SAM Multipack 1

Crash

Presentation 70%

Graphics 73%

Sound 75%

Playability 66%

Addictivity 66%

Overall 73%

Mark Caswell 69%

Enigma Variations £11.99, £14.99 The SAM Coupe software collection is definitely underway now; no more moaning about only being able to play Spectrum games, especially when the software is as good as this. Sam Multipack 1 includes two arcade games that show off the Coupe's best features. Each one has sixteen colour graphics and six channel stereo sound! Futureball is a sports simulation set in the year 2090. Games have changed over the century and here, instead of hand-balling Argentinians you now have lasers, killer robots and deadly traps to play against. As a new recruit to the game you must pass through the training sessions before you can become a member of the first team. It's this training that forms the game. The graphics are simple with not much evidence of the sixteen colours the inlay boasts. All four training events you have to pass through have a basic blue square background with obstacles such as sliding squares and blue spheres here and there. They all vary in difficulty from completely impossible to ridiculously easy, guess which ones completed! Futureball has no lasting appeal. After a couple of attempts at conquering the annoying gameplay you soon gave up and go onto the better game. Sam Strikes Out! This stars a character all Coupe owners will recognise, the little chap himself, Sam the robot. The game is played in a basic platforms and ladders style with the added complication of having to collect and use icons to move about. You have to gather up energy pods so that Sam can escape from this crazy world he has landed in. A world inhabited by weird and wonderful creatures, all excellently animated and coloured. Graphics are brilliant, colourful and cheerful. The cartoon style of the sprites will appeal to everyone, especially fans of cutesey graphics like me. Icons dotted around the multitude of screens allow Sam to progress further, cushions let him fall large distances, big jumps give him (wait for it!) bigger tumps, shields surround him with deadly fireballs and keys open the doors. I found the game quite challenging: the restricted head room you have on most screens makes timing a necessity when jumping the creatures. The jolly tune playing throughout the game and the hunger to see more will keep you coming back for more, and more! Sam Multipack 1 is a must for all Sam Coupe owners. Sam Strikes Out! is definitely the best of the two games with Futureball just a bonus for buying the pack. I can't wait to play the next Multipack from Enigma Variations.