Giant's Revenge

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 3/10

Chris Bourne 3/10

GIANT'S REVENGE Thor Memory: 48K Price: £6.95 Joystick: Kempston Once upon a time there was a game called Jack and the Beanstalk, which for some unaccountable reason got into the Top Ten charts. Flushed with the sudden irrational tolerance of an otherwise critical market. Thor has released the inevitable follow-up. Giant's Revenge, in which Jack the yellow blob descends into the earth for more treasure. One mistake on his narrow route and Jack's a dead blob. That is perhaps the most annoying aspect of the game. Not only must you discover how to collect the object at the end of each screen but you must also discover the correct route, pixel by pixel, regardless of where obstacles are placed. Sometimes you can walk straight through stalagmites or monsters. Sometimes they zap you before you even touch them.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Crash

Use of Computer 70%

Graphics 78%

Playability 55%

Getting Started 58%

Addictive Qualities 61%

Value For Money 63%

Overall 64%

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Producer: Thor Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Chris Kerry Giant's Revenge is a follow up program to Thor's Jack and the Beanstalk. Like Jet Set Willy it comes with a colour code anti-copying protection device. Unfortunately, and unlike Jet Set Willy, this card is so badly printed that it is hard to distinguish some of the colours except under ideal lighting conditions. The pale blue (cyan) and green are almost identical and hard to decipher unless either side by side or seen in bright light. Also, unlike Jet Set Willy, you are only allowed one go at a correct entry which seems pointlessly mean and silly when one is talking about a four to five minute loading time. This makes getting started a little fraught. On the other hand, you are treated to a very fast run through of all the screens you are about to tackle, which is colourful and useful. The scenario goes that Jack is bored after his defeat of the giant until one morning he notices a hole in the ground left by the giant's fall. Entering, Jack discovers that the giant isn't dead at all, but has built a complex of caverns under the ground where he now lives. Giants everywhere have this odd habit of accumulating treasures, and Jack must go and collect them, including the Elixir of Life. Giant's Revenge takes the same graphics and game idea as Jack and the Beanstalk, where you must walk Jack around seven screens, finding the correct route and collecting the one object on each screen before being able to get onto the next. The principle difference here is that there is no fire to halt the various meanies found on each screen. The screens start off outside Jack's house and descend via a ladder into the first of the caverns; this is followed by a long cave with stalactites, then some planks over a pool, a large room, some stairs down to the cellar, the foot of the giant's bed and finally to the giant himself at the bottom of the beanstalk roots. COMMENTS Control keys: well laid out, Q/W left/right, O/K up/down, P to jump Joystick: Kempston - annoying it's not mentioned on the inlay though Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: very good, with a few attribute problems Graphics: very good Sound: continuous tune and effects, a bit slower with microspeech Skill levels: 1 Lives: 4 Screens: 7 Features: Currah Micro-speech compatible and voice effects

Personal Computer News

Bob Chappell

Price: £5.95 Publisher: Thor Software [redacted] What goes up must come down. Thor's successful Jack and the Beanstalk had you climbing to the top of the plant whereas Giant's Revenge has you heading towards the root, through the hole left by the giant when he fell to earth. The game has seven screens. Starting at ground level, you descend through various chambers to the giant's subterranean lair among the beanstalk roots. Each screen holds a valuable object which must be snatched before you can progress further. Various meanies scuttle around each chamber - and you have nothing but nimbleness to prevent you from being knocked into the abyss below. The game can be played using the keyboard or Kempston joystick and also emits an assortment of spoken comments if you attach a Currah Microspeech unit. At start-up, the game flicks through all the screen layouts, including the options page. Unfortunately, it skips through the latter so quickly, you barely have time to see what key you need to press to select the appropriate option (1 for keyboard, 2 for Kempston, in fact). On screen one, Jack, a small yellow figure, stands outside his house at the foot of the beanstalk. Hanging about nearby are two unrecognisable but dangerous thingies. A ladder leads down a hole to a cave where two more beasties patrol. If you use the Currah Microspeech, you'll be told to collect the enchanted scroll which is lying centre-screen. Jack can jump as well as move left, right, up and down. He does suffer somewhat from colour attribute problems, frequently leaving a blob of yellow in areas he has visited. The animation is not bad but controlling Jack is a pain. It's all to easy to blunder into a monster or fall off a ledge. Other screens feature a stalactite and stalagmite-filled cave, planks across a lake, the giant's chamber and finally, the giant's lair, complete with giant (well, his head anyway). The backdrop graphics are the best feature in what is otherwise a pretty ordinary and awkward game. A non-runner bean.