The Birds and the Bees

ZX Computing

Peter Craven

Although insects often prove to be very annoying - the insect star of the new game quickly changed my mind (although he tends to be frustrating at times). You play the part of Boris the Bee - one of the busiest bees yet. Upon loading the game, the title screen (accompanied by the music of The Flight Of The Bumble Bee) appears. Pressing a key again launches you into the game - the object of which is to do what a bee does best - collect nectar and then take it back to your hive. Of course it is not easy - there are various hazards such a viciously swooping blackbirds, wasps and Venus fly-traps to hinder any progress - not exactly my idea of helpful neighbours. Naturally you will need warning to help you avoid these pesky creatures - so a radar is present at the bottom of the screen showing your's and the hazard's positions. There are relatively few controls to master - four direction keys and, for emergencies, pressing any key from B to Space releases any nectar Boris is carrying to enable him to make a quick getaway. (The program also caters for most popular makes of joystick interface - Kempston etc.) Pressing the left or right key and holding it down makes Boris accelerate making it harder to swerve. Also the more nectar you are carrying the slower you fly easy prey for birds. The graphics are excellent (done by Matthew Smith of Manic Miner fame) and are well though out - a bright yellow sun shining, clouds drifting past slowly, flowers opening when Boris lands on them and there is even a small plane flying the Bug-Byte logo. You the bee, are a cute little bit of graphics design - antennae waving with legs and wings moving convincingly. Motion is smooth while sound effects are negligible - but how much sound do you need - certainly no zaps and pows. There is also a speech option if you have a Currah micro speech module attached to your Spectrum. Although this game is not quite as good as Manic Miner (my favourite game) it is highly recommended at £5.95. An excellent, original game - bound to Bee another sweet success for Buy-Byte.

Sinclair User

A game with cartoon-style graphics involving Boris the bee's attempt to collect nectar while facing opposition from the local birds who are none too pleased about the invasion of their air space. It arrived at a time when Melbourne House was consolidating the popularity of its Horace character and cute games were all the rage. The game was an instant success because it was different from anything that Bug-Byte had done before. It also showed that a simple plot concept could be turned into an original and engrossing game. Position 30/50

Crash

Overall 83%

Producer: Bug-Byte, 48K £5.95 (2) Author: Adrian Sherwin & Matthew Smith Boris Bee from Birkenhead has spotted a field full of flowers and has dragged his hive in there. Your job is to take him back and forth, collecting nectar from the flowers, whilst avoiding the somewhat annoyed birds. It takes several trips because the more flowers Boris visits, the heavier he gets. The mote nectar he collects, the more the birds home in on him and the slower he flies. Eventually centipedes and honey bears appear. Controlling Boris isn't easy, he's something of a soggy flier and it takes practice to get used to him. The graphics are very good (Matthew Smith of Manic Miner) and the game is compatible with the Currah Microspeech. Good control keys, joystick: Kempston, Protek and AGF. Gets progressively harder, 5 lives, general rating: addictive and recommended CRASH Overall rating 83%.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Personal Computer News

Bob Chappell

GAME TALK Bob Chappell proves that the art of conversation has not been killed by the dreaded micro games. Since the Currah speech box arrived on the market, a number of software houses have taken the plunge and incorporated speech in their programs for the Spectrum 48K. This group could turn into an army as publishers realise the potential of the device. Here is a clutch of programs showing the pioneer spirit. VOICE CHESS II (£8.95) Artic Computing, [redacted] Artic have an excellent range of chess programs. Including one that speaks without the use of any add-ons. Its existing Voice Chess program was an obvious candidate for conversion. As chess is a game normally played between people, what could add more realism to computer chess than having your electronic opponent speak? Every time you or the computer makes a move, the voice makes an announcement. A capturing and/or checking move is spoken: 'D5 takes F6 check'. An illegal move gets the response 'Invalid move'. Castling is voiced as 'Castles' and mate as 'Checkmate'. It can be a little disconcerting to suddenly hear 'Mate in two' when you were not expecting it - fortunately, the voice has no trace of smugness. If you type in 'M' when it is your move, the computer announces 'I recommend E6 E7' if it thinks that is your best move. Having done as told, you will hear, not unreasonably, 'I expected that'. The speech is clear and certainly adds that extra something to a program that plays a very good game of chess. Excellent. BIRDS AND BEES (£6.95) Bug-Byte, [redacted] This is a super little game to be used with or without the speech facility. The game commences with the rousing 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' (what else) and a spoken 'The Birds and the Bees'. A point to note here, for all games, is that any sound effects generated by the program are output through your TV if the Currah box is connected. Playing Boris Bee, you buzz across the meadows in your hunt for nectar. The sun rolling across the sky, drifting clouds and a passing plane (towing a Bug-Byte advert!) adds to the animation. Swaying flowers beckon and when alighted on, open their petals to 'Nectar'. Boris faces many hazards, these include: nectar overload, flying ducks, blackbirds, centipedes, and many more. Spoken announcements include 'Oh dear' (when Boris gets duffed up). 'Game over', 'New high score' and, to warn Boris of approaching danger, something like 'Full alert'. An addictive game with a good scenario. LUNAR JETMAN (£5.50) Ultimate Play The Game, [redacted] The follow-up to Ultimate's successful Jet Pac, has you jetting about a planet with the assistance of a Moon Rover - not a dog but a buggy. The Rover is used to carry various strange objects, you must discover their use as part of your mission to destroy the enemy defence installations. With sideways scrolling screens and brilliant hi-res animation, this is a worthy inheritor of Jet Pac's fame. A drawback with the speech unit is that it cannot be used with a joystick. Jetman is hard enough with a joystick - use of keyboard alone makes it more so. Speech is used randomly and frequently, and is a mixture of statements, commands and threats. They include 'Oh, no!', 'I'll get you, Jetman', 'Exterminate', 'Destroy enemy missile base', 'Pull yourself together' and 'Missile fired'. Although control of Jetman is complex, this is a superb game which benefits by the extra dimension of speech - the taunts generate a psychological obstacle to add to the challenge. BLASTERMIND (£5.50) Martech Games, [redacted] This is the most talkative of all the programs and the only one that attempts to use the voice as a personality. The objective is to guess the computer's code (colours or digits) before it guesses yours. The fun part comes in the computer's comments. To start with, halfway through the loading of the program, you hear 'Keep your hands off my keyboard!' Once loaded, it declares. "My name is Howard but you may call me Sir.' It continues by referring to you in a variety of insulting terms. Not only that but, if given suspect information following one of its guesses at your code, it says, 'You cheated. I suppose I must expect that sort of thing from you humans.' When you decide to finish, the computer begs 'Please don't switch me off. I'll let you win a game if you let me live.' If you agree, it says 'Thank you', but it doesn't honour the promise. I never managed to beat it - judging by its megalomania. I suspect it cheats. I found it amusing - fellow masochists will, too. Most of the pleasure came from waiting to see what it would say next. If you want one program to show off your speech box to your friends, this could be the one. THE ISLAND (£7.50) Crystal Computing, [redacted] An interesting text adventure in the classic mould, the program makes use of speech to repeat your commands ('Inventory', 'go east', etc) and for some responses ('I don't understand'). A unique feature of this program is the ability to switch the speech on and off during the game (the commands are SPEAK and SHUT UP!). An interesting adventure in its own right - as is the case I with some graphics adventures, the speech adds little to the enjoyment but, if you've got the unit, it's an added. Optional bonus. LUNAR RESCUE (£5.95) Lyversoft, [redacted] This is a competent version of rescuing humans from the planet surface by guiding your craft down from a mothership, gathering them up and returning from whence you came. The spoken items include such phrases as 'Chocks away' and 'Rockets fired'. An old favourite, the speech here is more a question of gilding the lily than adding a real bonus.

Crash

Use of Computer 88%

Graphics 90%

Playability 80%

Getting Started 75%

Addictive Qualities 80%

Value For Money 83%

Overall 83%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Bug-Byte Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Adrian Sherwin (Graphics: Matthew Smith) As a game type, The Birds and The Bees is a sort of 'Scramble' cum 'Defender' with 'Centipede' connections. It's all about Boris Bee from Birkenhead, who has discovered a fabulous field full of flowers, and dragged his hive into the field ready to start collecting nectar. Unfortunately there are a number of problems. For a start off the birds aren't too happy about the bee's intrusion, and the more nectar Boris collects, the more they chase him. Centipedes also appear, and a bear, which tries to steal the nectar from the, or rather the honey being made in there. Towards the end some wasps make an appearance. Boris's life is hard! The screen display shows the blue sky and green ground. The sky is full of clouds, some raining, and the sun. It's also full of various birds which fly back and forth. On the ground ducks waddle about, centipedes and caterpillars crawl up and down, and of course there are the flowers. If Boris manages to land properly on a flower, it opens up and releases its nectar. Below the main display is a bar code which shows how much nectar Boris has collected on his trip. There comes a point when he is fully loaded and must return to the hive to deposit it. The more flowers he visits, the slower he flies, and the more birds home in on him. There is also a 'Scramble' style radar screen which shows Boris's position and that of other creatures. The playing area is totally shown on this screen with the landscape scrolling back and forth as Boris flies about. The game is compatible with the Currah Microspeech unit, which enhances the sound enormously, as well as providing spoken comments like 'Nectar' when a flower is touched, or 'Oh dear' when a bird is run into. COMMENTS Control keys: sensible, Q/Z up/down, I/P left/right, B drops nectar to speed Boris up in an emergency Joystick: Kempston, Protek, AGF Keyboard play: responsive when used to it Colour very good Graphics: excellent Sound: very good Skill levels: 1 gets harder Lives: 5 Features: Currah Microspeech compatible

Boris Bee from Birkenhead behaves badly, buzzing back and forth between bunches of flowers.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

BIRDS AND BEES REVEAL TRUE FACTS OF LIFE The name The Birds and the Bees may conjure idyllic images of peaceful summer days but the new Bug-Byte game for the 48K Spectrum finally will reveal how tough life can be for a bee. On a screen which scrolls left and right, you must pilot your bee from flower to flower, picking up pollen to earn yourself points, and avoiding hostile birds and centipedes. The more pollen the bee picks up, the heavier it becomes, making it increasingly easy prey for the birds. There is also a limit to the amount of pollen it can carry, so that it has to make periodic trips to the hive to shed its load. As your score mounts, new hazards will appear, first a swarm of bees and then a bear intent on raiding the hive for its store of honey. This is not only a genuinely original game but a very entertaining and appealing one. The graphics are attractive and the movements, with the bee swooping uncontrollably up and down and the birds dive-bombing with deadly accuracy, are an ingenious reproduction of real-life conditions in the fields. Details such as an animated title page, the aircraft which flies a Bug-Byte banner, and the flowers which open as the bee lands all show that a great deal of thought has gone into the product. The game also offers a degree of difficulty which will satisfy experienced players and lure less-experienced ones to try to improve their skills. The Birds and the Bees is sold by Bug-Byte Software, [redacted]. It is obtainable from computer branches of W H Smith and costs £5.95.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

BEE WITH A VERY SWEET TOOTH! Knowing about the birds and the bees won't help you in this game! You play the part of a single-minded bee whose one aim in life is to fill his hive with honey. Flitting around from flower to flower happily collecting nectar he is suddenly attacked by all sorts of nasty insects who think he'll make a great hors d'oeuvres! Your poor bee has got to avoid birds, spiders, caterpillars and make it safely back to the hive with his cargo of nectar. Should he get caught in a spider's web, he'll die - and watch out for the wandering teddy bear. Scrolling from left to right, the game becomes steadily more difficult as the further you are from home the more nasties there are to contend with and some rapid evasive action will be necessary to get back safely. Beware of overloading him with nectar - this will slow him down and he's more likely to get caught wobbling home than speeding back to base. Optional use of the Currah Speech Synthesiser is available with the Birds and the Bees which will say "Nectar" to you every time some is collected and will also tell you when you've lost one of your three lives. You can play the game using a joystick or keyboard and it runs on a 48K Spectrum and is available from Bug-Byte at £5.95. Also new from Bug-Byte is a graphical adventure game incorporating some 170 screens of different pictures. In the valley live two kings, one good and one evil. The aim of the game is to steal a treasure chest from the evil king and give it to the good king. In your quest there is the odd dragon to kill and princess to rescue and help is on hand from bands of Elves - but beware - danger lurks in the guise of the Terrible Trolls. Twin Kingdom Valley is available for the BBC and Electron for £9.50 and the Commodore 64 after November for around the same price.