Low Price - But Still A Challenge To The Ace

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Castle Assault is the first MRM game I have played, MRM being a fairly new name in software for the BBC Micro. Anybody who has seen their advert for software at £5.70 must, like me, have thought the price was a reflection of the quality.

However as soon as the tape had loaded I was proved wrong. The game description was well presented and the instruc tions equally simple. After tapping the spacebar I was playing.

The screen layout was a castle split vertically into layers. I was a figure standing on the bottom level of the five.

Three of the levels were the same, consisting of three smiling crabs sitting in sunken boxes, each crab jumping in succession. The other two levels had a moving walkway as their obstacle.

Firstly the crabs have to be leapt while they're not leaping and bonus fruit can be collected from the ladder end of the first four levels.

After eventually passing the crabs, you face the moving walkway which is even more difficult. You have to jump on. run along, then jump off the platform as it oscillates from side to side.

I persevered, and eventually made it to the gold on the top level and so graduated to the next stage.

Stage two has the same basic layout - a change would have been nice - but the crabs are replaced by coiled snakes, boulders fall from the ramparts and a duck sometimes seen on stage one flies around, causing havoc if met on the same level.

In the unlikely event of reaching the gold again, a bonus man is awarded, the snakes turn into another leaping beast (there are six in all) and the usual increase in difficulty is encountered.

As you have probably guessed the game is a mixture of Hunchback and Killer Gorilla.

The game runs at the same speed as Killer Gorilla, a little slow, and needs a high degree of accuracy in jumpinalike Hunch back.

The keys are the standard ZX*? with Return to jump. The sound is very arcade-like but unfortunately the man's steps lacked sound, as did the walkways.

However, the graphics are pleasant with well defined characters and clear movement. The author has included the usual features including a high score table, a sound on/off during play and a pause facility.

The status of the sound and pause is displayed on screen. One annoying thing is that on hitting Break, in anger or by accident, the memory is cleared and the game has to be reloaded. I have noticed this on other games and I don't approve.

The game is of high quality, and represents excellent value for money. It's fun to play, if a little tricky at first, and needs a technique to be mastered for the crabs and walkways, more prayers for the ducks and boulders.

Personally. I would have preferred the game faster with easier jumps, but I strongly recommend it for the games ace looking for a challenge.

Andrew Smith