SOS

Big K

Graphics 2/3

Playability 0/3

Addictiveness 0/3

Overall 1/3

Steve Keaton 1/3

OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS MAKER: Visions FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £5.95 Hey, man! What's this! None other than my old pub pal, Lunar Lander long time no play, eh? Just when I'd thought all the old faithfuls had tottered off to that great arcade avenue in the sky, up crops this ol' dog decked out new technicolour threads. Never fear though, the game plan remains pretty much unchanged. Those dang humanoids are STILL stranded on that alien moon and it's STILL your job - no promotion - to pilot a lander down through rolling clouds of monsters and meteors in order to pick 'em up. Unfortunately, not only is this rescue job STILL intrinsically boring but, in this guise, it's also hampered by poor design. The first screen is so difficult it promptly kills off whatever vague historical interest the game might still hold; we're talking archeology here! Avoid.

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 8/10

Sound 3/10

Originality 3/10

Lasting Interest 6/10

Overall 5/10

Martyn Smith

Peter Walker

Richard Boniface 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc FROM: Visions, £5.95 Such is the foolishness of space travellers. I mean, there I was peacefully enjoying myself after a mining expedition in deep space when suddenly a distress call sounded on the main computer. The scanners read that it was coming from what was thought to be a lifeless lump of rock. Being an inquisitive sort of human I decided to investigate. I put the ship into geostationary (I don't know what it means, but it sounds good) orbit. I hopped into the landing craft and thrust out into the planet's atmosphere. Oh no, there's alien ships. Move left, right, fire, fire, Help! - I'm going to be hit... AAAAAHHHH!!!... And so continues the story in this Lunar Lander-style game. The idea is to fly down from your spacecraft to the numerous landing pads on the planet's surface. Sounds easy? Well, there's one small problem and that's the numerous inhabitants of the planet who are not too keen on you invading their territory. They throw themselves at you in wave after wave, These aliens have been painstakingly drawn in tremendous detail with superb movement. Not only do the various rocks and other weird 'things' move across the screen but they also spin internally. Don't get distracted though - you've got to do some fast blasting! Sound is poor being almost non-existent, with a faint hum when using the 'thrust' button. The explosion effects are marvellous, however. An average game with good graphics, although I feel the depiction of the rescued man could have been improved greatly. Surely he should run up and shake your hand after all you've done for him?

Crash

Use of Computer 64%

Graphics 70%

Playability 58%

Getting Started 65%

Addictive Qualities 69%

Value For Money 64%

Overall 65%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Visions Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Simon Ffinch S.O.S. stands for Save Our Souls, the international distress signal. You may already know this, but if you don't the learned intro on the cassette blurb will tell you. In this case the S.O.S. is coming from stranded astronauts on a planet surface and it's your job to fly a shuttle down to the ground and rescue them. From this you will already have gathered that what we have here is another 'Rescue' or 'Lunar Lander' type of game. In this version the animated mothership is quite large. Your shuttle is equipped with a thruster and laser fire which shoots a beam out in the direction of vertical movement. It's needed because there are asteroids in plenty on the way down and firing aliens on the way back up. Each astronaut, there are six, must be rescued one at a time by landing on one of three platforms on the planet's surface. With each landing the platforms are reduced in usefulness, thus reducing your choice of landing sites as each rescue is carried out. Progressing to harder screens, there are more aliens to dodge and pulsing stars appear at the edges of the landing sites, making the final approach more difficult. Points are scored for space debris shot to pieces and for the rescue of the stranded astronauts. COMMENTS Control keys: Z/X left/right, N to fire. M to thrust Joystick: Kempston, ZX 2 Keyboard play: reasonable layout and responsive Use of colour: good Graphics: good Sound: in space no one can hear you scream, but these aliens are fairly noisy Skill levels: 1 but with progressive difficulty Lives: 3 Originality: there have already been at least four versions before this one

Like a jaws-agape Grouper fish, the mothership hovers over the shuttle as it takes off in S.O.S.