Your Sinclair
1st August 1991
Categories: Review: Software
Author: Jon Pillar
Publisher: Codemasters
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K/+2/+3
Published in Your Sinclair #68
Quattro Cartoon
Spook! Another four-pack, this time chock-full of games from the Codies' short-lived Cartoon Time label. Let's take a peek. (Yes, let's! Ed)
Little Puff In Dragon Land
One of the best 'Dizzy without Dizzy' games as you try to get Little Puff back home to, um, Big Puff (I suppose). There's good graphics and tricky puzzles a la Dizzy, butmy only complaint is that the authors have given you just one life to play with.
Frankenstein Jr.
Oh dear. A truly dreadful flip-screen runabout as you attempt to put yer ol' dad back together. A confusing map and too-efficient baddies kill of any change of getting into the game - not that you really want to anyway.
(Spook fact no. 47: this is a remake of a mouldy oldie called Bride Of Frankenstein. Moral - crap by any other name.)
Olli And Lissa 3: The Candlelight Adventure
Spanky platform game with you (as Olli) scampering around a castle looking for the hidden bits of your flash car. A great improvement on the original O&L (which was ridiculously hard) as the game can go on for absolutely ages, giving you a real feeling of getting somewhere.
It's playable and addictive with some lipsmacking graphics, but what really makes it stand out is Olli's animation. He bobbles along, waving at you if things go well (and throwing a wobbly if they don't), whipping out a magnifying glass to examine likely hiding places, and even pausing to answer the telephone!
It's a gas! (And nitrous oxide at that!) Definitely the pick of the pack, but whatever did happen to O&L 2?
Wizard Willy
So-so horizontally-scrolling shoot-'n'-pick-'em-up with magic bolts and extra spells replacing the usual lasers and power-ups. Fun in the short term, but wait! What's going on? (Exactly - it's overdetailed backdrop time again!)
So, a traditional compilation (a corker, a goodie, an almost- ran and a duffer) and another hit for the Codies. (But then you knew that all along, didn't you?)
Scores
Spectrum 48K/128K/+2/+3 VersionOverall | 90% |