Previous Next

Have you ever thought how great it would be to manage a rock group? All that excitement, fame and fortune, and fabulous head-throbbing music. Well, now you can make your dream come true with Rock Star Ate My Hamster, the pop group management game from those crazy people at CodeMasters.

Using just your Amstrad CPC and this new game, you could manage the year's best selling rock legend.

Cecil Pitt is the name, makin' money's his game. An' he don't care how he gets it. If it means sackin' a greedy band member, then get on wi' it [What accent is this, Andrew? - Ed].

The game is played with the user controlling the arrogant decisions of Pitt. You'll need to be a ruthless son-of-a-dog to play this; surprisingly, the Editor fits this description very well - this bit will probably get subbed out [No, I've just cut your fee in half! - Ed]! Pitt must first choose his band from a huge list of fifty different artists, each one modelled on a real star, but are, somehow, not quite the same.

For example, Stiff Pilchard has an uncanny resemblance to Cliff Richard, while Tina Turnoff looks so much like Tina Turner, it's almost unbelieveable!

Your sidekick, Clive, loads a video tape into the VCR machine and you sit down to watch the showing of the stars. Take your pick from any one that appears on the screen, and you are only permitted to have four in your group. The older the star, the less popular he or she will be and will, consequently, be cheaper to employ than the up-to-the-minute stars like George Michael and Morrisey [Star? - Ed].

Got your stars? Right! Better get them some equipment. Here you have three choices; brand spanking new, second hand or off the back of a lorry - nicked! The older the gear, the worse it sounds and the cheaper it is. If it's nicked, then think about the technicalities of the law and what it has to say about receiving.

Got your gear? Then get those tone deaf buggers in tune by locking them in a room and getting them to practice.

Once your newly found group has practised a bit, you can send them out to do some gigs. You choose the venue which can be either a pub, club, concert hall, or stadium. If your rock stars are unknown then it's better if you send them to a small place to get their name about. It is also best to choose a low ticket price, 'cos nobody's going to pay £20 to sit in a smoky pub listening to your lot.

After some gigs, you will receive a phone call from a record company wanting to sign a deal with you. At first, these deals will be pretty naff, but as your group gets better and has a larger following, you will get better and better offers. But, don't be too choosy as the offers will eventually dry up.

Once you have a deal, you can record your songs and release singles and albums. Unless your stars are really hot stuff, your first records will only just enter the top ten, but once you have got a following, going platinum is the limit.

Yes, this is the aim of Rock Star, turning platinum. But it's not going to be easy. Going on long tours is great publicity and increases your revenue, but at the some time the band are not going to like being on the road for months and months without a break.

The odd publicity stunt will help break up the momentum of touring. Unfortunately, Clive is not to bright and you often get bad publicity as Meathead punches a bishop or something equally ridiculous.

Rock Star Ate My hamster is a great game. Unlike other management games, most of which are football, you don't need to know anything about the subject and so is easy to play. The graphics are good, although not stunning and the sound is highly imaginative. Play wise, Rock Star is a gem, being operated by easy-to-follow menus. I think that CodeMasters have a hit on their hands here. OK Boys! From the top!