Cliff Hanger

ZX ComputingZX Computing Glob Minor

Overall Grim

New Generation £7.95 Everyone who has ever found themselves in hysterics as Coyote fails, yet again, to catch the Road Runner will undoubtedly feel as disappointed as I did when playing this game. Set in the wild west you play Cliff, the hero of this tale, and you must stop the bandit (or bandido to his chums) from rushing up the canyon, guns blasting. This might sound incredibly easy, but you can't just shoot him, oh no, you have to use various techniques that only someone as dumb as Coyote would try. On the levels I got through, this included dropping boulders on him, throwing boomerangs at him, chasing round a railway track and then dropping boulders, etc. Apparently there are 15 levels of difficulty, each with between three and live different screens that appear randomly. To graduate from one level to another you must kill the bandido a certain amount of times; though anyone willing to play the game through all 15 levels would need his head examined! What makes the game slightly enjoyable to play is that the author, James Day, has managed to capture some of the feel of the original cartoons. At certain points, such as when you roll a boulder at the bandido and it rolls back and flattens you, you realise how much potential this game had. That said, the graphics are really not up to a standard that you would expect from a well known software house such as New Generation (and being bought by Virgin is no excuse), with the men looking more like matchsticks, and the animation being reminiscent of a ZX81. Overall, Cliff Hanger is a great idea, badly executed. If New Generation had spent more time trying to develop a plot, and then programmed the graphics and sound well, this game would have received a really high rating. As it stands however it has just too many bad points (including a bug or two). I'll just have to wait for 'Loony Tunes'!

Crash

Use of Computer 66%

Graphics 67%

Playability 72%

Getting Started 68%

Addictive Qualities 75%

Value For Money 56%

Overall 63%

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Producer: New Generation Retail Price: £7.95 Author: James Day This game introduces a new concept in disposing of your enemies. No more shoot em ups; forget a quick round of fisticuffs or dose of martial artistry. Cliff Hanger,the hero in this game, is a tough talking, gum chewing cowboy who's vocation in life is to rid the Wild West of gun-toting bandits. Cliff takes a slightly unconventional approach to his job and tends to resort to rather unusual methods of killing his victims. Boomerangs, cannon, elaborate time bombs and the faithful boulder all make up Mr Hanger's arsenal. These are shot, dropped and thrown at the foe, usually resulting in a nasty splat as the baddie is Imprinted into the ground. Cliff is a cold hearted assassin and dances a little celebratory jig as each opponent is sent to Boot Hill. The object of the game is to stop the bandit from getting to the end of the canyon in each screen. The baddie-splatting techniques get more complicated as the game progresses. Points are scored for each time the enemy is destroyed depending on the difficulty of the manoeuvre. There are fifteen levels in the game, each consisting of three to five screens. The computer chooses a different screen at random until you have successfully completed all the screens on the current level. After a while, the baddies have a chance to get their own back. Boulders roll back on you unless you don't watch out, and boomerangs render you senseless unless they hit the bandit. Cliff has five lives and loses one every time you misjudge a move and fall off a cliff top or are crushed by a runaway boulder. The screen graphics are all in yellow and black and depict a variety of scenes from the wild west portrayed in a cartoon style. At the start of each new screen a gunshooting bandit either appears, trotting over the horizon, or lurks on the screen, hidden away somewhere. A series of objects are presented in each screen and you must decide how to use them in order to kill the bandit. Sometimes the method of killing the Man in Black may be obvious - such as rolling a rock off a cliff top at precisely the right time so that it crushes the baddie below. Other more complicated screens involve mini puzzles which include such items as levers and railway trucks, and require a series of actions to be carried out before the bad guy is killed. Each baddie must be killed in each screen for the game to progress. Once you've worked out how to use the equipment on a screen, timing is essential if Cliff is to rid the wild and woolly west of the gun toting banditos. COMMENTS Control keys: redefiinable Joystick: Kempston, cursor, Interface 2 Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: monochromatic Graphics: cartoon style, simple animations Sound: minimal spot effects, no tune Skill levels: one Screens: 50

"Three Chances". When Cameron rolls that boulder off the cliff is whizzes round and round, down one cliff face, along the ground, up the other side of the canyon, through the air and down the cliff...