Personal Computer News


Bomb Scare

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Bob Chappell
Publisher: Dollarsoft
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Personal Computer News #098

BOMB SCARE

A silly scenario with a straight-forward objective. Guide Boris the bomb disposal expert around some of the world's greatest cities and prevent a nuclear holocaust by collecting up the detonators planted by Cyril the saboteur.

I liked the secondary title page showing the head of the Statue of Liberty lying on its side with an ominous mushroom cloud floating overhead. I was not quite so impressed with the game itself though. The strains of Camptown Races accompany the opening instruction sequence and the game kicks off with Jimmy Crack Corn - what strange tastes in theme music these people have.

An impressively drawn sphinx dominates the first screen and around it are dotted a number of small platforms, while Cyril with his bomb lurk in the most inaccessible part. Boris is an attractive, smoothly animated little figure whom you control with the keyboard.

Bomb Scare

The game is extremely difficult to play, mainly because you have to get Boris to move precisely from one tiny platform to another by pressing the awkward combination of the O or P key together with the Symbol Shift, and this while in a very short race against the clock.

The other major annoyance comes whenever you lose a life. You have to wait while both the tunes mentioned above have run their course. The delay seemed intolerable after a few plays.

Without the above two factors, Bomb Scare would be quite an enjoyable little game. The graphics are fairly good and the animation effective, especially of Boris. Whether these qualities compensate for the vexation caused by the controls and the musical pauses you will have to decide for yourself. They didn't for me.

Bob Chappell

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Bombscare (Dollarsoft)
A review

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