Big K


Checkout

Publisher: Virgin Games
Machine: BBC Model B

 
Published in Big K #7

Checkout

In the corner of my room I've got a stack of Virgin games. Every so often I glance in that direction and have a good giggle.

But there's an exception to every rule, and Checkout seems to be it.

The game gets its name from its star, young Checkout Charlie. He's a rather seedy-looking character with short legs and dark glasses. The reason for the glasses is easy to see; the colours are blinding and have a nasty habit of flashing like a traffic light having a fit when something good happens.

Chas's mission in life, for reasons best known to him, is to change the colour of the floor in his room - twice, square by square. Running over a square a third time causes the square to revert to its original colour and has to be run over twice more.

Death - obligatory in games of this kind - is dealt by a remote robot which patrols the edges of the room. At regular intervals, when the egg timer at the edge of the room runs out, this heap of scrap metal lets loose with a laser blast. If Charlie gets in the way he farts gently and fades from the screen. What a way to go. Good stuff. From Virgin, too. Keep an eye out for flying pigs.