Out of This World

Your Sinclair

Graphics 5/10

Playability 4/10

Value For Money 4/10

Addictiveness 6/10

Overall 5/10

Nat Pryce 5/10

Reaktor £8.99 Reviewer: Nat Pryce Like heavy man! "A Psychedelic experience" proclaims the inlay - not bad for a monochromatic game! Unfortunately Out Of This World doesn't leave you with feelings of peace, happiness and love for mankind 'cos Out Of This World is in fact, a pretty grotty shoot 'em up of the scrolling variety, (what isn't these days?) where you can collect bouncing blobs and upgrade your weapon systems. Sounds good so far, eh? Actually, the scrolling is jerky and flickery and the aliens are just tiny circles or indistinct shapes. Hmm... and there's worse to come. When your ship flies over some of the background graphics, it gets lost among the shading and details and all but disappears. This is terribly frustrating, but it's even more infuriating when you are killed by aliens who materialise on top of you. These are classic flaws as far as games design is concerned, and I'm amazed that games still act like this. It's a pity, 'cos from the inlay, you'd have though that this was a pretty good Nemesis clone. As it is, Out Of This World is unaddictive and unplayable.

Crash

Presentation 51%

Graphics 36%

Playability 43%

Addictive Qualities 32%

Overall 33%

Mike Dunn 27%

Paul Sumner 35%

Producer: Reaktor Retail Price: £8.99 Author: Bettertech; Spectrum version by Tony Cooper Propelled by his own arrogant search for speed, Chuck Harrison is catapulted into The Other World in his new jet fighter. There he is trapped amongst phalanxes of alien ships which will rip his ship apart with their touch. To avoid or destroy them, Chuck must skilfully manoeuvre his fighter above a horizontally-scrolling landscape, without dropping too low and hitting the scenery. Captain Chuck's plane carries a fearsome array of weaponry, but as the game begins only his basic quark cannon is in service. A successful shot takes out enemy space ships and earns points, and as some of these enemy spacecraft disintegrate they release energy pods which correspond to different weapon types. Chuck can collect these and so enhance his arsenal. The first pod gathered energises the appropriate weapon, and the next activates it. Blasters (two-way, three-way, four-way and seven-way), a wide beam and a laser blaster are all available this way. Life and speed pods are also worth picking up. However, if the energy pod collected doesn't correspond to the type of weapon then in use, that weapon cuts out and its energy levels must be increased before it becomes operational again. And recharging becomes more difficult as courageous Chuck delves deeper into the wilds of alien territory. There are eight levels and seven bonus levels for Harrison to fight his way through. After destroying so many enemy craft that they surrender, he gains access to the next level. Two former Ariolasoft technical consultants, Gary Yorke and James Poole, joined forces to form the design house Bettertech - and this is their first product, released by their old employers (Reaktor is one of those crazy, crazy Ariolasoft labels). COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: monochromatic and badly animated Sound: a few effects add little to the game