Sinclair User


Headstart

Author: Tony Dillon
Publisher: Bug Byte
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Sinclair User #69

Headstart

Ivan Mop is in trouble. Well, wouldn't you be with a name like that. His alter ego, imaginatively named Ivan 2 has separated from his body and gone to live on his own. Ivan isn't too happy about this and wants him back. To do this he has to get through the various screens to the recombination chamber. I warn you now, this is not easy. Don't get me wrong, the screens themselves are easy, it's just the level of play that makes it hard. The positioning of your character is sometimes frustratingly hard to get right. For instance, if you stray to within 1 character block of the edge of a platform, you fall off, regardless of direction of travel. Also, to pull a bolt or switch, you have to stand slightly away from it facing the opposite direction. At least that's what I found. In short, the collision detection is terrible.

If it gets into the top 100 games, I'll eat my granny.

Overall Summary

Bad sprite collision detection, frustrating gameplay and poor graphics make this pretty disappointing.

Tony Dillon

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