Mr. Weems and the She Vampires

Your Sinclair

Graphics 7/10

Playability 8/10

Value For Money 7/10

Addictiveness 8/10

Overall 7/10

Tony Lee 7/10

Piranha £7.95 Reviewer: Tony Lee Having had enough of vampire jokes (my brother was always prone to Christopher Lee ones) it was with great reluctance that I accepted this. Was it courage? Was it trepidation? No, it was the Ed saying "Oh grow up you twonk, it's only a game!" Taking no chances, however, I loaded the program armed with a steak, garlic and some seasoning on the side. (Steak? Are you sure about this? Ed.) But I ate these before starting the game. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I swear I saw something at the window, and as the window started to open I felt something creeping up my... Whoops! Sorry about that, I got a bit carried away. Mr Weems And The She-Vampires is a Gauntlet-style game by the RamJam Corporation, the company responsible for such games as Valkyrie 17, Panzadrome and Explorers. It's mainly single coloured, with flip screen instead of scrolling, which would surely have ruined the colours had there been any. You control the bespectacled Mr Weems as he travels through six levels picking up various things and wiping out everyone in his way. He's supplied with a garlic gun, so he can dish out exorcisms St Rambo-style, and a garlic pill which makes him immune from attack for a while. He can also turn vampy himself, and his strength is restored by various blood bottles littered around the complex. Garlic bombs kill everything within a certain radius, but not the big She-V herself, oh no. For that you need a mallet and a stake (Rare or well done? Ed), a cross, a mirror and a very large piece of garlic. These are dumped around the six levels, and are usually well guarded. Once the She-Vampire's been scratched out, you have to skedaddle fast, before her minions catch on that something is wrong and go out (literally) for your blood. Weems is good fun, even if its colour scheme occasionally strains the peepers. It's very much in a well-worn formula, and so slightly overpriced, but if you have a taste for blood, it might be a game to get your teeth into!

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Presentation 59%

Graphics 63%

Playability 67%

Addictive Qualities 62%

Value For Money 57%

Overall 64%

Ben Stone

Mike Dunn

Paul Sumner

Producer: Piranha Retail Price: £7.95 Author: Ram Jam Vampire hunting isn't everyone's idea of a hobby, but Mr Weems thinks that it's a pretty good way of passing the time. With this in mind he sets out to kill the Great She Vampire. Having entered her mansion, Mr Weems discovers that it's a six-level, flick screen complex of corridors and rooms with locked doors. Collected keys unlock them, but there are hidden doors as well, and magic transporter blocks. On each level Weems encounters bat-infested coffins and pots, lumbering, but stupid Frankenstein monsters, and menacing she vampires with street smarts. If they bump him in the night, they give Weems amnesia. Should his blood count ever fall to zero he succumbs to death, but Weems can turn vampire himself and replenish his blood levels by picking up the blood bottles he finds on his adventure. He can also pop a smart-garlic pill to give himself a short-term immunity to others' bloodsucking attentions. Not content with merely smelling like a French chef, Weems also totes a garlic-firing gun with almost limitless cloves; there are also garlic bombs to be picked up en route to. When used, these remove offending creeps rom the show, but are ineffective when the ultimate level is reached. Points are awarded for each creature creamed, and when all bloodsuckers have been removed from each room, coffins can be destroyed, a point being given for every one blasted. On reaching the ultimate level, our be-garlicked vampire enthusiast finds the Great She-Vampire's penthouse lair. There he can kill her at his leisure, but only if he has acquired the secret weapons - a stake, a mallet, a mega-garlic piece, a mirror and crucifix - contained within boxes on each of the levels. Once collected these are shown on screen. If he manages to despatch the Great She-Vampire, Weems must make like Seb Coe and leave the vampire-ridden mansion before her enraged minions can seek him out - but if that's what you like doing for a hobby, Bon Apetit. COMMENTS Control keys: definable, up/down, left/right, smart-garlic and garlic bomb needed Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2 Use of colour: very bright surrounds to a largely monochromatic playing area Graphics: often extremely busy and sometimes confusing Sound: above average Skill levels: one Screens: six levels of flick screens

Sinclair User

Overall 3/5

Graham Taylor 3/5

Label: Piranha Author: RamJam Price: £8.99 Joystick: various Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: Graham Taylor The Astonishing Adventures of Mr Weems and the She Vampires has been through a few marketing changes recently. The game, by RamJam, was originally going to be sold for around about £5 by a mystery company, with all the instructions you needed to make as many copies as you wanted. The idea being you would send the company, as a matter of honour a quid or so on every one you distributed. The game at that time was known as Mr Weems and the Sex Vampires. This was a bizarre idea and didn't make it too far, past the twelve bottles of Pils in the pub stage. Now the game, under its new title, is to be sold by Piranha for £8.95. This is a more conventional plan. The game is yet another Gauntlet. This is not so bad because nobody else is selling a Gauntlet variant this week so the game might do OK. The setting even looks like the stoney alley ways and mazes of Gauntlet only the deadly weebles being different. In this case you get a pudgy bespectacled bank manager as hero and assorted horror film bit part actors as the bad guys (and girls as it happens). Mr Weems runs around firing his rather pathetic garlic bullets at everything in sight except - keys (to get through doors. dummy!), blood (restores energy), Garlic Bombs (blow everything on screen away), smart Garlic (gives Weems temporary immunity) and the assorted vital objects that you need to collect in order to kill the Great She Vampire on the final screen. If you manage to kill all the bloodsuckers on a screen you get to start blowing up coffins - which is fun. There are a few secret exits to be found, a few transporters to shunt you about and the only really significant difference between levels is the colour. The effect of the garlic bomb is, however, pretty impressive - serious flashing. Different monsters require more or less garlic hits - this is strategy of sorts. Graphically Mr Weems is OK, though the way the screen flips between sections is a bit crummy. The only real problem is that the large number of small (but detailed) graphics makes the screen look pretty confusing - you better make sure your TV is well tuned in. Ours wasn't and caused much heartbreak and I shot keys and smart Garlic a plenty. The game isn't going to win any awards, but Mr Weems is a perfectly adequate Gauntlet variant, at £5.00 it would have been quite a bargain. As it is it gets a definite maybe for those not yet weary...