Hunchback

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 7/10

THE BELLS ARE RINGING Memory: 48K Price: £6.90 Joystick: Kempston, Protek, Sinclair Enthusiats for the popular amusement arcade game Hunchback will enjoy the version from Ocean. You are Quasimodo, the notorious Hunchback of Notre Dame, who in legend rang the bells of the famous cathedral. In the game you have to rescue your sweetheart Esmerelda, who is imprisoned in a tower on the cathedral battlements. You perform the selfless deed by leaping over fireballs, swinging on ropes and ringing the bells, pursued all the time by a tenacious French soldier. The game as released is a more or less direct copy of the original arcade game, which makes it simple in design but at the same time a sure winner with those who have unloaded a fortune in 10 pence pieces in dingy halls of pleasure. There are 15 screens but they lack the variety of many arcade games, being based on three or four basic configurations with added hazards at the later stages. On the plus side, the game is challenging but very easy to play and also addictive. Graphics are competent if not awe-inspiring. Quasimodo is a respectable size, which makes a change from some of the tiny stick-figures which feature in some games. The main difficulty with the graphics is that old Spectrum chestnut of how to prevent the colours spilling over when one colour over-writes another. In Hunchback, as an example when the green Quasimodo falls to his doom, sections of the red wall also turn green momentarily. That was less of a fault previously than it appears now, with companies like Ultimate and Software Projects producing games which apparently solve the problem. The action is pacy but not so fast that it discourages the less nimble-fingered among us. Timing rather than sheer speed is the secret of success in Hunchback. Ocean has produced a game which, although it does not dazzle the eye or numb the brain with its complexity and design, is nevertheless a good, solid version of an arcade classic.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your Spectrum

John Hall 8/10

Mark Knight 9/10

Tony Samuels 8/10

Your Spectrum is continuing to scour the country's computer clubs to get the undiluted thoughts, feelings and impressions of dedicated games enthusiasts - thus providing our readers with unbiased evaluations. Any club wishing to offer their reviewing services should contact Ron Smith, Spectrum Soft, [redacted]. This month we visited the Heald Green Computer Club (which meets fortnightly at the Public Hall, [redacted], on Wednesdays from 7.30 to 10.30pm). Three of the club's leading members each played the games we gave them for review and in some cases found them so well-conceived and written, went completely over the top with the superlatives. In others, the games were deemed to be re-hashes of old ideas and evaluated accordingly. The club was formed four months ago, and has already managed to attract over 40 enthusiasts. All members are being brought up to the same standard of proficiency by the more experienced members who are running formal courses in both Basic and machine code. Membership is offered at a very reasonable rate, and all enquiries should be referred to Tony Samuels on [redacted] (after 6pm). Tony, incidentally, is currently working on a new program for the Spectrum (called Ugh - see Rumbles in this issue) which will be available from Softek in the near future. HUNCHBACK Ocean £6.90 Based on a classic theme, the player's job is to enact the part of Quasimodo and rescue the beautiful Esmerelda while avoiding the guards and fireballs, and having to jump over pits of fire. At the end of each screen Quasimodo must ring 'the bells, the bells'.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Crash

Overall 66%

Producer: Ocean, 48K £5.90 (2) Author: Chris Urquhart This turns out to be a worthwhile Spectrum version of the arcade original, its main drawback, perhaps, being that it keeps combining already used elements in geometric progression, which lowers its playing attractiveness. You're Quasimodo (a well known hunchback) and you must cross the castle ramparts to rescue the lovely Esmerelda from her tower prison. There are 15 screens in which you must jump the castellations, swing over fire pits, jump castellations filled with spear raising soldiers, dodge missiles and do all these things in combination. On each screen there is a red knight climbing up the castle wall. If he reaches the top before you start getting safely across, he sticks his sword somewhere unmentionable. Rope swinging is a very tricky business with correct timing essential - perhaps too finicky. Good control keys, joystick: Kempston, Protek, AGF, Sinclair 2. Skill levels, only 1, lives 3, good value and reasonably addictive. Overall CRASH rating 66%

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Crash

Use of Computer 72%

Graphics 68%

Playability 65%

Getting Started 70%

Addictive Qualities 59%

Value For Money 62%

Overall 66%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Ocean Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.90 Language: Machine code Author: C.F. Urquhart Hunchback seems to have been quite a while a'coming, so it's pleasing to be able to report that it seems worth the waiting. In some sense it's a platform, hole-leaping game that takes place on one platform. The story, as the title says, is set on a real castle and you are the (well known) hunchback, Quasimodo. Your task is to rescue Esmerelda from the stronghold. To do this you must jump, leap and dodge your way across no less than 15 screens of sheer torture. The screen shows a large wall reaching half way up. Quasimodo starts on the left and he must reach the bell rope on the right. At the base of the screen is a graphic representation of the 15 ramparts to be tackled. The problems encountered include fire balls which must be leapt, pits to be swung across on a rope, and others which need several ropes, castellations filled with spearmen who raise and lower their spears and must be jumped, and then combinations of all these elements. Additionally there is a red knight climbing the wall. If he reaches the top before Quasimodo gets across, he sticks his sword into his bottom! If you get through to the final screen you are rewarded by the sight of Esmerelda stuck in her tower, ready for rescue. COMMENTS Control keys: good, Q/W left right and SYMBOL SHIFT for jump Joystick: Kempston, Protek, AGF, Sinclair ZX 2 Keyboard play: responsive but jump timing very hard Colour: good Graphics: good Sound: good tunes Skill levels: 1 Lives: 3 Screens: 15

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

QUASI WILL GIVE YOU THE HUMP! It's a few centuries since the legendary Quasimodo first attempted to save the fair Esmeralda, and carry her off to the sanctuary of the Notre Dame's famous castle tower. But the hunchback has swung right back into the thick of the action. Notre Dame's booming chimes will ring out again as the worlds best known bell ringer hits your TV screen in the unlikely guise of a video game hero. Quasimodo's task is the same as ever, to save the beautiful Esmeralda from the clutches of the evil Archbishop and his cronies. You must help the unfortunate cripple jump flaming barrels, swing across murky pits and avoid loyal knights ready to thrust a lance into QUaSi's hunched shoulders. The game is played against a scrolling background of the cathedral. Each level consists of 15 screenfuls of high speed action and is piled with more and more difficult obstacles for Quasimodo to overcome before he reaches his true love. Hunchback is a direct copy of vim the original arcade game of the same name and has been produced with full co-operation of the game's original manufacturers Century Electronics. It's the only official version available on any home computer. Hunchback is available for the Sinclair Spectrum, Dragon 32, Commodore 64 and Oric computers in late December from the Manchester company, Ocean Software for £6.90.