Holiday in Sumaria

Your Sinclair

Overall 4/10

Gwyn Hughes 4/10

There are mounds of cheapies on the racks this Chrimble, some good, some indifferent and some terminally pitiful. We asked the Joystick Jugglers for their thoughts (the printable ones, at least) on some of the more recent offerings... HOLIDAY IN SUMARIA Pirate £2.99 Reviewer: Gwyn Hughes Yup, it's another 3D arcade adventure. But where you battled with Batman or fought for Fairlight, this is a decidedly dodgy package of a holiday. The landscape itself is odd enough, and dark blue on black doesn't make for maximum visibility. And when two monsters appear on the screen and everything slows down, you'll wish you'd stayed at home.

Sinclair User

Overall 3/10

Gary Rook 3/10

Label: Pirate Software Author: In-house Price: £2.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Gary Rook Arghh I've seen some poor games in my time mate but this just about takes the biscuit. The idea and most of the graphics are just poor quality versions of chunks out of far, far better games. You guide Sid through the maze of rooms (all from the familiar top right-hand corner three dimensional view point) he jumps on to things that look suspiciously like giant crisps, pouffs (the things you sit on) and mushrooms. Pick things up, drop them, push things around, avoid the monsters. Yes, we've been here before and it looked better last year. The programmer has even had the gall to introduce a monster that looks incredibly like the Sabreman's wolf incarnation from Knightlore but jerky and crudely drawn! The graphics are disappointing, too - because you know what they should look like - and the response is basically yawn making. Even at £3.00 this one isn't worth it.

Crash

Use of Computer 29%

Graphics 23%

Playability 16%

Addictive Qualities 15%

Overall 16%

Mike Dunn 26%

Nick Roberts 17%

Paul Sumner 4%

Producer: Pirate Software Retail Price: £2.99 Author: Sam Garforth With package holidays in vogue this month (see the review of Players's Supernova...), here's another game with a moral for joyous travellers. Never, ever, EVER go on a package holiday with Costa Galactic Travel - they'll go bust and leave you on a place like Sumaria. That's where Sid is stranded - a planet under compulsory purchase and soon to be destroyed. Sidney's only chance of leaving this doomed world is to find the Grail Of Gackara and use it to fire up an ageing matter-transporter. This accumulation of geriatric electronics is hidden in one of Sumaria's castles, but the historic piles are populated by poisonous bats and minotaurs. If our troubled tourist lets them get too close, they nick one of his lives. Sid's sole chance of Grail-grabbing is by making like a Blue Peter presenter and using objects he finds as he shuffles and jumps through the obstacle-ridden castle rooms. Only one item can be carried at a time, but this could give vital information about nearby monsters, or provide protection. A sword kills attackers, the cloak frightens them away, dropping a clock freezes time, and teleporters transport Sid to other sections of the Sumarian kingdom. And there's only Sumerian minutes to go before the planet is lost . COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: poor forced perspective Sound: excruciating to the eardrums Options: definable keys

Of course, there's always Majorca instead...