Clear The Board

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If somebody were to tell you that your components were revolting you might be a little upset.

Well it's true, but don't b alarmed. I'm not referring to your physical attributes, but to a new game from Softspot.

Transistors Revenge is one of their latest arcade games. After *RUNning the program, which takes about three minutes to load, you are presented with a combined key plan and high score table.

The game takes place inside the BBC Micro on the printed circuit board itself, and your task is to defend the CPU from attack.

Your enemy is a force of 50 mixed micro electrical com ponents ranging from resistors, transistors and capacitors to diodes and fuses.

Their sole aim is to destroy the central processor, whose exalted position they envy intensely.

The screen layout is simple. The CPU is a rectangle in the centre of the screen and radiating from it towards the screen edges are the data lines.

The enemy makes random attacks along these lines. You defend the CPU by moving from pin to pin and firing electronic pulses.

Should any component succeed in reaching your stronghold, the CPU explodes in a mass of sparks, you lose one of three lives and start again.

A variety of tools - pliers, hammers, drills, and spanners — appear occasionally at the edges of the board.

They can do you no harm but if you can destroy them you collect bonus points. They take some hitting because of the speed at which they disappear.

Occasionally a mains spike appears which cannot be destroyed as it zips towards the CPU. However it will only kill you if it hits your fire pointer.

> In cases of extreme pressure you have a Zap button available which will clear the board of everything in sight. But beware, it takes 20 seconds to recharge itself.

Each time you clear the board of the enemy a fresh onslaught appears and the game speeds up.

After four cleared boards the printed circuit layout changes. You score 100 points for every component hit, and a bonus of 500 for each tool you strike.

> You gain one extra life when your score has reached 50,000 points.

A novel idea is that when the game is over you are given the option of entering the high score table or carrying on a new game from where you finished the last. The program makes excellent use of graphics and sound and is infuriatingly addictive. Refinements such as a freeze game facility and a sound on/off option add to its professional quality.

All in all it is good value for money, is attractively packaged and'the written instructions are clear and precise.

> The verdict from my four young sprogs who played the game for hours between them was "Ace!".

Alan Sergeant