So Sam finally gets to double figures with Zalaga from
Aardvark, 3D Dotty by Blue Ribbon, the ubiquitous Repton
with his time travels and a brand new game called Qwak.
Zalaga
Zalaga, a typical classic shoot-'em-up, is an early work from
the keyboard of the acclaimed Orlando and is something of a
cross between Galaxians and Galaforce. You start each level
with a blank screen on to which streams of aliens pour at an
incredible speed. By positioning yourself correctly you can
dispose of quite a few ofthem.
Once on screen they form themselves in a traditional pattern
moving back and forth then diving down in groups
dropping bombs. Between every second screen there's a
challenge where aliens stream on not on collision course and
not dropping bombs. You shoot as many of them as possible
and get a bonus depending on your success rate.
But while Zalaga is fast, colourful and furious, the good sized
sprites tend to flicker and, although I've made it to
level three, you'll need to be a really dedicated keyboard
basher to want to play it a lot. The sound is pretty good and
the opening tune is typical of Orlando's skill with the BBC
Micro sound chip.
3D Dotty
Next up is 3D Dotty. I'd never seen it before and was
pleasantly surprised. You are presented with a three dimensional
layout consisting ofthree floors not unlike a multi-storey car
park with the floor missing.
Small white dots fill the entire floor surface and all your
little figure - a sort of Pac-Man with legs - has to do is go
round and chomp all the dots. However, things are not that
simple - are they ever? There are three highly mobile fungi
which stream across the floor, contact with which drains your
energy.
So you run across the floor surfaces avoiding the fungus -
which will chase you - trying to get every dot, some of which
are hidden behind pillars. For your defence you only have
three blocks that will prevent the fungus following you so
characters are still blocky and the screen scrolling flickers.
The game's forte has always been its strategic content: Each
virgin screen conceals unknown terrors for the unwary player.
You are always aware that a single misplaced boulder can
render a screen completely unplayable.
The Life Of Repton
The Life Of Repton is by far the best program in this latest
compilation - it even includes the screen designer utility.
Sam's final offering is a classy, colourful and previously
unknown arcade adventure called Camelot. Playing without
the aid of instructions, I had to guess at theobjectives, but
they would appear to revolve around King Arthur's search for
a series of objects.
This quest is hampered by the imposition of a time limit
and the fact that nobody appears to respect a king any more - the castle is overrun with witches, devils and enemy
knights.
As King Arthur you have a single life, the duration of which
is determined by the state of his energy levels. Physical
hazards such as fire, water and banks of vicious-pointed
spears place a tremendous strain on your wellbeing and are
best avoided.
You are armed with a zapper so are able to wipe out most
of your enemies - until you run out of zap. The meagre 50
rounds you begin with are soon expended and new supplies
are tricky to locate. On the positive side, your rapidly diminishing
energy reserves can be replenished by opening
one of the treasure chests.
First rate graphics and difficult gameplay make Camelot a
suitable challenge for even the most accomplished arcade
adventurers.
If you are looking for acompilation that gets away from the
frenetic keyboard bashing of the Firetrack and Galaforce
variety get yourself a copy of Sam volume 10. With the exception
of Mr. Davis's contribution, good old Sam's done it again.
If you are looking for acompilation that gets away from the frenetic keyboard bashing of the Firetrack and Galaforce variety get yourself a copy of Sam volume 10.
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