Personal Computer News


Slinky
By Cosmi
Atari 400/800

 
Published in Personal Computer News #035

Spring To Action

If you've ever owned one of those spring-like toys known as a Slinky, then the hero in this game should be familiar to you. Similarly, if you're an arcade fan, the game itself will not be unknown.

Objectives

Controlling Slinky, you must bounce around a Pyramid of cubes, turning each one to the same colour as you go. You start with 25,000 points and lose points with each move - the aim is to lose as few as possible. Several objects help or hinder your progress - a magnet, raindrop, dustcloud, face and chameleon. These can drop you off the edge, speed you up, slow you down, wipe you out or just generally get in the way. Hyperspace holes and bonus blocks add to the complications, as do the 99 different levels of play.

In Play

Slinky, a golden spring, is perched on the top left of a pile of 52 three-dimensional white cubes. He can only hop diagonally and moving the joystick in the wrong direction when he's near the edge has Slinky springing to his doom. On the first level, Slinky merely has to land on each hexagon, turning it to blue. If he leaps down a black hyperspace block, he ends back up at top left.

Slinky

All the hazards have names, a feature that is probably right for the youngest players but a trifle treacley for older hands. Do Marge the magnet and Ralph the raindrop make you smile or grimace? Marge has a nasty habit of flying along a row at irregular times and if there, Slinky will be picked up and dropped off the edge. On the other hand, Slinky might be lucky and drop down a hyperspace hole.

Slinky turns blue when hit by Ralph and moves at double speed. If hit by Dusty the dustcloud, Slinky turns brown and loses more points per move. If struck by Ralph and Dusty, he rusts and Oil-Can Charlie rushes on to cart him off for scrap metal to the tune of Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head!

Verdict

Highly addictive, much more so than the original arcade version. The colourful graphics, particularly Slinky itself are excellent. Despite the twee names, this is a first class game of skill and strategy for all ages.

Bob Chappell

Other Atari 400/800 Game Reviews By Bob Chappell


  • Questron Front Cover
    Questron
  • Spitfire '40 Front Cover
    Spitfire '40
  • Tennis Front Cover
    Tennis
  • Ollie's Follies Front Cover
    Ollie's Follies
  • War-Copter Front Cover
    War-Copter
  • Shiloh: Grant's Trial In The West Front Cover
    Shiloh: Grant's Trial In The West
  • Submarine Commander Front Cover
    Submarine Commander
  • Lapis Philosophorum: The Philosopher's Stone Front Cover
    Lapis Philosophorum: The Philosopher's Stone
  • On Cue Front Cover
    On Cue
  • Airstrike 2 Front Cover
    Airstrike 2