Mummy! Mummy!

Big K

Overall 1/3

Steve Keaton 1/3

MAKING IT WITH A BAND-AID MAKER: Lothlorien FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £5.95 A trio of Egyptian Panic variants suitably swathed in rotting bandages and dunked in embalming fluid. The first is fairly pointless to be honest, and merely involves digging a couple of holes in Tutankhamun's tomb in the hope that a crusty Glob (animated and angry) can be tempted up from the lower levels end then brained. It's little more then a ritual really, prior to entering the second levels 'n' ladders screen, which is based on the standard Panic layout, here you must collect at least five of the randomly scattered cartouches (a kind of hieroglyphic notepad) from beneath the noses of prowling Globs, thereby being allowed entry into the third screen which puts you within sniffing' distance of your beloved endgame sarcophagus. Pharaoh enough you might think! Unfortunately despite the promising scenario, this variation on a theme has little to commend it. The graphics are functional (ie. not quite naff) and the game just happens to be an expert on all things Egyptian and have stacks of interesting Egyptian holiday snaps to show. Y'know, Keaton at the Sphinx, Keaton impersonating a sphinx, that kind of thing. There's even some Super 8 film somewhere! Now where did I put it all...

Your Spectrum

George Price HIT

Johnathan Norman MISS

Robert Ledbury HIT

JOYSTCK JURY Evaluating the batch this month is the Gloucester Computing Club. Any club wishing to offer their services should contact Ron Smith, Your Spectrum, [redacted]. This month's reviewers (all ten of them!) are members of the Gloucester Computer Club and, in alphabetical order, they are: Stephen Avent (28), Andrew Base (15), Robert Ledbury (22), Mark Manning (15), Nigel Newland (13), Peter Newland (15), Johnathan Norman (15), George Price (35), Mike Skinner (30) and Richard Vernon (15). They all set to work with Spectrum, pen and paper to tell us what's right and what's not so right with the latest new releases. THE GLOUCESTER COMPUTING CLUB In a moment we'll get on to the verdicts of our nimble-fingered, boggle-eyed band - to find out which new games are bound for the YS Top 20. But first, some details on the club. It was formed approximately eight months ago by Mr B Ledbury (who happens to be the father of Robert - one of our reviewers) and it's already built up a membership of 35 enthusiasts - ages ranging from 10 years to 'mature'. Meetings are currently held in two rooms at Mr Ledbury's home; one for games evaluation, the other for more serious studies. Membership is free and for more information, contact Mr Ledbury, [redacted]. MUMMY, MUMMY Lothlorien £5.95 As a distant cousin of Nefertiti, you have spent several peaceful milleniums in your pyramid - until, that is, you were woken by Mad Clive who is an archeologist. Now you must find the 25 magic cartouches explaining the ritual for your burial.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

LET SLEEPING MUMMIES LIE A new game for the 16K Spectrum will banish forever the myth that computer games are only for children. Mummy Mummy is set in Egypt, thousands of years ago, during the reign of the infamous Nefertiti. You play the part of the mummy who has been slumbering in peace in his pyramid for hundreds of years. But you are awoken from your sleep by the ghost of Mad Clive, a greedy archaeologist, who died while trying to plunder the pyramid and your tomb in particular. You must complete two difficult tasks before you can be reburied, hopefully to spend another millenia fast asleep in your gold sarcophagus. First, you must collect the 25 pieces of the burial scroll hidden in the pyramid, necessary if you are to return to the coffin. Next you must destroy the ghost of Mad Clive and the distressed souls of former Egyptian rulers who haunt the pyramids by bringing down the stone roofs and burying them under the rubble. Mummy Mummy is available direct from MC Lothlorien for the 16/48K Spectrum and costs £5.95. PS MC Lothlorien are one company who are leading the way with a new type of game - the strategy war game. The games combine the best of arcade and adventure software. Fast and furious shooting action is interlinked with brain-racking military decision-making in future issues, C&VG will be exploring these new 'cult' games.

Crash

Graphics (CP) 67%

Graphics (MU) 55%

Use of Computer (CP) 61%

Use of Computer (MU) 58%

Playability (CP) 41%

Playability (MU) 30%

Addictive Qualities (CP) 40%

Addictive Qualities (MU) 25%

Value for Money (CP) 50%

Value for Money (MU) 43%

Overall 47%

Chris Passey

Matthew Uffindell

HEADBANGERS - PANIC GAMES Armed with little more than a trusty spade, nimble fingers and wilting joystick, our two arcade playing reviewers, CHRIS PASSEY and MATTHEW UFFINDELL, enter the dusty platforms in search of monsters 'Panic' games involve climbing ladders to various levels within the screen, digging holes in the floors and letting the monsters fall into them. When you trap a monster in this manner, there is usually a short time in which to reach it, bang it on the head so that it falls through to its death, filling in the hole as it goes. Failure to kill it in time will result in the beast escaping and becoming a super monster. The more super a monster becomes, the more holes it must fall through in one go, which means digging holes in a vertical line. You have an ever-diminishing supply of oxygen, so speed is important. This selection contains some close copies and some slight variations on the theme. MUMMY MUMMY MC Lothlorien Producer: MC Lothlorien Ltd Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 This is another of the 'Panic' variation games which involves you in trying to return to your disturbed rest in a pyramid. Ghouls and nasties try to stop you doing so. Control is okay and includes ZX and cursor joystick options. The graphics are not bad, large but a bit on the jerky side. The oxygen supply is also included in the game. A problem that you can't jump down your own holes and live. Mummy Mummy is an average sort of game - all right, but inferior to some of the more classic ones and not particularly addictive. CP I get the feeling that the search for originality in the 'Panic' framework has gone far in Mummy Mummy and obscured with complicated 'gizmos' what might have been a very good version. The large graphics are fair in their movement, but the overall implementation is confusing and the monsters often do some very odd things - like jamming up! it is also quite slow. Playability is lowered by the fact that at certain times you can dig a hole and then all the monsters will line up to drop sedately into it, giving you time, after bonking one through, to dig the next ready for another monster. I didn't like this one at all. MU

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 6/10

Memory: 48K Price: £5.95 The object of Mummy Mummy is to bury yourself. You are an Egyptian mummy rudely awakened from the slumber of centuries by archaeologist Mad Clive. Now you must wander through your pyramid seeking the mystic cartouches which hold the key to your burial rites. The screen shows a cross-section of the pyramid, which consists of a series of tunnels connected by ladders. The tunnels are inhabited by monsters and ghosts which you must trap by digging holes for them to fall through. They in their turn will try to block your progress by cornering you. Although the game is challenging, you need a large number of cartouches to win and the mechanics of running up and down ladders and digging holes become tedious after a time. It is a pity Lothlorien could not have introduced more variety into the game, as the initial idea was inventive.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 5/10

Sound 5/10

Originality 4/10

Lasting Interest 5/10

Overall 5/10

Stuart N Cooke 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Sinc, Crsr FROM: Lothlorien, £5.95 In this one you get the chance to become an Egyptian mummy. You have spent peaceful millennia in your pyramid until the ghost of Mad Clive disturbs your sleep. To get back to sleep you must find the 25 magic scrolls which explain the ritual for your reburial. just to make things difficult you are hindered by Badorgs, Zobs, Dibrachs and of course the ghost of Mad Clive. There are three levels of play to Mummy Mummy. You start your escapade at the top of your pyramid. the monsters a few levels below you. You must dig a hole, lower a ladder, climb down and entice a monster to chase you. Before the monster reaches you, you must dig another hole and bury it in the masonry as it falls through. Yes you're right, it is just a variation on the tried and tested theme of Space Panic. Unfortunately it isn't that good. The monsters don't seem to want to follow you, and when they do you'll have a hard time filling the holes in. Once through the first stage you find yourself inside the pyramid. In this level the ladders are already in place and you cannot place any more. Down at the bottom of the screen is a scroll which must be read before you can bury any more monsters. Once all the monsters have become part of the pyramid you will be whisked away to a new screen. You must read at least five scrolls before the door to your sarcophagus is revealed. Once you get into your tomb you must collect the remaining 20 scrolls. Nasties in this room are unburiable and you must avoid them or be killed. Mummy Mummy offers nothing really special. Graphics and sound are only average - your man does 'walk', but the rest o f the characters simply jump around the screen spoiling the overall effect. The average games player will also probably find it too difficult.

Crash

Use of Computer 60%

Graphics 66%

Playability 55%

Getting Started 50%

Addictive Qualities 46%

Value For Money 55%

Overall 55%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: MC Lothlorien Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Dave Stevens The cassette inlay has a fairly lengthy explanation of what the game is about, which is just as well, as it isn't very self evident. What is, however, is that this is a 'Panic' game of platforms. ladders, monsters and hole digging with some very different variations on the theme. The basic story line is that you are Disoranic, a distant cousin of old Nefertiti, woken up from peaceful pyramidal slumberings by the ghost of Mad Clive, an archaeologist. None of this has much to do with playing the game, but it sets the scene for the antics to come. To get yourself peacefully reburied again, you must find and read 25 magic cartouches (no, we didn't know what they were either). In this task you are hindered by three types of monster and the ghost of Mad Clive. The first screen shows the pyramid with seven floor levels. You start at the top and can dig holes and build ladders down. Several monsters infest the lower levels. The idea is to entice the monsters to attack you and then dig a hole and bury them. When they're all gone, you get properly inside the pyramid with the whole screen taken up with the seven platform levels, connected with ladders in various positions. New ladders cannot be added. At the base level is a cartouche (still don't know), which must be read before killing off all the monsters in the traditional 'Panic' method. After five cartouches (no, sorry) the door to your sarcophagus is revealed. You may then continue on reading cartouches (ah - just got it - dictionary says: scroll ornament, an oval ring containing hieroglyphic names and titles of Egyptian kings, etc. Phew!) or read the door's inscription to pass through when all the monsters are killed. Got that? Digging holes too close to other holes may result in rockfalls, plunging you through or trapping you. You cannot fall through a hole as in most 'Panic' games, except in the first screen. COMMENTS Control keys: Q/A up/down, I/P left/right, dig D or O, Read cartouche D, O or R, build a ladder D or O, Fill hole F, 1 or SPACE Joystick: Sinclair ZX 2, Protek, AGF Keyboard play: difficult with so many, and not always responsive Use of colour: above average Graphics: quite good, large although flickery, but nice animation detail Sound: above average Skill levels: 1 Lives: 4

Mummy, Mummy - I've gone and lost my cartouche.