugs he finds. If a fan catches him, Michael must give away one of his silver discs - which are also lost if Michael is shot (!).

The next level is The City, where the rabbit-disguised Jackson zooms about trying to avoid fans and Mr. Big's armed henchmen. Michael must find ten orbs to transform into the fabulous Stratos rocket car which can smash through roadblocks. Despite our hero being 'very anti-violence' you must run over the henchmen, turning them into an ugly red stain on the pavement. Once the last orb has been collected Michael turns into the car, with a limited amount of time to smash through the roadblock. This level is repeated four times, with different mazes and vehicles.

Club 30s is where Jacko must shoot a set number of villains dotted around the horizontally scrolling night club, while dodging the bullets and collecting ammunition. At the end of this level, one of Michael's friends is captured, learing him to... The Arena. Now Mr. 'anti-violence' starts massacring people by the dozen. After transforming into a robot Michael revolves around in the arena, moving a cursor to aim his guns. While blasting the henchmen as they appear, Michael must watch out for a plasma cannon which pokes its massive nose in from time to time.

Robin

Moonwalker

It's very strange how the press release for Moonwalker mentions the non-violence aspect of the game and immediately contradicts itself with guards getting squashed by mad rabbits on motorbikes and mass carnage on the later levels!

The first level isn't a unique concept that's for sure, and is immediately followed up by yet more of the same - total overkill which (while playable) quickly begins to try your patience. Later levels are better, but they're too late to fully make up for the early stages.

Stu

Both versions of this are quite slicky presented, the Amiga having some neat intro sequences and the C64 replicating Amiga gameplay and in-game graphics very well indeed.

Moonwalker

The final two loads are both above-average shoot-'em-ups which are good fun. The first maze level isn't bad either, but the similar four-maze level two is irritating - especially as it's pretty difficult. The C64 version is further handicapped by being four lengthy loads with no continue-play option. But generally, these are two professionally done programs based on a difficult subject.

C64

Presentation 64%
Very good intro sequence, nice inter-level loading screens, but very lengthy multi-load.

Graphics 73%
Dull mazes, but nice Club 30s scene, and very good Arena battle.

Sound 62%
Some mediocre renditions of the 'Bad' tunes.

Hookability 54%
Ancient maze-game format off-putting and repetitive, persistence allows progress.

Lastability 65%
Quite a challenge with rewarding final levels.

Overall 60%
Better than the movie!

Amiga

Presentation 80%
Good start-up and inter-level sequences.

Graphics 61%
Mediocre maze-sections, average shoot-'em-up sections.

Sound 72%
Good use of short samples to recreate songs, with good FX too.

Hookability 61%
Maze-games off-putting, but slightly easier and hence more playable than the C64.

Lastability 60%
Later levels less impressive than C64, but still quite playable.

Overall 61%
Acceptable yesteryear gameplay for Jacko fans.