Previous Next

This compilation from Audiogenic boasts a previously unreleased shoot-'em-up game called Saracoid. It is fast, colourful and very hard. The speed at which the deceptively large aliens zip around the screen is frightening and your trusty ship can only fire a single bolt at a time! The graphics are large and clearly animated. The gameplay is frustratingly addictive but difficult. I play any shoot-'em-up not only to clock up massive scores but also to see what weird and wonderful aliens are going to appear. There is a good range of different aliens and movement patterns to see and deal with.

No zapping fan will be disappointed with this pack as also included along with Saracoid is Psycastria. This is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up with reasonably smooth graphics. I found the controls to be a little unresponsive though and this marred an otherwise excellent game. Arcade adventures have lots to do with this pack as there are two adventures. The first is Last Of The Free and the second is Thunderstruck. Both have had extensive reviews in Electron Computing.

Stix is an original game in which you have to fill a square with colour. To do this you move a point away from the side into the middle of the square and, leaving a trail, you draw a smaller square. When it is completed it is filled with colour. This is repeated until nearly the whole square is filled. This may sound easy, but to hinder you there are a couple of sparks which follow your lines trying to electrocute you and also a stormy looking thing which floats around inside the square. If it touches you or your unfinished outline then you lose the game.

The remaining games on the pack are Froot Raid which is an entertaining fruit machine stimulation with a bewildering array of features and Drain Mania. Drain Mania is a fun platform romp which includes some smooth graphics and addictive play. Power Pack 2 is, in the last analysis, worth every penny and it is a great set of games to suit everybody's taste.

Matthew Fifield