ST Format
1st December 1991Monster Business
It's no wonder certain areas of the media view computer games with disdain when you get rubbish like this written on the back of boxes: "The city of Tin Town is in danger! The mad meanies from the big forest have once again broken loose, and are searching for little items they can steal, completely spoiling Mr Bob's construction site." You'd almost expect a rider of "Age range 2-5 years".
Never mind. Apply the old rule - forget the wibble and play the game. Each level is one screen wide and two to three high and full of girders, walkways and platforms. Running about are the aforementioned "mad meanies" - ducks, spitting monsters and rabid apes - who nick bits of hardware that are lying around. Armed with a bicycle pump, you dispose of these greeblies by waiting until they're right in front of you and then filling them full of air - pumping them up until they float harmlessly away. You can earn extra points by giving them a shove as they drift off, causing them to drop bonus objects and destroy any other monsters they touch.
Complicated, isn't it? Apart from a time limit on each level and the obvious fact that one touch from a monster sends you off to Heaven on little wings, that's it. The graphics are competent and comical enough and the constantly-playing tunes are slightly less annoying than usual.
Sometimes simple ideas make the best games, but in this case the idea is just too simple. The only feature that distinguishes this from a thousand other games is that you pump up the monsters rather than shooting them, and while inflation is fun for a while the novelty soon wers off. (Just ask John Major!) Admittedly there are 45 levels and no-one is likely to get through those for a while, but that's less likely to be lack of practice than a bout of unconsciousness. Fun for a while.