Commodore User


Beat It

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Bill Scolding
Publisher: Mastertronic
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Commodore User #51

Beat It

Now I've played games from Mastertronic
and some of them are great, and some of them are chronic,
and some of them are junk and some of them are jive,
and some must've been written by a child of five.

But now listen to me and what I'm rappin'
This little number's gonna get your footsies tappin'.
It's a musical maze arcade game and it's called Beat It!
And if I ain't wrong, it's gonna be a hit.

The aim of the game is short and it's simple
(and could've been written on the head of a pimple)
rockin' Rodney and Rachel are right little ravers
and you gotta help them to pick up all the quavers
'cause at the start of each screen you hear a drum machine
and a poundin' bass riff - it you catch my drift -
but this background beat ain't hot 'n punky
so you gotta add some notes to make it real funky.

There are 16 notes in each psychedelic maze
of shifting paths and patterns going every which ways
and every note you grab gets added to the beat
'til the song gets stronger and the boogie gets neat.

Now if this was all then the game would be naff
but there are various meanies hoppin' up on each path.
Hit a few bum notes and your tune will start to go
like a three-note solo from Status Quo.

There are gloom masks and coppers who turn your volume down
and bombs, frogs, and Angries who blow you outta town.
If you run into a fuzz box your tune will be distorted
and don't mess with Norm or Maggie or your plans will be thwarted.

Now if you finish Level One you've got no time for restin'
'cause there's another 59, and I ain't jestin'.
And some you'll find a doddle, and on some you'll wind up dead
and Level 42's real boring [Well, what do you expect? - Ed]

So pin back your shell-likes and listen to this rap,
Beat It! is really something - it ain't no pile of crap.
The animation's cool, and the graphics are really neat
and for all you wimps out there it's got an infinite lives cheat.

You can't play it with the keyboard but you can play it with a 'stick
you can play it until those groovy colours nearly make you sick.
You can play it all night and you can really have a ball
you can play it 'til that disco beat drives you up the wall.

'Cause if there's one thing wrong with this fun 'n funky game
it's those bloody boogie rhythms goin' round and round your brain.

Bill Scolding

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