Crash


Triad

Publisher: Vortex
Machine: Spectrum 16K/48K/Plus/128K

 
Published in Crash #2

Triad

As its name suggests, this is a compendium of three different arcade games on one cassette. The games are Snackman, Sub Track and Treasure Hunt.

Snackman is, quite obviously, a 'Pac-Man' style game, which features sixteen selectable mazes with ten different playing speeds. Sub Track provides you with the opportunity to lay depth charges from a surface ship, to attack numerous submarines at different depths, while they fire back with mines. In Treasure Hunt, a reasonably complicated maze is used in a very pure way - that is, you must find your way through it to collect valuable items. When one has been successfully picked up, another appears somewhere else in the maze, and all against the clock.

Side A of the cassette loads all three games into a 48K Spectrum, and each may be selected by pressing key 7. Each game comes complete with on-screen instructions. Side B of the tape will load each game individually into a 16K Spectrum.

Comment 1

In Snackman, the graphics are all quite small, but they move well and this isn't a bad version. The Depthcharge game is also reasonable and has quite large graphics. I didn't think so much of the Treasure Hunt, despite its 29 mazes and 144 game variations - which must be a record!

All the games are reasonable, but none are original and none of them are brilliant.

The idea of putting several games onto one cassette is a good one, especially when they are all 'old' games. I won't rate its value for money that highly because I would prefer one good game to three fair/average games.

Comment 2

Anyone wanting a reasonable 'Pac Man' and the chance of two other fair arcade games, will find the Triad cassette to be fair value. Overall, the graphics are quite good, but there isn't really anything here to thrill.

Essentials

Producer: Amba Software
Memory Required: 16K or 48K
Retail Price: Unknown
Language: Machine Code
Control Keys: Indicated for each game, but all well placed
Joystick: None
Keyboard play: Responsive
Colour: Reasonable
Sound: Varied and reasonable
Skill Levels: Depends on game, but several
General Rating: Fair to average