Technician Ted: The Megamix

Your Sinclair

Rachael Smith

128 GAMES And so they came - the first trickle of 128 games. Sinclair cleverly made sure that the software was there, ready for the new machine. But most of the first releases have been expanded versions of existing titles, and we all know, don't we, that bigger doesn't necessarily mean better? After all, it's what you do with it that counts. So here it is - the highly personal, Rachael J Smith guide to those first ten releases. TECHNICIAN TED Hewson £7.95 Reviewer: Rachael Smith Isn't it about time Ted got promoted? This one's been about since the time of the miner - no, not the coal strike - it was one of the first great challenges to Matthew Smith's Willy. While it now boasts new tasks and an expanded playing area, plus lots of loading screen nonsense to minimise bauddom. I can't see it being a crucial purchase unless you've never seen a game of the type or you're such an addict that you can't bear to miss out on one. It's difficult and silly but Hewson's produced far better since. So there they are, ten offerings for the 128. All benefit from having their amplified sound blasted out through the TV, and where the new sound chip has been used to full effect it's like suddenly being able to hear after years of deafness. But while there are things here to appeal to the person who's never owned a Spectrum before, I can't see much point in duplicating a game unless you were a big fan of the original. And that means that we're not yet in a position to say whether the 128 itself is worth buying. We'll have to wait until games that make full use of that extra memory - that do things that can't be achieved in 48K - appear before we all decide to trade in our old machines.

Sinclair User

Overall 5/5

John Gilbert 5/5

Publisher: Hewson Price: £7.95 Memory: 128K Joystick: Kempston Ted has been given a much easier job than the one in the 48K version of this game, but there's much more work to be done. The game is twice the size of the original, with 100 rooms in the factory and 30 tasks to perform. Unlike the original game, in which you had to guess which tasks to perform, each of the jobs is numbered. That does not make their performance any easier, though. Some, like the one waiting in Ted's Den, are split into two and you have to find out which part should be performed first. Others are hidden behind objects, such as rampant C5s over which you must jump at the right time. Some of the new screens have been created with current affairs - well almost - taken into account. There's the C5 production line which never breaks down but constantly runs over its hapless work force, and the Sinclair Research factory. The cloth-capped hero also has to put up with the brothers on the picket line who have the help of an Arthur Scargill lookalike. Scargill's face pops up in nearly every screen blocking the way for Ted. He will have to jump over him and sometimes sneak under him. The interactive graphics are slightly better than those in the original game. You do not lose a life unless you score a direct hit on an obstacle. Hewson has put the cutest sound track and effects in the package and those can be played throughout the game. Effects and music are controlled separately on the main menu before the game begins and you can have one set on without the other. The music at the beginning of the game, Tchaikovsky at his raunchiest, uses only two of the three 128 voices but, nonetheless, adds a carnival atmosphere to the game. The tunes may be slightly off key but I have a feeling that the notes were made to droop to make the game more amusing. The Mega-Mix is not just another 128 revamped con job. The authors, Steve Marsden and David Cooke, have made the game more playable for beginners and a viable buy for those people who have the 48K version. It's not a total re-write but gameplay is different and the new locations make you forget that you are playing a game which has been around for over a year.

The following pages show a selection of games for the Spectrum 128 and include Daley Thompson's Supertest and NeverEnding Story which come free with the machine.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

ZX Computing

The Spectrum 128's that were ghosted into software houses around the country during the past few months came out into the open at the official 128 launch. Programmers have been feverishly preparing games to ensure the machine has credible software support. Despite assurances that 48k games run on the 128, to potential buyers this may seem like fitting a moped engine into a Ferrari. Compatibility is of course an asset but the machine's viability rests on the utilisation of its added features for games writing. The software houses have come up with a miscellany of revamped classics using the 128's new capabilities to varying degrees. Games written specifically for the 128 are in the pipeline but the first offerings are reviewed below. TECHNICIAN TED MEGA-MIX Hewson £7.95 Hewson's everyday story of life of a silicon chip factory has been overhauled for the 128 to take full advantage of the sound chip and increased memory. The Mega Mix contains 100 screens, twice the number of the original and music plays throughout, beginning with a Viennese waltz to accompany the loading screen and moving onto a rousing march to get you in the mood for Ted's quest to complete his daily tasks. With so many more locations the gameplay is different so that technician Ted in the 128 version can be considered almost as a new game rather than just a cosmetic enhancement of the 48K program. Technician Ted, harassed by lethal C5s, floating heads and viciously rotating keys seems set to persuade a new wave of converts to clock on to this addictive platform foray.

Technician Ted Mega-Mix

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 7/10

Sound 8/10

Value 9/10

Playability 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 128K SUPPLIER: Hewson PRICE: £7.95 Well it's time for fun and frolics again at the local Microprocessor factory. Yes, Technician Ted is back for a 128K mega-mix of Hewson's chart-topping game. The original 48K with more than 40 screens has been boosted to more than 100 by programmers Steve Marsden and David Cooke. There are 30 tasks to perform as Ted starts his day at 8.30am and clocks off at 5.30pm. If he doesn't get all the work done he gets the OBE - Order of the Big Elbow! Time is all important. Lives are lost if Ted collides with any hostile objects and there are quite a few. No doubt platform freaks will be sent into ecstacy by the huge, sprawling game. Map-makers will also find it a challenge.

Crash

Julian Rignall

ALL THE LITTLE EXTRA BITS Julian Rignall, for it is he, puts down the joystick attached to his Commodore 64, wanders into the CRASH office and has a quick look at the game we've received for the 128K Spectrum. Between thee and me, he ended up well impressed - a diehard Commie 64 man, Jaz left the office muttering about buying the new Spectrum. Can't be bad news for Sinclair, that.... Hmmmm, a Spectrum with added bits? What would they be? I wondered. Wheels, a bit of whoosh, twiddly things? Nope, none of these - just extra RAM and an on-board hot plate to keep your coffee warm as you bash the baddies through the night. Well, it's not really a hot plate, but it doesn't half act like one. Anyway, what do these extra features mean to yer average gamesplayer on the street? Two 128 games are given away with the computer: Daley Thompson's Supertest and The Neverending Story. Daley's appeared on the Spectrum some time ago, and the original game had eight events which were loaded in two parts. The new 128 version has an extra four events: the javelin, 100m sprint, 110m hurdles and the triple jump along with the eight others and they're all loaded in a single go, making the game far more jolly and varied to play. Ocean have also made use of the 128's three-channel sound capability: excellent music accompanies the title screen and jingles play before and after each event. The whole game is far better than the 48K original and is a great freebie! The other game in the package is the official adventure of the film The Neverending Story. Again, the original version was a multiloader, although this time the game came in four chunks. The 128 version is another single load program, which makes it far more enjoyable to play. Again it's free, so you can't really complain. IN THE CHIP FACTORY Moving on to the 128 games you'll have to pay money for, Hewson's take the prize for releasing the very first 128K game - Technician Ted - the Megamix. Technician Ted 48K first appeared early last year, earning a CRASH Smash for programmers Steve Marsden and David Cooke. What Hewson have done is taken the original torturous platform arcade adventure and expanded it, making it twice as big - now there are over 100 different screens and thirty tasks to complete. AAAAAGGGH you might say, those lousy sadists... the original Tech Ted was bad enough!! The gameplay is radically different and the whole program has been 'tweaked' to take advantage of the new machine's capabilities. But don't fret poor things, each of the tasks has now been numbered so at least you know which task you're supposed to tackle next; the only problem is finding out how you complete them. Three channel music adds extra atmosphere to the game as you whizz around the factory. A special mention must go to the loader - it tells a story whilst the game loads and the music is superbly done. £7.95 buys you this piece of arcade adventuring action, only £2 more than the 48K original. ALL A BIT OF A WHIRL Gargoyle Games have also taken a tentative leap upon the 128 bandwaggon and whizzed out Sweevo's Whirled(sic) which is available for £9.95 - no increase. Capturing all those horrible Wijurs has now been made an even more difficult task with an extra fifty rooms to confuse and confound all you budding androids. There are some new images too - ginormous noses stick up through the floor (but luckily there are no huge bogeys to foul up our intrepid android's workings), fingers which make strange indecipherable (LMLWD) signs and there is also a curious lampost... I don't know what it does because I haven't seen the light (laugh, you philistines). Obviously there are no musicians at Gargoyle because there is no three channel sound, but the tune does sound better because it comes through the telly. CHATTY AND TUNEFUL Odin's Robin of the Wood and Nodes of Yesod have been souped up and join the handful of titles currently available for the 128K machine. The game elements and playing area of both 128 versions are unchanged but they now feature excellent music (as good as the Commodore any old day, believe me 'cos I'm a horrible ZZAP! reviewer). Also, a nice surprise awaits you... both programs talk. Yup, they do, and it's not too bad - a lot better than the dalek with laryngitis stuff that the old Spectrums used to burble out. 128 owners can hear Robin shouting "OW" when he gets an arrow in a painful place, and "give me a chance!!" a few seconds before he shuffles off this mortal coil. The game welcomes the player by saying "Can you help Robin in his quest for the silver arrow" upon loading - real arcade stuff! Nodes follows a similar path on the 128, with Champagne Charlie moaning and groaning as he trundles round the moon's underground caverns in his search for alchiems. You're also told when his life energy is running low, just in case you don't notice... wheee! Arc of Yesod is expected in the office any day now, and includes the fire option that was missing from the 48K version which should make it much more fun to play. Once again Odin have kept pretty much to the same game, but enhanced the product with speech and music. Odin are selling their 128 games for £9.95 - the same price charged for the originals. PARADISE EXPANDED Mikro-Gen's game Three Weeks in Paradise, which collected a CRASH Smash in its 48K incarnation last month, has been extended for the new machine and costs a pound extra, making it £10.95. The plot has grown a little, so completing the 128 game involves a lot more adventuring. Six new screens have been patched onto the game (go through the plug to find them). Some three channel music kicks the game off, otherwise the sound is much the same. FOR SKUFFLE FANS Fighting fans will no doubt be pleased to hear that Domark have added a pound to the price of Gladiator for the 128, making it £9.95. For the extra pennies you get two different graphics for the combatants - in the original version both gladiators were identical except for their weapons. Sound hasn't been upgraded a great deal - a sort of fairground tune plays on the menu screen and after a gladiator has been killed, and bopping noises indicate a hit on your opponent. One, two or four people can play the 128 version which includes ten new screens and a fairly polished demo mode. Essentially, however, the gameplay remains the same.