Home Computing Weekly


Quackshot
By Sparklers
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Home Computing Weekly #115

This is a budget game, set in a toy factory in which you are the night watchman. Making your routine inspection, you discover the toys having a go at you, so naturally, you blast back with your stun gun and duck buster bombs. Well, you would, wouldn't you? On you go blasting and bombing, collecting keys to gain access to other areas shown on an overhead scanner, in what is effectively a complex and extensive maze.

Graphically, rather good, with smooth movement and some animation, the sprites are flicker free, but in one colour. Joysticks are catered for but I couldn't get the bombs to work, and response to the fire button was very slow and inaccurate. Hi-score and demo modes are here, though the existing entries in the score table are so high that I didn't discover it for a while. There are modest sound effects, but I found them rather irritating.

Given the difficulty in control, after 10 minutes play, I watched the demo mode to see what was in store. There's certainly plenty here to challenge you of ever increasing complexity.

Even though this is very good value, I wouldn't buy it myself. The plot didn't grab me, and thus I didn't feel compelled to continue. You may well disagree.

D.M.

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