Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

Ilk MACHINE: SPECIRUM e r
Ik• SUPPLIER: CODE MASTEn.L
10. PRICE: 0.99
Za
m
Here's a surprisingly playable
pl little game on the new Code
speeds the screen will flash.
EI Masters budget label. It's the
N brainchild of Stephen Curtis,
E
the programmer who brought
you the budget hit Non
WTerraqueous.
You speed up or slow down by
flying over '+' or signs on
the surface.
Shooting the Droids gives
extra points. You can, however,
. It's shoot-'em-up with a
T difference — in that you can fly
over squares of the planet's
I
surface which give you extra
Mfuel,
extra lives, make you
speed up or slow down and
other interesting and
unexpected effects.
pick up bonus points by flying
over a bonus area, marked with
a — simple 'aint itl
Avoid the time shifts!! These
will disrupt the space/time
continuum, and take you back
to screen one.
Every time you die, you start
The game is shown on plan
view, with the landscape
scrolling down. You have to
make you way over 100 screens
of tortuous terrain to the
retro Cognita is very *
off on a launch pad. These
launch pads are the ONLY
flashing things you can fly over.
You can also pick up force
field generators that make you
mother ship waiting at the end. T
invincible for short periods.
Force field beams rise up off Droids
the surface. Should your ship able
if you
a
are
n
on target. flying over fuel zones, marked Very playable and great
Your current fuel status is
with a big 'F'.
value. Terra Cognita should
hit them, it will explode. Droids, shown d as g a r bar e at the top of the You can fly at three speeds. prove to be a budget hit.
controlled by the computer, screen. a Should you run out of These are dehyped proton drive
come at you in wave after wave.
G
fuel, t you'll v plummet to the islow), standard proton drive ID. SOU
You have a photon laser surface of the planet and
beam, that will shatter the
a
imedium), and warp drive (fast) l• VALUE
explode. You can pick up fuel by Upon entering or exiting these PLAYAS
HEARTLAND
l
u e a
t
, c
r .
9 9
_
7
• MACIONES: AMSTRAD/
SPECTRUM
• SUPPLIER: ODIN/FIREBIRD
10. PRICE; E9,95
IP VERSION TESTED: AMSTRAD
DISK
REVIEWER: DAVID
Another slick Amstrad
conversion from Odin.
Heartland was originally
released on the Spectrum a
couple of months ago and, by
all accounts, did very well,
thank you very much.
For those of you that were
unlucky enough to miss the
Specy version the story goes
something like this.
Eldtritch the wizard, a goodly
soul if ever there was one, has
left the Heartland for pastures
new. Before he went he built up
a healthy reputation for slaying
dragons, rescuing damsels in
distress and all the other heroic
deeds wizards get up to. All his
knowledge was passed down in
a book left to the Heartland to
protect it from evil.
One of the nastiest pieces of
work Eldtritch had to deal with
in the Heartland was a character
by the name of Midan, the
dreaded Black Warlock, and the
wizard's arch enemy. During
their last barney Midan cast the
last chapter of Eldtrich's book to
the seven winds, thus
neutralising its power.
Your task is to find the last six
pages of the book before
Midan's evil spreads
throughout the land.
Unfortunately, to confuse you.
Midan has also left six 'dark'
pages in the Heartland, which
must be destroyed or your
quest will have been in vain.
Screen layout is crisp and
colourful using the Amstrad's
16 colour mode showing a side.
on view of each location in the
five lands containing the light
and dark pages.
Locations are linked by
doorways through which you
can move into, or away from,
the screen, as well as exits to
the left and right which means
that the only sensible way of
mapping Heartland is by
making a plan view map of each
level.
There are two of Midan's
cronies in almost every
location. They can be stunned
temporarily in a number of
ways, all of them violent.
Either zap 'em with your
trusty magic top hat or fling a
fireball or a dagger at the little
blighters, but watch Out for the
large flying star clusters— they
will quickly drain your energy.
Bubbles, on the other hand,
will give you more strength
while little star clusters will give
you temporary protection from
Midan's hit men.
The game begins in your
bedroom, but there's no time to
rest as your energy disappears
at an alarming rate, possibly a
little too fast. In each of the first
four levels there are two pages
to collect with a further four in
the final level set in the village.
When you have found the
first two pages it's back to the
bedroom in time to be
transported to the next level,
You can only carry six pages
at once so it is important that
dark, unwanted, pages should
be destroyed. This is done by
picking up a seventh page,
which immediately causes the
first one you got to be released.
Repeat the process until a dark
page is released and then zap it.
The status area at the top of
the screen shows energy, time,
and what spells you are
carrying together with the
number of pages so far
collected. The face of Midan will
also appear and disappear
depending on how many star
clusters and cronies you come
into contact with and the larger
the warlocks face the higher is
your energy drain,
Heartland is destined to be a
hit on the Amstrad and should
appeal to the thousands who
spent last summer glued to
Sorcery Plus.
If you're after a pretty arcade
adventure liberally garnished
with zapping, good sound
effects and music then
Heartland is for you.
GRAPHICS
IP. SOUND
VALUE
PLAYABILFTY
9