Software Review For 8BS
Member ID: E4W
Name: Crispin Boylan
Phone: 01296 668140
Game: The Superior Collection Volume 2
Having just raked my old beeb out from the loft, given it a good dusting down
and fired up the old work horse, I then began to start reliving the memories of
'89, by playing all my old BBC games. This I found much better than using my
'new' 486dx2/66, just two button presses and you're away! Amongst my collection
of copies (shhhhhhh! don't tell anyone!) and originals (yes, I do have some!) I
have Superior Collection Volume 1, this I like very much, for it's odd, but
varied collection of games, 8 in all, which were the first ever games I bought
for my Beeb. Well, when I recently became a member of 8BS, I saw that
reviewing games was available and further talk with Chris (our humble editor)
it became apparent that I could have the opportunity to review the Superior
Collection 2, which I instantly went for, but well, we all know the saying
about the sequel never being as good as the original, but just look at the Play
It Again Sam collections, 16 sequels there, and not one of them is totally
bad! Well on receiving this new compilation, I noticed the following details
which you may also like to know:
Supplier: Superior Software
Price: £11.95 (8BS members: £6)
Type of game: Various
Scenario: Various
Size: Various
Don't worry all will be explained later, to be complete, here are the 8 games
which come with the collection: Kix, Repton 2, Space Pilot, DeathStar,
Overdrive, Battletank, Missile Strike and last but not least, Crazy Painter.
I will head the section for each game individually, so here we go with number
.......
1. Repton 2
This is the second in the series of Repton games (no kidding) and in my opinion
it is not the best. It consists of the usual (and always fun) running around
after diamonds, killing monsters, avoiding rock falls etc, puzzle come platform
style game. However, the format of this game is changed significantly, making
the game a lot harder. In Repton 2, the levels are a lot bigger than in the
other games, the goal of the game (its a toughie) is to complete all of these
tasks:
a. collect all 4744 earth sections
b. collect all 1634 diamonds
c. kill all 18 monsters
d. use all 64 transporters
e. collect all 42 jigsaw puzzle pieces
f. collect the finish character
Completing one of these tasks is hard, but all of them, well you better have
your brain in puzzle mode, because if you don't there will be a lot of
restarts, I can assure you! I actually like this game a lot, I think it
provides a great challenge, and a change from the other Repton games. The
graphics are fairly smooth, but a lot of flicker can be seen, particularly with
the monster sprites, but this never really detracts from the game. The sound
is a plinky plonky tune, pleasing to hear, but a bit repetitive, I like the
Repton 1 tune better. Being a 16 year old brought up with the supposed delights
of the Sega and Nintendo gaming diets, I think this game has a hell of a lot
more going for it than about 70% of games do at the moment, definitely one I
would recommend to accomplished platformers and puzzlers alike. This is a
fairly large six level game, bearing in mind that the levels are BIG, so plenty
to keep you going.
Verdict: Hard to get into, but ultimately satisfying. Score: 78%
Next up we have.......
2. Deathstar
This is a bog standard shootah, with a bit of a nice twist. I like this game a
lot, it sort of reminds me of defender, but with a bit less manic style
gameplay. The main story is that you are controlling a little ship, you have
to fly around space, shooting the small planetoids which occasionally float by,
when you shoot these you must collect the small starbombs which are emitted.
Your main opponent is the DeathStar, the Workers and the Warriors. The workers
and warriors are ships which try to hinder your collection of the starbombs,
Warriors shoot at you, generally distracting you from collecting starbombs,
whilst Workers try to collect any starbombs which may be flying loose from the
planetoids. Whilst you are busy collecting starbombs, the workers are busy
building the DeathStar, this is a big flying construction, when all 20 pieces
are in place, it comes after you, contact in it involves certain death, an
explosion and a crackling sound from the beeb. The way to destroy the
DeathStar is to release starbombs when it is on screen, eventually it will
explode, and you can progress to the next level. I think this is quite a good
system, nice set of tasks to do, but really an excuse for blowing up
stuff........nothing wrong there then! The graphics are small sprites, with
nice colours, and generally scrolling is good, very smooth and you can work up
quite a fast pace on this game, a good adrenaline pumper! Its a bit
repetitive, but then again all shoot 'em ups are, I would say this is an above
average one though. I like the sounds, they are nice and spacey, fairly
standard though. There are five levels to play, with a bonus one in between,
so if you like shoot 'em ups, then this is a good game for you.
Verdict: Above average shoot 'em up, with a plot......good! Score: 75%
Number 3...........
3. Space Pilot
When I played this game first, having first played death star, I thought - wow,
Deathstar in a plane, and in a way I was right. This is almost the exact same
game as Death Star, the main sprite is the same, the plot is almost the same,
but simpler. You are in a special plane which has accidentally been thrown
into the past, your only way to get through the time zones is to shoot down as
many of the planes you meet as you can, then finally destroying a boss sort of
ship. On each level there are a certain number of planes you must shoot down,
these planes vary according to the time zone, in 1916 its Bi-Planes, 1940 is
Spitfires, and progressing through helicopters, jets and finally UFOs. I
should say that this is in fact a complete copy of Deathstar and therefore not
very original, but I somehow have managed to get attached to it, its very
playable. Its the sort of game where when you die you think, 'just have one
more go' and then this of course goes on for hours. The sound is bog standard
beeping and crashing noises, and graphics are average, but adequate for the
game.
Verdict: Game play shines through here, I just can't think what it is that
makes me prefer this over Deathstar!
Score: 85%
And now for.....
4. Missile Strike
Ok, ok, this isn't really an original game, more like an arcade conversion,
however I think this is a highly polished version of Missile Command, ok, so
Missile Command is hardly a contender for complex/ game of the year, but it
has all the good elements of a classic, the great and original gameplay, the
fairly weedy graphics, showing once again that Graphics maketh not a good game.
The plot, in case you don't know is that you (a sort of army base) is being
bombed by the enemy, you must launch missiles at your opponents missiles, to
try and blow them up before they hit the installations, and eventually kill
you. This is quite hard at times, keyboard is not the best method for playing
this game, joystick, or preferably mouse would help, but I suppose you just
have to get used to it. Sometimes with about 8 or 9 opponent missiles raining
down on you, you do find it a bit difficult to cope with, but its fun all the
same! Later on in the game (it is virtually infinite levels, like space
invaders) you do get things like homing missiles to cope with, adding some
variation, this is a real skill game, especially for your co-ordination! I do
like the sound though, it has a nice whoosh sound for launching missiles, very
realistic!
Verdict: A great clone of the arcade machine, but joystick support would be
preferable.
Score: 80%
Time now to go straight to....
5. Battle Tank
Well Superior, you've got the combo right so far, up until now, that is. This
has to be the worst game on the compilation, I just do not like it. It is a
nice try at a 3d sort of environment, you drive a tank, move around, and shoot
other enemy tanks, well you're supposed to. The keyboard response on this game
stinks, the tank moves like a pig, and before you can turn enough to get the
enemy in your sights, he blows you up! The graphics are fairly low resolution,
and all wire frame, but very uncomplex. I don't really want to say too much
about this game, because I don't want it to seem like I'm moaning, but I never
played it for very long and I don't suppose I ever will. Sound is limited to
say the least, graphics are poor and speed is sloooooooooowwwwwwwww.
Verdict: Limited game, limited movement, limited everything.
Score: 40% (and that's pushing it)
after that one, lets have one to cheer us up........
6. Overdrive
Racing games have always been few and far between on the Beeb, on the serious
side you have the classic Revs, and on the lighter side of things there's Stock
Car from Program Power, and after that I can't think of any more. Well now
there are three good racers because this is a fun little game, with a 3d look,
and some nice graphical touches. The objective is simple, pass as many cars as
you can, enough to send the counter into the blue section, doing this will
allow you to progress to the next stage in the Driving Championship which
consists of five stages, including night, snow, desert and riverside. These
stages have few differences, but enough to make you think they are individual.
Night has the effect of you not being able to see other cars until it's almost
too late, snow makes you slide, and I never reached riverside, so I can't say.
The impressive thing about this game is the speed, you get a really good
sensation of speed, and if you have a great co-ordination, or want a bit of
high speed racing, just pump it up to full speed and watch yourself plough into
the first car you meet! Luckily you don't have lives, just a timer, so you can
crash as many times as you like, but it does slow you down. The sound is quite
good on this game, with crashes and a nice engine sound, which sounds a bit
funny at top speed, but makes you laugh! The car has a nice movement, good
graphics, and a great sense of speed, play it, go on!
Verdict: Its not realistic, but who needs realism when you have fun! Play Play
PLAY!
Score: 83%
7. Kix
This is another arcade conversion, and a damn fine one at that! This is based
on the age old game, who's name I do not know, the object is simple, try to
capture as much of the screen as you can, by fencing off parts of it with your
laser cutting device. To stop you from doing this, you are chased around the
quadrant (the name of the playing arena) by Tracers, and if they touch you,
then you die! Also there is a big swirly thing which moves randomly around
inside the quadrant, and if it touches part of a line which you are drawing, or
your ship, then you will die instantly. You can gain extra points by cutting
the pieces at slow speed, thus allowing more time for the sparkler to reach
you, or at a fast speed with less points. To take control of a quadrant, you
have to capture 75% of the area. The graphics in this game are fairly
primitive, but well drawn and have no flicker, using a high resolution colour
mode for the graphics. I like the sound as it has some nice music, very well
written in fact, which shows off the Beeb's good 4 channel sound. This game is
very addictive, and you always just want one more go, I'm pretty useless at
this game though, it is a very strategical one, you have to get the tactics
just right to reach the higher scores, there are many bonuses, on some screens
for instance, there are two sparklers, and you can gain a bonus for splitting
them into two separate areas of the screen, a neat touch. The instructions
tell you a bit about the tactics, which I think is a good idea, and some advice
on what not to do. This is really the 'feature' game of this compilation, the
one that Superior does not release previously, and is claimed to be worth £7.95
(when the compilation first came out) in its own right, which I feel is
perfectly justified. This is the game which makes the compilation complete, a
great addition and worth all of the suggested price tag, although I did feel
capturing 75% of the screen was a bit much!
Verdict: The creme caramel of the compilation, very slick and a good mixture of
gameplay, sound and tactics.
Score: 89%
and last but not least..........
8. Crazy Painter
This is a very odd game, it sounds like it could be Japanese, but no it was
made right here in England, and for an English game, it is very weird! It has
simple instructions, and they go like this, to win the game you must paint
round all of the squares, whilst avoiding the tribesman and teddy bears. If
you paint the four corner squares, then you can chase the tribesman and teddy
bears, for a limited time. Sounds a bit weird? Well yes, it is. I think it is
a sort of cross between Kix (see above) and Pacman, it has a simple but fun
aim. I thought this game was a bit average though, and if it were bought on
its own, then I would probably say it was not really worth the money, but as
part of a compilation, it is really just a filler, when you get bored of the
others, or maybe to have a break! I'm not saying this is a bad game, it is
just extremely average style puzzle game. The graphics are not inspiring, and
sound is minimal, but somehow it manages to be enjoyable at the very least.
Verdict: Average, but you can have fun playing it.
Score: 68%
Well, that's that over with, all in all I think it is a very pleasing
collection of games (barring Battletank that is) and you can have a lot of fun
with this collection, in particular Repton 2 and Kix. I think the most
instantly playable ones are Space Pilot, and Overdrive, but the longest lasting
would have to be the two 'main' games. I would definitely say this is great
value for money, where else can you get 8 games for £6? What makes this great
is that most of those games could fully justify a price of £3 or £4 on their
own! Buy this now if you're looking for a mixture of nice little games.
Overall score: 88%, shows Superior doing what it does best.