Popeye

Your SpectrumYour Spectrum Dougie's Rave Of The Month

Dougie Bern 8/10

Rick Robson 4/10

Ross Holman 8/10

JOYSTICK JURY It's all change again this month as we say goodbye to the irrepressible Roger Willis - you haven't heard the last of him though, you can be sure of that - and welcome Dougie Bern in his place. He joins the other two joystick jurors, Rick Robson and Ross Holman as they pass judgement on all the latest games. It's all change on the scoring system too! Out go the hits and misses and the score out of five. So that the joystick jurors can draw more subtle distinctions between games, they're now giving the scores out of ten. If there's anything else you think they should be telling you, let em know.! POPEYE DK'Tronics £4.95 Dougie: At first sight, this game looks outsize! Everything is BIG! But this trauma soon passes as you come to terms with the idea that not everything has to be four pixels high and, well, who wants to wear glasses anyway. Everyone's here - Popeye himself, Olive Oil, Bluto, the dragon... Ah! Well, this is where we veer away from the 'Bluto chases after Popeye's girls, Popeye eats the spinach and punches out Bluto' theme. This multi-screen adventure has got firebreathing dragons, wicked witches, bugeyed monsters and all sorts of other nasties. The idea is to walk Popeye around, jumping up for hearts to take back to Olive, keys and cans of spinach, and keep out of everyone's way. Especially Bluto's. Whenever I went near that particular man-mountain, he thumped me - unfortunately, in the game the cans of spinach are used to revive poor ol' Popeye rather than giving him the strength he needs to return Bluto s compliments. Once you've got control of the Popeye character, you can walk him all over the place, up and down stairways, shinning up and down ropes... except when you come up against a locked door. At this point, you've got to retrace your steps and search out one of the keys. To be honest, I wasn't too impressed at first... but then I started uncovering all sorts of locations behind the locked doors and a whole new set of nasties. Not being able to see all the locations at the start does make the game more interesting. There seems to be a slight problem with the colours - figures often blend in with the background. But the characters are fun, and their movements are both clever and full of humour.

To get to the top of the lighthouse, you'll have to start climbing. And once you're up there, it's round and round in circles to avoid the fly. Dizzzzzy! Get your mitts on as much of Ihe green stuff as possible - Spinach what d'ya think we meant? It's the only known substance that'll revive a confirmed vegetarian like Popeye. Collect the keys or you won't be able to open the doors - and then you'll miss out on plenty of other locations - not to be missed!

You can find that fickle female, Olive Oyl behind this window - but at least you're assured of a warm welcome when you take her a heart. She loves you, she loves you not! You can tell whether you're in favour with Olive Oyl from the love meter - if it reaches zilcho then your Heart's broken, Popeye! The course of true love never did run smooth. To keep Olive sweet, you'll just have to collect the hearts you find on your travels. Take them back to her straight a way and your love meter will be topped up. Here comes trouble - big trouble! The game's played on two planes, front and back, so to avoid a bout of fisticuffs with Bluto step back out of his path

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

ZX Computing

Graphics 5/5

Addictiveness 4/5

Overall 4/5

Dk'Tronics £7.95 First announced just under a year ago, but delayed due to the chronic Spinach shortage, Popeye finally makes it to the computer screen. The first thing that strikes you about this game is the graphics, they are HUGE, each character is half the height of the screen, lovingly detailed and animated, and sets a new standard for character graphics. The insert tells you precious little about what to do and, as I would have been at a loss without the reviewer's sheet, I will pass on a few tips to you - ignore the next bit if you don't want to know. You have to collect 25 hearts and take them to Olive, these have to be taken to her in stages as you have to keep her interest, indicated by the lovemeter. Collect Spinach for recovery when knocked over, keys to open their particular doors, and other objects for future use. Eight objects may be carried at one time so be selective. The most difficult part is the imaginary 3D or 'layer' system of graphics. The graphics are in fact 2D but there are three or four backward and forward planes which you can be on. For instance, if Popeye is facing you and you walk him forward he will seemingly walk on the spot, For the purpose of the game, he has effectively walked towards you. The reverse also applies. All moving objects are dangerous if they collide with you, this happens if you are in the same plane, otherwise they will pass behind or in front of you. As well as Up/Down meaning forward and back it can also mean special things in certain circumstances such as climb up or down a rope. There can be no such thing as a perfect program and the biggest fault I can find with this one is the slowness of the action. However there is a direct relationship between the size of an object and the speed at which it can be animated. All in all I like the size and detail of these graphics too much to be very critical of the speed. Popeye is a program which pushes the limitations of the Spectrum back yet one more step.

Sinclair User

Overall 4/5

Colette McDermott 4/5

Publisher: DK Tronics Price: £6.95 Memory: 48K Joystick: Any Help Popeye save Olive! Olive Oyl stands at her window waiting for her man to bring her hearts. Mean- while the massive frame of Bluto thunders across the screen as he lies in wait for Popeye. The essence of Popeye is to find all the hearts and return them to Olive before her lovemeter runs out. He must also collect spinach cans, keys and an assortment of objects to aid him during his journey. Spinach is the only way to revive Popeye following a blow from Bluto, vultures, witches on broomsticks and so on. Keys are needed to gain access to the chambers and rooms where more objects and obstacles lie. To reach the various objects Popeye can jump, climb up and down ropes and hitch lifts. Be bold and adventurous and you will be rewarded with even more locations to explore. At first the game is tedious. Popeye is so slow in response to your commands that he is mowed down even as he is recovering from a blow. Once you have adjusted to the slightly slow reactions and cracked the correct sequence to avoid Bluto, you can really start getting into the game. The graphics are excellent and very large. Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto are all perfect reproductions of the famous cartoon characters.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 72%

Graphics 92%

Playability 86%

Getting Started 65%

Addictive Qualities 92%

Value For Money 88%

Overall 90%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: DK'Tronics Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: Don Priestly You should be relieved you didn't hold your breath waiting for this one, after all Popeye was announced last Christmas. But in his defence the author, Don Priestly, has been occupied writing and converting the last Dk'Tronics offering, Minder. Popeye loves Olive Oyl, we all know that; it's why he does that nobody can explain! But Olive, as always, demands that Popeye should prove his love for her - not least because she is also fancied by Bluto and clearly wants to make the most of the situation. Popeye must win Olive over by collecting twenty five hearts and presenting them to her. The hearts can be found scattered around the town, pinned to windows, balconies and the like. Collecting them would be fun but for Bluto and a great gathering of other hostile beings - witches, giant birds and even dragons. All the meanies want to do Popeye in and, should they manage, the only way he can be revived after an attack is to eat a tin of spinach which must be collected in the same way as the hearts. If he hasn't got a tin handy, then poor old Popeye has had it. The screen area looks rather like a frame from a comic strip. The characters are very large. Popeye, for example is about half screen height, so not a great deal of the game area can be seen at any one time. While the graphics are not quite 3D the characters can move backwards and forwards allowing them to pass in front of, or behind, other characters or objects. These different layers play a vital part in the game. Popeye could quite happily walk past Bluto so long as they weren't both on the same path, or 'layer' of the screen. Bluto is the hardest to deal with because he, unlike the others, can change from one layer to another. The different layers allow Popeye to walk behind buildings which often results in his being obscured from view until he emerges from the other side. Most of the ground floor items can be collected by positioning Popeye under them and making him jump up. Other objects may be locked away behind doors, and for these you will need to find the appropriate key - each lock has a specific key. To make matters worse Popeye can only carry eight items at any one time, so to be on the safe side try to keep a good stock of spinach and and unload the hearts on Olive as often as you can to leave room for the keys and some other not so obvious items. To remind you that Olive's love for Popeye is not everlasting, you will notice on the side of the screen along side the eight cells showing Popeye's possessions, a love meter which gradually dwindles as time passes. The meter can be restored by delivering the hearts but Popeye is always under threat of falling out of favour for ever. At the end of the day how Popeye scores with Olive depends on how many hearts he collected and how much time he took. COMMENTS Control keys: definable Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2 and Cursor Keyboard play: slow to respond Use of colour: exceptional Graphics: large and bright without clash Sound: very useful Skill levels: one Lives: collected by gathering spinach Screens: 15

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition