Ad Astra

Big K

Overall 3/3

Steve Keaton 3/3

DEEP SPACE MAKER: Gargoyle Games MACHINE: Spectrum 48K FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £5.95 Frantic interstellar shoot 'em up distinguished by some superb large scale cartoon graphics. Ad Astra, or, 'To The Stars' is the dashing motto of the Deep Space Patrol, and as a new recruit it's your dubious honour to patrol the shipping lanes between the distant Way Stations that mark the borderlines of Terran space. Needless to say these shipping lanes literally crawl with hostile Xtros. There's the Pirate battle cruisers and their speedy droid scouts to contend with, the mammoth mine-layers of Mongo (or whatever) and interminable clouds of lethal space debris to avoid. It's a good job there's a joysticks option as my digits just couldn't take the pace. Space debris precedes each wave. Huge cratered globes spin towards you with dazzling smoothness. You can only hold your breath and dodge as they fly past - only to rocket straight into the eager maw of the alien force. The animation throughout is superb and I was particularly impressed by the mammoth mine-layers. (Even if they caught me every time.) Still it's almost worth it for the mega-blast that ensues. I've yet to make a Way Station but I'm sure that when I get there it'll look grand. Of course such animation has its price. The action takes place over a static background and to sparse musical accompaniment. Still it's cheap for what you get. Space Cadets should enlist immediately!

Your Spectrum

Johnathan Norman HIT

Mike Skinner HIT

Nigel Newland MISS

JOYSTCK JURY Evaluating the batch this month is the Gloucester Computing Club. Any club wishing to offer their services should contact Ron Smith, Your Spectrum, [redacted]. This month's reviewers (all ten of them!) are members of the Gloucester Computer Club and, in alphabetical order, they are: Stephen Avent (28), Andrew Base (15), Robert Ledbury (22), Mark Manning (15), Nigel Newland (13), Peter Newland (15), Johnathan Norman (15), George Price (35), Mike Skinner (30) and Richard Vernon (15). They all set to work with Spectrum, pen and paper to tell us what's right and what's not so right with the latest new releases. THE GLOUCESTER COMPUTING CLUB In a moment we'll get on to the verdicts of our nimble-fingered, boggle-eyed band - to find out which new games are bound for the YS Top 20. But first, some details on the club. It was formed approximately eight months ago by Mr B Ledbury (who happens to be the father of Robert - one of our reviewers) and it's already built up a membership of 35 enthusiasts - ages ranging from 10 years to 'mature'. Meetings are currently held in two rooms at Mr Ledbury's home; one for games evaluation, the other for more serious studies. Membership is free and for more information, contact Mr Ledbury, [redacted]. AD ASTRA Gargoyle Games £5.95 Your job is to guard and maintain the shipping lanes between the far flung Way Stations that mark the frontiers of Terran colonised space.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 8/10

Graphics 8/10

Value 8/10

Playability 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Gargoyle PRICE: £5.95 Ad Astra will really scorch the keyboard off your Spectrum. There's nothing new here to speak of. Your spaceship flies through space, encounters aliens, battle ensues. You know the plot backwards. What is special about Ad Astra is the quality of the graphics and the speed of the action. If you've ever seen the arcade games Galaga or Gyruss, then you'll know what I mean by a super fast shoot-'em-up. Ad Astra is similar to Gyruss in that the ship moves through a slightly curving plane as it dodges the oncoming planets and takes pot shots at the aliens. The first attack wave features some very impressive planets which spin towards you revealing the details of the craters when they are at close range. You can't shoot these but have to dodge in and out of them - no easy task in the bulky Deep Space Patrol. This is one of those games where you want to get onto the next wave, then the next and the next to see how long you can survive and to see how much you can see. Another nice touch is the laser fire which has an authentic trajectory pursuing a razor-sharp line until it disappears into deepest space. Just one gripe: the alien laser fire was difficult to spot amongst the distant stars - no game for the short-sighted this. This game deserves to do well, if you want a plain and simple space shoot-'em-up for your Spectrum, you won't find anything better than Ad Astra.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

Memory: 48K Price: £5.95 Joystick: Kempston, Cursor type, Interface II Before you groan and shout "Not another space wars game", wait a moment. Ad Astra is a little out of the ordinary. Gargoyle Games clearly has put plenty of thought into this nightmare of inter-stellar mayhem. You are piloting a patrol craft through deep space, on the look-out for pirates and hostile aliens. That sounds familiar enough but the accompanying graphics put the first Gargoyle offering into a class of its own. For a start, the pictures are very big. The game opens with a series of planets between which you must weave to reach open space; as they hurtle towards you they seem to fill the screen. The 3-D effects extend even to your laser fire, which curls and splutters about the screen as you hurtle from side to side. The action is fast and furious and you can pilot your craft in any of eight directions. At first, the sheer size of your ship is a problem. It seems impossible to avoid being trapped in the corner by a hail of missiles. Ad Astra is a very welcome addition to the plethora of space games and on the strength of this Gargoyle is clearly a team to watch.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 9/10

Sound 6/10

Originality 5/10

Lasting Interest 7/10

Overall 8/10

Chris Anderson 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc, Crsr FROM: Gargoyle, £5.95 The first impression of this program is stunning. Your spaceship sits there against a starry backdrop. Suddenly a huge. round, cratered asteroid hurtles toward you, followed immediately by three or four others. The 3D effect as they roll toward you is superb. You actually see their cratered-surfaces rotating. These asteroids are indestructible. You simply have to get out of the way by using left-right, up-down controls, or a joystick. After the asteroids, the real action starts with two types of spaceship homing in, guns blazing. The 3D effect here is less impressive, but you will have your work cut out to stay alive. You have to dart rapidly all over the screen to avoid the spreading missiles. Meanwhile you maintain a rapid fire-rate, sending laser bursts shooting into the distance in a beautifully realistic manner. Failure here results in the destruction of your craft in an extremely spectacular explosion. Success will eventually lead to another attack of asteroids followed by a new wave of aliens. This second wave is not convincingly 3D at all, looking more like a set of nasties out of Arcadia. One frustration with this game is that after losing each of your five lives, you must return to dodging the asteroids again. Although they're spectacular to look at, they're quite easy to dodge and you'd much prefer to spend your time dealing with the real action. As it is, the pace of the game is constantly interrupted. So, hard to know how to rate Ad Astra. On the one hand some of the graphics are as good as you've ever seen on a Spectrum. On the other hand parts of the game don't work quite as well as they really ought to.

Your Computer

Overall 3/5

Spectrum 48K Shoot-'em-up £6.95 Gargoyle Games This game looks better than it actually is - the graphics are very good but the scenario is an old one. Blow up the alien hoardes and survive the asteroids. At least the game is in perspective and this raises it above the standard shoot-'em-up fare.

Crash

Use of Computer 85%

Graphics 80%

Playability 84%

Getting Started 79%

Addictive Qualities 75%

Value For Money 78%

Overall 80%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Gargoyle Games Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Roy Carter, Greg Follis Gargoyle Games is a new company situated in Birmingham, and Ad Astra (To the Stars!) is their first game. It's quite a debut too. This is an arcade space combat game which features very large graphics, all depicted in a very solid three dimensions with perspective. There are 20 segments, with each segment being made up of seven phases. At the start of each phase and after a lost life, large planetoid-shaped asteroids hurtle from the depths of space at the player's ship. These cannot be shot but must be dodged. As the last of these is vanishing under your ship (hopefully), alien craft appear as dots in the distance and then swoop down on you firing bolts. Five different types of aliens attack in eight different formations, firing two types of laser bolts at you. This is followed by a large mine layer, which crosses the screen, loosing streams of rotating mines. These should be blown up as soon as possible because if they blow up themselves they fire off bolts at you, which come across the screen, making two directions filled with flying weaponry. Then come the spinning saucers, also firing at you. These need to be hit several times before they really blow up. The last phase is a Way Station. Before the sixth phase starts, a security code appears for the next Way Station, and as the station appears, the player must input the correct code. An incorrect entry results in loss of a life. A correct entry results in a welcome message and an extra life. The screen display is full of different coloured stars. Your ship is a large V-shaped craft which is able to move all over the screen, and is equipped with rapid fire laser bolts. COMMENTS Control keys: Alternate keys bottom row left/right, second row=down, third row=up, four corner keys will fire alternatively the cursors may be used Joystick: Kempston, ZX 2, AGF, Protek Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: very good Graphics: generally excellent, with effective sense of perspective Sound: average Skill levels: progressive difficulty Lives: 6 Features: one- or two-player game.

3 Dee-er than 3D, fully animatedshoot em up in Ad Astra.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition