Crash


Holiday In Sumaria

Author: Nick Roberts
Publisher: Pirate
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #46

Holiday In Sumaria

With package holidays in vogue this month (see the review of Players's Supernova...), here's another game with a moral for joyous travellers: Never, ever, ever go on a package holiday with Costa Galactic Travel - they'll go bust and leave you on a place like Sumaria.

That's where Sid is stranded - a planet under compulsory purchase and soon to be destroyed. Sidney ' s only chance of leaving this doomed world is to find the Grail Of Gackara and use it to fire up an ageing matter-transporter. This accumulation of geriatric electronics is hidden in one of Sumaria's castles, but the historic piles are populated by poisonous bats and minotaurs. If our troubled tourist lets them get too close, they nick one of his lives.

Sid's sole chance of Grail-grabbing is by making like a Blue Peter presenter and using objects he finds as he shuffles and jumps through the obstacle-ridden castle rooms. Only one item can be carried at a time, but this could give vital information about nearby monsters, or provide protection. A sword kills attackers, the cloak frightens them away, dropping a clock freezes time, and teleporters transport Sid to other sections of the Sumarian kingdom.

Holiday In Sumaria

And there's only Sumerian minutes to go before the planet is lost.

Comments

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: poor forced perspective
Sound: excruciating to the eardrums
Options: definable keys

Nick … 17%

Well, I knew that this would happen - that as soon as CRL released 3D Gamemaker, there would be a rush of rubbish little 3D games. Here the graphics are thoroughly trashy, bugs appear all the time, gameplay is at its minimum, and the sound - well, the sound could be made by a orangutan on a ZX81! And the character set has been defined into really chunky letters to polish it all off.

Mike … 26%

This is a really boring game. The graphics are basic forced perspective and the way the character slows down when he passes behind a piece of scenery is unbearable. The tune is awful, and everything that CRL's 3D Gamemaker doesn't do for you has been done minimally. Even in the budget price range, you can do a lot better than buy this.

Paul … 4%

What can you say about this type of game that hasn't already been written? I've seen a few slow and flickery games in my time, but Holiday In Sumaria takes the biscuit. Everything is appalling: sound, graphics, playability, absolutely everything. It is utter dross.

Nick RobertsPaul SumnerMike Dunn

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