Cavern capers joystick-breaking twists and
Program: Sidewinder
turns. Reaching the other and Of the cavern after what seemed a nerve shattering eternity I landed 0" the Dad- SUddenly this raised to an upper take—off point and had to fly back to the starting pad while avoiding new hazards. Eventually I completed the first level, and progressed to a more difficult cavern with stronger defences. You can replenish your ever—diminishing fuel supply by bombing fuel pods. There are five caverns, and the fuel pods become harder and harder to hit. If you manage to complete the fifth cave there is quiteasurprisein store, but I will leave that for
(cassette),
Price:4 59.9.5 .‘ _5 M's” Sufi pp/ler. Futureware, 743 Grays Inn Road, London wcrx sue. Tel: 07-359
.
.
g; ’ g
“"
7
{E
_w‘;§ -.. z: 1:5: z." _, r” .
.
w
_
721 7,
g“
,
;3
i ii at t
.
?g»
,
'_
’
'==3
i
a a
‘ -.
I. 7
3 z
a!
i
f;
~
,
I
SlDEWINDER is
a well written arcade game where you have to pilot a helicopter through underground enemy installa— tions in search of kidnapped colleagues. As my helicopter appeared on the take—off pad the screen filled with laser beams, gravity
bombs and various
large
buildings and caverns. I took off and the screen scrolled from right to left, revealing even more traps and
Dan
.
Price: £9.95 f]4_94(disc)
Wike
m the
Suppl/enDatabyte, Suite37A, Grove Terrace, Highgate Road, London NW5 7PL. Tel: 07-482 7755iF YOU’Ve a taste for games that leave you red-eyed and that have you stiff—?ngered, saying for the 99th consecu— tive time, “|'|| just have one more go", that exert such an inexorable grip that you lose
track of time, then Boulderdash II is just your cup of insomnia.
Its predecessor, Boulderdash, was one of the most enjoyable, addictive games ever released, a computer classic no less. This follow—up, although it is pretty much the same mixture as before, is
every bit as riveting. You control a cute little figure called Rockford who blinks and taps his foot impatiently if you leave him idle. Rockford's task is to tunnel his way throughaseries of two—dimensional caves and collect as many jewels as he can.
Now while the plot may
you.
515
The program
,
tably. They will either fall straight down if unsupported or topple off underlying objects if there's nothing else to hold them in place. You'll soon master the laws of physics in Boulderdash but there still remains the need to
adopt
a
careful strategy if
you're to succeed. As well as the boulders,
roving butterflies fireflies
L5
3:
..
also offers
amoeba, and other obstacles
e
.
'_ .
,.,-:-i
.
viz-{Zilofzmne 13 y
—.
e
e:
z w; .~~“143;{
?nnee?mswm
i
Overall
2,35, e
'
7 70
?lm???
a
£1913
Perhaps laCking
while pleasant, are nothing to gasp about, the game has one ingredient that sets the whole thing alight and starts the old adrenalin coursing. In a word, boulders. Large boulders, embedded in various parts of the strata, are scatteredliberally through— out the cave system. What makes the game so much fun is that the boulders are prone to come crashing down with a noise like thunder. If Rockford's in the path ofa falling boulder, and doesn’t Shift smartly OUt ofthe way, he gets squished and loses one of his three lives. The boulders drop predic—
Sound
cavern.
orlglnallty department and although the graphics,
(cassette),
Paul Irvine
I
addictive
Program'Bou/derdash/l
screen editor which allows you to design your own caverns, saving them to disc or tape-
nowadays. found it very addictive, playing game after game to get on to the next
.
.
er
you to discover for yourselves. Sidewinder is great fun to play because it holds your attention, something that is missing from a lot of software
10
{gutsy-Jo. Q
;
Q
2
,
.
Q
.
“z‘
'
1;i
’:
..
l
1
M
~
A
»
‘
-
‘
-
'
. ’
. '
-‘ ~-
'
‘
es:r
‘*
seemmrm?jyjj": ears-c sees=lxsrlseaee.e-e!»-e
and oddities see to it that you're kept on your toes. You control Rockford's movements with normal
joystick manipulation.
He leaves a tunnel behind him as he goes, and automatically collects any jewels he passes over.
When a certain number of jewels have been gathered, a secret exit appears, giving Rockford the chance to move on to the next cave. There are 16 new caves to traverse, each of which consists of several scrolling screens and has its OWN unique layout and set of problems. To increase the playing life of the game, each cave has five selectable difficulty levels; the greater the difficulty level, the more jewels you have to
--
.
.
13.
ii T
f
‘.
.
collect and the
less time you have to do it in. In addition, there are four non-obligatory intermissions to solve, giving you the chance to earn valuable bonus points. The program also thoughtfully provides the option of starting at caves A, E, I or M so you can get to see a lot of the game from the word go. The Rockford exploits are
classic numbingly
enslaved derdash
great fun and
—
addictive. Become — go buy Boul—
II.
Bob Chappell Sound
,
8
Gmpmcsg playability,_,_,__,_____,______,
1a
Overall
10
Valueformoney9
June 1986 ATAR/ USER
75