Previous Next

Booty is another of Firebird's £2.50 Spectrum games, and like the others it is good value for money.

Jim, the cabin boy of the good ship The Black Galleon, has to collect as much treasure as possible from the holds of the pirate vessel. Jim himself isn't very well portrayed and attributes are also a little clumsily handled. Jim is drawn on a rectangle which tends to overwrite any characters underneath, which means parts of ladders, cases and so on tend to vanish when Jim passes them. Hardly clever sprites, but then the charm of the game outweighs any such minor niggles.

You start off with a well executed picture of the Black Galleon, afloat on a shimmering sea. Define your own keys if using the keyboard, or take the joystick option, and it's anchors aweigh.

Booty is basically a 'levels and ladders' game, but with several twists. The Black Galleon has 20 holds, each has four levels and patrolling, cutlass-waving ghost pirates. Each level is divided by numbered bulkheads, and you pass through these by picking up a key.

Treasure and keys are collected by simply moving over them, but only one key can be carried at a time. Once you've cleaned out a hold, or found that you simply cannot get to the last few items, there's always coloured doors to pass through. These lead into other holds, or in some cases mid-air - nasty.

Some of the treasure is booby-trapped, there's a ship's rat to beware of, trap-doors and vanishing floors to keep an eye on plus lots more.

Once you've collected all the items from all 20 holds, you have 45 seconds to find a bronze key.

The game is unusual, nicely executed, addictive and at £2.50, it's a steal.