Haunted Hedges

Crash

Use of Computer (CP) 80%

Use of Computer (MU) 70%

Graphics (CP) 70%

Graphics (MU) 62%

Playability (CP) 63%

Playability (MU) 50%

Addictive Qualities (CP) 65%

Addictive Qualities (MU) 49%

Value for Money (CP) 68%

Value for Money (MU) 60%

Chris Passey

Matthew Uffindell

ELECTRO GOBBLE - PACMAN TYPE GAMES In our sixth comparison, reviewers CHRIS PASSEY and MATTHEW UFFINDELL snatch a glass of water and a handful of power pills and prepare to do battle with a legion of ghosts... Pacmania came over from the States quite a while back. Initially the game was regarded as odd in that it was relatively non-violent for a computer game, but it rapidly established itself as the number one arcade favourite. Although the craze is over now, there are still a lot of pacfans around. As a classic maze game, Pacman was among the first arcade originals to be copied in numerous forms on to the Spectrum. Copyright owners, Atari International, have been promoting their expensive 'official' version since before Christmas, but it competes against some very strong 'unofficial versions. Some are good, some not so good, and there are some interesting variants. In brief, the classic version should have a medium complex maze connected horizontally by a wrap around tunnel. In the four corners are a similar number of power pills. Each pathway of the maze is regularly dotted. In the centre is a 'home' for ghosts of differing colours and point values, which are released into the maze at intervals. The object is to take your Pacman, an orange ball with a gobbling mouth, around the maze and eat all the dots to promote to a more difficult screen with more intelligent ghosts. Eating a power pill will cause all the ghosts to turn blue and edible. In this condition they should run away from your approach at a slower speed than yourself, Strawberries appear at intervals and can be eaten for bonus points. HAUNTED HEDGES Producer: Micromega Memory Required: 16K Retail Price: £6.95 This is a fairly original game. The maze has been turned into a 3D maze using colour. It is quite realistic too. The man runs behind hedges so that only the top half of him can be seen. Bonus features apart, this is basically a Pacman type game and its a reasonably good one too. The game offers user-definable keys; it's playable but I still prefer the fruity original. Nonetheless this is a good version. CP The only 3D maze game out of the bunch, essentially everything else is the same - ghosts chase in a hazardous sort of way, power pills aid your task. The differences are the 3D effect and 'you' are a real running, but small, man that walks over the dots. Sound and colour are average. I didn't really like the 3D effect maze, but the game itself plays averagely. Novel. MU

Crash

Producer: Micromega, 16K £6.95 Author: Derek Brewster Derek Brewster is Neptune Computing, but this 3D pacman is marketed by Micromega. The price probably reflects the fact the 3D in a title or game sells better than mere two dimensions, in effect, though, this is very much the ordinary ghost game with a running figure instead of the usual toothy orange.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Crash

Producer: Micromega, 16K £6.95 Author: Derek Brewster Derek Brewster is Neptune Computing, but this 3D pacman is marketed by Micromega. The price probably reflects the fact the 3D in a title or game sells better than mere two dimensions, in effect, though, this is very much the ordinary ghost game with a running figure instead of the usual toothy orange.

Crash

Producer: Micromega, 16K £6.95 Author: Derek Brewster Derek Brewster is Neptune Computing, but this 3D pacman is marketed by Micromega. The price probably reflects the fact the 3D in a title or game sells better than mere two dimensions, in effect, though, this is very much the ordinary ghost game with a running figure instead of the usual toothy orange.

Personal Computer News

Lasting Appeal 3/5

Playability 5/5

Use Of The Machine 4/5

Overall Value 4/5

Mike Gerrard 4/5

NAME: Haunted Hedges SYSTEM: Spectrum 16/48K PRICE: £5.95 PUBLISHER: Micromega, [redacted] FORMAT: Cassette LANGUAGE: Machine code OTHER VERSIONS: None OUTLETS: Retail GHOSTS IN 3-D It did seem that every possible variation on Pac-Man short of Pac-Man on Ice had been tried, but here comes a new one - a 3D version. OBJECTIVES In this you're collecting gold coins which are scattered around a more limited version of the famous maze, all the while being pursued by four ghosts. You can pick up one of the ice-picks lying about and become the pursuer... until the ice-pick melts, that is. From time to time assorted treasures will appear, and if you can get these before they go again you earn extra points. IN PLAY The opening menu offers you several options: pressing I will get you the instructions; S will start the game; E will exit the game; H will hold a game, freezing the frame; pressing keys 1-5 will select the appropriate ghostly intelligence level, from moronic to Mensa; and K will enable you to choose which four keys you would like to use to control the movements. What 3D means in effect is that instead of looking straight down onto the maze your viewpoint has been shifted slightly to one side to give the impression of depth, as if the characters were indeed running round a maze of hedges. This 3D feeling is certainly effective, but although the graphics are impressive in this respect they're not quite matched by the movement of the man. He does dart about quickly enough, though, and he will continue to run in a particular direction till you press another key, meaning that you can pre-program him to turn the next corner. If you're nippy enough with your three lives and can score 10,000 points you gain an extra life. There's a high-score record at the top of the screen, and each time you complete a screen you get a new one with more gold coins on it, as well as a general increase in speed, of course. The game is definitely quick enough to be challenging, and four super-intelligent ghosts hurtling round proved too much for me. There's no sound apart from a sprinkling of plinks. VERDICT If you have a version of PacMan it's hardly worth getting another, but if you're hankering after one and don't insist on a carbon copy... well, 3D or not 3D, that is the question? My answer would be yes.

Your Computer

Overall 2/5

16/48K Spectrum Eat 'em up Micromania £6.95 This game is reminiscent of a Pac Man implementation but with gold coins to collect instead of power pills, and ice packs instead of boosters. The maze and its inhabitants are viewed from above and at a slight angle. Excellent graphics, a fast game, with ghosts whose intelligence can be varied from zero to super.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

CRUSTACEANS LURK IN OUTER SPACE Luna Crabs and Haunted Hedges are two new 3D-style arcade games for the Spectrum. These two all-machine code games are carefully constructed to achieve the correct 3D perspective and push the Spectrum's graphics capabilities to the limit, according to the manufacturers Micromega. Luna Crabs returns to the essential simplicity of the classic arcade games. The crabs behave semi-intelligently, swarming and bunching in changing patterns, and hiding behind hills to reemerge at unexpected intervals. The patterns are reset for each round, so the player cannot learn how to beat the computer The photon bolts used to blast the crabs are steerable so you have more chance to hit a moving target. Haunted Hedges is a new version of the most popular arcade concept of all - the maze chase. The features include full 3-D visual effects. An animated figure with arms and legs moving as it chases and is chased around the maze. The intelligence level of the ghosts is included as a variable the player can set. Full instructions are included on screen, and again the controls have been simplified. A feature of the programming is that the player can chose which keys suit him best to control the action at the start of the game.