Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

10
AMSTRAD
,
IP SUPPLIER: ACTIMION
M PRICES: E9.99 (TAPES) (14.99
(DISC) A
CP.
VERSION REVIEWED:
SPECTRUM
H REVIEWER: TIM
I
Oh N dear, oh dear, oh dear_
That's E about all I feel like saying
about this offering from
S
Activision. I'low to take a good
coin-op . and ruin it would be a
Sgood
summing up of this
Pconversion
of Sege's multi-
Eplayer
arcade game.
C
C + VG had one of these
machines on our stand at the
T
PCW Show last year and it was
Rtough
to keep the readers who
U
M
/
C
M
/
en you first load up Wonder
you'll beforgiven for
ing hrfnmm, what's thisi
give it a chance. Get
gh the first level and you
ght just find yourself getting
hookectby this cute little game.
I must admit, here at C4- VG,
we'd all beerfthoroughly
spciled by playing Super Mario
others on the Nintendo
ames Systems— and Wonder
Boy is in the same mould. So
when you go back to a similar
style game on the 64 you
approach it with different
feelings..
Wonder Boy starts off on a
, hazardous journey, his
te Mission to rescue his
friend Tina, kidnapped by
the evil King. King lives in a
way place, across seven
herous territories. Each
Itory is made up of four
lands, each land consists of four
a
r When you have reached the
end e of each territory you will
a
have to defeat a mad Ogre to
progress to the next level,
s On your way, jump over
. various obstacles including
boulders and bonfires and kill
-
, • snakes and killer frogs.
a
Whenever you see a giant
egg, open it. es: I
t
I
have
a
sornetfti
l w a y s
o u such as
t
a
c
k
i
n
g
n
a
came to say hello to the team
away from the machine, In fact
it was tough enough to get the
C +VG team away from the
machine.
No-one will be rushing to play
the Spectrum version of the
game. The best thing I can say
is that I hope the 64 and
Amstrad versions are better.
Quartet was Sega's bid to
catch up with Atari in the multi.
player game stakes which
began with Gauntlet,
Of course, you can't hope to
get four players gathered
round a Spectrum — but you
can get two. Even with a friend
playing along with you it's hard
to capture any of the excitment
generated by the arcade
machine,
Your Quartet team member is
tiny, just one colour character,
but fairly well animated to give
it its due. The backgrounds are
multi-coloured but boring, and
the nestles are often hard to
board o T a Y
protect you for a while.
Do not forget to boost your
strength and collect bonus
points by eating exotic fruit or
junk food.
At the top left of the screen
the number of lives remaining
is shown. Just beneath this
there is a box which will display
,the stone axe when imu have
picked it up.
Immediately to the right of •
the box are three icons
representing the first three
• lands; upon 4; omplating a land.
the icon for that land will light
up. -
When the last of the three
icons is lit, they will scroll off
revealing a new land to be
completed.
Mid-way at the top of the
screen your score and the
highest score achieved are
shown. Under this is your
Vitality Meter which may be
topped up by collecting objects
or finishing a land
t4414frelfr
pick out against them.
It's also pretty easy to defeat
the enemies and collect the
keys which take you through
the exit doors and on to further
levels in the game. I got up to
level eight in the first sitting.
The only reason I got no
,IBER•
• You must get to the end of a
land before this reads zero. Any
vitality you have left at the end
of a land will be converted into
a bonus score.
You'll find useful objects
inside eggs — like the stone axe
or a fairy II) who will protect
you for a while before flying off.
You lose items when you've
killed—and if you die arid lose
the axe you might as well forget
about continuing. It's a vital bit
further was mat I found myself
stuck behind a series of
awkward barriers after picking
up a jet-pack.
The jet-pack stops you being
able to crawl —so there I stayed
until time run-out. I almost
didn't go back for another crack
,
,
.
.
.
W
1
0
,
•
•
•
•
•
1
1
1
1
1
1
E
M
B
E
C
I
P
s
-
V
i
d
E
N
.
.
e
,
of equipment and you just
won't be able to go beyond the
first territory without it,
There's a frog who needs a
good hammering before he
gets out of your way near the
end. This makes the game
frustrating — it's no challenge if
you lose a life early on and
KNOW you just can't get any