Sinclair User


10 Pack
By Gremlin
Spectrum 48K/128K/+2/+3

 
Published in Sinclair User #108

10 Pack

Cursed with the worst title for any compilation pack ever in the galaxy, 10 Pack nonetheless delivers the goods with a fair degree of elan, panache, chic, je ne sais quois and several other types of aftershave (Whaaat..?!. GS)

So, whaddaya got in this gaily-coloured cardboard box? ROAD RUNNER is based on the less-than-hilarious cartoon series (you remember the one, daft coyote takes on the irritating bird and gets rocks dropped on his head). There's a bit of a maze element in the game as Road Runner pecks up seeds, poking out his tongue for bonus points and staying one step ahead of Wile E. Coyote, who tries to slow him down with a magnet and other tricks. Fair entertainment, perhaps more for the younger player.

More for heavy metal headbangers. H.A.T.E. is a diagonally-scrolling shoot-'em-up written by Costa Panayi. You pilot a space fighter and ground attack vehicle in a fast-moving training mission. Looks good, plays well, but no really original ideas. Dark Fusion on the other hand is an R-Type clone, with horizontally-scrolling alien-blasting action and suitably hideous end-of-level guardians. Side Arms is practically the same game, but the add-on weapons are perhaps a bit more exciting.

Street Fighter is one of the better one-to-one martial arts combat games, taking place in Japan, USA, England, China and Thailand. You have two opponents to clobber in each round, and in bonus rounds you get to karate chop bricks. Super Scramble Simulator is a nice motorbike scrambling sim with a side view, quite realistic and difficult to master.

Also for sporty fans, there's Footballer of the Year 2, in which you create your team, choose your tactics and manage the lads through a series of tournaments. The one thing you don't get to do is play a game of football; instead there's a sort of tactical display which shows whether your training techniques have resulted in balls in nets. Also for footie fans, there's Gary Lineker's HotShot, a full scale eleven-a-side football sim with loads of options, but the provision of automatic control of the goalies can be irritating.

Skate Crazy is a popular roller skating obstacle coarse sim, and in stark contrast finally we have Butcher Hill, a three-section Vietnam War arcade game in which you travel by river, through jungles and villages using your machine gun and grenades to zap the gooks.

None of the ten titles in the pack are astounding, but then none of them are turkeys either. A good compilation at the price.

Label: Gremlin Price: £12.99/£17.99 Compilation Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

Overall Summary

A good all-round compilation with something for all.

Chris Jenkins

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