Everygamegoing


Puckman

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Dave E
Publisher: JD Tronics
Machine: Colour Genie

Puckman

Puckman for the Colour Genie may well be the best program ever written. Ever.

You wouldn't think so, from its unassuming four colour, tiny sprited maze. You might be forgiven for dismissing it as total crap. Hey, I did! It came on and I thought blah, this isn't going to be as good as TCS's Pac-Man II...

But, you see, Puckman isn't actually a clone of Pac-Man. It's like Chaos Theory Pac-Man. Because, although at first it's hard to tell from watching someone else play, all the familiar rules of Pac-Man have been removed.

Puckman

See that ghost enclave in the centre? Notice how there's no exit? That's because the ghosts just filter out in any direction at will. Hah - you can even be picked off within a second of the game starting.

Got bored with those Pac-Man games where they don't start getting difficult until four or five screens in? Play this instead - you'll be lucky to clear half of the first maze, let alone get that far.

And those power pills? In Puckman, they turn the blue ghosts into, um, other blue ghosts - for about two seconds. And of course they don't slowly revert to carnivores - it's completely instantaneous so the only real strategy is to keep well away from them even when they're vulnerable too...!

What's so good about Puckman? Well, you still have to play by all the rules - but the ghosts don't have to play by any of them! So race around the screen for as long as you can whilst weeping with frustration and rattling off language to make a sailor blush. Come on, you know you want to...!

Dave E

Other Colour Genie Game Reviews By Dave E


  • Mampf Man II Front Cover
    Mampf Man II
  • Hektik Front Cover
    Hektik
  • Jet Set Billy Front Cover
    Jet Set Billy
  • Jet Set Billy Front Cover
    Jet Set Billy
  • Jump Jack Front Cover
    Jump Jack
  • Invasion Auf Dem Weltraum Front Cover
    Invasion Auf Dem Weltraum
  • Marien Kaefer Front Cover
    Marien Kaefer