Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

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distance U T jumped. Watch out for
the rocks under the surface, the
E R
ever changing winds and
seagulls.
After all that it's a joy to get
back to the simple pleasures of
slalom ski-ing in France. Here
all you have to do is hurl your
battered body down a steep
snow covered slope, weaving
dangerously through "gates"
marked by flags.
This is a timed event and any
penalties your skier suffers add
precious seconds to his overall
time. And you'll be disqualified
altogether if you fall. But you'd
never do that, would you?
Get those skis off quickly
now! You certainly won't need
them where you are going next.
Yes, we're off la the land of the
lumberjack — Canada —for a
lesson in log rolling. This is
something out of It's a Knock
Out. Two grown men stand on
top of a floating log and attempt
to get it rolling in such a way to
make the other chap fall off. Not
easy — especially when you're
up against the computer.
Balance and rhythm are
important here— if you can
stop giggling at the tune which
plays along with this event. Yes
it's Monty Python's "I'm a
Lumberjack" tune.
Watch especially for the
falling off routine. The victim
plunges into the water with a
satisfying splash and then
resurfaces, furry hat over his
face, and shakes his head. But I
never knew you got sharks in
Canadian lakes!
Onward to the good old USA
and the rodeo ring. Elmer the
bad tempered bull is waiting for
you to take him for a ride.
Select a bull to ride — there
are five of the beasts each with
varying temperaments. Then
climb on and hope to stay there
as the bull bucks and runs
around the rodeo ring
attempting to throw you off,
Which 99 times of 100 he will.
Practice is the only way to
succeed here, as you'll have to
learn to anticipate the bull's
moves and respond quickly
otherwise you'll end up in the
dust with the bull doing a
Muttley style laugh above your
prone body.
Had enough? No? Then come
with us to Bonnie Scotland
w
better than throwing old
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telegraph poles about. Tossing
the caber is the most
spectacular event in any
Highland Games and here the
sport is reproduced in all its
glory — including a bagpipe
soundtrack which brought tears
to the eyes of Craig the C+VG
designer.
Once more, timinci and skillful
manipulation of the jockstick —
sorry joystick — are key to
throwing the caber
successfully. Drop it and the
caber could pound your little
Scotsman into the ground Tom
and Jerry fashion! Do it right
and he does a Highland fling
while the crowd goes wild.
The big9est bits of wood
you'll see in the land of our next
sport are chopsticks. The
sporting trip around the world
ends in Japan with a battle of
the giants. Two huge Sumo
wrestles grapple for supremacy
in this ancient oriental sport.
The idea is to score points by
defeating your opponent in the
most elegant and stylish way.
The joystick controls are pretty
complex and require a bit of
getting used to. But this could
just be the best game of the
collection in my humble
opinion. Real skill is necessary
to put a good combination of
moves and holds together.
All the events have great
graphics and superb sound.
Some are more playable than
others. The only really duff
events in my view are the diving
— too simplistic— the bull
riding to hard to get to grips
with.
All the events have their own
humorous graphic frills. The
neat falling off sequence in the
log rolling event, the caber
fallin9 on the, er, thrower in the
Scottish event, the laughing
bull in the rodeo sequence and
the red faced weightlifter.
The game comes with some
excellent instructions which
include hints and tips on play
and the tape version loads
pretty painlessly — although if
you don't want to play a game
at the start of the tape some
work with a pencil, paper and
the tape counter is necessary.
World Games is well worth a
place in anyone's Christmas
stocking. Great value for
money, extremely playable.
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> MACHINE; AMSTRAD/
SPECTRUM/CEA/BBC, ELECTRON
SUPPLIER: ELITE
> PRICE: E8 95
> VERSION REVIEWED:
AMSTRAD
> REVIEWER: TIM
If you own an Amstrad and
don't immediately rush out and
grab a copy of lkari Warriors
then you might as well go and
bury your machine in the back
garden, forget about computers
and playing games and go back
to basket-weaving.
The Amstrad version of this
coin-op conversion is a gem.
You won't see better this side of
Christmas — and probably for
quite a while afterwards.
The Amstrad graphics are as
close as dammit to the arcade
machine and the playability
goes off the C+ VG scale. If Elite
thought they had a hit with
Commando then the've got
another thing coming
If you haven't seen the arcade
version then you're in for a nice
surprise. lkari takes the
Commando/Rambo theme and
puts it into overdrive. And you
can play the same game with a
friend.
It's a horizontally scrolling
shoot-'em-up like Commando.
But here you can ambush
enemy tanks, climb aboard, and
HT SCORE
COCOCOOn
CVG
do even more damage than you
did when you were on foot
armed with a machine gun and
grenades.
The jungle country you blast
your way through is infested
with enemy troops who all want
to stop you reaching the
general they've captured and
you want to set free.
You dash through forests,
across bridges, through rivers,
and even into enemy fortresses
gem ;
'ion
A You won't see a better game Phan ikari WomOrs this Christmas
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in search of the general's
prison.
Blow up pillboxes or shoot
enemy commanders— they are
the green ones — and you'll
find supplies of grenades, fuel
for captured tanks, ammo and
even little "smart-bombs"
which wipe out all attackers in
your immediate vicinity when
you run over it.
The graphics are simply
brilliant, the game play
awesomely addictive. There's a
nifty high-score chart, but you
have to be good to get on it.
Ikari Warriors is a classy
arcade conversion — the best
Amstrad game we've seen for
ages. Maybe even the best of
the year.
Get Ikari Warriors and take no
pri
so
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