Pipeline + SOS

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 7/10

Sound 6/10

Value 9/10

Playability 9/10

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Viper PRICE: £6.95 Two games on one tape make this new release from Viper a winner. Just in case you don't know about Pipeline, the general idea is to help the foreman keep the flow of petrol at a refinery running into the storage tanks. The nasty Laddermen attempt to plug up your pipes and you, as the foreman, have to take your worker along the pipeline to knock out the obstruction. The "free" game on the b-side is S.O.S. - a lunar-lander type game in which you have to pilot a space-shuttle.

Your Computer

Overall 2/5

Spectrum Viper Archetypal £7.95 The ideal game for paranoid DIY plumbers in an excellent implementation by Simon Ffinch - with acknowledgements to Taskset. The pipes in this game have a good solid Victorian quality about them, and the plumber and his mate have a tough time fighting off the saboteur and the aggressive ladybirds. Eight screens and you can choose your own keys, or use a variety of joysticks. And with another game - SOS - on the flipside, it's really good value for money.

Your Spectrum

Dave Nicholls 4/5 HIT

Roger Willis 4/5 HIT

Ross Holman 3/5 HIT

JOYSTICK JURY Our three-ring circus of Roger Willis, Ross Holman and Dave Nicholls is back in town. Watch 'em put all the latest arcade games through the hoops - and have a laugh at the clowning around. What's the score? Well, the marks out of five at the end of each review is a shorthand way of summing up what each reviewer thought of the game. But will it be a commercial success? For that you'll have to check out the HIT and MISS system. Simple, eh? PIPELINE/S.O.S. Viper £7.95 Ross: You get two games for the price of one here... and both are pretty good! Pipeline is the better game, so we'll deal with that one first. Featuring some very colourful graphics and a fairly original idea (at least on the Speccy), you have to keep a pipeline completely free of leaks so that the water flows through to fill a tank at the bottom of the screen. Trouble is that gremlins are about and soon start causing all sorts of problems by making holes all over the pipeline. So, guiding your spanner-wielding workman around the pipeline, you start making repairs and bashing said gremlins on the head. The graphics are very large, but that doesn't affect their smooth animation... very convincing! And if you want further proof that this isn't such a bad package, turn the tape over and load up S.O.S. OK, so the idea's not that original (we've all seen Lunar Lander clones before, haven't we?J but it's not a bad game. Overall, though S.O.S. isn't the best thing since sliced bread, the two games together make up a pretty decent package that's definitely worth the money.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Crash

Use of Computer 74%

Graphics 74%

Playability 68%

Getting Started 76%

Addictive Qualities 63%

Value For Money 75%

Overall 76%

Unknown

Unknown

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Producer: CSM Ltd Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: Viper Software: Simon Ffinch This is in effect the Speccy version of the original Commodore pipeline game produced by Taskset. This conversion, produced with the co-operation of Taskset, makes only two minor changes to the original: instead of the foreman firing bullets at the foe he throws spanners; and there are two more screens to entertain you. The game also comes with an improved version of an old arcade favourite. SOS is the game where you have to guide a module down to the planet surface to rescue the folks and then return to the mother ship. Both journeys require you to dodge the streams of space debris and the laser blast from the nasties. In this version of Pipeline you control a foreman and one workman. Your one and only task is to make sure that the flow of petrol to the barrel underneath the network of pipes is not interrupted. The one little pest who seems determined to make sure the flow is stopped can be seen running up the ladder onto the gantry above you. From above he will drop objects that will damage the pipe so you must either kill him by throwing a spanner at him or simply dash around the network, with workman in tow, so the damage can be made good. Your task will be made a great deal easier if you bash the anarchist as often as you can, but you are likely to be distracted by the ladybird-look-a-like pipe bugs. These bugs also use the ladder and once they are above you can drop down onto the pipe you must knock them off, because if they reach you it's curtains for certain. An impressive array of difficulties has been programmed into the game. To begin with there are eight different pipe structures, each one more complex than the one before. Three skill settings allow you to select how many attacks you are going to suffer from either the anarchist or the bugs. Finally you can select how many lives you would like to be allowed for each game, any number between one and eight. Select any but the easiest pipe system and you are going to be in for a nasty surprise in the shape of a well armoured and very persistent lobster. COMMENTS Control keys: Z/X left/right, K/M up/down, L to throw Joystick: Kempston and Interface II Keyboard play: very good Use of colour: not extravagant but clear Graphics: very neat Sound: spot effects only Skill levels: three Lives: up to eight Screens: eight

A grinning workman and a grinning foreman in PIPELINE CSM's offcial version of the Taskset Commodore game. Keep that fluid flowing Floyd...