Down to Earth

Sinclair User

Overall 6/10

Tamara Howard 6/10

Label: Firebird Price: £1.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Tamara Howard Well, it was like this, see Guv. I got me dozer our of the 'ut first off this mornin', and I drove up the road like, nice an' quiet, and then, all of a sudden like, things went all technicolour and I found myself in some sort of computer game. It weren't like no building site I'd ever bin on before. There were fuel dumps to pick up. and strike me down wiv a feather there was all these aliens, all over the flipin' place, and strike me, Guv, there I was blown up. Din know what hit me ... Down to Earth is one of those budget games that oh-so-nearly makes it, but not quite. For a little while, it's moderately entertaining chewing on dirt, but after a rock has fallen on your head for the fourteenth time, your enthusiasm tends to wane a tad. I'm convinced there must be a good game in the wildlife preservation versus the motorway game idea, this isn't it.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 7/10

Playability 7/10

Value For Money 9/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Overall 8/10

Gwyn Hughes 8/10

Firebird Silver £1.99 Reviewer: Gwyn Hughes In the world of the budget game there are a few classics which make you wonder that they ever appeared at anything less than £9.95... and there's about the same proportion of real clinkers, which seem overpriced at £1.99. But for the main part, budget games are solid, if often uninspired, copies of formulas, taking a hit which is beginning to grow a bit grey and whiskery and whacking it out at a pocket-money price. Which brings us to Down To Earth, a bargain basement Boulderdash if ever there was one! Bargain basement is incredibly apt as you bulldoze your way around beneath the surface of 30 star systems, clearing them of alien life-forms in preparation for the inter-stellar by-pass. There's an arcade test of quick reactions, but the main ingredient of this game type is planning. The main problem you face in your excavations is that, in addition to the roaming weeblies referred to above, there are boulders and bombs packed into the clay, and shifting the earth that supports an obstacle may well let it slip down onto your druid, leaving you flatter than a pancake. The plot, therefore, is to find the path that lets you crush or blow up the aliens without doing unto yourself as you'd wish to do unto them. All of this has to be achieved in a limited time-span, and with strictly controlled fuel supplies, so there's no room for ditherers. The first level's fairly easy, at least at the start, but as you create more complex craters you could find that your path is blocked by the heavy rock of the rolling stones which drop from above. Learning how to use the various obstacles, as well as finding out the layout of the levels, is all part of the fun before you can develop a proper strategy. Unluckily the bargain basement element creeps in here, and instead of a super smooth scroll between screens you get a rather jerky effect that stops all of the action. This reduces playability a bit, especially where a quick manoeuvre is required to avoid falling boulders. (Did someone mention me? Rachael) The sound's also a bit lacking. But remember the price. If you're into arcade puzzles this is a nicely planned diversion that's sure to provide more than two quids worth of enjoyment. It certainly bulldozed its way into my affections.

Bombs explode when they fall or when boulders drop onto them, so don't get caught in the blast, which measures three squares by three. However, if you can lure the nasties towards them, they'll blow themselves to bits. This crop of boulders fell all the way from above, which called for some fancy steering to avoid them. While they'll stay in place piled on the mud, the one on the wall would slip sideways if it wasn't supported by earth. The purple blocks can be blown up with a well placed bomb, and you can collect crates of these, plus extra fuel, as you tunnel. At the end of the level you'll have to blow a hole in the wall to reach the final alien. You're provided with a limited number of Astro-dozers but may find more as you plough through the passage. Learning which way rocks fall and how to didge them is the key to success. These aliens roam around in random patterns, though when they're trapped in a trench like this one you can be sure they'll just shuttle back and forth. Question is, how to crush him without freeing him first. At last, a not so nasty nasty. These sink plungers won't actually do you any harm and as they're the mortal enemies of the others and explode on contact, it could be better to let them do your dirtywork.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Presentation 52%

Graphics 39%

Playability 50%

Addictive Qualities 45%

Overall 47%

Mark Rothwell

Paul Sumner

Robin Candy

Producer: Firebird Retail Price: £1.99 As site foreman in control of an Astra-Dozer, you must clear 30 different planetary systems of the hostile inhabitants. Anyone who's played Dig Dug or Boulderdash will recognise the action and appearance of Down to Earth. In this chaotic geological jumble live three types of alien: dangerous Circsaws and Trigons who must be wiped out and Conenabs, benign to you but mortal enemies of the Circsaws. Don't ignore the Conenabs, though - they multiply quickly and can block off escape routes. At first these aliens are trapped in soil pockets, but they're released by the Astra-Dozer's activities. Circsaws or Trigons cause instant death, though touching dozers left by previous work crews gives extra lives. You can drop bombs, or leave them behind to be activated by an alien's touch. Contact with a bomb doesn't destroy you, though the blast does. Extra bombs are found in armoury chests. Bombs have also been left buried in the soil be previous space probes: if you chobble earth from beneath them and the large natural boulders, they'll fall upon aliens. As supergalactic four-star is a precious commodity, additional supplies are held in oil tanks. But fuel isn't the only problem - there's a time limit on your mission. COMMENTS Control keys: Q/A up/down, O/P left/right, SPACE to drop bomb Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2 Use of colour: lively object-differentiation Graphics: small characters, little animation and extremely jerky scrolling Sound: very poor Skill levels: one Screens: 30 systems

Beaming and chobbling, the Astra-Dozer goes about its business of dashing boulders and mashing aliens.