Tanium

Your Sinclair

Overall 5/10

Nat Pryce 5/10

BARGAIN BASEMENT Come on down! The Pryce is right! (Groan - Ed) Once again Nat Pryce single-handedly guides us through the treacherous world of the budget game. TANIUM Players £1.99 Reviewer: Nat Pryce The enemy (aliens as usual. I s'pose) have captured Tanium, the second most strategically important planet this side of the 'Sanvolgrani Rift'. You must fly your 'Quariad' class stealth fighter over the planet destroying as many enemy ships as possible. Now that's what I call a good mission - nice and simple! As sideways scrollers go, Tanium is rather bland. 'Sticky' controls and slow movement spoil the flow of what should be a fast and frantic blaster and the add-on weapons seem to have no effect and aren't explained anywhere in the instructions. My verdict? Not very playable or addictive and not particularly good value, even at this low price.

Crash

Presentation 49%

Graphics 53%

Playability 42%

Addictive Qualities 45%

Overall 45%

Kati Hamza

Nick Roberts

Producer: Players Retail Price: £1.99 Author: Colin Swinbourne Six years ago, an alien force set about terrorising the galaxy. As top gun of the Terran Spacefleet, our hero single-handedly repelled the invaders and, with the galaxy at peace, he the retired to the planet Sloar. It wasn't peaceful for very long, however: the aliens are at it again. They have captured the planet Tanium, so our intrepid pilot is sent to quell the uprising - again. The game starts with the player's ship zooming across the skies of Tanium, whereupon vicious alien hoards appear hell-bent on eliminating him. Destruction of alien formations earns the player a bonus, which takes the shape of increased firepower and speed. The mission is aggravated by barriers that stretch vertically across the screen: careful flying is needed to negotiate the small openings in them. Five lives are provided, although contact with either enemy ships, their laser fire or the barriers is fatal. Once a ship is destroyed, any extra equipment collected is also lost, so more blasting is needed to replace it. COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: small, mainly monochrome ships against a boring black background Sound: shooting effects only