Kai Temple

Sinclair User

Overall 2/5

John Gilbert 2/5

Label: Firebird Silver Author: Ian Wright Price: £1.99 Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: John Gilbert More budget-priced high kicks from Firebird as they release yet another Kung Fu rip/take off. The Kai Masters, famed for their gentle mind cultivating disciplines, have gone loopy and trapped you in their Tibetan temple. Defeat the Ninjas, Devas and flying swords and you stand an even chance, if lucky, of escaping this programming nightmare. You can kick the Ninjas and Divas to death. Stand in exactly the right position and hammer the kick key. If you're too close or far away you lose one of your four lives, but if you are on target the unarmed assassin melts into the floor. Alternatively you can throw a knife which chugs unenthusiastically across the screen at the speed of a crab edging its way across the ocean floor. Again, if you're not on target it's bye bye Kai. Flying swords are impossible to deal with so avoid them by leaping from one platform to another. Your adversaries are impervious to the cutting blades so don't try to trick them by jumping at the last moment. If those weapons and wielders are not enough the programmer seems to have an Australian sense of humour. Despite your years of training in the Kai arts you still haven't got used to the Tibetan atmosphere, which makes you high. Without warning the world turns upside down and you're on your head facing an opponent. It's a neat trick but it doesn't lift the tedium. Kai Temple is a simple, two colour, levels and ladders game which becomes hard when you've played it for more than 15 minutes. The bashing is done with two keys and is a one chance only. The game is a one-play wonder which would have been better if the programmer had put in more obstacles and better graphics - a joystick would have been a good idea too.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 6/10

Playability 6/10

Value For Money 8/10

Addictiveness 7/10

Overall 6/10

Luke C 6/10

Firebird £1.99 Reviewer: Luke C Okay, I'm not going to go into lavish detail on the storyline here... we're talking Ninjas, leaping up and down platform levels, and savage kicks to the groin. Not one for the goolies, eh lads? There are three platforms to negotiate and one Ninja to start off. Plan your kick and - Pow! - he dissolves into dust at your feet. And, as usual with this sort of game, getting your kick timed perfectly is all-important. But like all games of this type, kill one Ninja and two more take his place. And so on. The graphics aren't going to stop the world, but they're not bad - if a little slow, when there are loads of things happening on screen; three Ninjas, a thrown knife, your character and a flying sword seem to place great strain on the usual speedy stuff you expect from this Kung Fu action. But one neat twist to the game is that the screen sometimes suddenly inverts and you find yourself and the enemy Ninjas upside-down. You'll soon get the hang of when to kick the Ninjas to do them a real nasty and four lives are usually enough to give you a fighting chance. But if you're looking for a storyline - finding treasure or saving the princess of something - you can forget it. Still, for two quid you could do worse - Firebird's Ninja Mastere for example! if you want five or six fancy kicks then look around for another game, but if you want to become a master of just one classic move - The K'i'ck I'n The Gro'i'n - then this is the game for you.

Crash

Use of Computer 43%

Graphics 42%

Playability 39%

Getting Started 53%

Addictive Qualities 40%

Value For Money 46%

Overall 40%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Firebird Retail Price: £1.99 Author: Ian Wright High up in the Himalayas there is a mystical Kai temple. This holy shrine is guarded by fearsome martial arts warriors: Ninjas and the Divas. Their sole job is to protect the treasures and religious artefacts within the temple, and very dedicated to their vocation they are too. It is into this potentially dangerous situation that you unwittingly stumbled... It is impossible to escape from the Kai temple, unless you happen to be a martial arts supremo. The Ninjas can only be despatched by an accurately timed combat kick. When one of these kicks hits home, the Ninja dissolves into a crumpled mass on the floor. Divas can only be killed by lobbing a dagger into their torsos. Each screen consists of three platforms patrolled by a number of guards. Your character can leap between the platforms to avoid flying arrows and daggers and must chase around the screen dealing death. Each screen has a time limit indicated by a counter - if the guards aren't eliminated quickly enough, the game ends. Contact with a Ninja or Diva result in the loss of one of your three lives. As you progress in the game, more and more pasties have to be dealt with and time limits get shorter. Every time three screens are cleared a bit of bell ringing is needed before the game moves to the next level. Pounding on the fire key makes a strength bar grow and then your man leaps onto a seesaw, propelling a ball into the air. If the bell is rung by the flying ball it's onto the next screen, otherwise it's back to the last section of the temple. Tibetan air is very thin, and while the Ninjas and Divas are perfectly acclimatised you aren't. Now and again your oxygen starved brain plays tricks, making the task a lot harder - the whole screen turns upside down! Points are scored for each Ninja and Diva destroyed and for every level completed. There is a high score to beat each game, but the main problem is simply staying alive... COMMENTS Control keys: redefinable: up, down, left, right, kick, throw dagger Joystick: keyboard only Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: monochromatic Graphics: amateurish Sound: irritating spot effects Skill levels: one Screens: 9

Two Ninjas close in on you on the lowest platform. Seventy seconds remain in which to despatch them with a well placed kick.