Crash


Defusion/Worms
By K-Tel
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #5

Defusion + Worms

Delusion is the 'Gridtrap' game of moving over squares to defuse time-bombs, collecting flags and avoiding the skulls and rampant boots. As you move the squares stepped on are deleted, making it harder for you to move about, and making it impossible for the boots to move around as well. Squares may be scrolled left or right where they exist to make movement freely available again. The screen wraps around left /right and up/down.

The boots are quite intelligent, and will start homing in on you soon after the commencement of each game. Flags collected give bonus points, skulls and boots kill, the time bombs have a time limit which starts ticking away as soon as they appear. When one has been defused by running over it. another appears somewhere else on the screen. An un-defused bomb explodes colourfully all over the screen.

Worms is a snake-in-the-garden game where you must avoid hitting your own tail, rocks, edges of the garden and reversing on your track. What makes this version rather more interesting than most is that it has seven different screens on the same theme. This worm, too, starts at a point and continues growing until it fills the screen. In the first screen there are no hazards but the worm sometimes grows a black segment over which you may cross its body, and then a bluebottle lands on a segment and this may be eaten to get to the next screen. Screen two is more traditional, eat the flowers and avoid the rocks.

Screen three is a maze where you must get through, eating all the flowers on the way. Screen tour is a tunnel - don't hit the sides: five has an elusive blue flower and rocks. Screen six you must guide the worm downwards through an upward scrolling passageway, and in the final screen it's the bottomless pit.

Comments

Control keys: A/Z up/down, N/M left/right and J/K scroll left/right (Defusion)
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: not very responsive
Use of colour: poor
Graphics: average
Sound: average
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 3
Screens: 1 (Defusion) 7 (Worms)

Comment 1

'When you start, only the worm's head is visible, turning through four directions until you press a direction key. Worms has quite a lively selection of games within the theme. Delusion is a simple looking version of the 'Gridtrap' game. Neither game has particularly good graphics, they are simple and not very detailed. The keys are sensibly placed but the responses are not wonderful, especially in Worms, which is written in BASIC. I think this tape is better than any of the first K-Tel releases, but there's certainly nothing new here.'

Comment 2

'I can only comment on screen one of Worms and this was pretty boring and out of date. It was also hard because of the terrible response to the control keys. Before I could become proficient enough to get to another level, Worms made me squirm! Defusion was slightly better, more imagination has been used with the graphics, although they were not very strong. ! can't really see K-Tel getting anywhere in the software business unless they realise that TV ads and flashy covers do not make a good game. Good games sell themselves! And I'm surprised to see Home Computing Weekly giving it five stars and calling it professional programming.'

Comment 3

'Defusion is a rather aggressive 'Chuckman' style game. It is quite a playable game although the choice of screen colours could have been much better. Keyboard response is not over-reactive but the keys have been placed quite well. Worms is quite a simple game to play and is not very fast at all. The reaction of the key responses don't match up to my own at all! A point that must be made, is that on screen 6 where you are descending to the secret depths of the earth, attempting to avoid the walls and rocks on the way is made very difficult because rocks nearly always block the passage. Definitely a better double-sider than the earlier K -Tel releases, but certainly no more than an average buy.'

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