Big K


Bongo
By Anirog
Commodore Vic 20

 
Published in Big K #6

Bongo

Probably one of the best ladders 'n levels games available for the expanded Vic. Set in a riverbank cave, it chronicles the attempts of Bongo the mouse to outwit the dank denizens of the clay caverns and win the heart of a lonely princess (splutter!).

You of course take the role of the lovelorn rodent and with the aid of a well oiled joystick, must guide him past nine sheets of adversaries. To move twixt these sheets you must collect a fistful of flashing diamonds, and that entails some pretty hairy manoeuvring, I can tell you.

The sprite graphics are bright and suitably cute and hardened gamesters will appreciate the wide variety of strategems available. I kinda suspect that the key to lasting success is through the secret transporters hidden about the screen. These portals are unavailable to the mouse-hunting monsters on your tail and so become invaluable escape routes. Bonus points can also be racked up quickly by gobbling up the "BONGO" letters which float around the screen during the early stages. All in all, it's a hectic piece of work. I have yet to survive the gamut of screens and win the hand of the princess, but I'll continue to plug away. I mean, shucks, a mouse and a princess? Bizarre notions keep me flailing away in the hope that all will soon be revealed.