Captain America in the Doom Tube of Dr Megalomann

Crash

Presentation 50%

Graphics 53%

Playability 38%

Addictive Qualities 30%

Overall 36%

Gordon Houghton 30%

Nathan Jones 34%

Producer: Go! Retail Price: £7.99 Author: Adventuresoft A good villain doesn't give up easily - supposedly dead, the evil Dr Megalomann (he'd hardly be Dr Barnardo with a name like that) returns to offer the President of the USA an ultimatum: hand over his power to the mad doctor, or see the world plunged into mayhem. If Megalomann doesn't get his way, he's going to throw a terrifying tantrum and launch a missile carrying a deadly virus. The mad Doctor's desert headquarters consists of three cylinders, one inside the other - forming the Doom Tube. Each cylinder is divided into decks (levels), with each deck subdivided into quadrants (rooms). And an elevator, the Orbivator, runs between cylinders. But it's not all plain Orbivating if you want to save the world. The virus has spread into the quadrants - some are more poisonous than others - and though Captain America has been injected with a protective serum, if a quadrant is too toxic it will kill him. The serum that keeps Captain America safe is only temporarily effective, but the ingredients to make more can be produced in the converter quadrant - if Captain America can get that far. The converter is activated by touching certain wall panels and placing sufficient quantities of Yin and Yang, the essential components of the vital vaccine, in receiver plates. Yin and Yang can be obtained by blasting a doom pod found in one of the quadrants. Captain America may be the pinnacle of physical perfection, but these 240 pounds of pure athletic beefcake cannot go it alone, so the good Captain carries a virtually indestructible shield. With this he can deflect all projectiles and nearly all energy beams - save for psion energy, which unfortunately he finds within the Doom Tube. And in some rooms rotators rove through the air, sending out lethal beams. But on destruction these rotators release a code word which can be helpful in accessing later areas of the Doom Tube. If Captain America can reach the Doom Tube's final deck, perhaps he can disarm the missile and save the world - but the game is played in real time, and you have just an hour before Megolamann's deadly deadline. COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: colourful but poorly-defined characters Sound: tune, poor effects, song - Who's Crying Now - from obscure band Resister on side two as marketing gimmick (in mono)

Your Sinclair

Graphics 6/10

Playability 7/10

Value For Money 7/10

Addictiveness 7/10

Overall 7/10

Duncan MacDonald 7/10

Go! £8.99 Reviewer: Duncan MacDonald The other day I was having awful problems trying to read the Captain America instruction sheet - I couldn't understand a single word. Then a friend pointed out that I had been reading it in German, and that the English instructions were overleaf. Luckily we both saw the funny side. Anyway, it seems that Dr Megalomann, an 'evil' genius, is threatening to release a lethal genetic virus (Jeremy Beadle?) over the good ole U.S. of A. The launching site for the virus carrying missiles is an underground silo in the Mojave Desert. This is the 'Doom-Tube' and where the action of the game takes place. You, as Captain 'Cap' America, have to (and I quote): "Save the free world...God save America!" Bleeeeeuuuuucch!!! The game is controlled from a screen called the 'Orbivator'. It's a sort of lift (sorry, elevator) which will move you around the 'Doom-Tube' by pressing the relevant buttons (you control Cap's hand). There's also a monitor screen which, again by button pressing, will give you little hints and tips. You're totally safe in here, but there's a clock ticking away. The Doom-Tube is five stories high (or deep, really), and the air gets progressively more toxic the further down you go. You have a preset immunity level, which is enough to get you around deck one, but you need to get a bonus immunity before you can go to the deeper, more toxic levels. I can only tell you about level one, 'cos I couldn't get any further. There are four rooms, viewed from slightly above, in which your Cap sprite has to kill nasties by throwing his shield at them (it bounces back, so you can use it again and again). Clear one room and move to the next. There are things to pick up and places to put them (for bonus immunity). Ultimately, work your way down to the fourth room on deck five (the basement) and abort the missile's countdown. Simple as that. Except it isn't. It's really hard. Okay, the graphics aren't going to win any awards, but they're a nice size and very clear. Ditto the sound. Blimey. P.S. On the B side of the tape Go! have enclosed a 'freebie': A mono recording of an insipid American West-Coasty 'Mild Metal' "rock" song by a band called "Resister". It sounds like a poor quality eight track demo-tape. I'm glad I'm not a member of 'Resister'. It would be almost as embarrassing as waking up one morning and realising that one was actually Sid Little. Graaaaaaaarrrrrgghhhh!!!!!

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Sinclair User

Overall 7/10

Jim Douglas 7/10

Label: Go! Author: Adventuresoft Price: £8.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Jim Douglas Taking the role (and donning the ridiculous costume) of Captain America, it's down to you to combat evil Dr Megalomann. The Doc is about to wreak a terrible revenge, although it's not clear what happened to him in the first place, and North America will shortly be contaminated by a deadly virus if you don't locate and destroy the missile silo from which the bug-bearing rockets will launch. The CIA have located the rocket base and it's your task to venture where countless Government men have been and never returned and destroy the base. Obviously, things aren't as easy as the synopsis leads you to believe. Dr M's base in one confusing place. It's like two tubes, one inside the other, forming a number of chambers around a core. Each room has a level number and a number to indicate at which point around the tube it sits. You're limited to only entering chambers whose radiation levels are lower than your immunity level and you get to them using the Orbital Whatyacallit and can then step inside. Each room has an ante-chamber guarded by two rather pathetic shooting robots which glide up and down poles, firing across the screen. Using your trusty shield as a discus, you knock them out and enter the main room through the white door on the right. You have only a limited number of shields. If you fire them all off randomly, you'll find yourself defenceless, and shortly afterwards - dead. If you hit your target, or press Fire again quickly enough after you realise you're off target, the shield will return. Keeping a degree of control over your firepower adds to the strategy points and forces you to think a bit instead of just blazing away. Once you're inside the main room, you'll be attacked by more of The Doc's henchmen. Using your shield once more, you can despatch the nasties and then go about getting hold of the ying-yang; a mysterious substance that provides immunity from the toxic radiation in the base, thus allowing you to explore later levels. Once you've got past this little lot and you find yourself inside the room, swanning around having beaten the first rank of guards, you'll be assaulted by various 2nd brigade thugs who are virtually impossible to beat. But strangely enough while this became thoroughly frustrating, the point at which I thought "stuff this" was a long time coming. In short, it's a seriously addictive game. Graphically, it's good but I've seen better. The characters aren't particularly large, but the screens are interestingly designed. As for gameplay, there's a modicum of strategy in the room selection process, and the action is fairly gripping. Captain America doesn't offer much that you won't have seen before, but the 'toughness' of the gameplay seems to have been pitched at the correct level to provide a challenge.

Q: What do you call a man with a car on his head? A: Jack.