Blind Alley

Crash

Producer: Suns h,ne Booka, 16K £4.95 Author: Simon Lane Blind Alley is what passed for sport in the year 3017, you are told on the inlay. In fact the game looks confusing at first, but that's because it is fast and there's no time to think. This really is a game where those with quick and sure instincts win. You must steer your ship round the grid in such a way that you block off other ships, forcing them into a blind alley where they are forced against your trail, their own trails, or the edge of the screen. Of course it usually happens the other way round... You start off against two ships, then four, then 6 and so on. It gets very hard! Works with Kempston joystick. Avoid hitting reverse of the direction in which you're travelling - it's instant death. Recommended

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Crash

Producer: Suns h,ne Booka, 16K £4.95 Author: Simon Lane Blind Alley is what passed for sport in the year 3017, you are told on the inlay. In fact the game looks confusing at first, but that's because it is fast and there's no time to think. This really is a game where those with quick and sure instincts win. You must steer your ship round the grid in such a way that you block off other ships, forcing them into a blind alley where they are forced against your trail, their own trails, or the edge of the screen. Of course it usually happens the other way round... You start off against two ships, then four, then 6 and so on. It gets very hard! Works with Kempston joystick. Avoid hitting reverse of the direction in which you're travelling - it's instant death. Recommended

Crash

Producer: Sunshine Booka, 16K £4.95 Author: Simon Lane Blind Alley is what passed for sport in the year 3017, you are told on the inlay. In fact the game looks confusing at first, but that's because it is fast and there's no time to think. This really is a game where those with quick and sure instincts win. You must steer your ship round the grid in such a way that you block off other ships, forcing them into a blind alley where they are forced against your trail, their own trails, or the edge of the screen. Of course it usually happens the other way round... You start off against two ships, then four, then 6 and so on. It gets very hard! Works with Kempston joystick. Avoid hitting reverse of the direction in which you're travelling - it's instant death. Recommended

ZX Computing

Documentation 3.5/5

Addictive Quality 4/5

Graphics 3/5

Programming Achievement 3/5

Lasting Appeal 4/5

Value 4/5

James Walsh

PRICE: £4.95 Memory: 16K The instructions on the back of the box tells that this game is a deadly duel, deep in space - the sport of the year 3017. The idea is to trap your opponent or opponents by enclosing them in the trail that you have left. It is rather like the game in the movie, Tron. The graphics of the introductory screen are good, though the graphics of the rest of the game are less than brilliant. Though there is only one level of play it does get progressively more difficult, with more and more opponents sent against you. Sunshine seem to have a habit of producing games which are not technically brilliant, but manage to be highly addictive and great fun to play.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 8/10

Value 3/10

Playability 3/10

NOT THE GAME OF THE FUTURE Blind Alley is a snake chase type game where you have to avoid your own tail and attempt to make two pursuing snakes crash into it. Despite this, the cassette inlay depicts a space scene and gives some blurb about Blind Alley being the sport of the future. New software house - Sunshine - are not alone in producing misleading cassette inlays. Some of the worst offenders are the established software houses. The idea of the game is to hem in the snakes before they can do the same to you. You score a hundred points for each snake successfully crashed. You begin with two fairly slow snakes and then progress to two quicker ones, then four snakes and so on. Trouble is its all rather slow. The snakes are difficult to control with the keyboard and, if you accidentally press the wrong key they have the annoying habit of disappearing. The graphics were not the most colourful have seen on the Spectrum to say the least. I also felt that the game would have been much better if you had something, or things, to gobble up as you guided your snake around the screen. It is not possible in Blind Alley to rectify a mistaken move by steering yourself out of trouble - instead you must start all over again from the beginning. About the only good feature of Blind Alley was the high score board which enabled you to write your name in full, congratulated you on a high score, and kept a "Hall of Fame". Blind Alley is available from Sunshine Software at £4.95 and runs on the Sinclair Spectrum in 16 or 48K.