Big K


Tutankham

Publisher: Parker Brothers
Machine: Coleco Vision Games System

 
Published in Big K #3

Tutankham

Come wiz me to ze Casba. No? Well, it sounds a bit more inviting than 'take a trample through the tomb' which more accurately describes Tutankham.

The theme: familiar maze game. The scene: King Tut's tomb. The task: plunder the tomb of its treasures, find keys to unlock the doors between levels. Your role: a gun-totin' archaeologist. The opposition: various scorpions, cobras, bats and ancient Egyptian supernatural creatures. Your defences: one hand pistol firing left and right only plus a devastating but very limited 'laser flash' that can clear every creature off the screen with one blast.

The object, then, is to survive as long as possible. Not easy when creatures pour forth from 'nests' and pursue you with an almost religious fanaticism.

Tutankham

You must get the key in each section in order to get to the next level; everything else in the way of treasure is pure bonus and can be ignored if need be - like when you have to bolt for the exit chased by a horde of hell-spawned weirdos. There are secret passages to get you from one place to another quickly but these must be used judiciously.

Tutankham currently comes in three versions for the video gamer. The Coleco edition wins hands down for graphics, sound and action. The playfield is superbly detailed and the creatures look real mean. Intellivision has good graphics but is painfully slow and has lousy response from the controllers. Atari comes off worst in the graphics department but makes up for it with good sound and incredible speed. This one needs razor-sharp reflexes. It is also the incredible speed. This one needs razor-sharp reflexes. It is also the only one of the three to scroll vertically rather than horizontally.

Whatever system you have, may the curse of Tut never warp your circuit board.