A blast from the past...

Previous Next

On opening the parcel I discovered a sixties-style record player and a title slightly reminiscent of a certain Radio One Sunday evening programme. But no, it was a compilation of two oldies and two spruced-up Audiogenic games.

The instructions on the inlay are sufficient to tell you how to find your way around, though they could have been better set out.

Psycastria 2 is, unsurprisingly, the sequel to the original which was highly rated when first released three or four years ago. For me though it was the first time I've played it. Controlling a small spaceship aboard a massive spacecraft populated by ten circular energy pods which whizz along the spacecraft, it's your mission to destroy each one before they shoot you.

The ship scrolls horizontally at Ayrton Senna hyperspeed as you try to shoot various bases on the ship. Though sometimes you can zoom along so fast that you crash into a tall building before you know what's going on. Between each level there is a bonus one where you must destroy aliens flying across the screen. Unfortunately I have yet to see what happenes then, as I still haven't got the knack.

The graphics are clear, colourful and well-detailed. The scrolling is completely flicker-free. Good sound incorporates a lively tune accompanying the high-score table, a nice special effect as you prepare to play and a jolly tune as you enter your name. Psycastria 2 is tricky but infuritatingly addictive as you just have to have another game to achieve a place on the high-score table or see what happens on the next level.

Thunderstruck 2 is an oldie in which you control an extremely unathletic spacesuited person who lumbers his way around a space complex. However, all sorts of wicked objects lie in wait to put a stop to your mission which is to find all four vital parts of the "Deacti-Unit". Of course there are many puzzles to be solved on the way, almost all of which involve locked doors and communicating robots.

The graphics are fairly good with cute but deadly characters moving horizontally or vertically with you jumping around the various ledges on the screen. The graphics bear more than passing resemblance to Spycat from Superior. Unfortunately, the sound consists of a series of bleeps and an end of game tune.

Thunderstruck 2 is a fairly average arcade adventure and doesn't really stand out from the crowd but kept me playing for several hours. The puzzles start off easy and become progressively more difficult.

Sphere Of Destiny 2 takes over where the original left off. Once again you control a small spherical droid called Bruce who has unwisely taken up a mission to go through 64 space highways, all of which are constructed from small tiles, set out on five different rows. Each tile has its own individual colour which indicates how Bruce will react to it.

A yellow or blue tile will have no effect, red will slow him down, green the opposite, purple makes him jump, cyan reverses the controls, white gives a special bonus but black holes bring the time limit much closer.

Sphere Of Destiny 2 is initially interesting but, as the levels progress, they don't seem to become any more difficult to complete and become extremely repetitive.

Omega Orb is another Peter Scott oldie of 1987 vintage. This time featuring a cute creature who exhibits a beautiful squashy effect when he hits the ground. Moving your Orb around a lunar landscape, through caverns collecting core pieces is the basis of the adventure while evil creatures with matching intentions try to hinder your progress. Large animated sprites, used not only for moving creatures but also for many landscape features, allow you to walk behind the scenery. A challenging game, though similar to Thunderstruck.

As four game compilations go this is a better-than-most collection, as they all provide a high enjoyment factor. I noticed the cover bears the legend Volume One. Will we be seeing a sequel?

Cheetah