Infernal Combustion

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 7/10

Sound 6/10

Originality 7/10

Lasting Interest 7/10

Overall 7/10

Martyn Smith 7/10

Richard Boniface

Robert Patrick

Steve Spittle

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc FROM: Automata, £6.00 Another of Automata's games featuring their cult character the Pi-man. In this game he is not under your control - in fact he is very much the bad guy of the piece. The Pi-man, it seems, has become an arsonist. The layout of the game is rather basic, consisting of ladders and platforms to represent a building which is rapidly becoming an inferno. Your man, a chubby, well designed little fireman, must rush around putting out the fires which appear randomly on any of the platforms, most of them having been started by you-know-who. He must also open doors to set free the fleeing inhabitants. The fires are put out using the fire extinguisher or the bucket (which you pick up by moving over them). However these soon run dry. The bucket can be filled at the tap (which is on the lowest platform) and there is often more than one extinguisher on each screen. The doors are opened simply by moving through them. Your only help in this red-hot scenario is from a pink elephant which occasionally stampedes across the upper-most platform extinguishing the fires. Bonuses are achieved for each inhabitant that escapes and for valuables and dynamite collected (these objects appear irregularly on any of the platforms). The sheet is completed when all the fires are put out and the next sheet has a different layout. The graphics are fairly small and a little flickery, but are well designed and colour is iArell used. The sound is continuous and of a good standard. Piromania is probably Automata's best effort to date, but I do find this 'Pi' fixation a little ridiculous. A game with little variety but a great deal happening all at once. Good fun, but it may not light your fire.

Crash

Use of Computer 69%

Graphics 71%

Playability 72%

Getting Started 67%

Addictive Qualities 72%

Value For Money 72%

Overall 70%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Automata UK Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.00 Language: Machine code Author: C. Goodwin Automata Towers, that well known TV series, is on fire, and all the residents are threatened with flame out, a sizzling end to another fine day in tower-block suburbia. It's all the fault of that little cult, the Piman, whose soaring star has fueled the flames. Your task is to help Walter Hose put out the flames and save the inhabitants from becoming barbecued spare ribs. Despite his name, Walter has only a fire bucket and taps to help, unless he can get to the fire extinguisher. The method is to grab the bucket and run to the nearest tap, fill the bucket and then douse the flames which are breaking out all over the place. A bucket full will do the trick for a few fires, but it needs to be replenished frequently. Care must be taken to ensure a needy tap isn't isolated by burned out staircases. Being a gentle bunch, some residents actually keep dynamite, and this should be removed to safety as quickly as possible! There are also fire extinguishers to use, a pink elephant which dances beautifully, and doors which may be used to avoid the worst of burns. Points are scored for inhabitants and valuables saved. COMMENTS Control keys: left/right - alternate keys bottom row, Q-P/A-ENTER up/down, numerics to use an object, BREAK to drop, CAPS to open/close door Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2 Keyboard play: reasonable layout despite handful, responsive Use of colour: good Graphics: although small, generally good, animated and good looking fires Sound: fair Skill levels: 1 with progressive difficulty Lives: 3 Screens: Special features:

Walter Jose findshimnself in a hot situation when the Piman becomes a PIROMANIAC.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 8/10

Sound 8/10

Value 8/10

Playability 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48k SUPPLIER: Automata PRICE: £6.00 It'll take some skillful playing to get your name into the Piromania Hall of Flame. The game is set in Automata Towers and you have to help Walter Hose to put out the fires. You can travel around the blazing building by some fairly fast keyboard-digging or joystick wobbling. What you're after is a fire extinguisher or a bucket of water. Then just press the right key to douse the nearest fire. The actual graphics for the fires are quite realistic with good flickering effects. Then, when extinguished, they turn to just a puff of smoke and fade away to nothing, accompanied by a wonderful hissing sound like when you pour water onto a hot frying pan. There are taps around the building, so when the buckets are empty you can fill them up again. But extinguishers will disappear when all the foam has gone. Quite why Automata should store dynamite in their offices, I don't know, there is some around and these must removed to prevent explosion. There are also bonus points for rescuing valuables and even more points if you do it faster than anyone else. If you fancy this game, I suppose you'd better hot-foot it down to your local software store. It's one of Automata's better games, but still has an awful PiMan single the other side of the tape. The game runs with a Kempston interface or Sinclair Interface 2.

Your Spectrum

George Price HIT

Mark Manning MISS

Robert Ledbury MISS

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]. INFERNAL COMBUSTION Strange Loop £4.95 The aim here is to run around a house putting out fires, using either a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher. The bucket, of course, needs filling up from the taps. You can pick things up for bonus points.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Personal Computer News

Bob Chappell

SPECTRUM SPILLS The thrill or the chase gripped Bob Chappell in these action games for the 48K Spectrum. INFERNAL COMBUSTION £5.95 Strange Loop, [redacted] Fighting raging fires hasn't figured in many games I can recall so this may be the first. The scene is the inside of a multi-storey building, each floor joined by ladders. Scuttling around the uppermost floors are the occupants who appear to be in a bit of a flap. No wonder - fire has broken out on several of the floors. Down on the ground floor, standing quite fortunately midway between a tap and a bucket, is our little hero. Grabbing the bucket and pausing only to fill it from the tap (this boy is no fool), he has to sprint around the building hurling water at the outbreaks. The idea is to extinguish all the fires and proceed to the next tougher screen where the arsonist has struck again. While you are busy firefighting, the occupants try to make good their escape by fleeing, in their own haphazard, panic-stricken way, down to the ground floor exit. However, they can't get past any blazing area nor through any locked doors - you must help by opening doors and all this while nipping back and forth to refill your bucket. The sample tape lacked a cassette inlay (still at the printers), so I don't know why strewn around the floors were several cans marked with an F, and other odd objects. Possibly for bonus points? From time to time, what appears to be a pink elephant cavorts across the top floor, but for what purpose I am unsure. Should you come into contact with the flames, you are immediately turned into an angel, a fitting reward for your heroic efforts. Despite having no instructions for play, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Movement of the hero was just a trifle stiff in one or two places, but that apart, the animation and effects were of a pretty high standard. Quite addictive, too. This original and entertaining arcadde chase is well worth seeking out. BORZAK £6.95 Channel 8 Software, [redacted] A funny-looking purple alien with a proboscis that Cyrano De Bergerac would have gasped at, Borzak is a stranger on a strange planet. The creature has to stroll along the surface, dodging various vagaries of nature as he goes. There are six levels of play, all much the same except for the hazards. Borzak has no defence systems and can only jump or duck to avoid oncoming traffic as he moves. At ground level, he must avoid holes, large speckled frogs, snakes and grasping hands. Above are flying ducks, dragonflies and dangling spiders. The game is quite good fun but difficult to complete without skipping levels since the hazards are generated randomly, often resulting in a combination that Superman couldn't beat, let alone a pacifist with a big nose. It's worth buying - Borzak's a lovely character. STOP THE EXPRESS £5.95 Sinclair Research, [redacted] Chasing games have a habit of taking place either in a maze or somewhere dank and dismal underground. Bringing fresh air to this species is Stop the Express. An express train has been hijacked by the Redmen (no, this isn't cowboys and Indians). Your job is to make your way along the carriages, unlock the motorman's cabin and stop the train. You control a cute, ginger-headed lad who starts out on the roof of one of the coaches of the moving express. Hang about too long and the first of many Redmen (similar to our hero but beetroot coloured) appears on the scene and hurls a knife. Fortunately, not only can you duck down but also run, jump and (your trump card this) release a snakebird. With a bit of luck, the latter will knock any pursuing Redmen off the train to earn you a respite. You run along ten coaches, leaping gaps, dodging birds and tunnels, until you can safely climb down inside a carriage. Stage two has the Redmen as before, aided and abetted by strap-hanging nasties and bouncing objects. You can also do a bit of swinging on the straps. I never survived this stage and so didn't reach the driver's cabin. The only drawback is that there are nine keys controlling your hero (each with an alternative) - playing with a joystick (ZX II interface only) makes it easier. Graphically, the program is superb. The train's headlong rush and the animation of the characters are delightful. Sound effects are minimal but with such an original environment and exciting action, this has to be among the top chase games. ORIEN £5.95 Software Projects, [redacted] That's enough wind through your hair; now down to more familiar territory with Orion. Back in maze country, you control a small rocket-car which has to roam around 25 caverns in search of stolen androids. Each cavern is an aerially-viewed maze, populated by creatures and four of your androids. Green meanies must be avoided as they are lethal on contact unless your shields are activated. White meanies are quite nutritious but gobbling one up causes your scanner to malfunction, making the wall of the maze invisible. A simple game with decent graphics and sound, it won't set the world ablaze but offers a good chase, nonetheless.