Personal Computer News


Super Gridder

Author: Bob Chappell
Publisher: Terminal
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Personal Computer News #029

Sting In The Tail

Scorpions are not the most lovable of creatures and in this game, they don't do anything to smarten their image. They are engaged in trying to sting you. You are unflatteringly represented by a rolling-eyed, idiotically-smiling face.

Objectives

Starting on a large size grid, you must zoom around, passing over every line. Each time you complete a box, it is coloured in.

You go on to the next level only when all the boxes are filled in.

Super Gridder

Meanwhile, two scorpions are on the attack. You can put them off the scent by pressing the fire button which leaves a gap on the grid line, over which the scorpions cannot jump.

This gap is sealed the next time you pass over it. There are eight levels, each with different grid layouts.

If you manage to succeed on level 8, the two scorpions invite a friend to tea, and, if you still survive, the party grows. You have three lives.

In Play

Super Gridder

An introductory burst of beepy music rapidly gets on your nerves since it is also played between rounds. You start (or rather your face does) in the top left of the grid. One scorpion sets off from the upper right, the other from bottom left. The two scorpions, one white, one back, are animated. However, the black one didn't show up too well on my screen adding to my problems of survival. If you hit a deadend while hurtling around the grid you bounce back the way you came.

Response to the joystick was a wee bit sluggish on occasion. If a scorpion catches you, the screen freezes, then shows the grid highlighted so as to clearly indicate what bits still need to be traversed.

Although a very simple game with no frills, it is curiously addictive. It should be quite easy to elude these pernicious creatures but it isn't. You know the excuses: "I was distracted by that butterfly burping. I'll just have one more go and show the little blighters." And so on into the night.

Verdict

Super Gridder is an enjoyable, if graphically uninspired, game. A little overpriced for what it offers but nonetheless quite a compelling piece of frivolity that could give hours of fun.

Bob Chappell

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