Crash


Super Trolley
By Mastertronic
Spectrum 48K/128K/+2

 
Published in Crash #52

Super Trolley

Following a visit to the supermarket, Andrew Collett wrote to Jimmy Saville asking if he could Fix It for him to turn his game idea into a full-blown computer game. Jim got in touch with Mastertronic and this is the end result.

Life isn't easy for the dogsbody on work experience at Collett Hypermarket. The manager gives him a constant stream of tasks to complete: stacking shelves, running errands, rescuing lost babies and getting rid of dirty dogs. Winding his way through the maze of shelves and supermarket alleyways, pushing his unwieldy trolleyfull of stock, he has to avoid irate shoppers, complete his task and return to the back room within the given time limit.

Bonus points are scored for completing an errand quickly but bumping into other shoppers and trolleys gives the store a bad reputation; too many complaints and the manager throws him out.

Super Trolley

The week begins on a calm and peaceful Monday and gets busier and busier, culminating in a feverish rush on Saturday afternoon. Should he survive all this, the dogsbody gradually works his way up the promotion ladder to manager and an act of final, sweet revenge: giving his former employer the boot.

Comments

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: very realistically drawn, but the jerky animation prevents flowing gameplay
Sound: decent title tune with a few feeble effects
Options: definable keys

Kati

'Jim may have Fixed It for Andrew but Mastertronic haven't Fixed It for his game. In principle the idea is a good one. The long suffering store dogsbody has a wide variety of different tasks to complete; runaway children, irate shoppers and unwanted dogs provide plenty of scope for humour. Unfortunately Mastertronic haven't made a very good job of a promising scenario. The graphics, though boldly drawn, tend to melt into one another and the gameplay itself lacks any sense of compulsion. So much time has been allocated to each job that only the laziest, slowest stackers would be unable to complete it.'

Nick

Super Trolley is a great idea for a game and has been excellently Fixed by Mastertronic. You can have great fun stacking shelves, chasing babies and catching stray dogs. It's also humorously frustrating: the shoppers are all old hags that have swapped their broomsticks for shopping trolleys and insist on charging into you when you're carrying a carton of eggs! Unfortunately, that's all there is to it. If there were a few more interesting tasks to do, Super Trolley would have been a great game, but like the task it emulates, it just gets boring too soon.'

Nick RobertsKati Hamza

Other Spectrum 48K/128K/+2 Game Reviews By Nick Roberts


  • Fruit Machine Simulator 2 Front Cover
    Fruit Machine Simulator 2
  • Ricochet Front Cover
    Ricochet
  • The Cycles Front Cover
    The Cycles
  • Dan Dare III: The Escape Front Cover
    Dan Dare III: The Escape
  • Superkid In Space Front Cover
    Superkid In Space
  • Popeye 2 Front Cover
    Popeye 2
  • Pipe Mania Front Cover
    Pipe Mania
  • Hopping Mad Front Cover
    Hopping Mad
  • Dominator Front Cover
    Dominator
  • Rampage Front Cover
    Rampage