1st March 1987
Audiogenic seems to be going from strength to strength - a series of great games, some excellent re-releases and the promise of some good BBC/Electron releases next year. Not bad for a company that six months ago was rarely considered of interest by the average Beeb gamer.
The new compilation (seven games on two tapes) is another good example of the kind of thought they put into their product. Not only are there some great gems from the Icon back catalogue, but also some unreleased material - some of it admittedly early work by current hot programmers.
The best in the pack are Space Agent Zelda and Wizzy's Mansion. These are both arcade adventures with the latter being the more conventional of the two. Space Agent Zelda has some colourful and cute graphics which are very dynamic. Playing the game is simple as you do is move your hero left and right avoiding the animated obstacles. The sprites are smooth and well-defined as are the rest of the scenery graphics. Wizzy's Mansion is a conventional arcade adventure set in a large house where pages of a spell book are scattered hither and thither. Your task is obviously to collect all the pieces of the book. The graphics are small and made up of characters. The controls are responsive making the game enjoyable to play.
The other games in the pack are not so hot with Bug Eyes 2 the next best. It has large chunky sprites which are humorously animated. The game is an arcade adventure with lots of original features. The cliched objective is to collect keys. The thing that lets the game down is the slow movement of game sprites and dodgy control response.
The last four games in the collection are well presented and graphically pleasing with good use made of colour. They are let down however either because they are slow or the game format is uninteresting. Caveman Capers is an original idea let down by extremely difficult gameplay. Space Ranger is a copy of a very old arcade game called Lunar Rescue. This version may be a close copy of the first game but even the original was boring so you can tell what this game is like. Ultron is much better in content and execution than the aforementioned game. The graphics are small and uninspiring but the game is quite playable and if you still like space-invader type games you might enjoy this one.
The last and by all means least of the games is a rip off of Hunchback called Wongo. You have to bounce along the top of the Great Wall of China on a pogo stick! The graphics are slow, jerky and flickery which makes this game the rotten apple of the barrel. Even with a couple of bum games this pack is still worth looking at if you have none of the games in it. If you have got the better games I mentioned then look elsewhere for a compilation as there are some good ones to choose from at the moment.
