Combat Confusion

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Full marks to Superior Software on some counts. They've provided two versions of the game, and the Electron one is compatible with First Byte and Plus One-type joysticks. The instructions are both detailed and helpful.

And so to the game. I've long awaited a decent two-player game on the Electron and this one offers a practice mode against a punchbag, a competition mode against thirteen computer-controlled opponents, as well as a two-player option.

Martial arts keys can be something of a handful; here they're plentiful but sensibly arranged, requiring the use of three fingers on each hand, plus a thumb to bang a turn key. The six controls are up and down, left and right, hands and feet, with combinations providing reasonably predictable results, such as up and feet for spectacular flying kick, or down and hands for a nasty low jab.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, I found the game a disappointment as it contained a fatal flaw - I couldn't tell what the Kung Fu was going on. The sound effects, which are apparently meant to show who's just clobbered whom, are meaningless feeble bleeps. The energy levels don't help much either, since I found myself doing more damage to me than to my opponents, being constantly penalised for attacking thin air.

So, was it just me? I don't think so, as I loaded it into a borrowed Beeb. There I found a superior version of the game which gave a clear audible signal each time a blow landed.

In my experience most Beeb games make relatively uneventful journeys to the Electron, but here's one which has lost a lot in the translation.

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