Sinclair User


Thunderbirds

Author: Clare Edgeley
Publisher: Firebird
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Sinclair User #46

Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds are go! With a hiss the swimming pool slides back to reveal Thunderbird One. Meanwhile, Thunderbird Two makes a sudden exit from the face of a cliff.

"Virgil! I'm going in," screams Scott as he roars between the pyramids. "F.A.B. I'm right behind," yells Virgil and Thunderbirds One and Two disappear from sight as they enter the intricate maze of an ancient pharaoh's tomb.

Trapped in that crumbling monument are some eminent Egyptologists. The oxygen supply is almost exhausted. One rescue team has failed already. Scott and Virgil will have to use all their initiative to get them out alive. The pharaohs were a devious bunch and to prevent the tomb being ransacked, they erected a device whereby great stone blocks would fall in the paths of any who entered.

Thunderbirds

Thunderbird One can move the blue blocks, and Thunderbird Two, the green. Both can shift the red blocks. However, the passages are narrow, there are many that the bulkier Thunderbird Two cannot negotiate, and shifting blocks around without due forethought could leave Scott and Virgil in peril.

Artefacts and treasures can be picked up en route which will help your score, and fuel dumps can be utilised for a longer playing time. The famous Thunderbirds theme tune accompanies the rescue mission, but it can be turned off for some blessed silence.

Thunderbirds is brilliant, a gigantic puzzle which will tax your ingenuity and powers of logic. Blocks may have to be moved two or even three times until they are out of the way.

Thunderbirds

The game is nicely balanced with some arcade sequences - not that you have to shoot at anything. But you will have to negotiate a spider's web, patrolling guardians and mummies amongst others. A choice of weapons and equipment is given at the start and if you make the right choices, those will be implemented automatically when you reach the arcade screens, knocking out obstructions and affording you an easy path to the exit.

I haven't enjoyed myself so much for a long time. The game is not particularly fast; the graphics are quite basic but more than adequate. But figuring out those puzzles has me hooked.

In the words of Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Co - F.A.B.

Clare Edgeley

Other Spectrum 48K Game Reviews By Clare Edgeley


  • The Drive-In Front Cover
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  • On The Run Front Cover
    On The Run
  • Dan Dare: Pilot Of The Future Front Cover
    Dan Dare: Pilot Of The Future
  • Rocco Front Cover
    Rocco
  • Bobby Bearing Front Cover
    Bobby Bearing
  • Spy Hunter Front Cover
    Spy Hunter
  • Green Beret Front Cover
    Green Beret
  • Play Your Cards Right Front Cover
    Play Your Cards Right
  • Yabba Dabba Doo Front Cover
    Yabba Dabba Doo
  • Boulder Dash Front Cover
    Boulder Dash