C&VG
1st July 1984Antics
Bug Byte's latest offering is the sequel to The Birds And The Bees. You take the part of Barnabee, the bee, and your task is to fly around an ants' nest avoiding the nasties which lurk inside.
You must also rescue your partner, Boris, who has been caught by the nasties (ouch!).
There is a secret message hidden within the game and your ultimate mission is to discover its whereabouts and contents.
The game uses only three controls, but you can use a joystick if you wish. Bug Byte claims that the game is compatible with any joystick interface. Its method of control is slightly reminiscent of Manic Miner, once Bug Byte's pride and joy.
There is a number of screens which make up the nest and each has one or more exits on it which lead to another screen. Two keys move you left and right and another is used to flap your wings which make you go up. Stop flagging to start falling to the ground.
The two quantities which you must watch are indicated at the top of the screen by a bar of colour which varies in length. These are stamina and pollen. You start off with a full supply of stamina and no pollen. You lose stamina by coming into contact with a meanie and the length of the bar ticks away for as long as you touch one.
Pollen is found by landing on certain types of flowers. Your pollen supply is then boosted and you can set off in search of a different kind of flower which is in need of pollination. Landing on this type will deposit the pollen and prove a major contribution to your current score.
Spiders, though, love pollen and if one catches you it'll eat some. This will affect the number of points you get when you finally land and deposit your pollen on a poor unsuspecting little flower.
The top of the screen shows your current score, the high score and your rank in the table of high scorers.
Unlike most other arcade games, this one has a record of the top 50 scorers so you can watch your ranking climb from 51 to one as you play.
The sound effects in the game are great. It plays Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, as recorded a couple of years ago by John Williams' group, Sky.