Previous Next

Have a nice holiday this year, did you? Cosmic Spacehead certainly did. Mr Spacehead thought it would be quite a nice idea to have a change from the usual country space-campsites and astrobeaches of his home planet of Linoleum and go on a sort of galactic gadabout. So he just got in his little flying saucer and followed his nose. And, to his surprise, it led him to our own humble planet, Earth, which was much spoken of in Linoleum legend, but was still thought to be a subject of myth.

Of course, Cosmic was quite literally over the moon to find that he'd discovered the legendary planet Earth, but was also so gobsmacked that he completely forgot to take any proof of its existence back to his fellow Linoleums. No Mickey Mouse hats with the plastic ears. No furry Spanish donkeys. No Devon toffees.

So to claim his fame (and possibly some money as well!), Cosmic has decided to go back to Earth, pick up some souvenirs and return, hopefully to crowds of cheering Linoleums and adoring Linoleum ladies. The problem is, he's got no money left after his holiday and no obvious means of transport - so it looks like he's rooted to the spot unless you help him out.

You've got to get Cosmic to the Linoleum space-bus stop, preferably with a valid ticket, then get him to his half-way point on the asteroid world of Detroitica, and from there to a refuelling stop at a space station, then onward... to Earth.

Cosmic Spacehead is a cunning blend and roast of richer, smoother adventuring with finest quality Arabica arcade gameplay. Well, sort of.

The adventure bit is broadly based on those rather nice Lucasfilm adventures which are on the Amiga and PC. Cosmic finds himself in a location which is pictured in the top half of the screen, and you get to guide him around it using a joypad-driven pointer.

He can also interact with objects in the location to solve puzzles. Just point to them then select a command to use with them from the list of five on the menu: Pick Up, Use, Look, Talk and Give. If he picks up objects they're listed at the foot of the screen in a scrolling list. It's all very simple.

Linoleum completely belies its connections with kitchen floor coverings by being a completely lovely place. Well, perhaps that's going a bit over the to considering it's full of monsters and unhelpful Post Office staff, but if you're stuck somewhere, you've got to lump it, haven't you?

Cosmic starts off in Old Lino Town and has to find himself a passport to get him across the border to Formica City. Of course, passports don't just grow on trees, but luckily he starts the game in possession of his birth certificate (now that *is* lucky!) and all he has to do is find some cash (one Linodollar is lying on the ground in the first screen and that's not bad for a start) to pay for some pictures to be taken in a Photo-U-Like booth.

That's an easy problem to solve, but more complex ones include getting around the planet using the malfunction-prone Teletransporter system, the acquisition of a missile-targetting device, and a driving licence (from someone called Shady Lionel). If you solve al those, you should find yourself with a bus ticket to Detroitica, so all you have to do then is get yourself to the bus depot on the far side of Linoleum.

The arcade bits come in when Cosmic leaves one location for another. Yes, indeed, it's Platform-Action-A-Go-Go as soon as he trips into the screen next door, and for this bit the point-and-click control system is abandoned for normal platform game style controls.

Our Spaceheaded hero has to get from one side of a scrolling screen to the other, dodging wandering beasties which bounce around their predetermined paths, threatening to nobble him.

As an added incentive, odd platforms have a piece of Cosmic Candy on them, and if Cosmic can collect ten of these he's awarded an extra life.

Detroitica home of sun, sand and spaceship manufacture. As Cosmic lands, he discovers that the automation system which runs the gigantic starbuggy production line has gone haywire, and the robot workers have revolted against their human masters!

Seeing as he is stranded here, Cosmic may as well help out, and aside from dodging all the automatic laser welders, his only problem is how to put out the fire in the belly of the vast generator which powers the whole plant.

Once you've gone that, you can free the imprisoned workers, borrow a starbuggy and warp to Earth. Or can you?

When you've got your driving licence on Linoleum, you can enter the bumper car races to win your ticket to Detroitica. Once inside the bumperdrome, the screen changes to show a racetrack and, in your little orange vehicle, you have to bump your way through three laps before the timer runs. It's not difficult, but the cars don't corner too well (they have anti-gravity drives and so everything's frictionless) and the other drivers are clearly over the legal limit judging by the way they ramble all over the course, apparently at random.

The other main arcade event doesn't actually have anything to do with the game and appears as an option on the title screen. The Two Player Pie Splat (as it's called) is actually a reenactment of that Atari classic, Tank Pong, except the tanks have been replaced by two dinosaurs which you and a pal get to drive around a maze shooting at each other.

There are four mazes for you to try, but the reason for Pie Splat's inclusion is still a mystery.

I started off hating this game; the limited and sometimes fiddly command system, the annoying way I kept losing it on the platform bits so that I couldn't get to the adventure bits, the intrusive music. But then I got used to it, and even though the puzzles were completely ludicrous (giving a helium balloon to a gigantic monster to make it float away... I ask you!!) I started enjoying myself.

In fact, things got better the further I got into it. The quality of the graphics and the music improved, the puzzles became a bit more logical and the platform bits became a bit more manageable. In fact, just when I was enjoying it the most... I found I had completed it!

I don't know how long Codemasters expected the three levels to last, but I completed all of them in about seven hours of constant play. And it's only when I'd finished did I realise how little was in this game.

The first planet lasts a while, even though there are only 15 places to explore. The second is a piece of cake, and the third, well it requires a little bit of thinking but it's hardly taxing. I can't knock the presentation of Cosmic Spacehead, but I certainly didn't get £40's worth of gameplay out of it and, unless you're a very inexperienced player, I don't think you will either.

What a shame. Cosmic Spacehead has plenty of intriguing puzzling action, it's very original and the graphics are, on the whole, quite smart. However, some of the puzzles are just totally illogical.

Faced with a massive beast that blocks your path, the solution is to give it a helium balloon! You what?

However, the biggest shame with this game is that all it takes is around one day's play - around seven to eight hours at the most to see the game through - that's five quid an hour! For that reason alone, we just can't recommend that you buy this game.

Presentation 89%
P. Great intro and between level screens, a cleverly designed password system and even a bonus two-player game.
N. Command system is fiddly.

Graphics 88%
P. Nice recreation of 50s and 60s style Science Fiction cartoons which get more impressive as the game continues.

Sound 51%
P. A different tune for almost every stage. Sometimes they're great and...
N. ...sometimes they're annoyingly intrusive.

Playability 80%
P. The intriguing blend of arcade and adventure keeps your interest though.
N. A bit fiddly to get started and some of the puzzles seem a bit stupid.

Lastability 50%
N. Oh-so easy to complete and not very satisfying when you do.

Overall 58%
We could overlook Spacehead's minor gameplay faults, if it hadn't been such an easy game to complete.