Electron User


Astro Plumber

Author: Phil Tayler
Publisher: Blue Ribbon
Machine: Acorn Electron

 
Published in Electron User 3.07

If you are a devotee of moving through underground caverns while trying to avoid mutant monsters, then Astro Plumber is well worth looking at, especially as it is firmly at the budget end of the market, available on cassette for just £2.50. The scenario is the moon and you play the role of the plumber who has recently arrived at Colony 11 to fix a rather leaky air supply system. What else would you use to mend leaking pipes but a plasma laser?

This does the job perfectly well but drains your oxygen supply rather dramatically. Oh, by the way, I suppose they did tell you on Earth that there are funny little sprites wandering around the system which cannot be avoided? At least you'll appreciate the rather nice jetpack they gave you, so that you can fly over them, although again this drains the air supply.

Still, all is not lost because there are air tanks up on the surface which you can plug into before dropping back underground to try to finish the job.

There are several screens - some with additional features like transport pads which move you quickly up and down the system's levels. There are a couple of snags including the rather long time delay between being killed and the magical reincarnation. This is further aggravated by the fact that the monsters keep moving during this time, and have an annoying habit of being too close when you reappear!

Generally, though, this is a fairly enjoyable game with no original ideas, but plenty of excitement for younger players.

Phil Tayler

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