2088

Your Sinclair

Overall 4/10

Marcus Berkmann 4/10

BARGAIN BASEMENT Cheaper than a speeding bullet. Leaps small molehills at a single bound! Is it a bird? Is it a Wankel rotary engine? No, it's 'budget king' Marcus Berkmann with the latest in budget software. 2088 Zeppelin £1.99 Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann Derek Brewster's new label has yet to make much of an impact in chart terms, and I'm afraid this release is unlikely to alter that state of of affairs. A space-based shoot 'em up, 2088 is efficient enough, but simply not addictive or different enough to get the pulse racing, jogging or even walking at a keen pace. Your job is to defend two alien ships which are evacuating their personnel from a planet whilst various meanies fire upon them, and plant exploding pods or whatever. About the only item of interest is a Centipede-like snake, travelling diagonally, which can be hard to avoid and difficult to destroy. Otherwise, forget it.

Crash

Graphics 26%

Playability 48%

Addictive Qualities 39%

Overall 40%

Mark Caswell 22%

Phil King 64%

Producer: Zeppelin Space Credits: £1.99 cass Author: Ian Beynon A hundred years hence, the invasion of a neighbouring planet by a power-hungry alien race has gone wrong. Now you, a mercenary, are being paid to help the beaten and defenceless aliens evacuate. The main part of the game takes place on a single screen. Aliens appear at the edges and gradually make their way towards the safety of the two escape craft in the middle. The simply-animated mercenary moves freely around the screen, shooting various enemies with a laser gun. Space snakes travel diagonally around the play area, 'bouncing' off the sides of the screen. They split in two when their tails are shot. Yet more danger is created by exploding pods, flying saucers and the two laser bases at the bottom and right-hand side of the screen. When a given number of aliens have been rescued, a bonus can be earned by successfully negotiating a vertically-scrolling asteroid field. The simplistic graphics are reminiscent of much earlier games, but don't be put off by the primitive presentation; underneath lies a playable little shoot-'em-up with some really frantic action. My only reservation is that its appeal could eventually wane due to the repetitive nature of gameplay. PHIL 64% THE ESSENTIALS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Sound: just simple bleeping effects

A hundred years from now, they'll be writing games like this?!