C&VG


Chinese Juggler

Publisher: Ocean
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #31

Chinese Juggler

Ocean's Chinese Juggler is like a breath of fresh air - that rare thing, a totally original game.

Just when I was beginning to think that all the games writers except for Jeff Minter had run out of ideas, the Juggler amused and entertained me.

You control a cute little oriental who performs a cabaret act by making plates spin on the top of poles. Older readers may remember various artistes doing this act on Sunday nights at the London Palladium, though I have noticed that the act seems to have disappeared from the Xmas TV circus now. It's a pity, because it's very entertaining to watch those plates spin and wonder if they will fall and break.

Chinese Juggler

Some of that excitement has been captured in the game - as you rush around the screen respinning poles where the plate is about to fall and attempting to get a plate on every pole.

The game is accompanied by a piano ditty that gets faster as the number of plates spinning increases.

When you complete one screen, our entertainer jumps up and down in celebration. The game also gets more difficult by giving you a colour sequence of plates which you must follow on later screens. If you pick up a plate which is the wrong colour, you can throw it up in the air to change it to the right colour.

This is a simple little game with extremely cute graphics. It is fun and addictive and well worth the £6.90 asking price.