Previous Next

This is a bit of a weird fish. The C64 version of Wanderer has a different plot to the Amiga version. Oh well, here are the both of them. First the C64...

In deepest space there exists a group of ten planets ruled by the evil dictator, Vadd - an android who has forced the planets of the system to obey his command.

Now the system's inhabitants have turned to you - the Wanderer.

To destroy Vadd and the War Drones you need to obtain a Mega-Disruptor by trading in Disruptors (much like playing poker) or building your own. This isn't just a matter of going and asking for things, oh no! First you've got to travel through space and shoot things to bits, *then* you go to the planets and ask for things.

Special 'variable disruptors' can be found in black holes. They're used to gain extra value in your 'hand' but in order to enter a black hole, you must have achieved a certain skill rating.

The Amiga scenario takes place many years into Earth's future. Near extinction, the car has become the most valuable commodity in the Solar System. The evil android Vadd (you know, that burger we mentioned before) has stolen the cat and is keeping it hostage.

Your quest is to fly around the system trying to win 8,000 cat points or construct a poker of aces whilst playing cards on the various planets. After that, you confront the droid himself. Obviously, he can't play cards and such a confrontation terrifies him. Hasn't he heard of guns, then?

Well, well. Another game with a gimmick. The 3D effect works quite well, but I can see people having problems if they've got a TV that is slightly off - and you can always lose the glasses

The thing is, without the 3D there isn't much else to Wanderer. Both versions are extremely boring, with little more to do than float around loosing off the odd blast then land on a planet and be totally confused by the warped card-game logic. It seems that the whole point of adding the 3D has been lost because there's just not enough going on.

I thought we'd seen the last of games like this a long time ago; I was wrong.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of using 3D in a game to give extra thrills and exhilaration?

You don't get any of this in Wanderer because the action is so mindnumbingly boring. The Amiga version has faster graphics than the C64, but this advantage is negated by the fact that it's all in one colour.

Come to think of it though, even when wearing the 3D glasses, the appeal soon wears off once you've shot a couple of ships and been confused by the card game - or pseudo card game on the C64, as even that's been made to sound pretentious.

A vector-graphic turkey.

Presentation 49%
Gimmicky 3D but hardly anything else to add any atmosphere. The instructions are quite good though.

Graphics 43%
Well-planned 3D (with glasses) but dull otherwise - and the C64 version is incredibly slow.

Sound 30%
Average tunes but terrible sound effects on both versions.

Hookability 21%
The Amiga version is instantly boring and the C64's snail pace is extremely off-putting.

Lastability 15%
Exactly the same lack of variety and excitement on both versions.

Overall 16%
A tedious game with a gimmick and not much else.