Defusion + Worms

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 3/10

Richard Price 3/10

eMemory: 48K Price: £5.95 Joystick: Kempston Defusion and Worms are the latest K-Tel double offering. Defusion sets you the task of defusing bombs. You move Happy Larry along paths of blocks, avoiding static booby traps and collecting bonus-point flags. The Hitman, a boot, chases Larry and will kill him if he can. The bombs also have a count-down timer which is shown on them. As Larry moves along the paths the green blocks are exhausted and he cannot return over them unless he moves the nearest path towards him. The graphics are blocky and uninteresting and the movement is slow. There is a Pac-man-ish style about it but the concept is dated. Worms, written apparently entirely in Basic, is a seven-screen game in which the player must manoeuvre the head of an ever-growing worm either to collect various objects or avoid others. The graphics are simple UDG shapes, movement is slow, the idea is rather pedestrian. Little sense of involvement is possible, though very young players may derive some pleasure from it.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your Spectrum

Richard Vernon MISS

Robert Ledbury MISS

Stephen Avent 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]. DEFUSION/WORMS K-Tel £6.95 The aim of Defusion is to defuse a bomb that's ticking away at the centre of a number of paths, some of which are booby-trapped. Worms, on the other hand, has you controlling a growing worm.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Crash

Use of Computer 55%

Graphics 41%

Playability 55%

Getting Started 69%

Addictive Qualities 50%

Value For Money 42%

Overall 52%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: K-Tel Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Defusion is the 'Gridtrap' game of moving over squares to defuse time-bombs, collecting flags and avoiding the skulls and rampant boots. As you move the squares stepped on are deleted, making it harder for you to move about, and making it impossible for the boots to move around as well. Squares may be scrolled left or right where they exist to make movement freely available again. The screen wraps around left /right and up/down. The boots are quite intelligent, and will start homing in on you soon after the commencement of each game. Flags collected give bonus points, skulls and boots kill, the time bombs have a time limit which starts ticking away as soon as they appear. When one has been defused by running over it. another appears somewhere else on the screen. An un-defused bomb explodes colourfully all over the screen. Worms is a snake-in-the-garden game where you must avoid hitting your own tail, rocks, edges of the garden and reversing on your track. What makes this version rather more interesting than most is that it has seven different screens on the same theme. This worm, too, starts at a point and continues growing until it fills the screen. In the first screen there are no hazards but the worm sometimes grows a black segment over which you may cross its body, and then a bluebottle lands on a segment and this may be eaten to get to the next screen. Screen two is more traditional, eat the flowers and avoid the rocks. Screen three is a maze where you must get through, eating all the flowers on the way. Screen four is a tunnel - don't hit the sides: five has an elusive blue flower and rocks. Screen six you must guide the worm downwards through an upward scrolling passageway, and in the final screen it's the bottomless pit. COMMENTS Control keys: A/Z up/down, N/M left/right and J/K scroll left/right (Defusion) Joystick: Kempston Keyboard play: not very responsive Use of colour: poor Graphics: average Sound: average Skill levels: 1 Lives: 3 Screens: 1 (Defusion) 7 (Worms)

Another K-Tel double-sider, this one, Defusion, is a simple looking version of Grid Trap.

Six screens of sqworming activity - this one's the first straightforward common or garden variety.

The down sheet with impossible-to-pass rocks.