Previous Next

Odd isn't quite the right word for this offering from Durell. As we've said elsewhere, this Somerset based company always seem to come up with something a bit different. Fat Worm Blows a Sparky could just be too different!

The game takes place inside the "electronic labyrinth" of a Spectrum. You are in control of Worm - one of those nasty little programs hackers like to insert into big systems.

Of course the Spectrum's internal defences are out to stop you completing you mission - to find a disc drive on which to clone yourself.

Before you find the drive you have to find and eat 50 rotating shapes called Spindles.

To defend itself against the Crawlies, Bugs and Sputniks your Worm is armed with Sparkies. You have two kinds of Sparkie. The neat Burper Sparky which is a sort of delay bomb which levitates to destroy flying Sputniks. Your worm "lays' these like eggs. Then there are the Blaster Sparkies which shoot out of your worm's nose and zap anything among the circuitry that's bothering it.

Sputniks drop bugs which crawl along and grab hold of your worm. Collect four and your worm will suffer a fatal error.

There's a map window at the bottom right of your screen which you can use to find those elusive Spindles - alongside is a status window which shows the number of Sparkies you've got left, the number of Spindles you've eaten and your current score/hi-score.

The graphics are interesting - but your worm lacks any sort of real character which detracts from the game's playability.

It's also quite hard to learn how to control the worm efficiently when you first load up the game. It has a sort of built in inertia which means you end up crashing into walls and such like. It's also difficult to tell which end is which at times. But then worms are like that, suppose...

If you like computer in-jokes the this could be for you. If you're after something a bit more spectacular then check out Thanatos from the same company.