Mad Martha II

Crash

Producer: Mikrogen, 48K £6.95 Much the same mix as before, except this time Henry, Martha and son are on holiday in Spain. Martha has a half-cousin, a waiter called (wait for it) Manuel. Martha sets out on a bus tour with her son, leaving Manuel to keep an eye on Henry, who has a secret rendezvous with a Spanish penpal. Henry leaves their hotel with Manuel in hot pursuit on his trail. Features a bull fight with Henry as the star attraction. Not to be missed!

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Your Computer

Spectrum 48K £6.95 Mikro-Gen As its name suggests, Mad Martha II is the sequel to the earlier Spectrum game. Holiday time sees Martha and Henry in Barcelona, in a hotel where Martha's half-cousin, Manuel, is a waiter, Martha is out for the afternoon on a bus tour and has instructed Manuel to watch over Henry. Henry has plans - he intends to look up an old friend at a secret rendezvous. However, the best laid plans, etc. The adventure is text based, with graphics for the locations and a few simple arcade-type games thrown in for good measure. Although the game is fairly simple and unspectacular, it has a certain wackiness about it that is appealing.

Crash

Producer: Mikrogen, 48K £6.95 Much the same mix as before, except this time Henry, Martha and son are on holiday in Spain. Martha has a half-cousin, a waiter called (wait for it) Manuel. Martha sets out on a bus tour with her son, leaving Manuel to keep an eye on Henry, who has a secret rendezvous with a Spanish penpal. Henry leaves their hotel with Manuel in hot pursuit on his trail. Features a bull fight with Henry as the star attraction. Not to be missed!

Personal Computer News

Mike Gerrard

Mike Gerrard and his Sinclair go adventuring with a bagfull of games. SPECIFICALLY SPECTRUM Arcade games and adventures still dominate the Spectrum software market, and this round-up reflects that by looking at two arcade games, two adventures, and an adventure that includes three arcade-style games. I'M IN SHOCK (16K, £4.95), Artic Computing, [redacted] This simple but addictive zapping game fills the screen with a 31 x 23 grid, and you patrol the bottom firing at the vicious creatures that are buzzing above, bent on your destruction. This may sound like Gridrunner, but the difference is that some of the columns contain deflecting plates that turn your shot through 90°, and if you can't fire directly at the aliens you can use these plates to bounce your shots round a few angles, like an intergalactic Alex Higgins. This is no mean feat as the creatures move quickly. Control, is by the keyboard and the most important feature is the high-score record, because that's what you'll always be aiming to beat. The graphics don't need to be anything special as the action is fast and the sound relentless. TUTAKHAMUN (48K, £5.95), Micromania, [redacted] When you tire of killing aliens, move on to Mummies from ancient Egypt, which, along with skulls, spiders, snakes and indefinable monsters, are the hazards out to get you in five mazes. Using Kempston or AGF joysticks, or the sensible keyboard lay-out, you manoeuvre along the underground tunnels, and collecting goodies and shooting baddies along the way, you search for the key that will open the door to the next level. The screen scrolls automatically, and a scanner shows the whole of the that particular maze at the top of the screen. The machine code movement is fast, and while it obviously owes a lot to several other berserk-style games that are around, it is well done and extremely difficult to master. CASTLE COLDITZ (48K, £5.95), Felix Software, [redacted] To escape from Castle Colditz you must make your way from the prisoners' room to the castle's main gate, and this could be described as the archetypal text-only adventure. You move using N, S, E, W, U or D; C lets you know what you're carrying (up to six) items); L redescribes your location if the text has scrolled off the screen; the optional instructions advise you to make a map and warn that some exits are one-way only; there's a Save option; you're given a list of verbs you can use in the verb-noun commands, these include take, leave, use, fight and so on; you'll find objects such as a rope, torch, pencil, chisel; and finally there are Nazi treasures you can try to smuggle out. Though in machine language and quick to respond, the adventure is traditional and reliable - even the surprises were unsurprising as I moved round the Gun Room, or the Blanket Store, trying to escape, I was just waiting to find myself in a room with no apparent means of escape, and eventually it turned up, the Wine Cellar where all you can see is a barred window which proves very difficult to break open. The game is perfectly well done and thorough, but lacks sparkle and imagination, as if it were the latest to fall off the adventure production line. THE CROWN (48K, £4 mail order, £4.60 retail, also available for 16K ZX81 and Lynx), Symbol Software, [redacted] The Crown was put out originally on the 16K ZX81, but it's hard to see where that extra memory has been used up since the whole adventure has rather an amateurish look. It is set in the mists of time when everyone had funny names: 'After the fall of the House of Rof and the theft of the ancient sceptre by the Orckind, Invi the Elder took the great Crown of Rof... Your task is to recover the crown and ensure that once again good triumphs over evil. The scene descriptions will hardly win any literary prizes: 'Fork in road, Exits: N, W, E, you see: (followed by a blank). Unfortunately 'You see:' appears even when there's nothing there, which looks a bit odd on the screen, as do some of the responses. In one location I could see an axe. 'Take Axe,' I said. 'What?" it replied. "Take Axe,' I repeated. 'What? Take Axe,' I insisted, there being an axe staring us both in the face. 'You carry the Axe,' it finally agreed, and in other places too some perfectly acceptable commands were greeted by the uncomprehending 'What?" This adventure doesn't have a lot going for it, cheap though it is, and as far as I'm concerned evil can triumph over good if it means I don't have to play again. MAD MARTHA Mikro-Gen, [redacted] The adventure/arcade bridge is provided by the follow-up to the very successful Mad Martha, which the cassette cover claims contains 'three exciting arcade-type games.' I would take that 'exciting' with a generous pinch of salt. The hen-peeked Henry, ie you, is on holiday in Spain with Martha and son Arbuthnot, who have both gone off on a coach trip leaving you sitting in the sunshine enjoying a cool drink. Waiter Manuel, who also happens to be Martha's cousin, brings you a letter doused in perfume, and off you set on your travels around the town to find out what's going on. After all, you can't read the letter till you find your spectacles, and you can't get out of the dark alley without something to light the way, and what does the bullfight poster mean, and when will that phrasebook come in handy? The graphics are rather limited, the speed of response is slow, and there was also the occasional unusual reaction from the program. On the beach I tried the command 'Dig,' only to be confused by the reply 'You must wear your spectacles'. What can this mean? There are three skill levels, and this is a race against the clock - once you've found your time-piece, of course. The program allows for multiple command entries, and can be saved. Although I didn't feel it was testing my powers of deduction to the full, it still has a certain appeal and is definitely different, which is all to the good when there's so much mediocrity about.

Sinclair User

HOLIDAY A WELCOME CHANGE Sequels are often a disappointment but anyone who enjoyed the Mikro-Gen Mad Martha will probably be happy to add Mad Martha II for the 48K Spectrum to their collection. Subtitled Henry Sails the Spanish Main, the lively graphics adventure is set in a Spanish holiday resort, as is clearly indicated by the blazing sun and a spirited rendering of Viva Espana at the start of the game. The story features such things as a perfumed letter, a succession of doors, a dark alley and a bullfight. Events unfold at a brisk pace, with plenty of variety in the locations and incidents. You may well find yourself on a beach or in a hotel bar, or blundering on to someone else's be)cony, a faux pas which will land you in the local jail. There is also a challenging maze game played against the clock to enliven the action, although you may want to avoid it if you suffer from slow fingers. The game also features a good sprinkling of useful objects such as spectacles and matchboxes to find. Although the commands which the computer understands are limited, the graphics are unsophisticated and the author's grasp of Spanish appears shaky, it is a well-constructed adventure in which it is possible to keep track of one's movements and explore new areas when replaying the game. You can choose between three levels of difficulty and the setting and light-hearted approach make a welcome change from the gothic castles and space odysseys of so many other adventure games. Mad Martha II is produced by Mikro-Gen, [redacted]. It costs £6.95.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Crash

Producer: Mikrogen, 48K £6.95 Much the same mix as before, except this time Henry, Martha and son are on holiday in Spain. Martha has a half-cousin, a waiter called (wait for it) Manuel. Martha sets out on a bus tour with her son, leaving Manuel to keep an eye on Henry, who has a secret rendezvous with a Spanish penpal. Henry leaves their hotel with Manuel in hot pursuit on his trail. Features a bull fight with Henry as the star attraction. Not to be missed!

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Logic/Difficulty 1/5

Vocabulary 1/5

Plot/Theme 3/5

Keith Campbell

After Mad Martha it was with great interest that I sat and waited for Mad Martha II to load into my Spectrum. After a meaningless burst of flashing screens and unpleasant beeps you are asked your name, a trifle odd, as you are supposed to be taking the part of Martha's husband, Henry. After answering, you are asked to select your skill level (1, 2 or 3), and this sets just how much time you have for your night-on-the-tiles. More flashes and beeps and you are seated at a table on the beach, with the glorious Spanish sun blazing down. The waiter appears and hands you a scented letter and you are treated to a short rendition of Viva Espana. The picture was quite nicely done and the music was very impressive indeed and a nice mood setter. From then on, the game falls short of expectations. When all the many bugs are ironed out, this may well be a passable game, providing you're deaf, have less than seven brain-cells, and the I.Q. level of a concussed bee! Mad Martha II from Microgen for 48K Spectrum. Price £6.95.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

HONEYMOON WITH A MAD WOMAN! Remember the night poor little hen-pecked Henry flipped and blew the housekeeping on a night of gambling and drinking at one of the local sin bins. His bossy wife - Mad Martha - didn't like it one bit! Last we heard she was still chasing after him with an axe. But now we know how the domestic story ended. Happily you'll pleased to know. After a lengthy session with the marriage guidance councillor both parties agreed to forget their differences and now marital bliss has been restored to their happy home. For Henry's part he has pledged to spend less time on the golf-course, less money in the bar, and never to darken the doorway again of the Blue Lady Casino. Martha has also made a promise. To increase Henry's pocket money and to restrict the usage of the family axe to the chopping of fire wood. To cement the new bond Martha and Henry are off on a second honeymoon to Spain where, according to C&VG's Spanish correspondent, Martha has a half-brother called Manuel who is a waiter at the hotel they are booked in for the holiday. But does Martha know about this estranged member of her family? Will Henry be able to stay out of the Spanish gambling dens? And has Martha packed a precautionary axe amongst her stays and corsets? Will Mad Martha and Henry become the Ken and Deidrie of the computer games world? All will be revealed in MikroGen's sequel to Mad Martha which is lined up for release in July. The company are not sure what to call the game and a price has yet to be decided, but it is likely to be around the £6 mark for the 48K Sinclair Spectrum.