Previous Next

Although insects often prove to be very annoying - the insect star of the new game quickly changed my mind (although he tends to be frustrating at times). You play the part of Boris the Bee - one of the busiest bees yet. Upon loading the game, the title screen (accompanied by the music of The Flight Of The Bumble Bee) appears. Pressing a key again launches you into the game - the object of which is to do what a bee does best - collect nectar and then take it back to your hive. Of course it is not easy - there re various hazards such as a viciously swooping blackbird, wasps and Venus fly-traps to hinder any progress - not exactly my idea of helpful neighbours.

Naturally, you will need warning to help you avoid these pesky creatures - so a radar is present at the bottom of the screen showing your's and the hazard's positions. There are relatively few controls to master - four direction keys and, for emergencies, pressing any key from B to Space releases any nectar Boris is carrying to enable him to make a quick getaway. (The program also caters for most popular makes of joystick interface - Kempston etc). Pressing the left or right key and holding it down makes Boris accelerate, making it harder to swerve. Also the more nectar you are carrying, the slower you fly - easy prey for birds.

The graphics are excellent (done by Matthew Smith of Manic Miner fame) and are well thought out - a bright yellow sun shining, clouds drifting past slowly, flowers opening when Boris lands on them and there is even a small plane flying the Bug-Byte logo. You, the bee, are a cute little bit of graphics design - antennae waving with legs and wings moving convincingly. Motion is smooth while sound effects are negligible - but how much sound do you need? - certainly no zaps or pows.

There is also a speech option if you have a Currah micro speech module attached to your Spectrum. Although this game is not quite as good as Manic Miner (my favourite game), it is highly recommended at £5.95. An excellent, original game - bound to "bee" another sweet success for Bug-Byte.