SAS: Operation Thunderflash!!

Sinclair User

Overall 1/10

Tony Dillon 1/10

Label: Top Ten Price: £2.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Tony Dillon I won't bother with the humorous opening, in SAS Operation Thunderflash you are a leader of an SAS squad and you have to rescue some ever so nice hostages, destroy all the ever so nasty baddies and get out before an ever so loud bomb goes boom. The game is viewed in 3D isometric filmation kind of fashion and as with all games of this sort is under rotational control. Or is it directional, the game I had didn't seem to be able to make up its mind. The graphics are ugly and jerky, the gameplay is slow and the idea has worn thin. I couldn't find anything decent about it, even the price tag put me off.

Crash

Presentation 62%

Graphics 59%

Playability 65%

Addictive Qualities 64%

Value For Money 63%

Overall 63%

Ben Stone

Mike Dunn

Paul Sumner

Producer: Creative Sparks Retail Price: £2.99 Author: Mark Rivers Here's a game that gives you the chance to be an SAS hero - if you think you can handle it! You take the role of Rock Hardman, leader of a crack SAS squad, who's been chosen for a tough mission - in fact it's his toughest yet. A foreign embassy has been taken over by terrorists and hostages are being held. Single-handedly he must set this situation right. You move diagonally across the screen, rotating quickly if a terrorist attempts to attack from behind. The embassy consists of a number of rooms, all of which house a deadly terrorist. You make your way through these rooms one by one, killing the terrorists as you go. Your enemies are aware of your position and make every attempt to see you off before you reach them, therefore it is important to eliminate them with your first shot whenever possible. You are endowed with four lives, one of which is lost each time a terrorist bullet hits home. The embassy is a three-storey building, with movement between the floors achieved by lifts. The hostages are randomly scattered about the entire embassy, and you must search them out and deliver them to safety while eliminating the terrorists. There is a time factor to be taken into consideration, represented by a system of diminishing points. You start with a total of 100 points, one of which is lost with every movement made. This total can be replenished by releasing hostages and killing terrorists, and you must have enough points left to escape when your mission is completed. COMMENTS Control keys: S up, C down, B back, J forward or Z anticlockwise, X clockwise, M walk, K fire rotate left, X rotate right, M walk Joystick: Kempston Use of colour: monochromatic Graphics: a little flickery, unremarkable Sound: spot effects throughout Skill levels: one Screens: fifty

Your Sinclair

Graphics 4/10

Playability 4/10

Value For Money 5/10

Addictiveness 3/10

Overall 4/10

Tony Hetherington 4/10

Sparklers £2.99 Reviewer: Tony Hetherington This game is more light drizzle than thunderflash! You play the part of Rock Hardman (worra hero), leader of a crack team of SAS Stormtroops. You've infiltrated an embassy and your mission is to rescue hostages who're being held by a group of extreme and vicious terrorists, led by the horrendous Kred. Sounds fine in theory, but in practise - forget it! Rock seems to have been struck down with a hideous disease, which means his legs have gone completely stiff, and all his mobility has gone from his hips. He waddles around in a terribly ungainly manner! Thee doesn't help when it comes to being quick on the turn, as the game says he must be. And what's worse - every step he takes loses points from your score. You only gain points by shooting people and releasing hostages. There are 50 rooms to make your way through, on three levels. They're carefully drawn in 3D and you've got to wander through the cellar, the ground floor or upstairs to find the hostages. You're equipped with an armour piercing weapon, which as you'll find, can only fire in straight lines, calling for exact positioning of Rock. Hard to do when you're under fire. This is a daft game - it's too hard to get into and has poor graphics and game play. It's still stuck in basic training as far as I'm concerned!

Sinclair User

Overall 4/5

Graham Taylor 4/5

Label: Super Sparklers Author: Mark Rivers Price: £2.99 Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: Graham Taylor SAS Operation Thunderflash is a Super Sparkler - a cut above a regular Sparkler and put out for £2.99. It looks a bit like Strike Force Cobra but is simpler and its simplicity may be its greatest virtue. There is nothing much to do in this game other than kill people. It's OK though, the people you get to kill are all totally degenerate terrorists. That is, you can tell they're terrorists because they kidnap people and you can tell they are degenerate because they have long hair and beards. You on the other hand are Rock Hardman, leader of a crack SAS team. You appear to be obese. I don't know why - maybe it's the tension. The setting is an embassy as presented in Knight Lore-style 3D. There are comfy executive type chairs and Habitat-style coffee tables - a tribute to the graphics quality I guess. The game blurb says: only cunning, skill, determination and force will succeed in conquering these symbols of subversion. This is pretty heavy right-wing stuff. I mean, maybe these terrorists have a case. Unfortunately there is no 'chat to terrorist' option so I guess you'd better just kill them. The business of terminating terrorists with extreme prejudice is actually rather clever and requires quite a lot of skill and extremely fast reactions. Each of the rooms in the embassy presents the same problem in a different way: how to get into a position where, even momentarily, s/he can't shoot at you but you can shoot at him/her. It involves a lot of split-second timing as you work out how the terrorists move and how you can make use of the position of the different items of furniture to give you an advantage. There isn't much else to the game - obviously you have to find your way around the embassy and rescue hostages when you find them but in the end it's all about killing them before they kill you and it isn't easy. I rate SAS Operation Thunderflash pretty highly. The game idea is very simple but it takes a good deal of skill to make it through even half a dozen rooms. It's all very well presented with convincing 3D graphics and at £2.99 you'll get a lot more fun out of it than a good many full price games.