Previous Next

Not very aptly named this one. since the aim is to self destruct a space ship and there's not much future in that. However, to destroy the SS Future, as the ship is called, you have to find eight destruct codes hidden in a colourful, 256-screen maze.

You enter the ship through a tunnel on your scooter. This is left behind you. though, and you appear in the ship on foot, a cute little figure in a red spacesuit. You are armed with a laser that only shoots forward or at a small angle up or down. This is your means of defence against the hordes of death-dealing robots that inhabit the ship.

The eight codes for which you are searching take the form of small coloured cubes which you just have to pass over to pick up. They're located on five levels of ship and to find them it's just a matter of exploration and memory since they never move. Once you've collected them all you have to activate the self-destruct system which could have something to do with a button marked 'push' on level one (but that would be telling).

The ship is made up of colourful corridors and rooms that are drawn in some intricate and attractive patterns. Travel between them is of the flick-screen variety. Within these pretty surroundings appear the equally well-drawn but deadly robots. These come in a number of guises but all are instantly lethal if you touch them. They materialise into a room as you move into _ and home in on you. The robots always appear in the same place though and for a split second you can pass through them as they appear. This means that with fast movement and a happy trigger finger you can get past them.

The codes aren't all you'll find on the ship though. Guns can be picked up and for a while give you the ability to fire hyperblasters which are bigger than your ordinary laser bolts and can produce rapid fire rather than single shot. Another aid to your defence is the blue spacesuit which will give you immunity from the robots for a period, killing them on contact but for no points.

There are also two aids to movement. One is a scooter in which you can nip round the ship while the other is the teleport system. This is shown by a square containing crackling electricity and depending on which side of it you enter will take you to one of the other decks of the ship. There are five decks but whether you need to visit them all is for you to find out.

Once you've got all of the codes and activated the self-destruct, you've got to get out fast before the end of the Future. It's all very frantic and reminiscent of games like Berzerkbwx in a much nicer graphic setting. It should take some while to crack but doesn't present much of a mental challenge.

If I'm going to run around spaceships blowing myself up like to know why. This program neglected to give me any reason for being where I was - and consequently I kept wondering why I was bothering! Graphics are certainly very pretty and colourful, but the Robotronic blasting soon becomes tiresome.

P. Very bright, colourful screens.
P. Demanding action against a constant onslaught of robots.
P. 256 screens and a testing game-challenge.

N. Just exploration and no real puzzling.
N. Blasted one robot - blasted them all.
N. Instructions are unnecessarily sparse.