Antteroo + Prelude

Crash

Atmosphere 6/10

Vocabulary 5/10

Logic 6/10

Addictive Quality 6/10

Overall 6/10

Derek Brewster 6/10

DEREK BREWSTER'S ADVENTURE TRAIL IS THE PRICE RIGHT? As has often been said before, the games software world has much in common with the music industry. Leaving aside the connoisseur's direct metal mastered LP discs, and the new technology-priced compact discs, the popular music LP has found its pricing niche in the £4-16 range. Above the six pounds mark the product begins to meet consumer resistance: within the mind of every potential pop purchaser is a set of scales which comes out with a value-for-money readout working on the figures of pocket money/disposable income and the real worth of bass guitars, leads, snares and high-hats syncopated into some sort of harmony. In case, as a young pop consumer, you think the above pretty obvious, it might be worth putting a historical perspective on this by pointing out the LPs dogged persistence for keeping its token value pegged at the £5 mark since 1976, a date from which inflation spring-boarded. This pegging of the price was not done without some modifications and cost-cutting, most noticably a thinning of the plastic and a reduction in quality which meant people like myself buying three records at a time in the sure knowledge that at least one of them would be a bad pressing. Now let's have a look at what's been happening in software in 1985. Figures show that Spectrum software sales are way ahead of those for Commodore, The BBC and C16 markets are much smaller than the two big boys but are significant, while the third biggest, Amstrad, is continuing to improve and catch up. The most successful company in terms of units sold was Mastertronic followed by US Gold and Ocean. Since US Gold and Ocean are in reality the same stable you might take them combined to be the greatest force in software. Mastertronic are famed for their cheap software selling in newsagents and petrol stations, though their £2.99 range has recently appeared in the high street multiple stores and is fast gaining a respectability previously thought beyond the budget game. The US Gold and Ocean group are famed for their top quality games selling at the seven and eight pounds mark. To confuse matters, rumours abound of both groups each planning to release games in the other's domain. A software house makes far less profit, after paying product costs and royalties, on a cheap game when compared to the margin on a full-priced product. A cheap game has to sell eight to nine times more to make the same profit as a full-priced game. But the more expensive game needs advertising and involves a greater risk - kids aren't going to part with eight pounds on a whim. Clearly there are many pros and cons to full- and budget-priced software but what I'd like to suggest is a price for software which will encourage both high consumer sales (with reduced copying), and quality programs. This figure I believe is somewhere around the five pounds mark, much the same as record prices. PRELUDE/ANTTEROO Producer: Central Solutions Retail Price: £3.99 Author: G Fong, K Murray Prelude's story goes like this. Your mission begins in a briefing room somewhere in southeast England. You have been briefed by your commanding officer and must now fulfill your vital mission. To the east of the briefing room is the CO's office, a modestly decorated place dominated by a large desk and chair in the centre of the room. A portrait of the gaffer himself glares down from one of the walls. To the south is the CO's secretary. She asks if you have seen the CO and of course the answer is that you haven't. An open door lies to the north while the main doors which will presumably get you out of these first three locations are to the east. Now the problem is (and you've been given the salient points to mull over) is how to get out of the main doors to the east of the secretary's room without the following report coming up 'The secretary follows you out. You feel a sharp stabbing pain in your back. As you lie on the floor dying you decide never to trust a woman again (especially German ones!)'. The only clue that I dare proffer is if you hang around in the secretary's office for a while she comments on not feeling very well, the inference being that all the noise has given her a headache. This clue really won't be much help until you're onto the solution anyway so I don't think I'm giving too much away. Later on you meet a radar tower, what appears to be an aircraft runway, and a stores department where I am sure there must be a way past the wire mesh above the counter. Antteroo is an arcade game written in 1985 which, considering the age of some of the software reviewed this month, is positively bang-up-to-date. Unfortunately many of the programming techniques are woefully ancient with jerky character movement replacing the very smooth scrolling which typifies the 1986 game. Further the animation is primitive in the extreme with the only noticeable change being from a right-facing character to a left-facing one. Also, for my liking at least, the second frame jumps in difficulty far too much when compared to the relatively easy first frame. COMMENTS Difficulty: pretty difficult Graphics: average but fast Presentation: okay Input facility: verb/noun Response: Quill

Your Sinclair

Graphics 4/10

Playability 7/10

Value For Money 4/10

Addictiveness 4/10

Overall 4/10

Gwyn Hughes 4/10

Central Solutions £3.99 Reviewer: Gwyn Hughes Don't judge a book by its cover. Can the same saying be applied to computer games? If so this inlay's verdict's pure amateurism. And when you turn the box over to reveal more of the same... Double your displeasure? Antteroo isn't actually that bad, but it's so-ooo unimaginative. Does your collection really need another platforms and ladders variant? if so here's a competent, moderately difficult addition to that teetering pile that threatens to crush you. On the otherside, Prelude turns out to be a graphic adventure set in WW2, produced with The Quill and Illustrator so it lies outside my domain. Suffice to say, those who like this sort of thing may find it a reasonable bargain. They're unlikely to want Antteroo too though. Tough!