Crash


Challenge Of The Gobots

Author: Nick Roberts
Publisher: Reaktor
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Crash #43

Challenge of The Gobots

The Gobots' friends, have been captured and taken to the planet of Mobeius by minions of the wicked Dr Braxis. Knowing that the robotic supergroup are sure to make a rescue attempt, Braxis sits back upon his evil bottom and waits. In due course the Gobots arrive and set about their task of mercy.

You control Leader-1, a courageous mechanoid with all-round manoeuvrability who travels through a horizontally scrolling corridor of floor and ceiling, rippled by hills. In these tunnel confines helicopters, fighter craft, and vicious robots materialise or emerge from their buried silos, and touching any of them, or hitting the ground, ends one of his three lives.

To protect himself, Leader-1 carries laser weaponry, effective against almost all his enemies, but additionally he can excavate rocks from floor or ceiling and hurl them at opponents.

Challenge of The Gobots

White globular enemy bases are lodged on both the floor and ceiling of Mobeius. These can be destroyed by picking up scooter clones and dropping them onto the bases. When all of the bases on a level have been shattered, the next level can be reached, with a bonus of scooters given.

Leader-1's capabilities are further tested by his human friends who fall from airborne copters. They can be saved, but only if our hero is fast and brave enough.

For your extra delectation, a second cassette contains a Challenge of the Gobots music track by Robert Schroeder.

Comments

Control keys: definable
Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor
Use of colour: varied and attractive but resultant attribute clashes
Graphics: very small display area and characters
Sound: good music and reasonable spot FX
Skill levels: one
Screens: scrolling

Ben

'The gameplay is totally dire but somehow it's addictive. I'm sure, though, that nobody's going to be hooked on a game that's been as badly implemented as this for very long. The controls are unwieldy - fiddling with the front end only makes them more so - it's due to this that things get very infuriating. The graphics are small but cluttered on screen, and they lack detail. Sound is Gobots only redeeming feature, although even that falls apart on the title screen - nice effects though. All in all I'd stay well away from this one.'

Nick

'I never did like the Gobots cartoon so l didn't expect much of this game, and I got exactly that, not much! Worst is the presentation - there's no loading screen at the start, just the irritating way Reaktor games load. The game is almost impossible to play, move up or down Just the tiniest bit and you crash into some big white blob going by. The mountainous landscape in the background moves very well and the sound isn't all that bad, but I would expect much more playability in a game.'

Paul

'Nowadays all tie-ins are approached with the greatest trepidation and looking at Gobots it seems quite rightly so - there's very little to actually do. The game is unplayable for the most part, and all you really seem to be paying your money for are extras like the included soundtrack (a good laugh) and a stupid little storybook (only suitable for the under-sevens). Don't be fooled by all the implied content. Gobots is not a surprise, but more of a disappointment as another tie-in fails to come off.'

Nick RobertsBen StonePaul Sumner

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