Super Pipeline II

Your Spectrum

Dougie Bern 7/10

Rick Robson 8/10

Ross Holman 7/10

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.! SUPER PIPELINE II Taskset £7.95 Dougie: First off, don't be taken in by the screenshots from the Commie 64 version on the inlay card. The Spectrum version's screens are just as interesting, the sprites are just as fast and smooth, but the graphics aren't as pretty and the designer chappy who colours it all in must have had the afternoon off. But if looks don't matter too much, then this game's a treat. It's a bit of an exercise in uncontrolled mayhem, but it does have a cute story so it can't be that violent! Foreman Fred heads up a bunch of mindless workmen (who resemble Ewocks in tin hats) whose job it is to make sure that the water continues to flow through the pipeline. And why shouldn't it continue to flow? Ah, didn't I mention the deadly slugs, spanners, showers of tacks, lobsters, power drills and hammers? The action is fast and furious - you never get too much time to consider tactics, it's just a matter of shooting all the time and patching up the leaks. Foreman Fred fixes a leak in the pipeline by leading one of the Munchkin workers over to the hole, whereupon the little man seems to do something rather obscene with a hammer. It's soon fixed but, oh no, another leak's started. And that's it really... apart from the fact that every time you manage to fill a barrel full of water at the end of the pipeline, you're whisked off to another level, a different shaped pipeline, different nasties and the same ol' mayhem. Absurdly impossible, foolishly frustrating... but fun.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Sinclair User

Overall 3/5

John Gilbert 3/5

Publisher: Taskset Price: £7.95 Memory: 48K The task is hardly run of the mill and graphics hardly sophisticated in this drain of a game from Taskset. Your objective is to keep the pipeline open. No holes or gaps must appear in it and it would be more than your job is worth if water escaped and did not run into the barrels below the pipe. As foreman Fred you have two helpers who will hammer any hole closed. But first you must collect them and lead them to the leak. Obstacles include evil insects, intent on chewing you to death, and various power tools which have wills of their own. Despite the awful graphics the player will also be disappointed with the playability of the game - worse than the original arcade version. The graphics could have been at least as colourful, even allowing for the Spectrum screen restrictions. Super Pipeline II is like Jaws II, all packaging and no bite.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Crash

Use of Computer 77%

Graphics 80%

Playability 81%

Getting Started 80%

Addictive Qualities 86%

Value For Money 79%

Overall 79%

Unknown

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Producer: Taskset Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £7.95 Language: Machine code Super Pipeline became something of a cult game on the 64 and gave software house Taskset a big following. The Spectrum version of Super Pipeline2 is the first ever game Taskset have done on the Spectrum, and is a conversion from the 64 version of the same name. In Super Pipeline 2 you are in charge of a gang of busy workmen who repair various long, convoluted pipes that get damaged by the nasties that come from all angles. Some of them are harmless to the pipes but not much good to yourself or your team, whereas others, like the two types of drill, make holes in the pipes. This is a Bad Thing because water is flowing down from a cistern at the top left, through the pipe, to issue at the end into a barrel. The object is to fill the barrels) before the supply in the cistern runs out. It takes a while for the water to run all the way through the pipe, so nothing is being wasted if holes are made before the water reaches them, but after that precious time and water is awasting. To repair a hole you must guide one your workmen to the hole, at which point he will start hammering away and repairing it. It takes a few seconds to repair, and in the meantime you must protect him from the predators. This is done by using your blaster which, however, may only be fired left and right which puts you in a vulnerable position while you are climbing up or down a pipe. The workmen run on to the screen and dash around the pipe complex until they are either snatched by a nasty or come up against you, in which case they huddle at your back until led off to a repair job. When a barrel is filled, a tune plays and various inter-screen animation sequences take place. Each subsequent pipe is longer and more complicated than the last, later ones require more than one barrel to be filled, and of course there are more and nastier nasties. Lobsters can only be shot up from behind and the tacks are completely invulnerable. COMMENTS Control keys: O/P left/right. E/D up/down, Space to fire Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor Keyboard play: very positive response, but finicky control Use of colour: generally fine, each pipe in a different colour, but some graphics clashes Graphics: nicely sized characters with good animation Sound: good tunes between screens, otherwise spot effects Skill levels: progressive difficulty Lives: selectable between 1 and 8 Screens: 16