Blue Thunder

Sinclair Programs

June Mortimer

This month we focus on a selection of games and on the new range of software for students of Shakespeare from Penguin Books. The aim of Blue Thunder is to steer a jet helicopter across the sea and islands, avoiding all attacks from enemy missiles and barrage balloons, to reach and destroy the nuclear reactor and thus rescue your comrades who are trapped there. The graphics are very well done. As the helicopter moves, so the landscape scrolls smoothly across the screen. The helicopter movements and changes in direction are equally well-displayed. The game, however, is unexciting. After a few runs the majority of attacks become predictable and it is possible to reach the nuclear reactor by moving upwards, waiting the appropriate length of time and then flying left. That is a useful facility for those who are trying to eat their lunch, or drink a cup of coffee, or do anything else while playing the game, but for those who require a game to be interesting throughout it is a major disadvantage. Blue Thunder is produced by Foundry Business Systems Ltd, [redacted] and costs £5.95.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 6/10

GREASED LIGHTNING Memory: 48K Price: £6.95 Joystick: Kempston Your helicopter is poised on the deck of a battleship ready to take off and destroy the nuclear reactor which is endangering life in Blue Thunder for the 48K Spectrum. You must fly your whirlybird through enemy terrain, attacked by the gun installations on land and sea. Once through that murderous onslaught you have to gain access to the nuclear reactor which is beneath the waves and fire your guns to make it explode. If you are not quick enough you will be destroyed. The game has a simple appearance but the animated graphics are well-produced and are a major selling-point. The detail is so complete that the helicopter rotor blades seem to increase speed when it is stationary, hovering opposite a target. The only difficulty a player could experience is completing one mission, let alone several. Your small ammunition, which looks like full stops coming from the helicopter, makes it difficult to judge whether you will hit anything or not. Blue Thunder is original and entertaining. It can be obtained from Richard Wilcox Software, [redacted].

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 8/10

Graphics 7/10

Playability 8/10

Value 8/10

THE FALKLANDS FACTOR Shades of the Falklands infamous bomb alley must have been in the programmers' minds recently as a flurry of air-sea battles are bombarding the software shelves. Hopping aboard HMS Spectrum are Krakatoa from Abbex and Richard Wilcox's Blue Thunder which we played against each other in an explosive head to head. Both games feature choppers performing a dual mission of defence and rescue over the briny. The Blue Thunder chopper has the most realistic flight graphics - banking and dipping its nose as it moves forward. The aim of the game is to blast your way into a nuclear reactor which pops up out of the sea like an electronic sea serpent. Getting in is relatively easy, but blowing up the radioactive core takes much more skill. Once the possibility of a nuclear blast has been eliminated, you can rescue your comrades held on an adjacent island. Blue Thunder is only average entertainment. The chopper movement is either too slow or too fast and some of the ground installations showering you with fire cannot be shot. Far better value for money is Abbex's Krakatoa. This game has so many clever little graphic frills that it is difficult to mention them all. The basic idea is to protect a tanker being bombarded enemy ships in the bay. A radar scanner enables you see the bandits and sneaking submarines. You'll really need to start bashing your keyboard in an attempt to down those enemy planes and subs. When the tanker sustains a hit, the crew are thrown into the water and it is your job to let down a rope and winch them up to the safety of the chopper. This is one of those games where you need about thirty six fingers but, despite this, it's hellishly addictive. The more I played it, the more features I discovered. Krakatoa from Abbex really silences Wilcox's Blue Thunder and is in the shops now at £5.95.

Blue Thunder.

CrashCrash Game Of The Month

Use of Computer 78%

Graphics 95%

Playability 90%

Getting Started 89%

Addictive Qualities 94%

Value For Money 92%

Overall 90%

Unknown

Unknown

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Producer: Richard Wilcox Software Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Richard Wilcox With the TV series of the same name on our screens Richard Wilcox should be assured good sales of his well promoted and now available game, but of course that still depends on the game itself, and Blue Thunder appears to stand the test with flying colours. The basic objective is to fly your jetcopter off the deck of a ship, fly across a sea infested with islands, all heavily defended by the enemy, reach a base where many of your men are being held prisoner and rescue them. To do this you must come to rest over the base, shoot out a whirling, rising and falling device which results in a nuclear reactor shooting up out of the ground behind you. This is unstable, so you must destroy it quickly. The reactor is protected by some of the most state of the art hi-tech you've ever seen (wait for this) Photo-electric perimeter shield with Hyper-Phase Lazer deactivated lock externally, and internally and indestructible intermittent ultra-sonic quantum blaster! What this actually means is that you must shoot away the yellow forced field by hitting the rising blue stripe in it, then edge into the reactor core, wait for a fractional gap between the intermittent ultra-sonic thingie and then bomb the hell out of the moving red dot on the floor of the reactor. Getting to the enemy base is no picnic. Most of the islands are equipped with heat seeking rocket launchers or gun turrets, and on subsequent levels, not only do these fire more frequently at you, but they are joined by fighter planes, indestructible barrage balloons and a submarine armed with missiles that has a nose like a bloodhound. Top that off with a rapidly declining fuel supply and you have a game which should sort out the men from the boys. COMMENTS Control keys: Q/A = up/down, X/V = left/right, C = fire (short), turn 90° (medium), turn 180° (long) Joystick: Kempston Keyboard play: very responsive Colour: very good, even startling Graphics: excellent Sound: very good Skill levels: 5 Lives: 3 Screens: scrolling across approximately 8 times the screen width

Having shot away the Hyper-Phase Laser deactivated lock, the chopper faces the indestructible intermittent ultr-sonic quantum blaster - sounds like Blue Fun-der.

On the higher skill levels, even getting off the deck can be difficult.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Your Computer

Overall 3/5

Spectrum 48K £6.95 Richard Wilcox Software Nothing to do with the film starring Roy Scheider, or the TV series starring James Farentino; in this program we are a world away from the difficulties of community policing by helicopter. You are better off playing this game with a joystick, than the keyboard, but even then the fire button is given the three functions of 90, 180 degree turns and firing. This can complicate matters. I am also dubious about the claim of incredible perspective graphics. This is a pretty Choplifter with a nuclear reactor thrown in. First, pilot your whirlybird. Off the VSTOL carrier over the islands, getting shot at. There are five different levels of difficulty. In the higher levels you contend with waves of jet fighters and indestructible red balloons. Only on of the latter at a time - the number never gets as high as 99. You penetrate enemy lines, destroy the nuclear reactor and rescue up to 16 comrades in one trip. The on-screen store line displays from left to right, reserve helicopters, current score and mission number. A vertical bar on the right of the screen indicates your chopper's fuel level. A challenging game.