Tempest

ZX Computing

Nick Pearce

THE ZX81 SOFT SELECTION In which Nick Pearce casts a critical eye over some of the latest software releases. TEMPEST Mikro-Gen Tempest is a fast moving arcade-type game. The object is to survive for as long as possible against a variety of aliens. There are five different types of alien which attack your ship from left to right across the screen: some fire missiles and others lasers. The lasers of the Liner aliens are particularly difficult to avoid and cannot be shot down. You aim for a maximum number of points and have five lives. Once you have successfully defended a sector on the left of the screen for a preset time, the aliens gradually die out and you start moving to the right. To complete the sector you must reach the right side of the screen avoiding the 'spikes'. If things get too difficult then you can destroy everything on screen with your 'superzapper' but you only have one per sector and although it saves your life, it doesn't score any points. There are five levels of play and I found even the easiest level difficult; mainly because the Liners' lasers invariably destroy you once they start to home in on your ship. However, the action in Tempest is fast and smooth and the game performs well. At £4.95 it is a reasonable buy. Tempest is available from Micro-Gen, [redacted].

Sinclair User

TEMPESTUOUS ACTION FROM MIKRO-GEN Mikro-Gen is the other company which is still retaining games for the ZX-81 sector of the market. Its releases include an excellent version of an arcade game called Tempest for the 16K ZX-81. Your ship is at the top of the screen and a host of invaders shoot across from the right-hand side. You have to destroy them without hitting the missiles which are launched against you or the devilish spikes which trail behind the spinners. The game is played through different levels or sectors. When you have destroyed all the aliens in one sector your ship will move to the right of the screen and into the next sector. The playing level numbers are arranged in odd order, as the most difficult level is one and the easiest is live. Level one should be used only by those who want to wear out their laser fingers and the keyboard at the same time. Tempest costs £3.95. One of the cassettes in the range is-for the 1K ZX-81. It contains three games, impact, Target and Death Ray. Impact uses a full-screen display and, surprisingly, the game has a title page. The aim is to steer your spaceship through an asteroid storm. It may not be very original but for a 1K game, written in Basic, we must give credit where it is due. The second game is Target. You have a limited period in which to hit as many targets as you can, using your gun. You have to align the gunsight over a target and the gun fires automatically, destroying the target. The last game is Death Ray. It imitates space invaders but the aliens do not play fair. You can fire your gun only vertically but they can fire vertically and diagonally. The Games Pack for the 1K ZX-81 costs £3.95. We have not seen a city bomber game for the 16K ZX-81 for a long time, so when Bomber arrived to be reviewed we did nor know whether to laugh or cry. The game is below the standards which we have expected from companies producing ZX-81 software. The bomber aircraft in question moves across the screen from left to right. The player must drop bombs on the city below to clear a runway on which to land. If a finger is kept on the rocket button it is not difficult to level the skyscrapers which stand in the way. Bomber costs £3.95.