Scramble

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 6/10

Sound None

Ease Of Use 6/10

Lasting Interest 6/10

Overall 6/10

Peter Connor 6/10

CAVERN CARNAGE Test-pilot Peter Connor dons flying jacket and goggles for high-adrenaline action for the Spectrum, Dragom, Commodore, Vic 20, Atari, ZX81 and BBC. It was one of those idyllic summer days in the heart of the English countryside. The sun shone brightly through the strong tall oaks casting a dappled light o the grass where Ginger, Pongo and I sat in deckchairs, calmly smoking our pipes and discussing the cricket season. Bliss. Suddenly the air was torn by the shrieking of sirens. Pongo dropped his pipe and burnt a hole in his new high-altitude trousers. Ginger's handlebar moustaches sprang to attention. I quickly drained the last of my tea-with-no-milk-thank-you-and-just-one-sugar. We all knew what it meant. 'SCRAMBLE! SCRAMBLE! SCRAMBLE!' blared the tannoy as we raced to our ships. I leapt into the cockpit and ignited the rockets, my heart pounding. I was scared, I'll admit. Too many good men had never returned from missions like this. "Five stages.' they'd warned us in training. 'beginning with the mountains'. And there before me, rising almost vertically from the ground, was a huge mass of rock. I slammed on the retrorockets and pulled my joystick back, avoiding impalement on the peak by a hair's breadth. My sigh of relief was cut short as a flurry of missiles sped up at me from the valley. Instinctively I released bombs and fired my lasers, destroying some and dodging the others. DANGEROUSLY LOW A glance at the instrument panel told me I was running dangerously low on fuel. The only way to get more was to dive, hug the ground and bomb the fuel dumps scattered along my course. Swooping, climbing and firing like this I made good progress. keeping my fuel up and the missiles down. I felt good, almost confident. I was just reaching down for a fruit gum when I saw something that made my whole body stiffen with fear. Gaping in front of me were the jaws of a huge cavern, waiting to swallow me up like a hungry monster. In the belly of this beast were dozens of saucer-shaped UFOs bouncing up and down like madmen on trampolines. There was no time to think. I zoomed through the entrance and kept my finger on the trigger. Somehow I got through. Emerging from the cavern I found a massive swarm of meteorites flaming towards me. I fired the laser. Nothing. I dropped my bombs. Nothing. These meteorites were indestructible. Evasive action was the only way through. Then through the storm I saw a sheer wall rising in front of me and I threw the ship into a shuddering climb. Flashing clear of the skyscraper I found myself flying over missile silos embedded in roofs. Bombs away! At last - the maze. Skyscrapers below. Skyscrapers above. Just a narrow passage with 90 degree turns at dizzying speed. Mission completed. Proud, safe and tired I returned to base. Ginger and Pongo never came back. Why them? Why not me? Because I had spent hours training on simulations of this terrible mission on my large selection of home computers. Anyone, whether he owns a ZX81 or a BBC, can do the same. Trainee pilots with Spectrums face quite a choice, the outstanding version being Cavern Fighter from Bug-byte (see Screen Test). But Melbourne House's Penetrator is certainly a good buy for the 48K machine. The graphics are very clear and consist mainly of lines. except for the twirling purple radar bases which signal your approach to enemy missiles. The rugged, yellow terrain of the beginning changes to a blue cavern with very steep inclines. Then come a series of skyscraper-like blocks followed by another cavern. SHATTERING This one has the hazard of "enemy paratroopers' bouncing up and down. They may look more like doggies' faces but the effect is shattering all the same. Eventually you get through to the enemy's 'neutron bomb store' and must attempt the dangerous return journey. Penetrator moves fast but the ship's controls are sensitive enough to cope with firing and manoeuvring at the same time. The sound, too, is surprisingly good in this version. Two features which will appeal to less resolute novices are a training facility which allows you to skip from phase to phase and a landscape-customising facility which allows you to get rid of the difficult bits. GAS-GUZZLER In contrast to Penetrator's lines Mikro-Gen's Scramble has solid graphics. In the first stages you fly over a pink landscape trying to avoid the missiles and Defender-style aliens while bombing the fuel dumps. You must be accurate since your ship is a real gas-guzzler and you could find yourself dropping very quickly from fuel loss. In the cavern you encounter the UFOs - green ovoids with, for some strange reason, black eyes. These are by no means the most fearsome obstacles to be found in Scrambles, and should not hold up your progress very long. The meteors in stage three, though, are more of a problem. These big yellow blobs with long tails come thick and fast, forcing you to do some fancy flying. The last stage is the fortress, a large purple block riddled with missile silos. Get through this and the mission is over. Although this version has hardly any sound its graphics are good and it presents the player with a real challenge. Here again, though, there is the temptation to take the easy way out as you can enter the game at any stage. C-Tech's Rocket Raider is the weakest of the three Spectrum versions on offer. The graphics are too chunky and the same landscape features are repeated too often, The movement is very jerky and your ship has an unpleasant way of squirting its bombs from the rear. Should you want to play Scramble on a green background you will have to buy a Dragon. Despite the predominance of the colour the two versions available are both quite satisfying. Microdeal's Skramble has all the usual features in five stages. On the whole the graphics are very pleasant, although there are some strange points, such as the UFOs in the cave which look like blue and white hamburgers and are very easy to shoot. The asteroids after this look like yellow tadpoles but are very hard to avoid. Getting fuel is easy as the bombs spurt out of the rocket's nose before falling at right angles. They also make a strange warbling noise. FINE JUDGEMENT Whirlybird Run from Dragon Data is of a similar standard. Here, instead of a rocket, you have a chopper which makes a good chugging noise. The graphics are again good with blue missiles surging up from yellow hills. In this version the UFOs appear before the cavern and, due to what must be a bug, are very easily destroyed; stay at the top left of the screen and blast them as they bounce off the roof. When you do get to the cavern the game gets pretty difficult. The gaps in what seem to be stalactites are very narrow and require fine judgement to be successfully negotiated. Although the firing in Whirlybird Run is more satisfactory because of the bombs more sensible trajectory there is not much to choose between these two Dragon versions. Terminal Software's program Super Skramble! for the Commodore 64 is a disappointment. The graphics are exceptionally smooth but they are also exceptionally slow and lacking in imagination. Your ship may, or may not, be a helicopter - it's hard to tell. You must bomb about every fuel dump or run out of juice. All the usual Scramble features are there (except the UFOs in the cavern) but they are not very interesting. The program also wastes the 64's sound facilities; it lacks volume and variety. Anirog's Skramble, also for the 64, is the better game, even if its graphics are a little jerky. Here you must pilot the ship through six zones, each with its own colour. You begin in the red zone over the rocky terrain and proceed to the blue cavern, in which the UFOs are disappointingly easy to blast. However, in the brown zone the fizzling fireballs are a problem for even the most accomplished of Commodore Commanders. Further stages follow the normal pattern, increasing in difficulty. THUNDERBOLT To find a good Scramble for the Vic 20 would be surprising enough, but to get one for the unexpanded machine is a thunderbolt from heaven. Artic's Scram-20 has graphics whose quality is almost worthy of the 64; sharp, colourful and amazingly smooth. If you get through the first stage of blue mountains you enter a green cavern with deadly red UFOs. Success at this stage leads you to purple rocks where you are attacked by the Zoids - they're only squiggly lines, but nasty nonetheless. Further stages are as usual with the prize of the enemy base at the end. The only drawback to this game is its speed; it's so fast it could take hours to get anywhere. A stop-go technique seems best. It's heavy on the joystick, but effective. Sumlock's Skramble, also for the unexpanded Vic, isn't really in the same class. Its graphics are rudimentary and very jerky - on fast forward the ship has a habit of momentarily disappearing, while the missiles often go straight through you. The English Software Company's Airstrike II for Atari computers is an excellent Scramble game with some novel points. The game has five sectors, but you can congratulate yourself if you get through the first after less than two hours play. Very near the opening mountain is a cavern with meteorites coming at you vertically rather than horizontally. After these is a series of gates opening and closing at random; you must wait till they are aligned and then blast your way through. Many times you will find yourself pranged by the rockets lurking deep in their silos just after the gates. INTRIGUING Airstrike II's further stages are similar to the standard ones, but all have something intriguing to offer. The graphics are excellent and beautifully smooth. And for an extra £4.95, you can get yourself some extra landscapes. But we mustn't forget in our survey the humble, the homely ZX81. It might seem ridiculous but Mikro-Gen produce a Scramble for the old favourite; and, given the limitations of the machine, it's very good. No sound, no colour, extremely limited graphics but it is recognizably Scramble. It's all there - the rugged terrain, the missiles, even the bonus of a smart bomb. For the ZX81, it's very good value. And so to the definitive micro Scramble - Acornsoft's Rocket Raid for the BBC. This is without doubt the best available version for the trainee pilot. Each of its five stages is the one other games have to be measured against. There can be few more nerve-racking experiences in computer games - no. In life! than a trip through Rocket Raid's cavern. Shrieking and oscillating wildly the green Phizzers seem to occupy all the available space between the cavern's red walls. You slam on the brakes, you climb, you dive, you blast away frantically. But it's no good; either the Phizzers get you or the walls smash you to pieces. Thank God this is only training, and you've got as many ships as you need, however many end as scrap. Eventually you learn the secret; you have to find the rhythm of the Cavern. Ride with Phizzers, relax, kill only when necessary and you'll get through. Remember - it's not about points, it's about getting through. Rocket Raid's superb vivid graphics, its high-decibel sound and its speed all make it, despite its age, still the best version of Scramble on a home computer. Prove you've beaten the odds on this one and you might get to be the first Briton on the moon. Game: Rocket Raid Price: £9.95 Machine: BBC Joystick: Optional Supplier: Acornsoft Graphics: 9/10 Sound: 9/10 Ease Of Use: 8/10 Lasting Interest: 9/10 Overall: 9/10 Game: Airstrike 2 Price: £9.95 Machine: Atari 400, 800, XL Joystick: Necessary Supplier: English Software Co Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 7/10 Ease Of Use: 7/10 Lasting Interest: 8/10 Overall: 8/10 Game: Scram-20 Price: £5.95 Machine: Vic 20 Joystick: Optional Supplier: Artic Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 6/10 Ease Of Use: 5/10 Lasting Interest: 7/10 Overall: 7/10 Game: Whirlybird Run Price: £12.95 Machine: Dragon 32 Joystick: Necessary Supplier: Dragon Data Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 6/10 Ease Of Use: 6/10 Lasting Interest: 6/10 Overall: 6/10 Game: Penetrator Price: £5.95 Machine: Spectrum 48K Joystick: No Supplier: Melbourne House Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 6/10 Ease Of Use: 7/10 Lasting Interest: 7/10 Overall: 7/10 Game: Skramble Price: £7.95 Machine: Vic 20 Joystick: Optional Supplier: Sumlock Graphics: 4/10 Sound: 4/10 Ease Of Use: 5/10 Lasting Interest: 5/10 Overall: 5/10 Game: Skramble Price: £7.95 Machine: Commodore 64 Joystick: Necessary Supplier: Anirog Graphics: 7/10 Sound: 6/10 Ease Of Use: 6/10 Lasting Interest: 6/10 Overall: 6/10 Game: Scramble Price: £3.95 Machine: ZX81 Joystick: No Supplier: Mikro-Gen Graphics: 6/10 Sound: None Ease Of Use: 6/10 Lasting Interest: 6/10 Overall: 6/10 Game: Skramble Price: £8.00 Machine: Dragon 32 Joystick: Optional Supplier: Microdeal Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 5/10 Ease Of Use: 5/10 Lasting Interest: 6/10 Overall: 5/10 Game: Super Skramble! Price: £9.95 Machine: Commodore 64 Joystick: Optional Supplier: Terminal Graphics: 5/10 Sound: 5/10 Ease Of Use: 5/10 Lasting Interest: 5/10 Overall: 5/10 Game: Scramble Price: £5.95 Machine: Spectrum 16/48K Joystick: No Supplier: Mikro-Gen Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 6/10 Ease Of Use: 6/10 Lasting Interest: 6/10 Overall: 6/10 Game: Rocket Raider Price: £5.95 Machine: Spectrum 16/48K Joystick: No Supplier: C-Tech Graphics: 4/10 Sound: 4/10 Ease Of Use: 4/10 Lasting Interest: 4/10 Overall: 4/10

ZX Computing

Nick Pearce

SOFT OPTIONS FOR YOUR ZX81 Puzzled by Dr. Nowotnik, after a glass of wine Nick Pearce settles down to checking out some of the software commercially available for your ZX81. SPACE INVADERS, SCRAMBLE AND BREAKOUT - MICROGEN Space Invaders is Microgen's version of the arcade type game of the same name in which you defend the Earth from successive armies of invaders. On LOADing the program, you are presented with a choice of three speeds (normal, fast and superfast). The invaders are displayed at the start of the game and there is a short pause before the action starts to allow you to prepare yourself. You have three lives (bases), and lose one each time a bomb from the invader fleet lands on you, or if you allow any invader ship to get down to the level of your shields. The technique is to knock out the lower ships first with your laser beam. Ten points are awarded for each invader ship hit, and if you clear the first wave, another will take its place, and another... Each time this occurs the game speed is increased slightly. The game performed well and I found it enjoyable without being positively addictive. However, I thought the action was somewhat jerky, particularly at the slowest speed. I was told by an experienced player who had a go that it bears the most similarity to the arcade game when it is played in the superfast mode - too fast for me! The program includes the option to use Microgen's joysticks, which I think would make a significant improvement over the use of the touch sensitive keyboard for interactive games of this sort. A nice finishing touch is the display at the end of each game giving the score for that game j and the highest score so far, thus enabling competitions to I be played. This game is also marketed by Sinclair under the Psion label with Bomber, also by Microgen, on the reverse side. Scramble is another fast interactive arcade type game. In this one, you are flying low over mountainous enemy terrain, the object being to keep your ship in the air for as long as possible. At the same time, you have to shoot down as many of the alien attackers as you can. and there are air-to-air and ground based missiles to contend with as well. Points are awarded for each alien and air-to-air or ground missile you hit. Your fleet is small - three ships - and only one is in the air at a time, although you can get a bonus ship if your score reaches five thousand points. Fortunately, you carry an unlimited supply of ammunition plus one 'smart' bomb in each ship which will destroy everything in sight. The nearer you get to the enemy base, the more frenetic become the alien attacks on your ship. Again, joysticks can be used and would be a definite advantage with this game. It is particularly difficult with the touch sensitive keyboard of the ZX81 to both maintain and achieve forward and up and down movement as well as battling with the aliens. As with Space Invaders, the most recent game score and 'highest so far' score are displayed to facilitate competitions. ANOTHER BRICK... Finally, from Microgen, Breakout is the traditional 'ping pong' video game. Again you have a choice of three speeds (normal, fast and superfast) and three lives per game. You score ten points for each brick removed from the wall, and after each hit, the speed of the ball increases slightly. There are seven angles of rebound off the bat, and one life is lost each time the ball misses the bat. You win one thousand points for completely clearing the wall (not much chance of that with yours truly at the controls, but with practice and at the slowest speed, who knows...), and a record of the highest score is kept. A well-written and enjoyable version on this not terribly inspiring theme. All these three Microgen games require more than 1K and are written in machine code. They are 'locked', ie the programs cannot be LISTed and, for example, modified by the user. They perform well, are enjoyable, and are idiot and crash proof. However, with only one game on each cassette, they are in my opinion rather overpriced. There is only one recording on each cassette, although the review copies all LOADed first time. 'Space Invaders', 'Scramble' and 'Breakout' cost £3.95 each and are available from Microgen, [redacted].